Busy Weekend...and WEEK!!!!!

Yes, the loft will be revealed this week!  With Turkey Day being Thursday, we were all jumbled.  BUT...Christmas decorations are done...and there's ANOTHER makeover in the works, BUT, I just couldn't wait to share......

Christmas Itch...Big Red Preview. Butterflies Anyone?!?!?

Call me crazy!  I DID decorate for Thanksgiving, but I got the Christmas itch and decided to rip it all down and begin the Christmas festivities!  Which made the little monsters happy because that means Chippy the Elf also arrived.  His name was Ernie, but apparently they renamed him?!?!?! Whatever.  Anywho, here's a preview of Big Red.  you may remember her from here. And again here...lol!

This year....BUTTERFLIES!!!!! 

How our House Rolls Christmas Home Tour 2011

Hello there!!!  Thanks for joining for the much anticipated "How our House Rolls; Christmas Home Tour 2011"!!!!  Here's what we're going to do...I'm going to go in a well-thought out path.  Try to keep up...we almost have a whoppin 1400 sq ft to get through here!  :)

NOT a Christmas Home Tour....BUT a Gift From Heaven, and a Thank YOU!!

Okay, okay, I know I promised I'd have the home tour posted yesterday.  Well, I'm guessing since you're here, you know it was in fact NOT posted yesterday, nor was it posted today.  Will it ever be posted?  Not sure.  Right now, I'm finishing up some exciting projects.  Yesterday was my birthday and I received a special gift from Heaven and it's like super exciting, and I'm bursting at the seems to share it with all of you but I can't until next month.  It's such an honor and it means so much to me...(K....zip it up!!!!) ALSO, two of my projects are in the 12 Days of Projects TOP 12!  So, I've been on pins and needles all day waiting to see if I am "the chosen one"...I'd LOVE 6 cans of Mr. Krylon and 2 Gallons of Little Dutch Boy!

Pottery Barn Knock-off!

Hello Everyone!  I've been waiting and waiting to share this with you!  I had to wait until after I shared it over at The Artsy Girl Connection.

Today's tutorial is going to be how to make a Pottery Barn Knockoff Wreath using mostly things you already have.

Pittsburgh Steelers/Sports Tree!!

Are any of you tired of seeing all of my Christmas Trees?  Personally, I could leave them up 365....but luckily for the little Monsters, they will soon be coming down, and life as they knew it can resume...room to run!  No "pretties" to "look but not touch".  Today is the second to last tree.  The final tree will be revealed next Tuesday...MY BIRTHDAY you'll get to see Everything all together...right here for my "This is how our house rolls during Christmas" tour.  Today....simple tree...Our Pittsburgh Steelers (and all things sports) tree.  I played softball at DePaul...and basketball and volleyball growing up, so the other sports ornaments were all on my parent's tree.  When we get married and have a tree of our own, mom gives us all of our old "purchased" ornaments...she keeps all of our homemade with love ones.

DIY Chalkboard Labels & Homemade Christmas #4! The Cheese Dome Cloche Tutorial

First, the DIY Chalkboard Labels...I would like to tell you, I have nothing against Velspar's Chalkboard paint.  I think it's great for some things.  HOWEVER, with that being said, I LOVE Krylon's spray paint Chalkboard paint!  And here's why... If I'm painting metal, Velspar tends to chip....So, I thought...hmmmm, how am I gonna do this?  Once I discovered Krylon's spray-on chalkboard paint...the possibilities were endless!

Big Red's Details...

Earlier this week...I shared BIG RED....Here she is in her entirety!  Just a video pictorial...enjoy!

DIY Quick & Easy Gifts! An Ornament Tutorial!

So, I've highlighted a lot of ornaments I've made this year, but I'll highlight this one so I can enter Roeshel's 12 Days of DIY Christmas!  She's over at The DIY Showoff if you'd like to enter too!  Her blog is amazing....so you should check her out anyway.  So, today I'm doing a tutorial on how to make quick and easy painted ornaments.  There are lots of things you can do.  Yes, you have to look at this entire post before you get the tutorial, because I conveniently placed it at the bottom.

Banister Do-over

How the banister went from DRAB to FAB...for a few bucks...
Here's what the banister DID look like....This WAS NOT DOING IT FOR ME...

After a visit to the Dollar Tree and BIG LOTS!!!  She has more sustenance.  And, if you're just now getting here...THIS IS THE REASON I'M LIKE THE 500TH ENTRY ON BANISTERS....Woke up at the usual 5:30...already depressed because yesterday I ran over to DIY By Design...and there were like 250 entries already for the banister...crap!!!!  So...anyway.  After ranting and raving about how "nice" it would be to be a SAHM so I could blog during the day....I finally chilled out (all it took was a hug from the Monsters...life is good).  I CAN'T be a SAHM.  I don't have it in me.  I admire you!  I'd go nuts and need to be institutionalized.  I'm not trying to offend anyone here, I'm just saying it takes a special personality to be a SAHM...and my personality is the opposite.  I love my Monsters, don't get me wrong...but my mom watches them, and my husband only typically works three FULL days a week...so I know they're in good hands.  Ok, moving on.  I went up the ugly pretty little stairs to jump on the Mac...and to my surprise, all my followers are gone...AWESOMENESS!  This may not seem like a huge deal to you, but I'm new here....and I still get stoked when I have a new comment, nonetheless a new FOLLOWER....HELLO!?!?  So, I got wrapped up in that, so pics weren't ready.  THEN I had the 9-5ing to do...so here we are...in the 500's! (Actually, I'm in the 70's) AWESOMENESS!  I'll give the details on what I did, how I did it and what you SHOULD NOT DO, BUT NOT UNTIL THE 14TH (guest post/feature on The Artsy Girl Connection)  So, here is the banister...*Disclaimer....These photos are NOT my best editing work.  Here's.........................FAB!!!

And one for fun....

Linking up here.....

Big Red's Arm Candy...Meet our Christmas Mantle!

Okay, so y'all don't want to read on and on so today's post is just going to be pictures...MOSTLY....I'm excited to introduce to you...Big Red's arm candy, our Mantle!
First, here's last year's mantle...BUT...wait, if you didn't meet Big Red...You REALLY NEED TO...CLICK HERE!  And, YES, I did widen our mantle...that's why I had more room to shove crap decorate this year!  If you missed that post, CLICK HERE!

 It's not that I hated it or anything, but I wanted to do something more "Ballard-Barnesque"...so I stuck lots of twiggy/faux branches into the garland...I'm doing a tutorial on how to achieve that look over at The Artsy Girl Connection on the 14th...so you'll have to wait for that...And, the kids get to pick out a new stocking for their 2nd Christmas.  (We I (PRETTY SURE Mr. A2B couldn't care less what I do) let them keep their Baby's 1st Christmas for their kids...new tradition I started...) So, there's the disclaimer on why their stockings are horrid!!!  Here's Big Red's arm candy...

A Boatload, Sneek Peeks, Goodies!!! TTC#3

Since I'm always talking about things I will post tutorials for later, or projects I've done....I figured for Taming the Chaos this week, I'd do a little post to help all of us.  Me by reminding me to post on this stuff... You by not only reminding you what's coming, but also perhaps give all of you fellow bloggers out there an idea?!?

Here's a list of things to come...

12 Days of Christmas DIY! Blue! and Snow...Roadkill Rescue with Louis Blue!

So, again I'm kinda obsessed with this 12 Days of Christmas DIY!  Today (Saturday)...blue over at Fireflies and Jellybeans!!!!!!!!  And Thursday the 8th Earth tones at Making the World Cuter. You may remember my bathroom from this post.  If you do, you'll also remember that I said hopefully I'll show the other side of the room.  Well, the reason I didn't show it was because I was working on this little project.  I needed something BIG...and had about $2.00 to spend of the project since it's Christmas time.  So, since I'd been longing to use my ASCP in Louis Blue, I improvised and decided to create something.  So I went to my stash of FREE Frames from one of my favorite Antique spots.  The guy from the spot even loaded the huge box into my truck for me...AWESOMENESS!!  Here's another shot of some of them.  (The painted ones didn't come that way, I'll post about that process later...)

Show Your Glow...Another Tree!?!

So, Everyone has seen the picture on Pinterest...you know...the one above...the one with the little boy in front of the Christmas Tree?!?!  Well, it's kindof a big deal.  It's from one of our fellow bloggers, Beth from the Unskinny Boppy.  Well, it just so happens, she's hosting a linky party...GOING ON RIGHT...NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...it's called Show Your Glow!  She gives great info on how to take that perfect pic in front of the Christmas Tree.  Well, we all know how obsessed I'm am with Christmas, so of course, I joined in the fun!  I'll soon be doing a Home Tour...a Christmas Home Tour...because quite frankly, I could sit on my arse all day and just look at my pretty crap decorations.  So, without further ado...here's a "peek of Big Red"

"You sure nofing's nunder dere Mommy! I see sumptin, jus ah dress!" translates to; "Are you sure there's nothing under there Mommy? I see a tree skirt...where are the freakin presents?"

"Is beauful Mommy, hoowee cow!  Look at dat Crismes Tree!!!" translates to; "If I say it's pretty, will you maybe let me open one of those presents I found in the closet?!?"  AWESOMENESS!

Beth, thank you for letting us in on the details!!!!!!...to see more of Big Red's insignificant details, be sure to check my blog on December 20th (my birthday) for my "THIS is how our home rolls Christmas Tour..."

Linking up here!