Get Festive Around the House

其實今年萬聖節一結束, 我們就迫不及待地把聖誕樹搬出來了...

Playroom mini Makeover

There are a little of here and there changes that happened last year in the kids’ playroom a.k.a. the family room. 

I first removed all the frames and stuff on the wall and requested a bookshelf.

Upcycling Halloween Craft to Christmas Decoration

先是恩仔學校在萬聖節左右讓孩子們製作了一隻 scary hand

My Recent Miniature Lego Collection

This picture has nothing to do with my Lego collection but the fireplace mantel behind us is where I display my miniature sets of Lego.

Recently, I’ve acquired a few small Lego sets into my collection :)

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

不知道是不是因為孩子們的關係, 對於過聖誕節真是越來越有興趣了!
今年家裡繼續增添了更多的聖誕氣氛

Wood Anniversary

查理斯問, 今年結婚紀念可以做點什麼紀念物品? 我愣了一下, 等等...已經第五年了?!

第五年, 木婚, 看來他等這年等了一會兒, 要來發揮一下他的木工手藝

查理斯想做個相框之類的木製品, 於是我推薦了部落客 Power Bower 的這個相片架, 比起普通的木頭框有創意多了, 還可以任意更換位置和裝飾

Little Book Nook

Merry Christmas 2015 !!!

Leather Anniversary

Three years. Happy Anniversary my man ;)

I bought a pair of travel leather luggage tag with our initial for our Leather Anniversary:

I couldn't recall what we did for our 2nd Anniversary. However, I insisted that we should continue the gift tradition (see our Paper Anniversary) to purchase something “cotton” for our Cotton Anniversary so I bought ourselves a pair of Life is Good T-shirt:

On the other hand, Charles promised me a canvas of our honeymoon photo to be hung on our bedroom wall; It didn’t happen until I kept nagging about it this year… He saw a deal on Groupon $6.99 8x12 Canvas + $9.99 shipping. He bought five of them to complete the panorama that he took in Bora Bora:

Over our new headboard, sweet~

It Begins to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I should have done this post two weeks ago because Christmas is just around the corner! Anyhow, we are really excited about this year not only because this is little en’s first Christmas but also we bought thechusweethome the very first Christmas tree!

We bought it last year in after-christmas-sales. The original price $279.99, 7.5ft pre-lit floor displayed, was knock down to $83.99. It spins by the way!

Mirror Mirror On the Wall

The first project that is done by using the custom workbench:

We wanted to hang a full length mirror above the mantel and Ikea MONGSTAD was on the list of my living room inspiration last year. We never really put too much thought into it and a few months ago, we got these salvaged mirrors for free:

Pop of Wedding Memento

This wedding shadow box has been sitting in the middle of nowhere in the house for a very long time. I think I created this box of wedding memento a few months after the big day but there is just no good place to display it :(

It took four of our Taiwan photo session pictures, our wedding program (front and back) and my bouquet ribbons

I tended to display it on the built-in bookshelf that we started right after the living room reno (remember?) but the bookshelf most likely won’t be able to resume its construction until the bathroom is done… So the shadow box is currently displayed here in the family room:

I added another pop of wedding memento in the laundry nook too. Pretty purple frame with purple flower lights up this little corner :)

Moreover, I got this wedding-like birthday gift this year! It’s 100% handcrafted!! So neat and cute, isn’t it? My dearest cousin is going to make another one when Baby Chu comes in the world~

 

My miniature even gets a ring on the left hand!!

Something Old, New, Borrowed and Something Blue

This is nothing about weddings at all. 
有沒有一點眼熟?

Something old: 
這是大半年前參加婚禮拿回來的 Centerpiece:

Something new: 
幾個月前在 Michaels 找到這只大拋售的插花, 雖然與原先的鮮花相差甚遠, 不過看中了藍色的花, 而且從$39.99下殺到$7.99 

分解開來, 去蕪存菁, 把不喜歡的部分除去, 底部是個 Mason jar

Something borrowed: 
跟用來修飾牆壁的 sample paint "借"一點漆, 變成乳白色的花瓶, 至於這個花瓶座落哪裡還有待計劃...

Pinterest Challenge Time!! Difficulty: Easy

Something blue: 目前設定每個房間有個 theme color, 很喜歡這個藍色, 於是這株小盆就成為其中一間房的小裝飾, using blue as the pop color in the room:

Hang on the Wall

Finally I made more progress to decorate our new kitchen like a cute little bistro!


I used to decorate my former condo kitchen with these sassy little chefs on the wall. I liked them very much and decided to do the same to our current kitchen.

Our kitchen is much bigger but unfortunately less wall spaces for the two ladies (11" x 14"). Therefore, I replaced them with three little fat chefs with smaller frames. 
 

I also got this coffee silhouette hook from Amazon and hung some little cute accessories: (from left to right) a tiny cup from a capsule toy, Charles’ bottle opener, a California souvenir key chain, and a miniature wooden spoon.

You might spot the chef decor here and there already:

The clean/dirty sign for the dishwasher was surprisingly Charles’ idea and I found this cute little chef one on ebay! 

We shopped the valances in Anna’s Linen on black friday weekend. We had these two choices in mind:

 

and we both preferred the brown one with the cute variety coffee cups

Need to tie it up one strap at a time

Oh, by the way, Charles has fixed the window I broke months ago so the cardboard cover has been removed. XD

Countdown to Christmas

This year is the first Christmas in thechusweethome. However, we don't plan to have a Christmas tree because Charles is about to start another insulation project in our living room.

So, I got myself a Pinterest Challenge to get some holiday spirit - an advent calendar

Difficulty: Easy

 

 This is where the idea comes from:

younghouselove

I found the same multi-use hanger in Goodwill for $4.99. The original source is Ikea KOMPLEMENT, which is designed to store 28 accessories.


The plastic snowflakes were found in Dollartree, 10pcs for $1.00. I purchased two sets of them that gives me 20pcs.

I decorated the rest of the empty spaces with some ornaments that I have received over the years. This little Angel is 100% handmade craft from a very talented lady :)

The numbers were fairly easy, just computer print-out cut and paste on a leftover color paper.

Even though I liked the combination of blue and green that the younghouselove picked out, I went with the traditional red and green. More Christmassy.

I found these great decoration stuff in Dollartree & 99cents store, cheap and neat

Total Spending on this project: $7.99

I haven't figured out where to hang the calendar though... Maybe in the hallway?