THE CRAFT BARN

You Ain't Nothin But a Hound Dog

2010-07-22T06:30:00.001-04:00

Hey all!

Remember I mentioned the great Etsy Team I've become a part of ~~a few minutes ago~~ in a recent post ?

Their first challenge that I've been able to be a part of had to do with Musical Interpretation. Fun, no? In other words, express somehow in crochet your favorite song, musician, band, etc...

Click here for my entry.

An adorable baby or toddler hat, crocheted to look like a cute dog! This is a custom made to order item. Can be done in just about any age group, from Newborns on up! I think this would just look ADORABLE on a little one! Here's another couple of photos. ....

He just looks guilty LOL!

Edited to add to a FANTASTIC Linky Party hosted by Creations by Kara - Be sure to visit it

here

Do it! Now! You won't be sorry LOL~

I'm linking this post up to a great little Blog Party..

on Everything Etsy.... I Made It Thursday!

Stop by yourself and check out all the talented peeps!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share!

Smiles and Hugs, Joyce

Hooray for TEAMWORK

2010-07-22T06:09:00.000-04:00

So a quick post here to update:   As I mentioned previously, I decided to open an etsy store. Shameless plug to follow  right about HERE - Click Me!! Click Me!!    I'll be doing a little post in the near future to explain how it all came about, but something else I've been super excited about is the fact that I've also been asked to join an Etsy Team of fellow ~~hookers~~, umm... crocheters!    CreateCrochet Team to be exact.

We've got a blog http://createcrochet.blogspot.com/
and a Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/#!/CreateCrochetEtsyTeam?ref=ts
and so far there's been lots of fun stuff going on, such as weekly Chats and Team Challenges.   More to come about those as well.

It's been a geat opportunity to meet a bunch of new faces and interact with others who truly understand my passion for crocheting!   The talent on this team absolutely blows the mind!

I wanted to share these links so you can feel free to please check out the blog or fan page on Facebook and show all these folks some LOVE..........

While you are there, be sure to become a fan of my page on Facebook as well!   I'll be offering all kinds of discounts, free shipping, tips, toutorials, patterns, giveaways, yada yada yada - exclusively for Facebook fans. I also have started a Discussions tab where I invite All Crafters to leave a link and a little description of their own store!   A little Linky Love is a good thing.

Ciao for now!

Smiles and Hugs, Joyce
The Crochet Barn on Facebook
TheCrochetBarn on Etsy

New to Etsy!

2010-07-21T13:18:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday to you all!

I've been so far behind in updating my blog, that what I SHOULD do is just pretend like the whole thing never happened and hide my face in shame somewhere.

But I have been quite ~~manic~~ busy lately - oh yes I have. I will be showing you guys bits and pieces over the next fews days (okay, who are we kidding?? Probably WEEKS) of what I've been up to!

I do want to take this time to introduce you to my new etsy store!

The Crochet Barn - etsy

Please feel free to come by and visit! I have ALOT more work to do getting her all stocked up, but plan to have items for Babies, Kids, Adults. Possibly dogs....   But, we'll come back to that.

Also, please visit me here on facebook!    Become a fan and you'll be notified of different sales and special discounts!   Won't that come handy when it's time for Back to School or even holiday shopping ;) ??!

I've changed the name of this blog to The Craft Barn.   I'm hoping this name kind of encompasses everything a bit better! I'm still going to prattle on and on and on about my other home decorating endeavors and have crafty toutorials for you all.   I will just also prattle on and on and on about my crochet items from time to time as well.   I've gotta figure out how to change that little banner up there, but that's another chore for another day I suppose.

Remember this post??   I finally have some resolution and will have the pics to prove it!

My little one is off to first grade in the fall, and this will be the first time she's gone ALL day EVERY day. I'm hoping that you'll be hearing from me alot more often again! I've kind of missed everything in Blog World, and I'm certainly going to need to keep busy while she's gone SNIFF!

Smiles and Hugs, Joyce

Yoo Hoo - Remember Me?

2010-06-26T06:58:00.000-04:00

Hi - Remember me?

So apparently my last post was 8 MONTHS AGO. I guess life does get in the way sometimes, yes?   I hope you all have been well, and I do plan to pick up right where I left off.   Boy, I thought life was busy with a toddler, I never realized it would get more so with a school age child :)

My daughter completed her first year of Kindergarten, which turned out to be a wonderful experience for all of us. She did great, made alot of new friends, kept me running around with all her activities, and basically had a WONDERFUL time.

I did find time to finish up a few projects. Mainly the hutch in my dining room that I went on and on (and on) about in this post.   I'll be putting up some photos soon, and I'm happy to say that I LOVE how it turned out!

I have also been crocheting up a storm lately. It started when I made a cute sweater, blanket and hat for a new arrival in our family (my cousin's baby, not my own!) My aunts suggested that I make a few additional items to put into their craft store, and it just went from there!   Now I am proud and excited (and a little nervous) to open my new etsy shop!    I want to "spruce" things up a bit first, but another post will soon follow with the link.   I hope you can all stop by and take a look around!   Here's a sneak preview of a few items......

A Strawberry Hat......

A Flower Cap....

An Apple Cap.....

Juicy Watermelon anyone?

A couple more that will be available for fall are a Pumpkin cap and an Acorn!

I'll eventually be offering patterns to these cuties as well.

So that's all for now - I'll be posting a link to my new store with some special introductory prices, along with some photos of recent project around the house!

Have a great day, and hopefully it will not be ANOTHER 8 months until you hear from me again!

Smiles and Hugs, Joyce

Operation Closet Cleanout - Part I

2009-11-12T06:40:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

I am calling this Part 1. I am hoping that the most there will be is a Part 2, and the whole thing can just end there. It is really ALOT of hard work cleaning out a closet! Especially if you are like me and save things like cards from your own 7th birthday, or maybe a few pairs of jeans from pre-child days when you were a size 2. I hereby declare that I never will be a Size 2 again (and probably don't WANT to be) so Out.The.Door.They.Go.

I'm basically trying to take this....

I know, it's hard to even locate the closet DOOR among all the stuff everywhere. I'm only going to open it a little for you to peek inside...

Enough said....

So that is another project that I've been working on. My clothing is hanging at this time in a closet that is in my daughter's playroom. I was in her playroom the other day, thinking "I HAVE to find a way to organize and control all these toys from taking over". Then all of a sudden I had a "DUH" moment (as I've heard it called!) Why don't I move my clothes OUT of the playroom and we can use THAT closet for toys?!? I know - DUH. Told ya.

This is basically where I stood on the project yesterday...

About 9 trashbags full of clothing to be donated to GoodWill. I probably should have figured out something more environmentally friendly then all these plastic bags, but I've got enough to worry about for the time being.

Hoping to finish this little endeavor up ~~today~~ by the end of the weekend, so I can get a bit more organized and start working on some fun stuff again!

So, wish me luck, okay? I need it.

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Why I've Been Missing...

2009-11-12T06:18:00.000-05:00

Good morning to you all!

I've been a bit MIA in the blogging world recently and I just wanted to drop in quickly and share a bit of what I've been up to.   Boy it is HARD to come up with time and ideas for everyday posts - I have a TON of respect and admiration for you ladies that do!

We've had alot going on here as usual. Has not left me with any time to be creative or crafty or decorative or really in any way interesting! But it's been fun.   Halloween, Birthday Parties and Operation Closet Cleanout.

Halloween day started with a little pumkin carving..... With a semi-tutorial.

First, survey your pumpkin carefully....

Not sure what these two were waiting for the pumpkin to DO, but they did spend quite a few minutes simply staring at it.

Next, have the resident Artiste work on building a template for cutting....

Not bad!

Now, hand the carving knife to somebody above the age of 6. Hubby will have to do..

This part always gets a big "EEEWWWW...

Almost done!

They look pretty proud of themselves, no? It was a fun way to spend Halloween afternoon. And yes, that is still the same cabinet that I blogged about HERE. Still outside on Halloween, waiting patiently for her turn.

Then all the prep work it takes to turn an adorable six year old into....

Ummm, a child bride?!

It was a tiny bit creepy somehow seeing my daughter as a bride, but she LOVED this custome and looked beautiful!

We all had a really fun night Trick or Treating. The dog stayed home this year and the weather could not have been more beautiful! We even had a big old creepy moon.

Next came a family birthday party and another kids birthday party the following day. If anybody is looking for a ~~quiet, relaxing~~ loud, obnoxious and smoky start to their Sunday morning, why don't you try taking 15 kids out for Cosmic Bowling at 10 AM??

They did have a really good time and the party went well. I couldn't get many good pics due to the darkness, strobe lights and fog, but who doesn't like a little darkness, strobe lights and fog to really get their morning going? ;)

Here is the cake that Miss Princess Six Year Old Child Bride chose..

I cannot even blame the color on bad lighting. It really was this green.

I did work on a couple of projects, nothing just seems to be quite finished yet!

I'll have a post up soon about the little side table I refinished and as soon as Operation Closet Cleanout is underway, I've got some BIG plans for our dining room!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Big ol' Surprise (for lil' ol' Me)

2009-10-31T06:55:00.000-04:00

Well, guess what?

I mentioned in my last post that I had a very nice surprise to share with you today: No, I am not pregnant. Me, and my brand new bouncing baby blog, have received our Very First Award. May I introduce you to:

The Kreativ Blogger Award.

Not quite as suprising as being pregnant would have been, but much less expensive and far more manageable.

My heartfelt and sincere thanks (and Happy Birthday!) go to Kathy from Creative Home Expressions.

It's been a pleasure getting to know her and so many other great gals through their blogs!

Here are the rules as I understand them:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each.

So here we go.

"7 Things You Never Knew and Probably Never Even Considered Wanting To Know" about me.

1. My name is Joyce and I always hated it growing up. I only wanted to be called (and for a while only answered to) Julie. Now I like my own name better since it's a name you do not hear all the time. And guess what my MIL's name is? Julie. Figures, huh?

2. My biggest dream growing up was to be a mom and housewife. Um... no seriously. I could not wait to have a home to look after since I was about 7. I am lucky enough to be living out this dream with many thanks to my hardworking and super-supportive hubby.

3. I have been interested in and studied decorating magazines since I was about 10 years old.   There were 3 Christmases in a row that my Santa Lists included new pillows and curtains for my bedroom.

4. I have a completely unjustified Fear of Flying and have to get over it within 3 weeks for our trip to Disney.

5. I think I like Disney more than my 6 year old. You know, after the whole "airplane" part.

6. I am running out of things to say.

7. Discovering this world of blogging has been one of the greatest and most fun joys of this past year! It truly has been a pleasure "meeting" all of you!

Now on to the recipients. (in no particular order)

1. Leigh @ Tales from Bloggeritaville.   A great name, great lady and a great host of Thrifty Thursday parties!

2. Barb @ Treasures from the Heart for sharing so so many unique and heartfelt.. well... Treasures!

3. Jacey @ One Man's Trash is My Treasure for sharing all her creative, unique and fun ideas and projects with so much enthusiasm.

4. Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors for sharing the passion for decorating and being such an inspiration to others - I swear this lady must NEVER sleep LOL!

5. Lilia @ 2 Brown Eyed Beauties for all the excellent DIY decorating tips. One of the first couple of blogs I stumbled upon and was instantly interested. She had me at "Laundry Room".

6. Michelle @ Me and My Scraps for sharing so many wonderful tips and ideas: Scrapping, Cardmaking, Decorating, Baking, etc.. etc.. etc.. She can do it all I think!

7. Nicole @ BugaBoos Creations - another talented *multi* tasker! Tons of projects and repurposing ideas to be found at her blog.

And, now I gotta tell ya: It was so hard stopping at 7!!

I hope you all have a Wonderful, Happy, and Safe Halloween Weekend!~

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Sneak Peek!!! A(nother) Work In Progress..

2009-10-30T09:43:00.002-04:00

Today I am excited about a few things. One I will share with you all shortly. The next is that I am linking up for the Very First Time to Miss Mustard Seed's Blog for her Friday Furniture Party!   Who doesn't love a good piece of furniture???   Or, better yet, a bad piece of furniture turned good???   Be sure to click on the link and head on over to check out all the other goodies!

I am also participating in Frugalicious Friday over at Finding Fabulous.      -Make sure you stop there for a visit as well! Couldn't we all stand to find a little "fabulous"? And, aren't I just the party animal today?!?

Now, I am *repurposing* this same, old, tired post to participate in Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special party. You must go check this out!   Funky Junk Interiors always inspires me to think more *out of the box* and be unique with some furnishings.

This post is a teaser:   Sneak Preview of a few upcoming projects.....

Some ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ months feel like all of my projects are in limbo or almost done or just started. It's been a while since I've said "TaDa! It's finished!" Those days will come around again, I'm sure, but for now I will have to tease you with a few works in progress...

Actually, the below is still "pre" progress. As in: No progress has been made yet, but a plan has been formulated - Oh yes it has!!

This beauty stands on my front porch right now. Notice it's dark hunter green color along with the ceramic, country little knob. I will excuse you for a moment while you vomit. Go ahead, I really won't be offended.

Feel better? Okay then. This is actually almost The Perfect Piece of Furniture for a part of my hallway/kitchen/dining room. It really is! And it's been right under my nose this whole time! All it needs is a

little TLC. A makeover, if you will.

Edited to say: A few gals have mentioned that they like the finish. I have to say that I like the rustic-ness of it, but I am very done with the green (my entire inside of this home was dark hunter green when we purchased it) and I am planning to utilize this in my dining room area and need it to *fit in* a little better.

Umm, and that's it. That's where my story about this piece stops, because I have not actually done anything about it yet.

Moving right along, we have another work in progress. This fine little table was purchased from our local Mill Stores and has been unfinished for 10 years. YES. Ten Years. I have no real excuse for this, but I think it's REALLY about time she sees her day in the sunshine.

I've chosen a pretty off white color called Pop Corn Ball. It's actually the same color as the trim in most of the downstairs in my home, but I really love it. I don't want it to be TOO matchy matchy, so I will be distressing and adding a glaze. I think.

It's in perfect shape and is basically boring and unoffensive, so I think if it has a neutral color, it could literally blend anywhere in the home. Nice because I tend to have multiple personality decorating tendancies, and it will probably move around alot!

It does have one problem....

But I think a few coats of paint should cure it's ills and we will go from there..

Here she is after two coats.

I did a little light sanding/distressing to get the ball rolling, and right now I am ready to call it a day

Stay tuned for the big reveal!!! Can't promise that it will be "any day now" but how about we shoot for "any week now" instead?

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Sneak Peak... My Little Girls Room

2009-10-29T06:09:00.001-04:00

Hello!

Well, I've been MIA for a while, but I do have a good excuse. I've been promising my little one a bedroom makeover and the time for "waiting for some free time" had come to an end. Even a five year old can tell when you're procrastinating apparently!!

Anyways, it is not finished completely, but the painting is done (thank goodness). Dont' let anybody fool you into thinking you can paint a little kid's room in a weekend. Well, maybe you can. I couldn't. Especially if said little kid is under foot most of the time.

Anyways, we started by picking out some colors. Prior to this, her room looked like this...

Terrible picture, I know, but this poor kids room is TINY. I think it is literally about 10 x 12. And, there are no closets. Anyways, it was really pretty with a lavender colored walls and lots of purple and pink. But it has been this way since she was a baby and it was time for a change.

We had the "multiple personality" look going on with the curtians too.

Her color choices for our makeover?? Yellow, Green, Red, and Pink. Now, tell me: How does one incorporate Yellow, Green, Red and Pink together and make it NOT look like a clown threw up?

Well there might be a way.

Step 1. I taped off all of the edging

This was probably wasted time now that I think about it. When I moved to the other side of the room, I did not bother taping and just used a nice angled edging brush and it all went fine. If you are careful and slow, you can probably edge out the room just fine without the help of tape. Live and learn I guess.

Most of the furniture and accessories junk got moved out of the room and into my dining room for the duration, but we did leave a few big pieces in the room and I worked around them.

Here are the two main colors that we chose

A Laura Ashley Home paint in yellow called Tulip and green accent called Gentle Landscape. I was smarter on the accent color and tried out a couple of different samples first. Home Depot carries Glidden paint and they have The.Coolest.Thing.Ever.

A tiny bottle of the color of your choice with a built in brush under the cap. Makes it SO easy. Unfortunately this first green was a bit TOO green and we went with something else.

The yellow looked like a very soft and almost buttery yellow on the chip sample and in the can.

We went with a NO VOC paint and it cost about 2X as much. It supposedly does not release all kind of nasty "paint smell" vapors and whatnot into the environment, but I have to say I definitely did still detect a painty odor and it took almost 3 coats to cover. Anyways..

This was after 1 coat. Not so nice. I was starting to get a bit nervous at this point.

Two coats later and it was a Bright SPONGE BOB Yellow. She loved it, but it was not exactly the "soft and soothing" I was looking for. But, I will say that after it truly dried and kind of settled into the room, it did seem to mellow out a bit and I was pretty happy with it.

Here's a shot of our first attempt at a matching green...

There is really only a very subtle difference between this and the one I finally went with. The colors are difficult to show in these photos. But the little tester bottles make it so easy to paint a larger area and are only about $2 bucks a bottle. Well worth the invenstment!

I didn't mind the first green along the window trim, but I also had these to work with....

Along one wall of the room there are built in bookshelves. We had initially thought about removing them entirely, but with such a small room, they become a HUGE asset for storing things. I just did not want THIS much area to be a bright "Hello There I Am Green" Green. So our search for the perfect accent color continued and we settled finally on a color called Gentle Landscape. Very very happy with it.

I was only covering an off white color with the green and so only needed two coats. I am SO HAPPY to be done with painting this room. My hair has had green and yellow "highlights" for days and if I never see yellow paint again I will be happy. Well worth the effort though.

Like I said, it is nowhere near done - I've got a few ideas in mind to put cute knobs on her dresser, some pretty artwork, and maybe a new rug or bedspread. But this is how it stands right now...

The yellow looks a tid too bright in this photo - I've been trying to take pictures at different times of the day, but never seem to catch the lighting right!

The curtains are a simple almost sheer panel with some pretty tie backs attached. You can read about the tie backs in this post.

I was very happy to find a way to get some cute accented tie backs that we both liked, without buying them at the store and that she could help put together! So easy peasy lemon squeezy and defninitely inexpensive!!

And don't think I forgot about the red she wanted! We've got a few ideas of how to incorporate that into this room as well. Also on my to do list for this room is somehow making the outdated ceiling fan/light fixture resemble a sunshine.

So please stay tuned as we continue the bedroom makeover - I've got lots more to show you!!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Sunday Dinner...Country Meatloaf... Mmmmm

2009-10-25T08:47:00.000-04:00

Good morning and Sunday blessings to you all!

I want to take a quick moment to thank you again for reading my little blog and welcome to my new followers!

The following is a quick and fun Meatloaf recipe that I found in a cookbook that my daughter's school put together.   A cold weather favorite here at our house - I usually split in half after baking, freeze one half and we can enjoy it later too! Gotta love ANYTHING that saves time in the long run.

Okay, anyways, here we go!   ...

Country Meatloaf

2 lb. lean hamburg                       2 Tbsp crushed garlic
2 eggs                                          1 can Cream of Celery soup
1/2 pkg Lipton Onion Mix            1/2 Cup Water
1 tsp salt                                       1 to 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp mustard
1 tsp pepper

Mix hamburg and eggs together well.   This works really well if you just use your hands. Your hands will now feel gross. Stir in onion soup mix, salt, papper, mustard and garlic. Add celery soup with water. Mix well.   Now your hands will feel REALLY gross.   Stir bread crumbs into mixture well. Place in 9x5 loaf pan. Bake in oven @ 375 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours (I find the longer time works best).

Serve with mashed potatoes, veggies, gravy and biscuits!!!

Have a wonderful Sunday and let me know if you try this recipe out! I'm making it for hubby some night next week.

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

"Coffee" Break's Amost Over!

2009-10-23T11:27:00.000-04:00

Hello and Happy Friday!

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, nor painted myself into a corner! It has simply been exceptionally busy around these parts and will be for the next few days.

But I plan to resume my Blogging Responsibilities next week! I've got most of my daughter's room re-do complete and have pictures. Also a few new projects up my sleeve to get started on!

Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Well, It's Fall, Y'all.... At my home

2009-10-17T10:06:00.001-04:00

Edited to add: I'm "repurposing" this post to link up with Funky Junk Interiors "Saturday Nite Special" party about vignettes!

It's Fall Y'All!

I know, I know... It's BEEN fall for a bit now. My seasonal decorating always seems to be a bit on the schitzophrenic side. Meaning that, I will decorate and REdecorate the same thing probably right up until it's time to put winter stuff up. Does this happen to anybody else??? C'mon.. It can't be JUST me!

Anyways, continuing with my little house tour, I thought I'd throw together a few little *vignette* scenes of fall throughout my home. I'm trying to just show glimpses, so that I don't give away too much! I want to keep going with my redecorating *room by room* and wait to show entire rooms at the big reveal. Sounds more like a Cheap THRILL than a cheap frill, but whatever *wink*

These particular photos were taken just this AM, so I apologize if the lighting isn't the best.

My sorta plain and simple Fall Front Door

Loved these cornstalks...... And I'm also liking the idea of having them on either side of the door to kind of "flank" our front entrace. Flank is a word, yes?

Now, this is certainly not the Front Door Of My Dreams..., but we're taking baby steps here people!

Below is another of my spray painted wicker basket projects.

I truly LOVE me some black with my fall colors! You can read about another cool painted basket project right here. No, really - it's RIGHT HERE! :)

Some fallish arrangements on the outside...

Loved this tiny weird little pumpkin/gourd

Another part of the front garden....

The pumkins have since been rearranged actually. See? It's the Decorating Multiple Personality in me.

The Big Black Pot above is something that probably needs a little makeover, but I kind of like ~~the way the paint is starting to peel off because I didn't bother to prime or seal it~~ the aged and weathered look.

On we go..

The small table below has been moved into my entryway. Her name is Phyllis. I found her at Home Goods for $20! The finish is meant to be distressed, which I love, but there was one little piece of it that you can tell was not INTENTIONALLY distressed, so I was able to talk them into discounting it! Sometimes I hate taking advantage of salespeople, but they really don't mind. It's always worth asking a manager if a discount is available!

Wish I took a closeup of the platter - it reads "Welcome Home - The Good Stuff is in Here". I love having that sentiment greet us at the door!

As a consolation prize for not seeing that closeup.. here is a closeup of the pumpkin pedastal...

It was an old brown thing that I painted. Looks SOOO much better now and the oranges really POP against the creamy white..

Here's a good tip: Use craft ribbon to embellish certain things. If this is even attached with anything, it's a Glue Dot. That way, the ribbon can be changed out with the seasons!

Some fall things on my Hutch That Will Soon Be Painted...

The above tray holds a collection of treasures found by my five year old daughter last week. Leaves, acorns, pinecones.... Great way to keep her busy and involved in the fall decorating!

Even "Martha's plates" along the top got in on the fall action.

I am lucky in that my home has a very open floor plan on the first floor. The entry way is large and opens up directly into the kitchen and also living area.

The photo below is along the top of the kitchen island and it is one of the first places that the eye sees when entering, so I always try to dress it up all special like.

You can see my Big Black Fork in the background! This was one of my first spray paint projects at the end of this past summer and really got the ball rolling, so thrilled I was with the transformation.

Here he is close up.

Again, dressed up a bit with a fall bow that can be changed out for winter!

Below is yet another spray painted basket project with some fall berries..

Windows above my computer area in the kitchen..

I like having not ALOT covering the windows to really let the light in, so it's just a simple white scarf along the top for now, with a fallish garland added.

Below is a little corner right before entering our Family Room.

These are old, big, and wonderful candle holders. That I am actually using as pumpkin holders for the time being, because why not? They look just delicious with a plain white pumpkin and some fall "dressing".

Creepy crawly Spider greets us in the family room.

And a small Halloween display on the sofa table behind our loveseat

My Mantle.

I have to say that it is pretty strange this year that it's not really all decked out for fall. Usually EVERYTHING ends up on top of this great mantle and fireplace. I was in the middle of taking stuff down and putting "stuff" back up and just happened to like this arrangement for some reason. The simplicity of it maybe.

I should put a couple of *something* round after the "B" to spell BOO...

The below photo has absolutely NOTHING to do with fall. I just like it.

Tiny bit of fall swag above a corner cabinet.

I've got this lovely BIG long basket sitting along the top of our TV right now - I've been meaning to give her a Paint Job as well, but have not gotten around to it yet. Right next to it sits another contribution from my daughter.

There is a bit o' fall in the kitchen as well. Again, I'm not showing alot of any of these rooms quite yet.

This cute sign hangs on the door to our basement.

Another letter B. Anyone care to guess what our last name begins with?

Along with a painted candlestick holder adorned with a gorgeous fall tassel, Nester-style.

And a vintage Halloween sign above.

And that's pretty much it for now! I'll probably decorate AGAIN for fall sometime before Thanksgiving, so I may be doing this all over again soon.

I'll leave you with my one last Favorite Photo Even Though It Has Nothing To Do With Fall.

Nope, I don't really know why either...

Do you love decorating differently for the seasons?

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

A Treasure or A Mistake...

2009-10-15T11:09:00.003-04:00

Hello!

I am repurposing this post yet again (in case there are poor souls out there that have not heard enough about my endless "to do" list!) to link up with Miss Mustard Seed's Friday Party - Woo Hoo! I added the "Woo Hoo". You have me to blame for that.    But seriously, do your little old self a big old favor (no I don't think any of you are "old") and head over to check out the rest!

In my case, I may have stumbled on a treasure.   On the other hand, I may have made a large mistake. Not large moneywise ( I spent a total of $6) but large SIZE wise.

Behold my newest....

It's a mirror. Obviously. And - It's. BIG. I was driving past a yard sale last weekend, and it was the first thing I saw and did a quick u-turn to get a closer look. I ended up picking up this and a few other things for $10. I had originally planned on using it on my mantle. Um, no. Turns out that it's both too long and way too tall. By about 2 feet! How I neglected to notice that is beyond me. The guys running the yard sale were nice enough to load my "goodies" into my car for me. So, I also had no idea how HEAVY this beast was. I did manage to drag it inside my house and into the living room.

The glass is very VERY dirty and smeared (with what I do not know) and the wood is pretty scary as well.

Still I have visions of a creamy off white spray paint doing the trick - as it has so many times before! Since I figured that Hubby would have a HUGE problem with this monstrosity (that he now has to figure out how to hang) I propped it up and quickly scurried out of the house before he came home. I did happen to leave him a nice little note though, hoping he could somehow see the humor in the situation...

He did not.

I've been forbidden from buying any more LARGE junk. Well that is just fine. I will stick to smaller junk for the time being and plan to be vindicated once she's all prettied up. I think I do have a great spot for it, now that I realize my original plan is just Not. Gonna. Work.

I have put the wheels in motion to redo some of our dining room. You can read more about that project

right here.

I'm hoping that a newly painted, pretty white mirror can help lighten up and open up this small, darkish little space. Although I'm a bit worried that people are not going to want to stare into a mirror and watch themselves eat. Anybody have any thoughts on that? For real, like I just don't know if my plan for the mirror in the dining room is any better than the original plan. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear any and all opinions! :) Thank you very much.

So that's all I've got for now. Busy days ahead doing the mommy thing and finishing up my daughter's room. That will be my next room in the "Come Inside" series.

Have a great day!
Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Ideabooks and More

2009-10-15T06:36:00.000-04:00

Happy Thursday!
Here's a link to the website I promised the other day - http://www.houzz.com/.   It is Houzz.Com and is LOADED with valuable photos and ideas!

Perfect if you are thinking about remodeling/redesigning and want to get great ideas while also staying organized.   It's got literally THOUSANDS of photos, which you can filter by room and/or style and a feature called "IdeaBook" where you can save any rooms and/or ideas that you like!   This is perfect for me (I can be rather disorganized and jump around from one project to another).    I hope you get a chance to check them out for yourselves!
I've saved a few "ideas" in an ideabook for my dining room redesign.    Here's a few photos to browse...

My favorite feature of these ideabooks is that you have an area that you can write a note along with each photo you save.   This is handy - I just went and browsed through them again, wondering why in the world I liked a certain room, but reading the notes I made was very helpful in reminding me.   In some instances, I have a photo saved just because I liked a centerpiece, or a wall color, etc...

I loved the colors, bench and the centerpiece in this room above.

For this room, I really liked the way the room was separated from the kitchen - Gorgeous built in cabinets with shelving and are those working windows above them?! So charming...

The above photo shows a dining room set that I do NOT like in any way BUT, I really liked the idea of the extra tall wainscoting on the walls.

The above I saved with the caption "NOT!". Not really sure why I bothered, other than at least I know what I DON'T want.

I was excited to find this photo - these I believe are ceiling medallions and would solve my problem with my "boob" lights if need be.

Check out the last photo below. It's a great example of the phrases "To Each His Own" and "There's Something For Everyone".

Hello??

But if you are thinking of redoing any particular room or even corner in your home, Houzz.com just might be worth a look-see!

That's all for now. I will update on the dining room as it moves along. Next we'll move onto my daughter's room and our family room.

Ta for now!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Breadbox Revamp

2009-10-13T06:24:00.006-04:00

Good Morning!

Welcome to my little ol' blog.   I'm so glad that you stopped by! I sincerely hope that you will "follow" me as I continue my "redecorating on a budget" efforts!   I'll be doing lots of Before and Afters, for just about every room in our home. Plus still lots of repurposing *Trash to Treasure* type projects and tutorials.   Hope you will join me!

Edited to add:   I'm also including this post at Decor Mama's Frugalicious Friday linky party! And again, no I am not lazy - I am *repurposing* !   :)

This post is being *repurposed* AGAIN to link up with lovely Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors party.   We all need a party to go to on Saturday nights right??   Click your little butt right on over here to join the fun.

I thought I would show you how a recent project has turned out. I've been spending most of the last week trying to finish up my daughter's bedroom, so many other projects have to be put on hold for the time being!

Here is a breadbox that I've recently remade. Let's have a look at the before.

Wow, huh? I wish I could tell you that I found this at a thrift store, and had SO much vision and forthought that I snapped it up, already knowing what wonderful things could be done with it.

But no, this was something I actually purchased (about 7 years ago) with my hard earned money. It's been sitting in my barn for the last 5 years, feeling shunned from society I'm sure.

Anyways, my first step was to see if the "lovely" object of art on the front (with all the fruit?) would easily be removed.

It was! Popped right off with a ~~fancy screwdriver~~ cheese spreader!

I then got to work with some spray paint...

The off white took probably 3 coats, since I did not bother priming first. I probably could have done that and got by with only 2. I grabbed my new best friend for the middle piece...

I'm probably WAY overdoing the whole chalkboard paint thing now. You can read about a couple of other chalkboard projects right here and right here.

I sprayed the entire outside and then sprayed a quick coat of a protective finish over it.

I had originally thought that I should somehow NOT spray over the knob in the hopes that I could simply unscrew it and replace it.

I forgot and sprayed it anyways. The screw WILL NOT come out. I don't actually think it was the paint, because a couple coats of spray paint should really be no match for me and my sophisticated power tools. But try as I might, this thing just did not budge.

So (at this point I had brought the whole piece inside) I just decided to grab some acrylic craft paint and handle the knob with that.

Here's a cool little tip that I use when painting VERY small items...

I simply put a tiny bit of paint into it's own cap and used that as a dispenser.

I then used Gorilla Glue (use this stuff SPARINGLY - it works really well, but it expands as it dries) to reattach the now pretty decorative patch on the front.

I like it much better at this point. My camera is not quite catching the true color. It's more of an off white than it looks in this photo. Anyways, I thought it could be a tiny bit prettier still.

I have a few of these guys lying around.

That fluer de lis is actually a planter stand of some sort that I found at Walmart for 50 cents!

Painted her to match....

And then added a tiny black and white check ribbon (just glued it right on) along the back..

The finial could have used another coat, but I rather liked the way that it did not cover completely, gives it a more aged look or something.

And, here she is!

I did NOT adhere the top piece in anyway. That way I can either remove it completely if I get sick of that look or use it elsewhere.

A few other recent projects resting upon the top...

Note: I should add that I began painting both the inside and the back, but then either got bored or started something new, so this is how they remain...

Inside

Back.

But, I figure this piece is really only for me and "me" does not care. The only way you can see the inside would be if you actually OPENED the bread box to make a sandwich or something. Do you want to guess if anybody else in my house EVER opens the breadbox to make their own sandwich?

That is correct.

Here she sits on my kitchen counter, looking more at home..

I'll be continuing with my "Come Inside" series this week with maybe a peek into the rest of the kitchen and my daughter's room.

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Come Inside.... My Dining Room

2009-10-11T09:05:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

A little more from my "Come Inside" series.   This time I'm going to focus on my Dining Room.   This, as you will see, are basically "before" photos and then some "Waaayy before photos".

"After" will have to come.... well - AFTER!   After I finish that is. If I could just take my own advice and FORCE myself to concentrate on one thing at a time (even one ROOM at a time would be great) this would probably be accomplished much quicker.   But, here we go anyways....

Here is how it stands right about now. Mess and all.   I do have an excuse this time at least - I am in the middle of redoing my daugher's room (another part in this series - still to come!) and when I painted, I basically took everything that was "loose" OUT of the room.   The large furniture, I just kind of worked around, but with a five year old ALOT of little treasures accumulate.   That's what all the baskets and whatnot around the room are.

This might be a better view.

Maybe not. Anyways, the room does have alot going for it. I love my table - It was custom built for us by a friend and we probably waited for this guy for almost a year. It's got about 4 extra leaves (there are 2 in it now) so we've got alot of seating available. And I really love the hutch. Talk about a cheap thrill - this was a second hand find that cost a whopping $75!! It's in need of another makeover, but it's got a ton of storage and I love the shelving.

One thing the room does NOT have going for it is light. The windows that you see on the left in the photo above are actually looking back out into the entry way....

... which is still half done itself. You can read more about that in a previous post.

But, needless to say, not much daylight enters this room. So the plan is to brighten it up even more with some paint. Again. But, again (you'll get SICK of hearing me say this pretty soon) just looking at some of the "before" photos does show me just how far we've come. The below is this same dining room on the day we moved in....

Holey Moley - you want to talk about dark? This is a good example of some of the custom woodworking that the previous owner did himself. And then proceeded to paint a very very dark green. And added ALOT of paneling to.

Here's a shot of it when we were a bit more settled. We knew at this point the plan to remodel and add on, so I could breathe a sigh of relief at least thinking about happier times ahead....

You can barely tell from the above photo, but can you see a very faint small square on the floor?? It was like a cut out in the hardwood (try as we did, we could not quite salvage it unfortunately). We always called this the trap door. Somebody wiser came along and explained that, given the fact that this part of the house was at least 100 years old, it was probably where some type of stove for heating was.

I really kind of wish now that we I was not quite so impatient, and took the time and effort into painting these nice old floorboards. As it is now, we ended up covering it with a berber carpet. Not the greatest, but not the worst option, and it did end up lightening up the room a bit.

Okay, now see the opening between this room and the one beyond? We walled that room beyond off and it is now our bedroom. There went the last little bit of light available.

Oh, yes! And about halfway through the planning stages of our addition and remodel - I found out I was pregnant! This is the room when we started "furnishing". Country OVERLOAD people! See the little bar table and stool set on the right?? That was our dining room table for about a year and a half.

Makes this photo look a little better once it's put into perspective, huh?

So like I said, another redesign (on a smaller scale) will be happening soon in here. I'm thinking of going much lighter on the furniture - maybe a creamy white finish, similar to the trim.

The trim by the way took about 4 coats to paint over all of the dark green wood! This was my job and I was so entirely sick of painting by the time it was finished.

The windows need to be addressed as well. At THIS exact moment, they are naked. I am quite sick of trying to figure out how to dress them and I'm just going to wait until the painting of the furniture is done to even figure it out.

This is how they looked for the past year though -- I loved (and still do) the lace from the OTHER side of the window being visible and I obviously do not want to cover them up and let LESS light in. Maybe a simple panel on either side eventually?

I was given a beautiful platter from my grandmother recently, which actually originally belonged to HER grandmother. Came straight over from Ireland many many years ago. I did some research on the pattern, for sentimental reasons AND because I really loved it, and found that it is a Johnson & Bros. design called HOP. Like the beer, I guess - leave it to us Irish ! I was then lucky enough to find a woman online who was selling off a bunch of plates and serveware in this very same pattern, so I want to somehow incorporate it into the dining room. It's a very pretty pattern in a soft slate greyish/blue, so it might dictate whether the wall color stays or goes. One thing always leads to another, doesn't it?

At one point, I had all of my Lenox "wedding" china displayed on the hutch, in the hopes that all that white would brighten the room a bit.

I don't love it, as it looks a little too "shiny" or something. Hmmm...

The above shows it with my grandmothers "stuff".

So, for those with a good eye for detail, have you noticed anything strange about my lighting yet?? (besides the LACK of it)

Look again...

Here's a closer view. And, want a hint? There are two of them.

Yes, they resemble breasts. Nipples and everything. I have been very tempted to just tie a tassel on each and call it a day. I very much want different lighting in this room, but I'm afraid that once these "beauties" are removed, the wood behind them will be a completely different color or something. We shall see.

I have another post coming up soon that I am very excited to share with you!! I've been doing some "browsing" online for ideas to incorporate into my dining room project and found The Coolest Website. It's not really called that. Stay tuned!

Smiles and Hugs,

Joyce

How It All Began.........

2009-10-10T10:18:00.000-04:00

Good Morning!

A little more from my "Come Inside" series...

As promised here, , I did some digging through old photos and have successfully figured out how to scan them INTO my computer! Yay me! My "techie" skills are in the dark ages, so this is pretty cool stuff.

Anyways, here is a quickie post with some photos of how our home looked when we first purchased it. I've said it before (and will probably say it again) but looking at these makes me MUCH less impatient for some reason for further redesigning - it helps to look back and see how far we've really come!

Here she is (was)...

I wish I could enlarge the photo a bit, but like I said, these are not originally digital pictures and they were scanned, by ~~an idiot~~ someone less experienced than others. It was basically a very old, very grey, VERY SMALL bungalow. We were sold on it because of (1) the price, (2) it is set back from the road about 400 feet and feels like a getaway in the woods, (3) there is a barn on the property (4) we basically just saw TONS of potential, and finally (5) we did not have children at that point and needed a project!

Here's a closer look at the front door...

The entire inside was redone by the previous owner. It was absolutely lovely in many ways. Tons of charming details, like custom woodwork, trim, cabinets, shelving, etc... It was also absolutely DARK as in Dark Maroon (cranberry probably) and very dark hunter green.

This was our original "entry way" and was actually the lightest room in the house. They had these cool old factory style windows that let TONS of light in. It gets worse from here though. See how on the right side of this photo it looks basically like a black wall? It's not a wall. It's an opening to the rest of the house. It was really that dark. By the way, the viewpoint you are looking FROM in this photo is actually now a part of the kitchen where we have extra storage and a computer station. It's where I'm sitting right now! I can look right over my shoulder and see where that awful front door used to be!

Here's another veiw of the outside (was probably later, because it's apparently after we started some painting on the exterior

Oh and by the way? The yard needed a bunch of work too. :)

Here's a quick drawing that Mr. Hubby came up with during our planning for the addition.

And here's a recent shot of our exterior today....

We did end up working some with an architect, but I'd say hubby was pretty much right on the money as far as how it would turn out! The architect DID give us some awsome ideas of what do to vs. what not to do - mostly on the interior remodeling which saved us a bunch. Always a good thing for a cheap gal like myself. I will point some of those tips out to you as I get further along in this lil' here series.

Some photos of a few things we love about this property...

These guys show up at LEAST once a week (and they always mysteriously disappear as Thanksgiving approaches - they must be smarter than they seem)

These ladies are also frequent visitors....

As I mentioned before, we got a barn along with the deal.

I love how this red color "pops" in the snow...

The yard itself is fairly cleared out of trees, overgrowth, bushes, etc..... but we are also surrounded by woods in at least three directions...

The original part of the house is over 100 years old, and we find all kinds of neat old fashioned things around...

I don't know what it is either, but we've got a barnfull of stuff like this - I'm hoping to find the time to group them all somehow for a display.

There is also some quirky "charm" to be found....

This is in the way back of the house, near a cellar door entrance, so I decided ot just leave it be!

Or, how about this piece of work, courtesy of a neighbor across the "way"...

Yes, it's a shed. Made out of doors. And to be honest with you, if it was ever completed, it would probably be a welcome sight somehow. Kind of the cute and quirky idea that I love. Unfortunately, this particular neighbor has moved and we're left to decide how to deal with this little mess ourselves.

So that's it for now! I am gathering some more old photos of the interior to put together a few more posts for this series. Next should be the dining room and living room...

Have a great weekend - Ta Ta For Now!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Entryways / Mudrooms

2009-10-09T12:51:00.001-04:00

Hello again!

In trying to get myself a bit more inspired about what to do regarding my entryway, I've been browsing online photos of mudrooms. In case you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, check out my previous post.

Now, I do not want to turn this entire room into a mudroom exactly, but perhaps a small aspect of it could be incorporated.

Here - take a look for yourself what some other creative types have done...

~ Photo courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens ~

This photo above shows just a portion of a room being used as a "mudroom" area. This is probably something I could incorporate into the entryway, without overwhelming it with muddiroom-ness.

~ Photo courtesy of BHG ~

The above is a bit overwhelmed by mudroom-ness. And don't get me wrong - I think it's very nice and this is a perfect solution for a big family with lots of busy kids. It would also be perfect near a backdoor. I could not keep an area this open neat enough I don't think. It would just be messy and make me anxious everytime I walked through my door!

~ From Woodworkers.Org ~

The above piece is also a great solution for those short on space. I'd probably like some more baskets above the top shelf as well, but it would be a great place to hang a coat, a couple bags, and the shoes I mentioned in my prior post could hideaway very nicely in the baskets underneath!

The space above (also from BHG) is dressed up a bit by the curved lines above it. A pretty detail such as this would make almost any clutter look prettier!

I just LOVE the colors used in the photo above. A very nice change from the ordinary.

Same for this one. I think it's my favorite. It's small enough to not look entirely out of place in my entry. Love the colors, Love the baskets, Love the bench, Love the decorative fruit and I especially love the little dog! He certainly looks pretty cozy.

Now something like this is an idea I'd be likely to incorporate also. I can see using a hopechest as well. Hmmm.... wonder if hubby would mind if I redid the one he gave me???

And how do you like the above solution!??? Using the space underneath the stairs for some storage!!! I actually like this last option so much that I am going to look more closely at our own "space under the stairs" and see if anything similar could work out.

So that is pretty much all I have to say about Entryways and Mudrooms for the time being. I will follow up at some point with an After photo or two.

Next week I have plans to "introduce" you all to my kitchen and my living room - Stay Tuned!!!!!

Say What??? If you guys have any ideas for me at all about decorating my entry way - I would LOVE to hear them! Sometimes a "fresh" pair of eyes is really all you need.

Have a great weekend - Thanks For Stopping By!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

COME INSIDE... My Entryway

2009-10-09T06:02:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

I want to say hi and welcome and thanks to my new followers! I hope you enjoy browsing around my blog (small as it is yet, I hope for LOTS more to come!)

I have a couple of projects completed to show you, but I also wanted to start a little "mini-series" I'm calling Come Inside.

~ photo from last spring - I know, Get a New One ~

A bit of background on our current home: We purchased this house approx. 8 years ago. When we first bought it, it was a tiny tiny little bungalow. I'm not sure if you are familiar with bungalow style, but basically they are small. ;) Very adorable and LOADS of potential, but it was literally about 900 square feet. There were no closets in any of the bedrooms, the bedrooms themselves were about 10 x 12 and the entire place was filled with dark, DARK colors. There are also no hallways, so the bedrooms and bath (one at the time) is literally RIGHT off of the main living area. Still it is situated far back from the road which is nice and the house itself sits on the far corner of the property, so it gives the impression of a big yard. TONS of hard work and lots of dollars brings us where we are today.

We did hire an architect at one point to help us with the addition design. But I am also lucky enough to have a hubby with great visions of what our home could become. He ~~is a bit of a know-it-all~~ had a very clear idea of what the house could become and I have to say that we are pretty darn close!

I have alot of before and after shots to show you all. Unfortunately, the BEFORE shots are mostly from another camera, not digital and will have to be scanned. :( I'll be working on alot of this over the weekend!

I am also planning to "update" alot of the rooms again (you don't realize how much wear and tear 7 years, 3 people, 1 child, and a dog can bring!). I'll be showing you photos of each room, exactly how it stands now and what my plans are. In an effort to "keep it real", these photos are literally EXACTLY how the room is on any particular day. I did not clean (sorry), I did not "fluff" in any way in the before shots. Please forgive!

So, we now move onto..... The Entryway

Now this room didn't even exist when we purchased it. We basically went sideways and up when we put the addition on. The paint color will remain the same - I just LOVE it. I will get the manufacturer and color information if anybody is interested. We are aiming to keep the "feel" of the house casual, warm and not in ANY way formal. So, this room as it stands will not change TOO much - probably just some updates to the accessories.

I love that it's a nice big area. People arriving have plenty of room to mill about and the stair case is not IMMEDIATELY in front of you the way it is in some houses. It's also got a neat feature. These windows on the side of the room...

... are actually the exterior of the "old" house. They look into the dining room and it was the architects suggestion to leave them there. I'm so glad we did! The downstairs has a VERY open floor plan and having a great big WALL there (instead of windows) would have been too closed in.

Right now I have temporary "window mistreatments" in the making. I love the way this black and white check looks against the paint color and also the lace valances. I should probably hang them up someday.

I try to tackle as much as I can by myself without involving the Hubster. I purchased these finials (from Lowe's) to use as a decorative "hanger" for the scarf treament, assuming that I could simply measure and screw them into the woodwork easily.

I cannot screw them into the woodwork easily. So they've been hanging as is for about a week, in the hopes that hubby will remember to simply bring in a drill or something and help me get them up there. It feels good to have a plan for the window at least, so we are off to a fine start! I simply folded the fabric so that any raw edges do not show, and I plan to add a small piece of trim along the bottoms (just the part on the side that will hang down).

Another vey cool aspect of this room is the high, HIGH ceilings. It stretches all the way up to the roof of the second floor and we have the option of closing that "above" space off and creating another bedroom someday if we ever want to. We don't want to, but it's nice to have options.

My problem now (clearly) is accessorizing the space in a better way. The wreath and dodads you see were placed when the railing was finished about 5 years ago and never really thought about again. I may leave the large brown wreath alone and I have a pretty sign that will go on the shelf...

Another option for this sign would be here...

Above the door (this is the front door once you are inside). More shelving all around to accessorize as well. We added side windows to each side of the door to let light in and also a large window above.

Another favorite thing about this space is my hutch. It is a "hand me down" that came from my great grandmother. The wood however seems way too dark for this space and I am hoping to paint it something similar to the trim color, an off white.

At this point, I want to ask that you PLEASE tell me now if you have any opinion either way about this!! Seriously, I have struggled with this decision for over a year. I think it would look lovely in a much lighter tone, it would "fit" in better with the rest of the space, and my pretty dishes would show up nicely with a lighter background. I don't, however, want to ruin a family heirloom. Once it's painted, I can obviously never go back to it's "wood" origins. Just sayin'.

A quick word about these dishes. They are from my husband's side of the family and were originally his great GREAT grandmothers. My MIL tells me that the pattern is the same as Martha Stewart has in one of her homes. Don't know if this is true or not, but they have some special meaning to us and I really like the colors.

Another area that I struggle with is this...

There is ALWAYS a pile of shoes right when you walk in the front door. So I thought a basket would help "control" this a little better. I think I need a bigger basket.

I apologize for the bad lighting. This shot just shows another view of the front door (from the inside) and the staircase to the second floor beside it. If I had my way, I would probably paint the banister and railing white too. But it's too recent a memory of when we didn't have a banister at all and all the time it took to stain the wood a "WOOD" color LOL! So I do not dare mention this yet.

The above is another shot of my half done window and the shelving above it.

So there you have it! That is our entry way (we are trying not to refer to it as a foyer) and I will show more photos as it becomes complete.

I'll start on the kitchen, dining room, and family room over the weekend! I hope to get the old photos scanned so that I can show you the real BEFORE before shots. Whenever I get impatient, it helps TREMENDOUSLY to look at those old pics to remember how far we've really come with this place!

Bye for now and hope everybody has a great Friday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Organization Motivation

2009-10-06T05:05:00.004-04:00

Hi Everybody!

Edited to add: I will be posting this again to participate in The DIY Showoff Surprise Party!!

Make sure to head on over and check out all the fun!

I am linking up this post with a fun new Linky party at Shanty2Chic - check them out RIGHT HERE!!

These 2 girls are like my IDOLS - I swear, there is nothing they can't do!

So, I believe I showed you some photos of my office/craft room earlier, just to give you a taste of what I am up against in my redecorating efforts. I believe one comment had to do with renting a bulldozer. Really.

Anyways, I don't know about you, but I find sometimes that if there is just TOO much to do it gets too overwhelming, I just don't know where to start. So instead of plunging right in and getting things done, I tend to step over and ignore the "debris", and go about my business as though this room didn't look like a tornado tore through it.

I finally started deciding to get my act together yesterday AM and was taking a good look around to see where the most logical place to start would be. Then it hit me! All of my storage and organizational pieces (except for one, I'll talk about her later) were UGLY. Yes, U-G-L-Y. Hoping that having a somewhat prettier storage area would assist me in actually STORING things away, I set about remaking a junky old white PLASTIC shelving unit. It was something that a neighbor was actually trying to throw away and I helpfully grabbed it from his trash. I figured that eventually I could do SOMETHING with it.

So it's a very sad and plastic piece, not quite WHITE since it's pretty dingy and it's probably missing some integral parts.

Here's a Before photo.

Behold the Yuck.

Since I'm on this black (or in some cases, off white) kick lately, I figured that I could at least coat it with paint and make it a bit more presentable. However, this was yesterday and it was raining here. Raining Cats and Dogs, my friends!

Being very impatient, I decided on the spot not to let that stop me. So I grabbed some Acrylic craft paint and went to work.

The above is what I used. And, after one coat on the legs and sides of this piece.....

Okay, kinda scary actually. I could tell that it would cleary take many coats (no big deal, this stuff dries QUICK). But also the black legs seemed to make this "problem area"....

Stick out like a sore thumb. I don't know why it didn't occur to be when it was all white, but I had to do something with the front pieces as well. My solution??

Scrabook supplies! I knew that I save everything for a reason!

I chose a Kraft cardstock paper, in keeping with the neutral tones. Measured approx. the height of the pieces that I wanted covered (in this case about 2") and used my handy cutter machine thing to cut them exact.

Now cardstock is typically sold in 12" x 12" squares, so one strip was nowhere NEAR long enough to go the distance across. I fumbled around for a while and figured out a way to kind of "trick" the eye into thinking that one Looooooooooooong piece was used.

I'm not sure if it is clear from the photo, but I placed two pieces together. I drew a tiny line of glue (FabriTac being the glue of choice here lately) along the very edge of one piece and simply laid the other on top.

Which of course, leaves a big ugly seam in the middle. Not the look I was going for really.

So back to my Other Favorite Thing lately, a thrift store find that I had found.

Did you notice??? Yes! 10 cents a yard!!!!!!! I bought a dollars worth and have used this stuff everywhere lately. It's more of a floral craft trim and holds up really well to all kinds of wear and tear.

I drew another small line of glue on the middle part of one strip of ribbon.

Lined it up so that it covered the ugly seam in the middle of my two pieces.

Flipped the whole thing over on it's back.

And glued the top and bottom together! The photo above is where they are glued together on what is actually the BACK of the two pieces, so it looks like one pretty legnth of ribbon on the front.

Did the same thing with two more pieces of the same kraft paper.

And decided it needed just a little something more, so I tried fashioning two smal bows to add to the front.

Note to self: Must research How To Make Bows. There's gotta be a manual somewhere.

And there they are!

During this process, I also went back and forth adding more coats to my Ugly Shelf.

Eh, still not sure about the whole thing at this point. But I am starting to see a bit of improvement.

Anyways, the next step was to figure out how to actually attach my pieces to my piece. Enter FabriTac once again. And, like always, this is not the best way or the only way. It was just My way on this particular occasion.

I don't have a photo, but I basically did just run a thin strip of glue along the top edge of my kraft paper and also tried to get some on the plastic as well. Stuck the little buggers right on there. It's not something that would probably hold up to too much wear and tear, but it should suffice for my purposes. My purposes being that it will remail sitting in a corner of a room holding stuff.

And it actually worked out fine! Added alot more "something" to the overall look. See for yourself............

Oh, the bows were trimmed slightly and then added afterwards. With a glue dot. You know, in case I get bored and want to change things out. This happens.

BIG improvement!!

You want to see the whole thing?

Really not bad. If I do say so myself. Especially accessorized. My goal now is to find some additional BIG baskets that fit into it perfectly.

My point is, an old piece of trash (literally in this case!) can look really good with a little creativity and elbow grease! Bet you think twice the next time you see an ugly white plastic shelving unit!

BEFORE

AFTER

And as an added bonus (or no, it was actually the entire POINT of this whole project, wasn't it??) I am now ALOT more excited and inclined to WANT to organize all my stuff!

Which is half the battle, really.

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Thrift Shop Re-Do - Sitting Stool

2009-10-03T16:55:00.000-04:00

Hey again! One more for ya on this rainy Saturday.   This project actually was done in a series of steps, but just completed this morning.   I never, NEVER seem to have a chunk of time more than an hour long available to me at once.

First I want to thank you guys for all of your comments. They definitely keep me inspired to continue with my little "decorating on the cheap" journey. I also want to welcome all my new followers!   I am so, so pleased and honored that you've joined and hope to have many inspiring posts over the next little while.

Anyways, on a trip to the thrift store a couple weeks ago, I came across an adorable little stool.

Along with a candle holder and box, but that's for later...

Needed some work, clearly, and it also seems like it started life as a tall stool that somebody cut down. But no matter, there was something appealing about it and guess what? Six Dollars. Six! That's it! You cannot buy a stool at Walmart for six dollars I don't think. Well, maybe you can, but then what on earth would I do with my rainy Saturdays??

I plan to have this little guy downstairs in the kitchen or the room off the kitchen or the entry way, or maybe even to bring into the family room if extra seating is needed. I have too many options sometimes. So the color had to be black.

I spray painted him up.

First step, make sure it's a nice day, so that this does not happen.

Then find a nice open spot outdoors, spread out an old blanket (or something) and find yourself a cute helper...

This step is not necessary. This particular cute helper got bored after about 5 minutes and retired indoors to watch SpongeBob. To each his own.

I basically just used my trusty can of Valspar Black (I used a flat, not a glossy. Why? I couldn't tell you.) and sprayed him all up.

When one coat was dry(ish) I flipped him onto his head and sprayed the underparts.

Let him dry in the sun for a bit.

I like it alot better already!

I decided that since I didn't prime or sand, or anything else that is recommended before painting, that I would show A Touch More Love by spraying one last coat of a protective sealer.

To be honest, it did not make a bit of difference that I could SEE. But it did make me feel better.

So this is how things were this morning....

Being a bit ~~of an idiot~~ inexperienced with recovering furniture (even the small stool variety) I had wondered how to make the top a comfy place to sit. A nice lady at the fabric store suggested just some plain old batting that could be shaped for an underlayment and then fabric on top.

Perfect! I chose the remnants of the same fabric that was used on my window mistreatments.

That way if it is in the kitchen, it looks more at home. Somehow it's changed from a "him" to an "it". Did you notice that too??! :0

Okay, I have neither tools, experience, brains, or a staple gun, so I again relied on The Magic of Glue.

Fabritac for this project again, to be exact.

I basically guesstimated the amount of batting and fabric that would be needed. I went extra on the batting, because I wanted an actual "cushiony" feel.

Cut it all with plain old scissors and then went about putting it together.

I initially did this with the stool right side up, but it turned out much easier (duh) to turn it upside down.

Did a bit more trimming just to make sure there wasn't a ton of overhang. And what I did was basically put the fabric on the bottom (right side down), then the batting on top of that, then the stool on top of THAT. Something like the picture above. Actually, EXACTLY like the picture above.

I glued a little hem along the edges of the fabric, just to make it look neat. Because don't we always get people that come into our homes and proceed to peer underneath all the furniture to make sure things are neat? That's what I thought.

I did one side first. Just wrapped him all up like a present.

And worked my way around.

Oh! I almost forgot. Make SURE that you have really sophisticated and "fancy" tools at your disposal to hold everything down while the glue is drying....

My personal favorite is the Chip Clip. So many uses.

Followed closely by.....

A Small Box Of Heavy Things. This holds everything in place very well also.

Despite me and Chippy's best efforts, it's still not THE absolute neatest job in the world. But, remember - this part will be on the underside. And I don't think people REALLY come to your home to look under furniture. Just sayin'.

Here's a view from the top looking down. Or the bottom looking up (it's still upside down)

And, I think he's done! All dressed up and ready to meet the rest of the house...

I'm sure this will more around ALOT (most of my small furnishings do) but for right now it's in between my Kitchen and my Room That Is Next To My Kitchen.

Just for a fun look, I also tried it with a band of black trim along the edges. Can you tell it's even there??

It is ingeniously held on by.....

Tada! Glue dots. This is probably ANOTHER practice that is not generally recommended, but it will suffice for now. That way, when I don't like the trim, or want to change the trim - I can just pull it right off again! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

The queen likes it too.

I had so much fun with this project! I'm really happy with how it came out - even though I didn't quite have the foggiest clue what I was doing. And I'd love to hear what you think! I'd also love to hear about any projects that seemed overwhelming and just a little scary, and how it all turned out for you.

Ta for now!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Repurposed Sign - Telephone Message Board

2009-10-03T15:51:00.001-04:00

Edited to add: I will be participating, with this here little post, in Metamorphasis Monday over at BNOTP - be sure to check out the other ideas right here!

So, I showed you guys a few project that I would be working on over the weekend in this post.

And, I then followed up with my "Rained Out" post.

But, I realized that not EVERYTHING has to do with spray paint. It really doesn't. So I've completed a couple of projects this morning anyways and here is one!
This started with an old sign I found in my barn. There was something about it that I actually like "as is" but just too dark and faded. Anyways, here is how she started life:

I removed the back from the wood frame ( I did not take photos, but you can get the general idea from my tutorial on how to obliterate giraffes with chalkboard paint.) This time I used a rock from my garden as a power tool. The "fancy" stuff like cheese spreaders were somehow unavailable.

Anyways, the backing was spraypainted with my New BFF Chalkboard Spray Paint. Read the above referenced post for more information, but it can basically be sprayed on just about any surface and will create a chalkboard. No, really - it works!

So now we have this.

And I apologize for the bad lighting/photos - it's pouring here and cannot get much light! I actually liked the frame to remain black for some reaon. I had an idea for my kitchen which is mostly a creamy white with black accents, and didn't want it to blend into the woodwork too much, so to speak.

But it's obviously a little ~~lacking in the "oomph" department~~ ugly so needed some further "work".

So for just a touch of color, I tried holding a few ribbons against the frame to see how they looked...

I liked this in a way, but it seemed a little too "grannyish". No offense to any grannies - I think Grannies are great.

I really liked the brown and white gingham too.

I tried a few more to see what might look nice (I will spare you all those photos) and finally did decide on some khaki-tannish trim along with the gingham ribbon above.

See the knob? Go look again - it's right there. Once I started playing around with this piece, I got the idea that it somehow reminded me of a door. I had this knob left over from when we were trying out looks in my daughter's room, so I ran and got it. No I didn't - I walked actually. I walked and got it. I wish that I had some really really cool old and chunky looking knob, but I am impatient and wanted this project over with LOL! So this is the one I went with.

It was attached with Gorilla Glue. This stuff works GREAT, but use with caution. It tends to "expand" once it starts setting up, and even though I was careful, a tiny bit did escape from where it belongs. I decided to just move on.

Did a little more playing around with the ribbon arrangement (again, I'll spare you :) and this is what I finally came up with.

Again, my apologies for the awful photos. But I think it came out really really cute! I attached the long piece of trim with my other BFF - FabriTac. I cut the bows so that they were about the same size, not quite so droopy, and also spaced them out a bit more.

Then the problem was how to hang?

This piece was designed to hang on a part of a beam above where our phone is in the kitchen. I thought it might make a cute "message board".

Not being ~~at all aquainted~~ handy with "real" tools, I decided on the following:

Some pretty gingham fabric, cut into a line and fashioned into a shabby little bow! You are looking at the back of the board in this photo - I used more FabriTac to adhere.

And ...............

Voila! It worked even better than I thought it would. Now I have an adorable, cheap enough to almost be considered free, useful and unique Message Board!

I love the architectural detail of the knob.

And the frame itself is thick and chunky enough to store a piece of chalk on!

So that's what we get for being creative and innovative! I am truly looking at all my "old stuff" in new ways lately and have a bunch more projects that I can't wait to show you all.

I'd love to hear about any of your projets as well! Let me know, send me a link, show me a picture, leave a comment if you have anything you've repurposed in a fun way!

Have a great weekend!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Rained Out!

2009-10-03T15:06:00.000-04:00

So ladies, I'm sorry to let you know that my weekend spray painting plans have been thwarted by this....

I don't know if you can actually tell by this photo, but it is raining cats and dogs here!!!

So my spray painting has to be put on hold. BUT, I do have a couple of indoor projects completed (the rainy day is good for something!) that I'm working on sharing with you shortly.

Stay tuned!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Start to Finish.......

2009-10-02T06:14:00.000-04:00

Good morning and Happy Friday!

I have to say that lately, time has been zipping by way too quick. And I never seem to be able to follow a project through - start to finish - in just one afternoon or day the way I used to!

Between my daughter's activities, volunteering in her classroom, my own "real" job, birthday parties, husband feeding, house cleaning, yada, yada, yada......... there just is not a big enough chunk of time all put together for my own pursuits!

(photo courtesy of Country Living)

Neverthless, the weekend is upon us, without any MAJOR plans, so I hope to get a few of these completed.

Here are just a few "Sneak Peak" photos of what I've been (trying) to work on and what is yet to come.

I have a fun project in mind for this cute little stool I picked up at a thrift store for $6. SIX dollars! I could spray paint this with purple GLITTER and cover it with newspapers and it still would be worth the six bucks!

I'm not going to though.

Don't bother adjusting your monitor for the photos below - the leaves and fall accents REALLY are that orange - I really heart the urns though so I must do something about this ....

Below is an ongoing eyesore that I subject myself to everyday that needs some attention. We call it..... Are you ready for this? The Closet Room. Catchy and original, huh? It's a great spot - right off of our bedroom and it really is mainly for storage. It's got a huge storage area against another wall (conveniently closed off by doors) and a dresser for storage and two of these closets that STILL do not have doors.

The plan all along was to finish them at SOME POINT, but "some point" never seems to get here. Since I am not about to hang a door (yet), I need to come up with another temporary solution.

This was my first attempt at a "mistreatment" by the way - it's been like this for years. Great idea and something I hope to follow through on with a nicer fabric...

It's basically 1 panel from a set of old curtains hung along a rail!

You can see I cleary have my work cut out for me....

But it hides an even bigger eyesore, so I think with a different fabric (and some attention elsewhere in the room) I can stop shutting the door to the whole area entirely)

This is what needs to be hidden - the bedrooms in this part of the house are TINY and there is not even room in my daughter's room (or my own) for a closet.

I also found this cute(?) sign thing in my barn that I'm dying to do something with...

These cuties were another thrift shop find - $1.50 - for both!

They could use a lil' love too.

This little rolling pin thing is actually a small shelf! Thought it might be cute with some attention...

Another "barn" find was this, um, lovely? breadbox. Definitely needs an update, but I like it's shape and size and it's got alot of room inside...

I also am going to work on a tutorial to show you guys how to make something like this with extra scrapbooking supplies

Perfect for photo storage or a winter display (did I really just say WINTER?) or as a unique gift box!

Long term projects include a craft room that looks a little more like this:

... and a bedroom that looks a little more like this....

... and cleary I'm gonna need some of this....

Anyways, I'm certainly not going to get all of this accomplished over the weekend. But if I can somehow *focus* just a little more, I'll be able to finish at least a few projects.

I can't wait to share the end results with you guys!

What is everybody else working on?? I'd love to hear about your own projects!!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Fall Wicker Basket

2009-09-30T04:54:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I really REALLY love baskets. All kinds, all shapes - I must have literally almost 100. I used to hang them from the ceiling at our previous house, but it never seemed to look right here. Trouble is, they all seem to be some different version of wood.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Not whatsoever. But, they tend to take on some kind of dingyness to them and they are all varying shades of the same thing. Nothing looks like it wants to work together.

So enters my new best friend, Spray Paint. I have been spray painting everything lately (or at the very least finding things that I WILL spray paint the next chance I get) My poor dog is cowering in the corner - he thinks he's next.

Here's a batch of them drying in the sun....

This is what happens when you take an ordinary wicker(ish) basket and introduce him to Valspar.

The end result of this particular basket - it's the largest on the top left corner of the above photo.

A definite improvement, but I still needed to add something. I grabbed this

and these

and went to work adding some fall "festivities" to the mix. The foliage (for lack of a better term) has probably seen better days, since I've been stealing from it here and there.

Some of the berries were used for this fall project

And some other pieces had been used for the candlestick "redo" on this project here

So the back was looking pretty sad and "unfluffy". I have no real fix for this. I just figure that will stay in the back and anybody who notices will be too polite to say anything. So much of my life is like that.

Anyways, attaching the garland was very, very easy to do. I simply held a piece up and figured out where to adhere it with some floral wire. I am positve that there are better and more "permanent" ways to achive the same thing. But since this is not for my store or a gift, it will just be used here at home. The good news about that is also that the garland can easily be taken back apart and replaced with something else for each season!

So you'll be sure to meet this basket again. :)

I basically wanted to make sure that wherever the wire was attached, it would be covered by a leaf or another part of the garland and not stick out like a ~~sore thumb~~ bright shiney gold piece of wire.

The leaves do seem to cover it up very well!

So after attaching it on each side (or maybe in five different spots altogether) we have our end result

TaDa!

I so love the way these colors look together for fall. Here's another view :

But that's just in an upstairs hallway and I wanted this little beauty somewhere that we actually ARE. So I ended up bringing her back down to the family room on my hearth.

Cute! I love it. This would be great for newspapers, magazines or even a little stash of firewood. Here's another cute tip:

Turn a basket upside down and it becomes a GREAT area for a small display!

Total cost ZERO and time was approx. one and a half hours (even counting waiting for the paint to dry - I think you are actually supposed to Prime it first and wait a much longer time, but whatever.)

Now I just can't figure out which I like better! Either way could hide a bunch of yucky - very useful.

By the way, I am linking up to Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday (if I'm able, since it is Wendesday LOL!) Be sure to check her out here!

Have a great day!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Between Naps on the Porch is having a Tassel Give Away

2009-09-28T02:19:00.000-04:00

Be sure to check this out also for a chance at a great give away!

Between Naps on the Porch: Welcome to the 37th Metamorphosis Monday and a Fall Give-a-Way!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

The Spray Paint and The Three Pears

2009-09-28T01:19:00.002-04:00

Story of The Spray Paint and The Three Pears

I'm again *repurposing* this tired, old post to participate in...http://itssoverycheri.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-make-tassel-tutorial-cheri-style.html

Like so many of you guys, I really love Ballard Design. Like so many of you, I do not want to spend $79.00 on something that will eventually, if I am being honest, sit on a shelf somewhere and collect dust. Like so many of you, I want to only spend about $2 on something that will eventually, if I am being honest, sit on a shelf somewhere and collect dust.

The following chronicles my mission for the perfect white pear. Or three. Three of something usually is better than one.

This beauty is on sale for $79.00.

Ballard Designs actually does have a version for much less! $49.00. Um, no thanks.

Here are mine.

About $ 5. And that's for all three!

The Magic of Spray Paint! It's like having "New" in a can! Yes I stole that phrase and am going to use it as much as possible - it's too true! :)

Anyways, I realize that pretty soon (if it has not already happened) the whole White Pretend Fruit trend is going to get old. But I can't help myself - I really do {heart} the whole White Pretend Fruit thing.

Here's what I did. Now, for this project, I did actually go out and purchase something "new". My tagline on this blog used to be Old Is The New New, but I'm realizing that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. The Christmas Tree Shop is full of excellent bargains - and you can spend so little that it's ALMOST LIKE you didn't even go shopping at all. For real. (By the way, my blog has a new tagline now - let me know what you think! :)

Anyways, the pears that I found were a bit TOO pear colored. They were INTENSELY pear colored. As in almost Blindlingly Green. My camera almost couldn't really capture this new to nature color, but here they are when we started out.

.....waiting patiently outside on my handy spray painting blanket with their new BFF - Valspar Ivory Spray Paint.

When I'm seeing them in this photo, the color really doesn't look to bad, but they just did not fit in with the rest of the gang...

So a few minutes and a few swipes with the spray paint later and LOOK!.............

They Are Happier Already! I just love to put a smile on a fake pear's face.

Anyways, this is one after just a couple of coats...

I do see a definite improvement. I did add one more coat, again not bothering with any painting "rules" like preparing the surface - I just sprayed them. Brought them inside after they dried (maybe 1/2 hour?) and added some black for contrast to the stem with my Cheap Acrylic Craft Paint.

I still don't know where exactly these three are going to end up - probably like everything else in this house, they will be moved around ALOT. But I want something striking yet simple for my dining room table and that's probably where they will start their little journey.

So damn happy with how they came out!

I'd love to hear about any project you guys are working on!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Fun with Paint - Chalkboard Style

2009-09-26T05:24:00.004-04:00

I will be entering this post in a Linky Party!! Or two! Check here for tons of Make Your Monday projects brought to you by Twice Remembered.

Also I am again *repurposing* to participate in a KNOCK OFF KNOCK OUT Party hosted by It's So Very Cheri.

This will also be included in Show and Tell Friday over at My Romantic Home.    Get yer butt here for a visit!

So if you are an avid blog follower, you might have seen the following trick repeated many, many, many times over the last few weeks.   I hope you don't mind one more!

If you have never heard of chalkboard paint, it is like the coolest stuff ever created!   Take a look at the following "redo" and you'll be looking around your home for stuff to "chalkify" too!!

I started with a picture of a giraffe and it's baby that for some reason I have lying around. I must have thought it was cute at one point, but needless to say, it does not exactly BLEND with the current decor around here. But it was a good size and seemed to have some potential.

I hadn't noticed this before somehow, but it has a nice little ropy detail running along the entire edge! It had blended right in with the greyish, weird, light brown "wood".

Kind of added another challenge, because I wasn't anticipating it at the time and didn't want to ruin the frame. But as luck would have it, it's just kind of inset INTO the frame - not glued or anything! So it basically just ripped right out!

I went to work figuring out how to dismantle this baby.

Alot of your ~~less expensive~~ cheap "art" will have something like this on the back. These little brackets are bendy and attach the frame to the backing.

With a little help from my super sophisticated stash of power tools....

Okay, I mean my CHEESE SPREADER..... I was able to get the whole thing apart in approximately 3 minutes.

Now, this particular piece of priceless art was so ~~cheap~~ well-made, that it didn't even have real glass as a protective cover. Just a sheet (which DID break) of super stiff plastic something-or-other. I was thinking I'd save it to use for SOMETHING, but this part did bend and break into a bunch of little pieces. Well, you win some - you lose some.

Anyways, I took the frame (with the rope torn out) and the cardboard backing outside to paint.

This is my secret weapon used to obliterate giraffes. I found it at AC Moore, I believe, for about $6 and there is not even a DENT put into the amount still left after this, my first chalkboard project.

I probably have better photos somewhere, but I basically chose an area of my yard that is away from anything that would NOT like to be covered into chalkboard material and also in the sun for fast drying. I laid an old blanket down to protect the ground below.

I used this to cover the frame - separate blanket a few feet away from the first.

It's just a basic can of ivory color spray paint from Valspar.

I did NOT prime, I did NOT sand, I did NOT also do anything else that one is supposed to do before painting. Not that I am recommending that you guys ignore all relevant and practical advice, but sometimes I am a ~~little~~ lot too impatient to take extra steps. Just point, aim and you are done.

Then I was left with this below. About 2 coats on each and they dried very quickly being out in the sun.

Now I'm sitting and hoping that the cool little rope detail will look better against the white and HOPING that I can actually get it back into place without a fight.

The first piece actually did. The rest wasn't willing to go down without a fight. I'm guessing that the spray paint made the little "valley" that it sits in a bit too tight or something, but the stuff JUST WOULDN'T FIT.

But with a little help from my friend (FabriTac) I managed to get the rest into place or at least attached to the frame and now all is right with the world.

I laid the chalkboard covered piece into the frame and repositioned the bracketts that hold it into place. Again with my sophisticated ~~power tools~~ butter knife.

Looking better and happier already!

See the weird little smudgy thing on the upper left hand corner ( I do this ALL THE TIME, by the way - people will come to my house and compliment something and I ALWAYS manage to point out it's flaw - why - WHY?) Anyways, that is because I'm not sure that chalkboard paint was MEANT to go over cardboard and erase easily. This was after trying to use an eraser, which basically just smudged the chalk around - I ended up using a slightly damp paper towel to erase next tiem and it worked perfectly!

For now, it is making it's home right here...

A little corner off the kitchen, next to where I've got the downstairs computer set up.

The best part about this arrangement was actually an added bonus that I had not planned out..

It hides a multitude of yucky!! I love lamps on countertops, but hate the mess of cords that you can never REALLY hide. Plus a small stash of candles and other kitchen debris can be nicely tucked away behind it - out of view!

I'm going to certainly be looking around my house for more hidden treasure - so many things can be turned into something completely New and Useful and Beautiful! This entire project, by the way, probably took about 3 hours start to finish and that even includes waiting for the paint to dry.

Happy Weekend Everyone!.

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

"Old Stuff" Redo Part #1

2009-09-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I found some really good buys at a thrift store that I introduced you guys to right here.

I finally found a bit of time to play around with over the weekend and wanted to share the results, so far.

Okay, remember this little beauty?

I actually didn't even give her a makeover. Not even lip gloss or NOTHIN. Well I did wipe the dirt off, but that's about it. I really just liked it so much that it ended up on my hutch with some fall flowers.

The color is obviously not coming through the greatest, but you get the idea. I actually think it would be stunning black with fall flowers, but sometimes I just get impatient! Maybe this weekend.

Okay, and these candlesticks?

They had a little more lovin'. I started with a basic Ivory paint. Everything I do seems to be either Ivory or Black lately.

All together now... Ebony and Ivory... Live Together in......

Sorry, I'll stop. Anyways, this is what I ended up with

Prettier, but still pretty boring. Plus the bow reminded me more of spring. So I tried this instead....

And I kinda liked it! The bow got moved along the BOTTOM of the piece and I added some fall foliage and berries. A gingham ribbon along the top and a cute little birds nest with more berries on the inside.

Then I wondered what to do with it. A candle seemed so "anticipated" or something. I know, I'm a weirdo. So first I tried the super trendy lately "pumpkin on a pedastal".

Yeah, not so much.

Then how about a cute decorative bird?

Still just looked a little out of place - she's too separated from the damn nest or something. Anyways, then inspiration struck and I found the PERFECT purpose for my new old thing:

A lipstick holder for my daughter's play makeup!

I'm kidding of course - but it's the only thing that did fit perfectly. I think perhaps I will just stick with a candle.

Here's the other one:

Added a bow again with a touch of foliage for fall, and along the bottom some more fall berries with a couple of pine cones.

I know you are thinking that the two pieces would make alot more sense if they matched. You would probably be right.

Maybe someday - nothing seems to stay the same way in this house for too long before I get bored and change it all over again!

I'll be doing some more postings shortly with the rest of my "finds" along with an updated stool project, some uses for repurposing scrapbook materials (got WAY too many of those) and I've also been having fun with Letter Decorating.

Have a great day everyone

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Fall Swag on the Cheap

2009-09-22T05:39:00.000-04:00

Hi again.

I've been browsing through catalogs and online lately and drooling over some of the gorgeous and adorable fall wreaths and swags that are out there. Unfortunately, like my pottery barn issue that you can read about here, I do not have the kind of budget ~~at the moment~~ ever to spend more than $100 on something pretty. I decided to make my own! With my own hands

These are not actually my hands. My own have not seen a manicure that lasts more than 1 day since about 1993. Aren't they lovely though, whomever they belong to?

Actually - what I really did was DISsassemble a few old and gawdy things that I already have and then re-assemble them in a more pleasing (to me anyways) way.

A few berries from another wreath

A cute and cheap plastic pumpkin "thing" from the Christmas Tree Shop

Some twiny ribbon that wrapped up a box of potpourri at one point

And.....

Tada!

I think he's pretty cute to be honest. I basically just attached all this with some craft wire and alot of glue to a branch form that I had lying around from something. Most of it was actually just kind of stuck into the branches with a prayer that it will not fall out. That way, I figure I can dissassemble the whole thing AGAIN and make something else when it's winter! The plaid bowlike thing you see is just some fabric that I had left from another project.

Here it is again..

Hanging on a wall in my hallway

Hanging on the back of my office door

Hanging on my front door which is actually NOT white and I don't know why it looks to be in this photo

and

....... taking a rest on my old beat up rocking chair because he's tired from all that moving around. Okay. Yes. I'll stop now.

This whole thing took about 1/2 hour from start to finish and I didn't have to spend a dime!

Leave a comment and let me know about something YOU made from "lost treasures" kicking around your place!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Pottery Barn Wannabe

2009-09-21T07:59:00.001-04:00

Good morning to you all!

Today's project has to do with my never ending list of wants. I really REALLY want a mudroom and I really REALLY want a cute coat rack, shelf combo with a bench underneath. Like everybody seems to have nowadays!

Something like this would be fine. Nothing too fancy.

Even just one of these...

That would do.

I saw this one from Almost Amish (cute name, no?)

It's $139 dollars. Not exactly falling into the decorating on a small budget theory.

Courtesy of Woodworkers Warehouse

This one is gorgeous too. I love the little cubby drawers instead of the usual baskets you see.

Anyways, I did already have a small shelf coatrack thing so I looked at it, and looked at it again, and looked at it some more, and got to work.

I can't seem to find a before photo, but it was basically that ugly oak material. Or wood I guess you'd say. So I got me my faithful black paint and just painted the whole thing. While it was still attached to the wall actually - Don't Tell My Husband.

Then it seemed to look kind of funny with this bulletin board I have above it with my daughters school "stuff". This I do have a before picture of...

There she is!

Basically kind of basic and boring. She wanted a make over too. Luck would have it that I am so lazy sometimes that I never even hung the damn thing up. So I took her down and started painting away. Yes right on my kitchen counters. Again, Don't Tell My Husband.

I've been using some of the cheapest acrylic craft paint possible (it's about 1.42 at Walmart) and a matchingly cheap paint brush. Works absolutely fine so far.

Don't worry if things don't go exactly perfect - this project got a bit all messed up (maybe I SHOULD get a better brush) but it doesn't show when it's on the wall anyways.

I did 2 coats and it literally dried in about 1/2 hours, so up on the wall she went (hung with push pins - this will someday prove to be a mistake - I can just feel it).

It's still pretty basic and boring, but I added a basket to the shelf (makes me feel more pottery barnish)

And then I took a crooked picture, because all the cool bloggers do that...

That was a joke by the way.

My point is that looking through "designer" magazines and websites can leave us jealous and frustrated at times, but it can also be an incredible source of inspiration. I love paint. I look around my house for things to paint. Often. Too often apparently.

If anybody has some cool or interesting painting projects or updates, I'd love to hear about them!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Sunday Dinner - Baked Ziti - Mmmmmm...

2009-09-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday to you all.

I've promised to mix in some cooking and recipe posts so here goes.   Nope, nothing as pretty or complicated as this purdy little turkey (chicken?) above, but it kinda sets the mood.

Anyways, I found this recipe for Baked Ziti a few years ago (on AllRecipes - check them out sometime) and it's become a family favorite. It is not low fat, or low calorie, or low carb, or anything redeeming, but it is very yummy.

Ingredients

1 lb dry ziti pasta                         6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 onion, chopped                        1 1/2 Cups Sour Cream
1 lb. Lean Ground Beef               6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 (26 oz) jars spaghetti sauce      2 Tablespoons grated Parm cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. (don't rinse)

In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef (you can easily omit the ground beef - either altogether or just get spaghetti sauce with meat in it) over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer approx. 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350
Butter a 9x13 (now that I am re-reading this, I realize why mine always sticks to the bottom of the pan) baking dish. Layer as follows:
                                                      1/2 ziti
                                                       Provolone Cheese slices
                                                       Sour Cream (what I usually do is spread the sour cream right onto                                                           cheese slices and then just put the whole thing ontop of pasta -
                                                        much easier)
                                                       1/2 Sauce Mixture
                                                       Remaining ziti
                                                       Mozzarella cheese and then remaining sauce mixture.
                                                       Top with grated parmasean cheese
Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven (approx. - bake until all cheeses are melted)

Makes approximately 8 servings and should look something like this:

Bon Apetit!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

It's A Pink Pink World

2009-09-18T13:02:00.000-04:00

Sure seems to be a Pink Pink World at this point! At least in my daughter's room.

My daughter has been asking me to repaint and update her bedroom for AGES. Well, except that she's only five, so it can't have been that long. Anyways, she picked out all the colors herself, God Help Me. Yellow, Pink, Red and Green. And maybe Blue. And a Big Yellow Sunshine. Well, we'll figure out the details later... and I'll be sure to post photos along the way.

We picked out a pretty light pink sheer fabric for the windows and the plan was to get some fancy tie back to dress it up a bit. Trouble is, I couldn't for the life of me find anything that was at all pretty and unique. So I did what any self respecting Cheap Girl would do - I made them!

Very proud of myself in fact. Little One loves them, and they do add a little spark to the curtains. If the whole room was going to be this pink? Too Pepto Bismal for my taste. But we've got a pretty light yellow for the walls picked out, and this really will be the only pink in the whole room. I hope.

Basically what I did was this: You know those sometimes (usually) awful silk flower arrangements they sell at W#$mart for about $2? I bought one bouquet of those and ripped it into pieces (not REALLY but I did dissassemble it - the flowers pop right off). Then I found some very pale shimmery pink ribbon in my craft room, and glued those suckers right to it. Easy peasy pie, right? It really was that simple and it looks fairly pretty and my daughter thinks I ROCK! Awesome Possum. Gotta love that.

And, I cannot actually recommend this for a child's room, but I just used a push pin to attach the ribbon to the window trim. Can't even tell! Well, not really.

I'm thinking of TONS of possibilities now for more handmade curtain tie backs - can't wait to start playing around!

While I'm at it, I've been browsing online for Little Girl Room ideas (by the way, BEWARE of using the search terms "cheap little girls rooms") , and WOW there are alot of pretty rooms out there..

Courtesy of HGTV

I'm really enjoying the rooms that showcase other colors, besides the traditional Little Girl Pink

From HouseDecoratingIdeas.com (where I will be headed next!)

Sandra Belle Interiors - just love the green and purple combo!

Courtesy of Firefly Furnishings - More green - I just adore this nightstand and the head and foot board.

Here's a couple using the standard *PINK* but with their own unique twist.

I forget where I pinched this photo from and I apologize.

Pretty for a sophisticated parisian look

The above is one of my favorites - from Rustic Decorating Gone Wild. Perfect for my future log cabin! Except for the fact that my little girl will probably be 30 by then. She won't need a bunk bed.

Doesn't this look like a fun little spot for a tea party??

Another thing I want to try to somehow incorporate into my daughter's room (at her request) is a canopy of some sorts above the headboard. We've got a bunch of built in shelving, so at the moment it seems impossible.

And the little rugs! They look like adorable little polka dots scattered around - LOVELY touch.

The above is from Diapers to Design - Awesome idea as a headboard!!!

Courtesy of Sprouts Gallery

Love the idea of something like this in my little one's room. A small desk that can double as a vanity. I would find a *cheap* (of course) mirror to place above the desk and raise the pics up a bit.

So, that's one of the decorating challenges ahead of me. My daughter is old enough to have some say in her room, but I'm thinking it's definitely going to be a battle of the wills here! I keep compromising by telling her we can get a little more crazy in her playroom (another challenge for another ~~day~~ year). I want her "little girl" room to still look like it belongs to an actual little girl!

Do any of you guys have girls you decorate for? Any suggestions for me? I clearly need all the help I can get!

Please leave a comment or link to your own photos - I love hearing from you all!

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

...Thrifty Finds

2009-09-17T11:03:00.004-04:00

Re-edited to add that I am including this post over at Tales From Bloggeritaville for her Thrifty Thursday linky party!

Recycling last week's post in doing so, but after all, this blog is partially ABOUT recycling!

First I want to say hello and welcome to my new followers. So, Hello and Welcome To My New Followers!   Seriously, there are almost 20 40 of us here now, and that's definitely not a bad way to start a blog.   Next I want to say this:

I. Am. So. Excited.

Wanna know why? Well - do you??    Okay, I stopped by a little thrift store this morning. I cannot BELIEVE that I have never been there before. Oh. My. Goodness.

I should have known what to expect, being the ~~penny pinching~~ cheap girl that I am. It was an absolute Treasure Trove of old stuff, just waiting for a makeover.   Soon to be new, beautiful stuff!   I will no longer be a slave to full price. Or even half price. Heck, the most I spent on any one item was $1.00.   ONE DOLLAR!   And that was for a PAIR of stuff.

I scored the following: One white SUPER heavy and fat vase (dying for a coat of paint), Two black wrought iron candlesick holders, One heavy silver pedastal, One brown wood chunky candlestick holder, Two lengths of fabric, and One other thing. Not sure what to call it. I am gonna pretty the bunch of them up. AND, I'm gonna show you how.

But first, today's finds...........

Bad lighting, sorry....

See all those white stickers?? Those are price tags. They say things like 35 cents. 1.00. 50 cents. You get the idea...

This is a planter of some sort. I have no idea yet what I'm going to do with it, but I loved it's shape.

Yup - it's "A Genuine Old Thing".

Here's a pretty pewter candlestick holder (which will never be pewter color again once I have my way with it)

35 cents.

Another holder or pedastal - this time wood

Honest to goodness dust and everything. She SO wants to be pretty again. You can just tell.

Another planter or vase. Again, I love the size and shape

50 cents. I could probably even bargain with this poor woman who owns the store too - I feel like going back with a wagon and loading up. I might even see if she wants to come home with me someday and just pretend to be my grandmother for a while. She's just that cute.

I think these two cuties would look nice dressed for Fall.

Now, how's all that for a Cheap Frill!?

I called this post Thrifty Thursday, and it actually gives me a really good idea. Each Thursday (beginning whenver I can actually figure out how to use links and whatnot) I will be hosting an online Thrifty Thursday party. Link up and share your most recent, or most favoritest ( it's my blog and I can use bad grammer if I want to) thrifty find!

A fun way for you girls (and guys) to show of your own treasures. Very good exposure for your blogs or stores too, plus just a great way to meet new friends.

Stay tuned - I have great plans for my old junk....

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

Who Decorates Your Life?

2009-09-17T09:20:00.001-04:00

It's really not all about decorating our homes - It's about those who decorate our lives.

I was reminded of this (again) earlier this evening. Coming home from my *real* job to a very very VERY messy house, a five year old with a fudgecicle colored face and a hungry husband put me in a bit of a foul mood. Top that off with a case of PMS, and you get one unhappy momma.

Anyways, I ended up spending about 4 seconds asking my daughter about school, I proceeded to try to straighten up the living room, organize the kitchen counters, get a quick dinner ready, get school stuff packed for the next day - when a little voice stopped me. My little one - Nicole (you can read more about her here) - wanted to show me the "artwork" she had done earlier that day. I'm going to take a guess and figure that most of you know how much artwork a small child creates. I really REALLY didn't want to stop what I was doing, so I managed to put her off for another few minutes. But she's pretty relentless.

I finally followed her back to what she wanted to show me (it was in her Hannah Montana folder, which is only for SUPER IMPORTANT papers) and this is what I found..........

It reads "I L U MoM".

Stopped me right in my tracks, I tell ya. And, needless to say, we spent the rest of the evening reading, snuggling and playing restaurant. The house can wait until tomorrow.

I L U too sweetie.

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce

French Farmhouse Storage Bin

2009-09-16T09:41:00.002-04:00

...Otherwise known as Repurposed and Upcycled Cheap Junk from The Christmas Tree Shop.

I don't know why I'm calling this French Farmhouse.   I think it's because of the rooster. Aint' she cute? (I'm not sure people are very "into" roosters anymore, but that's okay ) And also maybe because it makes me feel better than to just call it a cheap tin bucket from the Christmas Tree Shop.

Anyways, I wish SO MUCH that I took a before picture. Maybe even some during would have been nice. I have other ones of these lying around, so I will be sure to take both before AND after photos next time.   It was already decoupaged in some manner with a baby print. Meaning a print for a baby's room. I scooped up a bunch since they were only about a buck or so each! I thought that they would look cute in my daughter's playroom. They did not. Way too much pastel. Pastel OVERLOAD even.

Anyways, I'm always looking for cute storage solutions in my kitchen. My kitchen counters are a haven for any stray piece of paper, mail, bills, food, toys, you name it. It ends up there.   This controls a bit of the clutter.

So easy and fun. What I did, was take the above mentioned bin/bucket/tin can and painted it black. Should have done this outside with some spray paint (next time I'll know better) but this worked just fine as it turns out. It needed many coats, but I used an ~~inexpensive~~ CHEAP bottle of acrylic craft paint. It dries very quickly. (Here I should note that: It dries very quickly UNLESS you are expecting it to dry very quickly - after the first few coats I tested this out and ended up with black fingertips)

Even though I do seem to have a strange and vaguely satisfying love affair with plain black paint (I'll explain at a later date), this needed a little something extra. So I grabbed some fabric that I had leftover from My First Window Mistreatment and basically tied a large farmhouse-y bow (I don't know what it means either) around the middle.   Added this cute Rooster chick with some craft wire.   Then SHE wanted to be a little fancy too.   So I attempted attaching a bit of fringe along the bottom to dress her up a bit.

And took a bad photo with a shadow from my head in it apparently.

The handle is a pretty creamy white, so if the Rooster ever doesn't want to watch me prepare dinner or pay bills, she can turn the other way and it still looks kinda cute.

It's now sitting on my counter FILLED with coupons, business cards and my address book and I'm One Happy Cheap Girl. :)

Smiles and Hugs,
Joyce