We have one piece of furniture that I really hate. I guess in the big scheme of things, one is not too bad. The problem is the size and location of this piece. It's a huge black box and is prominently displayed in our living room. In fact, I think I could go as far as referring to it as the focal point of our home. And I can't just get rid of it, because it's the only thing that Anderson picked out. And even though it's old and we could probably go out and get a nice sleek one, he loves the big black box. So my project this month was an attempt to make the area around it look a little more cheerful.

Before-How many boxes do we really need on top of the tv?
After-I gathered some fun, random pieces and tried to stay with a candy-colored theme!

This was another easy project, but it brightened the room up a lot!

A few details (left to right):
The big frame once held a hideous family portrait that hung in my Grandma's dining room. I painted it sea foam green and hung E - 2008 (for "Established 2008") in it. A modern take on the signs we've all seen in people's homes over the years. I used a wooden letter and numbers and covered them in magazine clippings with Modge Podge.

Below that is a framed vintage camera manual.

To the right is a framed "A" and a ceramic cow head from the thrift store.

The pink metal square is from Hobby Lobby, but it was a yucky rust color. I sprayed it cotton candy pink and attached a deer head cut out of scrapbook paper. (This is the picture I used in case you wan to make your own!)

I found the pink cuckoo clock on eBay and painted the canvas under it a long time ago!

I'm back at the OPAM projects! Style School was the reason for my two month break, but since that's over now; I'm ready to jump back into the fun world of random monthly decorating projects! Here goes...

This is the second bookshelf I've revamped since starting OPAM. I really like bookshelves, because I can display so many cute things on them. In other words, they are clutter collectors...and I love clutter!

This one came from Target a few years ago. It fit perfectly into the beach décor at my old apartment, so I bought a whole matching set when I moved in. But since I'm not into this color wood anymore it never made it into our house. It was in the garage in the i-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-stuff-but-don't-want-to-throw-it-away pile. Then I decided what it needed was a little bit of pink spray paint. Ya'll know I like spray paint! Once I got the idea to paint I knew exactly where I wanted to put it and started collecting little goodies to display.

Before: Sad little shelf. After: Two cans of pink spray paint later!

Now it has a home in a little corner of our living room. Isn't it happy?!

Here's what I put on it...

On the wall: This clock from IKEA, this print that my sweet brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas and a yellow "A" from the thrift store.

On top: An old typewriter that someone was throwing away (gasp), a Polaroid camera and my Great-Grandma's book about how to read and write short-hand. Ha!

On the shelves: Books (including Bibles, legal thrillers by John Grisham, Amy Vanderbilt's "Complete Book of Etiquette" and old Reader's Digests), mini yellow vases from the thrift store, a light bulb full of confetti and an old hatbox top.

Completely unrelated...but thanks so much to everyone who sent me emails about where to go in Hawaii! I now have a list of fun things to see and do-yay!!!

Between taking down my fall decorations, replacing them with Christmas ones, buying and wrapping presents and processing print orders I didn't have time for a true OPAM in December, but I did make some fun decor and thought you might enjoy it. Maybe you can save an idea or two for next year!

I love wreathes-and when I saw these yarn ones I was excited to try making one.

It wasn't hard to make, but wrapping the yarn around the foam wreath 5,000 times was NOT my favorite part. Once it was wrapped I added the pom poms, felt leaves and a little fabric yo-yo for accent!

Presents!!!

Paint sample gift tags.

Left: A big tree limb Anderson swiped for me from the little patch of woods in the middle of our neighborhood. I spray-painted it and stuck it in an IKEA flower pot.
Right: Oh, Christmas Tree!

More of the white tree.

I found this old record at the thrift store. Isn't it fun?!

Pom pom garland.

Left: A fun pillow I made out of fabric that has flamingos and motor homes on it-ha!
Right: The stockings hung by the TV with care. :) When we built our house Anderson didn't think we needed a fireplace. I agreed. I mean, it is Florida! But now his ridiculously large TV is the only place for our stockings to hang...sad.

The dining room.

Left: Little pink tree in the kitchen.
Right: A couple of the many crystal trees in the dining room.

I looked for bright green cloth napkins everywhere but couldn't find any. So, I bought these bandanas instead (for $.99).

Left: Crystal trees and a pink feather wreath that I made...on the dining room table.
Right: Some of the cards we got from family and friends. I loved them ALL!

Left: The frequently updated chalk wall!
Right: Merry and Bright

Oh, and can you believe the birthday celebrations are still going on? Anderson and I just can't let it go-ha! We're going out to celebrate his birth with my parents tonight. Of course he requested a buffet...seafood. It seems like a lot of our celebrations involve eating!

I like Maggianos, so we went there for my birthday.

Mom and Dad.

Anderson and Me.

Anderson wanted to see Avatar on his b-day, so we did. In IMAX 3D!

We ate at Gypsy Cab Company in St. Augustine on my actual day of birth. It's my favorite restaurant! Then we had to swing by the Fountain of Youth for some pictures.

Doesn't he look youthful?!

And yet another night of celebration at a Yummy Mexican restaurant. Yeah, I haven't really cooked much lately!!!

I have to admit that this project technically took longer than a month. It started a while back when I saw a cute underwear wall decal on the Red Velvet Art website and thought it would be really funny in our master bathroom. They didn't have the colors I wanted though, so I traced the decal and painted it-orange and brown. (I just realized they are out of them on the website right now-bummer). Once the underwear was on the wall I couldn't decide where to go from there. How exactly do you coordinate with underwear?! Then I just decided to have fun and go for a happy, carefree design. So...here's what I did this month:

Before-This is the bathroom while the house was still being built last year. Definitely a "before" picture!

After-Bright and cheery. :)

I made the little curtain with this retro-style fabric from Alice Kennedy's Timeless Treasures Collection. It reminds me a little of Orla Kiely .

We (I) have a ridiculously large collection of photo frames. It's only natural, right?! Anderson doesn't agree, but they come in handy for projects like this one. I picked out a few rectangle ones with clean lines and painted them slightly different shades of orange. Now they're hanging above the tub!

The "perfect pair". :)

I was an OPAM slacker during October. We were out of town several times and just busy-excuses, excuses! But I couldn't completely abandon my to-do list, so this month I went for quick and easy. That seems to be a recurring theme, doesn't it? But you just wait for my November project, okay?! You'll be proud. :) Sometimes little changes really do make a big impact though...right?!

I've been looking for the perfect dining room furniture for almost a year. We found a table right after we moved, but I just couldn't find a buffet and cabinet that I loved. I finally decided I wanted a mid-century modern style, but it's hard to find retro furniture without sacrificing your first-born child to pay for it. A few months ago I finally found 2 pieces that were very similar to what I wanted (they're actually from the 1930's) for a steal on Craig's List! AND they were already painted black-we all know I have an obsession with painting my furniture black. The only problem was the insides of the drawers. They looked kind of gross. Just old. So I decided to line them!

Here's what you need to line drawers:
-wrapping paper, wall paper, drawer-lining paper, scrapbook paper, etc
-ruler
-scissors
-pen
-tape or some form of adhesive

I had some wrapping paper and left over wall paper that coordinated together, so I used that. I measured all the drawers with a measuring tape. This is the most "not fun" part of the project. Then I traced the back of the paper to the right size and cut it to fit the drawers. I didn't want to make a permanent commitment to the paper, so I just used double-sided tape to adhere it to the drawers. TA-DA!!!

The buffet.

Isn't it fun?! I love opening the drawers. It's like a little surprise every time. :)

The china cabinet. (Looking at these pictures makes me realize the room is in fierce need of some color. Another day...)

The bottom half of the china cabinet with it's pretty lined drawers.

We finally have a place to store our pretty wedding china that we only use when the Queen comes for dinner. :)