Shakes and Cakes - Archive - Simple Decorations

Simple and Affordable Christmas Decor

December 18th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Simple Decorations | style - (0 Comments)

Decorating for Christmas can get expensive, especially when you only use those decorations for a few months. Check out these decoration ideas that won’t break the bank.

I use this lantern all year round and for Christmas I fill it with ornaments and tie a Christmas ribbon around the handle. Place it on your kitchen table, fire place mantle or in a corner.

Print out Christmas sayings and frame them with a frame you already have. No need to buy a special frame just for Christmas.

Pick your favorite holiday saying and spell it out with paper mache letters. You can find these letters at JoAnne Fabrics. Pick out your favorite color and spray paint them for an extra special touch! I attached them to the wall with Scotch Adhesive Putty.

After you trim your Christmas tree, save some of the branches and find a vase or pale (one that you already own). Fill the vase with some pine cones, tree branches, beads, lights and whatever other random Christmas things you have laying around.

Christmas ornaments can be some of the most expensive decorations. Bake a few extra cookies and hang them in your tree, on your windows or fireplace. Store them in a shoebox with tissue paper. They will last for years!

Dollar Store picture frames + christmas paper (or wrapping paper)= great decoration for the wall, center piece or fireplace mantel.

Cluster together a few small decorations on a cocktail table. Recycle a glass jar, hot glue twine around the jar. On a piece of wax paper make your own snowman out of glue and then glue it onto the vase.

Fill a bowl with inexpensive ornaments.

Happy decorating to all and to all a good night!

-Amy

Christmas, christmas decoration, christmas tree, diy

Oh, Christmas Tree!

December 16th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Simple Decorations - (0 Comments)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Christmas is my favorite time of year and its not because of the presents or all the yummy candies. It’s because of the special family traditions and memories my family has created and is still creating.

Growing up Christmas was an over the top holiday for my family. My mom would spend days cooking and baking, the house would be decked out with Christmas decorations inside and out, we would go to dozens of holidays parties, my brother and I would watch Christmas cartoons together, we would volunteer bell ringing for the Salvantion Army and we would spend a lot of time together has a family. My mom and dad did a wonderful job showing my brother and I the real meaning of Christmas- family, friends, love, caring, sharing, helping, celebrating.

Even though Adam and I live a few hours away from my family we still continue the same holiday traditions and have started a few new ones.

One of the newest traditions we started is with our Christmas tree. For the last four years we have gone to a tree farm and cut down our own tree.

We went to a new Christmas Tree Farm this year that was about an hour south, near the farm. I’m sure glad we did because they had a great selection! Bayah loved running around sniffing all the trees. She loves the snow and is so funny to watch as she digs through all the snow piles. Some of the little kids there even wanted to take her home instead of a tree! (Of course we would never give her up! She is our snow bunny.)

I wanted a really really tall tree. Adam said my first choice was too big so we compromised on this guy. From top to bottom the tree is about 10 feet tall. Perfect!

Perfect fit and smells great too!

The final product! That tree skirt was made by my mom. She made it for the first Christmas she was married to my dad. We used that tree skirt for almost every Christmas when I was a little girl.

Thanks mom for passing that down to me!

Cheers to family traditions and to a warm and loving holiday season- Amy

Christmas, christmas decoration, christmas tree

Peace Out Summer. Hello Fall!

August 30th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Motivation | Races | Simple Decorations | Work Outs - (0 Comments)

You can probably tell from my Pinterest account that I am obsessed with Halloween and Christmas pins. I am so over summer, the hot days, weddings every weekend and jam packed weeks.

I am so excited for the fall candles, nail polish colors, leggings, boots and fall races. I have been getting so anxious that I already started taking out some of my fall decorations one by one.

My Latest Idea- Pumpkin candles inside mason jars with twine tied on the top. DYI, Simple, Easy, Inexpensive.

This year with fall coming I am even more excited that I don’t have the stress of training for a marathon. This summer has been the busiest summer ever and I am looking forward to some much needed relaxation.

Even though I am not training for a marathon I still have some races on the calendar. I am running the Twin Cities 10k in September. I didn’t make the lottery for the half marathon so I settled for the 10k. I just love the atmosphere of marathon weekend here that I needed to be involved some how.

I am also competing in my first team race at the end of September. It is a 5k and I am running it with a bunch of girls who are part of a non profit group I am in called Wgirls- www.wgirls.org. It should be really fun.

In October I am going to be running the Mankato half marathon again. The course is beautiful and it is close to our farm.

Instead of long training runs I have been using my extra time to do more yoga, weight lifting and spin classes. Of course, I am still running just not 20 miles in one day.

I’m a little sad that I won’t be running a marathon this fall but I really needed the mental break. With everything going on this summer I’m glad I didn’t pile on the extra stress of training.

Bring on the wet streets, cool temperatures and Halloween candy. I am ready!

P.S. Essie has new fall nail polish colors! Love Them!!!

Amy

Christmas, decorations, dyi, halloween, pinterest, races, running, yoga

Happy One Year Wedding Anniversary

July 18th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Feel Good Sweet Treats | Simple Decorations | style - (0 Comments)

Adam and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on Monday, July 16th. Well…we attempted to celebrate. I came down with a nasty stomach bug that had me sleeping by 7pm.

Even though I felt lousy and looked horrible, Adam still prepared a beautiful and romantic dinner. We love cooking together and since our past vacations have forced us to eat out a lot we decided to have a nice night in.

I came home from work to these beauties. I love bright colors. They make me so happy.

At our wedding reception we had the most amazing salmon for dinner so Adam attempted to recreate it. He did a spectacular job by grilling it to perfection! ( I ate all the leftovers the next day)

I also thought it would be fun to attempt to recreate our wedding table. We had a few of these ivory Ikea lanterns at the tables with candles. I also busted out our wedding toasting flutes and of course the top to our wedding cake! (frozen for 1yr)

I also took out our wedding cake cutter. It was my parents from 31 years ago. Their names and wedding date are engraved on the back side.

Yes! We had a chocolate wedding cake. It was gigantic with four tiers and six different flavors. I LOVED it! Amaretto, Cheery Chip, White Fudge, White Chocolate Chip are the only flavors I can remember. I have them written down somewhere but knowing me they were some type of chocolate flavor. All made from scratch which is why the cake is so darn good!

It has been a great year for Adam and I. We are very lucky and blessed to have each other, our families, friends, jobs and finances. Adam is everything I’m not. He is great with numbers and money, patient when it comes to redecorating and a great teacher. (I am a much better runner though )

Thank you Adam for loving me unconditionally, showing me the real beauty in life and for making everyday in my life worthwhile. Cheers to us and many more years to come. xoxoxox

Amy

Adam, anniversary, cake, chocoate, flowers, salmon, weddings

The Simple Things Make Me Smile

June 5th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Feel Good Sweet Treats | Motivation | Simple Decorations - (0 Comments)

Over the last few days I have really been paying more attention to the simple things that bring a smile to my face. With that said, this post is going to be simple.

Here is a short list of my happy things this week.

1. Running outside in the mornings, before work, in the warm sun. LOVE!

2. Quinoa Salad with steamed vegetables, chick peas, fresh cilantro and lemon zest. Simple, healthy food always makes me feel good!

3. Twistband Hair Ties. I LOVE these new hair ties I bought from Birchbox. They do not get stuck in my hair, look great and keep my hair up.

4. New Lamp from Target that was on clearance for 50% off. Exactly what I was looking for to accent our sun room!

5. Adam picked up fresh strawberries for a local farmer on his way home from work. They pop in your mouth and are absolutely delicious!

Don’t forget to stop and think about your simple list of happy things!

Amy

birchbox, clearance, quinoa, running, strawberries, twistband

DIY- Crazy Door

May 23rd, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Simple Decorations - (0 Comments)

I had been struggling with making the entrance into our house a little more exciting. I did not want to put a lot of time or money into the project. I needed to think of an easy DIY- Do It Yourself project.

After just a little thought I decided to add a splash of color and design to the panels of our front door. I started by tapping off sections of the door. I made sure to press the tape down tight so paint did not seep through. Tapping the middle portion of the door was the hardest because I had to make sure the spaces were equally measured. With my husband’s help and math skills- I started by taping off quarter panels.

After the doors were tapped, I was ready to start painting. I choose a dark charcoal gray paint that was left over from painting the inside of our garage. I used a small roller to apply the paint to the door. I recommend using a roller instead of a brush because you will not get streaks like you would with a brush. There are expensive brushes you can buy to avoid streaks but I found that a cheap roller gets the job done.

I applied two thick coats to all the taped sections. As soon as I was done painting I carefully peeled away the tape. DO NOT wait until the paint is dry to remove the tape because the paint will peel away with the tape, leaving you with an ugly mess.

The project turned out pretty good! With no cost (except for my time) the painted door accomplished my goals of adding a little creativity to our entryway.

Super easy, super quick and super cheap.

Perfect!

Amy

creative, diy, doors, entranceway, painting

Fan + Chandelier= DIY Fandelier

April 8th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Simple Decorations | style - (5 Comments)

Some of my most creative ideas come from when I am on a run, in the shower or in the car. But my idea of the “Fandelier” wasn’t generated in any of those places.

My “Fan-delier” project was sparked by an idea I got from a girlfriend. She and her husband were making a few new decorating additions to their new home. The beautiful, decorative ceiling fan was something I fell in love with and I knew I had to recreate it.

A Fandelier is any Ceiling Fan put together with a Chandelier or Ceiling Pendant.

You Need:

1. A ceiling fan with removable light fixture globe. I bought a basic ceiling fan from our local Menards
2. A light pendant. I bought this Coffee 8″ Capiz Hanging Pendant Lantern from World Market. Only $19.99

My husband installed the ceiling fan first and removed the glass globe. In place of the globe he screwed the pendant above the light bulbs. We painted a circle around the fan to give it a little more character.

I love this golden pendant so much! It gives our bedroom an extra romantic touch.

Some of you are probably thinking- “Yes, this looks cool but I bet the chandelier is really loud when the fan is turned on.” It is actually really quiet!” The small, plastic pendants sway a little in the breeze of the fan and make some noise. It is definitely not loud enough to keep you up at night. The noise reminds me of soft wind chimes moving through the breeze of a warm summer night.

This would also be really pretty in a kitchen or bathroom! Plus they are really fun and easy to put together. I wonder where I am going to put my next Fandelier?

Amy

ceiling fan, chandelier, diy, fan, fandelier

DIY Easter Tree

March 19th, 2012 | Posted by Amy in Simple Decorations - (0 Comments)

I always love to decorate my house for holidays and parties. I consider myself a creative person and I love seeing what ideas I can craft up with the materials I already have at home.

Today I put together this Easter Tree and it didn’t cost me a single penny! I recycled and reused materials that were already in my linen closet.

Materials:

- Apple branch cut down from a tree at our farm. You can use any type of twig, stick or tree branch. Mine is about 40 inches tall.

- Wine bottle. I always keep my leftover wine bottles because they seem to come in handy for last minute decor ideas.

- A variety of different colored and sized ribbon. You could use wrapping paper ribbon or twine or yarn. Whatever type of fun string you have on hand.

- A dozen plastic Easter Eggs from Target’s Dollar Section. Get the plastic eggs that open in the middle. The ones you can stuff with goodies.

First, I stuck the Apple branch down through the neck of the bottle. Make sure the base of your branch touches the bottom of the bottle so it is stable and the branch won’t wiggle around or fall over. You might need to trim some of the twigs off your branch so it fits correctly.

Next, I opened each of the plastic eggs. I cut my ribbon into 6 inch stripes. I placed the two ends of the ribbon strand inside each side of the egg and snapped it shut, creating a loop. I then hung the eggs randomly on the tree.

After I placed all the plastic eggs on the tree, I used different styles and colors of ribbon and tied small bows on the remaining, egg-less twigs.

I finished this Easter Masterpiece by tying a wide blue and white polka-a-dot ribbon, into a bow, on the neck of the wine bottle.

Woala! You have a very inexpensive Easter Tree that looks great!

Amy