Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween, I love taking the kids trick or treating and eating some of there candy but I also feel bad for some of the kids in some towns in Massachusetts and other places that had to change the date for trick or treating because of the snowstorm.

My optimus prime 

 

 

 little ninja

and a power ranger

These photos were taken from there school fantasy Friday parade, they do it every Friday before Halloween.

 

 

 

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Christmas Will Be Here Before We know It

It snowed last night, yup it snowed and Halloween hasn't even passed yet. I can't remember the last time it snowed so early here in New England

Supposedly there is nor'easter coming with heavy rain, snow and wind tomorrow night. Not looking forward to that.

But snow reminds me are creating Christmas cards and I do like to get a early start on Christmas cards, I enjoy sending them out every year.

Last year we had professional photos taken and this is the card we sent out.

The past two years I made them by hand. When I find my extras I will take photos of them to share. 

Having them made is fast and I just dont have the time to make them by hand, or that's just an excuse I know I can do it, I have tons of holiday paper and envelopes from when a card making business was going out of business I received a lot of good stuff.

Homemade cards are always nice

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I also love to display cards

look at this these

 

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Photo cards  

are so affordable these days and I like the idea of creating them online and having them shipped out, or spend .99 cents more per a card and they will send them out fro you at Shutterfly.com

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Here are some of the cards I like that are all from Shutterfly.com

favorite

2nd favorite

3rd favorite 

and 4th

This year it will be just the kids and the dog in the photo, my photographer sister might take the photos.

What do you think of my choices? What are you doing for holiday cards this year?

Features & Simply Creations Link Party # 31

Welcome to my Link party!

I'm going to start off with a simple up-cycled craft

then will make our way to the features and the party were I'll be waiting to see your awesome projects and recipes

Cheapo craft

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{1}

Do you drink a lot of coffee like me? I buy it in cans, I change what brands I use but I mostly buy Trader Joe's coffee.

I always have the cans leftover and I'm always looking for free storage solutions.

You can do this with any other items also.

You just need to take off the paper and clean the can inside and out

let it dry

grab some cute or whatever paper you like, measure it to fit and cut. 

I used Mod podge, but glue would work just as good.

{2}

You can also paint the metal ones.

{3}

Add some labels 

{4}

and add stuff....I'm using these for some of my crafts, at least the ones I always need to grab.

Hope you enjoyed this simple cheap up-cycled craft

On to the features 

The Sunset Lane old window for headboards idea is very creative and I'm loving the striped curtains!

This looks like a very high end wall art but its not and Two Thirty Five Design made it out of poster board, she got this creative idea from Kara Paslay Designs. 

Love her decorating taste! 

Liz Marie made these beautiful cake stands out of wine glasses and plates from the Dollar store, I love the color spray paint she used on them. I've been wanting to make some for myself...just need to get around to it.

Cherry Street Cottage made this beautiful corbel shelf for her entry table. I love this idea!

Look how fabulous this redo on a buffet to TV cabinet turned out by Hating Martha.

Thank you to all who shared a project, furniture makeover, recipes...etc.. I'm so grateful of all you wonderful bloggers! 

Now Time To Party!

Simply Creations Friday Link party rules

1. Link up a craft, sewing project, furniture renovation, tutorials,room makeover, organizing or a food item, even a Etsy shop, you can link up as many times as you want and it can be an old project just make sure you link to the direct page the project is on.

2. Please add my button to your post or anywhere on your blog, you can find it on the right side of this page

3. Please be sweet and visit at least a couple other links. Everyone loves comments or a new friend.

4.  Follow me so you can join my next party and feature giveaways 

By entering your link, you are giving me permission to use any part of your post including pictures in a feature on Simple Home Life.

Closet Update { almost done }

Why is there a towel on my floor? Well I had to bring in the old metal step stool and I was worried it would damage the floor so I put the towel down. I will say that there is less stuff today. I've accomplished a lot since I took this photo.

It did look like this not to long ago

I even started putting close on the shelves and a few items on the rack. 

I want to all the same hangers like these

These are from Ikea and cost $4.99 for 8

I also still haven't found the perfect small soft rug, I kind of want something with a fun bold print, either black and white like a zebra rug or colorful.

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I also had this idea but not sure how good it will look. 

You see in the photo up top when you walk in the shelving for the clothes are right there and its not a pretty sight, even if the clothes are all neatly folded. I had an idea of putting up curtain wire around the shelving and adding curtains. This way you can go all around and cover the side that we see. What do you think? 

 

I like these ones from Ikea, but I'd go with just white if I get a zebra or colorful rug.

I finally got my mod podge dresser in

I know my stenciled wall looks blurry, its really not.

I love these rooms with closets hidden by curtains, although its not the same thing I'd do but they look good anyway

Only is I could fit a ottoman like that in my closet..

Picture via

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Come back and join me for my link party tonight!

I will be sharing this at some great link parties, you can find out where here

Gourmet Gifts Winner

The winner of this lovely book by author

 Dinah Corley

 

and a special thanks to Harvard Common Press for this awesome opportunity!

on to the winner

Elena !

Congratulations Elena, your going to love this book!

Thank you to all who entered! If you want a copy of this book for yourself check this link out http://www.harvardcommonpress.com/gourmet-gifts/  it will tell you where you can buy it!

Fresh Coat of Paint

 Freshly painted door

I know it doesn't look that fantastic in the photo but its because I still have so much more work to be done, as you can see on the right side and the room just needs a new fresh coat of paint

I gave the door a thick coat of Benjamin Moore Stix primer, its the same primer I used on my chalkboard fridge. Its a expensive but worth it

Here is some more information via from the web

"STIX Waterborne Bonding Primer is a premium quality, acrylic / urethane primer-sealer designed with a unique "Step Change Technology" that delivers unparalleled adhesion to the most challenging surfaces,such as........
 PVC,  Vinyl, Plastic,  Glass,  Tile,  Glazed Block,  Glossy Paints,       Pre-Coated Siding, Fiberglass, and Galvanized Metals.
STIX is also ideal for use on plaster, drywall, wood, and non-ferrous metals, where a low ambient or surface temperatures present a problem for conventional primers.
It cures in temperatures as low as 35 F and offers an extremely hard film when cured."

The door was never painted when installed, it was the original factory applied primer on it, it was rusting and really dirty and now with the new fresh coat of Decorator's White paint it looks brand new!

Its in semi gloss so its nice and shiny reflects light and easy to clean which is a must around here. 

I still have another coat of paint to apply around the trim and I'm sanding and cleaning the bench to be primed tomorrow

You cant see how dirty it is but when I first painted it years ago I used a flat based paint, not a good idea. 

I also change the paint color for the mudroom, my two choices were a light green or a yellow, and I was steering towards yellow but when I went to my local hardware store and saw they had a gallon of Benjamin Moore " Nantucket Breeze" in eggshell that someone decided not to buy I decided to buy it. 

The color was dried up on the side of the can so I was able to get a good look on how it looked dried and its very pretty....I couldn't resit the $10 price tag also...I love my local hardware store.

Here are two photos I found on Google.com that have this color on the walls

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Whats your favorite place to get paint?

My gourmet book giveaway ends tonight at Midnight enter here

Over the Weekend

I was going to post this yesterday but I forgot and the day went by very quickly. 

I had a very relaxing weekend, went to Saver's and watched movies Friday night, Saturday I had to do a little shopping for my Nephew's birthday and then my guy and I spent alone time to together, which consists of movie watching and eating dinner.

Sunday was our nephews 1st birthday and his mom had a big party and it was a lot of fun.

Here is a cake her friend made for him

I cant believe hes already a year old

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I finished painting the mudroom door yesterday, I will show you later in another post and also worked on the closet more I'll show you that later as well.

I worked a bit on my server yesterday afternoon, I'm almost done! 

Today I started on the bench in the mudroom, it needs a fresh coat of paint. I also have to get to the grocery store.

I will show you some goodies I bought at Savers Friday. 

These plates and cups are from the 50's, they are made by Taylor Smith Taylor and are called Blue Lace. I love the pretty blue color and the silver rim. 

I bought 3 cups

and only 2 plates, they had more cups then anything.

Did you find anything awesome over the weekend?

Features & Simply Creations Link Party # 30

Its been a wonderful week, I've done so much, I was almost done painting my server I neglected over the summer and then I decided to change a few things. 

I'm almost done clearing everything out of the closet , I have all the clothes out and washing and then going through donating items. I need to clean the shelves and I already picked up some bins for organizing items to keep in there.

I also need to take a trip to Ikea, get some more bins, a rug and some other stuff.

The floor turned out great

I wasn't going to take out the holders for the shoe rack but I might, and someday paint the trim when I get permission to. I also want to paint the heater.

On the other note, Have you check the guest post from

 Dinah Corley, author of Gourmet Gifts? Her book is truly amazing, I've been reading and bookmarking recipes I want to try, I love giving food gifts out on the holidays. 

Check out the post HERE and enter to win a copy of the book for yourself!!

&

Did you here about Habitat for Heroes, its going on now and its a link party to give back to your community.

Its to participate in a special link party where you can link up a piece of furniture you have restored and then donate this furniture to a charity of your choice such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity Restores, local church groups, etc.

 link up here and read more about it here

Now on to the features and Simply Creation's Link Party

The Decorologist gave her entry way a makeover, I love the original floor and the new wall color.

Lovely Etc.. made this beautiful paper wreath out of book pages

Pretty floor cushions made from a rug by Elisabeth Andree

Fun colorful boys bedroom done by Home Daybook

I love this hand painted cupboard by The Decorative Paintbrush!

Party on and thanks for joining in!!