Thanksgiving 2011

Our Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. We hosted 18 people in our new home and it went great. Our pictures from the actual day are on my Dad's camera, so I don't have them to share here now. I'll try to remember to get them soon!

I chose to do one long running table through our dining and living rooms. Great idea to allow for greater communication and no one got stuck at the "kids table." We had to do a bit of mix and match with the place settings, but I actually really liked the little extra pop of color from the blue plates.

The centerpieces were inspired by (where else?!), Pinterest. This is the original picture.

J thought this would be a fun project to do, so he grabbed his saw and went to my parents who'd just chopped down a cottonwood tree. He was also very excited to get to add to his collection of tools. 

This drill bit in the 1.5 inch size is perfect for tea lights. The project took make 30 minutes total to make me 5 logs that had 3-5 tea lights each. We plan to save them in the attic for use next year, too!

On Sunday our Pastor did an awesome thing, instead of preaching about Thanksgiving, he gave us many Biblical examples of times when God was praised with Thanksgiving, and then he invited us to partake in open mic. The people around us are so amazing. I sat through the service with tears in my eyes as people came forward and praised Jesus through the hard times and were thankful for the redemption they had found. It was truly inspirational.

Also, have you read Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation? He wrote it in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. You can read the entire proclamation here. Here is my favorite excerpt: 

"I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens ... to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union."

Happy Thanksgiving to you all on a daily basis. I hope your hearts and homes are filled with love, happiness, and thankfulness throughout this Blessed Holiday season.

Ten on Tuesday

1. What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?
We are hosting this year. 18 people in the house we've been living in for one month. Crazy? Yes, we are!

2. What are you most thankful for this year?
The health of my family and that both J and I have secure jobs.

3. Do you have any traditions on Thanksgiving? The parade? Football? Long naps?
None that we have to do every year. Normally the parade is on in the background in the morning while Mom and I pour through the Black Friday ads. Later in the day, football is turned on.

4. Is it called stuffing or dressing? Is it in the bird or a separate dish?
It is called stuffing. Dressing is a liquid you pour over your salad! And no, it does not go in the bird because we don't want to get sick from under-cooked food. 

5. Do you cook?
Love to!

6. What is your favorite dish?
Sweet potatoes. 

7. What is your dessert preference?
All of them! This year I'm making pear custard pie, pumpkin maple pie, pumpkin walnut maple pie, and an apple caramel pie. With homemade whipped cream.

8. What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
Going to Grandma's with all my cousins.

9. Do you plan to shop on Black Friday?
Nope, I usually don't. Maybe I'll hit one or two sales after 2 pm when all the crazies are finally in bed sleeping it all off. 

10. What are you most dreading about Thanksgiving this year?
The fact that I work the night before and will be sleep-deprived, and the clean up. Who wants to come wash my turkey roaster and my floors???




Ten on Tuesday provided via Roots and Rings.

Gift help

Good morning, Lovelies!

I was recently invited to a 'belated' bridal shower for a co-worker whom I really like, but that I just don't know very well yet (she's fairly new).

She recently got married, did not register, sounds like she had a lot of household stuff to begin with, oh and is just starting to share news that she's pregnant (but not with many people).

I am clueless as to what to get her. Do you have any ideas?? HELP!

Laundry Room Mini Makeover

The boxes are all unpacked and the dust has settled (mostly). And I have a blank canvas for a house. What to do? What to do! So far, the only rooms I have a clear vision for are the master bedroom and the laundry room. The master is going to wait til after Christmas as I'm hoping to receive some particular linens as gifts... (cough! cough! hint hint!)

The laundry room was easy. Just needed a quick little painterooo to make it pretty.

Before:

The two white bars are where the existing shelves were hung.

The wall color is actually really pretty: it's Valspar's "Boston Cream"

J helped me remove the existing wooden shelves, I then took them into the garage and prepped them for painting. When painting/refinishing wood, you can't scrimp on the prep work. It's a lot like painting your nails: remove old polish, wash polish remover off, base coat, color, top coat, Voila! 

The shelves got sanded with 150 grit sandpaper to get off the old sealer and sand out any imperfections in the wood. I then followed up with 220 grit sandpaper to really prep the surface for paint. After sanding, I used our ShopVac to vacuum away major dust and followed up with a damp cloth (tack-cloth also works well). If you don't get the dust completely off, the paint will stick to that and flake off over time.

The shelf on the left is sanded, the one on the right is still shiny with varnish.

Time to prime! I used Rust-Oleum "Painter's Touch" Primer in gray. The trick to spray painting is to do many light, even coats. At first, it will look awful, but after about 3 coats your project will be amazing and there will be no paint runs. You can apply each new coat after 15-30 minutes of dry time for the previous coat.

Once your primed coats are dry, you can paint your desired color on. I chose Rust-Oleum's Painters "Touch" Gloss in Purple. Once again, many light even coats, always keep your spray can moving.

The color turned out so pretty!

I opted to not use a clear varnish/lacquer type top-coat because my paint is very glossy and these shelves are fairly light-duty use and don't get wet. 

I also had this bathroom shelf from IKEA that I painted the same purple and Hubs installed. It now holds our keys, my purse, J's wallet, and our cell phones. It's SO NICE to have all that stuff in one place.

The finished product! The lighting was poor, but you get the idea. My next additions will be a purple valence for the window and hopefully a fun little chandelier!