Polka Dot Alphabet

For the longest time, I've been meaning to show you all a little gift idea that I use all the time. I am sure you've seen these wooden letters. I bought mine at Michael's, but I've seen similar ones at Joann's, Hobby Lobby, etc.

I love to get these letters for people as baby gifts. I just spray paint them, and then use a little round sponge brush to make the dots. I staple a grosgrain ribbon to the back.

Nina and Henry both have them hanging on their bedroom doors.

You know, in case they forget where their rooms are. Or for whenever they learn to read.

Next time you are looking for a unique little gift, give one of these a try! Or who says you can't make one for your own kids? :)

Have a great Halloween! I'll be back next week with a fun idea for the holiday season, a giveaway (yippee!) and maybe a few photos from our weekend. We're going to a Halloween party where the whole family gets to dress up. Yep, should be interesting!

I've Got Wreaths in Weird Places

My husband recently pointed out that I have a bit of a wreath obsession. As I looked around my house, I realized he was right. I buy (or make, in most cases) these things, and then I am bound and determined to find a place to put them.

For example, we all know about putting wreaths on our front doors.

And sometimes we put wreaths on the back of the front door, like this apple version I just made.

But then we get tired of it on the back of the door, so we move it to the dining room hutch. I strung a pretty green ribbon and then just attached it to one of those removable plastic hooks on the top of the hutch.

Then I decided that the mirror in the master bathroom was quite large and boring. Just a little grapevine wreath in the center makes me feel better.

I made another wreath a few months ago and would not rest until I found a place for it in my house. (To see how I made this Pottery Barn knockoff, click here!) Windows that are not being constantly opened and closed, or covered by curtains, are great places for a wreath!

This chalkboard in my family room looked a little lonely all by itself, so adding a wreath on top gave it a bit more dimension, and brought some green into the room too. If I ever feel the need to move it and actually write on the chalkboard, the wreath is just tacked to the top of the frame with an upholstery tack.

See? Lots of room for wreaths around the house...not just the front door! They can be cheap to make, can bring lots of color into a room, and just make a space feel more finished. Now you can be all wreath-obsessed like me!

Fall Decorating for the Black Thumbs Among Us

You may or may not remember my problem with plants...keeping them alive, that is. But I will assure you, I have a problem. Whatever creative ability I have is strictly limited to crafts and decorating. The gardening gene has totally eluded me.

So every fall I have this debate in my head: Should I buy some mums for the front porch? I know I will kill them. But they look so pretty! But they'll be dead in a week. But I like them! Seriously with this? Dead. In a week. Bummer!

This year I decided to skip the mums, save the money, and just put pumpkins in the places where plants usually go. So my urns? They are now holding fake grass ($2 at W*lMart) and a cute pumpkin.

My tabletop has a dried gourd that requires no green thumb from me.

And my window boxes have an array of mini-pumpkins and gourds.

This makes me happy because 1) I still get that pop of fall color on my front porch, 2) this stuff can stay on the porch through Thanksgiving, look all cute and autumn-y, but 3) no watering!

Give it a try if you are as "challenged" as I am!

Anniversary Bracelet Cuteness

A few weeks ago, I won something! Did any of you participate in The Nester's Giveaway Day? So fun! I just recently broke down and got a Post Office Box, which excites me to no end, because now I can enter fun giveaways like this. Before, my husband and I had an agreement that I needed to keep this blog anonymous, as much as possible, because I do post photos of my kiddos and real life. So my home address, no matter how many lovely ladies I met (and there have been a lot!), needed to stay private.

But now I have a PO Box and so it's time for some fun! OK, enough about my postal woes. Want to see what I've won?

This beautiful bracelet from Joey and Chase Designs!

She let me choose the date to display on the bracelet, as well as the colors. The date is my wedding anniversary. (I know what you are thinking. I should get one for my husband so that he never forgets. He's just not the bangle bracelet type...what's a girl to do?)

I love wearing it! If you're looking for a unique Christmas gift for a girlfriend, mom or sister, this would be so fun. Or maybe for that forgetful husband, who knows...

My Pumpkins are Numbered

Check out this adorable project!

I started with faux pumpkins that I picked up at (where else?) Goodwill. It's just because I'm cheap, they have them at Michael's and Joann's and other places too. I like using faux pumpkins because, I don't know, I have a hard time doing projects that I know I won't be able to re-use year after year. But this would work just as well with real pumpkins!

Enter my ingredients: graphite paper, paint markers, pencil, and numbers printed off my computer (the font is Modern No. 20, in case you are wondering!)

I traced the numbers onto each pumpkin using the pencil and graphite paper.

See how it leaves a nice little traceable number on my pumpkin?

Then I just used a black paint marker to fill in the numbers, and...

...aren't they so cute, all lined up like that?

Four little stair-step pumpkins. And unless you're looking, you can't tell them apart from my real pumpkins, which is good.

But they can come out to play every year!

Giveaway Winners!

You all should know, I am highly scientific.

When selecting the winners for the giveaway, I asked my husband to choose two numbers between 1 and 212. (I would have asked Nina, but she's only reliable up to 11, so the rest of you would have been out of luck!)

My husband chose numbers 22 and 189. Those lucky ladies are...

Allison (comment #22) from Smart and Sassy with Sprinkles

Laura (comment #189) from Brand New Housewife

Come on down, girls, and claim your prize! As a reminder, you get to choose between Lisa Leonard's sassy monogrammed keychain...

...or these adorable earrings in the exact color of my new bathroom! :)

I will stop by your blogs to tell you that you've won, but if you beat me to it, please email me with your preference, address, and anything else you think I need to know!

Thanks again to all of you for participating and have a wonderful weekend!

Love the Bins, Not the Price

Hello, adorable green metal bins from Pottery Barn Kids. You are looking mighty cute today. However, I would like to send my kids to college, so I will not be bringing you home. Love you though!

(image from Pottery Barn Kids)

Instead, I will visit my local Goodwill and find some rusty old bins for $3 a piece.

I will then apply some red spray paint. I will stain the wooden handles a dark walnut color. And I will add some chalkboard paint in a little square in the center of each bin.

I will end up with something equally cute! And my kids still get to go to college.

P.S. Giveaway winners will be announced later today. Don't miss it!

Celebrating My New Look with a Giveaway!

*Updated to add: Comments are now closed! I will announce the winners of the giveaway tomorrow. Thank you all so much for participating!

Ta Da! Welcome to the new look of Buzzings of a Queen Bee! Don't you just love love love it? OK, you don't have to use that many "loves" but seriously, how great do I look? I owe this gorgeousness to Jessica of This, That and Your Blog. She totally captured "me" in blog form (or at least, how I'd like to think of me...just maybe not first thing in the morning!). If you are in the market for a little blog renovation, go and visit Jessica. She is talented, sweet, and flat out amazing. I have loved working with her.

So now that I have this whole new look, how about a giveaway to celebrate?

How much do you love my new key chain? Isn't it sweet? Lisa Leonard, of Lisa Leonard Designs, sent me this little beauty. Girl knows how much I love anything monogrammed! I am so sassy now...this key chain makes my mama-style Honda Pilot keys look a lot more exciting!

And Lisa is such a peach...she sent me these adorable earrings just because! (Do you think it's really that she fell in love with my new bathroom color and thought my accessories should match? Can't say I blame her.)

Anyway, to celebrate my new blog look, Lisa has agreed to gift two lucky readers with her unique creations. Each winner will be able to choose between a key chain like mine (with your own monogram, of course!) or these fancy-dancy earrings.

What should you do to enter? Just leave me a comment. Couldn't be simpler, could it?

I will accept comments until 8 p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, October 15. Check back at the end of the week to see if you've won! (And to see what else I've been up to!)

Barf.

That about sums up my week. My little Henry has some kind of flu bug, and he's been sick for the past 48 hours. Then the dog decided he didn't want to be left out, so he's been leaving us little "presents" too. (Remind me to get the carpets cleaned before we ever think about selling this house.)

So, needless to say, I have not had much time to do all the fun projects that are dancing around in my head! I'm just going to give up and hope for better luck next week!

I hope you have a great weekend! (We're expecting snow in Colorado. Great pumpkin patch weather, don't you think?) See you next week!

Fall Decorations!

Have you decorated for fall yet at your house?

I must admit, it's helpful having a three-year-old to prod me to pull out all the decorations from the basement. Yesterday, it sounded much better to curl up on the couch with my book, but Nina was bound and determined to decorate after seeing Halloween hoopla in our favorite bakery. So out came the boxes!

Here's our Halloween Countdown calendar. Each day of October is marked with a little pumpkin. Last year I blogged about how I made this little guy, in case you want to do something similar!

Last year I also made these cute little "Boo" pumpkins. Just some simple faux pumpkins from Michael's and some vinyl letters, also from Michael's. Couldn't be simpler!

I love me some mums for fall!

And of course my fall wreath...

...and "autumn" gourd! (Click here to see how I made this one!)

My vintage pillows are very sad evidence of my lack of sewing skills, but hey, they were cheap to make (just some felt, pillow stuffing, and simple thread)!

So it feels like fall in my house. My sad little tree in the front yard is turning a pretty shade of red. How about you? :)

Super (Cheap) Apple Wreath!

Fall is definitely in the air! I broke out my cowboy (girl) boots yesterday with jeans and a sweater. So much fun with the cool weather, it's like a whole new wardrobe!

Here's a little project that inspired me to get all my fall decorations out. I spotted this wreath a few weeks ago at Goodwill. I think it was $1.50.

Pretty.

Then I was at TJ Maxx, and these apples were in the clearance section. Love that yellow sticker!

So I put the two together with the aid of my hot glue gun (not even one glue burn, thank you very much!).
Not bad for a total of $4.50, huh?

Stay tuned next week for more fall decorations! I am so excited to bust out all my pumpkins and gourds and other autumn goodies. Have a great weekend!