Blogging tips and goals

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Not only is 2011 wrapping up, today is also the 6 month anniversary of my very first post here at Lovely Etc. Seems like a great time to do a bit of reflecting.

I was nervous when I first started Lovely Etc. Classic first day jitters. What if no one likes me? What if I do everything wrong? What if I hate it?  

Luckily that is not what happened. I have absolutely loved blogging. I love having a place to share my DIY endeavors with people who actually "get it". I love seeing everyone else's awesome ideas. And of course, who doesn't love a little encouragement and positive feedback?   

In honor of my 6 month blogiversary, I wanted to share a few blogging tips I've picked up and a major blogging goal for 2012.  

First, the tips. I feel a little strange sharing blogging tips seeing as I am clearly no expert. I did just say I have only been blogging for six months. But, since I am relatively new, most things are still pretty fresh in my mind. These are some things I wish I had known when I first started my blog as well as some tips that anyone could use.

1.    Linky Party Etiquette
I am still no expert on this, but I feel like I have learned a lot. This is actually a pretty broad topic but one major point is that you need to put a link to the parties you are joining on the actual post. I used to simply add a little link at the bottom of my posts directing readers to my linky party page and thought that was good enough. Wrong! I learned a little more and realized that I was being a very bad party guest. The host blog was giving me a chance to build my links and traffic and I was not returning the favor. I was showing up empty-handed. I am still not sure I have found the perfect way to manage this, but I have definitely made improvements. For a much bigger and better explanation of linky party etiquette and more tips check out this great post at Crafterminds. 

2.    Google Analytics

For my first several months blogging, I checked out my Stats on Google Blogger whenever I wanted to see how I was doing. (And I was thrilled people were actually reading my blog!) But a few months in, I found out there is a much better way to see how you are doing. Google Analytics tells you so much more than Blogger Stats could ever dream about. And it is really easy to install. I just wish I had installed it the very first day I started blogging.

3.   Pin it button
This is my newest discovery. I ADORE pinterest and it is actually my top referring source. I noticed that some blogs had a pin it button right on their blog post - LOVE that. It makes it so easy for me to pin their post for future reference. So I set out to learn how to do the same thing. Most of the tips I saw only allowed you to set things up to pin one specific picture - until I found this explanation at Clickin Moms. Genious.

As far as blog goals for 2012, I guess I really just have one major goal:  To make more blog friends.

I love Lovely Etc. and the direction it is going in. And I have some really exciting projects to share coming up. But I want to get to know other bloggers better. I feel like I am starting to develop some sweet friendships with other bloggers but I want more! I want to truly become a part of a bloggy community. I want to feel like I 'know' other bloggers better and have people that support me and that I support as well. I am not sure exactly how I am going to make this happen, but I have some thoughts. And I would love to hear all of your ideas!

And on the subject of bloggy love, I want to say a big fat thanks to Beyond the Picket Fence for featuring my latest clock to mirror transformation.

So what do you think? Do you want to be my friend? What is the best way to make bloggy friends?  I'm all ears.

7 Favorite Decor Projects of 2011

Last week I shared my seven favorite furniture transformations of this year.  Today I want to share my favorite non-furniture projects.  Over the past few months, I've come to realize that one of my favorite things to create is beautiful, unique wall decor. And that is exactly what all of my favorite projects are.

#7 Air Mail Bulletin Board

#6 Through the Viewfinder Vintage Photography

#5 Blessed Sign

#4 A Life Without Love

#3  Favorite nook with huge sign

#2 Salvanged Bible Wreath

#1 Clock to Mirror Makeovers

(Mirror 1 and Mirror 2)

I can't wait to see everyone else'e favorite projects of the year...and then figure out what to tackle in 2012!

Sharing this post at Southern Hospitality, Southern Lovely, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Mod Vintage Life, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Simple Home Life, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, The Corson Cottage.

My Most Favorite Christmas Tradition

Or as an alternate title: I'm The Luckiest Girl in The World.

I love Christmas traditions.  Many of our traditions are pretty standard but we have a few that are very special to me.  I shared a few weeks ago that my husband Mitch's grandmother began a tradition of giving him a nutcracker every year.  It is a tradition that I have continued following her death.  A few years ago, Mitch decided that I needed a traditional gift each Christmas too. We talked about ornaments and snow globes and other things, but in the end, he came up with something a little more original.  Mitch decided he wanted to make me a gift each year, something that was significant to our lives that year.

Now I need to stop here and say that Mitch has never really been a handy person.  He is loving and smart and hilarious and many other wonderful things but he is not a DIY guy.  He has never known how to make things and he has never had any desire to make things.  But he knew that I love handmade things so he decided to take on the challenge of making me something each year.
The first handmade gift was at the end of a sad year for us when we lost someone special. So he made me this mosaic.

The second year, we were lucky enough to take an epic roadtrip across the country so he made me a gift to document that.

This year he has been hard at work for days, walking around with a gleeful little smile.  Just recently he has become interested in learning to redo furniture and we have worked on a few projects together.  In honor of the start of Lovely Etc. he redid this little industrial typewriter stand for me.

It turned out really beautifully - he may just turn into a handy hubby after all.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas as well.  Anyone else have other special traditions or gifts to share?

I am sharing this typewriter stand at Knick of Time, A Diamond in the Stuff, Tip Junkie, Primp, Southern Lovely, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Mod Vintage Life, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond the Picket Fence, Simple Home Life, Funky Junk Interiors.

One Month To Win It and an Invading Bird

Exciting news - I am going to be competing in One Month to Win It duirng the month of January!  I am thrilled to be a part of the super-talented group of participants.  I always love a good challenge - and my creative energy is totally going into overdrive.  Even though it is the eve of Christmas Eve, I am already hard at work dreaming up projects for each week's theme. 

Head on over and check out the other competitors.  I am totally loving some of their blogs and can't wait to see everyone's projects for the first round of the competition!

In other news, we had an uninvited visitor this evening.  Apparently this little guy decided to come right in and make himself at home while the garage door was open earlier.  When we got home from seeing a movie, this tiny bird was flying all over the place.  His favorite place to land seemed to be the top of the Christmas tree.  I may have just found the perfect tree-topper after all. 

In between snapping photos, we did finally manage to shoo the cute little invader outside.

I hope all of you have a very joyful Christmas. 

7 Favorite furniture redos of 2011

Hello all.  Just a few days until Christmas! 

As the year winds down, I figured it was a great time to stop and look back on some of my favorite projects and posts.  So I'm kicking things off today with my favorite furniture transformations from 2011. 

#7 Distressed Gray Table

#6 Cabinet with a pop of turquoise

#5 French opera table

#4 Map Typewriter Stand

#3 Vanity to nightstands

#2 Lockers

#1 My favorite aqua redo

Have a wonderful week!

I'm sharing these favs at Miss Mustard Seed, Primitive and Proper, Domestically Speaking, Knick of Time, Southern Lovely, The 36th Avenue,  The Shabby Creek Cottage, A Diamond in the Stuff, Primp, Southern Hospitality, Simple Home Life, Tatertots and Jello, Days of Chalk and Chocolate.

Mirror, mirror - two chalk paint projects

I have two great mirror transformations to share today.  The first actually started out as a clock surrounded by swirls and flourishes.  As soon as I saw it, I thought of the two clocks I repurposed into mirrors this summer. 

This piece was fairly awesome as a clock but the clock face was pretty dated and the faux gold finish definitely had to go.  I used one of my new chalk paint colors - Napoleonic Blue, and replaced the clock face with a small beveled mirror.  (I'm beginning to have quite the collection of 70s clock faces - I'll have to figure out some use for them soon.)

At first I wasn't sure about this color - it was a bit darker than I expected.  But I think it was absolutely perfect for this transformation.  It compliments the Frenchy curves perfectly.

The second mirror was a mirror all along.  I started out with the small Snow White mirror in the front of this picture.

This mirror was pretty old and HEAVY.  But, the gold finish still wasn't doing it for me so I turned to another chalk paint color - Provence. 

I painted a base coat of Provence and then dry-brushed on a Graphite-Provence mixture to give it some depth.

Oh how I love them both.  But both of these sweet mirrors are for sale in my wee shop.  How awesome would a whole wall of these beauties be - maybe in a foyer or a formal dining room.  I may just have to start collecting some for myself!

Now to get busy finishing my Christmas shopping!

Sharing these mirror transformations at Coastal Cottage, Tip Junkie, A Diamond in the Stuff, Mod Vintage Life, Sweet Little Gals, Primp, Domestically Speaking, Ruby Jean, Southern Lovely, The 36th Avenue, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond the Picket Fence.

Jesus' Christmas List...and a winner!

The winner of the magnetic chalkboard calendar is...comment #13.  JunqueMagnet who said "Well Happy Birthday to you and thanks for sharing."  Congrats JunqueMagnet!

There comes a point each Christmas when I find myself caught up in a whirlwind of Christmas festivites.    And I suddenly stop and think, "How in the world did a celebration of Christ's birthday turn into all this?" I totally love all the shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating, giving, and celebrating. But I know it doesn't really have anything to do with Jesus.

I think about Christians in other parts of the world. The Christians who don't have gifts or parties to celebrate Christmas. The ones who must gather together in secret.  The ones who don't have a fancy ham or any dinner at all for that matter. And I imagine how they celebrate Jesus' birthday. I imagine they celebrate by reading the story of Christ's birth and worshipping and giving thanks.

Here in America, when we celebrate someone's birthday, we typically give them presents. We can't really do that at Christmas, so we give our loved ones presents instead which is lovely. But I have been thinking about how maybe there is a way to give a present to Jesus after all. Jesus' words in Matthew 25:34-40 keep coming to mind:

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: 

   I was hungry and you fed me,
   I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
   I was homeless and you gave me a room,
   I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
   I was sick and you stopped to visit,
   I was in prison and you came to me.'

 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'   

Lately I have been thinking these verses are kind of like Jesus' Christmas list. This list is full of the gifts he would like us to give this Christmas. This year my goal is not to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle that I forget what is truly important. My desire is to give a gift to the birthday boy after all...by giving a gift to someone who has been overlooked and ignored. 


I am linking this post up at Serenity Now - head over for some weekend bloggy reading.

O Christmas Tree

A few years ago some friends proposed that we turn our Christmas cookie exchange into an ornament exchange to aid our waistlines.  It seemed like a swell idea to me but the idea was quickly squashed by other members of the group who said they couldn't use any ornaments that didn't match their tree's theme.  That was the first time I realized there are two types of people in this world - those who love pretty Christmas trees with beautiful color schemes and perfectly placed ornaments and those who love Christmas trees full of handmade ornaments, every color in the rainbow, and a pile of decorations collected over the course of a lifetime.

I have always been firmly in that second group.  I love using the same ornaments year after year.  Each winter when I unpack them, I am reminded of happy Christmas memories from years past.  I love handmade ornaments and one of a kind ornaments that clearly do not go with a single other thing on the tree.  It makes the Christmas tree like an explosion of joyful memories.  I have to admit I used to look at Christmas trees full of matching colored balls with disdain.  

My favorite ornament - vintage pizza guy.

I know that I will never be one to go for a matchy-matchy Christmas tree.  And I will definitely never go out and buy all new ornaments and decorations each year.  But I did refine my Christmas tree quite a bit this year and I kinda love it.  There are still lots of random ornaments - vintage, new, wooden, ceramic, metal, handmade, etc.  But I also used a ton of shiny and glittery balls and I pretty much stuck with a color scheme of red, teal, and silver.  And I have to say - it is pretty sweet. 



Easy DIY ornament - clear ball full of fake snow.





 The only kink is I can never seem to find a tree-topper that I like.  So for now our tree top is au naturale.
 
The big question is: What about you - Do you love a nicely color-coordinated Christmas tree or a wild collection of ornaments?  Or do you take more of a middle of the road approach?

Don't forget the magnetic chalkboard calendar giveaway ends tomorrow - if you haven't entered yet, now is the time!

I am linking my tree up to the Holiday Home party over at Thrifty Decor Chick. 

An army of nutcrackers

I collect many things - vintage cameras, old globes, books, vintage suitcases, and most recently clocks. My husband collects only one thing - nutcrackers.  Perhaps not the most manly collection ever.  But there is a sweet story behind it.  His collection was started when he was a kid and one of his grandmothers gave him a nutcracker every year for Christmas. The year we started dating, his grandmother passed away and I carried on the tradition of giving him a nutcracker each Christmas. When you add up one for each Christmas plus a few extras here and there, he now has over thirty nutcrackers. I gladly display the whole collection each Christmas.  (In defense of his manliness, he is downstairs lifting weights as I type this.  Love you Mitch - and I think you are very manly, nutcrackers and all.)

These guys are proudly guarding the nook in our family room I shared a few weeks ago.  This buffet was holding my vintage camera collection and with your help, I decided that displaying collections in one big group is the way to go.

I love how unique each nutcracker is.  I'm betting when we have kids, they will either be fascinated by this collection or completely terrified.  I'm hoping for fascinated.

This sequined fellow is the newest member of the clan.  A good friend noticed the collection was sadly lacking in diversity and gave my husband this guy.

My personal favorite is this cute little Santa.  Love the fluffy mustache and cute little glasses.

Any other nutcrackers collectors out there?  Other awesome Christmas collections?
Don't forget to enter my magnetic chalkboard calendar giveaway going on until Dec. 15th.

Linking this post over at Shabby Creek Cottage and Shabby Shares Saturday. Have a great week!