$5 and it was MINE!!

A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning hubby and I had some errands to run. Of course, I'm always on the "look out" for a yard sale while in transit. Just so happened ~ I stumbled upon one and had hubby stop for me. My hubby does not share my garage ~ yard sale fascination. . .at all, but he is accommodating to me.

I walked into this sale and was told everything was 1/2 off!! My eyes feel upon this adorable, antique gossip bench. It was in need of some TLC, painting and a little new fabric for the cushion, but nothing I haven't done before. It was marked $10, so it was $5!! I grabbed it up!! What do you think of it now that it's all cleaned, painted and presentable???!!!!????

For those of you who are too young to know why these were named "gossip benches" ~ it was because the phone sat on the top of the table and there is a shelf underneath the table top for the phone book storage and perhaps a pad of paper and a pencil. Phones were hardwired to the wall so you couldn't walk around like we can do today. And people talked (gossiped) and sat while on the phone.

I love my new little conversation piece ~ and it fits perfectly in this little corner of the catwalk!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Corn, Corn and more Corn!!! (or another little "project")

Corn here;

Corn here;

and Corn here!!!

I blanched and froze 14 1/2 dozen corn!! I cut it off of the cob and then froze it. Oh, my, GOSH is it delish or what? I think I'm going to go back and get some more to put up too. There is a little road side stand, not too far from my house with the most delicious Michigan grown corn ever. It is fresh picked daily and placed at their stand for sale. And, if you get there early the next morning you can buy a case of the corn picked the prior day for $6 ~ that's about 7 dozen ears of corn!! For $12 I put up a lot of corn. But. . .I don't think it was enough the way my family is eating it up already.

Do you freeze or can anything special? If so, what do you all put up for winter~time eating? Just curious :)

I think nothing beats the taste of fresh veggies in the dead of winter!! Yum~Yum!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

More Storage for GARAGE ~ and an Apology!!

Garage Attic Ladder

A few posts ago I showed you the wardrobe cabinets I purchased and assembled from IKEA for our garage. They are working wonderfully, especially since everyone is back in school now. . . no more shoes, purses or bookbags/messenger bags thrown all over our house.

Next, I want to show you what we also added to our garage. Another "project" we've been working on.

It's a wonderful pull-down ladder, which now gives us access to the garage attic very easily. Before my husband would have to get down the ladder each and every time we wanted to put something up in the attic, or take it down from our garage attic.
Here's hubs doing his "thing!" He's also the one who installed this wonderful ladder, with a "little" help from me :) Talented man, isn't he? I'm one blessed woman!!

Folds up and unfolds easily and quickly.

Goes back up without too much effort. It's still a bit high since our garage ceiling it so high, but we manage.

And Presto, it's done!!

We called out our electrician and had him install two lights in the attic and a switch at the top of the stairs. It makes it so much easier when we go up there than having to take a flash-light with us. My husband then laid down plywood/pressboard flooring so walking will be easier than avoiding the space between the rafters.

We have two other attics in our home. One up-stairs in the walk-in closet of the guest bedroom and the other is in our walk-in-closet on the main floor. We never store things in those areas. We have space in the garage and in our basement for storage. Also, we have that Cellulose blown in insulation and I'm telling you it makes a grand mess when we take off the cover and attempt to access the attic. No ~ thank you~~!!

I want to apologize for being such an absent blogger lately. So, here's my admission, and my apology; and now my explanation is: I've been too busy doing projects!!!! We have a short window of time here in Michigan to get the outside things (I mean like taking things outside to paint) done before winter and I've been working my tail off to get some furniture painting projects completed before it gets too cold. I've also painted our bedroom's master bathroom and will be painting our bedroom within the next few weeks as well. That's what I've been doing and I will, of course, share it all with you upon completion!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Tea Anyone?

Back into my Den.

I hope you can all see the walls a little better with these photos. And then again, maybe they are not any better than the last one I posted. The paint color is a brownish burgundy, not a cocoa brown. I receive many compliments on this color. It's called Hawaiian Cinder, a Behr paint from Home Depot.

You can see through the reflection in the mirror the windows minus the drapery toppers. I shopped for a very long time to find just exactly what I wanted for fabric. I'm happy with my choice. You can see the completed toppers in my prior post.

I posted this before, but thought I'd share again my little tea cart. I purchased this a while ago at an Amish auction. I still love it. The top removes and becomes a tray for serving. The inside opens for storing tea pots and tea cups.


And this is my cloche. It was my birthday gift last year from my mom and dad. I love it in here with tea-cups stacked up underneath it.

Right now I'm working on a sleigh bed I purchased from Craig's List. It wasn't in the best shape, but is looking wonderful now. I also painted our master bedroom's bathroom yesterday. I think fall is the best time for painting, don't you? You'll have to wait until both the bedroom and bathroom are completed and I'll give you all a tour. I'm loving how it's turning out!!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Another Little Project DONE!!!

Another little project finished. . . drapery toppers for our Den

*Edited: Hey everyone, thank you so much for your lovely comments. A few of you complimented me on the lovely shade of cocoa brown on my walls. I know it's really hard to distinguish by the photograph, but the walls and drapery toppers are a shade of burgundy. Dark, rich, brownish burgundy! I hope you all like it still :) I poured over colors for weeks to find the correct shade. Not too pink, not too purple, you know how hard it it with reds!!

When we finished our basement my husband moved his office into that space and moved out of the Den. He gave me the Den. Lucky me. So, out went the old toppers and then I needed something new to coordinate with "my feel." I sewed these toppers last week and hung them up. I wanted something with a Victorian feel, but I didn't want a heavy drape on both sides of the windows. We have the most wonderful sun shining in through those window. Hey, we live in Michigan. . . when the sun is shining I WANT TO SEE IT AND FEEL IT!! I love this room. It's my "little tea room."



I'll share additional projects that have been eating up my time within a few days :) .

Blessings. . . until next time,

We had the most wonderful time at the 2008 Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio!! My mom and I left Michigan on Friday morning around 9:30 AM and arrived in Columbus by 1:30. It rained on and off most of the day ~ but we didn't care. . . at. . . all!! We had our umbrellas and we had on our boots and on we went!!

We came back on Saturday morning and stayed until the Fair closed at 5:00 PM. Saturday was beautiful. It rained hard in the morning, but cleared up by 10:00 AM when the Fair opened.

What a surprise it was to enter the Country Living Store and find the Editor-In-Chief, Nancy Soriano greeting visitors and personally autographing Country Living books. So, of course, I had to buy a few!!

Nancy is such a sweet lady. It was a pleasure to meet her!!

We attended several seminars. The above seminar was on "Sweat Equity" ~ putting the most into our homes to get the most out of our homes.

My favorite demonstration was on fall decorating for the home. Wonderful, informational and simple things anyone could do.

This was just a gathering of simple nature items found in the woods, forest, yard and placed in this lovely arrangement.

Gourds were simply sanded and then waxed with Butcher's Wax for a wonderful shine. We were told that gourds can last for years. Some displayed were over 8 years old. Of course, I purchased 3 Gourd to give it a try for myself :)

Another shot down a street ~ felt like I was living in the magazine for a few days.


We drove home yesterday and were caught in the rain and winds of IKE. We left our hotel around noon, stopped for brunch and came home. Wow, it poured hard and made driving very difficult. But thankfully, we arrived home safely.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour with me. Hopefully, we can all go next year :) ~

Blessings. . . until next time,

Home from the Fair!!

I'm home from the Country Living Fair in Columbus, OH. I had the most wonderful time. I will post pictures later today. Of course, I got my camera all ready to take and left it on the dresser. That's the stuff I do when I'm rushing around folks. Anyways, my mom brought her camera, which she generously allowed me to use. . . all weekend long!!

Back in a few hours :)

R E M E M B E R I N G!!

Remembering the lives lost, and those whose lives were changed forever, on that terrible day 7 years ago.

Continue to pray for peace and God's mercy and blessings upon our country.

DON'T FORGET 9-11-01



Blessings. . . until next time,

ANOTHER PROJECT FINISHED!!!

Storage. . . can never have enough. That's my motto ~ especially if you have girls and their shoes!!

Our girls like to keep their shoes in our garage. They usually kick them off before entering the door to come into the house (that part is good ~ the shoe pile-up was bad). I went to IKEA and purchased three wardrobes. I knew while shopping that huge IKEA store that I must find something with doors to hide the mess. BINGO, when I found these. I assembled them myself thank~you~very~much!! One for each daughter to keep their coats and shoes and one for hubby and I for our shoes. Hubby and I keep most of our shoes in our bedroom closet. . . the girls NOT. We also hang our coats in the hall closet ~since we only have one or two compared to our girls MANY!!

This is what I purchased from IKEA (good prices, but everything must be assembled):

After assembling, this is what I ended up with:

They can now keep their books and backpacks in here too ~ less mess in the house!!


This is what I started with before I began my project:

Much better don't you think? I even have a little spot for notes, the dog leash and my love notes to the girls on the chalk board, which says "Pick-up Shoes, Mom!!"

The old shoe shelves I scrubbed and cleaned and they are now in my hall way closet to hold my over flow of canned good from the pantry. Recycled them nicely.

I have a few more projects that I've been working on that I will be showing you within a few days too!

Blessings. . . until next time,

Thank you Bo from Blinks and Winks from Brown Eyes for passing a long this award to me. I'm flattered. The Beautiful ARTE Y PICO Award

Now I must choose 5 bloggers and pass it along to them. YOU KNOW I CAN NEVER just pick five ~ so, I pick ANYONE who wants to play ~ you're TAGGED :)

Blessings. . . until next time,

COUNTRY LIVING 2008 FAIR!!!

This time next week, I'm planning on attending the Country Living 2008 Fair in Columbus, Ohio
This is a picture from the Country Living web site. I guess it's the line waiting to get into the Fair. Don't you think they would post a picture more exciting than this? I'm guessing the photo was really about capturing the banner. What do you think? Don't the people look bored? I think I would have posted some lovely Fall pictures, some wonderful vendors maybe, a work shop or two. I love the ad in their magazine. That looks exciting and made me want to attend. It states:

Bigger and Better Than Last Year

And In A New Ohio Location

Join us in Columbus at the Historic Ohio Village, September 12-14,

for the 3rd annual Country Living Fair. Shop the more than 100

exhibitor booths for antiques, vintage furnishings, gifts, crafts, and

collectibles. Enjoy cooking demonstrations in the Country

Living kitchen designed by the Workshops of David t. Smith.

Attend free decorating and crafting seminars, including pumpkin

carving and floral arranging. And join Editor-in-Chief Nancy Soriano

for three days of shopping and fun family activities!

Anyways, I have my tickets to attend all three days, got my hotel reservations for two nights and I have my directions ~ from Michigan to Ohio. My mom wants to attend with me so she and Dad will drive down on Thursday, spend the night with us and Mom and I will take off in the AM.

Oh, I think it will be. . . so. . . much. . . fun!! If not, I'll be heading home early. Especially, if I'm standing in a line like that most of the day :)

Are any of you planning on attending? This will be the first time I've attended this Fair.

I have some projects I want to share with you all. Yes, I've been working hard around here. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to post these projects for you within the next few days.

Hope to see you at the Fair!

Blessings. . . until next time,

My New Find

Don't you love when you find just the right little accessory? Last week while scanning Marshall's (yes I love Marshall's and TJ Maxx) ~ I came across this absolutely ~ must ~ have ~ wreath holder. It has an aged ivory crackle paint ~ and a little nest with three baby birds (they are waiting for their momma to feed them) The little nest of baby birds is removable to accommodate placing on a wreath. The momma (also removable) is a little farther up the wreath holder lovingly feeding her babes.

When the wreath is placed on the holder. . . it looks like it is part of the wreath ~ adorable little birdies on top of the wreath. . . waiting to be feed. *sigh* Don't you just love when you find just the perfect little accessory? And all for only $12.99 too!

Blessings. . . until next time,