Tina's Decor and More

It's 2011

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

Bring It On

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

Fall Themed Christmas Tree

2010-10-11T23:00:00.003-04:00

Another great idea.....

It's an artificial Christmas tree decorated for Fall.
Using fall ribbon, mini pumkins or gourds and some sunflowers.
It's a unique way to decorate and get more use out of those trees.
Hey, why not a Valentine's Day Tree, Easter Tree etc .....

This one was made by a friend of mine, I haven't attempted to make one myself
Will have to add it to my list of things to do!

Fall's version of a Snowman

2010-10-10T11:16:00.003-04:00

When I saw this I LOVED it.... Going to go out this week , get myself 3 pumpkins and give it a try. Would you?

Photo courtesy of Country Home Magazine.

Check Out My Cool Duck Tape

2010-09-18T15:42:00.007-04:00

I found this awesome Duck Tape at Target a while ago and knew I just had to have it. First I used it to cover a few of my grandson's baby food jars. I gave one to my mother-in-law and she used it in her bathroom for Q-Tips, then I used one for a tealight holder in my kitchen. Then yesterday I was washing out a pickle jar that was going to the recycle bin and thought, "ooooooh, this is a perfect size" (not too big and not too small)
I've looking for something to put my sweetner packets in for a while, I hate to look at the box they come in sitting on my shelf. So, this is what I came up with it and I just LOVE it!
Don't you??

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

"Happy Valentine's Day"

I Got My Valentine's Day Blog Exchange Gifts (Last Week)

2010-02-06T23:03:00.007-05:00

My bloggy/twitter friend Robin and I participated in The Valentine's Day Blog Exchange and as if cupid knew , he picked us to be partners. Well I got my box of goodies from her over a week ago, but cuz I am a slacker I'm just getting to post about it now. She sent me some awesome things she got from Etsy. I just LOVE LOVE everything , the minute I opened the box and saw the "Bite Me" necklace I put it on and haven't taken it off since. LOVE IT, I say that expression way too much and it fits me to a "T". Speaking of "T" did you get a load of the heart shape necklace with the "T" inside. That too is right up my alley, you know me I love anything and everything that is personalized! I will switch necklaces this week. I have already eaten some of the yummy chocolates that were in the cute little pouch. (shhhhhh, don't tell my Mamavation Sisters) I am so glad we both participated in this fun little meme.......

Thanks again Robin, you are the BEST !
xoxoxo

Pottery Barn, Here I Come....

2010-01-28T08:13:00.005-05:00

I am constantly getting emails from Pottery Barn, it is usually to inform me of sales. ( Which unfortunately I can't even afford "sale items" ) Today I got one about this "Design the Perfect Bedroom" class and ya know what, I am going to go to it. What the hell right, what do I have to lose, it is free. I am sure it will be fun, and even though I can't afford 80% of the stuff in their store I know I will learn something I can use in the future. (when I hit lotto) Who doesn't love to be around gorgeous home accessories ? I think this is just what I need to make me feel better.
So if you have a Pottery Barn near you, go check out if they are offering any of these decorating classes. If you have gone to one, let me know what you thought of it.
Thanks
xoxo

365 Days of Decluttering

2010-01-16T10:46:00.002-05:00

When I came across this button on Trish's blog Another Piece of the Puzzle. I thought, I soooo need to get in on this one. Clutter drives me freakin insane, and I have so much of it.
In the header of the 365 Days of Decluttering blog, she writes
"Clutter comes in many forms--sometimes obvious and sometimes not. Physical clutter is obvious, although defining it is a personal opinion. Mental clutter manifests itself into visual clutter. When you purge the physical clutter, the mental clutter will follow it out the door!"

Man, I am hoping this is true... I do believe my mental clutter is result in some part to my physical clutter. My plan is , with every item of physical clutter that goes out the door a part of mental clutter goes with it.

This is how I am going to tackle my challenge, each week ( I guess Saturday, since I started today) I am going to make a list of 7 things that need to be decluttered. I might not get to one each day , but I promise that I will get all 7 things done each week. I am sure as the year goes on I will have to redo some of these places, cuz as we all know somehow crap creeps back in when we aren't looking.
So, this week's list is:

Clean out frig
Clean out pantry
Clean out my coffee table
Clean out the basket of magazines next to my bed
Clean out my nightstand
Clean out the chest in my dining room
Clean out the Tupperware cabinet

So, come check back with me next week and I will let you know how this week's challenge went. Whoooo hooo , I am getting excited already. Don't forget if you want to take the challenge too, go sign up at the 365 Days of Decluttering blog now.

The Valentine's Day Blog Exchange

2010-01-06T22:26:00.002-05:00

Today I was trying to catch up on some blog reading, and of course one of my favorites Masshole Mommy had a post she was joining in on a "Valentine's Day Blog Exchange" that Holly over at The Domestic Dork started. I really enjoyed doing the Bloggers Ornament Exchange , so I knew I had to be in on this one too. It is the same concept, you are paired up with an other blogger and you send each other some sort of Valentine's Day related item. It is encouraged that it is handmade, either by yourself or you can help support others and buy something off of Etsy. If you want to sign up for this exchange , you have to hurry up cuz the deadline is January 8th. So, go head over to The Domestic Dork what are you waiting for?

2010 Is Here, Ready or Not

2009-12-31T22:54:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year

"Here's to an Awesome 2010"

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T08:47:00.004-05:00

I know I have been quite the slacker lately, very stressed and crazy busy just like the rest of you. Hopefully the New Year will bring much needed internal peace.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

1st Award for Decor and More

2009-12-07T19:33:00.004-05:00

Awwww.... I am soo honored I got this Award twice in one day. One from my buddy Robin over at Masshole Mommy (for this blog) and the other from Freddae at Coffee God and Me ( for Tina's Insane Life). I am sooo cheating and just doing the same post on both blogs. Jeez, I hope I am not breaking any laws or anything! The "strings" attached with getting this Award is that you have to say 5 things you like to do and then pass this on to 5 friends.

These are the 5 things I like to do:

#1. Decorating , looking at home decor in stores and magazines..... ( now I just need an endless supply of $$ to make it all happen)

#2. Hanging out with my friends ( all of them, real-life friends and my online-friends )

#3. Laugh, I just love to laugh !!

#4. Be with my family ( Guess this should have been #1, but whatcanIsay... not loving them all right at this moment)

#5. Watching TV ( I know it is lame....but I just love my tv. Reality show junkie, HGTV fanatic and any Cop drama )

Now these are the 5 friends I am sending this award to:

#1. Cheryl at The Budge Bunch ( cuz she is one of my "real-life" BFF's and "online" BFF we have the best of both worlds )

#2. Kate at Busted Plumbing ( cuz she is handling her infertility with grace and humor )

#3. Ryan at For The Birds ( cuz she is the "Best" and I just loved how excited she got when I gave her an award before )

#4. Mary at Pajamas and Coffee ( OMG, cuz she is just tooo freaking hysterical )

#5. Last but not least I give this award to Mrs. Blogs Alot . ( cuz we are new friends and reading one of her posts encouraged a good "cleanse" that I much needed)

So go check out these awesome friends of mine!!
Thanks

xoxo

Personalized Coffee Mugs

2009-12-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

I wanted to get the moms that I am on the PTO with a little gift when I see them at our December meeting. We plan on going out for pizza and beer after we "conduct" our business ....( as we are a branch of government or something LOL ). I have become close with these girls and we laugh all the time, it makes all the hours upon hours of volunteering seem more like fun then work. (believe me it is alot of work, especially when it is usually only the 5 of us planning and running all the school events)

A few weeks ago I was shopping at The Christmas Tree Shops , if you live in New England you know it is the mecca of all things Christmas and otherwise!! "Don't you just love a bargain".....that is their slogan! It is the best store on EARTH! While there shopping for our School's Holiday Store (which as PTO Vice President, I am in-charge of planning and running) I found these cute coffee mugs. Instantly I thought, "ooooh I could so take a paint pen and write an initial in the center of that belt buckle." So, I bought 4 @ 2 for $3.00, then I came across the napkins that sort of matched, those were $1.00 ea. I was excited, I even had a 20% of your entire order coupon. A few days after my trip to the Christmas Tree Shops I was in Walmart looking for the paint pen I would use to write the initial with, I came across the adhesive rhinestone letters (it was like they were sent for heaven just for me!) at only $3.00 for the sheet of them Then a week ago I was in my Dollar Store and found the "Santa" gift bags and had to just get them ( x4 =$4.00).

I think i will buy some hot chocolate packets and put them inside the mugs, then put the mug and the napkins in the gift bag add tissue and it I hope it is a cute little gift the girls will like.

(all for less then $5.00 each and that includes the gift bag) Not Bad, right?

Again I am going to apologize for the quality of my photos, I use my cell phone to take pictures.

Thanks

xoxo

Easy Personalized Candles

2009-12-04T16:11:00.007-05:00

I promised I would get my creative juices flowing again ..........and I have!

Next weekend I am going to have brunch will my girlfriends (which I have had since the 7th grade and one of them since Kindergarten). I like to bring them a "little" something for the Holidays and usually I do an ornament or some other Christmas decoration. But this year we have reconnected with a couple old friends who will also be there and one of them is Jewish. I felt weird bringing something Christmas-like for everyone else and her something different, so I wanted to come up with an idea that would be good for all of them. Of course my brain went to candles, but not just any candles I wanted to personalize the candles (cuz I love anything personalized) So I went to walmart and picked out 10 oz candles (3 cinnamon and 2 cranberry), found rhinestone adhesive letters , and some bows. The total cost for all the materials was about $26.00. I made 5 candles and have enough leftover bows and rhinestones that I can make at least 2 more candles. Which I will do for my 2 nieces who are 21 and 22 years old.

I am going to apologize now for my horrible picture taking skills... I am using my cell phone camera to take these.

Above: These are the materials I bought, the candle was $3.50, bows $5.00 for 14 (I used 2 to make each candle) , the rhinestone letters $3.00 for the sheet.

Below: each candle had a plastic lid that had pre-punched holes in them, I tied 2 bows together , manipulated them to look pretty (wire-edged ribbon RULES) then using the holes I tied the ribbon to the lid.

Below: I stuck the rhinestone letter on the candle, this one is for my friend Monica (first, making sure to first peel off the sticker that is already on the candle, these come off very easily.) put the plastic lid with the bow attached to it back on and there you have it! A cute personalized candle for your friends. I think it would also make a nice teacher gift. Each candle cost about $5.00 if that...

I Know I Have Been Neglecting This Blog

2009-12-03T07:34:00.002-05:00

This blog is my 2nd Blog, it is my escape from the "insanity" of Tina's Insane Life. I do enjoy decorating and some "light" crafting ( I am in no way shape or form a "Martha Stewart"). Although I would give anything to have a pinky's worth of her talent or any one of my idols on HGTV.
Unfortunately I have let the insanity take over and put the "poo-poo" on my creative side.
I am really going to try to snap out of the funk that is lingering over me. It hard sometimes being a mom, wife, friend, daughter, sister, daughter-in-law and all the other hats we women wear. What is worse is when we feel like we are doing our best, someone or something reminds us that we could be doing better. Nothing sucks more then feeling unappreciated and like your best isn't good enough.
I am going to stop here, take all these feelings and write a good 'ol fashioned "bitch and moan" post over on my other blog and save this one for the positive and creative things I do.
Hopefully my next post will be in a day or two and I will have finished all the Christmas decorations and can share some pictures with you all.
Thanks
xoxo

My Ornament Arrived

2009-11-28T15:59:00.003-05:00

In the mail yesterday I received an ornament from Alex over at Before the Baby Wakes . It is the cutest red/white/green and silver glittered Christmas tree ornament. We both participated in a Blogger's Ornament Exchange that was all arranged by Beki at Pampering Beki . It was a lot of fun, picking out an ornament and getting to know another mom blogger. So , check out both these cool ladies.

Happy Holidays

Thanks xoxo

The Christmas Decorating Season is here....

2009-11-27T16:57:00.005-05:00

Well it is the day after Thanksgiving , I am not one of those crazy people who is out in front of Walmart or Best Buy for the 5am madness. Every year on this day I take down my fall decor and start putting up the Christmas.

This year I only got as far as taking down all the fall stuff, and the only sign of Christmas is the greenery I put in the window boxes in front of my house.

I am not ready just yet for the trip into the attic to pull it all down. It takes a lot out of me to place each one of my items in just the right place. Hopefully I will find the motivation next week, once the kids go back to school.

Happy Holiday Decorating !!

Personalizing Dollar Store Items

2009-11-24T19:42:00.006-05:00

Just like my post "Makeover Monday" where I took a simple bag I bought at the Dollar Store and wrote my friend Cheryl's daugher's name on it. I am at "it" again , this time I made a fabric bin for Cheryl's son Jake. Simply took my handy dandy paint pen and wrote "Jake's Junk". (paint pen's can be bought at any craft store or I get mine at Walmart's craft department.)

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! "gobble gobble"

Thanks

xoxo

Blogger Ornament Exchange

2009-11-10T14:50:00.003-05:00

I was blog hopping today and came across a post for a "Bloggers Ornament Exchange" and thought "what an awesome idea"!! PamperingBeki is running this, if you want to join in go check out the rules on her website but hurry the deadline is November 12th.
I guess Christmas really is just around the corner!!! Should be a lot of fun.

Thanks

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-27T13:54:00.003-04:00

I am doing this post to try to keep my sanity!! I was thinking if I could do a "fun" post it would make me feel better. There is a lot going on in my family right now. (go check out Tales From Tina to see why) With everything going on my son Thomas and I managed to carve a couple pumpkins the other night. I don't normally "carve" the pumpkins, that is a job my husband does with the kids. I don't think I have actually carved a pumpkin since I was a little girl. It was fun, not as hard or gross as I thought it was going to be.

I might just do it again next year!!

Thanks

xoxo

MakeOver Monday

2009-10-19T16:56:00.000-04:00

In this post I'm "Making Over" a simple little bag I bought at the Dollar Store. When I saw it, I thought it was so cute for a buck and I immediately thought of my friend Cheryl's 4year old daughter Chloe. I am a sucker for anything I can personalize. When my nieces were little I remember giving them Crayons and coloring books for Christmas and writing their names on the Crayon boxes, so there would be no fighting ("those are my Crayons!") I have done this sort of thing ever since.

This is a great gift idea on it's own, or you can use it as a "gift bag" and fill with other goodies!
The bag itself is made of the same material as those reusable bags you can buy at all the stores now. I just wrote Chloe's name with a paint pen (you can get from any craft store, I got mine from the craft department at Walmart) If you don't feel comfortable writing freehand, you can also use your computer and the different fonts and sizes in an application like Microsoft Word to print out the name. Just put the piece of paper inside the bag and trace. It is really that easy, I have done this before because the only lettering I like to do freehand is the one you see. I call it my "bubble lettering". Last year I bought a similar bag to give to one of my son's friends who's birthday it was. Since he was a boy, I didn't think he would much appreciate my style of lettering. So, I went on my computer and found what I thought was an easy and "boyish" font and traced it on. Then I filled the bag with miscellaneous summer toys and a beach towel. Everyone loved it and thought it was a great gift, I really didn't spend alot of money at all.
Come'on what kid doesn't love to see their name on something?

Thanks
xoxo

Christmas at the Dollar Store

2009-10-17T17:48:00.001-04:00

I know it is crazy that not only am I talking about Christmas but that I have actually purchased Christmas stuff already. I took at trip to The Dollar Tree with my son yesterday to check out what they had for our Halloween party and of course I couldn't help but look at the Christmas crap they had out. I have learned that if you see something there that you really like/want, you have to buy it right then. The store gets cleaned out pretty quick, and I have kicked myself before because I have waited thinking "I will get it next time." I love this store, I am probably there at least once a week! So, if you have any kind of Dollar Store by your home I suggest you go check it out and see what you can find for nice affordable gifts or home decor.

The snowflakes have 10 to each package (10 for $1) I will hang these from my son's ceiling in his bedroom as part of his "Winter Wonderland" decor.

These are mouse pads that hold a picture also, so that is 2 gifts in 1. I will give these out with the Christmas picture of my boys already in them. (nice gift for a buck, right?)

*The Snowmen wall decor at the top of the page are made of tin, and have very thin wire hangers. I will either use these around my house or give them away, I just felt like they were too cute to leave there for that price.

Thanks
xoxo

Fall Decorating

2009-10-14T21:41:00.000-04:00

I do enjoy decorating my home all I need to really LOVE it, is an endless supply of money to feed my habit. I am not that happy with this year's decor, but I figured I would feel worse if I did nothing at all. This year I'm going to try to restock on new stuff after when everything is on clearance. Here are some pics from around my house.

Any Reason To Have A Party, Right?

2009-10-13T20:10:00.000-04:00

Our family celebrates all holidays major holidays together just like everyone else. But we also celebrate the "minor" holidays too, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Halloween. In February of 1998 we were living in New York very close to my mother, sister, brother and father. ( My parents are divorced and have been since I was a Senior in High School.) My oldest son was about 5years old and must have been working on a Valentine's Day project in Daycare, when he said to me " mommy, I feel bad for Grammy she will be all alone on Valentine's Day". Omg, it was soo friggin sweet and of course I had to immediately call my mom and tell her what her grandson just said. It was then we decided to spend Valentine's Day together with her (my sister came with my nephew and niece) and we had a nice dinner/party together. We had heart shaped hamburgers, cookies and drank raspberry ginger ale (pink).

When March rolled around and St. Patrick's Day came we did the same thing....Corned Beef / Cabbage/ green colored Sprite and green cupcakes. I filled black pots with those chocolate gold coins for each of the kids. We decorate the house and even dress all in green, my youngest has a leprechaun hat he loves to wear! (really wish i could find some pics to post, sorry)

Last but not least, is our Halloween party.....we make all sorts of gross food like worms and eyeballs (spaghetti/meatballs). Each year we do different recipes from those Halloween magazines you see at the stores. Of course the house is decorated, we have a graveyard cake and we all dress in costume. Now that the grand kids are 16, 15, 13 and 8 you would think they would get sick of these "parties" after all these years...........NOPE, they look forward to them just as much as we do (but don't ask them, they will never admit it).

Do you have any of these traditions?........or are you like us, any reason to have a party?

Thanks
xoxo