All tidy! And a project YOU will want to do!!!

Well, my house is all back in order! Christmas decorations down and stored. House thoroughly cleaned (Some by me and some by cleaners! Go ahead - judge me!) Storage room got all pared down and re-organized. That is my wall of wreaths on the left there. I LOVE that! It is just some pegboard nailed onto the studs and all my wreaths hang off the little metal arms that fit into the holes. I love it and it makes my life SO much easier!

I would REALLY be psyched if all my boxes were matching ('cause I'm anal like that) but for now this will do! I can walk in here without hyperventilating anymore!

Here is the other side of the storage room - NOTHING on the floor! 
Ahhhh! Love. Ok, enough of that...

And NOW...

My intake vent re-vamp!

Now for the project that will make you say "WHAT?! She is genius!" LOL! 

Sadly, since I am just getting my blogging groove on, I was not smart enough to take a before picture. 

But basically here is the corner of the old intake vent that was SMACK in the middle of my hallway. Don't all you people in newer home have this? Mine is about 25" x 25" and is just in the highest visible spot possible (same as it was in my LAST house! Grrrrrrr...).

I was inspired after some Pinterest trolling - so I guess I can't take full credit on this one.  Anyway... ready?

TA-DAAAAA!

So BEFORE - big WHITE louvered ugliness! 

And NOW - it's all vintage - looking bronze tin!

See the close up? I got the tin sheeting at Lowes. It is called Cloverleaf and comes in a 24" x 36" silver sheet. It was in a weird spot over near the keys and paint and stuff. It took me 30 minutes and 2 different clerks to help me locate it! I spray painted it with Rust-o-leum Oil-Rubbed Bronze spray paint. The frame is just a piece of wood trim cut and picture-framed together. The type with a notch in the back. So you would use it to lay as a chair rail on top of beadboard. I painted that black and just staple-gunned the tin to the back. I have a LOT of black in my house so that is why I went with black. 

Anyway. SO much better than that old ugly eyesore, right?!

That is all for today! The sun is finally out here! I'm a happy girl!

Welcome 2013!

Happy New Year everyone!

I am so eager to get started on this new year of 2013. I am really determined to streamline my life. That includes organizing my home AND my work life. 

In the past I have dabbled in some direct sales jobs that were GREAT when my kids were younger. I really needed something outside of the house a few times a month that made me feel like I had other skills than Mommy and Homemaker (not that there's anything wrong with that!). Now that my family is older I find it is actually harder to be gone! So I am paring down to just focusing on my Home Staging business and my long list of projects! I'll let you in on more on that list another day!

So on this first day of 2013 I am off to a GREAT start! The house is restored to its pre holiday state. In packing up the decorations I decided to semi-gut and re-organize our storage room. THAT was a project. I started right after my breakfast of (frozen!) french toast and next thing I knew it was 12:30! Whew. Hubby smashed a toe moving some heavy shelving. Not good. Other than that it went fairly well!

Since I was taking down the trees I thought I would share a few shots of some of my fave ornaments from my personal tree. I have my own girlie tree in the kitchen filled with just fun, cute ornaments from my friends or that I pick up myself! SInce the rest of my household is all male - well you can imagine what our other tree looks like!

This is a glittery shoe (duh, right?!) since I love shoes! (What self-respecting gal doesn't?!)

This one is my little winter wine glass a friend gave me one year.

Now that I think about it... I seem to have quite a FEW wine-related ornaments! Maybe there's a New Years resolution in there somewhere? Hmmmmm....

This pic includes a couple favorites. The reindeer with its cute wiggley legs - I have 3 of those actually. Then there is that fun little owl made out of twigs and things - can you see him? He is right above the gold ball with the big red bowl. I got that one at Pier 1 - they always have the CUTEST ornaments! Love!

And here are all my precious lovelies from my tree all packed up for another year, nice and tidy!

Well, that's all for today! I hope you all had a productive day as well. Or not! 

Best Pecan Pie Recipe - If You Hate Pecan Pie!

The Pecan-Pie-Haters Pecan Pie!

Okay. So I love pecans, but I really *hate* Pecan Pie! All that goopey stuff in the bottom (gag)... you KNOW what it looks like! Ugh, so nasty!

So this Chocolate Pecan Pie is my favorite! I had forgotten about it for a few years - I'm not sure why. Regardless, I remembered the recipe last month and made it on Thanksgiving and again now for Christmas.

Luv, love, LURVE it!!!

Now, not only is it super yummy, but, it is SOOOO easy!

(Is anyone starting to notice a theme on my blog? Hint: I am lazy!)

First, as always, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. So I start with a pre-made pie crust (again, lazy!). In a bowl beat 3 eggs. Then stir in 1 cup of light corn syrup, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Finally, add a mounding full 1 cup of pecans and a package of milk chocolate chips. Pour the whole thing into the pie crust (duh!) and bake for 45 minutes.

So quick! So easy! YUM! Enjoy!

And of course I have to add a photo of my pooch.

Here he is on the wicker sofa in my kitchen where he watches me when I am cooking!