Building A Creatively Made Business

I Know HER!!!! Hey, my dear friend Jen is sharing all of her business expertise along with other talented artists, dreamers and doers! If you've ever thought about starting your own business, check this out!

http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2014/04/building-a-creatively-made-business-2-0.html

My "Must Haves"

It's no secret by now that I have a love affair with apothecary jars!  They just come in so handy when you need a cute place to store things or want to show off a collection.  I have purchased most of mine at Home Goods over the years.  Kurt has gotten to the point that he knows if we're stopping, we will probably be coming home with a couple more that I couldn't resist! 

  Here I have used them to store all of my supplies.  It really helps to see what you have and because of that, I have found that I get inspired to create much more often!

 Oh and let me tell you, they are the BEST for parties.  They will make you look like a pro without much work at all.  I used them at my dear friends wedding shower and filled them with color coordinated candies.  The labels I designed and printed myself, but you could easily use pre-cut tags from the scrapbook section and hand label them....I adore beautiful handwriting!!

 For this little gathering I had to be quick, so truth be told, I ran to Wal-Mart and purchased all pre-made goodies.....powdered doughnuts, rice crispie squares, vanilla oreos and cupcakes from the bakery section.  The trick is to get them all in the same color scheme and VOILA...instant sweetness!!!

 You'll even find them looming in my bathroom filled with all the daily essentials...soap, cotton balls, Q-tips.  They can make inexpensive items look so much more chic, plus you always know when you are running out!

I'm sure I can find reasons to have more, like a friend had suggested to use them in the laundry room, or how about the pantry, or even some on my office desk with those everyday supplies.  And of course filled with Christmas decor.....I could go on and on!!
 What are some of your favorite ways to store items in your home?

****GIVE AWAY**** Personalized pillow cases!!

Who doesn't like free stuff?!!

 Every month in 2014 at Jillian Haupt & Co. we will be having a free give away. All you have to do is go to our Facebook page (Jillian Haupt & Co.) SHARE and LIKE the picture on Facebook, then comment "Sweet Dreams" and you'll be entered to win.
Winner will be picked on Sunday, January 12.

These personalized pillows make a great gift for a bride and groom or as an anniversary present, valentines day...or just a little something sweet to yourself!!!

They are also available in our shop at: http://www.jillianhaupt.etsy.com
or just click on the shop button located on the right hand side of this page.

Thanks!!!

A Holly Jolly Holiday in The Woodlands

 Just a little holiday spirit sprinkled around the Haupt family house.  Since we are in a rental and not really sure how long we will stay, it's been just a tiny bit awkward for us.  We aren't used to holding back and not being able to do whatever we want to do to our home.  We did our best to make it feel cozy!

 I have to admit, I am jealous of all the snow falling up north and if you know me, you know how much I LOVE a beautiful snowfall!   It is a strange feeling to walk outside in 65 degree weather a week before Christmas, but it is very beautiful here.  It really looks more like fall outside right now and it's very nice opening the windows, so there are positives and negatives no matter where you go!

We just added some snowflakes of our own....and no shoveling!

 A plus to owning a direct to garment printer....easily print images and whip up a few holiday pillows!!

 Kurt and I have never had a fresh tree in the 21 years we have been married.  Mostly because we have always had a cat and knew they would be obnoxious with it!  Now we just have the 2 pups, so we thought it would be safe to give the real tree a try.
Because of where we are now, the woodland Christmas theme seemed more appropriate and something new and fun.  Kayla helped me make homemade ornaments, collect pinecones outside and add a few furry woodland animals in the tree.

And then we had a naughty helper that decided she couldn't resist tearing apart the baby fox on the tree!!!

Honestly, I couldn't even be mad at Penny Lane because she looked so sorry

Wherever you are, I hope you have a wonderful Holiday!!!!

Here are a few goodies that were added to my shop this week.

A pretty table cloth, a few apothacary jars filled with goodies and some festive paper garlands are all you need to make just the perfect setting at your next gathering.  Won't your guests be impressed with your decorating skills?!!!!  

(Click on pictures to make them larger)

Get to WORK!!!

Finally starting to feel settled in our new location, The Woodlands, TEXAS and we LOVE it so far.  Southern hospitality does exist!  In fact, I have noticed that when folks say "how are you doing?" here in Texas, they ACTUALLY want to know HOW YOU ARE DOING!  That being said, it can take an extra 15 minutes in line at the grocery store!!! 

So now on to the fun stuff, decorating!!!!

This is going to be a bit challenging for me since we will be renting a house for the next year.  Kurt and I haven't rented a place since the first year we were married, 21 years ago, so it's hard for us to not knock walls down and tear up flooring. 

The first place to get put together is my work space so I can, well, GET TO WORK!  The only furniture we brought from the old house was a huge antique store hutch and a large, square table...that's it!  

There wasn't much to do to the hutch except fill it with all my materials.

Then I was having such an issue with finding stools for my table.  Nothing I was seeing for sale was getting me too excited.  When I did see something I liked, the price tag was wayyyyyy out of what I wanted to spend.  I love pottery barn, but come on, $299.00 per chair?  Not happening with me.

When I stumbled upon these 4 chairs at a antique/resale shop I thought they would work just fine.  They were solid wood at least, pretty sturdy and actually a do-able color.  The price was just right too, $120.00 for all 4.  Of course the sales girl was all over us on how great they were and what a nice antique set....I didn't have the heart to tell her there was a Target sales tag on the bottom of each of them, lol!  I didn't really care much that they were antique or not, just that they would work.

As soon we got them in the truck, I turned to Kurt and when I went to open my mouth he said, "yes, just paint them or do whatever you are going top do to them."  He KNOWS ME!

I have been inspired by all the natural wood out there lately, like in Restoration Hardware.  It is very unlike me to not paint something, but I'm giving this a shot.  The chairs were painted black with a faux suede seat cover, not awful but could be better.

I sanded off almost all of the paint.  The first chair was actually fun to sand, the second I could have done without the chair back....the third, "why the hell did I decide to do this!!!", the fourth, thanks Kurty for helping me :)  

Once they were all sanded and the wood was just raw, I really liked them. I'm not going to put any finish on them at all.

 Now the cushions needed some work.  I love all the flour sack covered furniture, so I did my own spin on it.  Since there were no flour sacks immediatly available, and I wanted to finish this project in a weekend, I made due with what I could find.
A canvas drop cloth from the hardware store.  Its very durable and very affordable material...$9.00, plus plenty of extra material.

I decided to be extra clever and print Kurt, Kayla and my birthdays on each of the cushions and then the extra one has our wedding day.  I know, corny, but hey it works!

I'm in love with how they turned out!  In fact, I may have to go online and order a couple more "antique" stools from Target so that I can have a couple more in the kitchen.

Happy Monday!
Jillian

I got a little busy!

Oh, I had every intention of being such a good blogger!  I was going to write wonderful ideas and show you all the things I was up to on a regular basis....and then life happened!  Kurt and I have decided to put our house up for sale, so we have been busy painting, scrubbing, drywalling the basement, adding another bathroom and did I mention painting?!!  

I am EXHAUSTED!!  But it's all ready for showings and we can't wait to get the ball rolling! Here are just a few shots of the house, enjoy!!

The house was built in 1910 by I.N.R. Beatty.  He owned the first lumber store here in town and this was his starter home.  

The railings, trims, stained glass windows, front door and wood floors are all original to the house.  We had the floors restored about 5 years ago and didn't realize until they were refinished, how amazing the borders were.

Frames collected from Kane County Flea Market,  Light fixtures re-wired for plug in use, repainted and added gathered fabric to cover cord -  from Re-store/Habitat for humanity

I found the medallion on the ceiling at a garage sale.  It was originally white and it's made out of foam.  I painted it to match the finish on the original chandellier.  Most people assume it's quite heavy and made of tin.

The kitchen was remodeled in 2006 and Kurt built all the cabinets custom to the room.  I always wanted a small island, but never found anything that I liked.

 This was the original back staircase to the house.  When we moved in, it had been converted into a bathroom...well, I hesitate to say "bathroom", it was just a toilet in the closet...so weird!!!
We were going to turn it back into the staircase, but then decided we needed more storage for the kitchen, and created a pantry.

A picture of the mural I painted above the stove.

A lot of love and work went into this kitchen.  Kurt made the cabinets and I painted the finish, as well as adding the marble backsplash and painting the faux finish around the stove area.  The light fixture was another garage sale find and only cost me $5.00!!
Drawer pulls were found at Kane County Flea Market

This is the room off of the kitchen that has served as my studio for the past 11 years.  It has great lighting and wonderful views.  Plus, Kurt made me all these great built ins that are staying with the house.  I painted them with a crackle finish and sanded the edges a bit.  

The downstairs now has a real bathroom on the main floor, along with a sink!

Old lightfixture found at "Under His Wings" for $5.00 in Morris, IL.  It was originally gold and I painted it a soft white.

The vanity was originally a shiny gold paint and purchased at "HOBO" in Joliet, IL.  Just a little cream and white paint and it has a fresh new look!

The master bedroom with tons of storage!  We re-cut all the door and drawer fronts and put wavy glass in them. We completely gutted this room and started over, so yes, the trim moldings and crown are all new.

 The attic.  For years it was the play room, filled with American Girl dolls and Barbies.  Then it was converted to a teen hang out

 A spare bedroom that I covered in old book pages of poems.  It's really a fun process and doesn't take that long.  It's great for covering beat up walls!!

 Kayla's room.  It's sooooo much fun to wallpaper a ceiling!!! (sarcasm)

 The bathroom does have a shower and a tub, I just failed to get that in the shot!!

 The master bedroom again with a shot of the mural that I painted on the ceiling

It was a great house to raise a kid in, have Christmas parties, hang on the porch during parades and festivals, walk into town for a bite to eat, visit with neighbors....but it's time now for a new adventure, so if you are looking for a house in Morris, IL, come check ours out!!