Responding to Comments and a (late) Valentine's Day Project

Friends, I have a small request for help.  I am rather rusty on the way that Blogger works, but when I get time to come here and read your sweet comments, I wish there were a way to reply directly to you on my blog.  (Kind of like Facebook, you know?  If someone comments on something I post, I can at least "Like" their comment or tag them in my comment so they will easily see that I have replied.)

The way I understand it now, I can comment on my own blog posts in response to you, but there's no way to make sure you know I've commented, unless you just happen to come back here and check (which I don't for one second expect to rank high on your priority list!).  

My point is, it feels wrong to let all your generous comments (or sometimes questions that you want answered) just sit here unacknowledged, when they all brighten my day so much!  Just wondering if I'm missing something and there's a way to reply to you on this blog.

And since I've asked for a favor, I will share a small project to make it up to you!  Just ignore the fact that this is over a month late!

Easy Valentine's Day Wreath

I'll be the first to admit I don't go all out for Valentine's Day.  My little boy Henry's birthday is January 23, and just on the heels of Christmas, it about wears me out every year!  By the time February hits, I'm pretty impressed with myself if I can muster some heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and get a few little goodies to let my family know they are my special valentines.

But things do get a little drab this time of year, so I did manage to pull together a small wreath to brighten up the place!  I took a wire hanger from my husband's dry cleaning stash, bent it into a rough heart shape, and then twisted some (formerly Christmas) berries around it.

Please note my 18 month old helper in the window.

It wasn't fancy and it took me all of 15 minutes but I love simple projects like that!  The wreath is only about 9 inches high and would have gotten lost by itself hanging on the door, but layering it on top of my larger winter wreath works perfectly!

And I love the striped ribbon too.  Now just go ahead and forget that today is St. Patrick's Day and not Valentine's.   :)

Lack of Patience Decorating

Good morning!  Just popping into the blog for a quick minute to share a little decorating trick I just used.  Its nothing earth-shattering, but maybe some of you out there are in the same boat I was in, and this could be a temporary solution!

We have this big room in the front of the house that I've blogged about a lot recently.  Ultimately it will turn into a dining room + library/study.  I don't know if its because the room is so big, or the fact that it's the first room you see once you come past our entryway, but I just kept staring at it and hadn't been able to figure out how to make it work!  Nothing felt completely right.  Eventually our dining room furniture was going to live in here, but in the short-term it was just this big room that I didn't know how to fill.  

One of my biggest pet peeves is spending money on things that won't have a long life in our house.  So as much as I wanted to add library couches or a beautiful antique wooden table to fill this room, what would I do with those pieces down the road?  Instead I stumbled upon this round folding card table at the Goodwill:

Luckily I live in a city with a Ballard Designs outlet center (it's in West Chester, in case anyone in Ohio doesn't know about this!).  I waited until they were having a sale on tablecloths and got this camel-colored one.  Its not an exact match in size but close enough!  Then I hemmed some scrap fabric I had in the basement to make an overlay for the tablecloth.

There is something so satisfying about making something work with limited resources and budget!  Its like shopping the house or finding a killer bargain at a garage sale or Craig's List.  I am just such a firm believer that we don't all have to be out there spending crazy money to make something pretty!

So then last weekend we decided it was time to move the dining room furniture over (in preparation for the kitchen remodel which will take, oh, roughly two years to complete...but we've gotta start somewhere!).  So now this front room is looking a bit more like I always envisioned.  But I can't tell you how glad I am that I didn't give in to my complete lack of patience and buy a bunch of stuff that would be obsolete now! The card table went to the basement without any guilt on my part, to be used when we need extra seating down the road.  The tablecloth will have other uses as well.  My husband, sweet as he is about all my projects, won't be grumbling about finding a place to store some other huge piece of furniture that I don't have a use anymore for but just can't bear to part with because someday I might need it again!  (Please tell me I'm not the only one who has this affliction.)

So if you've got a total lack of patience like me, perhaps a Goodwill card table and discount tablecloth can help get you through!  :)