12.29.2009
Hey Homies!
Just wanted to pop in and say that my little old blog was nominated for a Homie award!!
Now here's the kicker...I don't know how to post a link from this phone, and I could really use the votes.
So if you have some time, track me down at the Homie awards and vote. Pretty please!
12.28.2009
The Very Long Drive~
12.25.2009
Merry Christmas~
Wishing you and yours the loveliest of holidays~
12.23.2009
Pretty Holiday Inspiration~
12.22.2009
Linky Love~
Check out this fabulous $10 Anthro-inspired bathroom at A Lovely Place to Land. You all know I'm going to be making myself one of those fabulous wreaths!!
And lest you think I just have a bunch of reposts coming your way...you're wrong. I actually did some new posts to keep you all visiting while I'm in transit!!
Have a great day~
12.21.2009
I Spy~
Image by Lulu & Co.And what do I spy on that sweet entry bench? Why, it's one of my No. 6 pillows. It looks so cute sitting there all vintage-like. It was like getting a little Christmas gift to see that pillow in a happy customer's home.
These little darlin's will be availabe in my Etsy shop when it reopens in January. But, until then, enjoy this photo...or, even better, hop on over and enjoy Lulu's fun blog.
Have a great day~
12.19.2009
Moving Day~
We'll be staying with my in-laws through the holidays, and then heading out West to our new home. My posts may be a bit sporadic for the next couple of weeks...but just think...a new house to decorate. Ahhh, the blog posts that await! So excited!!
And if you haven't had a chance to see all the great posts that linked up the Frugal Friday Linky Party, scroll on down and have a peek! They are amazing. I'll finish looking through them all after the dust from the move has settled...but you all can look right now! ;-)
Have a great weekend~
12.18.2009
Frugal Friday Linky Party : The Holiday Edition~
You know the rules...
1. Please link directly to your post, not just your blog.
2. Please link back to The Shabby Nest so that others can enjoy the frugal goodness too!
3. Please leave lots of encouraging comments for the participants!
4. ENJOY!!
12.17.2009
Miscellaneous~
And speaking of Alpha-1...I mentioned last week that I would let you all know when the Alpha-1 Awareness shirts by Melissa Biggs were available on-line. Well, I'm happy to say that they are now for sale. You can find them here. All proceeds go to benefit the Alpha-1 Community.
12.16.2009
My Holiday Dining Room~
The moving van is due to arrive on Saturday. We are in the midst of last minute packing. I am not stressed out. I am not stressed out. I am not stressed out.
As I sit and look at this picture, it reminds me of those "I Spy" board books that my kiddos have. Can you find...my well-read wreath? A vintage American flag? A rarely used crockpot? The flowers from The Princess' Nutcracker debut last Saturday?
It's interesting to see your life compressed into just a couple of rooms. Puts things in perspective. And packing up a house to move makes me realize just how blessed I am. I complain a lot as I pack box after box...but at least I have stuff to pack. Blessings. Lots of them. And that's what this season is all about.
Don't forget Friday is The Holiday Edition of the Frugal Friday Linky Party here at the Shabby Nest! Get those posts ready!! Can't wait to see what you all come up with this time!
Have a lovely day~
12.15.2009
Another Ornament Project~
12.14.2009
A Winner...An Ornament idea...Etc.~
First up...
Fruit. Oranges to be exact. I adore dried oranges on trees. Look at the light coming through that orange slice. It's luminescent...almost magical!
So how do you dry oranges? Very simple...
I dried mine in the oven.
1. Cut your oranges into 1/4" slices and place on a cookie sheet (some would recommend a wire rack, but I found that the cookie sheet worked better and helped maintain the shape of the slices).
2. I have also heard it suggested that you cover the oranges with a paper towel to absorb the juice. This is probably a good idea, but again, I didn't do it. (I'm such a rebel.)3. Set the oven at 250 degrees and bake the oranges for an hour. Flip the slices at least once during this time.
4. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 225 degrees and bake for another two hours. Flip the slices about every half hour to maintain shape and help with optimum drying.
5. Remove the oranges slices from the oven and let cool. It is important to note that the slices will still be slightly moist in the center. THIS IS OKAY. They will dry out as they cool.
6. Then I just strung some raffia through holes in the center of each orange slice (if a hole doesn't occur naturally during the drying process, it is simply to punch a little hole in the membrane once the orange is entirely dry.)
7. Hang and enjoy.
The oranges do not need to have anything more done to them. I simply store mine in a ziploc bag. I have had them for five years and they have not needed any sort of chemical to maintain color or to keep them from rotting. The drying process did that for me.
The winner of the P.G.D. Style tee shirt is the fabulous Lulu from Lulu and Co. (If you've never been to Lulu's blog you are in for a treat! Hop over and pay her a visit!) Drop me an email Lulu, and we'll get you set up with your shirt!!
And don't forget....It's that time again....The Frugal Friday Linky Party is this Friday here at The Shabby Nest! Come and link up with your best frugal holiday ideas!! Hope to see you all there!
Have a great Monday~
12.11.2009
Frugal Friday: A Tutorial~
Here is a simple, yet festive, idea for some last minute Christmas decorations or gifts. Yes, these are from last year, but I'm moving, remember? And besides that, I think it's such a fun idea that it bears repeating...
Christmas Tree Topiaries
Cone floral forms – these can be found at most floral and craft stores.
Spray paint – the same color as the yarn or twine you choose.
Twine or yarn – If you choose yarn, you will want a type with more loft – I used chenille yarn for the version here.
Hot glue gun
Glue sticks
Straight pins with colored ends (optional)
Easy instructions:
1.Start by spray painting your cone the color of the yarn or twine you will be using.
2.Allow the cone to dry completely.
3.Starting at the bottom, use a dot of hot glue to attach the end of the yarn and wrap upwards.
4.Use dots of hot glue every once in a while to keep the yarn in place.
5.The top is the trickiest part. You will probably want to cover the top with hot glue as you coil your yarn or twine to the center.
6.I left my topiaries as is, simple and elegant, but you can also adorn them with little "ornaments." Straight pins with large brightly colored ends work best for this.
So for just a few minutes of time you have a lovely addition to your Christmas decor. Or by adding a plump candlestick to display the topiary, you can give a great last minute gift. Simple, elegant and festive.
And next Friday is the Holiday edition of the Frugal Friday Linky Party here at the Shabby Nest! Get your Frugal Holiday Ideas ready and link up here to share the fun!!
You still have time to enter the drawing for a P.G.D.Style tee shirt, just scroll down to the next post and enter! Drawing ends tonight at 11:59 EST
Have a great Friday~
12.10.2009
A Giveaway for You~
Today I have a great giveaway sponsored by my friend Melissa Biggs. I first got to know Melissa after she was featured in Where Women Create Issue 3. Melissa is an actress (if you ever watched Baywatch you may remember her as one of those lovely lifeguards) and a fashion designer (she previously designed for Guess and now designs her own line - but we'll get to that in a minute). But, to me, Melissa's most important role is that of spokeswoman for the Alpha-1 Association.
Melissa Biggs via her website
For those of you who have read this blog for a while, you may recall that my three boys all suffer from
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (If you don't know what Alpha-1 is OR you'd like to read my boys' story OR both, click here.)
After reading Melissa's feature in Where Women Create, I did something unexpected, I just started crying. I don't know if it is because Alpha-1 is relatively unknown or exactly what it was that moved me, but I knew I had to get in touch with her and find out how I could get more involved in the Alpha-1 Community. Even though it was the middle of the night, I ran downstairs, hopped on the computer and fired off an email to Jo Packham, editor of Where Women Create (if any of you ever wondered what kind of an amazing woman she might be, here's proof). I explained to her that my boys all have Alpha-1 and that I'd like to be able to get in touch with Melissa. Well, Jo forwarded my email, and within a day, I got an email back from Melissa. We emailed back and forth, and a few days later chatted for over an hour on the phone about ways I could get involved with the Alpha-1 community. Needless to say Melissa, who has the disease herself, is a great proponent of Alpha-1 Awareness, and is an inspiration.
Melissa in Where Women Create via her WebsiteMelissa now designs her own line of clothing called P.G.D.Style and has generously agreed to give one reader of the Shabby Nest their own Long Sleeve P.G.D. Basic Tee (a $48 value). This tee is perfect for the cold season, perfect for layering, just perfect.

One last note: Melissa designed the tee pictured above especially for Alpha-1 Awareness. The proceeds from the sale of this shirt go directly to Alpha-1 research. Available on-line soon. I will keep you all posted.Have a great Thursday~
12.09.2009
Pretty, Repurposed Christmas Stockings~
The Princess and I got pretty white quilted stockings made from an old baby quilt that I had honestly forgotten I had. It had such cute scalloped edges that I simply turned it over at the top to make the cuff!
The Hubby and the three boys got new stockings made from an old linen dress I couldn't bring myself to part with. It had long since gone out of style, but I loved the fabric sooo much, I knew I would be able to find a use for it. It isn't exactly your typical Christmas fabric, but that is what I loved about it. And this year I have seen linen and burlap stockings all over the place, so I guess a lot of other people love the idea too, huh?
And the moral of this story is...before you throw out that old blanket, or dress, or sweater or what have you....try to think outside the box. It may just be your next Christmas stocking! ;-)
12.08.2009
7 Quick and Easy Ways to Create a Welcoming Holiday Home~
- Pretty Homemade Christmas Stockings
- A Great Giveaway
Have a good day~
12.07.2009
This I love: Inspiring others~
Photo from Restoration HardwareWell, this last week, I received an email from one of my readers, Ana of Knock Off Wood. The subject line read "Look how you inspired me! Many thanks!". One of my favorite things about writing my blog, is sharing inspiration with others, so I hurried to see what Ana wrote. Here's what she had to say...
Thank you for your post back in November on the Restoration Hardware Catalog. I loved the post so much that I went out and found some scrap boards in my yard and bought $9.98 in screws and built a Farmhouse Table, very similar to Restoration Hardware's table, retailing for $2750. Thank you so much! You are greatly appreciated!
You know me and frugal decorating - after an email like that, I HAD to see that table, and fast! When I took a look at Ana's photos, I was amazed!
This is the table that inspired Ana...
Photo from Restoration HardwareAnd this is the table that Ana made. This gorgeous table for $9.98!! And she even did a post that included the plans so that you can make one yourself !! I dragged the hubby over to the computer to take a look, and made him PROMISE on the spot, that once we are relocated, he will make me one of these babies. $9.98...sigh...perfection.
12.04.2009
Frugal Friday: How to decorate a Christmas Tree for under $5
Let me start today's post by explaining a little bit about this year's Christmas at The Shabby Nest. As you may know, we are moving. Well, here's the kicker...we're moving out BEFORE Christmas. Yes. BEFORE Christmas. (note to self....never move at Christmas time again.) We will be spending the actual holiday with my in-laws which will be absolutely lovely, but in the meantime things are a bit, shall we say, chaotic. Still, I couldn't let a house with four kiddos go without a Christmas tree now could I?
So this past Tuesday, we made our annual trek with the Hubby's family to a Christmas tree farm about an hour away (the same place his family has been going for the last 37 years) to get our tree. I told the Hubby that since we are moving, I was not pulling out the regular Christmas decor, and I wanted a small tree. We found the perfect little tree.
Once we got it home and put the lights on it, I explained to the kiddos that we were going to do something a little different this year. They were fine with that as long as there were still Christmas lights involved...because to them, that's all that really mattered.
Inspired by these two trees in the PB catalog (yes, there's that old PB catalog again)...
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| Photo from Pottery Barn |
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| Photo from Pottery Barn |
we created this sweet little tree. I'm calling it our Family Tree...
12.03.2009
A Well-Read Christmas Wreath~
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| Photo from Pottery Barn |
They were so easy to make too...
I started by getting me a piece of heavy cardstock (in retrospect, I would actually recommend using heavy CARDBOARD for this project) and drew my wreath base using a plate and a glass for the pattern.
Then I simply cut it out.
I pulled out my trusty glue gun "Old Blue" and went to work.
After dismantling a book that I never read (and never intended to read) I rolled the pages into tight cones, and secured each one with a dot of hot glue, then I started gluing them to the base in a starburst pattern.
Then I added some pretty ribbon and hung it in my dining room window. I thought it looked beautiful...
...until I saw the sun shine through it. Oh. my goodness. It's stunning! And free! (Well, except for the ribbon, but I was buying that for Christmas gifts anyway, and it was 50% off at Michael's so that's almost as good as free, right? RIGHT?)
Want to see another PB knock-off book wreath? Brenda at Dragonflys and Stars shared her version during the last Frugal Friday Linky Party here at the Shabby Nest!
12.02.2009
A Glittering Christmas House~
After seeing all the glitter projects in the November issue of Martha Stewart Living, I was inspired to immortalize this little house in glitter.
Much better. Now, I must warn you, the rest of these pictures are horrible. Try as I might, I couldn't get them to turn out the way I wanted, but because I know that my fabulous readers have equally fabulous imaginations, you will all know how utterly fabulous this project really turned out to be. (fabulous.)Then I got to have some serious fun. I used a paintbrush and spread Mod Podge (because I like it better than glue for glitter projects) over the snow on each of the pieces and poured glitter over the Mod Podge to create glitter-y snow!
12.01.2009
Simplicity - A Guest Post by Kasey of Lola B's~
Hello there. I'm the one in the picture above ....you might know me...you might not....
i am a married mother of three kids...
though sometimes i think they aren't really mine..or better yet...
i will pretend that they are not mine...and wait for someone to raise their hand to claim my
children...
but that's never happened...
so here we are....
and i still have three children. Don't get me wrong though...i desperately love my
wee one's..
but a girl's got to admit...
life in my house is not full of cherries...
you end up with a lot of pits sitting around.
hold on....
wait a minute...
i don't even think i introduced myself properly...
and here i am...
totally opening up my can of worms to you...
and you might not even know who i am.
My name is Allison and i live outside of chicago...
grrr....
you got me....my name isn't really Allison...
it's Kasey.....but the truth is...
my parents almost named me allison...
so i have every right to use that name...
sheesh....
once again i am so off track....
but that's me..
and wendy kindly asked me to pop over here and
do a little guest post.
I hope she approves...
otherwise...
well....
i know the first names of her children...and they are definitely
not called #1, #2, #3, and #4 in her house.
The first thing i thought when wendy asked me to be a guest on her lovely blog..is what the heck am i going to chat about...
because wendy is the all knowing..
the all creative...
and she knows how to sew....
with a needle and thread...
yup...
not me...
i don't have an ounce of creativity in me..
let alone...
do i know how to thread a needle..
but..what i can do, is style my home.
that i know.
So, with the holidays right around the corner...i just thought i would share with you some really simple...
ways to freshen up a room with a minimalistic look.
One thing you won't find in my home are the ever popular
red and greens.
nope.
not here.
I love grey...i love cream...
and i love simple.
I also love the idea of simple ways to give a gift....especially if you are like me..
and on a total budget this season.
no wrapping paper in sight.
Use a simple brown kraft box....some twine...and a hand stamped tag to pull it all together.
I actually got these tags from Etsy....and you can find them {here }.
Right now i'm really into a clean natural look in my home....and a good way to bring
the word natural in...is by really bringing it in.
yes....
what you see is a branch....
and i am using it as a curtain rod...
and it hangs on some crown hooks.
You don't have to worry...
i did let my kids play with the stick first...
and once i made sure there were no
bugs or foreign creepy crawly things on it..
i brought it in and
voila...
a totally free curtain rod....
ahem
it made up for the price i paid for the french curtain.
And here is the twine again....
i used it to tie the curtain back....
so easy and once again...
a bargain.
which is my middle name in case you were wondering....
but don't get it confused with
the town in the south of france called
bargein.
It's been a pleasure chatting with you...and letting you see just a few things i've done.
xo
So didn't I tell you she has fabulous style? Thanks for stopping by today, Kasey!!
Coming up this week: A glittery Christmas project
A Christmas family tree
Have a great day~


























