Home Goods - Great Decor Source for Any Budget

Finding great accessories is key to decorating a beautiful space.  I've found that HomeGoods is one of the best stores to find decorative items for any room!  

They have a great selection of bedding, linens, art, mirrors, lighting, area rugs, small furniture pieces, baskets, seasonal decor items and more.  They carry a variety of styles and are very reasonably priced.  

These pictures were all taken by me during different trips the HomeGoods store near me.

The stores motto is "HomeGoods Happy"... and each time I visit the store it definitely makes me happy!  My wallet, maybe not so much :)

If you don't have a HomeGoods in your area, you can still find great decor items at bargain prices at both T.J. Maxx and Marshalls (as these stores are each owned by the same company as HomeGoods).  

Happy shopping!

Diana

Going Greige (grey-beige)

Although we have several projects in the works, this week I decided that we needed to paint our old office... I was completely bored with having white walls! We are no longer going to use this room as an office since we each have laptops... I am going to make this room into a second guest room.   

I found an old gallon of Antique White paint that I hadn't used from a few years ago. I never used it because it looked kinda peach (which is not a color I want on our walls).  I decided to mix some darker colors of paint with the Antique White to see what I could come up with.  I ended up with a beautiful Greige (grey beige) color.

My wonderful husband painted the room for me.  Wow, what a difference a bit of color can make!  Paint is definitely the cheapest way to spruce up a room... and in the case it was free since I mixed it from old leftovers :) 

Now that the room is painted, it's time for me to get decorating.

Selfless Father/Husband Surprise Gift - How You Can Help

Jim is an amazing father and husband. He is the most selfless person I have ever known. He is a very giving man who is always thinking of and doing things for others, while never thinking of himself. When he was young he served his country (as a Marine) and now he works tirelessly making sure to provide for everyones needs.  He is completely "other" centered, which is so rare!

He is father to Joshua and Matthew, who both are handicapped each having mixed Cerebral Palsy. He is also father to my two daughters. He loves all of our kids unconditionally and he would die for them. He is an amazing example of how we all should live.

Although this is not a life or death situation or anything urgent, Jim is so very deserving of having something extra special done for him! Having "others" come together for him in support of this endeavor would be such an amazing blessing!

It is my hope and prayer that with your help, we can do something extra special for this extraordinary man!  I have created a fundraising campaign with Go Fund Me in hopes of accomplishing this goal.

My name is Diana and I am his wife. I am unable to work outside of the home because I have Fibromyalgia and CFS. I have my blog which allows me to make a few dollars each month, but it's nowhere near enough to do something big for him.  He is so supportive of me and all I go through always showing his selflessness by helping and serving me in any way he can.

Our home was built in 2010 (almost four years ago), but we still have dirt and mud for a backyard. With your help, I would like to surprise him with a finished yard where he can hang out, relax and cook up some mean barbecue!

Below are pictures of the yard as it currently sits... with a few veggies growing on the side, but otherwise mostly unused. On rare occasion we step out to our tiny piece of green astroturf (under the barbecue) and make ourselves dinner.  Hopefully we will be able to change that.

I have gotten estimates for a nice size patio across the rear and a walkway down the side yard. The estimates which include the concrete work and adding proper drainage range from $6000 to $8000. Ideally we would also be able to add a little landscaping, get comfortable patio furniture and give him a new barbecue (as the old Walmart cheap one is rusting out).

I don't normally (pretty much never) ask for help... however unless Yard Crashers were to show up at our door (which is extremely unlikely) this is the only way I can think to accomplish doing this for him.

The links below will take you to Go Fund Me where you can read about and donate to the campaign. No amount is too small!

Another way you can help is to share this with your family and friends.

Thank you and God bless!

Selfless Father/Husband Surprise Gift - Go Fund Me

http://www.gofundme.com/JimsGift

Learning How to Knit - Even When You are Clueless

I wanted to share with all of you how I recently learned to knit and how easy it was.

Recently I decided I wanted to take up knitting. I told my mom I was thinking of signing up for a knitting class at my local craft store. She told me that I didn't need a class because it's super easy and that she would show me how. She got me a pair of needles and two balls of yarn and she came for an overnight visit. As we sat on the sofa and she attempted to show me how "easy" it was... We discovered that she wasn't a very good teacher (sorry mom).  We found ourselves busting up laughing.... Laughing so hard we were crying. You know the kind of laughing and giggles that you just can't stop. The fact was, that although she used to knit all of the time, she hadn't done it in a very long time and she had completely forgotten the basics... including casting on (which is kinda vital, if you don't want your project to fall apart)... Which hers did.  

After a ton of laughing I did a quick internet search on "How to Knit" and I found a wonderful tutorial video on YouTube that quickly showed us how to knit.

I am in the process of making a beautiful teal infinity scarf, which is currently about the size of a pot holder... lol.  It is a bit longer than it was when I took the picture that I posted above.  I don't work on it for long periods of time, I just do a few rows each night while I'm winding down with television.  I am beginning to see how beautiful the scarf will be.  

I learned how to knit from a video that Chandi (love her name) from Expression Fiber Arts posted on YouTube.  I don't know her personally, but her video was a huge help... and she is very sweet. If you would like to learn the basics of knitting here is the link to her YouTube video that taught me (and refreshed my mother) on the basics of how to knit:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONVQCK_-rKc

Until next time,

Happy decorating!

Diana