Christmas Home Tour – Part II – The Great Out-Doors!

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Ahh… Welcome to the great-outdoors — Of my front yard, that is!

When we moved into our cozy, dream-home, one of the things that I was so excited about, was the pretty front porch that I would get to decorate! Since decorating a ginormous front porch can get a little costly, I tried to use items that I already had, plus lots of greenery from the back yard.

I made my very own Cedar Boughs with some wire and pliers. I then made these super-easy, 2-Minute Bows, from only one roll of geo-mesh for $10. 6To dress up the area around the front doors, I made very, very simple Christmas urns. I used my cheap summer flower pots, but spray-painted them all a metallic-black color to make them match. Next I stuck boughs of Spruce into the pots, and then tied very simple mini-version-bows onto the boughs. 14Last night when I was about to do my photo shoot, I realized that I didn’t have a wreath for my door — a major faux-pas! So in house-coat, high-heels (because they were the closest shoes to me??!), I dug out the ladder to find my old Christmas wreath…. It wasn’t anywhere! Panic-Alert!!!! So after running around trying to come up with something else to use, I found this cute, little, tin-bucket and stuck some old garland and branches of cedar in it. Whew — Crisis averted! 

Matt, (my husband), was in charge of the Christmas lights, and I must say, he did a fabulous job!10Below is my big, beautiful, grape-vine wreath that my wonderful mother made for our wedding! It’s about 5 feet in diameter, and I absolutely love it! All I did to “Christmas-Up” my wreath was add some lights to it, wrap it in red geo-mesh, and add a matching cedar bough and bow to it. It’s so sparkly and pretty… definitely my favorite piece of holiday decor, this year! 5Total cost for this front porch Christmas decor, $21.00!!!! $10.00 on geo-mesh, and $11.00 on spray paint…. Now, all we need is some snow!!!!!!!

 

My Dollar Store Christmas Tree! Wait….. What??!

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This year I decided that I was going to make all of the decorations for my Christmas tree — yes, make…. and well, how did that go, you ask…. HA!

So umm…. scratch that!

Welcome to my new post…. about how to decorate your Christmas tree with Dollar Store decorations! Yes, it is possible…. and yes — I am SO in love with the results!

Before I get to far into my post, I would like to point out that my inspiration for this tree, my burlap garland, did not come from the dollar store…. but it was the perfect foundation for me to build my dollar store decorations upon!

The colors that I selected to go with my burlap garland were 1. Silver, 2. White, and 3. Red. The reason why I chose these colors is because I knew that they would be easy to find… plus they are just like, so pretty!

I was able to find the cutest (and sparkly-est!) Silver ornaments at the dollar store…. pine-cones, sparkly stars, snowflakes, angels, bells, and my star-tree-topper, (also sparkly!). Then I found glittery, wispy fake-flower-thingies that came in both silver and red! To add white into the mixture, I found these other snow-ball fake-flower-thingies…. perfect!

Now I must say, my tree does look a million times better in person…. but I still had to share. Maybe I’ll find that shiny new camera under the tree, Christmas morning?! (Hint, hint Matt!) 😉

 

The 2-Minute Bow!

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This is seriously, the easiest bow to make — Ever!!! And the best part is…. that it takes only two minutes to make, and it looks totally professional!

All you need is some geo-mesh, scissors, a pair of pliers, and some wire.

Step 1: Cut the geo-mesh into 3 inch strips. You will need 5 to 6 of these strips per bow.

Step 2: Take all of your strips and gather them in the middle with a piece of wire.

Step 3: Hang and fluff!1

Done…. Yes — It’s that easy! 😉

3 Ingredient MeatLoaf (2 Minute Prep, 1 Hour Bake)

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3 Ingredient MeatLoaf (2 Minute Prep, 1 Hour Bake Time) #Meatloaf #3IngredientRecipes #Recipes

 

Ok… The secret is out! You can make the most delicious meatloaf with only 3 ingredients … Yes, literally THREE INGREDIENTS! This meatloaf is also a major winner because it takes only one hour to bake, and like two seconds to throw together! Well, ok, maybe like two minutes… but still — Amazing!

 

3 Ingredient MeatLoaf – Prep Time: 2 Min, Bake Time: 1 Hour

 

I make this meatloaf all of the time for my family when I am in a rush, but still looking for something tasty and hearty. And its definitely my go-to meal for when my father-in-law stops by! Continue reading →

Cedar Boughs! – A How-To-Guide

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Why spend money on Christmas decor, when you can simply make your own? Here’s how to create the Perfect Cedar Bough!

Step 1: Gather your cedar bows. Cedar trees are a very popular North-American tree that you can find growing just about anywhere!

Step 2: Take your cedar boughs and line them up end to end, overlapping the ends about 3 or 4 inches. Layer as many boughs as you like on top of each other until you get a nice “full” look.

Step 3: Cut about a 3 or 4 inch strip of wire and wrap it around the bow ends. Take the ends of the wire in a pair of pliers, and twist. (Be careful, if you twist the wire too  much it may break off!)

Step 4: Hang and decorate as you please! 🙂

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Ugly-Pillow Make-Over! – (in less than 15 Minutes!)

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This is my ugly pillow… Pretty ugly, eh?!

I’ve been dreaming of a burlap pillow with the silhouette of a deer head for quite awhile now, but wasn’t exactly sure of how to go about it… so, after a lot of contemplating (and a lot of procrastinating!), this is what I came up with:

The first thing that I did was measure and cut out the pillow on a piece of burlap. Since I don’t know how to sew, (did I mention my mother is a professional seamstress by trade? — A trait I definitely did not inherit!), I left about a 1 inch border of material to go all the way around the pillow so that I could hot-glue it later on.

Next, I found the perfect deer silhouette image online and printed it out. I then cut it out and traced it on to my burlap, and then colored it in with a black sharpie. (Remember to place a piece of paper or cardboard under the burlap so it doesn’t bleed through!)

Since I folded my burlap in half, I only needed to hot-glue 3 sides. During the hot-glue process I used a piece of card board to press the burlap edges together, so that the hot-glue didn’t burn my fingers!

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This Ugly-Pillow Make-Over literally, took me less than 15 minutes! And I must admit, I’m pretty pleased with the results and cannot wait to make more! 🙂

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Christmas Home Tour – Part I – The Dining Room

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Come on in! Welcome to TheProjectPile.com’s Christmas Home Tour — In fact, welcome to our very first home tour, ever! If you are looking for something extremely extravagant and done up to the “nines”, this may not be for you… Most of the Christmas Decor within our home has either been up-cycled from previous years, found in the backyard (Nature Things — Yah!), or it came from the good ol’Dollar Store! With pops of red here, and a sprig of greenery there — I hope you enjoy!

4This super-cozy, yet simple corner, is my favorite place to sit and read a magazine, or just take some time out of my busy day to relax. Believe it or not, this solid-wood rocking-chair came from a thrift store for 25 dollars, and is totally one of the best 25 dollars that I ever spent! I used a faux fur blanket and a hand-made burlap pillow to make this area soft and comfy!13

To “Christmas-Up” this area, I simply recycled last year’s Christmas Decor by placing the Christmas ornaments into the clear glass holders, that would normally house my regular dining room decor. Such a simple concept, that adds the perfect combination of Christmas and “Sparkle” all in one! 18I purchased one bunch of “Fresh Winter Berries” for 13 dollars, and look at the result! A sprig here and there, totally ties the room together!2I’ve had these little snowman salt and pepper shakers for a coupe of years now, just sitting on the top of my microwave — shoved to the back, where nobody could see them… and I must say, they are my favorite piece of decor this year!
6My lovely nephews gave us this adorable “Joy, Joy, Joy” (one of the songs that they always sang when they were little!), Snowman Plate (sorry, it’s kind of hard to see with the way the light is reflecting!)…. It is the perfect finishing touch to my hutch decor.  

Adding some old red napkins underneath certain pieces in the room was the final detail used to bring everything together! I really hope that you enjoyed Part I of this home tour…. Remember to stop on by TheProjectPile.com to check out more! 🙂27

A Sneak-Peek of my Christmas Decor!

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Oh boy, Christmas decorating with a crazy-busy toddler around, ahhh…. not so easy! LOL… But a lot of fun!7

We have been working super hard to get out our Christmas decor, so we can give you a virtual Christmas-Home tour this year! Here is a teeny-tiny sneak-peek of what is “more-to-come”…2The rooms on the tour will be the dining room, living room, outdoors, and the guest bathroom. All of these rooms will have that eclectic-antique-ish “mixed with the new” feel, with the main decor ingredients being a dash of cedar, a handful of fresh winter berries, and a pinch of anything red! Stay tuned for more! 🙂12

Toilet Paper Snowman!

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OK… Today I decided to become a super-creative-genius! My husband doesn’t necessarily agree, ha — but come on…. this little guy is pretty-darn cute! Even better, he took like 5 seconds to make! (Ok, maybe like 5 minutes, but you get the point!)

All you need:

3 Toilet Paper Rolls

Black & Orange Markers

Mr. Potato’s Hat (Yes, that’s right… I stole my kids Mr. Potato hat — Genius!)

All I did was color on my snowman’s eyes, mouth, nose, buttons, arms and shoes… stuck a hat on top, and Viola! I hope that you enjoyed this super-simple, super-cute, super-fast, way to “Christmas-Up” the guest bathroom!

Hutch Make-Over with Chalk Paint!

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If you caught last week’s post, you’ll remember that I was super-excited, because I finally tried Chalk Paint! And you know what…. I’m still super-excited about it! Woo-hoo!!!

So, without any further a due, I now present to you, my beautiful Hutch Make-Over!

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I love, love, love this piece! I always have…. growing up as a little girl in my parents 180+ year old farm house, it was always a main feature piece in their beautiful dining room. As my parent’s decor-taste changed, as people’s often does, this gorgeous piece was moved out into the barn for storage, where it has probably sat for roughly ten years.

I was so excited to bring this hutch home and start working on it! Needless to say, it was in a little bit of rough shape…. I reinforced the piece using staples and finishing nails, and used wood filler to fill in any cracks. I then started sanding. One front foot was missing a piece, so to make them match, I took my trusty old hammer and tapped off the identical piece on the other front foot. I then sanded them down to round out the edges and make them match. This turned out to be such an easy solution to my major dilemma!

I then sanded down the top of the hutch, and the two front legs. The reason for doing this comes from that age old question — “To paint, or not to paint?”…. So I always try to compromise with myself and do a little of both! 😉

Since I was going to use chalk paint to paint the rest of my hutch, all that I needed to do was sand down any of the previous finish that was flaking. I then chalk painted the body of the hutch. It only took two coats with this amazing chalk paint! If you like, check out some of the reasons of why I decided to use chalk paint, and why I completely love chalk paint!

To finish the top and front legs of the hutch, I decided to use the dark wax that can be used to create a different finish with the chalk paint. I would normally use a stain here, but wanted to try this out instead. And the result? Amazing! I completely love how it turned out!

Ok, and here is the finished product! LOVE IT!4

Tip: I used this fantastic trick from the CreekLineHouse.com to get my mirror sparkly-clean! – 10 Almost Life-Changing Uses for Rubbing Alcohol

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