Giving Thanks...

 As a thank you to my readers, I'm offering 15% off all purchases from my Etsy store now through December 3rd. 

 Enter coupon code BLACKFRIDAY15 at checkout. 

   Hope your Thanksgiving celebration is bountiful!

Bathroom Rehab...

 Our house was built in the early 90's and there's much I would like to change about it so we've been working on it one room at a time.  We finished the main floor bath last summer so decided to get the upper "guest" bathroom done before the kids come home from college for the Holidays. No, that's not hardwood flooring, it's peel and stick vinyl faux wood, not pretty.

We ripped out everything but the bathtub and tiled it with my favorite hexagon tiles in "Milk" with brown edges.

 I had hoped to use an antique dresser I still had in the basement that didn't sell with the rest of the stuff in the shop.  We must have procrastinated for a good week, scared to death to start cutting the darn thing up because we were sure we would totally screw it up.  Finally, one Thursday, after measure literally 19 times I cut the hole in the top for the sink...and guess what, it fit!

Then, a few days later I gathered the courage to cut the drawers to fit around the plumbing since I wanted them functional for storage.  I wasn't as worried about the drawers, heck, if I could cut the hole for the sink I could cut up a couple of drawers, right?  Tom was more worried about my handling of the power saw then of my measuring!  Next time I won't be so scared to cut...actually, who am I kidding, we've only got the master bathroom left and there's no way we're tackling that one alone...someone else will be responsible for that rehab...too much to do in that room for a couple of amateurs like us!

I have to say, I love the way it turned out!

Glittered Paper Houses...

Last Friday was my monthly art group...I hosted the activity and choose to make little Putz-like glittered houses.  These are photos of my finished houses...I didn't get them completely finished that evening but did manage to finish them up over the weekend.  You can find all sorts of different templates on Pinterest, I used the ones found here. While there are six of us in the art group, all our tastes vary greatly so I thought this would be a good project because we can tailor the houses to fit our personal style.

You can see the roofs aren't completely glued down and some of my doors are a little off-kilter but that's okay...I still love how they turned out, and they'll fit in just fine with my other vintage Putz houses that have been a little mis-handled over the years.

I think I might throw a little more mica snow on them but otherwise I'm quite pleased with them and might just make a few more if I find some extra time.  Happy Friday!

New York Travel Journal...

 I finished my New York Travel Journal 2013 last night...I went full throttle to get it done so I wouldn't forget what we did...felt like so long ago already if I would have waited any longer I surely would have forgotten everything!

 I usually make the journal ahead of time and I'm beginning to realize I NEVER make it thick enough...my journals always end up so bulky they never close properly...and this one was no exception.

Tom and I decided to take this trip on (sort of) the spur of the moment.  Thirteen years ago (almost to the day) he proposed to me in Times Square.  We found the exact spot where I agreed to be his wife but it sure had changed...and...wouldn't you know it, a man interrupted us during our private moment to ask for some money...just our luck!

This little pink pocket (I think it's Amy Tangerine) holds the little book I made before the trip listing all the places I wanted to visit, in which borough it's located and the address (with cross streets)...this little book came with me everywhere and I referred to it quite often.  It was very helpful because, let me tell you, we got lost more times than we could count in the West Village, SoHo and Little Italy!

Our hotel was very nice with Central Park South right out the front door...the nighttime view was spectacular.

Our subway adventure was really something too...we wanted to head to the NYU area and ended up in Harlem!  Although we discovered our error relatively quickly, we were on the "Express" A Train so had to just roll with it until the darn thing finally made a stop where we could switch trains.

The last day of our trip we spent checking out Central Park...that was quite an adventure.  You never know just how far you walked until it's time to walk back...probably should have jumped on another train!

 Goodbye New York, until we meet again!