Christmas: New Boots

So, I have realized that I missed blogging about several Christmastime items.

I understand that it is the end of February, but I'm still going to take the opportunity to share, because I think these missed items are pretty rocking.

 

For example, my Daddy and Jann get pretty worried about my feet here in the Michigan Cold, so they got me these boots that I seriously don't know how I lived without.

They are the best and that is all I can say.

I had never heard of the Sorel brand before, but some of the guys at work saw these and vouched for the fact that they are awesome.  As all of these guys are hunters and hunt in the Michigan Cold, I'll take their word for it.

Dining Room Table

We have a new member of our household.

 

Isn't it a beaut?

We're going to have our first get together at the house that will include more than two people.  Our dining room table, bought when newlywed, seats four.  Those two facts don't jive with each other comfortably.

Holy Cow, does it seem like all I am doing is bombarding you with pictures of my downstairs?  I promise, soon I will blog about life beyond the house.

At any rate, I feel so grown up now that we have a table that could, you know, seat a family.  Curt looked at me weird when I told him this.  Apparently things like getting college degrees and working real jobs and buying homes rank higher to him on the adultness scale than getting dining room tables.

 

Anyhoo, this happens to be a Pottery Barn table.  Yeah, I know what you are thinking, "Are you out of your mind? I mean, sure, PB stuff is nice to look at and all, but have you noticed how stinking expensive they are".  

I agree.

But this was at a wondrous place called the Pottery Barn Outlet store, and it was marked almost 1/2 off just for the measly fact that it was missing the hardware to put it together.

Pshttt. No sweat.  Tell you what we did.

We went to Home Depot, got a 2 foot 3/8" diameter threaded bar, 8 nuts and washers, and a hack saw with a pack of metal cutting blades.  Total: around $12.50

 

Cut the threaded bar into eight 3" pieces...

 

 ...and put everything together.  It's seriously sturdy.

 

Worth $500? 

 

It was still a lot of money in my mind, but this thing is going to last forever it is so solid.  It weighs several hundred pounds.  And, seeing the quality of it, I have the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me I probably will not be content with lower quality on many future furniture purchases...so we will just have to save longer in between purchases.

  

It seats six normally, and then has a leaf to add a couple spots.

For now we are using the chairs from our old set until I find replacements.  When that happens we'll probably sell the old set on Craigslist to offset some of what we spent on this new stuff.

 

So, what do you think?

Living Room: Fireplace Wall

Oh wait, did I just say next month?

Just kidding.

Once you get started, it's kind of hard to stop.

  

  

  

I've been collecting these glass pieces by doing a weekly run to the Salvation Army.  They were less than a dollar each.  I know they are kind of hard to see right now, with them being clear and all...but I plan on doing this to them:

 behold, the beauty of an idea from the Martha Stewart Living magazine

I already have the supplies to do the project, I just lack the above freezing temperatures in a well ventilated area.  So, it will have to wait until Spring.

But until then, I think it looks much better than the blankness.

 

Living Room: Picture Wall

Well, I've started on the walls downstairs.

Before, before, before...

Kinda blank...

Well, first I needed some space on the floor to work, so the coffee table was moved out of the way.

I had altered some favorite pictures to be cropped for an 8x10 size and to be in sepia tones.  I'll have to do a post on how I did that.  But I uploaded the pictures to Walmart's site and had them printed out.

I then arranged them in the order that I wanted them to be on the wall. 

I'm kind of detail oriented, so if you'll notice I put our wedding pics in the middle and then pictures from the recent family photo session in the four corners.  Two group shots in the bottom corners, just me and Curt in the top corners, me and sister & me and sisters-in-law on outside middles, and me and Curt kissin' on top and bottom (I actually switched it so that the temple one was at the top when hung).  See, like goes opposite of like.  Mirror images, kind of.

All attached in their frames....

I got these frames at Target.  I love how simple they are, I think the design and wood tone go well with my couch legs and coffee table.

I did the middle vertical row first, from bottom to top.  Then I did the left vertical row.

Don't be afraid to put extra holes in your walls to get it to hang in just the perfect spot, holes are easy to fill later.

At this point we had to leave to go to a scheduled get together with friends.

Talk about the suspense....I couldn't wait to finish.

All done.

Now on to filling in over the fireplace...maybe next month.

And I'll leave you with the pictures that I edited and put on the wall.  Am I the only one that is curious when I see pictures of people's houses and want to see what their pictures are of?

Cute

Her Dad labeled this picture "starting her early".

How adorable.