Lavish Christmas

Maybe it's just in Texas, but I have noticed retailers starting to merchandise Christmas decorations much earlier than in years past.  This year I think it was in late July that I saw
Christmas coming out at my favorite craft store in Grapevine.  I had a really hard time wrapping my head around artificial snow and pine cones as I walked to my car in 110 degree heat!  But now it's finally time to "deck the halls" and I am in full swing with my
Christmas decorating.   I've actually already done two homes this year and I thought I would share a few highlights from some of my clients.  Both of these ladies have gorgeous

decorations to work with and I truly enjoy my job!

Dress your Shelves

The cold weather is compelling me to stay indoors and continue my post holiday re-arranging of my house (specifically the accessories). Today I am focusing on my bookshelves. Making bookshelves look balanced and beautiful can be a challenge but with a few simple rules of thumb it can be done fairly easily.

Shop through your home for nice looking hardback books (not paperbacks or phone books) ha ha! Also, look for framed photos, sentimental keepsakes, a pretty plate or tray, maybe a small lamp and a small dried floral arrangement. After gathering your goodies, clear the shelves completely. If your shelves are adjustable this is the time to adjust them to accommodate varying heights of books, etc. Starting with the top shelf I use a zig zag method to decorate. By this I mean balancing the weight of the books/accessories on one shelf heavy on the left then on the next shelf heavy on the right and so on. Experiment with placing the books upright and stacking horizontal. Arranging bookshelves is an art ~ just use your imagination and try, try again!

It's that time of year, Christmas is over and all the decorations are down....well, hopefully they are by now! Have you experienced it yet? That feeling that your house looks blah and empty? I have this feeling every year! All the nooks and crannies that had something cute are now empty and dull. For example, a cute little berry wreath that was on my pantry door for the holidays is now gone and the doors looks bare. I really didn't want to replace it with another wreath so I found this super cute panel at Pier One. The fork is actually a chalk board that I can post our dinner menu for Bobby! Tonight we are having......Pei Wei !

Bathroom Update

For the past few months Bobby and I have been working our way through the house room by room doing a little updating. We have been here for 17 yrs. and the house is now 20 years old so it's time!

I love pretty bathrooms therefore our master bath was a recent target for the paintbrush. We had the walls and cabinets painted and glazed. I added a few new accessories and a new vanity chair..... voila ~ we now have a beautiful sanctuary with minimal cost! The wall color is Valspar, Woodlawn Blue Angel and the cabinet base color is Sherwin Williams, Hopsack. We used a dark brown glaze over the cabinets. The transformation is amazing.....love it!

Ribbons & Bows

As I have been sharing for the past few weeks, I have been hard at work doing Christmas decorating jobs all over the Metroplex. I absolutely love doing this work! One of the best parts of the job is that I get to work with my friends. This year I have had the chance to work with both Judy and Sydney ~ I love this!!! Over the years I have also been blessed with the friendship of my clients.

When I first started holiday decorating the girls I worked with deemed me "The Queen of Bows". I just love to use ribbon and bows to add a festive touch of sparkle to almost anything. It's easy, fun and won't blow your budget. Check out some easy ideas for decorating with pretty ribbon. Tis the season!!

Fresh and Forever

Are you fearful of trying something new? Wow, I really am and about a year ago I put myself to the ultimate test on doing something new and different. As I said, about one year ago I received a phone call from a very nice lady who was frantically trying to find a floral arranger to do 20+ floral arrangement for her husbands medical office...... I proceeded to tell her that I was a silk/dried natural artist and have never really worked with fresh stems. She was so complimentary and insisted that I try to do the job. One catch, she needed them two days later to make the office look nice for a television interview with Inside Edition. I thought about it for about 5 seconds, took and deep breath and said.....yessss! The very minute I hung up the phone I proceeded to have a panic attack! Where would I buy the stems, keep them cool after arranging them and most importantly how will I work with flowers that don't have a wire in the stem? The answer to those questions are Central Market, my garage and lots of prayer!! Since then I have stayed with "faux" flowers, but never the less, I enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity.