LOOKS like Spring, just doesn't feel like it...

I decided it was time to freshen up the house with all of our spring decorations! Perfect timing right? The weather seems to be having it's last (fingers crossed) winter hoop-la of the year this week! It has been raining for 2 days now and in the 40's!!! Thank goodness Easter falls late this year! Hopefully this arctic burst nonsense will be long gone by then! I'm ready for tulips, daffodils, and Easter lilies...how about y'all?

The most realistic "fake" chocolate bunny you'll ever lay eyes on! He reminds me of the ones I use to find in my own Easter basket as a little girl.

The nest was a real find at the Home Goods store,

$7.99 and just bursting with colors, feathers, and speckled eggs!!!None the less, at least it appears like springtime is just around the corner...inside Casita de Alaniz that is.

SIGN, Sealed, Delivered

Check out my new sign from Susie Harris! I was so anxious to receive it that I was beating my "mail woman" to the box every day until one afternoon I hear a knock on our door. I answer it to find the said "mail woman" holding a long brown package with a bundle of other superfluous (mainly junk) mail. I thanked her, hastily closed my door, ran to my trusty kitchen shears and ripped into the brown packing paper and feasted my eyes on my new beauty.

And let me tell you people, she was a sight in her dIsTrEsSeD glory and silvery gold HAND PAINTED letters. Oh the love...

I *heart* my new sign!

She's already taken up permanent residence above my kitchen cabinetry.

Susie, you do BEAUTIFUL work, thanks so much!

Having sign envy?

Go order one of your own at Susie's Etsy store!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5914190

Ice, Ice Baby

Okay kids...I know we live in Texas, BUT 80 degrees and air conditioning on Saturday and 2 days later 30 degrees and I-C-E on my front tree limbs!!!!?!?? Proof...

So what are all of y'all doing on this cold icy day?

Jot me a comment and let us know!!

Wordless Wednesday...I H-E-A-R-T Monograms

Full, Fluffy, Ragamuffin-y

I completed my first ragamuffin garland for the playroom last week!! The idea was inspired by The Nester. Since it's for the playroom, I made it more of a "boyish" garland with "take me out to the ball game" ribbon, plaids, stripes, denim, and stars! It even has some little treasures hidden within! I added pics of the kids and it's complete and hanging now! All this to say...I would LOVE to show you a picture, but alas my camera is still stranded in Dallas. Hopefully it will be back here on Friday night via my Mom and I can post some photos then! So, till Friday...I have to leave you hanging!

Feels Like Fall Y'all

This GoRgEoUs weather we are having has got me in the mood for fall!! I pulled out all of our fall decorations last weekend and have really enjoyed decorating the house with all the rich harvest colors of autumn. So many things have changed this week at our house along with the weather...warm jammies are being worn, soup for dinner, jackets on in the mornings, nightly walks being taken BEFORE 8:00 p.m. (b/c we don't sweat to death anymore), and JEANS are actually being worn! Of all the seasons, fall and spring tie as my favorites. I love sunny, but cool days. It's been really fun to sit outside on my swing and watch Cade play in the yard for longer than 15 minutes at a time. Just the other day we spent almost an hour on the patio, playing cars, golf, and baseball together during Gracie's morning nap. Ohhhh, so happy to see you Fall :)

Looks like Fall...

I made an arrangement for our mantle with berries, pheasant feathers, fall leaves and sunflowers to match our family picture. Bought everything last week at Hobby Lobby. They were running a half off special on florals/fall, so my grand total for all the pieces was less than $40! Those pictures did kinda turn out dark, so I'll try to post more soon.

Now, if I would have remembered my camera...I would have some wonderful pictures to show of a 50th Birthday party and Gigi's favorite reading buddy!!! I am so mad at myself for forgetting the camera-s. Both of them were in the same bag! ACK, I think my brain went out the birth canal with my children!!!! Hopefully it will find it's way home soon from Dallas and I can post more pictures. Till then, I guess I'll work on a few more fall projects for the house!

Fun Fridays...my favorite things

My favorite thing is sitting on my front porch...err...walkway, I guess you would call it! AND it's something I made! A monogrammed flower pot for my fall mums!!! I can't remember where I saw this idea, I just saved the picture in my favorites "craft" file and pulled it up last weekend. This entire project takes about 45 minutes to complete so if your feeling crafty give it a shot!

You'll need a galvanized steel bucket (mine is from home depot), a black paint pen (Michael's), an decorative fall ribbon ($1.99 @ Michael's), a pot of beautiful fall mums, and a single sheet of white card stock. The first thing you need to do is print out your monogram on the computer. Choose a font that you like in the largest size that will fit on a piece of card stock and print it out. Then use an exact-o knife to cut out the letter on top of a piece of cardboard or anything thick really will do so that the knife won't hurt your counter tops or carpet...YIKES. Then "bubble" some tape to fit on the back of your letter and attach it to your pot. Trace around the letter with your black paint pen, removing the card stock letter when finished. Color in the inside of the monogram and attach your ribbon with a hot glue gun....and finito...a fun, fall monogrammed mum planter for your porch! It's just that simple. I am planning on tying a piece of ribbon around the top at Christmas and using it as a planter for my poinsettias as well. Honestly you could use it in every season by tying a different color ribbon on the top! I am all about simple these days and that's why this quick, fun project is my new favorite thing!

Now I know why they call it, pain...t

The time has come for the "builder beige" to go!! While we've lived in our current home for a little over 2 years now, the only rooms that have seen paint are the kids. Cade's red and navy stripes about wore us out because of the texturing on our walls, but we pulled through (with the help of my in-laws, thanks) and it turned out wonderful.

Found this vintage train clock at Hobby Lobby

on clearance for $7.99!

Ticking R/R crossing signal = LOVE to my 3 year old

Gracyn's room was a breeze to paint because the chocolate color on the bottom covered any pink that might have made it's way down there! The little girl inside me loves this color combination and I think it turned out girly, sophisticated, but sweet all the same! Princess Gracie loves her digs... But the rest of the house has been a little neglected paint wise....until NOW! We are in the process of picking paint colors for the living room, breakfast area, kitchen, master bdrm, master bath and guest bathroom! WHEW...I am overwhelmed just writing all those areas down! Picking paint colors has proven to be quite the chore due to the fact that a lot of our areas are very open to each other. While I'd like to just paint it all the same for SIMPLICITY sake, I'd really like to do something special in the living room and then have the breakfast area/kitchen be a coordinating color! To start small Steve and I decided to paint the laundry room ourselves and give it a little face lift. I wanted a cooler color in there since the house colors we've mainly been choosing from have been on the warm side. BUT, I wanted it to be a warm-cool color (does that even make sense?), not so bright or stark that it would offend my eyes while doing oodles of laundry for 4 people! So off we head to Sherwin Williams to have a look! I chose a blue gray color, called Oyster Bay. We started painting in there around 8:15 and finished up with 2 coats around 10:40 p.m. It looks wonderful! I love the soft muted color of the blue and I love the way it looks with our dark walnut cabinetry! It's welcoming AND cozy all at the same time. Here is a photo of the finished paint job and my new favorite thing....the laundry room!
Steve and I completed the wall with a vintage window pane that we converted into a cork message board and key ring! Gotta give a big thanks to our friends the Locklins' for GIVING me the window and a shout out to my favorite handy man, my hubby for "re purposing" it for me! It's one of those beautiful things in your home that makes you smile each time you walk by!

Now if I could just pick a color for the OTHER 5 rooms we'll be in business....but the laundry room make-over has definitely got us motivated!

I PLEDGE not to use it anymore

Something practical I found that I thought I'd share!

Dusting my furniture is something I actually enjoy doing, not with my vacuum attachment, but by HAND...yes I am a cleaning JUNKIE...but I hate how regular dusting sprays leave a film on my things so I made it a mission to find something new. I've tried almost everything on the market from Old English to my old stand-by Pledge and nothing really satisfied me and I honestly hated the smell they leave behind, SO I headed to the Internet about 4 months ago to find something organic to use instead.

I stumbled upon this EASY formula and have been using it ever since. It's a simple concoction really; olive oil, lemon juice and water! Go get your little spray bottle and here we go:

- Grab a lemon out of your fridge and squeeze the juice out of it. If you don't happen to have a lemon, then grab a container of lemon juice and pour out about four tablespoons into a small spray bottle. Mix the lemon juice with three tablespoons water and two teaspoons olive oil.
- Put the sprayer in the bottle and shake well. You now have an excellent home furniture polish! No streaking, no chemical smells, no CFC's for our ozone, no dolling over mucho dinero, and the ultimate test...no finger prints!!! Give it a squirt and you'll be a believer!

- Concoction courtesy of Anna Sattler at DIY Life