Top 10 Most Popular Posts for 2011

Wow! It has been an exiting year for my little blog.  Small Moments has gone from 366 page views in January 2011 to over 3,000 page views in December 2011!  I'm so excited about that!  The number of followers has remained fairly low...still not up to 50 yet, but I'm hoping that maybe 2012 will be the year to make a lot of new blog friends!

I'm also excited about starting to host a Linky Party, which starts on Monday. Right now, if it shows promise of being popular, I'm planning on making it a weekly feature. So tell all your friends about it and invite them to the Small Moments Shared Moments Monday Linky Party!!!

So, let's get to some fun stuff now. I thought I'd share the posts that got viewed the most this past year, starting with No. 10.


No. 10... Christmas House Tour

Now of course, this post hasn't been posted very long..not even two weeks, but I actually think that's kind of special. I want to thank all of you who visited our house during the holidays. Hopefully, you'll come back again and again, because I love having company over!

No. 9... Decorating Inspirations: Bedrooms

This one was from back in March. It was one of the first "Decorating Inspiration" posts that I've done. As you can see, the bedrooms from it are beautiful. Lots of inspiration there!

No. 8... Decorating Inspirations: Bathrooms

I really had a lot of fun looking for inspiring pictures for this post. We have such a small bathroom, so it gave me a chance to live vicariously through the pictures. One day I'll be able to put some of these ideas to use. In the meantime, watch for a post on the changes I'm going to be making in our little bathroom in 2012!

No. 7... I Painted the Kitchen Cabinets!

I think this post is my favorite for the year, probably because I finally did something that I had been talking about doing since fooorrrreverrrrrrr!  I am still thrilled with how the cabinets turned out. I have a lot of people suggest that I should paint the lower cabinet also, but this look is really growing on me, and I like the mismatched cabinets. It's a little quirky and kind of romantic, because it was a compromise between me and Jim.

No. 6... Vintage Parties

This one surprised me. It didn't get any comments, but it still gets a lot of traffic. I think it's a SEO thing. "Vintage" is a huge keyword, as is "Parties."  I have a feeling that this post is not what most people have in mind when they find reach it.  Still, I do wish that society would get back to being a little more formal and make getting together a little more special. 

No. 5... More Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing

This project didn't make a huge difference in the way the kitchen looked, but it did make the wood look a little richer. As an aside, the process did not work that well, and I'll be sanding them and actually staining them some time soon. I have, however, loved having the glass knobs on the cabinets. I had a little trouble with them coming lose, but a couple washers took care of that lickity-split.

No. 4... He Agreed!!!

I was so excited about this post when I wrote it. Jim had finally agreed to let me paint the kitchen cabinets. It was way back in March, and I didn't actually get around to painting them until October. But in a lot of ways I'm glad I waited, because I got Jim to move the refrigerator first and that made it much easier.

No. 3... Decorating Inspirations: Offices

In this post, I shared different elements of home offices that I'd love to incorporate into an office for myself. We still don't have the space for an office, but we have moved my armoire desk out of storage into the living room so I can have a little space that's just for me. It's a start, and I'll share it with you when I get it all set up. I have some storage ideas for it that I haven't incorporated yet.

No. 2... Decorating Inspirations: Pink Bedrooms

Up until now, all of these popular posts have had under 500 pageviews...not so with this one. It's had nearly 1,500, and I'm not surprised. "Pink" is a very big keyword. Looking back on this post, I can tell that my tastes have kind of changed a bit. These rooms don't inspire me the way they did when I first posted it. Still...they are very beautiful rooms.

And no for No. 1....  Drum Roll Please!

No. 1... Decorating Inspirations: Pink Bathrooms, Kitchens and Dining Rooms

With over 2,200 pageviews, this is the most popular post on my blog.  It has a lot of inspiration in it, and of course, it features my favorite color--Pink!  

Well there you have it... the Top 10 posts from 2011.  I'm really looking forward to writing more, sharing some more inspirations with you, and getting to know all of you better in 2012!

Special Announcement! Come Join the Party on Monday!

I want to share some exciting news with you!  Monday morning I will be hosting my first Linky Party, and you are all invited to join the fun!!

As you know, I'm all about Small Moments--living in the small moments is what life is all about. So I thought a party where we can share these moments would be fun. These moments can be anything you've done...a craft, DIY, recipe, tablescape, decorating, before and after, family gathering, new baby, new kitchen, old kitchen redone, new shoes... Anything that made a moment in your life more special, link it to "Shared Moments Monday"!  Share those moments with your blog friends, your moments when your proud, happy, excited, sentimental...

Party guidelines:

1. If you aren't already, please become a follower of Small Moments.
2. Link up anything made special moments...something that you're proud of a craft, DIY, recipe, tablescape, decorating, before and after...basically anything... Small moments mean different things to different people, so let's see those moments!
3. If you don't have something from your own blog to link to, feel free to share something on someone else's blog that inspired you. Just put the word "visit" in the description, so everyone knows it's for someone else.
4. Please no etsy shops and giveaways.
5. Link to the specific post, not your main blog.
6. Please grab the Shared Moments Monday button below or on my button page, and link back to me somewhere on your blog.
7. Please click on a couple of the links before you and leave some love. That way you make a Small Moment for someone else, and that's always nice.

That's it! Spread the word that there will be a party going on here Monday and that everyone is invited. I'll post the guidelines again on Monday along with the linky party link!







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Hope to see all of you there!!!!

Merry Christmas

I've shared our Christmas decorations... But I thought it would be fun to see Christmas around the world...

So let's take a little trip...

Christmas in Austria

Source: gocurrency.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Canada

Source: c.tadst.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Sardina

Source: fabmums.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Portugal

Source: christmaswow.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Moscow

Source: itthing.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in the Bahamas

Source: worldisround.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Sweden

Source: travelerstrails.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Brazil

Source: christmaswow.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Norway

Source: theforeigner.no via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Spain

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in France

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Prague

Source: wallpapers-diq.org via Loribeth on Pinterest

Christmas in Italy

Source: italialiving.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Hope you enjoyed our little trip!

I hope everyone has a beautiful Christmas, filled with beauty, joy, laughter and love!

Merry Christmas!

New Commenting Program

Love getting comments!

I've signed up with Disqus to handle the comments. I'm not sure if it will be a good thing or not. I don't know if anyone else is using their service. However, the commenting feature provided by blogger is limited.

One of the things I liked with WordPress was that you could reply to individual comments, which created a conversation thread... That's not a function that blogger provides. But Disqus does offer that function. It also has some other nice features that will make responding to comments a lot easier.

Please check it out and leave a comment. Respond to other people's comments. And let me know what you think!

P.S.  It appears to be working.  What do you think????????  Keep it or go back to the Blogger comments?

Working out some bugs... Could use a little help.

Well, I learned a lesson today...  Check the pages of your blog on a regular basis, because otherwise you won't know when they've stopped working.  Yep!  I found out that the contact page on my blog wasn't working, and I have no idea how long it hasn't been working. That's not good. What if one of you wanted to send me an email? You wouldn't have been able to do so! And that's awful! I want to hear from you when you want to email me. Anyway, that's fixed now, so feel free to email me if you want!!!

There were also some other problems with my blog template. I don't know what the problem was, but some code in it was making it impossible to edit it in Blogger. That was frustrating, because I really don't know HTML code that well. So I ended  up scrapping the whole template and starting over. It looks a little different than it did before, but there are some nice advantages to this layout. The nicest advantage is that I can now post bigger pictures! Yes! Of course, that means I'll have to make sure they're even better quality than they were before, but that isn't too much of a hardship. I'll just have to learn how to use all the functions on my camera.

Old layout

So here's a snip of my old layout... In some ways I like it better, but in other ways I like this one better. It will probably take a little getting used to is all. Basically it's still the same... Well, not exactly, the background is different, even though it was created with the same picture I created the old one with. I decided against the shadow going down the center... The page tabs are different, but this format will let me add more pages without a funky layout happening.

Old

New

I also changed my header a little, simplified it a bit. I simplified it a little. The background I had for the words always seemed a little fussy to me and made the words harder to read. This solid background makes the blog title stand out better.  I grabbed the color for the background from the color of my wedding dress in the picture, so I would be sure it blended well.

Anyway, this is where I need your help... You see that blurb under the title...the stuff about "We look forward to the big moments...blah..blah...blah?  Well, I want to change that, and I'm drawing a blank as to what it should say. Any ideas? I could REALLY use your help!

Thanks!!!!
Loribeth

Christmas House Tour

Everyone has been sharing their Christmas decorations on their blogs, and they're all so beautiful. 

Things have been moved around a bit at our house, and because of that I wasn't able to figure out what to do with some of the decorations I've put up in the past. So a lot of our decorations didn't get used. Next year, I'll do better.

We'll start in the kitchen... I found the round Christmas ornament calendar this year. It has a magnetic glass magnifying ball that highlights the dates. If you look closely, you can see it's on the 17th. I think it goes really well with the Santa cookie jar I bought after Christmas last year.

Here's a close up of Santa. I just thought he was adorable and had to have him. He goes with some of our decorations...and well, he's just so gosh darned cute! Maybe next year I'll actually make cookies to put in him!

Still in the kitchen, the table is all decorated. Nothing elaborate here, because we eat all our meals at this table since we don't have a dining room. Although I'm jealous of all your beautifully decorated dining rooms, this is part of living in a small house. We have a dine-in kitchen, so the decorations have to be such that they can be moved out of the way easily when we have our meals. 

But that doesn't mean it can't have some sparkle and some whimsy. I found Frosty there three years ago at Goodwill. I just fell in love with his sweet face, and he'll probably always remain a part of our holiday decor even if we do someday get a larger home. I don't remember where I got the burlap wrapped Christmas tree that I put in him, but they both seem to like each other.

One last look before we leave the kitchen... You can see Santa in the background. When I first decorated our table, the silver "napkins" that you see here with silver napkin rings are actually place mats, but they were to fancy for Frosty. However, as "napkins" they add just the right amount of sparkle. I was much happier when I  switched out the silver place mats with green velvet ones. Then a little bit of plaid, and a little sparkle..yes...much happier with how the table looked.

We'll make a quick stop at our antique library table. I know I've told you about it before, but it's probably one of my favorite pieces of furniture, not only because it's beautiful, but also because it's the first piece of furniture Jim and I bought together. 

I've had this plaid basket for nearly twenty years. I usually fill it with glass ornaments that didn't make it to the tree, but this year it's filled with cinnamon scented pine cones. 

The plaque behind the basket is the Christmas card my parents gave us this year. Now it's going to be part of Christmas decorations every year!

Since we don't have a fireplace, I had to come up with a creative way to display our stockings. They dressed up my armoire desk. More sparkle and more velvet. 

The hooks are those Command Adhesive hooks, so they aren't damaging my armoire. They were white, which was a little to stark for me, so I painted them with red nail polish. They don't match the color perfectly, but that doesn't bother me. It's better than the white would have been!

Okay... Now for our tree!

Every year, Jim lets me decorate the tree... He says it's because I do such a beautiful job, but I suspect it's because decorating the tree always seems to be at the same time that a football game is on and he can use the excuse to get out of the house to watch the game! 

When I first moved in with Jim, I had (and still have) an angel that I used to put on the top of the tree. However, for this tree, it's just too big, so I improvised. I put this horn at the top of our tree, and Jim loved it! He got out the brasso that he used to use when he was in the Army and polished it so it shined. Now, I can't imagine using anything else as our tree topper.

I'm terribly behind... I haven't wrapped our presents yet, so no presents under the tree. But this little guy is happy to have a place under the tree. He plays Christmas music and his cheeks glow.  If you look closely, you can see they're glowing in this picture. I've had him for nearly twenty years, and he always makes me smile. 

The sequined/beaded box was a gift from my mother. I don't remember what was in the box, but it's so pretty, I can't bear to part with it. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed your tour of our home. It's been a pleasure for me! I enjoy sharing our Christmas decorations with you and sharing some of the history behind why we love them.

Here's wishing all of the beauty, grace, joy, and peace of Christmas!

Funky Junk

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Keeping the Christmas Spirit Alive, 365

Coastal Charm

A Bowl Full of Lemons

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

DIY by Design

Decorating Inspirations: Master Bedrooms

I haven't done a Decorating Inspiration post in a while, so I thought it was time to feature some master bedrooms that I love.  As you probably know, we have a very small master bedroom, so it will be quite a while before I'll be able to have anything like these rooms.

Source: Uploaded by user via Loribeth on Pinterest

This room makes me think of the beach, but in a modern way. So many beach themed rooms are blue, but this one is beige and white, which is unique. I think it's the french door with the sheer drape that makes me think of the beach. It's just so light and airy. I also noticed that there are books lined up under the bed, which seems really convenient... I wish we didn't need the space under our bed for storage, because I love the look of not having a bedskirt.

Source: sofasandsage.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Okay...I'll admit that this is not a master bedroom, because it's a room with two twin sized beds, but it has a lot of elements that I'd love to have in a master bedroom.  I love, love, love the bedspread and pillows. The long bedspread might be something I could incorporate in our room as an alternative to a bedskirt. What I like about these, though, is that they are made with a rustic looking fabric, not burlap, but they have that look. I also like the idea of having lamps installed on the wall rather than taking up space on the nightstand. And I don't think it's even necessary to mention the toile headboards. LOVE!

Source: beneathmyheart.net via Loribeth on Pinterest

Once again, I love the serene look of this room. The soft colors are really calming. And again, lights installed on the wall, no bedskirt, an upholstered headboard...all things I really like.  Notice how the relaxed roman shades are installed all the way up at the ceiling, instead of the at the window frame. That really makes the windows look bigger, and it also lets more light into the room, because the shade isn't blocking it. 

Source: google.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Take a look at the headboard...It's a fireplace mantle that has been upholstered where the firebox would be. That is such a creative idea! Of course, you can probably guess that I love the double chandeliers. The window coverings are sheers, which are hung at the window height. They wouldn't look right if they were hung any higher, because the light from the window would filter through only the middle portion. This is a room I could curl up in and read a book... It might be a little feminine for Jim, though... 

Source: countryliving.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

Now this bed has a bedskirt that I really like. It is long and crumpled, which give it a casual feeling, even in a formal room. I really wish that I could see the rest of the room. It appears this picture was taken from the hall between the master bedroom and the master bath. It would be lovely to have an area like this.

Source: countryliving.com via Loribeth on Pinterest

This room is bathed in light filtering through the window coverings. This works with sheers, because the window coverings include valances... The bed has a lot of pillows. I love pillows. They make the bed look really inviting. This definitely a room I could curl up in with a good book or for a nice nap.

Looking at the pictures I selected, I realize that I'm wanting to change the decor in our bedroom to something softer. Right now it's decorated in blue and dark brown. In our small room, I just don't think that works. The colors in these room makes them look so much larger...not to mention light and airy. 

So there you go...some master bedroom inspirations!

I hope you like them!

Let me know what you think...

Before & After: Lamp & Lamp Shade

In my last post, I asked for advice on what I could do to make this shade...

work with this lamp...

I looked at all kinds of ways to make it work. I just wasn't having any luck. It needed to be two inches higher, so I bought a 6 1/2 inch harp. Well, that didn't work, because the light bulb wouldn't fit in the socket with that harp, and I couldn't find any 7 inch harps locally.

Even if I had been able to make find the 7 inch harp, I still would have need to add an inch of trim to the bottom of the shade. If you recall, Jim didn't like the idea of beads, and I didn't want him thinking it looked like Mardi Gras every time he looked at it. I looked for fringe, but didn't find anything I liked.

Then yesterday, whilst I was in the fabric department of Walmart, inspiration hit me. That inspiration was in the form of fabric that had a similar pattern as the shades I had bought and was trying to make work with my lamps. Suddenly I thought, why don't I just recover the shades I already have?

Before

 So the lamp above is one of a pair of lamps I started out with. These were Jim's lamps that he had in our house before he met me. Can we just say they're ugly and dated, but they worked, and they were the right size for the room. The shades weren't what Jim had, but rather shades that I found at Goodwill for $3 a piece. I couldn't pass them up, because they were the right size and they were blue, which was a color we need in our living room to make Jim's blue recliner work.  (Does anyone else think recliners are ugly?)

During

So a couple summers ago, I painted the lamp bases a nickle color, which I felt really updated the look of the lamps a lot. Suddenly, the lamps were no longer ugly, but actually had a really interesting shape. It was also around that time that I bought a brown leather-look slipcover for Jim's recliner. I just couldn't handle the blue with the colors in our decor. It didn't go. So, once the recliner was covered, the blue lamp shades no longer went with the room. So the search for new lamp shades began. In the meantime, I used black fabric spray to change the color of the shades until I found new ones.

I knew the shades could be recovered, because they were covered with fabric that could easily pull away from the liner. Once I pulled all the fabric off, I used spray adhesive to attach the new fabric to the shades, then I folded the fabric over the edges and used my handy glue gun to secure the edges. The final step was a gluing a piece of trim along the bottom.

And this is how it turned out!

After

I'm so thrilled with how the shades turned out! I think they look very similar to the shades I bought. So even though I would have liked smaller shades that would take up less visual space, it was becoming too complicated and difficult to make the others work.

As an added bonus, I saved a lot of money by recovering my original shades. The fabric and trim I bought for both shades cost as much as just one of the shades I had purchased. Plus, I didn't have buy a new harp or any additional trim, which added to the savings.

So what do you think?  Do you like them as much as I do?

Here's a side by side for you!