Jewelry Stand for Lisa

My daughter Lisa, came back home for a week from Wisconsin, where she is currently living.



Her best friend (since 1st grade) Mandi, got married and Lisa was a bridesmaid.





While Lisa was in town, we did some Mommy/Daughter time and on a shopping trip to a store going out of business, Lisa found this...

Sit A Spell

I love it when a unplanned plan comes together!

 That is the case with these two chairs...


I found them out at a garage sale recently...already with the hard part done...stripped to the bone!

Wicker Drawer Stand

I happened upon a wicker drawer stand that caught my eye at a garage sale.



The price was right



So I bought it



But the piece could use a bit of a design lift.

Electrifying Sconces

It took me a while, but I finally DID IT!

What did I do?

Well, years after making two sconces and using them for wall art, I FINALLY electrified them.



Let's go back to the beginning...

Side Table Renew!

Do you remember this side table with drawer?




No?




Well, let me jog your memory...




Remember this?

Nest Platter

I have had some fun


This summer



With making things



Out of Nests!

New Drapes in the Study!

For me, it feels decadent to have store bought curtains...

A Bread Box and A Table

I will start with the bread box...

 Below is how I purchased it at a garage sale...

Cutest Baby Gift EVER!

I am so pleased with the outcome of this baby gift and think it's the


 CUTEST 


BABY 


GIFT 


EVER!

Back Yard Gardens 2013!

I thought you might like to take a stroll through my yard with me. This has been a good weather year for plants and mine are flourishing.You will understand why we love being at home, puttering in the gardens and happy as can be!

All area beds and burms are lined with stone. I just spray round up once a year in Spring in front of the stones to keep the grass at bay and there is little weedeating needed.

Front Yard Gardens 2013!

I thought you might like to take a stroll through my yard with me. This has been a good weather year for plants and mine are flourishing.You will understand why we love being at home, puttering in the gardens and happy as can be!

What Is It?

At first glance I thought this was a vintage bird cage stand.

Wood Lamp

Humor me here...


I love making lamps...


I love making chandeliers...


Any kind of lighting that's creative...


Maybe I've missed a calling!

Lavender Harvest

If you are like me, you love the smell of Lavender! I have one plant that has grown very large next to my driveway...

I cut it back and get loads of this...

Garden Whimsy & Fairy Garden

Sit back and enjoy a bit of my 2013 garden whimsy!

Hen in the work boots is about to bloom!

Mud Room Update

Do you remember this?

 After building the new Hobby Garage, we were able to free up the old tool room and convert it to our new mud room.

Duncan Phyfe Coffee Table

What an interesting antique table I found! I believe it is walnut and it's unique with the framed glass removable top! Here is the before...

Summer Banner

Welcome to Summer!


My Favorite Season

To Celebrate it,




I made a

Summer Banner!

Tables, Tables, Tables

Here are a few tables that  I recently transformed.

1. Wicker Tray Table

How to Easily Fix a Broken Furniture Leg

I come across furniture pieces once in a while, that have a broken leg and can easily be repaired.

This tutorial that I will show you is only for breaks like this...

First Thing I Purchased on Joss and Main!

I found a shabby bookcase while looking at the Joss and Main website.

At first I didn't purchase it because I had never purchased anything on this site and whatever is purchased is non-returnable.

I had to put some thought in it and these offers don't last long.

I missed out on this the first time around.

I couldn't get it out of my head and I couldn't find anything else that I liked as well so I just waited for it to show up again.

Tea Time

Lately I have been in a lamp making mode. 

Here is another (if you are not to tired of lighting). 

I got this cute little silver teapot at a garage sale for only 25¢! I drilled a hole in the top of the lid after taking off the round wood knob. I then drilled a hole in the back side for the wiring to come out. I used one like this...

Charming One-of-a-Kind Teapot Floor Lamp!

This is one of those transformations that turns out so fantastic, that it pains me to sell the piece!









Are you curious to find out what you are looking at?










Well, let's take a look...starting with the before!

How to Easily Clean a Granite Sink

Have you ever wondered how to keep your granite sink looking new? I can show you how to easily accomplish this, but let's start with the ugly...

Cute Owl & Pigs!

 


Just a quick baby gift...




Inspiration was the cute owl bedding chosen by the mommy from Baby's r us.

Cute Teacup Light

 

Let's make this cute

Teacup Light!


It is easy to do once you have mastered drilling china with a diamond ceramic drill bit.


You can find tutorials on the web for that.

Next...

Hanging Map Light!

What a cool and fun project this was...



And so easy to do!



Here's how I did it...

My Master BathRoom Update!

Some of my reader's may remember my long ago post on my master bathroom.


About six years ago, when I first met my Young-and-Cute, Handy-Dandy-Handyman Trent, together we gutted my carpeted, huge garden tub and single sink master bathroom for a more functional and timeless style that it is today.


However, we didn't do one thing...


Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

CopyCat Art

I can not take credit for this design. Credit goes to Doreen's blog of Hymns and Verses! When I first saw her tutorial on a Valentine's canvas HERE, where she actually gives the templates to use, I knew that this would be the perfect wedding gift to my daughter's dear friend. This is the one that Doreen made and shared...

Our Rental House Tour

We purchased this cute little shotgun house about 8 months ago from a builder friend that had it as a rental for 9 years.

Initially, we purchased it for our 22 year old daughter to live in and we put about another $10,000 in it.

She lived here for 7 months until a job took her out of state.

So now what do we do?

We took to opportunity to fix it up even more though it had been gutted and redone 4 years prior. This is what I have been doing for the past three weeks!

Art from Sharpie Pens!

If you are like me, you learn so much on what others share via blogs and Pinterest that there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to study it all or even begin to make it.






I do find however, that there are some things that peak my interest so much, especially when it is this simple and fun.





See, the plate? A really simple and fun project that even the kids can get in on...Here's how,

Then & Now Part II

Are you ready for Part II of Then and Now?

In this post we will tour the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms of my home, as well as the man cave and sewing room in the basement!

When you reach the top of the stairs this is the first thing you will see in the hall. The wall now has color. In fact the whole upstairs is what I called builder's white when we moved in. I changed all that...several times over these past 10 years.

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!