Sheer Serendipity

Dream home

2015-04-14T17:19:00.003-04:00

Hi all! Sorry for the long hiatus since my last post, I recently got my real estate license and signed up with a company Ben Bay Realty located in Marine Park area in Brooklyn. Learning the ropes of this business has taken up a lot of my time, I guess it is par for the course.

Anyway, speaking of real estate, one of my favorite homes is on the market, nestled along the Rockaway pennisula forty-five minutes from New York City is my friend Kristin gorgeouse home up for sale. Her home is the second house from the ocean and has the most amazing ocean views at every angle. I have featured her home many times in the past, you can see some here and here.

This house is an extra large two family home with all high end appliances, spectacular ocean views, tons of closets space, large rooms, etc. On the first floor there is a kitchen, livingroom, dining room, two bathrooms and three bedrooms, extra large master bedroom suite with bay of french doors leading to a large porch with dreamy ocean views.

So, let's have a look, shall we...
Foyer

First floor living room

Dining area

First floor kitchen with 8ft island

Bedroom #1

First floor Bathroom

Bedroom #2

First floor Master bedroom

First floor master bathroom

Now, let's go to the second floor apartment...

Extra large open living space

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

Second floor master bedroom suite with it's own walk-in closet and master bathroom

Second floor bedroom #2

Let's head down to the basement, not just any basement, it is a great entertaining space.

Backyard

Decks all around the house to take in the beautiful views of the ocean

There is so much more to see in this home, too much to show in a post. And if you are in the martket for a refreshing change of pace, a home by the coast and you would like to see it, you can contact me for more information on this home I will pass it on to my friend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

Wow Us Wednesday
The DIY Dreamer
Ivy and Elephants
The Dedicated House.com

Charcoal black plaster backsplash

2015-03-20T12:44:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, I was in desperate need of a backsplash in my kitchen, I've had half painted sheetrock as my backsplash since we moved back in over a year ago. One of my dilemmas is that my kitchen is open to my dining room and living room and the kitchen is very traditional. The colors in the kitchen are warm whereas the dining room and living room are grays and white. One of the downfalls of having an open space, it all has to flow. Until I find a suitable tile for my backsplash, I decided to paint it with a some texture.

This is what it looked like...

Yuh! I can't believe we kept it this way for so long!

So, I went a bit drastic with the color, a charcoal black. I really like it for now, till there is a more permanent solution.

Here is what I did...

Since the sheetrock had to be plastered anyway, I decided to mix the paint into the plaster and create a textured finish with the plaster.

First, I mixed the plaster with water and paint to a cake like batter consistency. Then, I simply trowelled it on haphazardly and creating the amount of texture I wanted.

Plaster took about half hour to dry.

After the plaster dried, I sealed it with a few coats of polyurethane so that the wall can be wiped down.

I really like the way it turned out! It looks more like a completed kitchen now.

What do you think, is it too dark? I'd love to hear your opinion.

Thank you for visiting! Come back soon!

Sherry

Linking this post to:
French Country Cottage
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It's overflowing
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Reviews of my Alta Vista flooring by Hallmark

2015-03-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Hope you had a wondeful weekend! I was recently contacted by one of my readers asking about the Alta Vista flooring from Hallmark we had installed in our house. When we were rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, one of major purchases were flooring for our first floor living space. We needed wood flooring that can withstand radiant heat because we had eliminated radiators on the first floor. I had also wanted wire brushed hand scraped wide wood planks. After much research between hardwood flooring and engineered flooring, we were convinced by the dealer that we needed engineered flooring. We have an open floor plan on our first floor so the floors really had to make an impact. I fell in love with Alta Vista flooring Hallmark, they were 7 1/2" wide plank, wire brushed, hand scraped gorgeous floors that met my every criteria.

I am not one to give a bad review of a product, but I had to tell her the truth about my experience. These floor cost thousands of dollars and a month after installed we started seeing wear under the chairs, floors started chipping and I had to fill in the chips with wood filler. It is so frustrating, the floors continue to chip and the color is almost completely worn off under the chairs.

Just a few days ago, my daughter got a big splinter embedded into her foot and we had to take her to the doctor, he had to cut her skin to get out the large splinter. It was not a very good experience! My reader suggest I write a review to let people know of my situation. However, this is only my experience and I am not claiming that this happens to all of their products and all of their Alta Vista flooring. I am truly disappointed because I loved the look of these floors. Now, what to do? Any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

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The Staircase Reveal

2015-03-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

Finally, my staircase is finished! Well, almost! We still have to install a bannister system and if it was up to me I like it without the bannisters, that is why we haven't had one for more than a year. Hey, no one has fallen over yet! He He! I really like the look of the floating stairs without the obstruction of a railing system. We'll see how long I can ride this one for...

While we were renovating our house, we had ripped out our old rickety staircase and replaced it with a new one. We had a local woodworking company come and take measurements and they built us a new staircase in their shop and installed it.

Here is after the new staircase is installed.

The stairs needed to be thoroughly sanded and then my husband painted the risers with white paint.

Looking good already!

Hubby used an espresso finish from Minwax to match our existing floors. He used a brush to put on the stain and wiped it off to get the desired color. We didn't want a thick coat of stain, we wanted a slight variation of the color to match the rest of our floors and he was able to get that look by wiping off most of the stain.

To finish it, he used four coats of water-base polyurethane from Rust-oleum. I did not want any shine on the steps so we used the clear matte finish.

Loving it!

What do you think, bannister or no bannister? Would love to hear your opinion.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

Wow us Wednesday

DIY by Design

Ivy and Elephants

Gold dip-dye vase

2015-02-28T15:42:00.001-05:00

I love this trend I see all over of paint dipped objects. I have the perfect humdrum vase to try this technique on. I needed a vase with some flowers to put on top of my daughter's new dresser, so off I went to Michael's to pick up some faux flowers, they have a really nice collection.

I started this easy project with my latest craze, "Rub n Buff" gold metallic wax and a plain vase. I used it on my wrought iron base here and on the hardware for my daughter's dresser here and I love the way it looks.

First, clean the glass really well

Then, tape around the vase

Rub the gold wax where you want to make it look like it is dipped. You can use a thin cotton cloth or your fingers. I used my fingers, it was difficult to take the paint off, but I used some nail polish remover and it worked like a charm.

Love the way it looks with the flowers! So pretty!

I can't wait to show you how it looks on top of my daughter's dresser. I will be posting the finshed dresser this week. I hope you come back to check it out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking this post to:

Our home away from home

The Winthrop Chronicles

Home Stories A to Z

Wow us Wednesday

DIY Ikea Rast hack

2015-02-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

I was looking back at some of the projects I have done and noticed that I didn't share a how-to post on my Ikea Rast side table. I think it's because there are so many of these hacks around, I didn't want to be redundant. Nevertheless, I figured I'll just put it out there to show what I did with the Rast. I really like the way it turned out and it is so inexpensive.

I heard Ikea furniture is notorious for having hundreds of pieces and is difficult to assemble. So, I coerced my husband to put the two side tables together. To his surprise it was pretty easy, alleluia! I would've never heard the end of it if it was difficult!

I stained the exterior except for the drawers with espresso stain to match the other furniture in my bedroom.

Then, I painted the drawer fronts with oil based high gloss paint. Oil base paint gave it the smooth lacquer looking finish that I wanted.

I had ordered brass pulls from d.lawless hardware, they had really good prices and a nice selection.

I really like the way it looks in my bedroom. Have you done any Ikea hacks lately? I would love to see it!

Thanks for stopping by!

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DIY by Design
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Sneak peek at my daughter's dresser

2015-02-06T00:58:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I can't believe it's Friday already, time is flying by. I have been planning and tackling a few projects in my house since I've been stuck in the house due to "snowpocalypse".

I want to show you the progress on my daughter's dresser, it is nearing the end and I am really pleased at the way it is taking shape.

Remember how it looked before... The wood veneer on the dresser was peeling off and missing in places. A little bit of sanding, scraping off the peeling veneer and a fresh coat of paint really revived this dresser. To add a little more interest I painted geometric design to the front of the drawer.

I wanted to change the drawer pulls to give the dresser bit of an updated look. Even though, I like the the original brass pulls they were tarnished and looked old, just didn't work well with the fresh new look. I picked up drawer pulls from Home Depot which I really liked and it matched the design well, but to use them I would have to fill in holes from the old pulls and paint. That's a lot of work I don't have the attention span or the patience for!

Then, I decided to use some gold rub n buff (my favorite new wax) on the old pulls, because I didn't want to spend the time removing the tarnish, call me lazy this was much easier and so nice!

I put the old pulls on the drawer and my daughter and I like it much better now in it's new state.

I outlined the geometric pattern with a thin line of burnt umber color paint to give it an effect of a shadow. It made the design pop and made it much more interesting.

Well, that is about all I can show you for now... I will be finished in a few days and I can't wait to show you the results!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:
Fridays Unfolded

Super Bowl Sunday and a home for my shell mirror

2015-02-01T15:18:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone have a fun Super bowl Sunday. We will be with a group of friends at a Super bowl party, we do this every year and it's lots of fun! It has been so called here in New York that I have not gone out of my house unless it was absolutely necessary. I really don't like the cold weather! Since I am stuck inside, I have been finishing up some loose ends around my house. I am still working on my daughter's dresser, hope to be finished in a few days.

Meanwhile, one of the things I love to do is make seashell mirrors... I am always on the beach searching for seashell treasures when the weather permits of course, so I can incorporate them in my mirrors and my shell projects, it is one of my favorite pastimes. I made this shell mirror using some of my gathered shells from our beach and store bought shells.

I start off with 24" X 24"X1/2" piece of plywood, then paint the board white and glue on black felt for the back, I also add hangers on the back to hang before I start gluing the shells on the board. I recommend using mirror adhesive to attach the mirror on to the board, I wouldn't be comfortable using any other type of glue to attach the mirror.

Placing each unique shell on the right spot to create the mirror is really a fun, creative process.

And here it is, encrusted with beautiful shells, I love it! I'm not the only one who loved it, my mother came over and also fell in love with it. My mother's birthday was coming up and the mirror found its way into her house. She placed it over a mirrored console table I had bought for her from Kirkland's and this little area in her home is now named "Sherry's corner".

Doesn't it look so pretty? These pictures are not the best, it looks fantastic in person!

Have a great day!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

Sunday Showcase
Wow Us Wednesday
What's it Wednesday
Worthwhile Wednesdays
From Dream to Reality
Show and Share

Snowed in by Winter storm Juno

2015-01-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! My friend Sheryl shared this picture she took this morning enjoying her day off from work in front of her fireplace in her Pjs. If you are on the east coast, we are probably in the same boat, snowed in by Winter storm Juno. They were anticipating 2-3 feet of snow and declared a state of emergency. However, we didn't get nearly as much snow as they predicted, thank goodness! Just enough to get a snow day from work and school, whoo hoo!!

I needed to move things around a bit to get some change in my dining room, I don't like to see the same accessories in one area for too long. So, I restyled my buffet and my shelves with some Home Goods finds.

Keeping my fingers crossed for my Orchids to bloom again.

I still need to add more accessories to my book shelf, maybe some books, uhm interesting thought!

Here's my shell box, I have been in the process of making for the past few months, another one of those procrastinating projects.

I found this painted nautilus shell in a antique store in Upstate, love it!

Hope you are having a wonderful day, snowed in or not!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

The diy dreamer
The Dedicated House
Wow us Wednesday
Worthwhile Wednesday
DIY be design
The NY Melrose Family

Bringing new life to an old dresser with hand painted stencil - Part 1

2015-01-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! My friend gave me a dresser that once belonged to his mother, he didn't have a place for it and he didn't want to throw it out for sentimental reasons. Perfect timing, I needed to find a dresser for my daughter's room, she has one dresser that is always a mess and overflowing with clothes. Since she discovered the joy of shopping for clothes, there is not enough storage for little obsession.

The new/old dresser will work perfectly, except it needed some TLC and needed to be painted to make it flow with the rest of the furniture.

Here is the TLC part... Top drawer needed to be secured with some glue and nails.

The veneer was chipping off, so I removed the veneer and sanded it down.

Lost a little detail in the process, but it's ok!

As I was working on it, the whole veneer on one of the drawers popped off. Easy fix, just put some wood glue and clamped it, was good as new!

Dresser got slightly sanded and primed...

And painted it green to match the room.

Now, for the hard part! I wanted to stencil the drawer fronts with a geometric pattern, except I didn't want a very common pattern. I decided to make my own stencil, must warn you, it is time consuming and a bit frustrating. However, I think I will be happy with the end results.

After drawing numerous failed patterns, I settled on one. I am sure, better yet, I can almost guarantee that there is a better way to make a stencil. But, this is the way impatient me figured it out!

First, I folded a piece of paper in to four quarters and draw quarter of the pattern. As if you were going to cut out snow flakes.

Unfold the paper and it will look like this... Love this pattern! Then, I placed it on a craft foam paper and glue it on for a bit of thickness.

I cut out the pattern. Of course, it would've been easier if I cut it out used the stencil method. But, I never make things too easy on myself, it always has to have an extra step and more time consuming. I wanted it more hand painted look so that is why opted to go this way.

Once foam paper was cut out, I placed the stencil on the drawer and traced the design.

Sorry, little difficult to see...

Painting the stencil with off white paint.

I may add a little more of interest to this, I'll see.

I'll be finished with this dresser soon, I hope you come back to see the end result!

What do you think? Is it okay so far? Would love some input.

Have a great day!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

Home Stories A to Z
Coastal Charm
The DIY dreamer
Ivy and Elephants
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DIY Showoff

Going for the gold!

2015-01-18T13:15:00.001-05:00

I'm in love with gold accents... I see them everywhere and I love the way it is used, not in a garish way but a very elegant, sophisticated way! I used to make fun of my friend because she loved gold... Gold, gold everywhere! We used to laugh, if she could dip her children in gold she would! Now here we are, I am loving gold, not as much as to dip my children in gold but simple gold accents sometimes with mixture of silver or chrome. Of course, I still do believe gold should be used in moderation but

Style me pretty

How about you? Do you use gold accents in your decor?

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Sherry

Beautiful creative storage boxes

2015-01-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Last week, I showed you my updated zebra print storage box that I used rub n buff a metallic finish wax on to transform the iron base into a gold base.

I found some super creative and fun storage boxes on Hometalk that can really make you think outside the box, he he (that was corny) couldn't help it!

Here they are, you can go to my Clipboard at Hometalk to get more details on how-to accomplish these looks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

The diy dreamer
Wow Us Wednesday
Worthwhile Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants

Zebra print box and rub n buff

2015-01-05T00:07:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! Happy New Year to all! I have tons of great projects on the horizon, many trickled down from last year's to do list and new ones to take a stab at. I am starting off small with my first project for 2015... I had picked up a brown box with wrought iron stand a few years ago at a garage sale. I had brought it home and didn't care for the dark brown color of the box so I painted it in a zebra pattern, you can see the post here.

Love the zebra pattern, not so much the wrought iron...

So, I went to Michael's craft store and bought gold color rub n buff, a metallic finish wax that you rub on with your finger or a soft cloth. I recommend a old white t-shirt, it can be fairly hard to get the wax out from under your fingernails. I love the way it turned out! I wouldn't have been able to duplicate this finish with paint, the iron base looks like it was made out of brass, which was the aim.

Here is the box with the stand going through the process...

Love the black and white print and the brassy gold!

I think this is the final transformation for this box, I wouldn't change it again.

I placed on top a beautiful coral my son gave me for Christmas and my husband's gold and bone magnifying glass he found at a garage sale.

Have a wonderful day!

Sherry

Linking this post to:
Make it Pretty Monday
Inspire Me Monday
Wow us Wednesday
From Dream to Realty
Worthwhile Wednesdays
Posed Perfection
Home and Garden Thursday
Elizabeth & Co.
The Sunday Showcase

Reflecting on 2014

2014-12-31T02:08:00.005-05:00

This past year has been a quite a year for us, we moved back into our house after rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy. Even though the house was rebuilt, we moved in before the house was completely done so that we could be home. We still have so much more to do, the list is a mile long! Just means more projects to share.

Here are some of the project we tackled this year...
We reconfigured our living room to accommodate a new fireplace that I had always wanted. We also installed dark espresso flooring throughout the first floor.

Living room after the rebuild...

Living room before Hurricane Sandy

Our master bathroom got a complete remodel too. I don't have any before pictures of the old bathroom, but you could just imagine 60's, never touched, ugly, decrepit bathroom.

I love that there is no step into the shower and the wall tile looks like a water fall. The entire bathroom floor is waterproofed with underlayment to prevent water from leaking to the next floor.

Thanks to the One Room Challenge at Calling it Home, I completed my bedroom in six weeks with some fun DIY projects. If it wasn't for this challenge, chances are we would still be sleeping in a headboard less, curtain less, undecorated bedroom like the before picture from below.

Before

These were our major undertakes for 2014. I hope to tackle some big challenges in our home in 2015, like finishing our basement, finishing the exterior of the house, installing another bathroom, etc.
I hope you come by and visit often to see the progress and DIY projects.

Have a great day!

Sherry

Linking this post to:
Wow Us Wednesday

Gift wrapping idea for any occasion

2014-12-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

I know, I know it is a bit late to be sharing a Christmas gift wrapping idea with you four days after Christmas. But, I think this gift wrapping idea is so pretty it can be used for any occasion. It does take a little more time than just making a bow with ribbon or putting a ready made ribbon flower. So, I make it for special occasions and for my friends and family who would appreciate it, not like my kids who'll tear open the wrapping like a crazed animal to get to the gift.

I wanted to create a poinsettia flower so started off with red felt fabric and cut two different size square pieces for the petals. Size of the flower will determine the size of the petals and the amount of rows. I cut 9 pieces of 3" squares and 7 pieces of 2" squares and shaped them into petals. Then cut a round piece of felt for the petals to glue on to make the flower.

Fold the bottom of the petal and glue the bottom tips to create the petal, glue the petal around the edge of the circle base.

Add a second row of petals over lapping the first row. I made a little rosette by rolling a thin strip of felt for the center of the flower.

The red flower looked great against the black and silver zebra print wrapping paper.

Thank you for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

Home Stories A to Z

More Christmas decorating...

2014-12-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Christmas decorating goes on in my house till the very end. I had bought these adorable santa boots planters in Costco last week to put on the front porch. I bought an evergreen garland and a few different bunches of greenery at a local market to fill the planter.
I took out pieces from the garland and placed them on the planter, then layered the other greenery on top. I added some silver Christmas balls and pine cones painted in turquoise. Real simple and so pretty!

Let's go into my kitchen... It wasn't very festive in my kitchen, so I added left over garland on the mantel over my stove.

First, I lightly sprayed some pine cones I had with a bit of gold, twisted a wire around the base of the pine cone and attached them to the garland.

The garland looks good with my deer antlers my friend gave me!

Santa boots and front door at night!

Well, I don't know about you but I still have to get a few stocking stuffers, start baking and wrap, wrap , wrap!

Enjoy the Holidays!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

Elizabeth & Co.

Wow Us Wednesday

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here...

2014-12-18T01:24:00.001-05:00

While it has been looking a lot like Christmas for many of you for awhile, it has not been around here till a few days ago! Instead of being busy with the hustle and bustle of Christmas, we had to get our house ready for a commercial! Unfortunately, can't divulge any info on that, but it was exciting to say the least! Now that is over, we are scurrying to get everything ready for Christmas. We finally got our gigantic 11ft. tree as always and decorated it.

This is a special Christmas for us, we are celebrating our first Christmas back in our home since Hurricane Sandy hit back in October, 2012. Every single decoration we had saved over the years are gone, so we had to start all over again with buying new decorations.

My favorite thing in my new/old house is the fireplace. When we rebuilt the house, we added this fireplace... We originally wanted a clean look with just stone all the way up to the ceiling without a distraction of a mantel. Then we realized that at Christmas time we won't have a place to hang our stockings, so we added a floating mantel covered with the same stone so not to give too much variation. So glad we did!

Our Christmas tree all decked out for the holidays!

Pretty little birdie perched on the mantel...

Some of our new ornaments!

That's our tree this year, it is big and beautiful!

Hope you are enjoying this special time of year!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this to:

How to make Blue and White Chinoiserie ornaments

2014-12-10T21:34:00.001-05:00

It seems that Blue and White China ornaments are all the craze. Blue and White China is such a classic that no wonder Chinoiserie style ornaments would be a hit. When I saw a few Blue and White ornaments while I was browsing through Pinterest, I had to try to make some.

I only had time to make one for now and it was pretty easy so I will be making a few more in a few days. For now, here is how I made the Blue and white China ornament, I love the way it came out.

I couldn't find a pure white porcelain looking ornament, so I took a clear ornament and put white paint inside and twirled it around till it was opaque.

This is what the clear ornament looks like with white paint inside.

I looked at some Blue and White ginger jars for some inspirations.

I can't wait to paint some more! How about you, have you made any ornaments this year?

Thank you for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:

DIY by Design
Worthwhile Wednesday
Wow us Wednesdays
The Turquoise Home
The DIY Dreamer
Feathered Nest Friday
Home Stories A to Z
Coastal Charm

Little North Pole Lighting

2014-12-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

On the first weekend of December, our friend Joseph Mure, Jr. puts on a Christmas lighting extravaganza called the "Little North Pole" at his home to raise money for the (JDRF) Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. November 1st, Joe and countless volunteers from the community start setting up the displays and spends the month fine tuning till it is perfect. Last year, he raised close to $200,000 from this event for JDRF.

The street gets closed off and tents with free food and drinks are set up, dancers and singers entertains hundreds of people coming to enjoy in the festivities. There is a $20 raffle to win a free three year lease for Mercedes-Benz SUV which one lucky person wins at the end of the night (would've loved to win that)!

All the lights are off on the house until everyone counts down with excitement and at zero magically the entire property is lit up and the figurines come to life. It feels like the New Years countdown!

Afterwards, Joe makes an announcement to all the children that Santa Claus is on his way and a helicopter hovers overhead shines lights down from the sky. Then Santa Clause arrives and gives out thousands of toys to the children.

Joe's two car garage is transformed into Santa's workshop with little elf figurines busily making toys.

You can see more of the beautiful display from 2011 here.

People come to see the spectacular display every day from all over, it is a beautiful sight to see!

Joe and all the people who volunteer and donate does an amazing job each year for this cause.

If you would like to help this cause also, you can make a donation to JDRF

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Metallic ornament wreath tutorial

2014-12-03T15:13:00.001-05:00

I like to have a wreath on my front door all the time, it's a sign of welcome into my home. So, when I saw this gorgeous wreath while thumbing through Pinterest, I had to try my hand at it.

This wreath can be done in any color you prefer, I chose silver so to keep in with my other decorations. I have seen this wreath done with thrift store finds and dollars store ornaments. However, there are no thrift stores near me and the dollars store are not really dollar stores, they are a dollar and up stores... They are more up than a dollar!

Here are my supplies:

75 metallic ornaments - $19.00

24 small ornaments - $5.00

Garland 40 sq. ft. - $2.00

14" styrofoam wreath form - $11.99 at Michaels

Glue gun

Scissors

Ribbon for hanging

Ready to go, this is how it was done... I wrapped the styrofoam form with the garland, I didn't worry too much if there was white showing through, at the end it will all be covered.

First, I started hot gluing the ornaments inside of the wreath while alternating them and glued a layer of ornaments to the outside. Then, started gluing to fill in the wreath with the ornaments making sure to space out the variations of the silver tones of the ornaments. Added in the small ornaments to fill in the large gaps.

After the foam is completely covered with the ornaments, cut pieces of leftover garland and glue them inside the gaps that couldn't be covered with the ornaments.

Here it is, so pretty!

I love the way it came out!

I think it looks so elegant! Now, if my door was painted a nice color, it would look even better! Next project:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post to:
Wow us Wednesday
the diy dreamer
Before and after Wednesday
Monday Funday

Blue and White Bash - My favorite blue and white house

2014-12-01T20:21:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! I'm linking up at The December Blue and White Bash at The Pink Pagoda to show off some beautiful timeless blue and white home decor. So, head on over to The Pink Pagoda to see some gorgeous blue and white inspirations.

This is my friend Kristin's home perfectly adorned with blue and white chinoiserie style objects. You can see more of her home here, here and here.

I added a little blue and white to my bedroom when I did a makeover to my master bedroom.

Check out some of these gorgeous decorative canisters from here.

How about this...

Decorative spheres

Love this urn...

Blue and white chevron, so pretty! Great deal on this vase here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

Linking this post:

Blue and White Bash

DIY by Design

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

2014-11-27T02:49:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is one of our family's favorite holidays... I am so thankful for my family, friends, my home, my blog buddies and everything good in my life.

My sister hosts Thanksgiving each year, so I cook and bake my usual potato leek soup, bread pudding, candied yams and brussels sprouts and bring it down to her in New Jersey. She really goes all out cooking array of dishes, baking pies, cakes and of course, the big birdie. My brother-in-law is the one in charge of ensuring that the turkey is baked to perfection... I must say, it is always perfect and never dry. I know we'll be eating till our buttons pop out! No worries, we'll just burn it off shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Sherry

How to make a tab top curtain (DIY)

2014-11-25T21:27:00.002-05:00

Surprisingly, tab top curtains are not so difficult to make. I made eight panels for my One Room Challenge back in May. Saved lots of moolah doing it myself.

Each panel is 96" long, I wanted them from ceiling to floor to give height to the room.

I cut 104" length of fabric for each panel and sewed 1/2" hem on each side of the panel. I did a 4" hem on the top and a 4" hem for the bottom.

I have seen other curtains made with ribbon for the tabs, I wanted the same fabric for the tabs. So, I cut 3" strip of fabric and sewed it into a long tube. Then ironed the tube flat and cut into 4 1/4" strips.

I sewed the tabs about 6" apart starting from the end to give it a nice pleat. You can space it out according to the pleat you prefer and the width of the fabric.

And here it is hanging up in my new master bedroom...

I am thrilled with the way they came out. The most difficult part of this project was cutting the fabric panel at an even length.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

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Birthday celebration and a Dresser Update

2014-11-24T13:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone had a great weekend! This weekend we celebrated my son's 30th Birthday with family and closest of friends and we had such a nice time. Happy Birthday Christopher, where does the time go?

Christopher and his best friend since they were 2 years old!

Christopher and my beautiful mom

Now, off to a little switcheroo on my daughter's dresser. My daughter's dresser is about 12 years old and has a little wear and tear especially on the drawer pulls, they were breaking off into pieces.

While I was meandering through one of my favorite stores, Homegoods a while back, I found these flower knobs for her dresser from Cynthia Rowley, it matched the roses on the dresser perfectly.

The knobs looks like it was made especially for this dresser! Great find!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you come back soon!

Sherry

Black is beautiful!

2014-11-20T11:55:00.000-05:00

I'll be honest with you, I would've never considered painting any of my walls black in my house until I saw the master bedroom done by The Design Daredevil during the One Room Challenge at Calling it Home.
I love the dramatic effect that the black walls gives to the room. The deep color provides such a great presence to all the lighter objects in the room.

Here are more example of dramatic black walls...

via

I have a narrow hallway just like this hmm...

via

What do you think? Have you painted your walls black, if not, would you?

Thank you for stopping by!

Sherry