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...

The REST of Winter decor

I have a lot of decor. That's what I love, that's what I do. After writing many posts on winter decor around the house, I have been left with even more lovelies to show you...

 Grab a cup of joe and relax...

Winter Door Decor!

One of my favorite things to do as my decor constantly changes, is to get out some of my decor that just seems to touch my heart.

Easy Monogram Shades

It is always a Great Thrill when I walk into a store and unexpectedly find a clearance sale that is too good to pass up.

As I was shopping Lowe's this past summer, I ran across a clearance table loaded with red and black chandelier shades and several colors of chandelier chain socks.  

Too Many Valances

I remember when I was 8 years old, and the fourth girl that my mom had in four years (that's one girl a year for 4 years straight with three in diapers!), when my mother announced that us girls had to make all our own clothes or go naked! Plus, we didn't wear jeans yet.

She meant it! Back then, we did not buy any of our clothes so going naked would have been our only option.

I didn't think at the time that it was a blessing. However, over the years (47 years that I have been sewing) it has really been a blessing.

Now, I buy all my clothes, alter them and hubby's because we are short, but I make all of my curtains and pillows...even if I don't need anything new. I just like doing it.

That brings us to my point of this post. My new valances.

Be My Valentine Giveaway!

This year, I decided to get out my hand painted jello mold tree that I normally only display during Christmas in my kitchen.




I removed any ornaments that looked Christmasy, then added red glass heart ornaments tied with black and white check ribbon. 




Now it's officially my "Be My Valentine Tree" as part of the limited amount of Valentine decor that I have.

Subway Tiled Back Splash...Finally!

I've been waiting patiently for

 10 1/2 years 

for a REAL back splash! 

Did I tell my hubby this?


Yes!


But then again, he loves our new back splash as much as I do.


And the wait was so worth it!

Dramatic Kitchen Make-over

I am beside myself with excitement to share with you my newly painted kitchen! I think the color change did amazing things to the look and feel if this space. Come on the journey with me.

My New Gray Dining Room

Why do I fall in love so easy? I'm talking about with decorating? Is it my calling? Or is it because it's just plain fun...and I like CHANGE! 

Trumeau Chalkboard ReVamp

The definition of

 a Trumeau Mirror 

tru·meau

[troo-moh; French try-moh] plural tru·meaux [-mohz; French -moh] 

a mirror having a painted or carved panel above or below the glass in the same frame.

 

Foyer Winter Mantel ~ 2013

We have four fireplace mantels in our home. One, (living room) was a wood burning that was converted into gas. One, (basement) is electric and two, (upstairs hall and foyer) are fake! Hubby and I built these last two and I have so much fun decorating them.

Winter Hutch ~ 109

It's back!  This decorated hutch!

Winter Buffet

It all started with this awesome runner! At $14.99 from TJ Maxx, how could I even begin to make this for that kind of inexpensive price? Thanks TJM for offering such fun items.

After putting away all the Christmas decor, I was happy to put together this new vignette on my buffet!

Sports Theme Nursery

I had the privilege of getting to decorate a close friends new baby boy nursery. This is her third child, so the white dresser/changing table, baby bed and glider rocker were already in place.  With tan walls, my only direction was that it needed to be sports theme in the color of red.

Baby It's Cold Outside Mantel ~ 2013

 Baby it's Cold outside! 

The low last night was 4 degrees! Wow, is that ever cold!

I am so NOT a cold weather person!

(Notice my cat in the picture)

However, I do like the change from the greens and reds of Christmas
 to the whites of winter!

Let's Talk Chalk - Beware!

 Let's talk chalk!

2013

The New Year!

A birdie told me to!

On a visit to our local




 Salvation Army store,




a little birdie told me





 to look up...

My "Best Of" 2012

I have selected 10 of my projects that were done in 2012 as my favorites because they are the most  beautiful or beneficial to our home and how we live. In no particular order...
1) New Hobby Garage

This was built by an excellent builder and friend. He put this up in 23 days and it looks like it has always been here connected to our 15 year old house! I use one bay as my space to paint furniture and do projects. Hubby uses his bay for a hobby pick up truck. We even have attic storage so furniture pieces and supplies can be stored out of sight and kept neat. A real dream come true for both of us. You can see more on this project HERE.
2) Mud Room

Snowy Snowball Urn

Yesterday we had our first snowfall of the season, and it put me in the mood for some kind of showy snowy decor.





Like a lot of people I know, my inspiration came from Pinterest! What did we ever do before Pinterest? I know that it certainly wasn't as easy to find inspiration as it is today. 



Anyway, my inspiration came from this...

Enjoy Your Christmas...

Putz House & Tie Skirt

Since all the decorating is done,

 I have been having a bit of fun. 

I have always wanted to make a cute little paper house. In doing research on them, I found out the name of these sweet houses are putz houses.



I googled them and came across a pattern to use. I used this pattern...

Christmas 2012 House Tour

Happy Holidays...please come in...

My 3 Chrismas 2012 Mantels plus 1

 Please enjoy viewing 3 of my Christmas Mantels

  

Plus 1 that I helped a friend decorate...

Hand Painted Christmas

My hand painted Christmas...

Painted red frame

Hand painted pitcher

My Take on A MacKenzie Childs Tree

I am thankful to be blog friends with Patti over at Pandora's Box.

She actually lives close to MacKenzie Childs farm and has even worked in their store this past year! Oh what a dream! Patti shared with me the actual tree that they had decorated in the store last year...

I think it is just 2-die-4 wonderful and whimsical. So this year I thought I would work even harder to replicate it than I did last year. I don't have even one thing that is an actual MC piece but have made plenty replicas of their items.

EAT Tray!

Such a fun piece.

This was an easy transformation. I took an old wooden tray with folding legs, placed vinyl letters on the top, then using Annie Sloan French Linen, just painted the top and sides of the tray.