Archives for November 2011

A Lovely Gray Guest Room Part 2

November 30, 2011 7 Comments

If you missed part one of our Guest Room makeover .

After painting the room a lovely shade of Wood Smoke gray, the next thing I wanted to add was a window treatment. See… Nothing but a white shade.

The shade is in pretty good shape so other than cleaning it up, I left it as was.

I thought about sewing my own sheer curtains, since the shade blocked most of the light into the room and provided enough privacy for our guests… but lucked out in finding some white sheers with grommet tops, (like I had wanted anyway) at Wal-Mart for about $4 each.

Sometimes store bought is just the better way to go. *Gasp*. haha

But, I was having trouble finding a curtain rod that I liked. I might have mentioned before that for shopping choices here we have Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and a few local owned stores.

I finally found one at Wal-Mart that I liked the shape of, but not the color.

(I have looked and looked to find you a link to the one I bought online… but just can’t find it… Sorry)

***

Enter Krylon white spray paint!

I just took all of the pieces of the curtain rod, laid them out outside on top of some foam I had and sprayed away. Let them dry, then turn them over and spray some more.

Once they were fully covered and dried there were some runs in the paint.

I’ll be honest. I should’ve done lighter and more coats, with more drying time in between.

I just get impatient. Mmkay.

So I took a small sanding foam block and hand sanded down the drips and the edges to make everything look a little more worn and rustic. More my style anyway. 😉

Then… because the hubs wasn’t home, I took his drill and hung that sucker up!

It took me FOREVER. Can we just say hubs is probably getting new drill bits for Christmas!!!

You’re jealous of my little pink tool set, aren’t you! 😉

Then I hung up my pretty white, store bought sheers…

And viola!! White window treatment against my lovely gray walls!

Besides needing ironed or something… I think they look nice!

What do you think?

And since you can clearly see it in these pictures, check out the WHITE down alternative comforter I scored at JCPenney on SALE! Used another gift card from our wedding and only paid about $20 for that lovely!!!

Originally priced at a WHOLE lot more than twenty bucks!!

More on the guest bedroom to come including the entire reveal!!!

Linking this here and here and
.
AND to The CSI Project window treatment challenge!

Filed Under: Home Decor, Our Home Tagged With: DIY, Interior Painting

Just wanted to let you know….

November 29, 2011 2 Comments

Ok!
I know this is two posts in one day… but I have a few quick things to share.

First, the Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway will be open until Monday, December 5th so there’s still time to get entered if you haven’t already!

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Don’t forget to check out these lovelies that are in the midst of sharing some fabulous Holiday ideas!!
You can see my contribution to !

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Starting December 5th we’ll be participating in this:

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There will be a TON of blogs hosting some AMAZING giveaways, but here at Truly Lovely you’ll have the chance to win some Scentsy (’cause that’s what Kayli and I do…) AND a Large Ad Space on Truly Lovely for the month of January (a $10 value).
So that’s a Christmas THREE pack of Scentsy Scent Circles! Christmas Scents Included: Silver Bells, Sentimental Cider and Christmas Cottage

And a Large Ad on Truly Lovely for January 2012! Large Ad size (200×150)

A Truly Lovely prize package valued at $30!

Hope you’ll pop back over on December 5th to enter to win!
Until then, you can check out the other blogs that will be participating in the giveaway below!

Hope to see you back here tomorrow when I share another post on redecorating my guest bedroom!
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

Filed Under: Giveaways, Truly Lovely Announcements

Biscuit Dough Donuts

November 29, 2011 12 Comments

Hello dolls!!!

Here’s another recipe I tried from a pin!

You can see other Pinterest attempts , and .
This one would make a GREAT breakfast for the kiddos while we’re all enjoying this holiday season by the way…
*wink wink*

Biscuit Dough Donuts

The pin, pinned from Hope Studios:

Source: hopestudios.blogspot.com via on

My attempt:

Ingredients needed:
1 can biscuits
Oil or Crisco
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp. vanilla

I used my handy little Fry Daddy instead of a pan like Jen used in my inspiration pin, but either will work!
Heat up the oil.

While that’s heating up, I used a Gatorade lid to cut my donut holes. Jen has a few other recommendations in her post on things you could use.

Then carefully drop your donuts and donut holes into the hot grease.

See my helper? She thinks she needs to be at my feet all the time!
Makes for nice company while I’m cooking though. 😉

You can see the donuts will brown and sort of float on the surface once they’re done.

Then I ‘drained’ the grease from mine on a paper towel covered plate.

Mix up your glaze, carefully following the ingredients listed above!!!
I had just a smidge more powdered sugar left, so I just added it in… It threw the whole thing off!
Just follow the recipe on this one. 😉

Once the donuts have cooled enough to touch, dip them in your glaze.

Viola! Homemade Biscuit Dough Donuts!

The hubs couldn’t even tell!

He was impressed with my cooking skills until he realized it was biscuit dough….

Then he was still a little impressed. 😉

This Pinterest recipe = Win!

And so yummy too!

Happy Tasty Tuesday!

Filed Under: Pinterest, Recipes

Fancy This Features #52

November 28, 2011 11 Comments

Hello lovelies!

Happy Cyber Monday!

In the spirit of the shopping season, I have a request real quick like…

I won a $20 credit for anything I want on Etsy, shipping included.

In the comments section please share YOUR favorite Etsy shop so I can check it out before making my decision!

Now, onto the features from !

Even with it being a holiday weekend we still managed to score 25 links!

First up… Ami of AliLilly tried and then shared my Pumpkin Spice Cupcake recipe!

They are really yummy… just sayin’… 😉 Ami seemed to think so too!!

Next, Amber of Salt Tree made a Glittering Musical Ornament!

Now that’s my kind of Christmas decor… It glitters AND it jingles!

And last, but certainly not least…
Olga of Stardust Decor & Style shared her bedroom makeover!

Check out the before! Much more glamorous and cozy now!

Here’s a featured on Truly Lovely button for you three lovely ladies!!! 😉

Thanks to everyone who took time from their busy holiday weekend to link up to Fancy This Fridays! We loved seeing the fun links this week!!!
By the way, the is still open!
AND we’re accepting this week!

Have a lovely last few days of November!!!

Filed Under: Features

Make it Merry – Unique Wreaths

November 25, 2011 10 Comments

Hello lovelies!!!
Hope everyone had a BLESSED and yummy food filled Thanksgiving!!!

Today it is my pleasure to be a participant in Make it Merry!

My topic… Wreaths & Door Swags!

Please be sure to visit the other participants as the festivities roll on!

You can actually click over to their blogs through this image by the way!

OK, so wreaths… Wreaths are always a HUGE part of the Holiday season!
ANY season really… Especially if you tend to mingle in blog land!
There are a ton of great wreath ideas out there!
But what I would like to share today has to do with the main part of your wreath and making it unique!

You can use just about anything to make a fun and unique wreath! I’ve always been a fan of taking an idea and making it your own, so here are a few unique wreath ideas to get you started!!!

Here at Truly Lovely, I like to use my husband’s old discarded team ropes!

My

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There have been several Christmas ornament and yarn ball wreaths floating around blog land, but here’s one that combines BOTH elements!

Source: via on

OR! How about a wreath made completely from CANDY!!!

Source: rubberstampingdiva.com via on

Got an old picture frame just hanging around??? 😉

Source: via on

Want a unique wreath while recycling at the same time??
Check out this wreath made from reused tin cans!!

Source: ripegreenideas.com via on

Or how about a wreath made from materials purchased at the hardware store!?!
Something like this metal wreath would be fun!

Source: soyouthinkyourecrafty.com via on

You can click on each of the above images to be taken to my Pinterest and then onto their subsequent links.

I definitely think a FRAME wreath is in my Holiday future!!
How about you? Any other unique ideas for a fun wreath???
Please, share the links in the comments, or do tell!
I’d love to hear what you come up with!!!

HUGE thanks to Diane of Home Sweet Homeamade for putting this together and inviting me to participate!!!

P.S. The Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway is !

P.P.S. If you’re here to link up Fancy This Fridays is open below!

Filed Under: Guest Posts, Holidays, Home Decor Tagged With: Wreaths

Fancy This Fridays #52

November 25, 2011 12 Comments

Happy Day AFTER Thanksgiving lovelies! 😉

Or Happy Black Friday if you’re the shopping kind! haha.
OR Happy FIRST Blogiversary!!
Oh.. wait… that’s US!!! 😉
Yesterday was the one YEAR anniversary of our very first blog post!

It was also our parents’ wedding anniversary, so
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!

Our family – July 2011

I’m off enjoying time with my family, but here’s the link to the Fancy This Fridays party in the meantime! 😉

We always enjoy seeing what you’ve come up with over the last week!

There WILL be a features on Monday, so hope to see you back here for that!

Also, our Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway is still open! !

I am also participating in this GIVEAWAY starting today over at J&Ms Eye Candy!

You can click over there for a chance to win a Scentsy Scent of the Month pack from me as well as a ton of other cool prizes!!!

I will be back later today with a fun wreath post as part of the Make It Merry series I announced awhile back. Hope to see you back here in awhile for that!

Until then, let’s see what you’ve been working on???

Fancy This Fridays Party Rules!!!

1. Please link directly to the project post on your blog.
Not the blog itself.
2. Please link only your OWN posts.
We prefer to see what YOU have been up to… not someone random.
3. Please grab a button and display it somewhere on your blog.
On your sidebar, on your posts, on your linky party page.
We don’t mind…
4. We would LOVE if you would comment on at least one other link.
Just pop over and say Hello, coming by from Truly Lovely.
That would rock.

Have a lovely Friday dolls!!!

Filed Under: Fancy This Fridays, Giveaways

Bloggie Bestie Blog Swap with Krystina at Cup ‘a Hot Chocolate

November 24, 2011 Leave a Comment

HAPPY THANKSGIVING LOVELIES!!!
Today we are EXTRA THANKFUL for all of our AMAZING Bloggie Besties, readers, and friends!!!
Thanks for all you do!!!
That said, we’d like to introduce another new Bestie!!

Krystina of Cup a’ Hot Chocolate!!

Real quick, I’m sharing a fun turkey craft over at her place today in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday of course, hope you’ll stop by and say hello!!

One of MY FAVORITE things about this holiday season is the Holiday Lights!
I LOVE to drive around and look at them…
SO… You can imagine my excitement at reading Krystina’s post today!!!
If you love lights like me, you’re gonna LOVE this…
Also… She might have one of the COOLEST jobs in the world… just sayin… 😉

Take it away Krystina!!!

Hello, Truly Lovely readers!!!

I am BEYOND excited to be writing my very first guest post here with such amazing ladies!
So excited to have the opportunity to meet more amazing bloggers out there.

To start, my name is Krystina and I blog over at Cup ‘a Hot Chocolate.

It started as just a collection of my happy thoughts and has since grown into pretty much anything from recipes, to crafts, to random tid bits! I hope after you’re done here, you’ll head over to my little corner of the blogosphere and check it out! Kassi has an awesome and easy Thanksgiving craft up over there today so I highly recommend it! Plus! There’s a lovely giveaway of some delicious Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolatey goodness and some info about an exciting new link-up called Wish! {out loud} that will be starting December 27th! Now that all the business is out of the way- Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! While many of you may be ecstatic to give this holiday its deserved respect, all I can think is that I can finally move on to my favorite holiday ever in the history of all things. Yes- it is that serious! I decided to join in the whole “Let Thanksgiving have its day!” movement that sort of took place this year but if I’m being honest, Christmas has just been bubbling up inside of me and it is ready to come out!! My bins filled with Christmas cheer are waiting in the wings and as soon as I have my next day off- Kris Kringle is going to upchuck red and green all over my apartment. Too much? I tried to warn you all- I take Christmas very seriously! In the awesome, fun, best time of year sort of way. It took me some time to figure out exactly what to share with you all today and I was at work when inspiration struck me. This may not be where most people get their best ideas, but I happen to work at a very inspiring and happy place…

Oh, hey Disney Junior Live on Stage at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Is this seriously my life? Yes, yes it is. I actually make a living as a performer for the Walt Disney company. I sing and dance for the greatest audiences EVER- Mickey loving preschoolers and babies!! If you come by my blog you’ll learn quickly that I adore my job.

Any hoo! I often get a bit of a backlash from non Floridians when I tell them Christmas is my favorite. I get a whole lot of “You don’t even know Christmas if you haven’t had a white Christmas!” To that, I say bite me!

As much as I would LOVE a white Christmas, there are things I get where I live that certainly make up for my lack of snow…

I’m smiling just telling you all about this. Hi, my name is Nerd.

One of these amazing things I’m referring to-

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights!

This display that so many technicians work tirelessly to put up at Disney Hollywood Studios every year is one of my favorite Christmas things ever. Once it opens up, I make it a point to walk through after work as often as time allows. On one of those trips, I brought my camera a long so I could share the experience with all of you! So here you go… If you can’t make it to Disney this Holiday season, I wanted to bring a little piece of the magic to all of you! I hope it warms your heart like it always does mine.

This is one of my favorite nativity scenes. It’s life size but I never think it’s over the top.
Tasteful and beautiful!

How cool is this? There’s fake snow blowing, Christmas music blaring, hot chocolate being served, and periodically, the lights “dance” to the music in a perfectly programmed display of awesome!

My favorite thing about it- walking through and seeing families experiencing it together. From the very young to the very old, everyone walks around amazed and happy! I absolutely adore it.I hope you all enjoyed this little peek into my world.I hope this holiday season is filled with loved ones and as many smiles as possible.Thank you for having me! And I hope to be hearing from you all soon

Lovely!!!!

Thanks for sharing these fun pictures Krystina!!!

And thanks for being the Bloggie Bestie this week at Truly Lovely!

Hope you’ll share some bloggie love with her below friends!

After those pictures she deserves it! haha

We hope you are having and continue to have a lovely Thanksgiving Day with your family and friends!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Truly Lovely!!!

AND

P.S. Click here to enter our !

Filed Under: Bloggie Bestie

A Lovely Gray Guest Room Part 1

November 23, 2011 3 Comments

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I thought it was a great time to start sharing something I am truly thankful for…

Our home.

We moved into our house in May.

Since that time I’ve only gotten one room mostly the way I want it. By mostly I mean it’s still a work in progress, but at this point I’m pretty proud of how it’s turned out.

Our Guest Bedroom.

After we moved in.

Pretty much just a yellow tinted jumble of piled up junk.

Oh, and a bed, entertainment center thing and a tv. That’s it.

First things first…

Choosing a paint color to cover that um… yellow.

We received a gift card to Home Depot for our wedding that I had been saving just for this occasion.

Having heard that Glidden paints worked well I decided to go with that brand.

Plus they have these fun little testers that you can purchase for a dollar and some change!!

I narrowed it down to two colors.

Either a tan-ish color that I can’t remember the name of now… Or a gray called Wood Smoke.

I took my testers home, swiped some of each up on the wall and let it dry for a few hours to really get the full affect.

You can see the random bedding and window treatment-less window in these shots.

While it was drying I filled in all of the nail holes and such with some nail hole filler I also purchased from Home Depot.

Once the paint was dried the hubby gave final approval. Wood Smoke it was!

I loved the idea of having a gray room, but also liked the idea of trying it out first in our smallest room to see how well I actually liked it. Plus let’s be honest…

Other than a few times helping someone else…

I had NEVER painted a room before. Really.

So it began!

I taped off all the areas for fixtures, the doors, the window, everything that wasn’t to be painted our Wood Smoke shade of gray.

Since we won’t be purchasing new flooring anytime soon, I also took care to cover the carpet with plastic.

Initially I wasn’t going to paint the ceiling, it was kind of a cream color… But I thought better of it thankfully and decided to go gray on the ceiling and walls then white with pops of color for accessories.

(My of inspiration.)

Remember that tester I bought? Those things come in SO handy for more than just choosing a paint color!!

After painting and letting everything dry, I found a few little spots that needed touching up.

The tester was PERFECT for that!! You could use the little brush included for touch ups while saving time and effort on getting everything out again.

Here’s a little sneak peak on how the gray turned out!

Stay tuned for the actual reveal pictures and more projects leading up to the big reveal!

Linking this here and here and .

Filed Under: Home Decor, Our Home

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway!!! {CLOSED!}

November 22, 2011 104 Comments

This week in 2010 the here on Truly Lovely!

In that post we introduced ourselves and dedicated this blog to our Grandmother who we had lost just a few months prior. The woman who ingrained in our mom, then the two of them shared with Kayli and I, their love of sewing, baking, crafting, etc.

Here we are… one year later already!!!

So today we continue to celebrate ONE YEAR of bloggie loveliness here at Truly Lovely with an exciting giveaway from Shabby Apple!!!
Shabby Apple is a lovely online boutique that carries women’s dresses, jewelry and accessories!

Do you like us on ??

If you do, you had the chance to CHOOSE which Shabby Apple dress we would be giving away this week!!

If not, you might wanna click over there and like us for the future… *wink wink*.

Kayli and I each chose our two favorite dresses, then we posted a poll so you could vote for the one you wanted to win!!!

The three runners up were….

Bacciami!

Source: shabbyapple.com via on

Pineapple Princess

Source: shabbyapple.com via on

Waimea

Source: shabbyapple.com via on

And the dress you will have the chance to win from Truly Lovely…..

Bali Ha’i’

Source: shabbyapple.com via on

To enter to win:
(Please leave a comment below for all entries completed!)

Mandatory – Like the page and tell them Truly Lovely sent you!

Extra Entries:

1. Follow Truly Lovely in some form (via GFC, email subscription, etc) and comment telling us you do!

2. Follow . We would love if you said hello there as well!

3. Follow and on Pinterest.

4. Share this giveaway via Facebook, Twitter or on your blog.
One entry for each!!
Leave the related link in the comments section.
Example tweet, “I just entered to win a lovely dress from @shabbyapple and @kassarie!!! Click here to enter!! http://bit.ly/o0OuBs”

Winner will be drawn via random.org and announced on Monday, December 5th!

Thanks for sticking with us through our first year lovelies!
We are so THANKFUL for each and every one of you!!!

AND

Filed Under: Giveaways

Archives for November 2011

A Lovely Gray Guest Room Part 2

Just wanted to let you know….

Biscuit Dough Donuts

Fancy This Features #52

Make it Merry – Unique Wreaths

Fancy This Fridays #52

Bloggie Bestie Blog Swap with Krystina at Cup ‘a Hot Chocolate

A Lovely Gray Guest Room Part 1

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway!!! {CLOSED!}

Get Truly Lovely in Your Inbox!

Truly Lovely Sponsors

Looking for something?

Truly Lovely Affiliates

My Blog Tribe

THANKS for your VOTE!!!

Truly Lovely Participation:

Truly Lovely: A History…

Our Lovely Bloggie Buddies!!

Fancy This Fridays is Powered by:

Follow Us on Twitter

Like Us On Facebook

Archives for November 2011

A Lovely Gray Guest Room Part 2

Just wanted to let you know….

Biscuit Dough Donuts

Fancy This Features #52

You’re Invited!!!

Make it Merry – Unique Wreaths

Fancy This Fridays #52

Bloggie Bestie Blog Swap with Krystina at Cup ‘a Hot Chocolate

A Lovely Gray Guest Room Part 1

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway!!! {CLOSED!}

Get Truly Lovely in Your Inbox!

Truly Lovely Sponsors

Looking for something?

Truly Lovely Affiliates

My Blog Tribe

THANKS for your VOTE!!!

Truly Lovely Participation:

Truly Lovely: A History…

Our Lovely Bloggie Buddies!!

Fancy This Fridays is Powered by:

Follow Us on Twitter

Like Us On Facebook