Are you in a Christmas coma?!

 

The cure for too much holiday celebrating is to

relax and view some Before & After projects.

(Okay, I made that up but it is fun.)

The biggest changes to this adorable Cape Cod

are the paint job and a renovated entrance:

The curb appeal just went off the charts.

Honestly, you would need a microscope to

see the potential in this pitiful little house:

Before

After

Link

This beauty was drowning in shrubs gone wild,
previous inept renovations, and plain neglect:
Before


After

Such a happy home now!



An adobe-style California house was turned
into a contemporary wonder:
Before

After

This house had good 'bones' and tons of potential:
Before

After

A traditional 70's two-story home underwent
a magical transformation:
Before

After

 Source
Enchanting!

This commercial building was successfully
converted into a private home:

Link
The adobe approach to a painfully bland building was sheer genius.



The architectural integrity of this historic home
wasn't compromised during its renovation:

Charming!


This is crazy - the hidden basement was excavated and the original
ground floor became the second floor.  I'm impressed!

Link
Wow.  Simply, wow.

Look how new garage doors changed
these next two houses:

Link

Link


This detached garage looks so different with new bay doors:

Link




A new front door transformed the 'face' of this house:

The next two projects basically involved new
paint treatments and landscaping:

Before


After

Replacing the front porch lattice is a small
improvement but it makes a huge impact.

The owners practically built a new house over the old one.

Adding another story, changing the roof line, and covering

it all with siding makes this house look so different:

Before

After

 Lovely face lift!

The blue paint didn't look quite right:

Before


After

When the front stoop is finished this
little Cape Cod will be precious.


This historic beauty had a Bates Motel look about it:
Before

After

I'm not thrilled by the color choices but
they're definitely an improvement.



What a daunting task this restoration must have been:
Before

After

 I imagine that the first step was tackling the overgrown shrubs.



I think that I featured this shingled Cape Cod
a few years ago but it deserves a re-post:
Before

After

Painting brick is such a big decision but
these homeowners chose well:
Before

After

Imagine the vision it took to accomplish this renovation:
Before

After

The character was restored to this little Craftsman cottage:

 Before

After

 The homeowners bravely removed the front porch
and, boy, did it make a difference:
Before

After

The new front door is spectacular.


This house had so much hidden potential:
Before

After

 An accurate and time-consuming restoration.


I adore this cottage renovation:
Before

After

HGTV
So much of it's charm was stunted by out-of-control shrubs.


They left the crooked tree in the front yard of this renovated home:
Before

After

Utterly beautiful.


When you look at the before and after photos of today's last
project you're going to say, "That's not the same house!"
Before:

After:

Link
I know!  Incredible!
It's hard to top this project so I'll close with -

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.

Do you need fun and easy craft ideas to keep little
hands busy during the holidays?  Got you covered!

Link

 Link
Click here for the easy instructions for
making these precious pinecone babies.

Did you know that you can buy 'professional' pizza
dough at many grocery store deli departments?  Use
red food color for Santa's cap and nose. 

Link
Have the kids fill small sandwich bags with reindeer food
(a.k.a birdseed.)  Set it out with Santa's cookies and milk.

Click here for another reindeer food recipe and a printable label:

Link

Pipe cleaners and clothes pins:

Link
So simple.  So cute.

Instead of glue use icing to adhere marshmallow
snowmen to construction paper.


Children will have a lot of fun making sock snowmen:

Link

How 'bout a thumb print candy cane?

Link


Maybe a foot print Christmas tree or reindeer?

Link
Popsicle sticks and buttons make an adorable snowflake.

Or you can use felt to make popsicle stick snowmen:

Link

Link
Forget the kids - put the adults to work
making these charming pinecone trees!



Remember how much fun pom pom crafts are to make?

Link

Link
A tootsie roll pop is Rudolph's red nose!

Link

Pipe cleaners, small red pom poms, googly eyes and
candy canes are all you need to make these cute reindeer.


An apple and a carrot are the base for
a delicious fruit Christmas tree.

Tonight is the perfect time to leave Santa footprints around the house:

Link
Simply place a shoe or a shoe pattern on the floor and sprinkle
a little flour around it.  This will make such a sweet memory.

Have a special Christmas Eve, friends.