Blog Design by House09 {and a paint winner!}

Thanks so much for all your kind comments about my Advent Calendar Tree! It really was so fun to make, and I was excited to hear some of you plan to make your own. Please send me pics...I'd love to see your version!

Many of you have already noticed (and commented, thank you!) my new blog design. I absolutely LOVE it! I have to thank Cassie at Primitive & Proper for introducing me to Thais at House09. There are many blog designers out there, but Thais runs a full-service design studio specializing in websites, blogs, stationary and logos. She is incredibly talented...and better yet...insanely patient!!! She worked with me until everything was exactly how I wanted it (even when I didn't know what I wanted!), never once losing her cool (she is in Washington, however, so who knows what she was doing every time she received one of my heavily numbered emails!!)

My blog header went from this:

To this:

She designed a cute coordinating button (still not sure what people do with these?!):



And with Megan's insistence, Thais created my profile pic (I'm still a wee-bit uncomfortable about my big ole face staring you down, but I know I love to see the faces of the bloggers I stalk read):

She also gave my blog an overall finesse by designing cleaner headlines, adding dividers, framing photos and designing a cute signature for each of my posts. Of course none of this stuff is necessary, but Hi Sugarplum! has become such a fun part of my life and I'm thrilled that it reflects me more accurately!

I've also linked 'Popular Posts' and 'Project Gallery' to the navigation bar to make finding things a little easier. I'll try to keep them updated with all my random projects and makeovers. And if you've got time to get lost in a rabbit hole of good blogs, check out my Good Reads column on the right. These are my favorite blogs, and I truly read them all!

Here are a few more examples of House09's fabulous work:

And since Thais is not only talented, but cool....House09 is offering you guys a 25% discount on a new Blog Header Design! The offer is good for one week....email her if you're interested thais@house09.com. Thanks again Thais, you rock!

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And switching topics, I totally forgot to announce the winner of my Dutch Boy Paint Giveaway!!!

Congrats Leah! Email me and I'll give you all the scoop on how to get your 4 free gallons of Dutch Boy Paint! Thanks to everyone else who entered...it sounds like there are a lot of fun painting projects in your futures!

Back to more Christmas Crafts tomorrow!