Latest Trash-To-Treasure Find

I recently stumbled upon this little gem at one of the flea market/antique stores I frequent. Surprisingly enough, it's a perfect match to a set of vintage furniture my parents have. I knew I couldn't pass it up. All it needed was a little TLC!

Before - in its completely original state,
vinyl upholstery and all 

The seat flips up for storage!

Stripped & deconstructed

After - refinished wood & new upholstery

After - refinished wood & new upholstery

Before & After side-by-side

Decorating at Work pt. 1

This year, I had the pleasure of being asked to do the Holiday decorations in the building of the company I work for. I've posted some photos of the tree below; I'll post more photos once I complete the rest of the decor. Our Holiday Party is next week!

I left the store with 3 shopping carts full of decorations!

Somehow, I managed to fit 2 Christmas
trees & all of the decorations into my car

This is the tree right out of the box!
Yikes!

"Fluffing" the tree took some time, but
it was very-much needed!

Finished product!

The tree at night

And finally, my favorite photo, the tree
in early-morning with natural sunlight

Riverchase Galleria

The renovations are finally complete (well, about 95% complete) on a multi-million dollar project to bring Alabama's largest indoor shopping mall into the 21st century, and I must say, I'm impressed. 

Center Court elevators being removed to increase
visibility of Von Maur. The giant gravel pit in the center
of the floor is where the carousel goes. During the
renovations, the carousel was also removed to be
restored to its original 1930's grandeur.

Elevators are gone!

Elevators are gone & railing is patched. You
can't even tell the elevators ever existed!

Along with the overall renovations, several new stores were
added, including the relocation & expansion of Forever 21

New "soft" seating areas

Talk about a difference! Wow!

From this view, you can see the new parking area in front
of Von Maur.

View of Von Maur at night with the
office tower in the background

Seriously, how great does this look? Gorgeous!

More new seating areas

A view of Center Court at night with the new "sails"
and lighting. The LED lights change periodically
which looks very impressive.

Christmas 2012 Leftovers

Yes, you read that correctly - 2012. I realize that I haven't posted in over 9 months, so I decided to do a bit of a "throwback" to Christmas 2012 to get you all up-to-date. Below are some photos of my parents' home from last Christmas as well as a couple Christmas-DIY projects.

Christmas mantle

A view of one corner of the living room

The Tree (duh) 

Ornaments "dripping" from the dining 
room chandelier (please ignore my 
reflection in the mirror) 

Coffee table complete with fresh pine clippings 

Coffee table at night with candles lit

Credenza with my DIY potted trees (instructions below)

Easy Christmas-DIY project! I purchased 
4 terra cotta pots (2 different sizes), 
1 florist-foam ball to be placed inside each
pot,  1 florist-foam cone, dried moss, 
craft paint, and 4 small wooden dowels all 
from my local craft store...

Voilà!

Another easy Christmas-DIY project! Small 
canvas, craft paint, some rubber stamps/stencils & ink,
and some velvet ribbon (not shown here) to create 
individualized ornaments to give as gifts.

I wrapped all of my gifts last year using brown 
craft/butcher paper (purchased from the dollar store) 
and simple velvet ribbon. I personalized each gift 
with the person's initial instead of using gift tags/labels. 
I loved the simplicity of the wrappings, 
as did the recipients of these gifts!