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Wood props for decorative centerpiece

1/28/2015

Here's the updated pics of how the small (hand cut and frozen) wood props turned out and how they added to the overall decorative centerpiece settings.

Planning a party this weekend and wanted to have three, small items staggered for the table centerpieces. Only problem was two of the items where the same height. To solve that issue, my husband and I searched for the right size tree limb. He started cutting and I worked on dinner. Just call us "Ma" and "Pa" from Little House in The Suburbs.

The tree limb had fallen, so the bark wasn't perfectly attached all the way around. It still will make for a nice, rustic, decorative prop. However, since there can be some unwanted pests lurking, I went to eHow and choose the freezing method to prevent any party crashers.

Pa was able to cut six wood props. Will keep you posted on how these centerpieces turn out with updated pictures. Thanks for reading! Christina aka Ma

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Guest Room Transformation

1/26/2015

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So my brave and trusting girlfriend let me help her with an extra bedroom that had become more of a storage room. She had just moved in to this house and was a little thrown by the previous owner's choice of border. The objective was to make a cozy, feminine guest room for her mother when she came in town to visit the family. Her budget and my goal was to keep it as close to $500 as possible.

I actually liked this headboard, but my girlfriend thought it was time to let it go to someone else. If you noticed the baby wipes on the side table, this was the room she used to get her crying babies back to sleep at night, or if she couldn't, at least she could get some sleep in there with them. Only problem was waking up to the LOST IN SPACE border with little to no rest.

I think we all can relate to having one of "those" rooms, where you're thankful for the extra space but overwhelmed with all the stuff that accumulates over a short amount of time. Then you feel defeated ever time you step foot in the room.

Ah, did you catch it? Two different types of space borders colliding in the cosmic corners of the above and below pictures! Now, in the previous owner's defense, maybe they had a child that just loved BOTH of these borders and the parent thought, hey, I'm just going to roll with it.

We decided to keep the wash pitcher and lampshade shown on top of the chest of drawers (or as I used to call "chester drawers" until my friend, Camille corrected me some two decades ago. Thank you, Camille, thank you!) and the two tiered basket on the floor. My girlfriend wanted to keep her night stand and chest of drawers (always feel like Audrey Hepburn from My Fair Lady when saying or writing, chest of drawers), but also wanted a little change as well, so I took that into consideration.

Now, I love going to estate, garage and yard sales, so when I found these wooden doors at a sale, I just had to use them for the headboard! I primed the doors, night stand and chest of drawers, then tied them together with the same paint color and white trim. Also, added some new wooden hardware that I painted white. Hung some curtain panels on a simple rod, to keep out the morning light until she found the right blinds for all her windows. If memory serves me correctly, (wish I had taken pics of mounting the doors) we used metal brackets to connect the doors side to side, used screws to connect the bed frame, and then nailed heavy rubber table leg bottom covers to the tops of the doors, so they would feel secure and not move.

My friend already had this beautiful, silky type throw, so I looked for bedding that would go well with that and the colors we picked for the walls and furniture. I ended up finding the duvet, bed skirt, pillow shams, throw pillows and matching throw rugs in the clearance section of Bed, Bath and Beyond.

In the basement, we found this Van Gogh print that she loved and had stored. It was just waiting to be used. Found a small lamp base that fitted the lovely and unusual shade and an oval mirror at an estate sale to place over the chest of drawers. I used the two tiered basket to hold bath towels and magazines.

Since this room was for grandma when she came to visit, I was happy to find a precious picture of her grandchildren to frame and place on the chest. There was strong speculation that they were the main attraction for her visits.

Next to the door, we placed a luggage rack stand (a find that my girlfriend already had and was excited to finally use) for her mother's suitcase.

The shelf above the closet doors was a nice little spot to display some decorative items and draw the eyes up to a nice splash of color.

Found another great find in the basement in this unused lamp and bought a decorative, fabric placemat to protect the night stand surface. Finished this project just in time for her mom's visit and on budget! Thanks for reading!

go to gallery

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Welcome to the birth of humble & BOLD

1/19/2015

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Welcome to my lifestyle blog, humble & BOLD, in which I hope to share fun and informative ideas on entertaining, room makeovers, block parties, calligraphy, and lessons I’ve learned the hard way.

So why the name, humble & BOLD? It was actually birthed after a long and difficult nine months of tough challenges that started in September of 2012. I had returned to our house, after taking both boys to the doctor’s office, only to find that it had been broken into, AGAIN (the first time was years ago). Our two year old son, in an attempt to free himself from the crib, fell and broke his right arm. My husband’s workplace also looked to be going out of business after 40 years and our home church was facing the possibility of having to close its doors after 100 years of service. Then our oldest son was invited to a game of laser tag, where he fractured the growth plate in his heel and my husband was finally let go from his job. On December 12, 2012, I went to the emergency room with sharp chest pains and difficulty breathing. The scans showed fluid around my spleen and that led to four months of doctor’s visits until I was finally scheduled for an eight and a half hour cancer surgery with a chemo wash at Emory University Hospital, where I had my spleen removed, with part of my pancreas, part of my small intestines, a full hysterectomy, and the list continues.

During my two week stay in the hospital, I began to see things very clearly. There was a lot of time to reflect and I realized most of the things that I had worried about and let upset me, were really, so insignificant. I kept thinking humble and what that word really meant, along with the word, bold. It’s kind of hard to explain, but if you’ve ever seen the movie, Close Encounters, where Richard Dreyfuss goes crazy serving himself mash potatoes, because he sees this mountain that he feels called to, well, yeah, kinda like that!

Now, that second paragraph was rough just typing it out again, but there were so many awesome things that happened along the way, that I never, ever, want to forget. And I will share those in blog posts to come, but the one that relates to the name, humble & BOLD, came from a prayer that was spoken over us. The words “humble” and “bold” were prayed aloud and it just clicked for me that I was to learn from and use those two words together.

A good friend of mine, Camille, had taken me out to lunch as I was starting to feel well enough to get out again, and she was the one who shared with me about how much she enjoyed reading certain blogs.

PUSH!

I had other friends who encouraged me to share all the awesome accounts of where and how God made His presence known during those tough nine months.

PUSH!

For years and years, I have been looking for a name that I could use to incorporate all the creative gifts I have been given.

PUSH!

And not just a blog or business name, but words to live by and love!

PUSH!

And that’s how humble & BOLD was born!

Which is my first natural birth, since both sons were C-sections.

Thank you for visiting!
Love, Christina

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Wood props for decorative centerpiece

Guest Room Transformation

Welcome to the birth of humble & BOLD

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