A Whole Ceiling In the Guest Room, Attic Insulation, and Our Giveaway Winner!

In case you haven't heard...

Back in May, a tornado sent a large chunk of our Oak tree through our roof and into our Guest Room. Not fun...

Last week, I reported that our interior repairs were beginning...

 Well, five months later I am so, so, sooooo happy to finally annouce that we no longer have a hole in our Guest Room!  AT LAST!!!

Even better?  We have insulation put back in our attic too! I was beyond happy to see the guys from St. Croix Insulation again.

The last time we saw them was back in August when they came by to suck out all the old/ damaged insulation.  Once this beautiful Summer like weather departs and the cold comes back to town we can actually turn our heat on without watching it all shoot out the roof.

It feels so good knowing our house is getting closer to 'normal' and I can't wait to have all of the repairs finished up.  We are now waiting on painting for the interior and sanding/ refinishing our floors.  Means I really need to get going on picking my paint colors, eeek!

Now, onto our

 FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

Thank you to everyone that left a comment to enter! It felt a bit scary putting out our first giveaway, but I am happy we got responses!  I will have to do another one soon!

Alright, drumroll..... the Pawmetto Pet Treat winner is...

Carol from The Polka Dot Closet! Shoot me an email with your address and they will get shipped out right away!  I hope Martin and Billie enjoy their fun new treats from Pawmetto!
For those that didn't win, you can get 20% off an order using the code (blogpromo9).

That's a wrap!  Happy Monday everybody!

My Easy Year-Round Update For Summer Pottery Barn Pillow Covers

A couple of weeks ago I was cruising through Pottery Barn and found these lovely pillow covers in their summer clearance section.  They were 100% linen with a faux bamboo ring closure.

 They were regularly priced at $35.99 each and the clearance price was only $13.99!  I loved the material and neutral colorway, but I knew that those bamboo rings made the pillow seem very summer-y.  I thought, hmmm, I could change that pretty easily and I couldn't resist the 60% off deal.

 So, I bought two of the clearance pillows and brought them home to un-summer them.

I grabbed the bolt cutters and cut both of the bamboo rings off.

 They weren't flexible at all, so I had to pull them out carefully to ensure I wasn't snagging the linen fabric loop.

With the bamboo rings removed, the pillow was already looking more 'year-round'.

 I picked up these antique style metal rings at JoAnne's for $1.99 (2 rings in each package).

 Next I clipped these as well with the bolt cutters to open up a small slit in the ring.  Then, I just carefully slid both of the metal rings into the linen fabric loop.

 Easy as pie!

 Here is a finished look!  A LOT less summer-y right?!?!

The neutral style of these pillows will make them perfect for layering on some fall and holiday season decorative pillows.

I am thinking these pillows will eventually go on the radiator bench in our Sunroom (click here for our DIY Steps to Build Your Own Radiator Cover). 

I did have all the burlap pillows I had sewn on the radiator bench, but I've grown a little tired of them and I've been itching to update this little space some more.  So look out!  I anticipate a whole lotta pillow sewing a coming!

See you tomorrow for our Pawmetto Treat giveaway announcement!  If you haven't left a comment you still have through tonight to enter!

Head Over Heels Friday: The 'At Home Date Night'

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm so glad the weekend is here, things have been soooo busy at work and at our house this week (repairs are going well!).  Alex and I are in need of a little break before we he has to finish up our fence install.  I can't think of anything better for this evening than being at home with my hubby! So, I feeling Head Over Heels for the 'at home date night'!  

We consider the 'at home date night' to be an evening at home where we aren't doing anything but cooking....  

 (it fits our DIY style)

...enjoying some wine, laughing...

...listening to music, talking, and just trying to relax.  There are two rules for date night though:

1. No talking about home projects (it is actually a hard rule to follow!).

2. No pajamas, sweatpants, lounge wear, or sloppy clothes allowed (we might be at home, but this is a date! Dress to impress the spouse!)

The fun part always seems to be coming up with the menu...

Tonight, Alex had the brilliant menu idea to recreate our favorite dishes from our recent Europe vacation. This included a tartine made of swiss, ham, tomatoes, topped with goat cheese (then baked) we had at Le Terminus in Paris.  (photo below is before baking)

 (click here to see the post with the Le Terminus version)

As an appetizer, we are making steamed mussels made with olive oil, garlic, and white wine. Just like the mussels we had at Fife in Split. 

 This is our first attempt making mussels at home!  Keep your fingers crossed!

Now, we just need to keep our 'kiddos' Rocco and Sadie distracted from all the cooking!

Older photo, but it always ends up like this, the kitchen gets crowded fast!  But for the most part Rocco and Sadie make our date night a little more entertaining!

Well, I can definitely say I'm enjoying this Head Over Heels Friday!

What about you?  Do you do 'Date Nights' at home too?

Do you have a favorite recipe or theme for a date night at home?

I'd love to hear more ideas!

Alright, time to go, I think this counts as breaking rule #1 for date night sort of :) plus the wine and food is calling me!

Remember to enter Rocco and Sadie's Pawmetto Pet Treat Giveaway!  You have until Sunday!

A Day With Rocco & Sadie, Plus Our (Their) First Giveaway Ever! Pawmetto Treats!

Most of what you hear about in the Hammers and High Heels world are the home renovation and DIY projects that Alex and I work on.  Aside from those projects, our jobs, daily to-do's, and random social events, there's another part of life here that keeps us pretty busy... our pups Rocco and Sadie! They certainly keep things chaotic interesting around here! Even though they are just considered pets, our busy lives and activities (including our home renovation) definitely revolve around them.  So, I thought it would be fun to take a glimpse into....

A Day With Rocco and Sadie
(followed by their GIVEAWAY!)

5:45 AM: Alex's alarm goes off.  Rocco, eager to start his day, hops up and sits right on Alex's chest to assist in waking him up. Sadie, still in a deep sleep, is picked up by Alex (all 65 lbs of her) in order to wake her. Sadie is never eager to start the day :)

6:15 AM: Breakfast! Followed by playtime, then back to sleep... zzzzzzzz.

7:30 AM: Time to go to work!  Yes, Rocco and Sadie sometimes go to work with Alex, as his company allows dogs in their office (awesome right?).  They even get ID badges...

 8:00 AM (ish): Arrival at the office... Rocco and Sadie are GEEKED (even on Mondays, hehe). Once to Alex's cubical, Sadie cozies up on a blanket, and settles in for the daily grind. Rocco on the other hand pouts continuously until he is picked up and set next to Alex's computer monitor. Odd right??? That's our little boy!

10:00 AM: Excitement wears off... zzzzzzz.... for them, sleeping on the job is acceptable, even right on the desk!

(cell phone photos from Alex while at work)

***Rocco and Sadie don't go to Alex's office every day, sometimes they do stay at home. But lucky for them, I have the ability to work from home on occasion, so they get extra time with me too!***

5:15 PM: Time for exercise!  I take Sadie Sadie takes me out for a run (she can run, and run, and run, and FAST). It is quite a workout! Rocco leisurely strolls with Alex, mainly focusing on marking trees.

6:00 PM: Dinner!  Followed by playtime and squirrel watching....

7:00 PM: Winding down, unless we are in the middle of a bigger house project (we try to squeeze in work during this time) Otherwise, we might be watching a TV show, or...

I try to fit in my blog writing, with the help of Sadie...

while Rocco usually sticks with 'Dad' and will help him work on his bikes.

(not an action photo with the bikes, but you get the idea)

~Rocco definitely favors dad while Sadie is more mom's girl if you couldn't tell~

10:00 PM: Bedtime!  Then it all starts over again!

What a day in the life of a dog huh?!? 

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Now, lets get to the GIVEAWAY!!!! Dogs & Cats Included!
Any pet owner can tell you that not every moment is easy, but I do believe that pets can help make your life better and happier.  Their love is unconditional, they are always happy to see you, and they will never argue with you about decorating ideas!

With all the love that our dogs give us, we enjoy giving them the same back in the form of affection and (probably what they like more) treats! We were recently contacted by Pawmetto Treats (perhaps they found a gratuitous Rocco photo?).  Pawmetto loves pets and strives to help them live healthy, happy lives.  They thought Rocco and Sadie would just love their treats so we got some for them to try and well, I think these photo speak for themselves...

Sadie kept snatching the treat bag whenever we would set it down

Ummm, most amazing photo of Rocco ever!!!! He looks like an Ewok or teddy bear right?!? He was working hard for those Pawmetto treats!

They LOVED them and Alex and I felt good knowing they were sourced from 100% all-natural raw USDA inspected meats!  We have found that organic/natural/ raw treats are better for their digestion- something we found out the hard way when Sadie was a puppy (I won't go into more detail).

Want to get your hands on some FREE Pawmetto treats for your DOG or CAT too?!? 
 To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below! That's it! The giveaway will end Sunday, October 9th, and a winner will be randomly selected and announced Monday the 10th!

Remember, this is our first giveaway ever, so I hope you will post a comment to enter!

For more info on Pawmetto, check out their website or Facebook page

Are you curious about Rocco and Sadie's breed?  Rocco is a Shih Tzu (we keep his hair short, also called a 'puppy cut' on Shih Tzu's) and Sadie is a German Shorthaired Pointer.

Interior Repairs Begin!

It's the day I have been eagerly awaiting ever since the exterior hole in the roof got fixed, we are FINALLY getting started on the interior repairs!  Which includes that other hole that ruined our guest room and a WHOLE bunch of other repairs that mainly focus on water damage (all of this stems from the May 22nd tornado). Our guys from Dry Tech came by to prep the house for all the work to begin.

So, now we have the best door decor ever! Our Permit Notice!!!! Weee-hoo!

Don't come a knockin' because our place be rockin' with repair work!

Now, I have mentioned before that the upstairs is a complete mess since we had to shift everything in the Guest Room into other rooms.  Well, most of it landed in our bedroom and the Office, here is what the Office is looking like today...

The construction team only needed to work on the front half of the room doing some sanding and resurfacing on the walls and ceiling where there was water damage.  So they were able to move everything back against the wall, which I found sort of funny, like they played Jenga or Tetris stacking all of our random stuff, ha!  But, once painting begins all of that will need to come back out, yuck!

Just next to the Office is the door to the Guest Room which is looking like this...

Lots of plastic wrap to contain the big ol' mess that is about to happen I assume?

Alex and I were of course curious what was behind all that plastic wrap and tape so we took a peek inside...

They carved out the plaster surrounding the hole and the rest of the room (walls, floors) was covered with protective plastic sheeting.

OH BOY!  I am sooooo looking forward to saying goodbye to tornado hole damage #2 on our house! Stay tuned!

********

Also, remember to stop by tomorrow for our FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY that I mentioned (and gave hints about) yesterday!  Hope to see you then!

We're 'Going Postal' Over Our Fence Progress! Plus, a Giveaway Annoucement!

It was mid September when Alex and I ripped out our ugly (and smushed) chain link fence in order to prep for the installation of our new fancy wood privacy fence.  It took us a little while to finalize our fence style decision and make sure we were following the 'rules' (click here for Fence Requirements in the City of Minneapolis).  Basically, the main rule to follow in Minneapolis is that the fence can't be any taller than 6 feet in a backyard and that your zoning/ site plan is within your property line. Check, and check! (Thankfully, our team from Dry Tech also helped us with these details even though they weren't installing it, bonus!)

After we got the a-okay on our plan it was time to order the supplies.  We decided to go with the basic Treated Pine Dog Ear style fence.  The price was within our budget and honesty (as I said before) we really don't care what it looks like as long as it is a 6' tall wood privacy fence (goodbye alleyway and neighbor's garages!).

We found the best price at Menards, but we usually like to shop at Home Depot (Random Fact: Alex is an extremely loyal HD shopper, he worked at the pro desk there in his teen years) so we asked if they would price match... and they DID!  Yay!  Alex ordered the posts, cement, 8' sections of fence panels, and rocks.  We had everything delivered for only $50 extra, which wasn't bad at all for all the stuff we would have had to haul ourselves. 

Once the supplies were delivered, Alex knew it was time to start digging!
Ready? Here's Alex's 'going postal' fence post installation!

DISCLAIMER: I am covering the steps briefly and I didn't get tons of pictures- I actually didn't have to slave away in the backyard on this part of the project (I admit, I was happy about that!).  This was ALL Alex! So don't sick the fence police on me if I left something out :) Here we go...

 Sadly, the posts we removed from the chain link fence were 10' apart, and we needed our new posts to be 8' apart, so my poory hubby had to dig all new holes.  Sorry for the blurry picture!

PS- we learned that you can rent a post hole digger for around $50-$75 for a day. Alex learned this after digging most of the holes, so he just kept on going but just an FYI for others out there :)

 After all the holes were created, it was time to cement in the posts.

Before any cement could be added, Alex had to level each post.  He cut small planks of wood (measuring 1.5' in length) from scrap then nailed the small planks to the bottom section of each post.  With the small planks attached to the posts (sort of like a bike kick-stand) Alex was then able to use his level and adjust each post to ensure they were upright and level. 

Alex then mixed up the concrete to prep for pouring in the holes.

Next, in the concrete went to set the posts in place!

Now, we just have to wait for the concrete to dry!

We have a busy week ahead of us but the plan is to get the fence panels up this weekend, stay tuned!

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Announcement!!! Thursday we are having OUR FIRST GIVEAWAY...EVER!!!!  Please make sure you stop by to enter!  As a hint, these knuckle-heads might have something to do with it :) 

(Blooper Photo)

I love how Rocco managed to 'photo bomb' Sadie's picture like a darranged teddy bear! Haha!  Make sure you stop by Thursday if you are as crazy about your pups as we are about our little Rocco and Sadie!

Three Simple and Low Cost DIY Decor Projects

Ready for the three super simple DIY decor projects I mentioned in our fall mantel post?  Of course you are!  Now, I realize that these projects aren't rocket science or anything, but I thought they'd be fun to share as we get into more fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Holiday decorating.  Who doesn't need extra ideas during this season?  These projects are so stinkin' easy and you can probably tackle them with items you have laying around at your house.  Let's get to it!

Project #1: Torn stacked books wrapped in twine

This one is something I also saw at Bachman's Fall Idea House!

Grab a stack of old books you no longer use, or get a bunch at Goodwill (I picked up 10 for $1.49).  Then simply tear off the covers, but take it slow and carefully so that the glued side comes off also.  Then stack as many as you want and wrap with twine, or ribbon, or whatever you like!

I added a faux leaf in one of the stacks I had on our mantel, similar to the one from Bachmans.  Super easy right? 

Project #2: "Gather" banner made from old book pages

For this one, grab another book that you don't need and remove enough pages for whatever word you are spelling out. You can also use pages from one of the books you tore the covers off from Project #1 too! Next, you want to cut off the blank top, bottom, and side margins so that your banner has pages filled with text.  I marked this with a pen, then cut off the rest with scissors.  Then I grabbed my stencils and started coloring in the letters with a black marker.

Once you have the letters on the book pages it is time to glue, pin, or clip them onto your twine.  I ended up gluing mine on and tied the banner straight across our mantel.  I found the book pages laid better that way and "Gather" was easier to read.  Love it! Done!

Project #3: Framed faux leaf with burlap or book page backing

Grab an empty frame, some burlap (or a book page), and a faux leaf (or anything you'd like to frame), then cut out a piece of burlap to fit the size of your frame.  Place the leaf/ object in place and then lay it centered in your frame.

Here is the book page version that I did as well.  In the end I used this for the fall mantel, thought it looked better with the 'Gather' banner.

Boom! That's it!

I hope you like one or all of those little projects!  I know my favorite is the torn stacked books.  I had been seeing them everywhere and can't believe I hadn't made any yet!  It was so easy!

Do you have any easy projects that can be done with stuff most folks already have in their home?  I'd love to find more!!!

Linking up as well at the Fall Craft Linky Party over at Centsational Girl!