Aqua Piano

My new friend Juliette just moved back into the neighborhood and hired me to refinish her piano as a Christmas present to herself. Isn't she thoughtful? How did she know that's exactly what she wanted?!?

Here's a crappy iphone before picture.

She wanted to paint it white but I talked her into doing this great aqua color. I'm so glad I did, it's so much more "her". She is very colorful when she talks and totally cracks me up. And with all of the neutral walls I thought a huge pop of color would make things interesting.

This next picture is actually a truer representation of the color. The stain I used over the top gave it a gorgeous green hue. 

Then I was Christmas shopping and spied these UH-mazing pillows at TJ Max. They had all the colors in her room which never happens. And I just happened upon it. Lucky.

We're going out of town for Christmas so I'm going to be MIA again for a while. Sorry, but Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Front door holiday decor

I was so happy with my last front porch vignette that I decided to keep most of the elements and just update a few items. I bought some fake poinsettias from Goodwill for a couple dollars and added a little Christmas tree from Target to the metal stand. That's all! It's amazing how different something looks just by changing a few accessories.

Christmas party

I was asked a while ago to host a Christmas party for all of the women who I go to church with. I jumped at the opportunity to design something temporary, easy and fun. My husband was just glad that I might actually deep clean the house this year.

After finding some over sized, over ugly ornaments from Goodwill, brainstorming with my sister, and searching on Pinterest, here's what we came up with.

I needed enough seating for 40-50 people, have them all in the same room, and be able to see the t.v. My husband hung some branches from the ceiling. I'm not sure if you (or I) knew this, but my husband is apparently an expert angler. Which came in handy because if the fishing line didn't hold, I would ultimately be responsible for maiming someone. That's a lot of pressure.

After a quick can of heirloom white spray paint, the once gold ornaments were looking very festive. I tied them to the branches with red and white bakers twine from Hobby Lobby and called it a day.

It was really fun to host this years enrichment dinner for my church. I have to say, my tile floors took quite the beating from food and chairs and they are still looking fantastic. I really love how easy they are to clean. Here's one more of some of the awesome women who came.

Let's see how long my house stays clean. My money is on 9 hours. And mostly because my kids will be asleep for the next 8.

It's ok though. I kinda miss the semi-permanent blanket fort in the living room.