A Contrast and A Winner

Outside my door is the look of winter. Contrast that from the look of fall inside. Today I will enjoy both looks. And just for fun I might listen to

a little Christmas music.

Congratulations to Crystal!
crystal said...

I love sunflowers even the ones growing along the road in summertime

would love to see them in winter.Thank You for all your delightful designs.

She's the winner of the Sunflowerguy bouquet.
(Crystal please email me for the details)

Getting and Giving a Bouquet

***GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***

I was contacted by Sunflowerguy.com asking if I'd be interested in reviewing their flower delivery service. I'm not one to turn down a bouquet of beautiful flowers so I said Yes!I went on their site and picked a gorgeous bouquet. They have bunches of sunflowers in all different pretty arrangements. I picked my favorite and placed my order.
I was excited to see a fresh flower delivery on my doorstep!I followed the instructions for opening the box and found a lovely bouquet inside.I must admit that although the flowers were beautiful, they were smaller than what I had anticipated from how they appear in the photos. They came packed in moist florist foam ready to be placed in their vase. You pick the color of vase included with the flowers. Mine turned out to be an odd color of green. Of course we all know that a little spray paint can fix things---unless the original paint wasn't applied correctly (oops!). The plain galvanized vase would have been a better choice.
Oh well, my bouquet looked even more elegant in a vase from my collection.The flowers have an eight day guarantee. Mine didn't quite last the full eight days, but they did last longer than others I buy.

I enjoyed my pretty bouquet from Sunflowerguy.com and now
here's your chance to try out their fresh flower delivery. Go to their site and have a look around.
While you're there register to win a year of fresh flowers
(who wouldn't love that!). Then come back here and leave a comment.
On Friday I'll announce the winner.
Good Luck!

A Winner, A Follow-Up and a Tease

Hooray!

We have a winner of a beautiful Sodderbug charm made by Janelle.

It's Ashley Bray.
Congratulations Ashley!!!

Do you remember months ago when I shared a little project that my hubby and I worked on together for our friends cabin?
The original fireplace looked like this.I designed, hubby and I built, and I painted. Then the fireplace looked like this.Well here is a photo of the decorated mantle.I love the way it looks with the big mirror above and the wreath hanging in front of the mirror. Our friend said that she's replacing the small wreath with a larger one, so just imagine it looking that way now.
Isn't their cabin beautiful! Do you see the refection in the mirror of the gorgeous quilt? Our friend is literally the Queen of Quilting. This lady is talented! I am so lucky to know her. She is my inspiration, not just because of her creative talents. But because she is incredibly confident and caring. And she and her husband are two of the most generous people I know! Not to mention that they willingly put their trust in us to build them a few items for their beautiful cabin.
The mantle isn't the only thing we did. We built another item for their cabin too. We started with an old solid wood back door. Here's a sneak peek with more photos to follow soon.

Excitment for Me and You

***The giveaway is now closed***

I was so excited when I opened my mailbox
to see a package inside addressed to me! Inside was this
pretty handmade necklace. Janelle at Sew Blessed made it for me.
Her shop is called Sodderbug
and she makes beautiful necklace pendants.

Aren't they awesome!!!

I love mine!I adore the monogram on vintage paper.
On the back is the definition of JOY.Perfect!

I bet you want a Sodderbug pendant too. You can get one by visiting Janelle's shop and buying one. Or you can leave a comment on this post to enter to win a charming, handmade necklace.

Here's how you enter:

First, visit the Sodderbug site and look at the photo gallery.
Then come back here and leave a comment. Tell us which pendant you would choose---or suggest a new design that Janelle can make especially for you. You can enter a second time if you post about Janelle's Sodderbug site on your blog, Facebook or Twitter. The giveaway will run the entire week. The winner will be announced next Monday.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Hooray and Display

I am so happy to announce the winners of
the Belvedere Designs giveaway!
The random generator selected:

Monogram winner:

Desiree said...

Oh how I love monograms. PLEASE pick me.

November 2, 2009 3:55 PM

Gift Certificate winner:

Natalie said...

I would love to get the gift certificate! I do love the laundry room quote, but I don't have a real laundry room. Thanks for the chance to win!

November 3, 2009 10:36 AM

Laundry winner:

Andrea said...

I'm lovin' the Laundry sign!

November 3, 2009 7:59 AM

Jordan and Raelene, owners of Belvedere Designs, are some of the most generous people I've met. They've decided to add one more prize for their favorite saying.

Bonus $35 Gift Certificate winner:

Aubree @ The Weathered Cottage said...

wow! i would love to win a gift certificate. I love the saying, "The Laundry Room, Loads and Load of Fun" and also "Let him sleep for when he wakes he will move mountains"- Napoleon for my little boy's room!

November 2, 2009 11:55 AM

The winners can contact Belvedere Designs to claim their prizes.

Let me show you what I did with my monogram from Belvedere.
I'm sure you know that I thrive on constantly changing things in my home. Because I'm afraid to commit to having anything stay on my walls, I came up with this idea for my monogram.
Months ago I showed you a huge frame that I found at the thrift store.I popped out the painting (storing it in the garage), painted the frame and propped it up against the wall. I enjoyed that look for a few months and then leaned the frame above my sideboard. It eventually was actually hung on the wall.When my monogram arrived I was so excited to find that it would fit perfectly inside the frame. And I was happy that I hadn't thrown away the original picture!
I thought about spray painting the picture but then I remembered that I had a roll of wall paper that I picked up at the thrift store. This wall paper is fantastic! It looks like old tarnished, scratched metal.I applied the wall paper directly to the painting. The burnishing tool that came with my design was handy for applying the wallpaper and the monogram.When the paper was dry my hubby helped me line up the monogram.
Belvedere Designs websight shows just how to apply their designs.With a design this big it really helps to have another set of hands.
Thanks hubby! All that was left was to pop the newly covered picture back into frame, adhere it with a little hot glue, and hang it back on the wall. I love my new monogram! I am incredibly impressed with Belvedere Designs products and their customer service! If you haven't already seen all that they have to offer, take some time to visit them now.

Belvedere Design Giveaway

I am so excited to introduce you to Belvedere Designs! If you are interested in adding that little touch of personality to help make your home, or even your car, unique to you and your family, you need to visit my friends Jordan and Raelene.
They offer an incredible variety of custom wall letters, vinyl words and wall quotes, family stickers, wall art, graphic design and more. I'm warning you right now, they offer so many wonderful designs that you'll have a hard time picking just one or two! I know because they let me pick two designs to give away and it was a very hard choice!
I picked this wonderful headboard design for myself. I have a fun idea for it that I'll have to show you in a later post.

---

You know how I love a great monogram design! Yep, I love monograms so much that I picked this one to give away to one lucky winner!

---

Can't you just imagine this beauty above your bed! Or how about in the entry or living room of your home surrounded by photos of your family.

I really wanted this design for my laundry room but I don't have the wall space for it.

Hopefully you do though because we're giving it away!

And if that isn't enough, Belvedere Designs is also letting me give away a gift certificate. The winner of this will be able to pick any item, up to $50 in value, from their site! Ooohhhh so many choices! And they've even added 18 new colors like olive, lipstick, buttercream, celdon, and bubblegum, to name just a few.

Belvedere even has a blog where you can see lots of new ideas. And they have a monthly drawing for a $50 gift certificate from their customer-submitted photos.

I'm sure that you're anxious to enter this giveaway! Here's all you need to do: leave me a comment telling me which of the three choices (monogram, laundry sign, gift certificate) you would love to win. If you want another entry then post about this giveaway on your blog, twitter or facebook. And for a third chance to win, leave a favorite quote that you'd love to see Belvedere Designs make---one that they don't already offer (this might be tough because they offer a ton of great quotes already).

This giveaway will be open until Saturday at midnight (MST) I'll anounce the three lucky winners next Monday. GOOD LUCK!

We Have a Winner!

Karli from Stylish Stockings picked the winner of our giveaway using Mr. Randomizer. And the winner is.....
Lauri from Putting My Two Cents In. Congratulations Lauri!

Hooray! A Giveaway!

Last week Karli from Karli's Corner emailed me to say she had exciting news. She just opened her etsy store called

Stylish Stockings.(photo credit:Holly Brimhall of bloggingwithholly.blogspot.com)

She asked if I would host a giveaway to announce the opening. Of course I excitedly accepted her offer, especially after I saw her beautiful creations!
She makes these darling stuffed pumpkins.And these gorgeous Christmas stockings.The lucky winner will get to choose

a set of three fall pumpkins (4 sets to choose from) OR

two stockings (24 to choose from & more on the way).To enter the contest just leave a comment on this post.
If you want additional entries
you can write about this contest on your blog,
facebook, twitter or myspace.
Be sure to link both
Joys of Home and Stylish Stockings.
Then come back here
to leave another comment for each thing you do.

Good Luck Everyone!

The giveaway will be open until
Wednesday at midnight (MST).
***The Giveaway is closed.***
Thanks for participating!

Do Something That Makes You Smile

I am a firm believer that every day you should do a little something that makes you smile. If I am happy there is more of me to give to my family and others. But, sometimes, in an effort to do things that make me smile I fall into a rut. Am I the only person who does this? Let me give you a personal example. I find it very easy to decorate the more public areas of my home. That makes me smile. But, every morning I wake up in a bland and cluttered bedroom. In my rut I think nothing of this---my thoughts are, "I spend most of my time in that room with my eyes closed, so it doesn't matter." But in reality it DOES matter. This is something in my life that isn't consistent with what I desire for myself and my family. And because of that, my life feels out of balance. So, this weekend I tackled the task of finding balance, as well as doing something that makes me smile. In the midst of organizing my office closet, I began another task (can you say, "Attention Deficit"?). I decided to take one corner of my bedroom and do just a little something that would make me smile. I didn't run out and buy a lot of stuff. I used what I had. I used my trusty black spray paint to update the two shelves. And I treated myself and my hubby to some inexpensive fresh flowers. Now I have something that makes me smile every time I walk by.What little thing can you do today to get you out of a rut and make you smile? It doesn't have to be decorating your house, maybe it's just adding a little something extra to your recipe for dinner tonight. Or lighting that beautiful candle you've been saving all these months. Or how about wearing fancy earrings while you're cleaning the toilet? Go ahead! Do something that makes you smile!

OH! another thing that makes me smile....reading all the comments you left on my giveaway post. You are all so sweet!And now I'm really smiling because I get to announce the winners....
PRIZE A- the burlap monogram goes to Tammy at Tinsel & Co.
PRIZE B- the chalkboard was won by Carlie at The Bird Nest
PRIZE C- CJ's Mommy*Kimberly gets her choice of two prizes
Ladies, send me an email at joysofhome@gmail.com. I need your color choices and addresses.

I really wish I could have made a prize for each and every one of you! My hubby says that's because I'm Obsessive Compulsive. Oh my! I'm ADD and OCD---no wonder I have to find something to make me smile every day!