Changing it up...

Our little entry way area is finally complete, but it took me a while to figure out how to decorate our little area. I love the small lamp (hello, Wal-Mart find!) and painting from a friend, but the rest of it was throwing me for a loop.

We have a beautiful bowl from Tiffany's that was a wedding gift, and I wanted to find a home to display it. Enter Christmas, and I got an idea.

I filled the bowl with ornaments and left it on the table. I loved the look of it. Fun and festive. I've got some fruit to use during the summer, but I picked up some pink ornaments in the after-Christmas sales, so right now, we've got some pink going on for February and Valentine's Day.

What do you think?

How else could I decorate here? Thoughts and suggestions welcome!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Organizing my earrings...

I was desperate for a way to organize my earrings. And I didn't like the Pinterest item with the frame and the wire. It looks sloppy to me, so I was desperate for something else! I was walking through MIchael's, and found 1/4 inch dowel rods and had an epiphany! They'd be perfect, I could paint them to match the frame, and it'd have structure!

So, I had Brett cut the tiny dowels with a knife, and I glued them into the backside of an open-backed unfinished frame from Michael's. Easy, huh? Leave it for 24 hours, then get to painting. White would look best on the wall in our room, so I got to it.

The final product? I was happy.

And? It was cheap. About $10 total. My little sister is already asking me to make her one, so maybe these would be cute gifts. I'd love to move this one up and add another one below it when my collection grows. Earrings have become my favorite way to dress up an outfit!

What do you think of my little DIY project? I was pretty darn proud!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

DIYing some decor...

I haven't been very crafty lately, and it was killing me. I needed to do something. Make something. So I got busy with a few 16 by 20 canvases I had snagged at a craft store sale a while back. I wanted black and white paintings, but I wanted more black than white, if that makes sense. 

I found a stencil, and worried over it for quite a while. I stood in the store staring at stencils for at least 45 minutes. Most of them were the opposite of what I took home - they painted a small area, where the one I picked kept a small area white and let you color the rest.

Here's how I started out....

I was so excited with how the paintings looked! I did two of them, one for each side of the bookcase in our living room. I still need to affix some ribbons, to make them look like they are hanging, but I was so excited with my little DIY painting project! I had seen the famous doily painting one on pinterest, but that wasn't quite what I was looking for, so this is my take on it! 

Have you DIYed at all lately? What project should I tackle next?

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

The chair dilemma... SOLVED

So, I've had this post waiting to share chair ideas and get feedback for almost a month. Is that sad? I kept waiting to take a picture of my constantly covered kitchen table to go with it and show you what I was trying to match chairs to. So, I looked up all these...

From Target

From Pottery Barn

From Ikea

And then, while helping a friend look through Kirkland's one day after work, I found them. My perfect chairs. On clearance, for $50 each. Can you say score?! So, now, I don't need help picking out expensive chairs, because I found some even cheaper. And they are the closest to the expensive ones I liked. WOOHOO. Okay, I'm rambling. But now, meet my new kitchen chairs!

I love them! Husband does too, and finally, one of the big "house" things is complete!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

A Domestic Goddess Weekend

What a weekend you guys!

I crashed and did nothing at all on Friday night but workout and wash little EB, but I got Saturday off to a great - and hot start - and FINALLY got our front yard in gear. The original landscaping in the front had mulch/bark around all the bushes. I hate bark. I'm a pine straw girl. So I got to work, and Mr. Jones was a dear and helped remove some of the bark and bought pine straw.

It was so funny to me that I wound up doing this, because my parents always had us help with yard work on Saturday mornings, and lay down newspaper when we had weeds pulled, to block the next set from growing. And here I am, a grown-up (kind of!) - and I'm doing the same thing. My dad laughed when I told him.

All in all, it's done, and I'm so sore I can barely move. But I'm proud and it was worth it. Here's the transformation:

I call that a win. I love it. Now if only I can water the grass enough to get the brown spots out. This heat is KILLING me!

Today we skipped church in favor of some sleep, so I decided I would tackle another thing I've had on my list ever since I read a favorite blogger's blog post a while ago. I wanted to bake homemade bread. I had all the stuff. So I set about playing in the kitchen!

I used Lauren's grandmother's recipe that she blogged about here to make the best homemade bread. I made five small loaves of bread and five rolls. Mr. Jones is very excited and we have already eaten one loaf, and given another away.

After the first rise (almost too big for my biggest bowl!)

Braided after first rise

After second rise (pouf!)

The finished products (well, about half of them!)

Yum! I am so proud - and thankful Lauren shared her grandmother's recipe! Really, go check it out. If I can do it, you can too!

So, that is what I'm going to call my domestic goddess weekend. I've still got sheets to wash, another load of laundry, and some vacuuming, but.... it'll get done!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

Adventures in gardening....

So, Mr. Jones and I thought we were going to be pretty cool and productive and get some plants growing in our backyard this past weekend. Cue laughter. Please.

My grandparents gave us an awesome tomato planter, and we got it allllll set up and pretty to grow Mr. some fab tomato plants this summer. EB got jealous of the time we spent on it apparently. Because this is what we found:

Oh yes, she did. Bad EB. I'm going to be a terrible punisher, because I couldn't stop laughing. Or running to get the camera. Because this? Is priceless.

Can't you just hear her? "But, dadddyyyyy, what did I dooooo????" Hahahaha. Poor tomato plant. He'll get put back together and is hopefully no worse for the wear....

Happy summer and gardening season!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

A lovely stay-cation...

I have this entire week off from work, and I'm loving it! While I was afforded some time off, my dear husband was not, so I'm trying to make the most of this time at home.

I've taken sweet Eve Belle to the vet for her yearly check-up, shots and blood work. She has not reacted too well, so I've been keeping an eye on her and trying to spoil her a bit.

Today I got to have lunch with my little sister and a dear family friend at a downtown cafe. Talk about the perfect lunch. The weather today has been beautiful, and I've been cleaning things out of the house, organizing the garage, and scouring town for patio furniture. It's one of the things I want taken care of this week.

I'll be catching up on blogging as well. I've got SO much to share! :-)

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

***Reminder: If you are a part of our keychain swap, make sure you have gotten your package out to your partner. I want to link-up and show our finds next week. Amy, yours is going out in the morning. Yes, I am a slacker. EB stole my time yesterday and today!***

Wordless Wednesday: Backyard Belle

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

You know you're a grown-up when...

.... a really great trashcan makes your weekend. Seriously. Sam's Club for $49.99. Heaven.

....the only reason you put your sweet doggy in a cage is so her dad can install a doggy door. And it still breaks your heart!

.... a kitchen makes you swoon.

..... and you dream of what type of blinds you are going to put up - and how on earth to pay for them!

Just another glimpse into new-house world! I am taking any and all suggestions on how to get blinds for cheap. White, Planation-style blinds are my favorite!

Happy Tuesday,
Mrs. Jones

I feel a little lost this week...

.....but I'm trying to remember that this is totally normal.

I have moved. I am moving. I am in a new place for the first time in a few years. And it's all mine. That's hard to get used to. We've still got two rooms to paint, things to get out of the condo (all those little annoying things you don't know what to do with....)

I've been at work all week, but I've been sick too. I have this yucky sore throat and stuffy nose. I haven't taken any medicine, and I really don't want to. I know my body is yelling at me and telling me it's tired. Can I tell you how much better I felt for half a day yesterday after a Smoothie King Pineapple Surf smoothie with the "immune" enhancer added in? Like, whoa. It was amazing. Planning on another one for lunch. It seems to help a lot - along with the 9 hours of sleep I got last night.

In random news, some of my favorite bloggers have made me laugh lately. I loved this post by Mrs. Smith, and totally agree that all things can be healed by puppy kisses and that clean sheets give you a 5 point bonus any day. The dear Muffy Martini pointed out in this post that quite a few of us around the blogosphere have been moving lately. Check out my fellow movers when you get the chance! I need to add some of these lovelies to my blog reader!

I've missed my dear MacBook Pro and I am anxiously awaiting a new one before 2011 rolls around, lol. It makes blogging so much harder without it. And you all know I do love, love, love to get my blogging in. It just soothes to soul! I've felt like a sloth this week. I know I've felt bad, but I've just not managed to get much done aside from bringing a load or two of stuff from the condo to our house and trying to get all the laundry done. We re-washed ALL towels, sheets, etc. as we moved them, and BOY did that take a long time. I'm on our clothes from the last week now, finally.

I know it will all get done, but I hate half-done things, and I'm ready to have nothing left to do, but we are far, far, far away from that. Remind me that that's ok, will you? I'm tired. I need rest. I need hugs and puppy kisses - and the weekend. We're almost there, right?

That's all of my randomness for now.
XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

We've moved.... or at least started to!

Just wanted to give everyone a quick glimpse of our move. We are living at the new house, but things are still all topsy turvey and need to be organized. There is still a ton of stuff in our condo, but we're working on that! We got our new refrigerator, washer and dryer this weekend, along with all our bedroom furniture! I couldn't be happier with how everything looks, works and the fact that it is all ours!

Here are a few quick pictures. I'll blog more soon!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Moving week is here!

Good afternoon lovelies!

As I sit here and borrow DH's computer to do some actual blogging, I'm amazed at how much our life is about to change. We may not be closing on our house and moving until the end of the week (closing is either Thursday at 4:30 or Friday at 10), but moving week is finally upon us. Our condo is a wreck. Our cars are full of things that have been picked up for the house: doggy door, broom, mini flag for the front of the house, Gatorade, soft drinks, etc.

I might explode with the days that lie ahead. I'm sooooo ready to claim my beautiful little garden home. I could not be more excited, and I'm so proud of the way my wonderful husband has handled all the of the intricate details. He's left the fun stuff (aside from signing massive amounts of papers) to me, and he is dealing with the laywers, builders, bank, and utility companies. God bless him.

We're both taking Friday off of work to kick the move into high gear. I'd really like the Thursday afternoon closing time, because it gives us an extra night to work with before we have to be back at work on Monday morning. And, let's face it: I'm impatient right now.

The good thing (I guess) is that I'm on deadline at work this week. I'm absolutely slammed. If I can just stay focused, work a few extra hours, and get things done by Wednesday, life will be good. It'll keep me occupied and hopefully give me less time to get impatient. If you're working a few extra hours a day..... well, that's supposed to be the idea anyways.

I'm nervous about this deadline at work. It's my first big deadline, and I have so many things due! I'm writing, editing, shooting photographs, you name it. It's fabulous, but a little overwhelming at the same time.

So, needless to say, it's going to be a wonderful, stressful, crazy and fun week.
I wish you all the best! I'm going to schedule a few bloggy fun things so I entertain you while we start this next adventure!

Wish us luck!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

The purchasing begins!

Today, I found one of the duvet sets I had fallen in love with (thanks Mrs. Smith!) on Overstock.com for even cheaper than it had been listed at Kohl's online. Imagine my surprise when I fell in love with another in the same black-and-white color scheme!

I considered that I could spend double the combined price and not get one full set at most stores, so I got these two beautiful duvet sets to go in our future blue bedroom!

What do you think?

Because I'm totally in love. We'll probably get dark brown wood furniture (I'll show you that as soon as we decide) but I am just SO excited about having options! I can switch it up when I feel like. Heaven!

And the total price, including shipping for these two beauties? $99. Thanks Overstock! :-)

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

(PS. Forgive the lack of Menu Monday. We did takeout. :-) haha)