Happy Halloween! (and Vintage Halloween Hop)

Happy Halloween, friends!

I have done nothing "Halloween-y" this year. No costume, no candy, no pumpkin carving, no baked pumpkin seeds. I haven't even plugged in the ceramic Woodward Jack-O-Lantern. The shame!

(Photo from 2010)

But, I did think it would be fun to break out some old Halloween photos to share, after seeing Suzanne at bebehblog's Vintage Halloween Hop.

So, humor me. I got a good kick out of old pictures of my brother and I in Halloween garb.

First of all, I'm pretty sure that's my china hutch in the background. And that clown mask is still giving me nightmares. No wonder I wasn't interested in wearing it.

Look, mom! I can do my own makeup. And dress up like a....? What the heck was I supposed to be?

My makeup skills are improving. I was Gem. Remember Gem? She was awesome.

As I have displayed, I understood the power of accessorizing early. Note the golden hat, belt and wand. I could use that wand today. You know, for daily magic. And my brother (Spider Man, in case you were wondering) clearly needed that cane. Ha!

And a blurry picture, but my favorite costume. Cowgirl. I still remember how much I loved this costume. The hat, the skirt, the tights, the guns. Fab.

And this was a close second in the costume department. I'm pretty sure I put Go Go the Walking Pup in that basket. (And my brother was a mean Ninja Turtle, no?)

And my last year of Trick or Treating, Papa Bear dominated by making a box into a die. My friend was the matching die. Clever. Kyle was the devil, apparently.

And here are Ryan and I's first few Halloweens (2001 and 2002).

So, that's our little trip during Halloween Memory Lane. Any funny caption ideas for these puppies?

Happy Halloween!

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Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for custom cards from Shutterfly! I'm actually moderately bummed I don't have free cards for everyone.

But, such is life. The winners, with the help of Random.org, are....

Erin Anderson

Claire at A Peachtree City Life
April G at Three Milkfaces

I'll be emailing you three with your code for 25 free Christmas cards shortly. If you don't hear from me, shoot me an email at newlywoodwards at gmail dot com.

Thanks, all! Happy weekend!

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Entry update

I gave you the sneak peak of our new entry bench a few weeks ago. And now it's been stained and painted and I'm in love.

It's positively killing me to wait to fill it up. I stained the corbels and the bench seat in the same stain as the floor and I painted everything else with white trim paint.

Now, I'm just going to seal the seat with Waterlox (leftover from the countertop project) and add hooks and baskets. Since we don't have a downstairs closet, this little entry needs to pack a punch. And I think it will.

This whole project started ages ago when I spotted this gorgeous mudroom bench at Beneath my Heart.

Source: None via Kim on Pinterest

Love this. And I knew that our little unused entry space would be perfect for our own version. So, this summer, I emailed the link to my parents and dared Papa Bear to build one for me.

(AND IT TOTALLY WORKED.)

My dad took this challenge to heart and make it perfect for us. He actually just started it one day while we were at work. (You are so jealous, aren't you?) Papa Bear printed out the image from Beneath my Heart to use as inspiration. I wanted to add more beadboard on the back and also an additional shelf, which I think made it our own. My dad also had the idea to stain the corbels instead of painting, which was brilliant.

And I know I haven't shown you our fabulous new Ballard Designs light fixture yet. It's perfect.

And for shoe storage, we added the fabulous IKEA shoe storage to the other side.

I was inspired by Jen at I (heart) organizing to get this cabinet. And I have actually had it in boxes since April. It's so nice to have an organized area for all our shoes.

Source: None via Kim on Pinterest

And because this is Inspired by Pinterest Day... I put up those IKEA Lack shelves in the entry that we had in the dining room of  the last house after spotting this image.

Source: None via Kim on Pinterest

My favorite part of this is that they fit perfectly. They nearly look like built-ins, don't they?

So that's the entry way so far. Obviously, we still need to clean and do some finishing and decorating. But, it's really coming along! And it's becoming a much more practical space for storage.

What do you think?


(And tonight is the last night for a chance to win 25 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly. Don't forget to enter!)

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Indoor parking

You know those projects that are really not blog-worthy? This may be one of those projects. Cause there aren't really lots of pretty pictures or how-to instructions.

But, darn it. Ryan's been working so hard on this that I have to pay it homage on the blog.

WE ARE PARKING IN THE GARAGE.

It's been a year since we built the garage. But, it wasn't wired for electricity until this month. And it's pretty much been a dumping ground for anything we didn't have a home for.

So this is pretty much saying that the fact that it's lit and organized is nothing short of a miracle.

An October miracle.

I may have made it very clear that I did not plan to park in the street come winter. (And let's face it. It's practically winter.) Ryan spent several weeks running all the lights and outlets. Then, we spent last Friday night (we are party animals) going through everything and trying to find a home for it all.

And now - I'm one happy wife who can park in the garage.

My life is officially complete.

(And for those who are interested, I've updated the house list to include some of our more recent projects.)
House List


Do you agree that having a garage is a wonderful luxury?

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I really love having a mantel

It's pretty awesome to have a fireplace mantel. What fun! And while I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to styling a mantel, I gave it a valiant effort.

I decorated the porch for fall. I added some spooky mice to the stairs. But, I still have tubs of fall decorations in the basement.

Can I tell you a secret? I just wasn't feeling it. The whole idea of getting everything out when we're just working to get settled into the house was too much. But I couldn't avoid bringing some of my favorite things out for the living room. The corn cob wreath my mom made, my burlap pumpkins, the harvest blocks, some fake leaves...

Now I'm really digging the mantel space and I'm not feeling overwhelmed with tons of "stuff." It's feeling more like fall with every fake leaf, isn't it?

Do you dig it?


(And don't forget to sign up to win 25 free Shutterfly holiday photo cards.)

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Giveaway: 25 free Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Christmas is coming, folks. Can you believe it?

(Don't hate me for bringing it up.)

And with the approach of the holiday season, I was thrilled to get an email from Shutterfly offering us free Christmas cards as part of their holiday promotion. (And, better yet -  25 free cards for three NewlyWoodwards readers, too.)

I was lucky enough to receive free holiday cards from Shutterfly last year and was thrilled with the quality and design choices. I'm excited to put one together again this year. Here's a reminder of the NewlyWoodwards' card in 2010.

Definitely going with photo Christmas cards again in 2011.

I highly recommend Shutterfly for your cards. I've also used Shutterfly for calendars and photo books. I can safely say that they do a great job with all your photo memories.

But, now - onto what you all really care about. For one chance of three to win 25 free greeting cards from Shutterfly.

For a chance to win:
- Leave a comment on this post telling me about your Christmas card philosophy and why you would like 25 free cards. (Do you send a few? A hundred? Will this be your first year?)

You do not have to have a blog in order to win. Just leave me your email address so I can get ahold of you. It's as simple as that. Let's get this holiday season underway. With help from Shutterfly. (Thanks, Shutterfly!)

Winners will be chosen on Thursday evening and announced on Friday morning!

Good luck!

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Candy corn pumpkins at DIY Newlyweds

It's Sunday, which means football for some of us. While I'm a football fan (Go, Bears!), I also like to work on projects on lazy Sundays.

If you are in the mood for a fall project, check out my guest post over at DIY Newlyweds for her unFootball Sundays. I made these little cuties.

Candy corn pumpkins!

Read more at DIY Newlyweds.

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Finally, a chalkboard!

I've finally done it.

I FINALLY HAVE A CHALKBOARD.

And it feels good.

The story starts ages ago. I bought a ginormo frame from Habitat for Humanity in February of 2010 for $3. It was gold-colored and a little rough. But, it was so darn big that I had to buy it. You should have seen me try to get this puppy home.

It didn't QUITE fit in the Prius. But, it was $3 so I made it work.

And 20 months later, we made it into a chalkboard.

I painted the frame in the same color as the kitchen trim and Ryan attached a thin piece of plywood with chalkboard paint. He added hanging hardware and hung it on the wall. It was clearly twenty months worth of work here.

But, it fits perfectly on this wall in the kitchen. So, I'm a happy girl. I spent most of last night drawing with my chalkboard pens. (And because it inevitably will come up - I bought the chalkboard pens at Michael's.)

I'm not planning to use it for anything productive. Just doodles and drawings and the occasional love note.

What do you think?

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Sending postcards with Postcardly

File this under "why didn't I think of this?"

I recently read about Postcardly, a cool new online service that allows you to send postcards through the snail mail to friends and family with your own photos. Through email.

Basically, you set up "fake" email addresses to align with snail mail addresses on the Postcardly website. (So, the email could be RANDOMNAME@postcardly.com.) When you send an email (from your personal email) to that email address with a photo attached, Postcardly generates a postcard and mails it to the address on file. Seamlessly.

Friends, I couldn't sign up quick enough. Postcardly offers a free trial of three cards, and I chose to purchase the package of 20 cards for $19.99. This includes the printing and shipping, which I think is a really reasonable deal.

I've tested it out and I can safely say that I love this service. I sent a test email to our in-laws with a Lola photo and a goofy message from Lola on the back. It turned out so well. It took about 5 days, including a postal holiday.

The photo turned out much better than I anticipated. It's perfect for the fridge, or even to pop in a frame. For the back, it's postmarked from Seattle and it has a real stamp. I don't know why I think that's so cool.

I have tons of ideas of how to use Postcardly.

• Thank yous. (I've already sent out a few thank-you cards with the service. It's fun to pick out a complementary photo. I like to handwrite thank-yous, but I really like the speed of this option, along with the photo.)
• Birthdays. (Pick out your favorite photo of the two of you and include your fun birthday wishes.)
• Thinking of yous. (There's nothing better than getting a random piece of mail. This is a really simple way to do it for others. Did you get a great photo of a friend, send it to her as a postcard.)
• Kiddos. (If you have children, I think that Postcardly would be a fabulous way to send kids' photos and updates, funny quotes or stories, and more. This is what I tried to do with the Lola photo above.)
• Trips. (I like to upload vacation photos while we're on vacation to save myself time when I get home. Postcardly would be perfect to send ourselves a postcard with some of our photos and notes of our trip.)

I also have another fun idea to use Postcardly that I haven't enacted yet. I know, that's a little vague. I'll share if it comes together.

Do you think this is as cool as I do?

(I wasn't compensated for this post. Nor does Postcardly know who the heck I am. I just really like the service and think it could be really fun for a lot of different purposes.)

(Edited to add - apparantly, Postcardly now knows who I am. Color me famous! They also alerted me about their referral program. So, if you do decide to sign up, feel free to use my referral link and I'll get free postards - Kim's referral link.)

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The so-far house: Kitchen

I may have intentionally held off on posting photos of the so-far kitchen. Because there are several things I want to finish. Like...

• Making and installing open shelves in between the windows. (Ryan is "searching" for his tile drill bit. And I'm lazy.)
• Putting up my chalkboard. (Which is still sitting in the basement. And I'm lazy.)
• Painting the back door - black? red? (I'm indecisive. And I'm lazy.)
• Getting things organized so I can show you how awesome the inside of the IKEA drawers and cabinets are. (But I'm lazy.)

But, the whole point of the so-far house tour is that we moved in to this house a month and a half ago. So, I'm cutting myself a little slack and sharing the kitchen. (And feel free to check out the other so-far rooms -  the master, bathroom, living room, outside, dining room and hallway/stairway.)

Franco and Lola clearly love the new kitchen. They wouldn't get out of my way when I was taking pictures. 

I made very simple lined curtains with fabric I had on hand. I love them! Here they are closed. They are from Bliss in Bloom Scarlet by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. The fabric is a quilting cotton, but with the liner, they hang beautifully. Love the vintage look of the floral pattern.

The rugs are the Capel Willoughby Red/White Indoor / Outdoor rug purchased at Wayfair (which was actually CSN when I ordered the rugs). The rugs are really beautiful and clean up fabulously. I just vacuum them and they look like new. Which is important when you have lots of mud tracking in on paws and feet. You can also take them outside and rinse them, which I haven't done yet. They are reversible. And they are USA-made! Score!

Here's the other side, with the fridge. I didn't even remove the junk on the side of the fridge. This is real life. (Do you spot Jenny's cutie pie Carter? And the sunshine hoop art by Shannon?)

The key holder is so handy. It was a gift from our friends Jon and Ann for throwing them a shower, and is by Longaberger. I need to pick up the little baskets to put on the shelves. Since we don't have a drop zone by the back door, this is a lifesaver.


I didn't have enough of the window fabric for the back door, but I had this coordinating Scarlet Medallion fabric in the same Bliss line. And I like it.

I use a simple strip of fabric to tie the curtain back.

I just set my "life is short, eat dessert first" signs on top of the windows. (These are simply cabinet doors I bought from a local kitchen store - they were old display cabinets. I added the vinyl words.) And do you spot the bathroom towel ring mounted on the cabinet? This is genius. And something I originally found on Pinterest.

And let's check out the progression of this room in the past year.

(August 2010)

(August 2010)

(November 2010)

(November 2010)

(February 2011)

(February 2011)

(July 2011)

(October 2011)

What do you think?

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Finish dining room curtains

Thanks to Kate and Amanda for featuring our curtain panels on Sunday's Best of the Blogosphere at Centsational Girl. That was a pleasant surprise!

I was able to finish up the last two panels for the dining room, so here's the room today.

Well. Yes. I think I love it.

(Even the light fixture. Which someone kindly pinned on Pinterest with the caption "I hate the light." Well, that's great, lady. Thanks for sharing. I'm not bitter or anything.)

Anyhoo... back to the room. And the curtain panels. 

And can you not mention how high the light is hung? There's a battle being waged in the Woodward household over the height of that light fixture.

Do you spot my new yellow mirror? 

I love it. It was an oak mirror that Ryan's folks gave us. I gave it a quick coat of "Golden Maize" spraypaint and now it fits perfectly in the dining room.

I love those yellow plates. They are from Crate & Barrel.

Eventually, I'd like to create a little interest above the wainscoting but using large painted wood frames and a variety of plates as art. We'll see if that every happens.

I wanted the curtain rods hung high, so Ryan and I decided to mount them in the large crown molding. 

I know some of you wood purists will hate this. But, I figure they are totally painted, so worst case scenario, you remove them, fill the holes and repaint. And it's a heckuva lot simpler than mounting the curtain rods in our beautiful plaster walls. Have you put up curtain rods in plaster? We have. And we never want to relive it.

If you wanna hear about how I messed up, take a look at the first holes from the curtain rods. The rod wasn't long enough for the width I wanted for the width. So, Ryan put the brackets on to my specifications and realized the rod wasn't long enough. I didn't want to deal with a return at that point, so we just moved the brackets in a few inches. I'll eventually fill in the holes. (When we sell the house.)

And a few questions from the curtain post last week:

Do the curtains hang well unlined?

Yes. The fabric is a beautiful texture, almost a nubby linen-like feel. That said, they really drape nicely without the lining. I originally had planned to line them, but since we aren't using them as actual curtains and more as an accent, they weren't necessary. And I ran out of lining from other projects. The only issue I have had is that the plate shelf on the top of the wainscoting makes them look a little funny from the side.

How did I know the name of the fabric from the curtains I liked at Crate & Barrel?

The name of the curtains is the same as the name of the fabric. It made my job quite simple with a quick Google search.

Where did you get the _______________?

Curtain rods - Target

Bamboo blinds - JCPenney (walnut bamboo blinds)

Tablecloth - Crate & Barrel a few years ago

Rug - The in-laws
Ironing board cover - Marshall's

So, that's the dining room today. 

What do you think?

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