September, 2012 |

Organizing Life {Gift Wrapping Station}

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Amy

I finally did it…I organized my gift wrap into one place. I pulled everything together in my office armoire.

I have used this armoire in my office for many years. I do graphic design and used to have a business designing wedding invitations {you can see my old office here} so I have paper, paper and more paper to store. Now that I focus more on blogging and less on weddings, I was able to free up this space to create an organized spot for all things “wrapping” related.

Through this process it made me think that it’s not just organizing what you have to stay sane, it’s making sure you have what you need. I am due for a stop at Hobby Lobby–hands down the best place to buy wrapping paper–but I pulled together all the other supplies like tape, scissors and ribbon into this space as well.

So much less anxiety at birthdays now!

I labeled the drawers and stored all my tissue paper, ribbons and cards.

I used this plastic set of drawers I have had forever in the other side. I covered the fronts with scrapbook paper and just mod-podged the paper on. I admit that the small floral print is making me crazy {it may get changed} but it’s what I had on hand. Yes, more chalkboard labels, they are changing my life! {I order them HERE}.

The extra drawer space that got filled with other crafty supplies like paint and glue.

I used a simple tension rod to hang some of the ribbon. In my old office I had hung gift bags off the built-in hooks but that never worked very well. If I needed one bag, I had to take them all down to get it, then tediously put them all back up. Now I store them in one of the boxes in the cubbies in my desk right next to this armoire.

It took me a bit of thinking to figure out how to store the rolls of wrapping paper. I remembered I had this tall, narrow box from IKEA and it fit perfectly. It contains the tall rolls and uses up the little bit of extra space along the side of the cabinet perfectly.

Years ago I painted the inside of the door with chalkboard paint, I used it to keep the wedding projects I was working on organized. Now it’s the perfect spot to keep up with all the coming birthdays and gifts I need to buy.

And, it’s so nice that I can just close it up when I don’t need to use any of it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing at~ Serenity Now, A Thoughtful Place

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Posted in Crafts, Office, Organization | Tagged craft closet, Craft Room, gift, Office, organization, organizing life, wrapping station | 9 Comments

Causes Close to Our Hearts, Galactosemia Foundation

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Terry

I guess it is my turn to share my story and the cause so close to my heart. I want to thank Amy for leading the charge and Christy for sharing her amazing story and cause. I wish I could say that the words are freely flowing right now, but this is really difficult for me. I think any time you have to open up about something personal and raw, it just makes your heart swell a bit. My heart is overflowing this morning but I am grateful for this opportunity to share our story.

Our story begins 7 years ago with the birth of our first son. He entered this world with his eyes wide open and I will never forget that moment. In return he has opened our eyes to so much more in this world than I could have ever imagined. I am so grateful for his sweet soul, strong personality and for his courageous heart.

My Sweet Son, Gavin!

Gavin appeared normal as he had 10 fingers, 10 toes and did everything a newborn baby should do. Thom and I were first-time parents and just enjoying the overwhelming experiences that come along with a new baby. Once released from the hospital we headed home, where my mom was there to greet us. It was a warm April day, and I remember sitting outside and marveling over our new baby boy. It was a perfect moment!

I was one of those stubborn new moms that had to do everything myself. I would–of course–breastfeed my baby (NO bottle feeding or pacifiers allowed!), I would change every diaper, and I would power through those tired moments like a champ. Well, on Day 4 everything hit me and I needed to crash. Thank goodness my mom was there, as she forced me to lie down and get some rest. (Moms know best even when you don’t want to listen!) It was the first day I had been able to sleep, that amazing hard sleep that your body just falls into. Unfortunately it was short-lived as within an hour, we received a phone call from an amazing doctor at the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center.

That doctor who called is the Program Director for the Division of Pediatric Genetics at UVA Medical Center, and he is also considered Gavin’s Guardian Angel. He was unable to contact anyone under our current health care so he had to call me at home. Waking up to this phone call was scary, surreal and confusing. He told me that my son tested positive for Galactosemia and we needed to take him to the hospital immediately. He urged us not to do any research on the internet as it could be overwhelming but informed me that I needed to stop breastfeeding my son. As you can imagine my world slowly began to crumble. What is Galactosemia? I had never heard of it before and why would he urge me to stop breastfeeding my baby–the best thing you can give your child?

As we began packing everything up, I told my mom to go on my computer and look it up as I needed to know what we were in for. Our sweet baby boy had tested positive for a very rare metabolic disorder where his body could not break down milk sugar. For the past four days I had been poisoning my newborn son with my breast milk. His body was slowly shutting down.

When we arrived to the hospital, they immediately put him under the bili-light; his liver was swollen and he was jaundiced. His labs were off the chart and he had turned orange by this point. He was lethargic, wasn’t eating, and slept most of the day. Things were very stressful and we prayed that everything would be okay. The hospital was amazing and as the days passed, our son began to respond to a soy-based diet. He was out of the woods and Gavin was released to come home.

Seeing your child sick and helpless in the hospital is overwhelming and life-changing. You see how fragile life can be and how one decision can change your life as well as your child’s life. I had no idea that Thom and I could be carriers for this rare disorder. No one else in our family had ever had this happen and the chances of meeting another person with this disorder is low. Galactosemia affects only 1 in 60,000 babies born every year.

Galactosemia is rare, it is under-researched and there are complications that are just so difficult to explain and understand. How can milk sugar affect reproduction and vision? Unfortunately, it does affect many different organs and causes one’s body to function differently than someone without galactosemia.

Our story is a happy one as our son is doing great. He eats a restricted diet (dairy-free), his liver is functioning normally, and his galactose levels are finally down to a reasonable range (it only took 6 years since having breast milk to get his levels down to an acceptable range!). There are unfortunately many complications with Galactosemia that can happen over time, including: enlarged liver, kidney failure, cataracts, brain damage, and speech and learning delays. Gavin has been free and clear of the major complications for some time now, and we pray he continues down that path. He does struggle in school, but we are truly blessed to have amazing resources, a strong support system and terrific teachers. Gavin is thriving! He is learning, growing and looks and acts like a normal 7 year old boy as you can see below:).

Gavin supporting Rare Disease Day 2011 and Galactosemia Research!

Gavin has a very sweet and sensitive personality with a pure and loving heart. He works very hard and really gives life his all. He has opened my eyes on a daily basis to God’s grace and he is such a blessing to me and our family. Our cause is the Galactosemia Foundation and their mission is:

To educate, support and provide advocacy for those affected by Galactosemia.

To network with professionals to inspire the treatment and advanced research of Galactosemia.

Thank you for visiting us on this very special day. Sharing our causes has been an emotional dream come true!

Sharing this story at Imparting Grace

Posted in Causes Close to Our Hearts, Our Causes, Random Kindness | Tagged causes, causes close to our hearts, charitable giving, Galactosemia, Random Kindness | 9 Comments

Causes Close to Our Hearts–myHeart, yourHands

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Christy

Hi, everyone, it’s Christy writing. Amy started our series of posts earlier today, and I’m second in line to tell you about the cause that’s closest to my heart, because it’s not all about entertaining and decorating, now is it?

The organization I want to showcase was started by someone very close to my heart, my cousin-who’s-more-like-a-sister, Stephanie Zimmerman. And the expression, “close to my heart” makes me smile, because her non-profit is named myHeart, yourHands, and Steph is alive today because someone else’s heart beats in her chest.

Steph was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of childhood cancer, when she was 8 and I was 6. Although my aunt and uncle were given the grim prognosis that she was only expected to live 6-12 months, they enrolled Stephanie in a clinical trial that encompassed 21 months of treatment, including chest wall radiation and a four-drug chemotherapy regimen. I don’t think I’d be overstating it if I said that her treatment was the “nuclear option” and probably was as likely to kill her as the cancer itself, but they had nothing to lose. Of all the children in her study group, she is the only one who survived, but she was cured.

Stephanie’s school picture, during treatment

I remember going with Steph to get her “Popeye Juice” (her chemo), and yelling at rude kids at the pool who, seeing her bald head, either made fun of her or mistook her for a BOY (of all the insults she endured, I think this was one of the hardest for her to bear). I also remember treating her exactly like I always did because I was 6, 7, and 8 years old at the time she was suffering through this, and I wasn’t going to let her get away with any special treatment. This is difficult for me to admit now that I’m an adult, and a mom. Forgive me, Steph!

The great news was that the years went by and they were filled with–normal life. Stephanie became a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner, convinced that one of God’s purposes behind her illness and subsequent cure was to give her a unique empathic connection with her young patients. She got married, and was even able to become pregnant and have her precious son–she’d been told that she’d probably never be able to bear children. However, her heart, which had been hit with massive doses of cardiotoxic chemotherapy and huge amounts of chest wall radiation, began to succumb soon after her son was born. Despite medical management, and even heart valve surgery, her heart continued to fail, and she was placed on the transplant list in 2008 as a status IA (life expectancy less than 30 days). Steph said her goodbyes to her husband and son, but again God intervened in her life, and she lives today because of the unspeakably precious gift given to her by a 17-year-old girl and her family.

Steph, her surgeon, and her family post-transplant

Stephanie’s experience isn’t uncommon. I think most people realize that our current cancer treatments–chemotherapy and radiation–can be just as hard to survive as the disease itself, but most people don’t know about the late term effects of those treatments. Some people experience “secondary malignancies”–ANOTHER cancer that is caused by the chemo or radiation (how’s that for a kick in the teeth?), or organ failure like Stephanie’s. Organ transplant is the only chance at survival for those who suffer those late effects. MyHeart, yourHands exists for two reasons: to raise awareness regarding the potential late effects of cancer therapy among ALL cancer survivors and the frontline healthcare providers charged with their care, and to inform the population at large about the critical need for registered organ donors. Together with her friend and co-founder, Judy Bode, who still waits for a new heart, Stephanie knows that just as her heart is not her own, neither is her life.

The Zimmerman Family

Steph wrote a post on her blog to correspond with mine, and you can read it {HERE}. She also wrote an amazing guest post at AnneMarie’s Chemobrain blog {HERE}. Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to sign the back of that driver’s license!

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Posted in Causes Close to Our Hearts | Tagged cancer, causes close to our hearts, charity, Donation, donor, heart, transplant | 5 Comments

Our “Causes” Close to Our Hearts…

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Amy

Today we are breaking from our regular topics like decorating, DIY’ing and entertaining to talk more seriously about a new feature we have added to our sidebar here at Magnolia Lane.

At some point, We plan to write out a post about how our blog began, but for now I can just say 11 Magnolia Lane was originally “born” as a place on the internet to gain a following and launch a charity to support the causes we are writing about today. Long story, but for now you will have to take my word for it and I promise to share the whole story soon. Obviously, blogging together has brought the three of us to places way beyond where we could have envisioned, and now we feel like we need to return for a day to give back what we can.

Last Friday morning, I happened to see this post at one of my favorite blogs, A Thoughtful Place. An hour later I was still at my computer, {in my pj’s!} working on adding this sweet charity‘s button to our lower sidebar, just totally unable to comprehend the challenges the family Courtney wrote about faces each day.

I too, have a family member with juvenile, or Type 1, diabetes, thankfully not one as young as the son in Courtney’s story, and my two cousins suffer from it as well. New technologies are making treating diabetes easier, but at the end of the day, constant blood sugar monitoring is the only way to ensure healthy insulin levels. That means finger stick after stick, a nightmare for a young child and constant diligence for the parents. Blood sugar fluctuations can be scary, we have had many sleep-deprived nights in our house and more then a few close calls.

Diabetes is a confusing disease. Popular “diabetics” like Paula Dean suffer from Type 2–known as adult onset, which can often be managed by medication and healthy lifestyle changes. Type 1 occurs when a child’s body ceases to produce insulin, and therefore must have their blood sugar levels continually checked and regulated by synthetic insulin–for the rest of their life.

So after speaking with Christy and Terry and we’ve each decided to showcase our chosen charity here, in separate posts. While we’ve each been supporting our personal charities, we will be dedicating a portion of the revenue we receive from participating in the BlogHer network among these organizations we feel are deserving, the ones closest to our hearts.

Thank you for listening to my story, I like many others, hope and pray for a day when there is a cure for diabetes. “The goal of JDRF research is to improve the lives of all people affected by Type 1 Diabetes by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing Type 1 Diabetes”. Thank you for supporting us by visiting our site and in a small way helping JDRF in the fight to end Type 1 Diabetes forever.

Christy will be back with her post this afternoon about the organization closest to her heart.

XO,

Posted in Our Causes | Tagged causes close to our hearts, charity, diabetes, Donation | 4 Comments

JuJu Monkey Giveaway Winner & $5000 Room Makeover Contest

Posted on September 25, 2012 by admin

Just popping in tonight to announce the winner of the JuJu Monkey back-to-school notecard giveaway.

Congratuations to Kelly V, comment #16! Thank you for entering and of course, thank you to JuJu Monkey for sharing her gorgeous homemade cards.

AND…moving right on to the next BIG thing! We were thrilled to be invited by Dutch Boy Paints to offer our readers a chance to win a personalized design consultation or a $5000 makeover with interior design star Lisa LaPorta.

Click over to our Current Giveaways Page for more information. {HURRY! Contest end October 31st!}

Have a great night!

Tomorrow is going to be a very special day here…so make sure you stop by!

{Click above to follow us by Facebook so you never miss anything going on here at 11 Magnolia Lane}

Posted in giveaways, Uncategorized | Tagged giveaway, paint | Leave a comment

Dressing Up my Front Table with Fall Decor

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Christy

**Don’t forget to enter our notecard giveaway HERE; the giveaway ends Tuesday, September 25, 2012. (GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED)**

I do love Fall, and Saturday was the first day of autumn so it’s officially here! I love when it’s cold enough that I can sleep with the windows open at night, although my husband and I are still working through some temperature control issues that remain the most serious threat to our continued domestic bliss. I enjoy having to wrap up in a blanket to sit on the screened porch, and the fact that I don’t even sweat when I walk the dog in the early morning! Fall means hot tea in the afternoon, a pumpkin spice candle burning on the counter, hot soups and comfort food for dinner, and most fun of all, changing things up to bring a little bit of autumn into my decor.

Here’s my front entry table, dressed up for Fall:

I have a mantel in this house, in fact, I have a really huge one, but hanging above it is my most prized possession–the stained glass window from the church in which my parents were married. So I never decorate the mantel itself, because it just takes away from the beauty of the window. So I content myself with decorating the dresser I use in my foyer for each holiday.

Here’s a picture of the stained glass window when it lived in the formal living room in our old house in North Carolina. I feel like even the simple Christmas decor in this photo was too much:

My front hall is painted a taupe-gray, and the white chippy dresser that I snagged out of someone’s trash is set off nicely by the wall color. A dresser in the foyer may sound strange, but it holds dining room table linens and even a few extra serving pieces. The painted mirror is from a thrift store (read about its transformation HERE) and cost me all of $8. The dried hydrangeas are from my neighbor’s bush back in North Carolina, and the gumball pinecones (does everyone call them that, or is it just me?) are from our back yard when we lived in Virginia Beach. Why, yes, thank you, the movers do think I’m completely crazy for having them pack and move dried flowers and pinecones when we move!

The dough bowl was a wedding present from some wonderful friends of my mom and dad’s who lived on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Sometimes it holds fruit in my kitchen, and sometimes it even holds bread dough, but it’s perfect for fall decor.

An apothecary jar holds mini pumpkins and gourds. Some years it holds pinecones, and some years I mix it up and use white pumpkins. This year I’m trying to use what I have, so these are faux pumpkins and gourds (I find that the real ones sometimes get moldy when they’re in covered containers–yuck!). A burlap strip cut off a feed sack brings a bit of brown into that piece.

The “Welcome Autumn” sign was on clearance at TJ Maxx last year for $2 and I thought it would be fun and add a little color to the wall. I had intended to try a burlap runner on the dresser top, but I seem to be running out of feedsack, so perhaps I’ll use canvas drop cloth material instead–it’s the right color, after all!

We’ll be posting some more of the fall decor in our three houses over the next couple of weeks. Happy Fall, Y’all, and thanks for stopping by!

Sharing at~

Centsational Girl

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Posted in Autumn/ Fall, Home Inspiration, Seasons | Tagged apothecary jar, autumn, Burlap, Decor, dried flowers, Fall, foyer, front entry, front hall, pinecones, pumpkins | 14 Comments

Creating a Crafty DIY Silhouette–Easy Tutorial

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Terry

**Don’t forget to enter our notecard giveaway HERE; the giveaway ends Tuesday, September 25, 2012.**

TaDa Creations

Teeny Tiny Custom Textiles

TaDa Creations

I have wanted to get professional silhouettes done of both my boys for years, but I have simply not had the time or money. I know that they are not difficult to do, yet I wasn’t sure that I would do my sweet boys justice. I also wanted to have something that would last forever. Silhouettes capture such a sweet and innocent time that I personally don’t want to ever forget. My youngest son just turned 5, so I knew I was running out of time and needed to either make an appointment or do it myself.

When I was little, my school did silhouettes with a projector light, piece of black construction paper and chalk. I remember feeling very special when it was my turn to have my shadow traced. I loved the sweet details of my ponytail and eye lashes. It was a really simple project yet such a wonderful gift we later presented to our mothers as a school keep sake. They were simple, true to life, and my mother still has it to this day. As I have said, it is just something you hold onto.

Thinking back to that school experience made me realize that I didn’t need to pay for a silhouette, I could do this on my own. With the changes in technology from then to now, I knew I could simply take a photograph and cut it out. I also knew that Photoshop has the capabilities to do the same thing. I am no pro when it comes to Photoshop and I personally wanted to cut every strand of hair that stood up, their button noses and of course their eye lashes. I don’t know why that part gets me all choked up but it does.

DIY Silhouettes

Here is how I created my very own silhouettes:

Here’s what you need: Craft Paper, Profile printout of your child’s head, scissors, glue and a frame

Take a photo of your child’s profile with a light background. I sat both my kids on the same stool in front of our white shuttered windows. It was a light background but it also allowed sunlight to come it.
Side Profile of my oldest son

Side profile of my youngest son. NOTE: I turned him the opposite direction
Print out the photos on card stock and size down to fit the frame you selected to display them it. I did 5 X 7 frames for my first “crafty” silhouette. Next time I am doing a much larger round frame so I will need to print out a 7.5 X11.
Using an exacto knife/ small scissors, cut out your child’s profile. Get into the details of their hair and lashes. The personalized details really make each silhouette more realistic and special. This is a bit time consuming and ensure your knife is sharp and take a deep breath.

Cut out his/her profile with knife or scissors

I decided to go the “crafty” quick route with my fist silhouette, I simply turned over the paper (photo side down, white side up) and pasted it to a piece of craft paper. I still wanted the black and white theme but I didn’t want it to be traditional especially in my front foyer. I liked that it was a bit different and unexpected. The craft paper that I choose has a printed word pattern across it, which I love. It made it modern, fun and very different than your traditional silhouette. I also used a rectangular silver frame, again not the traditional round black frame you typically see. I personally think that it works well in my black and white casual foyer and home.
Choose whatever patterned paper you prefer for your child’s silhouette

I really enjoyed this project and I am already working on my next silhouette project. This time I am going the traditional route. That means I will either need to play around in Photoshop or cut out a template and then trace their silhouette onto black card stock. This means double cutting, but I actually enjoy that part, so I think I am going to take the hands on approach. I would also love to add their monogram below so I cannot wait to show you how those turn out.

This is where they sit in my home, my black and white foyer.

Happy Crafting!!

Posted in Children's Activities, DIY, Projects & Printables, Uncategorized | Tagged black and white, craft paper, Crafts, frames, Kids crafts, Silhouettes, tutorial | 2 Comments

Organize Your Closet with Chalkboard Shoe Labels

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Christy

Did you see my closet makeover? Read about it {here} if not; it’s one of my favorite rooms EVER! When I started out, though,I hated my closet because I thought it was too small. Seriously? It’s a walk-in closet, and it’s about 5′ x 8′. So I sound kind of spoiled when I say it’s too small. Obviously, the problem was with me and my overabundance of STUFF, not my closet.

So my closet redo started with a major purge session. That means that I spent a day sorting everything by color (yes, that was a little bit OCD) and season. Goodwill got several bags of stuff that were just taking up space, and I freed up a bunch of space. I also realized that while I have a lot of clothes, there’s not much money tied up in my wardrobe. The bulk of it seems to be from Target or thrift/consignment stores, but don’t tell my secret!

In a continuation of the closet post, today I’m going to show you how I organized my shoes using chalkboard vinyl labels and plastic Sterilite bins. This small and inexpensive change made a huge difference in the look of my closet!

I’ve used plastic Sterilite shoe boxes for years to organize my shoes. I’ve noticed that the sizes vary a little bit from one store to the next, so I try to buy all of mine at Wal-mart. They used to be about $1 apiece, and might still be, but I haven’t had to buy any in years because I have a strict one-in, one-out policy when it comes to shoes. I remember buying them a few at a time until I had all that I needed.

I used to use a white square label and a sharpie to label the boxes, like this:

I know, it’s not very pretty. Once I painted and redecorated in the closet, it was time to jazz up the shoe system a bit. I peeled all those old stickers off and whipped out my vinyl cutter and a roll of chalkboard vinyl.

There are tons of cute frames out there, but if you happen to have a Silhouette (I have a Cameo), I used Design ID # 2296 (frame border). I cut about 40 of them out, slapped them on and labeled them with my chalkboard pen. I even had a couple of empty boxes left, just in case!

The plastic bins let me see the shoes, as well as keeping things uniform and neat, and the labels let me write a short description of the contents. And when it’s time to enforce the one-in, one-out policy, I just wipe the label clean and start again! As is true with most organizational systems, it’s simple and neat–and that’s the key to sticking with it.

What if you don’t have a vinyl cutter? I would buy a roll of chalkboard Contact paper and a scrapbook punch and make them that way (you can buy chalkboard Contact paper online). I’ve seen some really cute paper punches lately–some round with scalloped edges, some rectangular and very similar to the frame I used. Then you can reuse the punch for all kinds of fun tags and labels in the future.

Below was my biggest problem with the shoebox project: Harley, our newly rescued furry family member, realized there were DOZENS of pairs of shoes spread out in the bedroom, ripe for the picking! He has good taste in chew toys, yes?!

I forgave him. He’s too cute not to!

Don’t forget to enter our fall giveaway for a pack of darling teacher notecards {here}. Giveaway closes Tuesday, September 25th.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to:

to:

Posted in Closets, Organization | Tagged chalkboard, closet, labels, organization, shoe box, shoes | 2 Comments

Fall Giveaway–Handmade Back-to-School Teacher Note Cards from JuJu Monkee!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Christy

We haven’t done a giveaway in awhile, and it’s not because we don’t love you, it was just a busy summer! But look what we have for you this week:

This is a set of 12 darling back-to-school note cards from our friend Julie, the creative mind behind JuJu Monkee. If you’re a teacher (or if you have a kid and want to get in good with his or her new teacher ) then you definitely want to enter this giveaway!

Here’s what you do: at the end of this post, leave me a comment if you follow us by email (or if you’re already a follower). The email follower signup is on the right sidebar. Leave me a SECOND comment when you “like” JuJu Monkee on Facebook. Leave me a third comment when you like 11 Magnolia Lane on Facebook, and leave me a FOURTH comment when you follow 11 Magnolia Lane on Twitter (check the right sidebar again). So, if you’re with the program–and I know you are, you can have up to four separate comments and four chances to win. Yes, if you already follow us by email or on Facebook or Twitter, or follow JuJu Monkee on Facebook, just leave me comments saying you’re already down with us and your entry counts, too.

Julie is a military spouse, just like me, plus we went to the same college, even though we didn’t meet until we both lived in Fayetteville, NC. That might be because she’s younger than me!

Check out some of her gorgeous cards–this blue, white, and black combo might be my favorite:

But I ordered the quatrefoil because it’s so trendy right now:

Julie did these cute house cards for a Realtor, but they’d be perfect for a change of address note, too:

The kids aren’t left out, either. This camo pattern lined with orange is great for a boy:

And Julie can work with you to make a customized card with your child’s school mascot on the front (the PTA presidents should bulk order these!):

This pink and green floral combination is one of Julie’s most popular ones:

I’m an Amy Butler fan, and this floral pattern reminds me of her fabrics:

I love how she packages the notecards so they’re ready to give as a gift–presentation is everything, after all. There are lots more to choose from on her Facebook page, and she’s always coming up with new ideas.

The giveaway will run through next Tuesday, September 25th, 2012, at 12noon CDT, and I’ll choose the winning comment number through the random number generator and announce it Wednesday the 26th.

Remember, everyone can enter up to four times!

Thanks for entering (good luck!) and thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Gifts, giveaways | Tagged Apple, back to school, giveaway, note cards, stationery, teacher | 25 Comments

My Pink & Silver Closet Reveal–Organized Bliss!

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Christy

Last weekend was our 17th wedding anniversary. I got married as an infant, I promise you! We went out to a trendy restaurant in East Nashville to celebrate (so you know we were out of place with all the young hipsters ), and then on Sunday, I decided to celebrate by painting my closet! My husband just rolls his eyes–he knows that’s as fun for me as playing a round of golf is for him.

We are fortunate to have his-and-hers walk-in closets in our room; this is the first time we haven’t had to share a closet. It probably works out well for my husband, because even though his is a tiny bit smaller, he doesn’t have to worry about all my stuff crowding him out! When we first moved in, I was having a hard time making the closet work. Finally, I realized the fault was my own–I had too many clothes! I did a huge purge and took bagfuls to Goodwill. There were so many things that were nice but I just never got around to wearing. Why not bless someone else with it? And then there’s room for MORE! Never mind, I didn’t really mean that–well, sort of. If you promise not to hold it against me, I will let you look at the disorganized “before”:

I know, it burns, doesn’t it?! Everything worked so much better once I got rid of some things. I love all those gorgeous closets on Pinterest–the ones with accessory islands, chaise lounges, refrigerators, swimming pools, etc.–but that’s not real life for most of us. And I am perfectly content with my life, and my closet! I LOVE harlequin diamonds, and decided that I wanted to go with a pink and silver wall treatment to honor my love of all things girly and blingy (if that’s a word). I’m going to do a separate post on how to paint harlequin diamonds, if you’ve never done it before. It’s a bit tricky and time-consuming, but SO worth it in the end result.

My paint color was “Princess” from Valspar (from Lowe’s). There was a $5 rebate on paint that weekend and while I intended to buy a can of pink paint from their “Oops” section, they only had quarts and I figured I’d need a gallon since I planned to paint the ceiling, too. I used Martha Stewart’s glaze (from Home Depot) in Mercury, and while I’ll cover the process in more detail when I write the “diamonds post”, I used 1 part paint to 2 parts glaze to give a silvery sheen to the harlequin diamonds. The last part of the painting process was to use a silver upholstery tack to embellish the diamonds. I snagged those at Hobby Lobby. I painted the ceiling pink, too, to disguise a pop-up entrance to the attic, although I didn’t put any diamonds on the ceiling. Here’s how the diamonds looked when I was finished (they’re very subtle):

After I reinstalled the shelving (yes, I had to take it out to paint), I moved on to the fun part, installing the chandelier. I bought the Kristaller chandelier for $40 the last time I was at Ikea, and that’s what I hung in here. Perfect! As I’ve mentioned before, I despise white wire shelving. I ripped it out in my laundry room and my pantry, but since we know we’re moving in a few months, I just didn’t feel I could justify the expense of doing the same thing in my closet. So I didn’t have to stare at SO much white wire, I used a couple of black lamp/chandelier cord covers to disguise the front of the shelves. The little velcro closures made them fit like a charm. Check them out in the “after” pictures…

While I’ve had my shoes stored in plastic Sterilite bins for years, I upgraded my labeling system with chalkboard labels. I’ll write a separate post about them next since they were so easy but made such a big difference. I’ve also set a strict limit for myself–I can only have as many shoes as will fit on the top shelf. And in the shoe organizer (below). That’s it. REALLY.

I had so much extra space that I got to hang a gorgeous quatrefoil monogram in pink and gray from one of my favorite sites for free printables, For Chic Sake. Thanks so much, girls!

They have several different color choices, by the way. Here’s a close-up:

I also printed out their hanger tags {here}. My daughter might get more use out of them, but they sure are fun!

I brought in my black and white mannequin to show off some jewelry.

A set of hooks that I snagged at the thrift store holds necklaces, or tote bags.

Another little shelf (also from the thrift store) holds scarves and pins.

By the way, I spray-painted the light switch plate metallic silver…I thought it would be a fun touch.

The big wicker trunk was my mom’s. It holds my purses and tote bags; I just can’t make them look good when they’re out in the open!

The hat box on the floor holds–you guessed it–hats. Go figure!

Here are a few last shots of the “After”. I hope you love it as much as I do. Oh, and keep reading at the bottom, because I’m going to let you in on a secret!

OK, in case you were wondering, not ALL of my clothes are black, white, and sequined. However, wouldn’t it be easier if they all were?! While I had fun staging the closet for the pictures, that’s not real life. Here’s what it really looks like:

I might spray paint those natural-colored baskets silver. What do you think?