Shop Update 3/7

Hey everyone! My first update in my new shop is now live! You can find it here at www.hopscotchlaneshoppe.etsy.com as well as on the side of my blog! I'm hoping to have weekly or bi weekly updates :) I will also be adding new patterns to this shop as well.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

This week...

I've been doing a little crafting. Working on this hexagon blanket I started last Spring, added in 2 new colors: navy blue and red.

 Working on another "Scandistitch" design. You can find my other finished ones here and here. I seem to have a little obsession with navy blue right now. Love it!

Taking down Christmas decorations. I'm usually sad afterwards, but I really am loving the clean simple look of my home now.

Christmas Decorating

Hi everyone! Once again I let my blog go for far too long. Everything is great here, but as everyone knows life seems to get in the way of blogging sometimes. One of my New Year's resolutions is to post regularly again, but for now here is a little tour of my home all decked out for Christmas!

This is our living room area in the great room. We got a HUGE real tree this year and plopped right in the middle of the room between the dining area and living room. I LOVE it! Of course we filled it with all handmade and vintage ornaments. Such a happy colorful tree!

 It wouldn't be Christmas without our beloved Christmas pyramids (we call them whirly gigs).

Here is a full room shot with a little bit of the dining room. We have lots of handmade items out this time of year, including afghans, patchwork blankets, pillows, and table toppers. I'm also loving our Dept 56 village on top of the tv armoire.

This is the first thing I see every morning when I come down the stairs. Such a lovely start to the day!

 Next we move on to the dining room area.

This little shelf is above the buffet I usually treat it as a mantel by adding garland and lights. Most of the ornaments here are from IKEA.

Here's the hutch. This year I decided to add red and white polka dot wrapping paper to the back. I love it so much, I am thinking about leaving it up all year round.

 Our second "whirly gig is a bit bigger than the one in the dining room. My talented mom over at Happy Little Cottage made the adorable red and white table topper :)

Of course I have to include a picture of little Sophie!

So that's a little slice of my house all decorated for Christmas! How is your decorating coming along this year?

Living Room Makeover

Last week I showed you my dining room before and after so today I thought I would share the living room. The dining room and living room are one big room so technically this is just the other half of the room :)

I took this picture the day that we looked at the unit a few days after Christmas. Kind of strange that the only thing in the room was a treadmill.

After we moved in we bought 2 ektorp loveseats and a coffee table. The rest are things we already had. It wasn't terrible, but definitely a mod podge of looks and that paint color was just horrid!

After a coat of creamy paint and a rearranging of accessories this is what we have. All decked out for Fall!

My mom made the cute black gingham curtains. They were just going to be for Fall and Halloween, but I think I love them so much that they might stay up all year.

I'm still looking for the perfect wreath to hang up on the mirror. I love that it looks like an extra window. The shutters are from the thrift store that I painted green.

Our tv is hidden in that little "armoire". 

Had to share this picture of my favorite TJ Maxx find, and little Sophie sneaked into the the picture too.
I'm super thrilled with how this room turned out. I didn't think we would get this much done on our teeny budget. Can't wait to switch it out for all the seasons and holidays! Next up in decorating is the tv room!

Dining Room Before and After with a Little Fall Decorating

We have been slowly but surely getting our new home painted and decorated.  I thought it would be fun to share some before and after pictures.

I'll start with the dining room. It's a little embarrassing, but here is the before picture.

We tried to make it look it as nice as possible by adding some plate racks, our freshly painted white dining table, flowers, and such. It just wasn't happening with the awful shade of brown/pink/tan paint on the walls. It was such a cave in there I couldn't even get a clear photo.

So over the last couple months we accumulated a few more pieces of furniture and accessories, but it just wasn't looking nice with that paint. We spent weeks mulling over every shade of cream and white paint swatches to find the perfect color. I knew I wanted something neutral because the room has 13 foot tall ceilings so painting the room was a one shot deal. Finally we decided on "Camembert" by Behr.

After painting everything started came together. Are you ready to see the after? Are you sure?

Tah dah! Here is the newly painted dining room all decked out for Fall!

The buffet in the back is probably my favorite piece ever. We found it at the corner of the street on the tree lawn waiting to be brought to the dumpster.I couldn't believe it, I ran up the street inspected it and fell in love. Other than a few glow in the dark star stickers and scratches it was perfect. Luckily it had wheels on it so we just wheeled it home. What luck! A beautiful wood buffet for free!

I am absolutely loving this room. It is so cozy and welcoming. It was totally worth all those sleepless nights trying to decide on paint colors and furniture placement.

I'm a sucker for side by side before and after pictures, so here's a quick one.

Next I'll be sharing the living room which is technically in the same room as the dining room. Talk to you soon!