Christmas Cheer

I can't believe it has been a whole year in our new home. Last Christmas when we got the keys to our house, my good friend Jessica made me this beautiful wreath.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to put it up since we were painting and moving, so this year it served as the starting point for my decorating.

I didn't think I was going to decorate at all this year, but on December 20th the shopping gods shined on me and led me to Jo-Ann Fabrics and EVERYTHING I bought was 70% off! I got a shopping cart and loaded it up with a 7ft tree (lights built in), some ornaments, a feather wreath (I had my eye on for ages!), 3 Santa dolls, 2 poinsettia garlands, and 1 pine cone garland and a partridge in a pear tree! Ha!

Since I was on such a shopping sale high, I headed over to Michael's where everything was 60% off! I gathered more ornaments and two white feather trees, which I absolutely adored! After Michael's, I still felt I was lacking in the ornament department, so Target had the perfect solution with their $1 white and silver snowflake ornaments!

When I first put the tree together, I was pretty disappointed on how "skinny" it was compared to the picture they advertised on the front, but at 70%, who can complain!

The hubby wanted to start a tradition of buying one special ornament each year. So here's the one we bought for 2010.

The frugalista in me couldn't bear to shell out over $10 each for Christmas stockings, so when I came across these "dollar store" silver stockings, I snagged them up right away.

Of course, I had to "jazz" them up and customize them to make them a bit more "fancy". So, by shelling out another dollar for some stick on rhinestones at Michael's, for $3 I had customized stockings! Holla!

And finally this holiday season would not be complete without a customized Christmas card.

This may be my last post of the year, but I do plan to come back FULL FORCE next year with lots more projects and posts!

So, have a very safe and fun-filled Happy New Year!

2011 is gonna be AWESOME...I just know it!

xoxo,

The Mariano Project

Giving Thanks...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, there are so many things I am THANKFUL for this year. It has been an eventful year of twists and turns, but yet, even with the challenges, it was very fulfilling.

Here is what I am THANKFUL for...

• A loving & supportive husband who loves me for all my imperfections.
• Great parents, siblings & two beautiful nieces.
• A beautiful home & neighborhood.
• Having central heating during these cold nights.
• For all my wonderful friends.
• For being given a new opportunity with a new company, during these challenging economic times.
• The public library for its copious amount of books that helped me with my interview and fueled my reading habit.
• The Power by Rhonda Byrne. It changed my life in so many ways...
• For being able to give and love open-heartedly and freely.
• For great health and always having food in my refrigerator.
• My iPhone...seriously how can I live without it.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

xoxo,

The Mariano Project

Here's my Pillows...

Wow, has it really been almost 2 months since my Pillow Talk post?? It's so funny, because after I posted that I became deathly ill with some kind of food poisoning and just last week, it happened again. But this time it was the stomach flu & colon inflammation, which also meant a trip to the ER = Not fun at all...

Anyways, I probably finished these pillows about a month ago and I absolutely love them! While outdoor fabric can be kind of stiff and rigid, I've noticed that after a few uses they have definitely eased up. I used a basic square pillow pattern with an envelope style back.


Notice the "Karate Chop" indentation on the pillows? It gives the pillows a cuter flair don't you think? Kinda like they have ears?!

Happy Halloween Eve...

I didn't think I was gonna decorate for Halloween, but then we bought some candies and I just couldn't resist! I had bought mini pumpkins earlier this month and incorporated them into my Fall dining room centerpiece and thought that would be festive enough. Yeah, right! Who am I kidding?


Today I came across some really cute burlap sacs that I am either going to frame or make large pillows out of, so that started the decorating base. I used the plain side for my set up. Then, I came across reusable pumpkins with built in lights and at 2 for $10, who could resist a white skull shaped pumpkin! And no icky pumpkin seeds to scoop out. Well, actually, I do like scooping them out...


On the door I used double-sided tape to put this place mat on to my front door.


Being the neurotic person that I am, I didn't like the empty space between our porch light and my pumpkin decorations, so I grabbed some tissue paper that we had and made a Martha Stewart pom pom. I even cut out a spider from some black card stock. Jay said my spider had a "cat" head...so I guess, I made a "cat spider"....spooky!



In addition to the usual candies like Reese's and Snickers, we decided to get some Rice Krispies Treats to give to our first ever Trick-o-Treaters! I had seen some really cute 8oz Coca Cola cans at Costco and was thinking, how cool would that be if we gave those out! But, sadly,I was DENIED!


No costume for me this year, so I thought I would put up a picture of my most favorite costume to date. A bubble bath! I won Best Costume with this bad boy, at TWO Halloween parties in 2008!


So, to all you party goers tonight, I wish you a very Happy & Safe Halloween!

Unwinding & Relaxing...Ok not really!

So, it's been 25 days into my new found freedom and things have been going pretty well. The first week was filled with staying up until midnight watching movies on my iPhone, waking up at 8am, taking morning walks, cooking dinner, and going out on random trips to the store. And then the second week came and half way into it I was BORED. This A type personality with B type tendencies was BORED.

And then an email came. It was for an interview. And my A type kicked into full gear and I was studying and answering interview questions like there was no tomorrow. I was in total "Ace the interview" mode. It's literally been 7 1/2 years since my last interview, so I was flipping out!

But, with the help of my hubby (who happens to conduct interviews at his job) and a fabulous legal recruiter friend (aka Jessica), I went to the interview over prepared and ready to answer any question. In a matter of one week, I knew more about myself that I ever wanted to know and about the company I was interviewing for!

So in order to quell my interview jitters, I decided to start crocheting. It was something completely unrelated, so I could digest all my interview homework and unwind by focusing on crocheting. With the fall weather creeping in, I decided to make my cute little niece a beanie. She's 7 months and barely has any hair! This child needs a hat!

This hat took me about 2 1/2 hours to complete. I used a 5mm hook and Caron Simply Soft in Violet. I used the Puff Stitch Crochet Hat pattern from The Art of Crochet by Teresa. I was completely blown away by how easy this hat was to make! It looks complicated and intimidating, but in reality, it is a breeze! Oh, and I do recommend watching her You Tube video tutorials. I believe this contributed to the success of my hat! And for the pom pom on top, I used this tutorial from Bella Dia.

The matching scarf on the bottom was actually the start of a blanket I was going to make for our living room, but after 3 stripes into it, I wanted a different look. So, it became the perfect "baby scarf" to accompany the hat!

Heart of the Matter

Two weekends ago, I had the luxury of having the whole house to myself while Jay was doing his monthly military reserves duty. I had this book in my possession for over week, but had a bunch of stuff going on, and so there it sat on my nightstand collecting dust.

On Saturday evening, I thought I would pick it up and get in a few chapters to help me fall asleep. Well, I should have known better right? Emily Giffin books DO NOT make one sleepy at all, in fact, they have the opposite effect. They suck you in and you get wrapped up in the story and the characters and then 3 hours later at 1:30am, I found myself flustered and exhausted after the emotional roller coaster I had just gotten off of! How about that for a wild and crazy Saturday night!

I love how Emily incorporates characters from her previous books. It brings a sense of cohesion with all her books. Heart of the Matter will touch the heartstrings of married couples and single moms as well. It is a very real perspective of the choices we make in our lives and the effect those choices can have on those we love. We can all get caught up in our daily lives and in the needs of others, that sometimes we may neglect those who matter the most to us. This book delves straight into those circumstances and the consequences they can have.

Recommended: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Read: The Power

I am currently reading The Power by Rhonda Byrne.

I had read her book The Secret back in 2006 and really enjoyed her explanation of the Laws of Attraction and the power of positive thinking. However, I think I was in a different mind set back then and didn't apply those principals as effectively as I would have liked.

Fast forward to 2010. I have a bunch of changes going on in my life right now and this book is EXACTLY what my soul has been searching for!

I'm three chapters in and loving it!

Stay tuned for my review!

Eat: Bette's Oceanview Diner

My sister has been RAVING about Bette's Oceanview Diner for awhile now and after seeing Bette's featured on Check Please! Bay Area, we knew we had to try this place!

The hubby and I had some free time last week and were able to make it out to 4th street in Berkeley and grab a late brunch. From the the moment we walked in, we were greeted and seated right away. Our waitress was friendly and during our meal, a few other waitresses checked up on us as well!

The main reason we came was for the "scrapple". This now tops my list as my favorite breakfast meat. Absolutely delicious!

The scapple is hiding behind my grilled tomatoes. It was so scrumptious and savory! While we were eating, a few customers came in to order some scapple "to go". My morning bun was also equally delicious! It was a croissant dough laced with cinammon and sugary goodness!

Definitely try this place if you are in the area. After your meal, there are so many great shops to walk off your scrapple! Next time I'm getting the souffle pancakes!

Baby Blues

Last month, I started working on a baby blanket for our friends Jordan and Nou who are expecting in December. I told myself I could work on this leisurely since I had a few months until their little bambino was born. Being that they live in Seattle, I was planning on mailing it out in a care package to them in early December.

Imagine my surprise, when the hubby informed me that Jordan had called him and said his family was throwing them a surprise baby shower in a week! What!? Are you serious?!

Well, of course we were going to go! This was their last trip to the Bay Area before the baby was born.

So day and night, I worked like a mouse sewing Cinderella's dress, to get this blanket finished in time!

I felt like I was on Project Runway, crocheting my tail off to "Make it Work!".

In the end I was quite pleased with myself and the outcome of the blanket that I completed in ONE week!

Here is the blanket. I used Attic24's crochet Neat Ripple Pattern. I found her pattern to be the easiest and most consistent out of 3 different patterns I tried.

I wanted to give the blanket a Missoni-esque vibe, so I deviated a bit away from Attic24's pattern. Instead of doing 2 consistent rows of each color, I did the following:

2 rows Soft blue
2 rows Ocean
1 row each of grey heather, white, soft blue, grey heather
2 rows Ocean
2 rows Soft blue
2 rows white
Repeat row 1 grey heather, white, soft blue, grey heather
2 rows white
Repeat from beginning

I used Caron Simply Soft yarn.


I added a gray single crochet around the entire blanket. My edges didn't turn out quite as straight as I hoped!

The single crochet gave me an even surface to add my basic shell edging to the blanket.


And here is the finished blanket!! I hope this baby afghan will bring lots of love and warmth during the cold Seattle winter!

We can't wait to meet your new bambino in December!

XOXO,
The Mariano Project

Winding Down...

Wow, has it really been over 2 weeks since my last post?

Right after I posted the Pillow Talk post, that following morning I came down with a severe case of food poisoning! I woke up around 2am and just started vomiting my brains out! This continued for the next several hours and by 5am, I was so weak, nauseuous, and feverish, that I pleaded my hubby to please go out and buy me some 7up!

Suffice to say, I am still alive and kicking, but that whole ordeal just really put things into perspective to really just take it easy. And that is exactly what I have been doing for the past 2 weeks. Just kickin it! No crocheting, sewing, exercising, or reading. Just enjoying everyday and relaxing.

Things are changing as we speak. Back in July, I found out that my job is being relocated to Anaheim and my final work of week will be at the end of this month. I'm really excited to begin this new journey in my life. For 7 years, I have worked continuously, and now I have been blessed to take a bit of a breather, find a new path, and pursue my passions.

You know how that old saying goes, "When God closes a door, he opens another."

I can't wait to experience all the new and exciting adventures behind my new door...

Pillow Talk...

A few weeks ago I picked up two yards of this Waverly Coral Sun and Shade outdoor fabric in navy at Jo-ann Fabrics. I loved the coral pattern (and the fact that it was 50% off per yard) and can't wait to add it to our living room!

You may be wondering why I chose outdoor fabric. Well, simply because it is fade proof, water proof, and stain resistant. It's not the softest fabric out there, but I figured these pillows could be used either as floor cushions or pillows and should I decide to take a nap, I don't have to worry about my makeup leaving any stains or God forbid any drool marks! Ha!

I already have two existing 18x18 pillows that I am going to use. So, now all I gotta do is find my Sewing for dummies pillow pattern and a little bit of free time.

Stay tuned for the reveal!

Faux Wallpaper Reveal...Finally!

Boy oh boy was this truly a labor of love!!

What I "thought" would be a fun and "quick" Friday night project, lasted over a week!

After a few arguments, shoulder aches and neck kinks, here's how it turned out!

It began with the design that the hubby produced for me using CAD. He printed it out, I cut it out, and made a stencil with a piece of cardboard.

We wanted the outcome to be subtle, so we opted to use the same shade that we had painted the wall but in a high-gloss.

Unfortunately, since we had used Behr's Premium Plus Ultra Paint and Primer in One in Burnished Clay, we were dismayed to find out this line does not carry a high gloss formula. They only go up to a semi-gloss. Boo!

So we scoped out the other brands that did carry high-gloss formulas and we found an almost perfect match in Glidden's Clay Bisque.

With a set of $1.50 artist brushes from Daiso and a plastic cup of paint, we were ready to go.

Jay had us mark the center line of the wall and taped it off as our starting point. Well, this pic was taken after he had stenciled the entire wall and I started painting already, but you get the point.

So, let me digress for a bit. Here's a pic that the hubby took of me starting to stencil the wall, before he took over.

Big mistake! Meaning, me stenciling was a BIG mistake!

Was it the wall or was it me or was it the stencil? I could not get it straight! I used a level and still, my stenciling came out crooked!

You can imagine the hubby's face when he saw my two rows of catastrophic stenciling. He pulled out the big eraser and took over. We put in the taped center line and a few hours later ended up with a perfectly symmetrical stenciled wall!

Then he attempted to paint and that's when I pulled the brushes from him and took over!

I painted for a few hours and then went out with my girls. The next day painted a few hours and then went to the gun range. And then I would paint for 2 hours every night after work...

Jay and I both learned a valuable lesson with this project. He's great at stenciling and I am great at painting! Now we both know our roles and as we work together on another wall, we can avoid those wasted hours of crooked stenciling, erasing, and needless arguing!

Win a Silhouette!

Today, I entered for a chance to win a Silhouette machine on Stephanie Lynn's blog Under the Table and Dreaming. This giveaway is going on thru August 30th, so click on the banner below and enter for your chance to win this AWESOME machine!

Many of you are probably scratching your heads and thinking, "What the heck is Silhouette machine?" Well, it is digital cutting machine that easily hooks up to your own computer. And voila! You can make anything, LITERALLY, from vinyl home decals & glass etching to paper favor boxes, cupcake holders, invitations, custom apparel and even temporary tattoos!

Photo: www.qksilhouette.com

They have thousands of designs you can choose from or you can upload your own designs! The possibilites are endless! For you DIY crafters, this is like HEAVEN!! I know for sure, that should one of these machines end up in my hands, I would pass out from pure BLISS!

Owl update...His new home!

This morning Tara's sister showed me a picture of the the owl in the nursery!! I was so excited! When I was making the owl I had no idea what her nursery colors were or what crib bedding she had chosen! I'm so stoked to see that he fit in so well with her jungle theme!!

Faux Real?

Since we moved in, I have been desperately trying to convince the hubby that we should put some wallpaper in our living room, but he was avidly against it. But, when I showed him this gray "faux wallpaper" he gave me the thumbs up!!

A few months back, I had seen this as a Reader Redesign on YHL, and immediately added k.f.d. designs blog to my favorites!

Photo: www.kfddesigns.blogspot.com

Imagine my surprise and glee when I saw other reader redesigns with their versions of faux wallpaper! I couldn't stop looking at Courtneyoutloud's version. It was to die for!

Photo: www.courtneyoutloud.wordpress.com

But we didn't want to shell out the $44 or wait for the stencil to be shipped, so the hubby and I decided we will go the DIY stencil route a la Centsationalgirl.

Her master bedroom version turned out equally as fabulous! I think I see another project in my near future!

So stayed tuned for our version of "faux wallpaper" in our living room!!

This is gonna be one fun Friday night!