Blossom Cottage Garden

My recent project: Redecorating our bedroom on a budget

2012-02-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

After

We have a tiny bedroom and it's like a master closet. We moved here almost a year ago and I've been trying to get organized for what seems like forever. Moving sooner than we thought got us out of California. However, we realized this house is cozy but too small so we're hoping to find a new place in a few months. Ohhh all I want is to settle down – but it's time to pack again!

Before

As you can see, our room was boring and had no life. But we're on a tight budget and can't splurge on decorating so I found great things that were hardly used at the thrift stores like wall sconces, wall art, picture frames, accent lighting and curtains. The only thing we bought new was the quilt! We spent $200 total on the makeover. I went everywhere to find deals and I'm happier with the ambiance. After all, a bedroom should be a place of tranquility.

Excuse our mess but this is the only closet in the house. I share it with my husband and I try to keep our linens here too. I barely have room for shoes and accessories. The closet didn't have a door but I'm not fond of closet doors anyway.

Ahhh now that's better… easy solution and inexpensive. The curtain set up was $5. I got rid of A LOT of clothes and other stuff, I'm giving them away to declutter and minimize the mess. By the way, that's my husband's photography of Juneau, Alaska on the wall.

A closer look at Bryan's photograph.

A little romance with a candle in the sand. I miss the beach…

Adding some color with artificial floral arrangement. This works for our room and I like to keep things simple.

I'm excited when I can start my garden again! As of now everything is about inside our home like cooking, cleaning like crazy and getting organized. What are you up to while waiting for spring?

I'm back, I miss you!

2012-02-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

I know, I know… I've been gone for a long time but that doesn't mean I stopped thinking about writing. We've been very busy since we moved to Idaho – I keep saying I'll get around to blogging and catching up on reading my favorite blogs but you know how it is, just not enough time in a day.

By the way, my husband and I might be moving again in the spring when our one year lease is over. We simply need a bigger house to rent, the closet is enough for one person (we store our linens there too), I long for more kitchen counter space because I love to cook and I REALLY need a dishwasher. Oh I'm so looking forward to packing up the boxes again, NOT!

All I have in my garden are some herbs that are sheltered from possible rain or snow in the backyard patio. It's chilly in Boise, tonight is 25 degrees but our first winter seems to be mild from what I heard – warmer than usual. I'm not quite sure I'll be doing a vegetable garden this year since we're thinking about moving… but something inside of me want to get the seeds started. However, I don't want to go through the stress of moving tons of seedlings again like we did before from California to here. I'll keep you updated.

What did you do for Christmas 2011? We spent 10 days in Southern California with our family and hung out with friends. It took two days of driving to our destination and back. It was exhausting. Hubby and I got sick on the way home. I had the worst sinus flu and traveling sucks when you're feeling miserable. Christmas was fantastic and it has been 7 months since we've seen our family. We had a quiet but lovely New Year in Idaho. I didn't get to say this but I wish you all the best in 2012!

With my dad, sisters Olivia and Cecilia and my 1-year-old nephew Colin.

With my 7-year-old niece Kaitlyn.

The goodies I baked from scratch, 20 loaves of chocolate banana nut bread and a little over 10 dozen cookies wrapped up in cute packaging. They were Christmas presents to everyone!

Our first fresh Christmas tree. We decorated our home before visiting family. We came back and the tree was in great shape, it lasted until the second week of January.

How was your holidays? Are you getting ready to garden this year? I'd love to hear from you and have a wonderful week!

Halloween fun: Front yard graveyard and jack-o'-lanterns!

2011-10-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

For Halloween my husband Bryan built a graveyard using scraps of wood we had, he carved fake tombstones and painted them black for our front yard. Hubby is creative and resourceful with this stuff! The project didn't take him long and we didn't spend much buying decorations. He said since we're located in a hidden neighborhood and our house is in a cul-de-sac, we won't have many kids come to our place. We already own most of what you see except extension cords for the lights. Bryan bought cheap skull at Walmart, found a large cloth in the garage and created sort of a scarecrow attached to a tall stick. Pretty spooky huh?

Severed foot hanging from my bird feeder, freaky!

It's not complete without fake cobwebs and a large spider.

A real raccoon skull, seriously! Bryan found it last year in the snow when we lived in Idyllwild, California. He actually kept the skull and brought it when we moved… things guys do. Now it's tucked in a mini pine tree next to our front door. This might scare some kids.

Our tradition is to have homemade pumpkin pecan bread with hot mulled spiced apple cider before carving pumpkins. I love the aroma of pumpkin and cinnamon. The vanilla spice candle is very nice too.

Have you ever roasted pumpkin seeds? They take a bit of work to separate the goop and seeds but definitely worth it. Hubby added olive oil with garlic powder and sea salt then baked them in the oven, yummy! Pumpkin seeds are a great and healthy snack.

She wanted to help with the pumpkin. Our silly cat.

These are my husband's pumpkins. It's Jack Skellington from "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

This year we carved more pumpkins, we had five. My pumpkin on the right is a pirate and I got all my ideas doing research online.

Avast! A pirate, arrr!

This is our front yard in the dark with lighting effects and all the jack-o'-lanterns. We also added 3 more tombstones since they went on sale for $3 each. My other pumpkin is a silhouette of a cat on the left side.

We went to a Halloween costume party on Friday evening and I dressed up as a pirate wench. I'm not sure what Bryan was – something dead I guess, real scary looking.

My costume was comfortable to wear and we had a good time dancing. However, we left a little after midnight. We really can't party like we're still in our 20s, I'm 11 years older than most people there!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Celebrating autumn

2011-10-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

I made this wreath for the front door of our house, a nice way to welcome the season. Fall is fun and these photos are long overdue since I began decorating in early September. I'm passionate about making our home and creating a warm and cozy place for the people I love.

My little garden in the entrance of our house, these plants are easy to take care of, pretty low maintenance.

Front door with all things Autumn.

I don't spend that much on decorating and I'm aspiring to be more frugal. In the Christian faith, God calls us to be good stewards of what we have. With the terrible economy and living on one income, it's important to be wise with finances. I used to be foolish with money but I'm learning to budget – I hunt for bargains. Most full prices of everything is ridiculous. My fall basket hardly cost anything if you're resourceful and know what to look for. I spent $5 putting together the basket (picture above). Wreaths can cost $20 and up and if you're like me, I want to design it myself! The front door wreath was less than $10 and I got the berries at Michaels arts and crafts store.

Beautiful changing colors of fall brought indoor.

Latest addition to our home is my vase arrangement. I'm not into artificial floral stuff but this will do, I get to be creative with it.

Housewarming dinner with family a month ago. I wanted an autumn theme party and setting up the table was a blast. We had a great time with our guests.

A fall centerpiece I created to dress up our dining table. Decorating is wonderful and I look forward to all the upcoming holidays.

Happy autumn and have an awesome week everyone!