I Got Me a Handy MAN!!

I have to make this post all about my wonderful and handy hubby!! He can do just about anything he sets his mind to. How lucky am I ?? Some days he just amazes me.

He wanted to build our own Mantel cause the old fire place had none....just ALOT of brick. We wanted something not to bold cause it is a BIG fireplace. So we sat down and discussed a few ideas. Well it took him 2 afternoons of work to come up with this....

Nice!! I love it!! Thank you honey! Job well done! Now i have something pretty to look at...well when that cardboard box is gone anyway. (Side note: the fireplace was gutted by the ol'hubby. We wanted a real fireplace not gas. SO this is the look we have till the fire place insert comes in.) We also will be white washing the brick. I will post pics of that when it happens. But for now i just want to say THANK YOU to my hubby for making this for me. :-D

The (not so pretty) painting i have on the mantle is from (you guessed it) a yard sale! I bought it cause of the frame. It was only .50 cents! I'm going to paint over it with my own idea for a picture. And stain the frame darker so that it doesn't blend in with the wall color.

Well as always i'm off to a busy weekend. Lots of projects to finalize. Can't wait to show you what i finished today on Monday.....

Have a great weekend!!

xo

Plant Stand Before and After...

I love to paint. I love to spray paint alot! My problem lately....choosing what color to use! I usually look at something and can imagine EXACTLY what color i will paint it. But there are so many wonderful color choices these days. I have a few projects coming up that i thought i had the color pinned down...but now i'm wishy-washy about it. I know it is paint...it isn't permanent. I can live with it one color for awhile and then redo it BUT have you seen prices on spray paint lately!!!??? RiDONKULOUS!!

So I picked up this lovely plant stand at a yard sale for just a $1.

It is so funny that i found it because right before i left home i was looking around my house making a mental note of things i would love to find for the house. And one of those things was a plant stand to go in front of a window. As soon as i pulled up to this yard sale i saw it....i walked straight up to it and saw that it was only a dollar. Grabbed it up along with a few other things that i just had to have. :) As soon as i got it i just knew i wanted to paint it black. Black is usually my color of choice for accent pieces. Sometimes distressed white. But i think today i want it black. So as soon as i got the babies down for a nap today i grabbed this.....
Rust-oleum Universal spray paint!! In Hammered Black! Gives it alittle texture.

And this is how it turned out. Now i just need a plant to put on it! :P

Oh how i wish you could see the "hammered" look. Love it.... For now anyway...ha! You may see this piece again someday painted white. Can't wait for it to go where i want it AND adorned with a pretty plant. Any suggestions for a easy indoor plant??

Projects....

My project list is like a bazillion miles long....and gets longer everyday. But that's ok! I enjoy projects. My husband on the other hand...is getting pretty tired of endless projects. We have been hard at it this past week trying to get the living room ready to move in. AHHH....a proper living space. Our current living area was crammed in the dining room (future kitchen), more on that later. While NO it is by far not completely finished...it is almost there and we did move in. Feels so good! :D It is still a work in progress so please don't judge. There are 2 sides of our living room. This side is our "reading" area. On the other side of the door there to your left is a book shelf. Hubby hung the Roman Shades just last night. I will be making curtains soon.

This chair is something we picked up this weekend at an Estate sale. The fabric is totally gross but the wood part is beautiful and solid mahogany. Here is a closer pic. I have a sheet over it right now but i took it off for the picture. I can't stand the thought of my daughter touching it and she keeps wanting to sit in it. Can't blame her ...it is pretty comfy. I will be reupholstering this puppy pretty soon. :)

So here are 2 new projects coming soon. I have an awesome idea for the side table..... can't wait to get going on it...

Yard Sale Friday....

The weather is supposed to get bad tomorrow. Thunderstorms! So i loaded the kidaroos up this morning bright and early to hit a few yard sales. I have done a few posts on yard sales so i won't make you look at another one....unless you actually want to see what i got. I DID GET SOME GOOD DEALS! :) If you want to see leave me a comment.

It is a beautiful friday and i'm going to spend most of it outside with the kids. Tomorrow is a "work" day since it will be raining all day. We plan on actually moving in to our living room. :) I am in decorating mode! What are your plans for the weekend? Work or Play?

xo

Bedding...

Shades of blue, brown and tan. Lots of stripes, polkadots and some toile. Hey...i'm a southern gal! What southern gal doesn't LOVE polkadots and toile? HA! I know what you are thinking...toile...isn't that girly? Well mostly yes, but i didn't use much of it and trust me it is very boy. I have been meaning to post pictures of the bedding i made for him for some time now. But i'm just now getting around to taking pictures. While no it isn't perfect...i'm very proud of it. The hubby was pretty impressed when i finished it all up. He loves the color pallet and how it looks very vintage. Here are the quick pics i took today while trying to keep Big Sister out of it. Please excuse the out of focus and off center pictures! :P

See that pink over to the left...that is about to change. When i can find some time i will be recovering the cushions on the rocking chair.

Polkadots + toile + Stripes = Adorable!!


See little girls hand there...she loves her little bro's bed! Silly Girl!!

Love the Monogram ... :)

See those teeth marks on the bed...big sister did that when this was her bed. I have to fix that.

Well what do you think? ;)

I have a few more things to get done in his room before i reveal it all. Can't wait!!

Burlap Table Runner...

I have been looking for some table runner ideas that i can make for my sofa table and antique buffet. Since these pieces are antique and are not an exact match i wanted something that would "unite" them since they are basically in the same room. I have been seeing alot of burlap lately used for throw pillows that i really like. It is neutral in color and i Love the texture! So i decided to go with burlap. I went to my favorite place HL and found just what i was looking for. AND for material...burlap is CHEAP! I got 2 yards for $5.00. Also found a stamp with an "H" for $4.99. The next part was EASY Peezy. I measured the tables and added length for how much i wanted to hang over. I cut and stamped in my favorite color to decorate with...Black. Burlap doesn't necessarily need to be sewn and i happen to like the edges "raw". And so there you have it. Table runners that are fun, easy and so me!

This one is for my Dinning Room Table....it needed one too!

For you ladies that do not sew...this is for you. :)

I have a GAZzillion things to do today...so i'm off to work. I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday....

Goodwill Hunting...

Wowzza! What a great weekend! I hope you had one too! There is a goodwill trip in this post i promise....i just have so many things to show you. I got up Saturday morning itching to hit up a yard sale or two. The hubby said ok but don't stay gone to long...we have work to do. I headed out and found a small flea market set up. It was 7:00 a.m. so they were just pulling things out of their trucks. I spotted something big and looked to be old. Just out of curiosity i asked how much? The lady looked at me weird and said $5 bucks! I had to buy it! I couldn't believe it. I have seen pieces like this at antique stores go for 100 or waaaay more. I kept looking and found a nice Coffee pot (we needed a new one real bad), an old apothecary jar (i have been wanting some of those), 2 decorative flower pots, 2 decorative pieces that i really don't know what to call (ha), 1 large bucket tin, 1 small bucket tin, wall clock, and a superman basket (a friend of mine is a huge superman fan). I loaded it all up in that huge thing that i bought and asked how much for all of this?? She looked at what i had and said $10.00! WHAT!!! I handed her the money loaded it all up and left with a huge smile on my face!!!! :) I was so excited at the haul i got i went straight home. The hubs said that was fast. I said i know but look what i got AND you are not going to believe how much i spent! He was pretty impressed! Here is a pic. I have several things to show you so some of the pics have a mix of finds from other places.

If you like antiques and old things...you will find this piece to be awesome. If you don't well you might think this is pure JUNK. haha! I happen to LOVE it! I still can't believe i got it for 5 dollars. Right now it is on our front porch. Do you see that coat of pollen on the porch...yuck! Anyway you can see a few of the other things i found in there. Here is a pic of the coffee maker i got.

Ok, now earlier in the week i went to goodwill with a good friend that was down for a visit. I found a few things there for just a few dollars. And later in the week i hit up another thrift store in town that i haven't yet looked in to see what they might have. Here is a picture of everything that i have found in my goodwill/thrift store/yard sale hunts.

2 UGLY pictures in the back ($3..i'm taking the pic out and painting the frames), wall clock, wood lamp, white trashcan, 2 planters, apothecary jar, wooden plack with owl, blue glass vase, antique wooden purse, frame easel, 2 wooden decorative items, 2 bucket tins, white vase, brass toothbrush holder and silver bowl. Grand total for what you see here...$12.



This is so cute...it is going in my little girls room. I just love the vintage scenery.
Ok, i know what some of you may be thinking....why the ugly owl? It is going to be turned into something cute for my little girl.... :) Most of what i got will be transformed into something. Stay tuned to see what.

One more antique find to show you...

I found this on craigslist last week. It is a sofa table. I have always wanted one but never had a place to put one. But now with the remodel and where we placed our sofa....i was in "need" of one. I got this for next to nothing! I love the legs. It is so our style. It is painted black. And i think that i'm going to keep it black. And yes that is a taped up wall there in the background...we painted allllllll weekend long. The living room is ALMOST complete! Oh how i have longed for a "normal" living space for so long. Can't wait to show ya.

Busy Friday...

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! It has been a busy week for me. Lots of projects started...but nothing has been completed. You see i have a nasty little habit of starting something then getting an idea and totally abandoning that project for something new. This blog was supposed to help me with that. HA! So the plan for this weekend is to finish what i have started and to NOT start anything else till i'm done. That may change after today (i have a hobby lobby coupon, therefor i have an excuse to go to hobby lobby)! :) Oh and for those of you who love HL....here is this weeks coupon. I already know just what i'm going to purchase with it!


This coupon gets me into so much trouble!! I really try not to go unless i have one or two of these puppies. My hubby cringes when we drive by...and now my daughter points and says "Hobbly Lobbly"! HA! Sad i know.

Well it is a beautiful day...the warm sunshine is calling me. I'm off to start my weekend. I hope you have a great one.....

xo

Recycled Crayon Tutorial....

Every Parent has these...ya know...broken crayons EVERY where. My little girl will not use a crayon if it is broke. She says it is "hurt". While i think that part is cute...the wasted broken crayons that she refuses to use is not so cute. I hate to throw out anything that is usable so i have been collecting all the broken crayons in a little box for awhile. Then i saw someone selling recycled crayons online somewhere. So i thought i would make my own. Here is how i did it.

I bought pans at Goodwill specifically for this. Break the crayons up smaller and put them in a mold. Don't forget to spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray. If you are using a silicone mold you can just fill your mold with the broken crayons. If you want a multi colored crayon, mix them together.



Set your oven to approx. 325-350F. Silicone molds can go directly in the oven, but because of their flexibility, you probably want to put the mold ON a baking sheet for stability. This is particularly important if you are doing layers.

Melt the crayons in the oven, checking them every 5 minutes or so. You want them melted but not TOO hot. Once you see nearly all the crayons are completely melted, your crayons are done!



Let the crayons cool until completely hard and then, pop them out of the mold!! If you choose to use a metal pan, you would want to spray the pan lightly with cooking spray so the crayons slide out easier. This is one of the reasons I prefer the silicone molds--plus they come in way more fun shapes!!



Viola!!

Easy Chicken Dinner...

I don't know about you but sometimes i get in a rut with what i make for dinner. I think that is why i enjoy eating out so much...it gives me some variety. I enjoy cooking, it is the clean-up i don't look forward to. There are those days that i just don't have the time to cook and need something that is fast, easy AND healthy. Awhile back i was looking threw my pantry trying to find something i could throw together. I had chicken breasts on hand and fresh spinach. I grabbed a few other things out and started putting it together. And this is what i came up with. Sundried tomato Chicken Spinach Bake....HA! That is what i call it anyway....the name basically has all the ingredients. Ladies this dish is simple, easy and for the most part pretty healthy. And pretty yummy i must say. This is one of the hubbies favorite dishes these days. Here is how i make it:

Ingredients:
4 frozen chicken breasts
Bag of fresh spinach
Jar of Sun dried tomato basil pesto (spaghetti isle by the plain basil pesto...usually top shelf in the sauce section)
2 jars of whole mushrooms

First lay the chicken breasts on the bottom of dish. Then the full bag of spinach (put it all on...it wilts down).



On top of that goes the sun dried tomato basil pesto then the mushrooms.




Cover with foil and bake on 400 for about 45 minutes. That is it. Simple! Easy! Yummy! :)



What are some of your favorite EASY meals??

FREE Jewelry....

I had a friend email me about some free jewelry. Free is always good...right? :) So i went to the website here and looked at what they had. They have about 6 things to choose from for a certain amount of time. When that time is up they post a different piece of jewelry. Pretty neat. Just have a look around and see what comes up that strikes your fancy. Now here is the only catch...while the jewelry is free...you still have to pay for shipping. It is around $6. Still not to shabby for JEWELRY! Why are they giving away Jewelry? Here is what they have to say: "This web site is a promotion to introduce the company SilverJewelry.com and gain exposure branding that name." I'm a gonna go and pick something out for myself today. :) My friend said she received her pendant in the mail and it was worth the 6 dollar shipping. A great big thank you to her...and now i'm passing it along to you. If you order something...email me and tell me what ya got! :)

Great Gift for Mothers Day...

Ordering mine today... :)
Thought i would pass this along to all you frugal mothers.

Click Here for Website Photo Mug

Tip: It will let you order 2 different photo mugs. I ordered one with a collage and one with a single photo. Both were just $1.99! :)

Weekend Treasure Hunt.....

What a fabulously fun weekend! Weather was absolutely wonderful. The weekend started out busy...plenty of trim work and crown molding to be touched up, filling in nail wholes is not to much fun. Saturday morning we all got up early to hit up a HUGE community yard sale. I haven't been to a good yard sale in a long...LONG time. I had heard great things about this sale so we decided to go and have a look for ourselves. It started out slow. Nothing but total junk. You would think people living in million dollar houses would put their junk to the curb but they were trying to sell it...and asking crazy prices at that. Just when we thought we would walk back to our car and leave...we hit a few that were better. So we kept walking. That place was huge we definitely got a work out walking and pushing strollers up and down the mountain....that was a plus. The kids were loving it. In the end i got a few things and i was pleased. I wouldn't say i made a hall but still it was fun. Family time, exercise, and some sun on my face. :)
Here is a pic of what i found......

2 white roman shades, Lamp, 2 picture frames, 2 sets of candle holders, and that Blue thing you see(i will be making that into something soon)....i think in it's past life it was a calendar holder. I got it for a dollar. When i picked it up i knew exactly what i was going to do with it. Not pictured is a stainless coffee bean grinder.


Framed mirror and metal planter.

Yes, all i got was decorative items. I didn't even look at the clothes (we have plenty). I had a mental list of things that i would like to find and i actually got a few of those things so for me....it was worth it. I only spent...wait for it.....$25! Not to bad. :)

We left around lunch time to come home. We were expecting the hubbies parents. Once they got here we handed over the kids and the hubs and I had a date night. Sunday i got out and mowed the yard for the first time of the season. I actually love to mow. It is relaxing for me. We have a large back yard...it takes me 2 hours (flying) to get it all done. The last time i mowed i was 37 weeks pregnant. :P

Well the weekend wore me out...so i'm off to have a relaxing day with the kids.

D.I.Y. Bookshelf.....

It has been absolutely gorgeous the past week here in the South!! Lovin' me some Sunny days! Kids are enjoying it too. We have been outside every chance we can get. Therefore... not to much work going on. We have managed to finish putting up the crown molding in the living room though. YIPPEE!! Now it is my job to paint it. That may take a few days.

I did get 2 things done in Baby Boy's room this week. I got some shelves painted and hung. I originally thought i was going to paint them red...but when i got to Lowes...i found this.....

This stuff is awesome! First off it is all-surface paint. I can use it on just about anything. Secondly...the color is just fabulous! Aged copper. It was pricey...$7.00 a can. :O BUT well worth it. And i have a few other projects in mind for it. So i came home and got to work. Here is the before photos of the shelves.




Remember the top shelve in this post? Not very Posh....huh?

The second shelf you see was something my mother gave me. She gave me a set of 3...i'm still trying to figure out where i'm going to put the other 2. Anyway...so i wanted to display some of Little Man's books. Not alot of them...just a few. And when i pulled this puppy out of his closet i got an idea. So i went to the Hubby with this idea. He said "Really" you want me to do what with that. Poor guy....he has a "To-DO" list that is never ending! But he graciously obliged. And this is what he did.....

Nothing fancy...just cut out a few groves so that the books wouldn't slide off. Thanks sweetie!!
I sanded them down and painted away. They turned out great! The "aged copper" gave them a vintage look. :) Ta-Dahhhhhhhh


Perfect place to put some of his books. :)
The pictures don't do them justice...but they look fabulous!

Now on to yet another project i started on this week. Can you guess what it is??? I'm hoping to have this done by Monday...Stay Tuned!!!!

I'm off to go clean the house...the IN-LAWS are a coming! Have a great weekend!

xoxo

Do the Potty Dance...

crown molding & trim & Base Boards ...OH MY!

The remodel is coming along quite well. We have gotten alot done the past couple of days. LOTS of trim work...crown molding and base boards. And with that...we started in on another little (big) project. Keeping that under wraps for awhile. But i have to say...it is lookin' good! Big Props to the Hubby.
The crown molding still isn't finished. We still have to fill in nail holes and paint....BUT it is up. :) And yes that is a refrigerator in the background. HA! I have to say it is pretty interesting living with a fridge in the living room...hahaha! And that is a little sneak peak of our new couch.

On another note. We went antique shopping this past weekend. Found several pieces i would LUV to have. While i didn't bring home one of those items...i did bring home a new painting. It is HUGE! I don't know how old it is but i don't really care. It is Gaw-jus! It is just my style. I love black and white photographs and i love to paint in black and white as well. This oil painting is of an old street in Paris...the Eiffel Tower is in the background. It is all in black and white but the store front windows have light. The picture doesn't do it justice. Right now i have it hung in the Master Bedroom but it is going to be in the Living Room when it is finally finished.

Speaking of antiques...my husband came home last week with a few. I had found a small antique buffet on craigslist that i wanted for my entryway. It was the perfect size and i loved the look. It needs a few repairs but the price was right so he went and got it for me.

He also found a vintage leather sofa that he has been eyeing for some time now. At first i wasn't so sure about the style...it is very "Manly" but now that it is in our house...i LOVE it. It looks very "Pottery Barn". It does show some wear but that makes it look just that much more awesome. AND let me tell you about big and comfy. Well...it's big and it's comfy...HA! :) I'm going to give it a good hand rub with some leather sealer. Leather needs to be loved and taken care of. Most people don't do that. Leather can last forever if you just take care of it.

No, this isn't our couch...but it is just like this one. Ours is buried under tons of stuff right now (our whole living room is crazy right now cause of the remodel) but i will be showing ours off as soon as i uncover it and give it a good cleaning. :) I want to give you an idea of what it looks like though.

Other than that we just enjoyed the wonderful weather the Lord gave us this weekend.

Tea for Two...

Yesterday i mentioned that my little girl wanted a Tea Party. She just loves playing with her Tea Pot and pouring mommy some "Tea". So i told her a couple of days ago when the weather gets warmer we will have a Tea Party outside on the porch so she can sit at the table and chairs like a big girl. She just smiled. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what that meant but the look on her face was priceless. So everyday since she has pointed to the table and said "Tea". Yesterday morning i baked some fresh biscuits and slathered on some strawberry jelly. Then i poured my regular cup of coffee and got her tea set and headed out doors with it. I then went upstairs to get her and dress her for the day. I told her i had a surprise waiting for her downstairs. She said thank you...so sweetly. Then i took her outside and showed her the table with her "Tea Party" all set up. Her little face just lit up and she said "Oh Mommy ...Tea"! Melts a mommy's heart to see that little face so happy for something so simple. I snapped a quick pic before i brought her out....

Nothing fancy really...Just Biscuits and her tea set. But she is just 2 and was very impressed. She lovingly poured me some "tea" and said thank you Mommy! She will probably never remember it but it is ingrained in my heart forever! :)

After she and little brother went down for a nap yesterday i went back outside to my swing and started putting together her Easter Basket. I found most of the goodies at Target in the Dollar Isles. I love those isles. I have a few other things to add this week. I just haven't sat down to make them yet...but i better get to getting them done today. I will post those items some other day. But here is what i have so far...



Coloring Book, stickers, cupcake drawing book, foam hand soap, tutus, ballerina slippers, cookies in tins, foam stickers, some kinda light up thingy. I'm also going to put her "I Spy Bag" in there and "Where the Wild Things Are" dvd. And another little surprise i'm sewing up for her. I'm not big on Easter candy. I don't let her have much candy/sugar anyway so that is why i only put in the cookies. I can't wait to give it to her. :) Still trying to think of what to get little man??? Any ideas for a 7 month old???