How To: Lamp Cords

Ok girls. This is my first "How To" so I hope it is not too confusing. Here is a before picture with the standard, good 'ole twist ties. Not as attractive as it could be.
Step 1: Make a loop with your cord and stretch out the rest so there is about three times the length of the loop.
Step 2: Grab the long length of cord while holding the loop tightly and start wrapping it around the loop by going over the top first.
Step 3: While holding tightly, continue wrapping the cord.

Step 4: Continue until you have about a two inch long loop at the end.
Step 5: Push the plug through the loop.
Your hands will probably get tired and you might have to re-do it a couple of times to come out with the exact amount at the end (I had to re-do it 3 times) but it is worth it in the end.
It presents a much cleaner look and frees up so much space. Depending on how far away your outlet is will determine where you start your loop. Since my lamp was right beside an outlet I could start about 4-5 inches from the base of the lamp, or in this case, right above the switch. If your outlet is farther away you might need to start in the center of your cord.
When you walk into the bathroom now you can't even see it. I hope these instructions make sense. If you are still having trouble with it please let me know and I will try to clarify. Let me know how it turns out!

Lamp Cords

Well I finally got some lamps for my bathroom. I really like the lamp light that they add. At first I didn't know if I liked them because they came with about 22 feet of cord that had no where to go.
Then, my mother in law suggested this idea that she had seen at someone's house. It worked perfectly and frees up so much space. I did it in all my bathrooms and it looks so much cleaner than having a lot of cord bunched up in the corner.
If anyone would be interested I could take step by step pictures. It is pretty easy, you might be able to tell how I did it by the picture above.

Gearing Up

Gearing up for fall that is! I was cleaning out my scrapbook supplies and found this fall paper I bought last year.

I've been seeing this paper pendent idea on several blogs and decided to try it myself. Don't look too close because you will see that it is very homemade.
Yes, I took it down after the picture. I said I was gearing up for fall, not ready for fall!


P.S. NEWS FLASH!!! I just recently found out that Oops has a web page. It is http://www.oopsdeals.com/. However, be warned, it doesn't have their cute stuff!!! You may still find something you can't live without though.

Another Oops Trip

This weekend my parents came back up with Zach because his parents (my brother and sister in law) were coming home from their vacation. They got here early enough on Saturday for my mom and I to go to Oops. Zach was perfect (as usual :) and slept most of the time in the cart. When he woke up he just took it all in.

My mom bought me this cute candle holder. I love the little bird on top of course. I'll go ahead and answer your question...it was $8.75. When we got home she was wishing she had gotten herself one too.
I bought this fun toile ribbon. I will probably use it for Christmas, either for decorating or wrapping or both. It was $2.50 a roll and each roll has 10 yards.
I told Katie to be looking for a surprise on here and here it is:
Zach loved this big chair that sits outside of Oops. Katie and I even have our picture in this chair. He looked so tiny, as anyone would. He didn't really want to get out. It was cute.

Candleholder Before and After

If you looked closely at my dining room pictures you probably noticed some candlesticks on the wall. On second thought, you might not have seen them because they blended in so much. On the builder beige walls there was definitely more of a contrast but not so much on the brown walls.

Before:

Taking all of your inspiration from the many spray painted pieces I decided to spray paint them. I just got some off white paint at Walmart but in the future I will always prime. The paint didn't stick that well to the metal so it took a lot of coats. If I would have primed them I think it would have been a lot less.
Now I think they stand out a lot more and tie into the cream curtains. I even rubbed a little walnut stain on them but that didn't turn out so great. Oh well, it was my first time with stain and spray paint so it was a learning experience. Now I will have to find more things to spray paint!
I still want to try Kimba's idea to spray paint old thrifted dishes. That was such a great idea and I think it turned out great.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

After church on Sunday I decided to find a place for some of my new purchases and re-arrange a little. Here is that little cloche I got on Saturday. The egg came with it so I need to find a little nest to put it in.

I have been wanting to re-arrange this china cabinet in our kitchen for a while. I felt like things were getting lost in it so decided to add several white pieces.
I re-arranged my beside table so I could put the brown and white plate that I bought on it.
I haven't decide if it is going to stay here, that is why it still has the plate hanger on it.
This dried lavender smells so good. I tied some raffia on it and placed it by this candle. These faux mercury glasses were actually at Oops for (I think) 80 cents each. I bought several but dropped a votive in this one. It is very pretty lit but didn't photograph well.
Do ya'll re-arrange as often as I do? I feel like nothing stays the same for long and I like it that way.

Mantel Before and After

This past weekend my father in law and dad built out our mantel. As you can see in the before picture it was a whopping 5 inches deep. I was very limited on what I could put on it.

Before:

During:
After:

I have been wanting a large deep mantel for so long to decorate. Well, now that I have one, I have decorating block! I just put the same things I had up there for now. I'll probably have to live with it for a few weeks to get inspired. I know it will be great for Christmas because I have always wanted to put a nativity set up there.
Before, those topiary pots touched the wall and came to the edge of the mantel. I love the new depth. Five more inches makes a huge difference!

Loot!

While the paint is still drying on my mantel I thought I would show you the loot I got Saturday. I love the little glass cloche. I still have to find somewhere to put it and something to put it in. Both picture frames came from Oops. The one with ribbon was three dollars and the black one was six. The lavender is from Hobby Lobby.

I love it when Oops puts their fall and Christmas decorations out. They have just started but I still got some great things. I got three arrangements. I'll hang the long one on my door with a pretty ribbon and then mix the other two in with my other decorations. Seeing all the fall colors really got me excited for fall. When do you decorate for fall? I usually try to wait until mid September. I can't wait for all your house tours during fall and Christmas. I know I will be stealing a lot of ideas!

All About Zach

This post is all about Zach. My brother Jason and sister in law Katie are at a Dude Ranch in Colorado so my parents are watching Zach. They don't really have cell phone service or Internet but promised they would check the blog when they could at the front desk. So I took a lot of pictures of Zach the last few days so they could see him.

Hanging out with G-Daddy in the back yard.
"I don't know about this..."
He would just hold it between his front teeth.
Too cute!
I love his little smile in this one.
Trying to crawl.
Getting kisses from Uncle Cody.
Forget crawling...he just wants to walk!
In this one he is saying, "I love you Mommy and Daddy!"

Awarded and Tagged

Yea!! I got an award!! Well, a blog award, which is still just as great! And even better, it is a brilliant award! :) Thank you Jo at To A Pretty Life and Jill at Forever and Ever House.

Also, I was tagged by Darlene of Darlene's Days and Laura at Making a House a Home . I am supposed to list 6 random things about me.

1. I do not like feet. I do not like my own feet to touch much less Cody's feet touching mine. So every single night Cody slides his foot over and touches my foot just so I can cringe.

2. I do not like coffee although I love the smell of coffee.

3. I am not really into music. I listen to the radio in the car (it never changes stations) and that is about it. That is why I don't have music on my blog and have my volume turned down in case someone might have music. Plus I can't read and listen to music at the same time! :)

4. I graduated college with an interior design degree.

5. I love being a full time nanny!

6. I read about one book per week.

If you read this, consider yourself tagged! I spent all day today shopping while my husband and father in law and my dad worked on my mantel. Pics to come!

Dining Room

The last room on the house tour is our dining room. When we moved in we painted the walls Mud Slide from Lowes. Boy was that project. Four coats later this is what we got.


We also changed out the light fixture because the builder put in a white 6-light chandelier. It was way too small for the space and really ugly.

My mom's parents gave us this dining room set that they purchased 48 years ago. I love the french curves. We just reupholstered the chairs for the first time this year. I guess when you only use something once a year it really holds up!
When we moved in, the builder beige on the walls made the furniture blend in, but since we painted the walls brown it actually stands out a lot more.
We hosted Thanksgiving dinner here this past year and got to use all our china and crystal for the first time. It was pretty special to have my grandparents eating on their table in our house.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! I really enjoy seeing your houses and get inspiration from everyone. Thank you for all your sweet comments!!

Other Guestroom

This room is tiny to say the least. Originally it was a TV room with the leather chair and ottoman, that is in our room, being in here. That made it much more spacious but no body ever watched TV in there because it didn't have tivo. Can you say spoiled?!

So we moved an antique iron bed, that we had in the attic, in here. I have always loved this bed. Probably because the summer before I moved into my first college apartment, my dad and I spend countless hours sanding, priming, and painting this bed. I found it in my grandparent's barn and it was solid rust. And I do mean solid.
Here is that giant green cabinet that we all know and love. Maybe without that in here it would seem a lot bigger but it is not going anywhere!
Here is the tiny TV with no tivo. That lamp shade is very blah. It needs some trim or something. Also, Kimba would have that table spray painted in a heartbeat. It is one of those old cherry tables from Bombay. Definitely not my style but I'm scared to paint it. I really want to though! Would I have to sand it? That would take forevs.
Here is a little metal letter I got at Oops for 65 cents. I added the ribbon to make it sorta look like a tassel. I am no Susie Harris or Nester that's for sure!
Dining room to come.