A PILLOW MAKEOVER..............

Well it was a nasty rainy day so I decided to take a ride to my local Home Goods store.  When I say local I mean it's literally 5 mins away from my house.    I love strolling the aisles for inspiration, grabbing random pieces to scatter around the house.  I also LOVE hitting the Clearance sections, I always do well there too.

Here is what I came home with, sometimes less is more.

I collect green glass so that vase/bottle was a no brainer....the red package are Valentine's Day napkins set of 4...my kitchen has red accents so those will work perfectly.  And then there is my pillow.  I have been searching for accent pillow for my Family Room.    This one was in Clearance section, actually all 3 items were red tag treasures.  

Here is what I decided to do with my new pillow.

My blank canvas... $8 Clearance pillow

I taped on my stencils,and outlined the edges

I filled in my stencil outline with paint pen

Bam.....it's all about FAMILY in my Family Room.

And a lil bit of Irish for the upcoming holiday!

- MJ

LOVE MY VENDORS...................................

I always love when I get photographers back from vendors who rented some of my props.   Last weekend was SuperBowl Sunday.  However for one little special girl it was her Alice in Wonderland themed 1st bday.

Tania from TD Event Planning always comes up with creative way to use my props.   

-MJ

FEATURED.............................

We are featured on The Paper Proposal  blog this week.   So excited, this shoot was so much fun down at Laurita Winery in New Egypt, New Jersey.

You can view the full feature HERE, but here are also some great eye candy shots.

Thanks to Catherine Scerbo Events, A Studio Images, Lennie's Sweet Treats

-MJ

CHANGE OF PLANS - HOLIDAY DECOR ...THE TREE

Sometimes the excitement of the holidays makes us want to do so much.   That is always the case for me, Holidays just adds a ton more projects for me to complete.

We just moved November 1st, so I haven't had much time to holiday plan.  With unpacking, decorating, then pulling holiday stuff our and trying to come up with themes and decor.

Im just plain exhausted.....this week will be the end of my Holiday Decor run.   I was planning on going all the way till Dec 23rd...but Im done folks.

My beautiful daughter Samayah is turning 7 this Friday and then her Daddy's Birthday is the day after that and then we have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day sooooooooooooooo Im done with tutorials on the blog.

I will be posting pictures on my Facebook page and of course always on my Instagram (Lucky7Design) page as well.

Here is my nature inspired tree.....we got a REAL tree (husband's request) for the big room in the back of the house.  Our Dining room and Living Room are split by this space, so that is the spot I chose for the tree.    Let's just hope the puppies don't rip up all the presents when Santa leaves them!

I used items I had already in my Christmas Decoration collection (hoarder's paradise .lol) I used glass balls, real walnuts, burlap wrapped candy canes, real pine conesl twig nests w/ eggs and handmade ruched burlap garland.

I would also like to add that I have eco-friendly gingerbread mean on my tree.  They are handmade recycled paper figures from my friend in California Kelli Moorhead Bianchi.  She makes amazing paper crafts and jewelry you can check our her Crafting on a Dime Facebook page HERE

The big bare tree

Some twinkle and the balls go on...a sage green and pale gold

Burlap wrapped candy canes

Handmade recycled paper Gingerbread Men

Real Walnuts

My nature themed ornaments

Close up of the top portion of the tree

Here she is......My Mother Nature Inspired Tree

After 3 Kings Day, the glass ornaments and burlap will come off and the tree with the walnuts, pine, cones and nests will go out to the backyard for whatever left over birds are around to enjoy.  

Maybe the girls and I will make some bird see balls for them too!  

- MJ

BAKING STATION DIY - Holiday Decor Day 14 on Day 15

Well due to the snow storm that hit us yesterday....this Part 2 of my Baking Station post did not publish.

Im just sharing a little addition I made to that area of the kitchen, it has it's own archway, which was probably the end of the original house.

I found some pieces of wood that were in almost every closet as shelves.   Im not one for folded clothing, in fact it's a pet peeve of mine.    So when I saw this piece of wood in my daughter's closet...a project came to mind.

A BAKERY SIGN!!!!

Now I've seen them on Pinterest as well as on a few blogs, so I wanted to give it my own spin.

Here iS what I came up with................

Here is the old piece of wood

I pulled out my stencils and a pencil

Quick outline and some black paint...

7 cent Sweets anyone???

How about... Bakery - 7 cent cakes????

Well you can see which one I went with in the end. 

 -MJ

Holiday Baking - Day 13 Holiday Decor

Tonight Im sharing some Holiday in the....kitchen.  Well a nook of my kitchen that is opposite of the big refrigerator space.  

As most of you know, my oldest Gabriella is a pastry chef.  She has her own cupcake and sweets company and she works for a large bakery as well.

We decided to give her, her own space.  We call it the "Baking Station"....I searched for stainless tables and different things with no luck.  One day while at Harbor Freight....my husband spots this.

Yep...it's a metal work bench!    But it's durable and gives storage and work space...yay!   I made one alteration...I spray painted the peg board backing Metallic Metal (Silver).

We added some Holiday Cheer in the space with vintage items inspired by my great grandmother Vincenza's bakery.   She was a business owner back in the 30's in Brooklyn, New York

I guess my girl gets it from her Great Great Grand Mama!    Hope you enjoy!

Shot of the baking station

Flour Jar, Paper Straw Jar and Vintage piping gun

Glass bowl of cookie cutters, vintage tart tins filled with baker's twine

Some of her favorite baking books

My vintage jars filled with her confectionery and brown sugar

Metal Cook Book Stand holding some vintage rollers and my awesome Wonder Bread ruler!

Below Vintage milk crates are used to hold dishes.  I added a vintage Christmas apron for decoration.

Of course we must display our inspiration.  Nonna Vincenza in front of her bakery.  Russo's Bakery.

-MJ

DO YOU JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER? - Day 12 Holiday Decor

Well I must admit that I do.   Not so much people but there houses, especially during the holidays.   I somehow in my mind think that if you don't take the time to decorate the outside of your home then, you are a bit of a Scrooge (just my opinion)


I was thrilled with the huge floor to ceiling bay window in the front of the house.   However it was blocked with 2 off centered shrubs (which also were the home to bees and their lovely hives.)

Today, my husband finally cut down the shrubs (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  He was motivated by the tree cutting crew who also came today and cut down the ugly tree in front of our home.

Here is what my holiday window looks like, Im not sure I will have time to add anything else outside with another storm coming in 2 days.

Tall zinc container w/ Christmas tree and a lil snowman

Vintage galvanized bucket w/ Christmas tree and tall snowman

My White Christmas tree w/ladder of lil helper to decorate the tree

So if you drive by my house....know that Christmas is my favorite holiday and inside you will find 8  more trees  and decorations to prove it.

Do you decorate the outside of your house?

-MJ

MINOR HICCUP - WHAT HAPPEN TO DAY 10

Ive been doing way to much, and it finally caught up with me.  I totally needed a day of rest so I missed on posting Day 10 Holiday Decor.

I don't pretype or schedule my posts.  I did that when I started blogging 3 yrs ago but it became so overwhelming...I decided I would post when I had something to say or share.

So since Im still feeling just worn out...Im going to share some Holiday Decor from a shop I styled earlier this month.   It's called Painted Past Designs and they are located in Madison, NJ.  Owner Donna is a fabulous furniture refinisher, she takes old pieces and gives them the most amazing makeovers with eco-friendly paints that are Made in the U.S.A.

Take a look and what we put together for the holiday up at her shop.  Also you can check out Painted Past Designs on Facebook HERE

-MJ

THE TREE............ - Day 9 Holiday Decor

Well 1 of the trees in the house this year.    My husband insists on a REAL tree but I like to start early so a FAUX tree is best for us decorating addicts.  

There is a battle every year at Christmas on who gets to decorate the tree and why do I have the need for a theme...blah...blah...blah.

My solution... FAUX tree will go in the Family Room and the kids will decorate it with whatever they want (well of course from my hoards of collections...lol) I have to have some control people!  The new house has a Family Room and Living Room so I get the REAL tree (with my theme)... YAY!

So here is our Vintage Junky Ornament Tree in the Family Room.  All ornaments on this tree are handmade, they are also family heirlooms from my grandmother's house and thrifted items.

This is a 6 ft faux tree from Family Dollar

My prized position at Christmas...the manger that my Grandfather Sal made so many years ago.  It goes under my tree every year!

2 of my 3 youngest girls decorating their tree.

Here she is...in all it's funky glory

Top to bottom....it's all vintage awesomeness!

Do you have any ornaments that were passed down, do you have a special ornament in your family?

This is from my Instagram account, this filter reminded me of an old 60's photo.

-MJ

RUSTIC TABLETOP - Day 8 Holiday Decor

After working on projects for our Christmas tree I decided to jump in early and put together a little something for the dining room table.   This new house has a big room at the back with is where our 2nd living room (family room) and our dining room are situated.

I placed the Christmas tree in between both rooms, next to the back door (which is only used for puppy walking) lol

This is this year's REAL bare tree.

I asked the guy to give me the branches he cut from the bottom of our tree.

Still keeping my burlap runner on the dining table, grabbed this little wood tool box insert for the table

Filled with my cinnamon scented pine cones (love the smell)

Cut and stuck in clippings from the tree (again great smell)

Some vintage brass candleholders and Shabbat candles (I use them often)

Added a gold glass ornament, here and there

The glow is so pretty and the setting is so simple

This year is simple, rustic with a touch of vintage glam.

Here is a shot from the living room side looking into dining room.

So cut some branches, grab a box and some pine cones and have at it!!!!

-MJ