Creative Juices Decor

Here we go!!!   Let's get right into the Rustic Christmas decorating! Alright, I'll admit, I'm not always ready to start decorating for Christmas but this year is my FIRST year (after a FIVE year renting era) in our new house. You have to understand, in the rental, we didn't even HAVE a mantel.  I was very thankful for that house but c'mon people, I am an interior designer and I went 5 years without a mantel.  :-) So I guess I'm a little excited.......bear with me :-) I wasn't sure what my plan was for my huge mantle but I was walking around Michaels with my eldest daughter and we walked by this GIANT (I mean H.U.G.E) wood wreath and I started laughing and said to my daughter, " Look at that wreath, who in their right mind would buy a huge thing like that??"  We got a kick out of it, chuckling over the idea of the crazy person who would want that. But of course, as things usually progress......that night when most people...

In order to do THIS: (yes, the mantle really is that big!  Or maybe my head is just that small??) I had to use one of THESE: But the good news is yesterday I found this one at my local thrift store for $10.00!!!!!   YEA!!!!   You see, I can paint, but I’m not an amazing artist and my client wanted me to do a fresco (a painting on clay plaster) of antlers on her giant mantle. She gave me a plate to show me what kind of antlers she was thinking about.  In my head I was truly thinking WHY does she think I can do this??  I suppose I don’t give myself enough credit, but let’s just say I was totally nervous.  UNTIL, I realized that I could just print out her antler picture and trace it on a transparency and COPY it onto her mantle!!  (sorry, I didn’t take a photo of the transparency shining on the mantle, I had traced it with a pencil and turned off the machine) TA DA!  But the next question was, where can I...

You guys (yes, all my wonderful readers) really blew me away these past few days!  In response to the last post ( How to Make Money Blogging ) you guys clicked so many ads that I can not only take myself out to coffee, I can take a group of friends too!  I honestly, did not expect that!  My plan was just to share how bloggers do make money, then you guys have to go and make me feel all special :-)  So thank you, really.  All the comments were fairly positive with the ads, I had a gal discuss on my facebook page that ads on blogs really bug her, but she still enjoys my content.  I really do appreciate all my readers and you did make me feel appreciated. Thanks again :-) I waited a little while before showing the master bedroom to you guys because I was hoping to find the perfect chair for the corner, but I can’t find a good deal on one right now, so here is the room, and for all practical purposes, finished! Do you guys rememb...

Here is the final fully decorated living room.  You already saw the fireplace but I realized you haven’t seen any of the furniture! I am still debating whether or not to put up some light tapestry drapes. (just on the bottom half)  I can see it in my head and I think I like it, but I don’t want things to get too cluttered. For some reason the sofas look purple, they aren’t   Just a deep brown.  I got both the sofas and the coffee table off Craigslist for a great price!  The faux fur pillows and blanket were from Wayfair.com I’m sure you all know by now that music is very important in my family so we made room for the upright piano on this half wall.  Of course, it would be a dream to have a grand piano but an upright will be just fine This is the view from the kitchen looking out.  To the left is the dining room.  It is a very open floor plan, makes entertaining pretty easy.  (although, entertaining isn’t my stron...

I have collected SO MUCH junk beautiful things from the thrift store, yes, I have topped off my cabinets FULL of thrift store treasures for pennies.  The funny thing is I have so much collected things left over that I am not using that I told myself I am BANNED from any more thrift store shopping.  My own home 2016 - too many things going on!   My own home 2026 - SIMPLIFIED and IMPORTANT: no cabbagey greenery. (Just olive twigs, simplistic greenery)  .   Be sure to check out the   Pottery Barn Knockoff clock tutoria l pictured above :-)  Any affiliate link I may make a small commission but it doesn't cost you any extra. (-:  Shop my Affiliate Look!  Small Clock Large Clock Wicker Basket Dark Vase Light Vase Candlestick   Small Art Olive Twigs Decorative Books Here are a few tips when it comes to decorating tops of cabinets or even tops of decorative tables. 1 .) Do lots of layering, especial...

Oh boy, it’s started……all the decorating!!! I LOVE this part, but at the same time it can be frustrating, especially when you are by yourself and it’s 11:30 at night.  All I can say is that if you have a friend, invite them over when you are trying to place pictures and do a collage.  You need them to say “to the right, or to the left a little!”  What happens to me is I climb on the latter, insert object, climb down, realize it needs to be moved over 3” and try again. (and again and again)   We will NOT discuss how many holes I have in my walls……no we wont!  Here is the BEFORE: And the staying up till midnight AFTER:   Actually I had it like this first (minus the violin) but I have such a love for music I thought adding the violin just felt right.  (The violin was mine as a teenager until I forgot I put it on top of my car and drove away only to hear something fall off the car – ummm lets just say, no violin can s...