Hang Up the Holly!

Haul out the holly!

Put up the tree before my spirit falls again!

Fill up the stocking,
I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now!
For we need a little Christmas
Right this very minute!!

                                Welcome to my Apartment! 

This is my Christmas tree and the little elf that helped me decorate it ;)

I like to decorate it with meaningful ornaments!

Like these!

And this one!

This is on my wall. 

I got this cute frame playing dirty Santa one year!

I display my Christmas cards along the bar.

I like to place my Christmas plates/bowls on the table! In the middle is a vase with ornaments.

My chalkboard cabinet :)

Christmas towels for the kitchen.

Nativity scene on my coffee table.

Adorable mustache Christmas tree pillow I couldn't resist!

Another nativity scene.

Cute decorations. Love my little ceramic tree!

Mesh wreath I made this year!



Thank you for "touring" my apartment this year! I hope you have a very Merry, Blessed Christmas!!!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14 

The Seemingly Never-Ending Quilt Project

     It all started with this picture in a DIY magazine.  

     The article is not even about that beautiful circle quilt, but rather how to create the canopy. But it didn't matter. I was inspired! I wanted my own beautiful circle quilt on my bed. Actually, the idea to make my own quilt probably began with the fact that my grandmother made numerous quilts in her lifetime. I kinda put it on my mental bucket list. So, in the summer of 2011, I started my 1st quilt. Did I really just say 1st? My fabulous mom helped me cut the fabric. I even found this tutorial online. {Thank you!!!} I decided to make mine queen size to fit my bed. I seriously took my time with this project. There were months that I didn't even pick it up. Plus, I did the actual quilting part by hand and that was very time consuming. I didn't think I would ever finish it! Slowly but surely though I made my way through the 100 circles and 100 squares and the border. 3 years and thousands of stitches later, I finally finished it this summer!!!!!!!! I worked so hard on it!! I am super excited and I absolutely love it!!!! As you will see Effie loves it too! 

Figuring out the placement

Quilt top completed!

Quilting by hand

Effie loves this quilt!

Bless her little heart!

Surprise! She really made it hard to work on at times.

On this day, she decided to chew on the batting, lol. 

Tornado knocked out the electricity, but I improvised! :)

Finally finished hand-quilting!!!

Cutting off the extra batting. 

Are you almost finished??

Machine sewing the binding!

It was really late and I was tired but determined to finish.

Whoo hoo!!!!! Completed at 2:00 am!

Beautiful and perfectly imperfect circle quilt! I LOVE it!!!

Be Bold

     I live in a world filled with white walls. White gets boring after a while. Recently, I was rewarded by my apartment management with the opportunity to get an accent wall. I was beyond excited! It's the little things. I got a color wheel which had tons of options. Really.....Probably over 200 cards with 8 shades of color on each one! 

It was a hard decision. Should I go neutral? Tan? Brown? Yellow? Red? I have red living room furniture, so I thought that would be really vibrant and fun. I narrowed it down to a couple shades that caught my eye....Poinsettia and Enticing Red. I asked my friend Merrill what she thought and she also liked those two.

I made the final decision to go with Enticing Red because it was the first one that I really liked and it was bright! Go with your gut.

Before pic.....

And after!

What a difference a little paint makes!

I absolutely LOVE it!!!

A bold pop of color is just what I needed.

Be bold!!!

Christmas Tree, 2012 Version, Candace Style!

     I think my Christmas tree looks a little different each year. This year, I decided to use colored lights instead of white lights. I also randomly placed those red stems at the top with the star. I think the 2012 version is fun! And, I totally did not pose Effie in this picture. She did that all by herself! :)

A Bedroom Makeover

     Transitioning from college furniture to "adult" furniture takes time when you only have one income. I have taken my time and bought a dining room table first and just recently got new living room furniture. All that was left was new bedroom decor. This also happens to be the most expensive considering the expense of a mattress. I wasn't really in any rush to buy for this last room. Enter my brother, his new wife, and an extra (queen-size) bed they didn't need! I asked him if he was considering making a donation to the Candace-needs-a-nice-bed-fund, and as it turns out he was! He kindly gave me his practically brand-new bed and I am so thankful! As one can imagine, with a new bed comes new decorations! So, I searched the internet and found a bright, fun, yellow comforter that was half-off. Mix in a few more decorations and I now have a vibrant, new room! Thanks Chad for making this possible!!

My bed before

The wall before

New bed!

Ties I made for the curtains

Old window I put mirrors in; antique wash stand

Abacus my dad made for me when I was a little girl

MS wall art I made with a friend!

Maltese print by artist Angela Bond I found at an art festival 

Sweet Effie completes the look don't you think?