a NEW {attitude}

So, I have been trying to write this post for about a week.  I start, then I stop...start, then stop.  I had this whole long post and when I went back to read it, it was more like a pity party.  UGH.  Suffice it to say, things have been really tough since just after Thanksgiving...I have been struggling with just trying to be thankful for my blessings, despite feeling like everything is falling down around me.  I am going to spare you all the sob story because when it comes down to it, I know there are others who are struggling even more than I am right now.

I wasn't going to bother with a WORD for 2012 but then one day, after crying to my BFF for a bit and then cruising Pinterest, my word just kind of found me and so my word for 2012 is {ATTITUDE}  And to help myself remember to focus on being positive I printed a couple of items I had pinned, framed them and put them on my bathroom counter to remind me every morning and every night...

I think my favorite is that stubborn looking little girl (art by Mary Engelbriet)...pretty sure if I asked my mom she would say that is exactly what I looked like growing up! ;)

I did manage to do a few Christmas projects...one being an EPIC fail and the others, well I somehow managed to lose all my "before" pictures and so I just never got around to posting anything.  Lame, I know.  Seems kind of late to post any Christmas stuff now though, don't ya think?

2012 is going hold a lot of changes for my family with my little sister having her first baby and my little brother getting married, plus my little family of 4 will be downsizing this summer.  I expect there will be lots of opportunity for being creative which will hopefully help me keep my sanity throughout all of it.

One of my creative projects this year is to participate in the 52 Photos challenge.  I confess, I started it last year but ended up only stickiing with it for a few weeks.  I am determined to complete the challenge this year though.  The first week's theme was NEW and so my picture is of my determination to have a NEW {attitude}.

Anyone else playing along with the 52 Photos...or do you have a WORD for 2012?  Would love see your pics or hear what YOUR word might be.

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?

Merry Montage Christmas

Christmas cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Am I the only one who wasn't up at the crack of dawn...or skipping sleep altogether in order to go out and brave the craziness called Black Friday?  My sister is one who enjoys going out every year but it is just not for me.  Good luck to all of you who were brave enough to go!

We have had a whirl wind few days around here.  My hubby surprised me Monday and called me at work to tell me we were heading out of town...that night!  I was a bit flustered and overwhelmed at first -- I had a whole list of projects planned out and I was so completely taken off guard...wasn't quite sure how we were going to pull it off.  In the end, we managed to get out the door and on the road and really had a great time enjoying some true fall weather at Stone Mountain.

We had a wonderful room at the Stone Mountain Inn complete with a patio and two rocking chairs...pure bliss!  The mountain is such a spectacular sight, the leaves were gorgeous and at night Stone Mountain was decked out in a most awesome display of Christmas lights.  Not even the monsoon of rain that came through could dampen our spirits (okay, if I am keeping it real I will admit that I was initially pouting thinking the rain had ruined out plans but in the end, it all worked out.)

We even caught Santa before he headed off for a hot cocoa break...

If you have never been to Stone Mountain, I highly recommend it.  I think the fall is the perfect time to go to enjoy all the beautiful fall color.  Playing in the leaves was definitely my favorite part!

I am so thankful to my Hunky Hubby for planning our last minute fall getaway.  We all agreed it was a great time and are hoping to go back again and stay even longer.  

We made it back home in time to spend a small, quiet Thanksgiving with my best friend, her hubby and her kiddos.

I hope you all had a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Making my own Fall color...

Living in Florida, we don't get much in the way of Fall color.  Makes me miss living in Seattle...the beautiful colors of the leaves, trips to the pumpkin patch, the crispness in the air...pure Autumnal Bliss. *sigh*

Things looked so sparse once I got the Halloween goodies packed away so I decided to add just a touch of fall color around the house before Christmas takes over in full force. 

I have some branches on the top of our entertainment center -- normally they are pretty bare but for Halloween we had a few bats making their home among them.  I came across some fabric fall leaves my mom gave me a couple years ago and decided to add a few to my branches so I could enjoy a little fall color. 

I didn't want to attach them permanently so I just grabbed a needle and thread and went about tieing them on the branches wherever I saw fit...

My cute little scarecrows thought it would be a great place to hang out...

So now I can enjoy this view in our family room...for a couple of weeks anyway...

My Diva Princess had a little fun playing in the leftover leaves...

HAPPY FALL YA'LL!

Homemade Corpse Bride

This year, the 3rd Annual Witch's Ball had a "black and white" theme.  All costumes had to be whatEVER your take was on "black and white". 

I decided I wanted to be a corpse bride...

Ideally, I would have loved to have looked like the one from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride movie but since the costumes were either too cheesy,too sleazy, or just too dang expensive, I opted to try and make my own version...plus hers is more blue and I needed to stick with the black and white theme.

I was lucky enough to get a deal on a dress from a thrift store...$20!  The only bummer was the zipper didn't work well, but since I am blessed to have a mother who is a seamstress she took the zipper out and made it so I could just lace the back up with ribbon.

This is what the dress looked like BEFORE...

I grabbed some scissors and went crazy on the hem...

I put some black Rit Dye and hot water in a bucket and stuck the bottom of the dress in and let it soak for awhile.  I added some tulle as well since I knew I was going to attempt to make some sort of veil.

I had also found some fabric spray paint and used it to spray the top of the dress as well.  I couldn't believe it when I saw fabric spray paint...WHO KNEW?!  The magic of spray paint for fabric!!

My mom also had a tiara I could use for my veil so I just handstitched the tulle around it and that was it.

I felt pretty good with how it turned out...and I was especially happy to have my costume done for a total cost of about $25!  What do you think?  Would you wear it?



BOO!

BOO!

Did I scare you?! ;)

I am loving my little frame trio...I know I am biased, but I just think they turned out so cute.  This is a pretty easy project to do.  I used 3 of the wooden frames you can get from Michaels for $1 each.  Then using a little Mod Podge and some pretty ghoulish scrapbook paper I started dressing them up for Halloween.  Once I finished that I thought it still needed a little more so then I went around all the edges with black paint and then some black ink.  The inside of the frames is more of the scrapbook paper and then 3 large stickers from my collection. 

 I added a little ribbon...

and even a little charm...

and there you have it...

I set them out in our entry way with a few little pumpkins I had on hand and a couple of spider rings.  Not necessarily scary...but pretty dang cute if you ask me!