I Want To Believe

I'm here to share a few wonderful things I received for Christmas!

These flannel sheets were a gift from my parents and they are heavenly.  They'll really come in handy when we move to Washington state next year.  I don't want to get up in the morning! 

This sweet little owl (also from my parents) found a permanent home on my book shelf.  

I've wanted one of these Kitty Cat clocks since seeing them in cartoons as a child.  My husband got one for me and I love love love it!  Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, it's in the space over my kitchen sink and the lighting wasn't ideal.  It makes me smile whenever I see it!

Which... is what it was made to do.  The Kit Cat clock was made during the 1930's  and was supposed to inspire hope and put a smile on everyone's face during the dark times of the Great Depression.  

I think it's completely adorable and I would be happy with one of these in every room!  (Though, I wouldn't do that... maybe not every room!)

Russ also got me a Phrenology head that I've been wanting since starting my Psychology degree!  I always see it on some random bookshelf in the background of some psychologist's office in TV or movies and I've wanted one forever!

For all you non-Psych students, Phrenology was a pseudoscience that focused on the measurements of the human skull and that traits corresponded to certain areas of the skull and brain. 

He's found a nice home on my desk where I can admire his head for years to come.  

He also makes me wish I were going for my Master's degree... anyways...

And last but not least, the "I Want to Believe" poster that can be seen in Mulder's office during "The X-Files."  Technically this wasn't a gift for me but for my husband.  I love this show so much too that it's a gift for me as well!

From http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Mulder´s_office.jpg

What a great Christmas!

I wonder if I can recreate Mulder's office in my house someday? haha

Shopping Find: Target

Normally I would avoid any stores around Christmas but, I'm glad we stopped in at Target on Christmas Eve where I purchased this beautiful tree that I've been admiring for weeks.  However, I balked every time at the $19.99 price tag.  Fortunately, it seems, so did everyone else and they were marked down to $9.98 which was definitely a price I could stomach.  


I had my Target gift card in hand (the people in Russ' office were so wonderful and generous that they gave me a gift card for Christmas because of all the goodies I sent in throughout the year, isn't that sweet?!  I even teared up a little when my husband handed it to me...).   Anyways, I bought the tree and paired it with my green Target table runner that I bought a couple weeks prior.  Gorgeous! 

Target also had a smaller version of the tree in bright red for about $8 which I might get if I happen to go in there and see it again.  They'll probably be out though from all the Christmas decor scavengers I saw while I was in there last. 

I love my little snowflake candle accents which are ornaments that I got at Target (where else?) for four for a dollar. 

Except for the white pillar candles, everything on this table I bought at Target!  I seriously love that store.  It's a rarity when I go into Target and don't see anything that I want to buy.  I used to love Walmart just as much until I worked there last holiday season.  Now, I loathe going in there.  Let's just face it, Target is a much classier Walmart and I'd rather shop there.  Plus, my eyes aren't savaged by the clientele of Target like they are at Walmart (peopleofwalmart.com, anyone?).

Mocha'd It Up!

I hope everyone's Christmas and holidays were awesome, I had a great time!  My best friend came to spend Christmas with my husband and me and it was a blast.  I received wonderful presents, everyone was so thoughtful.  I am truly blessed.


Tomorrow I'll be posting on a few decor-related items that I received for Christmas (today was too rainy to take good indoor pictures!).  So, here's a little project I finished a few days before Christmas!


After staring at my turquoise mirror for a few months, I decided it was time to add some character in the form of some mocha glaze... just like the Elmer's glue project from last week.

I love the bright color but the mocha glaze on the canvas took the brightness down a couple notches and made the turquoise look so pretty and rich.

I just simply brushed over the paint finish in any way that I felt looked the best.  Some places I kept the glaze thicker than others for a stylishly imperfect look.  After about an hour of drying time it was ready to hang back up.

I love how the glaze gives it an aged look and the beautiful color is still able to shine through.  I think that it fits in better with the color scheme of the room.  And, the simple upgrade was free and took only an hour!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! (Or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate!)  I've had a great one and I'll be posting some of my wonderful gifts tomorrow! :D

Felt Up Ornaments

So yeah, Christmas is almost here and that means no more Christmas projects.  I'm kinda okay with that because I've been doing random Christmas projects for over a month and... yeah, ready to move on now.  


I had some extra felt and stuffing lying around and quickly made these for the tree...

I even made these Adventure Time- themed ones...

Gotta love Lumpy Space Princess and Jake... Russ loved them!

Bubble Wrap Art!

I've been wanting to try this technique for a while but didn't have any bubble wrap but, luckily I received a package with usable bubble wrap!


All you need is some white card stock, acrylic paints, bubble wrap and a paint brush or sponge.  I've also been contemplating trying this technique with a canvas since I'm so crazy about how awesome it looks. 

And the steps are simple: paint the bubble wrap, press the card stock down and allow your art to dry.

I hung it up with some other art above my bed and I think it looks amazing!

Nevermind the mismatching blankets... not for style, they're for keeping us warm at night.

The picture on the left is just some cut-up paint chips assembled to look like pixels and the "LOVE" is just a graphic I made up in a Word document. 

I'm so pleased with the result that I'm looking for other places to make bubble wrap art!

And I just realized that I never really showed much of our bedroom.  

So... here's the view of the window, curtains, and another DIY canvas I did based on this found on Pinterest (of course): 

http://flyergoodness.blogspot.com/2011/03/all-day-everyday-poster-project-by.html

Expect to see more bubble wrap art in the future!

Ian Likes To Play

Birthday!

So, today is my birthday but we mostly celebrated it yesterday because we were unsure if Russ' work schedule today.


I got to open my present from Russ and then we had a great lunch/dinner at California Pizza Kitchen!


We got home and Russ...

 ... baked me a cake!  Didn't he do an awesome job for his first cake?! :P

Whispy Feather Ornaments

A while back (we're talking before Thanksgiving) I wanted to replicate a project I saw over at one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love.  

It was pretty self-explanatory: buy supplies and fill with feathers.  And for less than $10, that's what I did...

I bought these feather picks (because they were cheapest) and cut off the feathers.  This proved to be a little messy.

And that's it!