Birdcage Table

Do you ever run across something

  

That just

  

Steals your 

 

 

Heart?

Then & Now Part I

Talk about change! The pictures that I am about to share with you show what the changes in the past 10 years have been, from what it looked like right after we moved in,
to what it looks like now.

However, it also shows...

...It shows just how much my decorating style has evolved
...It shows my maturity in taste as I am aging
...It shows how cameras have improved
...It shows how DIY and garage sales CAN improve lifestyle
...And so much more!

Let's take a look at the outside of the house and the main floor in Part 1 of Then & Now shall we!
(Warning...20+ pictures long, but well worth the fun)

Feed Sack Chair

Through this past year, I have collected several old feed sacks. I have made pillows with some of them...

Creative NEST Picture

In the winter, Hubby and I get a bit of cabin fever and we go antiquing and junkin'.

We can usually just do a day trip and hit places that are not in our town that we don't visit all that often.





As luck would have it, and on the very first stop, we got most of our purchases.

Hubby found an aluminum ladle and I knew I could do something fun with it.

Online Magazine Feature

It's a pleasure when I am asked to be featured!

 Not me really, but the CUPOLA that I have in my yard made from old windows. How about you go and see where I am! Just click on the picture!

MacKenzie Childs Style Painted Pieces!

It's a known fact that I adore MacKenzie-Childs style, and Courtly Check is my favorite. Here I go again, painting some aluminum garage sale pieces inspired by M-C.

 A cake carrier...

Longitude Pillow

I have been wanting to make a Longitude/Latitude Pillow for a long time.




I first saw one in the AWE (At West End) catalog that looked like this...

A Marriage!

Hubby and I went to a fabulous flea market about three hours from our home. It is in Bloomington, IL and it called, Third Sunday Market!

We have been before and I even did a post on it the first time we went. You can see that HERE.

This time, as our house fills up, and we don't want to be called the H word...Hoarder's. We kept our purchases to a minimum. I know it doesn't sound like fun, but it is fun to see all the 'stuff' and be very selective on what we bought.



Case in point... 

Burlap Roses

Just a quick little diversion from a harder project that I was working on! 

Easter Decor 2013

 It's almost Easter...

I Won a Silhouette!

This SPRING banner is the FIRST completed project with my new Silhouette Portrait cutting machine.

Ball & Claw

Lately I have been infatuated with
 Annie Sloan's Old White and French Linen Chalk Paint.





I adore the combination of these two colors...





So old world, so classic, so today!

Clover Luck

I purchased these precious German Bibles at a local thrift store.


What struck me about them was not that I too have a German heritage, but they matched, however the smaller (female) version was inscribed with the name,

Frieda U. Siemers, 1906

Roses are magnetic!

I adore the look of silver and have made many displays using my collection of silver pieces.




This is surely not a new idea, but I wanted something to put in my booth for sale that was fun and functional.





I already had some silver trays but needed to come up with some kind of magnets that were...pretty!

Tin Ceiling Shelf

 If you have a good memory and have been following me for a while, you might remember when we returned from a Kansas visit. (My son lives in Kansas)




We always go antiquing along the way and picked a whole SUV load of goodies that we brought back.





Can you spy what is on top of the pile? Above all the cool pillar parts that is.

Shabby is Better!

I am overjoyed




with the outcome





 
of this chair and slipcover!


Wait till you see it!

Make it Useful!

It's sad when you're unwanted!


To be tossed in the trash like your nothing.



Of no use.





To no one!

Extending the Fireplace!

I wanted to figure out a cheap way to extend my fireplace...



To make it look like it extends all the way from the ceiling to the floor.



To do this was easy...



Even though I had to correct a mistake that I made!

A Tufted Beauty!

Meet the new stool in my life!

This one is full of charm, like most of them are, however, this one is tufted and oh so soft.

I first met this gal at a summer garage sale. She spoke to me when I passed her, but I paid little attention. I was on the hunt for something else.

Then, I looked down and saw her...

Chandelier Love

Do you have endless love for chandelier's that I have?





I adore so many different styles of chandy's that I just had to make a change!


The first vintage chandelier that I ever purchased was from ebay. I eventually talked my hubby into letting me take down the ceiling fan in the living room and replace it with this lovely old piece...