It's New Years Eve and time to reflect on the Christmas Season

I'll start with our tree - It took a little tweaking this year but I loved the final result of the tree.  We made the change to a smaller tree last year and since we were changing we went White!  The biggest addition this year was the Galvanized tub that we set the tree in.  I was inspired by Donna @ Funky Junk last year and spent the year looking for one.  I was so happy when one showed up at the local Antique Store right before Christmas.  I didn't get a good picture of the finished tree at night but I have a "work in process shot"

We place the tree on an end table between our sofa's in the living room.  I put Burlap tree wrap on the end table then inside the bin I place white twinkle lights over silver fabric then top them with white gauze to give the illusion of bright white snow at the base of the tree.

The original star was too heavy for the tree and it kept drooping forward.  I tried everything to enforce it, I doubled up the top branch, put a rod up into it but it still kept leaning forward to I replaced it with a large silver bow, and also added some more ornaments, I think the little white and blue bows just finished the tree off.

I didn't do any baking this Christmas Season since I am on a journey to improve my health and sugar is not my friend.  I will admit to breaking down and having a couple of sweets over the holidays and I swear when I eat sugar I am more susceptible to picking up germs or bugs from those around me.  I know, it may sound kooky but it's my story and I'm sticking to it <grin>.

In lieu of baking I made a Christmas Present for my Sister Kim and her husband David.  It's a family sign with their anniversary date on it.  The base colour is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Aubusson Blue, I love ASCP but I was not happy with the way this darker blue sanded, it left streaks.

The wax finish took away some of the streaky blue but not all, it just adds to the character of the sign ... ya ya that's right.  Notice the little dog paw lower right side, I added that for all Kim and Dave's fur babies, those that are still with us and those that are in doggy heaven.  When I go I hope I go to Doggy Heaven, I think it would be a very nice place.

Speaking of Fur Babies, our holidays were blessed with many.  First there was the frisbee obsessed Aneeka at the Car dealership ... she is stylin quite the wardrobe!

Then in the same day we visited the Pet store ...

Where we saw these cute Westie Pups, you would have to take both of them home!

There were also these Dutch Shepherd Pups that slept the whole time I was there.  Dutch Shepherd is the breed of Clark Griswold Dog from the Ultimate Dog Tease You tube Fame. (I love him)

I look forward to Christmas Day every year when we get to see my nephews Jake and Jed!  This is a great photo with Frankie and my nephews (Jake is the handsome one posing against Frank).  Of course I look forward to seeing family too.

Then on Boxing Day I came to spend two weeks with my fur friends Chance and Ruby, this photo is of Chance before the snow arrived.

Ruby seems to be sleeping in all the photos I have of her so far.

 I can't have doggies in the blog and not add our precious Buddy, in this photo he is looking at Frank with love in his eyes as Frank prepares a special dinner for him (Ground Beef was most likely involved)


But (drum roll) .... the biggest event of the holiday season was the gift we purchased for us and will allow us to do more DIY projects and I'll be able to Blog so much more next year (drum still rolling)  I said Buh Bye to my beloved little Punch Buggy, aka Zippy ...

She's looking a little dirty and frosty here ... I think she was giving me the Cold Shoulder!

We said HELLO to this sexy diva!  She is such a comfortable car to drive and so solid! She's a Volvo XC70 with all wheel drive so we can blast through the snow on our way to all the Kijiji deals out there & with all the space we can pick up a few deals!  I love her.

We have had such a blessed Holiday and look forward to 2012.

I'm linking to  ....

Kitchen almost complete (again)

When we first moved into our house I decided to paint our kitchen cabinets.  I finished them in an aged white but I just didn't love the finish.  Soooo  in October I repainted the cabinets and I am so much happier.

I'll take you back to the beginning ...

This is our Kitchen on the day we moved in.

And this is how it looks now.

I do have a couple of things to finish still, I painted the brass foot rail in oil rubbed bronze and it needs to be put back on along with a piece of base board I picked up for the island too.  There are also a couple of areas I need to touch up, I feel like I need a few days off to finish this project.

We picked up some counter stools on Kijiji last year, and at first I thought they were perfect but they became a catch all for my purse, and coats.  They were attracting clutter and driving me crazy.

These are the stools we initially purchased which are now for sale on Kijiji.

These are the stools I purchased to go in their place.  I had to have them and Overstock does not ship these stools to Canada so I signed up with MyUs.com and paid for a personal shopper to purchase the stools for me then had them shipped to Canada.  This process ended up doubling the price of the stools but it was worth it to me since I had to have them.

I will do one more post on the kitchen once the foot rail and baseboard are in place with the new stools.

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday!

I'm linking to ...

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2012. 

Why Muddaritaville?

I started blogging over a year ago to document the makeover of our little home in the country.

I have not been consistent with the blog, and I've changed the name umpteen times!  The name change was due to my effort to "brand" myself and a part-time business/hobby painting furniture and signs.  I also added additional blogs to my account in attempt to cover off each of my interests individually.  Note to self:  If you can't keep up one blog, don't start additional blogs!

I used the name Muddaritaville for the blog over a year ago but I wasn't "feeling" it at the time.  I picked Muddaritaville since it reminded me of a fun time from my past.  I was recently separated and decided to have a girls weekend at a home my Ex and I owned in Huntsville, Ontario.  My married name was Fitchett and we called our country home Club Fitchett.

Here's how Mudd-arita-ville was  born:

• I didn't want to start my new single life still calling the home Club Fitchett 
• I was known to enjoy a Margarita (or 2) on the weekends
• Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville was my anthem
• my maiden name is Mudd - yep!  my name is Mudd!
• I'd decided to go back to my maiden name 

So I thought "Hey!  I will call the place Muddaritaville!"

My friend Cyndi and I made up our own lyrics to the song Margaritaville for the girls weekend, the lyrics were a little colorful so I won't feature them here.  Any ho, we had so many laughs that weekend and I have fond memories of the name.  This past week I was listening to the audio version of Kody Bateman's Promptings,  Kody speaks of Margaritaville being your happy place.  That's it!  My blog will be about all the things that make me happy and I will call it Muddaritaville!  My happy place.

Another type of transformation ...

Later this week I will be starting a 30 day cleanse with the fabulous products from Isagenix.  I did a 9 day cleanse in April while at home nursing a bad back.  I dropped 5lbs during that cleanse but I wasn't mentally ready to do more at that time.

Fast forward to August 19th and this video

I am so inspired by Jill's story, she woke me up to realize that I can transform my health.

Yesterday we went to an Isagenix event and heard stories of others who have experienced health benefits by introducing nutrient dense products to their daily routine.  I look forward to sharing my story soon!

I plan on being the Isagenix Isabody challenge winner in 2012 and winning the $120,000 prize, wanna beat me to the prize?  Join me in this challenge and let's celebrate our success together.

Come follow me at my new transformation blog ...

http://jojosmakeover.blogspot.com/

Fresh Brown Eggs Sign

Our neighbour across the street sells eggs. This week I noticed a sign at the end of her driveway that was written in pencil "Brown Eggs for Sale".  We've had a couple of really good rain down pours this week, so last night I noticed that the pencil is washing off her sign.  I was ready for a new creative project so I decided to make her a new sign.

As usual I kinda rushed this so I have to let it "cure" before giving it a poly protective coating.  I want to give it to her right now but it won't stand up to the elements.

I started with a cabinet door that we picked up at ReStore, I painted it with Caromal Colours Reclaim in Latte (I'm going to paint our kitchen island in this paint).  I should have let the paint to cure for a few days before doing anything else but no no, I had to do this today so I only let the paint dry over night.  I used transfer paper to copy the words onto the cabinet.  I then started to paint the words in white.  I used what I had on hand for brushes and really should have gone out to purchase a new brush.

After I painted the words in white I added a rough drop shadow to the letters in black.  I also painted a couple of eggs to the sign but they kinda look like potatoes, then I sanded and distress the sign and rubbed on an antiquing glaze (these are the steps that the base paint should cure before doing).

I'll keep you posted on her reaction when I deliver the finished sign.


Jo

Picking a colour for our front door ...

Ever since we moved in last year I have been contemplating what colour our front door should be.  Initially I was thinking of a brick red or burgundy tone, I've always wanted a red door.

I thought we could match the color of these chairs I found on Kijiji last year. I tend to like a consistent color pallet throughout a home, our gas stove is burgundy so we do have a couple of hints of this color inside the house.  I noticed the paint is starting to chip on these chairs so I'm not opposed to painting them to match a new front door colour.  Last week I was inspired by Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) and her post on paint and color    I love so many of the door colors in the post.  I decided to consult with Brittany and get her input on our front door, I did limit Brittany by asking her to pick an Annie Sloan Paint Color, I really want to paint the chairs out using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint so why not use it on the door too!  Following are some of her recommendations, I'd love your input on which one you like.

I look forward to hearing your input, and click here for your own color consultation from Brittany.  Now if I could only get her to come here and build me something <grin>.

Browsing Real Estate Listings again ...

This house reminds me of something ...

Can you see it?

HHHHOME

This home exudes Rustic Charm!

I don't believe there is a 7 step program for Real Estate addicts, and if there were I'm not sure it's an addiction I'm ready to part with.  Besides, half the battle is admitting to it. 
A couple of weeks ago I shared a Riverfront cutie that in my dreams I was sure would be ours!  Well it's been SOLD.  No one can accuse me of brooding over it.  Not me!  I'm movin on Sista!! 

How bout this beauty for a mere $859,000?

Usually I look at a listing and start thinking about what I would change to make it "ours".

I didn't do that here, I'd even love some of their furnishings with the house.

This black and white is a Before pic, this home is a conversion of a 1930's Stone Stable.

Come on in, I'll take you for a tour ...

Just look at these gorgeous distressed front doors, the finishing of them is perfection!

As is the rest of the house.

Welcome to the Kitchen with Commercial Fridge, oak beams, 11 foot ceilings, and heated flagstone floors.  Wait til I show you a close up of that counter!

Is that not perfection da bomb! (had to resort to thesaurus since I have used perfection already, can you believe "da bomb" is in the thesaurus? so is "the bees knees" and "cat's meow")

Can you imagine a crisp sunny Fall day with the leaves changing to a bright orangy red, you're sipping coffee at this table (with one of your blogger friends) there's a fire in the hearth, your tootsies are being warmed by the heated flagstone floor and you have an  apple pie cooking in the oven.  Pure heaven!

Would you like to sink into this leather sofa and watch a movie?

Do you love the entertainment unit?

Let's move outside ...

Can you imagine curling up with a good book in this gazebo?

After all that coffee you may want to stop in here before your drive home.

Oh, and the garage has a workshop with a 900 sq foot loft/studio above.  I'm imagining painting furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk paint in here ... what would you do?

Thanks so much for visiting and sharing another dream home with me.

I know I said I wouldn't change a thing but it could use the addition of some Dirt Girl gardens out the front ... don't cha think?