A Winner, A Follow-Up and a Tease
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Congratulations Ashley!!!
Do you remember months ago when I shared a little project that my hubby and I worked on together for our friends cabin?
The original fireplace looked like this.
I designed, hubby and I built, and I painted. Then the fireplace looked like this.
Well here is a photo of the decorated mantle.
I love the way it looks with the big mirror above and the wreath hanging in front of the mirror. Our friend said that she's replacing the small wreath with a larger one, so just imagine it looking that way now.Isn't their cabin beautiful!
Do you see the refection in the mirror of the gorgeous quilt?
Our friend is literally the Queen of Quilting. This lady is talented! I am so lucky to know her. She is my inspiration, not just because of her creative talents. But because she is incredibly confident and caring. And she and her husband are two of the most generous people I know! Not to mention that they willingly put their trust in us to build them a few items for their beautiful cabin.The mantle isn't the only thing we did. We built another item for their cabin too. We started with an old solid wood back door.
Here's a sneak peek with more photos to follow soon.
Belvedere Design Giveaway
>I am so excited to introduce you to Belvedere Designs!
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They offer an incredible variety of custom wall letters, vinyl words and wall quotes, family stickers, wall art, graphic design and more. I'm warning you right now, they offer so many wonderful designs that you'll have a hard time picking just one or two! I know because they let me pick two designs to give away and it was a very hard choice!
I picked this wonderful headboard design for myself. I have a fun idea for it that I'll have to show you in a later post.
You know how I love a great monogram design! Yep, I love monograms so much that I picked this one to give away to one lucky winner!
Can't you just imagine this beauty above your bed! Or how about in the entry or living room of your home surrounded by photos of your family.
I really wanted this design for my laundry room but I don't have the wall space for it.
Hopefully you do though because we're giving it away!
And if that isn't enough, Belvedere Designs is also letting me give away a gift certificate. The winner of this will be able to pick any item, up to $50 in value, from their site! Ooohhhh so many choices! And they've even added 18 new colors like olive, lipstick, buttercream, celdon, and bubblegum, to name just a few.
Belvedere even has a blog where you can see lots of new ideas. And they have a monthly drawing for a $50 gift certificate from their customer-submitted photos.
I'm sure that you're anxious to enter this giveaway! Here's all you need to do: leave me a comment telling me which of the three choices (monogram, laundry sign, gift certificate) you would love to win. If you want another entry then post about this giveaway on your blog, twitter or facebook. And for a third chance to win, leave a favorite quote that you'd love to see Belvedere Designs make---one that they don't already offer (this might be tough because they offer a ton of great quotes already).
This giveaway will be open until Saturday at midnight (MST) I'll anounce the three lucky winners next Monday. GOOD LUCK!
In-Between Porch Decor and a Winner
>It's such an odd time of year, one might call it the "In-Between Season." 
There are no holidays in sight, it's too cold to decorate for spring, and decorating with the grays and browns of winter has gotten old. To cure the winter blahs that one gets in the in-between season, I pulled out my brightest spray paint colors and some old, very old, thrifted items.
First I gave an old frame and a piece of scrap beadboard a fresh coat of bright orange. 
Then I painted the legs of a stool with a creamy yellow and finished the top off with gray.
The beadboard is now the ideal spicy backdrop for an average woody wreath.
Faux ranunculus in a crusty pot resting on a silver tray are appropriate for this time of year. Fun Fact: Ranunculus flowers season is usually from January till May. The flowers look so pretty framed in orange with a bright yellow little bird that seems to be enjoying the scene.
Even though the flowers are fake I couldn't resist adding a cheery teal watering can into the vignette, along with an over-sized lantern to shed a little light in the crisp early evenings of this time of year.
I now have a bright, delightful, and perfect In-Between Season porch.
According to Random Generator, the winner of the Thirty-One Gifts Giveaway is number 35. 
Hooray Gayle! Gayle is a very talented rug hooker and loooong-time reader of my blog. I'm so excited for her. Giving prizes is always fun but when it's someone I "kindda" know (we've never met in person but I saw her on TV), it makes it even more exciting!
Thank you Diana from Thirty-One Gifts for hosting this giveaway.
Spooky Greetings And a Gift Card Winner
>I have been slow to decorate for Halloween. It seems that the old wife's tale that death comes in threes is true for our family. My sweet mother's loving husband recently passed and things have been difficult. We miss him dearly!
But I have learned that one of the best ways for me to take my mind off of my troubles is to beautify my surroundings.
I started with these terracotta pumpkins that I've had for years.
They needed a little updating and since my favorite color of late is gray that's the color they became. A spritz of black glitter gave them a little glam.
I paired them up with bright green lanterns and grocery store pumpkins.
Then I filled an urn with some dead branches where crows can rest.
A spider is feeling at home too.
The frame got a spray paint makeover to match the lanterns.
And now my porch is ready for the season.
I am excited to announce that "Little Old Me" was randomly selected to receive the $100 Wal*Mart gift card. Congratulations! Please email me so I can pass on your information.
Getting and Giving a Bouquet
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I went on their site and picked a gorgeous bouquet. They have bunches of sunflowers in all different pretty arrangements. I picked my favorite and placed my order.I was excited to see a fresh flower delivery on my doorstep!
I followed the instructions for opening the box and found a lovely bouquet inside.
I must admit that although the flowers were beautiful, they were smaller than what I had anticipated from how they appear in the photos. They came packed in moist florist foam ready to be placed in their vase.
You pick the color of vase included with the flowers. Mine turned out to be an odd color of green. Of course we all know that a little spray paint can fix things---unless the original paint wasn't applied correctly (oops!). 
The plain galvanized vase would have been a better choice.Oh well, my bouquet looked even more elegant in a vase from my collection.
The flowers have an eight day guarantee. Mine didn't quite last the full eight days, but they did last longer than others I buy.here's your chance to try out their fresh flower delivery.
Go to their site and have a look around.While you're there register to win a year of fresh flowers
(who wouldn't love that!).
Then come back here and leave a comment.On Friday I'll announce the winner.
Good Luck!
Guest Ready
>I was contacted by Better Homes and Gardens to see if I would review some products in their line at Walmart. They asked if I'd like to use $100 to get a bedroom guest ready. I was excited because, although I liked my guest room the way it was, the bedding was never warm enough for my guests during the winter months.
I picked the beautiful BHG Fleur de lis comforter set because it goes well with the colors already in the room.
It's a gorgeous grayish brown with accents of green and yellow. The all-over ruffles pillow is the perfect accessory to tie in the existing browns in the room.
While I was freshening up the bedding I added the branch over the bed and hung a framed botanical. I think that my guests will be very comfortable in this updated room.
I'm excited to give one of you the chance to win a $100 gift card to Walmart so that you can make your home guest ready.
* Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway.
Be sure to leave a comment for each entry.
The giveaway will go until Tuesday, October 11th. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced shortly afterward. Good Luck!
A Scentsy Giveaway
>I love to walk in my front door and be greeted with a wonderful fragrance. One way I get my house to smell sweet (instead of like men, a cat, or last night's dinner) is with my Scentsy.
that gently warms wax and as it does it 
makes your home smell wonderful!
or these DIY warmers that can be decorated to suit your personality.
This darling cupcake warmer is the warmer of the month. 
Chilly Zoretic, a director for Scentsy, has offered to give away a full-size Scentsy warmer and a fragrance of choice to one lucky Joys of Home reader.
To enter go to her site, browse through the catalog and choose your favorite warmer then come back here and leave a comment.For an extra entry sign up for Chilly's Scentsy newsletter.
The giveaway will be open until Midnight (MT) August 1st, 2011
The winner will be announced August 2nd
Bouncing Back
>I'm back! Wow, it has been an event filled summer. I was blessed to witness the births of two beautiful granddaughters. They are happy, healthy and growing quickly as babies do. I have also said my earthly goodbyes to my mother-in-law and brother-in-law. As a family we have peace knowing that our loved ones who have passed are out of pain and in a much better place. We know that we will see them again and that they too are happy and growing.
I have appreciated your kindness, thoughtful comments,and patience!
Thank You!
Read All About It
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on the giveaway!
I'm going to find the three lucky winners the old fashioned way---
I'll be pulling them out of a hat.
The winners will be announced on Monday.
I have some exciting news!
I was interviewed by
Decor-Medley Blog.
I was asked some really
great questions.
Go here to read the interview.
Household Words Giveaway
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a giveaway for my readers.
I was excited to see all of the fun vinyl decals they had.
They offer inspirational sayings like this one.
There are decals that are look like modern wallpaper.
A beautiful monogram is always a good choice.
How cute would this be for a nursery?
A dry erase calendar could come in handy.
Or how about this big chalkboard calendar to keep the family organized?
I would have to say that my favorite decals werethe fun, over-sized spoon and fork.
Mandie is offering a chance for one lucky reader towin the fork and spoon decals.
All you need to do is visit the HouseHold Words siteor the HouseHold Words Etsy Shop,
take a look around and decide which decal is your favorite.
Then come back here and leave a comment.
For an extra chance to win visit the HouseHold Words Facebook page
and Like them, then come back and add another comment.
The giveaway will be open
until Saturday, July 9th at midnight MT.
The winner will be announced Monday, July 11th.
