Chrismukkah Gifts by Sugar

Yes, Chrismukkah is here!! Want to know what to get the Sugar and Spice duo?

Check out my guest blog on:

Fourty20Four.

I really hope that someone gets me this Sugar Shaker:

And come back early tomorrow morning for a fab set of style boards for the Fourty20Four Guest Room!!

Oy. Happy Hanukkah!!!

Oy Vey. Did you know that Hanukkah starts tonight? Well, Mr. Spice and I thought it started tomorrow, opps.

So, to everyone who is lighting a candle tonight, I want to wish you a huge Happy Hanukkah.

And to everyone else- this means that Chrismukkah is upon us.

Good thing that I have already finished my Holiday Decorating projects. Yes, I know Hanukkah isn't really about decorations and such, but since Chrismukkah is about celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah, I thought it was high time that the Spice family decorations express both sides of our happy holiday.

Much like the Sugar and Spice household, Sara at Stinkerpants has a mixed holiday household (I'd say Chrismukkah- but I don't want to assume that they celebrate our same crazy holiday). And two years ago- yes, I am that crazy pants blogger who remembers posts from two years ago. She posted about an awesome Hanukkah decoration that I just had to recreate. (file this one under- no idea is a new idea)

Rather than expressing her Joy of the holiday season, she found a way to delightfully express her Oy of the Holiday Season. Yes, I said OY.

And as luck would have it, I found my own set of Oy at JoAnn's fabrics.


And with a quick trip to Paper Source, some left over decoupage from a failed wedding project and my 6th grade level craft skills, I fancied up the Oy into something quite delightful if I do say so myself:


Even Mama Sugar thought they were awesome. I will say that the letters were $10 each- so overall the project wasn't super cheap at just under $30 (letters and paper source paper), but I hope to display them for years to come. (Wouldn't they look fantastic over a fireplace in the Sugar & Spice Dreamhouse??)

Here's an up close picture:


And here they are again hanging on our wall:

And since I am no Decoupage master, here's a step-by-step on how to decoupage.

The only problem now- where to store them after the holiday. Oy.

Until then, Happy Hanukkah and Chrismukkah to all!!

Winterizing Our Bedroom

Hello Lovelies, Earlier this year, I updated our bedding, with a new duvet and euro pillows. The results, a fresh fun bed that I Love- here's a refresher:

And yes, this picture is further proof that our lion cat, Ferris is King of his own domain.

Well, as the weather turns colder, and the day and nights darker- the spring and summer like euro shams feel inappropriate. I wanted cozy pillow shams with some darkness and weight- does that even make sense?? I also wanted to stick to the current color scheme of the room and spend as little money as possible to complete this task.

Little did I know- euro shams are hard to come by and a bit pricey. Here's what I found:

This one has the weight and texture I am going for, but I want it in a darker color:

This euro sham from Pottery Barn is almost there, but I still want something darker and for $34 each sham- it needs to be cheaper.

These shams from the Crate and Barrel Outlet are perfect- I love both the green and pink and they are super on sale- one problem- they only have the standard size left. Urg.

I also like the idea of maybe mixing in some flannel and plaid- but again no Euro. One would think that Martha would be all about a fancy Euro pillow?

Are you sensing my frustration? Who knew that Euro Shams could cause so many problems.
I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.....

After a quick $20 trip to JoAnn's and about two chick flicks later (yes, I cut and sew with only the best entertainment), I had properly winterized our bedroom:

I found a super comfy cozy flannel and I updated the bolster pillow with left over fabric from our wedding. I even had the brilliant idea to bring the basket out of the closet to avoid the pillows from collecting the mad amount of animal hair that collects on the floor:

Why I think this update works? Well, I stayed in the current color palette of the room- blues, greens (and pinks)- but I deleted the more 'spring-like' pink. I also mixed fabric with great textures and heavier weights. Here's a closer look at the flannel and the super awesome corduroy that is on the back side of the new pillows:

I even switched the Molly Mutt animal beds, and made Huck pose once again.

Before:

After:

Huck wasn't as excited about the 'winterizing' of the bedroom. Mr. Spice didn't quite understand it either. But it's amazing how a few quick changes can really change the look of a room.

Do you winterize any room in your house? Or do you think I am crazy pants too?

Wallpapered Doors

Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving weekend?? I still feel stuffed. So stuffed, I am using someone else's inspiration for this post.

Recently, I did a style board for a guest bedroom for the awesome Marissa at MarissaMakes. (Style board to come- promise). Well, she provided me with a bit of style inspiration that I want to share with all of you:

Wallpapered Doors- in her case - closet doors:

source.

Super cute, right?

Well, I noticed this super cute idea being used in one of my favorite movies the other night:

source.

Do you know the movie?

Fun with a great impact, right? Marisa- thanks for providing Today's inspiration. And check out even more wallpapered doors at Apartment Therapy.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Lovelies, I have so much to be Thankful for- one of them being you- my reader!! I am so grateful that you guys have supported me over the year as I try to live a more passionate life!!

This weekend is HUGE for a number of reasons (1) Mr. Spice has four days off in a row!! That's more days off than he's had in the last 6 weeks combined; (2) Thanksgiving Dinner with the entire Sugar Clan- 6 kids under 6 and 11 adults; (3) a Family Photo with the FANTABULOUS Amanda from Blueberry Photography, and (4) a Sugar Family Traditional Crab Feed!! Yummers.

My stomach is already full.

Hope all of you have a great pair of stretchy pants to change into!

Peace, love and Stuffing. Have a fantastic weekend!

Wood you like to eat here?

As Thanksgiving is in a few days, I am obsessing over the look of wooden tables. Alas, I don't have a table big enough to have anyone over for a big Thanksgiving Dinner, but some day.... I will, and here's some inspiration for my future dining table:

This is from the same blue door house I featured before.

With these next three, I don't know what I love more, the chandlers or the tables?


Can you believe Michelle at Three Men and a Lady redid this table all by herself:

So bright, light and airy.

source.

What kind of table will you be having your Thanksgiving Dinner off of this year?

Inspirational DIY Projects

I am knee deep in Thanksgiving Day recipes, Holiday Decorating and doing some awesome Style Boards.

I realize that I am using some amazing inspiration that I've gleaned from other awesome bloggers over the years, and that I should take a moment to share my favorite DIY Blog posts. I hope someone out there can use these posts to help spiff up a room for the holidays.

First, a few ways to fancy up that old dresser you have sitting around.

Jason from Retrograde did a great Ikea-hack:


And Kate at Censational Girl did a really fancy pants version right here:


Of course, the masters at Young House Love (I used this as inspiration for my own project that I've yet to post about- bad blogger) did an awesome redo of a Craigslist dresser for their nursery:


Moving on to curtains. I've discovered two rules, whereever you can (1) curtains should be floor length and (2) the higher you hang them, the taller a room will feel. Personally, every window in our house (except the one in the bathroom- cause that would be weird) is covered with an Ikea Shear. So cheap and easy. Speaking of cheap and easy- check out this AWESOME curtain update from High Heeled Foot in the Door. LOVE the added pop of color:

Finally, dresser tops. I knew the rule of odds (grouping things in odd numbers looks the best) but I didn't know the whole height ratio aspect thing, but now that I've done it, it totally works. Check out Kate from two Bower Power's post:

And here is how I tried to put her words of advice in action at the Sugar & Spice household:


Whew, that as a lot of DIY inspiration. I really hope this helps some of you my lovely readers. And please, let me know if you try out any of these fancy pants ideas. Ok, now that you know where my inspiration comes from.... more style boards.