Reminder: Last Weekend of FALLowers Sale

I've already had several followers take advantage of my FALLowers Sale and it's only on until Tuesday, October, 4th. If you want to do some early Christmas shopping, make sure you check out the sale in my shops to thank you...my loyal followers. Here's the deal: If you follow my blog, you can get 20% off your total purchase in my Country Tag Sale shop and 15% off your total purchase in my Where the Grass is Greener shop! Just type in "FALLOWER" as a coupon code when making your purchase. And, I will even wrap your gift in a creative and beautiful way (for free)! Here are just a few items to think about:

Sew Cool Vintage Wooden Sewing Box, WAS $14, NOW: $11.20 at Country Tag Sale

French Keepsake Box, WAS $25, NOW: 21.25 at Where the Grass is Greener

Dream Desktop block, WAS $8, NOW: $6.60 @ Where the Grass is Greener

Way cool vintage bag, WAS $10, NOW: $8 at Country Tag Sale

Enjoy your weekend!!

Decorating for Fall in a White and Gray Room

Autumn brings beautiful warm colors into our lives...while rusts, oranges, bronzes, reds, and browns dominate, when inserted into my white and gray living room, they just looked out of place. Enter: spray paint and dollar store purchases. For a mere $10 (including the real pumpkins on my tray-above), I transformed orange into shades of white and off white. The tiger striped pumpkin is real -- isn't it cool? 

While they aren't traditional autumn colors, I think white and off-white still bring in a touch of fall. Oh, and did you notice, my mirror is finally hanging!

Don't forget, my FALLowers Sale is going on right now. Click here for details.

FALLowers Celebration!

I've finally welcomed fall into my humble abode. I can't believe it took me so long because fall is my favorite season. I love everything about it...the weather, football, the colors, and even the smell.

To celebrate, I'm offering all my followers a very special treat this week! If you follow my blog, you can get 20% off your total purchase in my Country Tag Sale shop and 15% off your total purchase in my Where the Grass is Greener shop! Just type in "FALLOWER" as a coupon code when making your purchase.

This is available for one week only 9-26 through 10- 4!  Do your Christmas shopping! Buy yourself something! Just do it! And now, here's a little fall for your viewing pleasure...

My fall banner...learn how to make this at this post http://wherethegrassisgreener-rz.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-for-this.html

Don't forget...one week only...my "FALLower's" Sale!

Camp Out Party or How to Make an 11 Year Old Happy

So, I'm all about having birthday parties at home. Always have loved planning parties for all my boys since they were one. I've had bug parties, bumble bee parties, construction parties:

olympic parties, backwards parties, harry potter parties and pirate parties.  

I've thrown camp out parties for my two older boys before (when they were young) with great success, so wanted to do it again. 
Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate here; we set up camp inside.
Here's how it played out.
When guests arrived, they saw this:

For dinner, we had camp type food -- burgers and dogs, corn on the cob, and cole slaw. I used camp cooking supplies to hold the food and utensils.

After dinner, we had some camp cake...I little something I whipped up with Hostess ho-hos with candles tucked inside for the fire. (Later, we were going to have a s'more buffet bar...way too many sweets...oops)

Here's the s'more buffet bar...filled with two kinds of marshmallows, two types of graham crackers and two types of Hershey bars.

Before dark, the boys split up into two teams for a nature scavenger hunt. The winning team got to go through the buffet line first. 

The favors and the s'more buffet were an idea I saw on another blog, Moore Minutes. They were little hobo bags created from camouflage material and sticks...

 I filled the bags with this:

I also made take home s'more bags.

So, we're still in the midst of the party and I think I just heard something crash...gotta go! Happy Birthday bud!

My $3.55 Pantry Makeover

My pantry has long been overdue for a makeover...I mean 15 years overdue. Yes, I purged and cleaned it about once a year, but it was never painted (just drywall). So, The CSI Project's Pantry Challenge got me thinking. Redoing my pantry was going to be mostly cosmetic because actually, my system of organization pretty much worked for me; it just looked haphazard. This was a bit of a problem since the kids NEVER close the pantry doors. I challenged myself to use what I have and not spend any money. (I ended up spending $3.55 for the shoe molding that was never installed before.) So, here are my before shots:

Here are my after photos:

And, now I'm going to tell you what I did. 

First, I cleared the pantry.

Then, I painted it using a Sherwin Williams paint sample, Gray Cloud (I know you aren't supposed to use this on the walls because the paint samples aren't a good quality paint, but hey, it's the inside of a closet, okay?) No money there.

Then, I painted the trim -- we have loads of semi-gloss white paint. No money there.

Then, I scrubbed each wire shelf. Years of kitchen grease and grime. Pretty disgusting.
No money there.

Then, I needed to think about a pretty way to store random snacks, cleaning supplies, etc. We had these drawers left over from an old vanity. I was using them to store random things in my bathroom until I found a real use for them. Found it!! No money there.

One problem: they had these lovely brass knobs (which used to be cool). So, spray paint (I always have spray paint on hand) and ink to the rescue!

Aren't they adorable? I added a coat of varnish to them for protection. No money there.

Now, just a simple re-organization of what I have. 
No money there.

I added a few decor touches...various hooks I have in my gadget box. No money there. A small grid rack from my bedroom closet (holding stuff I needed to get rid of). No money there.

I kept my school supply drawers -- this has been working for our family for five years, so why fix what isn't broken? No money there.

And I'm done and so much happier when the kids leave that door open, which is ALWAYS. 

Linking to: Cottage and Vine

My Love/Hate Relationship With A Table

This summer when I found my mantle, I also found this incredible table. Well, it doesn't look that great below, but I had big plans for her. 

She was going to go in my foyer and she was going to be a soft creme, painted with Annie Sloan's chalk paint. I was so pysched to begin work on her, but she had to wait until I painted my hall and finished some projects for my clients. Well, I worked on her gradually and then finished painting it with Old White chalk paint on Friday. I then carefully distressed and waxed it. I loved her. Then...

I put her in the hallway. She didn't look at all the way I pictured her to look. I hated her (I mean I still loved her, but I hated her because it just didn't work). I tried her with a lamp; I tried her with everything; nothing looked good. I immediately listed it in my etsy shop and took a walk.

And, guess what? I sold her. One day. And, to one of my neighbors who saw her right after I posted it! How about that? Well, the table is still in my house because my neighbor is having her floors refinished. So, I have to look at her for a little while, but that's okay. I love her again. My hard work is going to a good home. 

And, speaking of chalk paint, here are some other goodies I painted this weekend:

Linking to: http://shadesofamberinc.blogspot.com/