CAMEO Giveaway! (GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED)

(now closed)
Hey there!  I hope you won't mind a couple of giveaways back-to-back as I take a little time off to celebrate the holidays!  And I really don't think you'll mind this one, because it's a FREAKING FREE CAMEO!

That's right, you could win a Silhouette CAMEO, which in my humble opinion, is the best cutting and craft machine on planet Earth, hands down.

If you are still wondering what the heck this CAMEO contraption is all about, let me tell you!  It's an electronic cutting tool that works like a printer, only instead of printing, it cuts!  Paper, fabric, vinyl and more, the CAMEO can cut almost any design you can dream up or download.

You never need to buy any extra shape cartridges or fonts. Instead, you plug it directly into your computer, and you can use any and every font you already have!

Plus the online store offers a library of thousands of downloadable shapes that you can download for super cheap, like 99 cents each.

You could be crafting up a storm with your new CAMEO before you know it!

THREE CHANCES TO WIN!
Entering is easy!

To enter once: “like” Silhouette on Facebook


  For another entry: follow Silhouette on Pinterest
 (leave separate comments here letting me know you did so!)

For another entry: share the giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter, what have you!
(leave another comment here!)

(and don't forget to leave your email address!)


Fine print:

Open to U.S. residents only (boo!)

      If you have some Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, use the promo code AFTER to get a Silhouette CAMEO and a Fabric Ink Starter Kit for $299 right now!

 If you already have a Silhouette CAMEO any and all fabric ink kits and supplies will be 20% off with the promo code AFTER.

If you are planning to use the promo code, just add the Silhouette CAMEO and a Fabric Ink Starter Kit to your cart (separately) and then enter the promo code http://silhouetteamerica.com

***
Good luck, I hope you win!
Winner randomly selected Jan. 3rd.

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Merry Christmas!

Dear friend,

A big fat "Merry Christmas" to you from me! I hope you are surrounded by all the love and joy and peace you can imagine this season.  Thank you SO MUCH for your generosity in sharing your talents with me, your words of encouragement, and your presence in simply being here!  YOU are appreciated.

I am taking the next week off to celebrate the holidays and spend some time with my family, including my baby brother who just got home from a 2-year church mission to Mexico City!  Very excited!  But I will be back soon with a recap of the 12 Best Better Afters of  2011!  I'm looking forward to 2012! (except the part when the world supposedly ends according to the Mayans.  Um, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

Merry Christmas!

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Out with the old, in with new! And old!

This year I had a serious talk with myself.  I asked myself why I've hung on to so many ugly Christmas decorations for so long.   "Does that stack of plastic poinsettia placemats have sentimental value, or were they on clearance at Wal-Mart?" I prodded. "Clearance," I mumbled.

"Did you plan on revisiting your "Country-Christmas phase" from a decade ago, or can we admit that you never liked it in the first place and throw out that 3-foot tall gingham Santa thing that falls apart and stabs someone every year?"  "I'll get rid of Stabby Claus," I sighed.

It really wasn't hard to part with a lot of my junk once I got going; it actually felt like a relief!  If you've found yourself with a little extra breathing room in your Christmas storage bins too, here are a few great holiday decor ideas that you might want to try.  Yay for non-ugly stuff!

Nikki from Grand Design Co. made these Christmas stockings with $3.99 IKEA rugs!  I love the burlap trim too.  She says you can make one and a half stockings per rug.  If my math skills serve me, that's like $2.65 per stocking!  Cheap, easy and cute.  That's my new Christmas decor criteria.

Better After reader Dana also got creative with her stockings by using a fleece blanket.  They practically give these blankets away; you could make stockings for your whole neighborhood!

I love mini Christmas villages, however, I've never wanted one for myself.  So much work and money! I just prefer to let you put one up so I can look at it.  BUT, thanks to Shannon from Fox Hollow Cottage and her little church project, I think I'm going to keep my eye out for village pieces at the thrift stores during the year. Because how pretty would an all white, glittered and sparkly village be?!  Answer: So pretty!

And keep that can of white spray paint out, because look how easily it turns creepy into cute! I'm pretty sure that before elf was not really Santa's little helper, but actually a demon vampire.  The blue glitter is really helping it's cute-ability factor too.  From Crystal at Beautiful Haven.

 

 

And don't put away the blue glitter yet!  Give your holiday wardrobe a kick of color too!  (get it? Kick of color? AH Ha Ha! Ha! Ha.  ha. ... Sorry.)  Anyway, it's so unexpected and fun.  From Francesca at Restyle Restore Rejoice.

I hope you enjoyed these holiday revamps!  May your days be merrier and brighter!

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Tile it up!

A few years ago we lived in Layton, UT, in a house that was about 30 years old.  I'm pretty sure the bathroom had never been remodeled once in those 30 years.  Elizabeth's before bathroom here is giving me a total flashback, only replace that brown and beige tile with ALL brown, but a poopier shade, and replace that small frosted window with a full-size regular window (why, WHY!?!) and there you have my old bathroom. Try to contain your jealousy.  

I wish I had known how big of a difference new tile would have made back then, this looks 100 years newer!  And don't you love how the tile goes all the way up to the ceiling?  Why did no one think of that 30 years ago?  Was there a tragic tile shortage or something?  Were we rationing it for the war?  Was there a war?  I guess we'll never know.

See more from Elizabeth on her blog Little Black Door.

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California Girls

Leah was wanting to replace her IKEA Hemnes dresser with something that had a little more vintage appeal.  But guess what?  Those Hemnes dressers are actually pretty sturdy and mouse-poop free, which is not always a guarantee when dealing with antique furniture.  So she decided to stick with it and add a little pizazz instead with textured wallpaper and trim instead.  I double love it!  Check it out on her blog California Callahans.

And just in case you were lusting for more dark furniture with a vintage vibe from a California girl, check out Summer's sewing desk. She battled raging winds, the likes of which California had never seen – just to complete this project. Patio furniture was flying around her, but she persevered! I love the pulls; I'm so glad she didn't replace them, or lose them in the wind!  See more on her blog Shades of Summer.

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Knack for Mosaics

Achin' for some mosaic-in'?  Don't you fret, because I've got a few mosaic makeovers coming your way!

First, this lovely dresser from Emily at Running in Heels.  It didn't start out that way, no sir.  It began as an overly glossy charmless and chunky little thing in no one's favorite color: hunter green. (I apologize if this is your favorite color.)  Emily gave it all kinds of character with mismatched knobs and a distressed blue, but let's talk about that top!  What a cool idea to mosaic it and then frame it!   File that under Things My Brain Would Have Never Suggested To Me.

We've seen a lot of Meg's fabulous work on Meg and Mum's, but what's Mum been up to? I'll tell you!  She's been making a beautiful mosaic on what was formerly a plain jane lazy susan!  Do you know what inspired her?  You'll never guess, so I'll tell you again!  Her mousepad! 

And finally, have you been searching for a clever way to incorporate your scratched CDs into your holiday decor?  Me neither.  But now you can!  And you should!  It's like saving the earth and spreading holiday cheer at the same time. Total double karma points.

From Caitlin at Hardly Housewives.

Thanks for sharing ladies!

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All That and a Side of Fries

Nydia isn't one to turn down free furniture, so she happily accepted this curio cabinet from her mother-in-law, never mind the fact that she doesn't actually own any curios.  I'm not sure if "curios" is even a noun, let alone a word, but I envision it as things like Precious Moments figurines, fancy candlesticks and such. You know what I'm talking about.  

Anyhoo, Nydia decided it could serve a purpose as a mini-china hutch, and used white dishes to contrast the new black paint, and I think it looks pretty darn good!  See all this and more on her blog The Evolution of Home, like when she compares her mother-in-law to steak fries, and yet it somehow manages to be quite complimentary!  Ha!

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Chair up, Charlie!

This chair was so forlorn it actually appears to be frowning.  See the droopy eyes and the sad mouth?  It's making me feel all depressed.  I hate when I feel sorry for inanimate objects, it's the same feeling I get when I see all the dried up Christmas trees that no one bought! Why do I feel so sad for you old trees?  You were already dead to begin with!  Aaaah, make the stupid sadness go away!

Ahem.  Anyway, so Phyllis had kept this chair kicking around for years until one day she could bear its pleading eyes no more.  A light coat of turquoise spray paint, some bright outdoor fabric, a grand total of about $10 spent, and now this chair has something to smile about!

I find so much inspiration in seeing these quick, little changes that make such a big difference.  See more from Phyllis on her website Phyllis Dobbs.

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Set Sail

Here's a little Furniture Makeover 101: When updating a dresser, please keep in mind that new pulls do not go NEXT to the old pulls!  You are supposed to REPLACE them!  I thought this was common knowledge, but apparently someone out there needs a refresher.  Perhaps they bought all eight nautically-themed knobs without realizing that only six were needed to get the job done. No sense in wasting the other two!  That would be foolish!

Kelli rescued this overly-knobby and smurfish blue dresser from itself by simplifying it with a lovely distressed white.  She spray painted the original pulls and kept them to the much more reasonable amount of one per drawer. See it on her blog Lolly Jane Boutique.

And here is another dresser that started out plain and ended up blue, with vintage teardrop pulls to doll things up too. And I love the look of the layers and layers of paint peeking through. Uh, I totally did not mean to rhyme that whole paragraph.  From Helen at Picked and Painted, who really has this technique down pat.  Thanks ladies!

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Kitchen To-Go

This kitchen was not that bad, if "Fast Food Restaurant from the '70s" is a look you desire.  But Jane had her heart set on something a little more current and a lot less mustard colored, so just about everything in the whole room had to go.  Fresh paint, a new backsplash (so pretty!), new appliances and cabinets, and did you see the dishwasher cover too?  Neato!  Check out the entire process on her blog Urbane Jane.

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Undoing Wrongdoings

There were so many style sins going on in this living room, it needed confession!  For starters, that mirrored "bar" area in the back was hogging up tons of space while adding zero visual appeal, the layout was weird, the furniture was depressing (have you ever seen a sadder pair of throw pillows in your entire life?) and the lone window was shrouded with droopy curtains and fake greenery.   

But redemption cometh by way of Beth who flexed her professional staging muscles and brought it back to life. Notice how much bigger the window looks with properly hung curtains?  Best trick in the book. Check out more on her site Final Touches Redesign

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Flag You Down

I will never look at reupholstering the same way again! (OK, I probably will: as something I am not convinced I can do without crying, swearing and hurting myself) BUT isn't this such a unique take on a simple footstool redo?  

Katie from SweetGirl Expressions wasn't content to simply replace that worn out maroon.  She repainted and distressed the frame, went bigger and better with the nailhead trim, and, for the grand finale, a layered fabric Union Jack! I love the Union Jack trend, and I really love how in-your-face this one is not.  Sweet. 

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Two of a Kind

Hello and happy Monday!  How the heck was your weekend?  If you are still wiping out your eye boogies and trying to wake up, let me help with a couple of gorgeous hutches to lay your eyes upon.  And I don't use that word lightly.  Gorgeous, I mean.  I say boogies, like, every half hour.

First this ho-hum hutch gets a dash of delicious turquoise, in addition to some great details, like the oversize crystal knobs and beadboard backing.  Plus chicken wire to replace that ... other stuff.  She's a keeper!  From the twin sisters Kelli and Kristi at Lolly Jane.

 

And did you know there is such thing as oversize chicken wire?  Yeah, it's for oversize chickens.  Ok, that might not be true, but that's what I would call the inserts on this hutch's glass doors.  And it looked great as-is, or as-was, so Jen kept them intact while working on the rest of this dated piece.  Don't you love how the blue accessories look against the white?  I'm a fan.  Read the epic tale on her blog Our DIY Diaries.

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