Perhaps it’s because we now live in a kid riddled neighborhood, or perhaps it’s the single family home syndrome, but this year I went all out.  In fact, I’ve found that I can’t wait to scoop up all the HEAVILY discounted decor this week to improve my plans for next year.

I decorated the repurposed dresser buffet by draping it with gauzy fabric and adding layers of spooky artifacts.  Some of my favorite finds this year were the Vampires sign (Target $1 bin I love you!) & the skull tapers from Home Goods.  I also scooped up a bag of eye balls from JoAnns and just floated them in vases of water.

With the inside giving me the creeps, I wanted to ensure the neighborhood kids knew where to stop tonight.

I stole a lot of the outdoor decor ideas from a bloggy friend (& now I can’t find the link – sorry friend).  The bats across the door seem just spook enough for me.  I think went a little crazy with the spider webs but I love it!!!!

I’ll take more pictures tonight to share with you tonight.  Beau & I are dressing up as Batman & Catwoman, brewing up a batch of spike Cider for adults & have over 600 pieces of chocolates for the kiddies.

Being spooky is fun!

I have 1/2 a dozen projects going on & on top of my personal projects, the Etsy store has been a hit.  I’ve been cranking out little Hokie gift sets faster than I thought possible.

Be sure to contact me if you need a little something special for little ones in your life – I have lots of patterns that I just haven’t had time to post.

So let’s recap what I’ve been working on:

Gift Items:
- Anniversary Gift for a dear friend – Complete
- Grocery List Update – Complete
- Breakfast Nook Makeover – In progress
     – Table
     – Rug
- Normal seasonal decorating – In progress
- B-day gift for Sissy – In progress
- Baby gifts for Baby L & Baby C – In progress
- Sunshine “print” for guest room – In progress
- Formal Living Room Makeover – OVERWHELMING & in progress
- Reupholster chair/ottoman – In progress
- Solution for the dog crates – completed – foiled – in progress

So let me explain on the Dog crate front.  This has been a challenge for me ever since adopting my precious Deja in 2005.  What in the world do you do with that ugly dog crate?

My first idea was to incorporate the dog crates as part of my breakfast nook.

{House of Turquoise via Pinterest}

This led me to wonder if I could build my own window seat/dog crates.  I was “semi-successful.”  Using plans from Ana-White, I built 2 custom dog crates to the appropriate scale and size.

I was pleased with the outcome until we actually tried to use them; our dearest Palmer busted right through the doors of his crate.  Back to the ugly wire eye sore.

I tried spray painting them white – that took forever.
We took the stained top  and placed it right over the wire crate – still not appealing.

Finally I found to end table dog crates for a fairly reasonable price online:

I promptly ordered two in matching sizes and colors.  I beamed with pride as I finally found a reasonable solution to my doggie woes….until:

Dog Gone It – Palmer

Palmer clearly thought his new home was a seasonal tasty treat.

Back to square one on the puppy palace.

On Friday, I showed you a one of my recent (relatively speaking) projects:  our Tailgate table.

Today I’m happy to share the tutorial to establish your own Field for a feast.  This project is so easy I feel silly showing a tutorial….but just in case.

Supplies:
Green Fabric of appropriate length & width for your table
White Grograin Ribbon (I used 1 1/4″ width)
Stitch witchery, hot glue, or white thread
Tape Measure

When I decided to go this direction I spent nearly a week searching for the perfect “base” for the project.  I decided on 108″ fabric from Joann’s, with a 40% off coupon I got a yard & 1/2 which was more than enough to make two table clothes.  I cut it in half , hemmed (with stitch witchery) loose edges & saved the rest for March (St. Patrick’s Day).

So I was left with an appropriate length cloth (you’ll notice mine hangs over the edges of my table; however, if I add the leafs it would fit almost end to end).  I did most of this project by look and feel as opposed to exact science.  For example, when deciding how many yard markers to include take into consideration the width of your ribbon, the space between yard markers, and where each marker will fall in relation to your table & other decor.  I knew I wanted to leave a space to eventually add an endzone but wanted to get as close to including all of the 10 yard lines.

I laid out the project on my table and began placing the ribbon.  I quickly realized that the lines were too thick and too close together.  Instead of returning to the store, I decided on fewer yard markers.  At this point it was easy.

To establish guidelines for my yard markers I ironed my tablecloth in half, and half again, and half again.

Now it just became a matter of attached the yard markers along my guidelines.  Along each crease, I layered my stitch witchery & grograin ribbon.  Cut the ribbon two inches longer than the width of your fabric so you have an extra inch of ribbon on each side.

Fold the extra inch of ribbon around the edge of the fabric to create a finished edge.

Now repeat, & repeat, & repeat, & repeat, & repeat….well you get the point.

Enjoy!

I had/have so much to share with you but time flies when you’re having fun or working hard.  Since I’m so far behind, I’m going to pretend it’s September – because that’s what I have to talk about.

In our house September signals FOOTBALL!  We’re a sports house, in any given week you will find out watching some time of sporting event, in fact, we’re often watching two.  Last night for example, we watched playoff baseball and Thursday night football.  It’s not just professional sports though, college football and basketball get their fair share of attention around here as well.

This is how I watch football:

I never turn away puppy snuggles & even the pups get dolled up for football season.

Beau & I have gotten a chance to get out & watch a little football in person too.

When we don’t get out to watch football, I try to make sure we’re prepared at home.

Hot dogs – check
Hamburgers – check
Beer – check
Tailgate themed table…….CHECK

Our “tailgate table” includes football tributes to our alma mater, Virginia Tech, complete with the baby Hokie set which you can now get from Etsy, & a nod to Beau’s beloved Redskins.  Since Beau is a HUGE Redskins fan, and I’m a huge Beau fan, I try to keep him happy.

We just traded out our tailgate table for Halloween decor so maybe I’ll get a chance to show you that before Thanksgiving.  Just kidding.

On Monday, I’ll show you the step by step process to make your own football field.

In the interest of giving credit where credit is due…I stole this from Erin Gates @ Elements of Style (who stole it from Garance Dore to be fair).

Jenna Lyons is one of my ultimate inspirations.  I may not have attended Parsons but I did graduate with a Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design degree from the 15th ranked fashion school in the world.

I think Jenna’s real inspiration to me is her self-confidence.  She seems so comfortable in her own skin.  Her unique sense of style that draws from her small CA beach town upbringing and “stuffy” East coast family gifts seamlessly pulled together.

You think I can make my high school blazer and Florida white shorts work for me?

I’ve read about your hunt for black skinny jeans, your delight in the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the heightened hectic mornings, and the new bite in the air.  It seems that as you sent your children off to school and dusted the corners of your closets, fall descended in all it’s glory.

Welp, it’s 87 degrees here today.  I know exactly where my black skinnies are and they will probably stay there for at least a few more months.  I’ve tried the Pumpkin spice latte & while I love it – it just doesn’t taste right in 90 degree weather.  Before I’ve felt like I had to force myself to prepare for fall, now I feel as if I have to force Fall to visit Florida.

So in celebration of the “Fall” season, I’m drawing inspiration from school.

What a wonderful “homework station.

A Grown Up Homework Station

In addition to brainstorming about the perfect study space.  I’m thinking about the perfect study supplies, & right now I’m loving Poppin.

The bright colors make studying or maybe even working such a joyful experience.  What do you think?

After rough housing with my nieces and catching up with Mumma, Pops, Auntie, & Peanut, Beau and I headed over to celebrate his bestie’s baby.

Mr & Mrs. L are due to have their first little one in December and their family threw a wonderful baby shower in Little One’s honor.  We had the best time with Mr. & Mrs. L, as well as, several friends we had not seen in a while.  In fact, we had such a good time I didn’t take a SINGLE picture on my own camera.

I wore a new J. Crew (I know, shocker) top, skinny jeans, and lots of accessories.  I also went with my new go-to hairstyle:  the ballerina bun, which on a side note – I almost lit on fire via tiki torch.

Baby Shower Bun by withloveg featuring flats

More importantly, I have been busting at the seams to show you guys the Hokie ensemble I cooked up for the baby gift.

I was pretty proud of the Hokie tail feathers.  I’ve made the beanie’s before but this is a first time I’ve made the diaper cover & car seat blanket.  They turned out wonderfully.

They seemed to be a big hit at the shower and a couple of the girls suggested I open an Etsy shop.  If I did so, would you buy one?

I’m also thinking about making some tail feathers in Mr. L’s size – he has agreed to wear them if I make them. Sounds like a personal challenge.

After completely rocking out on Friday night, Beau keeps comparing it to a religious epiphany, we scooped up my sister, Auntie, and headed down to see the rest of the family.

I had every intention of chasing Peanut’s Mini Me around the yard and fully expected to be spit-up on by Lil’ Nugget so I dressed accordingly.

The easy J.Crew ensemble allowed me to feel like myself all while comfortably playing to my inner child’s content.  I will say the ballerina bun didn’t stand up to the rough housing and ended up in a high pony.

Here’s a rough snapshot of my BEA.U.TI.FUL family (only girls allowed).

It’s not the best picture, taken after a day of playing hard.  You can only see Mumma’s eyes (but you know she’s smiling); & the only one actually looking at Pops is Nugget, but none-the-less I’m pretty proud of these beauts.

While in RIC I also taught my niece this endearing trick, because who doesn’t want to look like a monkey?

Girl doesn’t need my help though; she’s already got style.

Our friends and family mean everything to us and this weekend was full of them.

On Friday night we went to see The Boss with Beau’s brother and sister-in-law.  That’s right, Bruce Springsteen the man himself.  I spent days searching for/planning the perfect “rock-out” concert outfit.

If I would have thought of it earlier I would have found an AWESOME vintage Bruce tee on e-bay, added some jeans, bangles and comfy shoes & called it a day. I imagined it coming together something like this:

After a month and a half off the blog is back up and running.  It may not seem like big changes but there has been LOTS going on behind the scenes.

The things you may notice are the colors, layout, and logos but what you can’t see are the new CSS framework, hosting provider, and administrative changes to hopefully make blogging (& more importantly the blog reading) more fun for everyone.

I apologize that it’s taken me so long but this process has not been without heartache.  During the transition process, I lost all my photo links.  See ya old photos.  I am trying to get the photos back and updated but it is just not a priority right now.  I’ve pretty much “broken up” with the old blog. You can still read the posts – just pick the category “Practicing Perfect 1.0″ on the right.  The plan is to re-upload or appropriately link the photos as I link to old posts.

I have also registered for some classes.  I am taking a webmaster series to include everything from PHP and CSS to Flash.  Could be fun, right? Ha – speaking of which if you know where a sista can get a really good deal on Adobe CS Web Premium – HOLLA.

I did take some online classes for Photoshop Elements, & practiced what I learned on these beauties.

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Trust me – I’m not done yet but rather than make you wait for the final product I’m going to work on the “agile” method, release new updates as we go.

I also have been working my tail off at home.  New furniture, new craft projects, new decor all ready and waiting for the court of public opinion.

Now I’m off to spend my weekend with lots of family, friends and fun.  I’ll give you the update on Monday, sneak peek The BOSS, baby showers, and birthday celebrations.

WELCOME BACK!