Little Man Baby Shower

I helped throw another ‘Little Man’ themed shower this past weekend, this time for my cousin’s wife.  The shower was at my mom’s house, so I went down the night before and did a lot of the set-up.  I got to do everything I wanted to – even if it did involve a couple of extra last minute oops trips to the grocery store.

Behind the gift table, I strung blue plastic tablecloths up as a backdrop.  I stuck tiny mustaches all over it and hung some onesies onto which my mom had appliqued neckties.  My cousin made a diaper motorcycle that turned out so cute and was a hit at the party.

To greet guests,  I hung a black chipboard mustache over a blue tissue paper fan on the door.  We put balloons with mustaches on the mailbox and at the entrance.  (We have a back door policy family:)

I also hung little neckties from the mantle.  We played the ‘Guess that stache’ game with photos of famous mustaches.

On the food table, we had ‘MAN’wiches, Bowtie pasta salad, mustache cookies, grape salad, and pretzel ‘cigars’.  I loved the colorful mustache napkins I found at TJMaxx.

At the drink table, I hung some Martha Stewart accordion lanterns and added blue chevron paper fans with mustaches to the front of the table.  I found the cute mustache bank at Hobby Lobby and made LeMANade punch for the guests.

I am really pleased with how everything turned out and the mom-to-be got lots of fun stuff for her little man!

Next Chapter

We are two weeks away from closing on our second house.  We’ve talked about moving closer to Bradley’s work for a long time, and this house sort of came up on us out of nowhere.  It will cut the distance in half for him, but as for time a great deal more than half because of traffic.  The house is in Marietta, east of I75.  When I first saw the listing, I sent it to Bradley with the question: ‘What’s wrong with this house?’  It has over 3 acres of land and is a four-sided brick home with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.  The price seemed really low for so much land.

Turns out that the property backs up to Sope Creek, so the back acre is in a 100-year floodplain.  We put in an offer right before Christmas, not really expecting the owners to come down to the price we felt like would make us comfortable.  After a little back-and-forth, they actually hit our mark on price, so we accepted and lined up inspections.  There are things in the reports that I would have expected of a 40-year old home – mostly small areas on the roof, as well as owner DIYs that are slightly off-mark, and the electrical panel, which we had already guessed needed to be replaced.  Barring any life circumstances that would force us to move, I am looking forward to staying in this house for a long time, so the thought of putting money into the place doesn’t scare me.

Foyer

Formal Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Den (off the kitchen – leads to garage and screened porch)

Bedroom on Main Level (will be an office)

Things that I really love about the new place that our current house is lacking include: brick on all four sides, space between our house and neighboring houses, a basement for storage (as well as a finished room for crafting and sewing), a bedroom on the main level for Bradley’s office, a screened porch, a side-entry garage, and wooden floors (engineered hardwoods) throughout the entire main level.  I also love having a designated foyer and a separate den off the kitchen.  The house also has some nice architectural details, like pretty wooden windows with handles carved into them, crown moulding in almost every room, and solid wood interior doors that are stained, not painted.  I am interested in trying out the central vacuum system – I’ve never used one before.  I don’t know how many there are, but this house also includes some switched outlets, which will eliminate some of the bulky remote controlled outlets we currently use.

The things that will need work over time include:  the driveway (tree roots have buckled it in several places), fixing or replacing one of the garage door openers, moving the laundry room from the unfinished basement to the main level or upstairs, and renovating and getting a better layout in the master bathroom and the kitchen.  We will also need to do a lot of landscaping for better water run-off as well as aesthetics, including removing several trees and a TON of ivy.  And of course, there are a handful of rooms that need new paint colors.

Basement Bedroom (will be a craft room, includes a half bath)

Master Bedroom

Spare Bedroom

Spare Bedroom (will be a guest bedroom, across hall from spare bathroom)

 

Happy New Year

We held our 7th annual new year’s eve party last night, but this was the first year I have remembered to take pictures of all of my decorations.

In the foyer, guests are greeted with tinsel-clad wooden numbers of the year we are ringing in.  On the small table, I put out crystal clocks, champagne glasses and a disco ball ornament on a silver-sequined tablecloth.

In the living room, I hang a lighted sphere over the TV to mimic the ball that drops at midnight.  On the table below, I draped a gold sequined table runner and lit gold and silver mercury glass votive holders.  I also set out glittered noise makers, hats and tiaras.  I glittered a mirrored tray on which I set ‘midnight kisses’ and Ferrera Rochers.

We set up a drink table with a sequined table runner (and a clear tablecloth protector to guard against water rings).  I glittered a mason jar to hold the gold paper straws and I put a rock candy stick in each of the champagne glasses.  I made drink stirrers out of skewers and tinsel.  I found the Cheers shot glasses they are in at Target this year.

It was a fun night with friends that I enjoy every year.  We wish you a Happy New Year!

Georgia Petite Indian Hawthornes

We finally pulled out the last of the privet in our front shrubbery bed.  I left my name with the nice people at Pike’s and they called me when they got a new shipment of Georgia Petite Indian Hawthornes.  I put in a total of 5, and though the last three I purchased were the 5-gallon version, they will all have quite a bit of growing to do.

Much cleaner looking than where I left it after planting the first two:

Decorative Table Hack

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a small table to use next to the chair in our bedroom on which I can put a plant.  There is a lot of wooden furniture in the room, so I thought a metal table would be nice.  I went into Tuesday Morning and came out with the little green table in this picture for $29.99.

I knew I didn’t want the green color, especially since it was painted to look like it was chipped, but it was nothing a little spray paint couldn’t fix.  I got a can of shiny chrome-finish paint, and after sanding and priming the base of the table, I lightly sprayed a few coats onto it.  It really looks more satin nickel than chrome, but I was okay with either finish.

About a week later, I saw a table that looked remarkably like mine – slightly taller and wider – on One King’s Lane for $229.00.  Not that I would have ever purchased that table if I hadn’t found the one at Tuesday Morning, but evidently I was on the right track with my finishing choice!