HEADING TO OUR COTTAGE!!

I took this picture at Christmastime. Yes, that's the last time we have been up to our "little cottage in the woods!" We're heading up in a few hours. We. . . can't. . . wait!

Hopefully, the snow will have melted some since our Christmas visit. We'll see. Thankfully, we pay to keep our driveway cleared so we don't have to shovel upon arrival. I'm planning on taking pictures of our "little cottage in the woods" to share with you all. I will post these pictures next week. I've not shown you inside pictures yet. It's small, it's quaint, and it's all ours. My hubby and I built this little gem ourselves. Yes, like with a hammer and nails, built ourselves. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing, but I do take direction well. . . or so my hubby tells me ;)

Blessings. . . until next time,

CHEAP ART!!

Cruising the Aisles at Walmart:

I needed something for one wall in our master bathroom. . . but I'm cheap :)
It needed to be of a substantial size too, but like I said, I'm cheap :)

While cruising the aisles of Walmart, I came across this awesome faux oil like-painting for $10. Now that's more like it! But, I thought it would look better framed, but again, I'm cheap :)

So, I found this frame on clearance for $3 because it was missing the glass. Perfect! I didn't want/need the glass anyways.

I used some left over foam-core board and some ribbon I purchased at Michael's after Christmas clearance for $.25 a spool. It's a Harlequin pattern and I loved it. I wasn't sure what I would use it for at the time, but I knew I had to have it.

Grabbed some black felt I keep on hand for backing my "creations" and went to work. I hot glued the picture to the foam core, then used the staple gun to staple it through both from the back for extra strength. (The picture has a wooden backing.) I then added ribbon around the picture and stapled on a length of ribbon to use as a "hanger." I then covered the entire back with black felt.

And there you have it. Cheap bathroom art for a total of $13! Now that's more like it :)

Blessings. . . until next time,

MASTER BEDROOM BATHROOM ~ COMPLETED!!

It's finally finished!!

. . .Way back in October this project began. I painted our master bathroom a lovely Benjamin Moore Aganthus Green, then went on to start painting our master bedroom. Remember my accident? I slipped, hurt my back, spent a little time in the hospital, then physical therapy, etc., etc., etc. Then the holidays hit; Thanksgiving, CHRISTmas, New Years. I've just now had a chance to finished up this room. A good winter project I thought. Cold, snow and staying inside and finishing up some things around here. I just finished the drapery topper on Thursday evening and hung it up. So, come with me for a little tour.

The above picture is entering our bathroom from the master bedroom. The clock was from from T.J. Maxx on clearance for $10, the Eiffel Tower lamp ~ a garage sale find for $5 this summer. I still need to spray paint the light switch cover and the toilet paper holder satin black, but that will have to wait until spring for warmer weather.



Rotate slightly to the left and you will see the Jacuzzi tub (with the towels hanging up that I embroidered on my little workhorse embroidery machine). The towel holder is simply two corbels, which I had my hubby cut a piece of PVC pipe to place in between. I must have had these corbels for almost 20 years, honestly. They have been used for everything you can image. Shelves, drapery rod holders, bookends and every color you can image too; mauve, green, gold. I sprayed painted it all black and made a towel rack for my tubby soaks. I also recovered the stool with black and white toile fabric. It was a garage sale find 8 years ago and has been painted and recovered a few times to fit in with my latest bathroom decor. There are three pillars the far one on the left is not in the picture. I purchased the three of them for $15 a few years ago at a garage sale and repainted them. The pictures above the towel holder are from Marshalls. The faux shrub/plants were 2 for $5 at a garage sale. They needed repainting, which I did. The little urn (soap keeper) was $4 at a garage sale.

Here is the drapery topper I completed Thursday evening. I used the same fabric and trim fabric that I used in our master bedroom. A mounting board makes a nice, neat looking treatment; my husband is always willing to cut a length of pine to my requirements. He knows how much money I save us by sewing our own draperies and I know how much he saves us by doing so many home projects himself. We compliment each other very well I guess :) and for that, we're blessed!!
Rotate a bit more to the left and the little room attached is the "Commode Room." Well, I'm not exactly sure what to call it ~ so it's our commode room LOL!! It contains the potty and a linen closet. The door can be closed for privacy :) Over the potty are two cute little glass floating shelves found for $1/each at a garage sale this fall. The metal bracket was white and I sprayed them black satin for a better fit. They look like they are just floating in the air. I really like them in this spot ~ not a heavy look at all.

Rotate left again and here is the sink/vanity area. I'm not completely done here. I have an idea. . . I purchased a router at a garage sale this fall and I'm going to use it to notch out the back of some molding I have which matches the cabinets. You know, notch out a spot in the back of the molding to accommodate those ugly mirror hangers? This molding will then be placed around the standard, builder mirror. Hopefully, it will work as I have planned out. . . in my head :) and it will give this a nice, custom finish.

Now, we're back out the door and into the master bedroom.

And, if you'll excuse me please. . . I think I'll go soak in my nice Jacuzzi tub and admire my hard work. Ahhh!! It's the little things that make me happy.

Blessings. . . until next time,

Just A Little Something!

I actually did this "little" project before CHRISTmas, but got so busy I forgot to blog about it :)

One day while finishing up my CHRISTmas shopping I was walking through Wal-Mart. . . I took a short cut through the sewing department (yes, I am blessed, our Wal-mart still has a fabric/sewing department, thankfully!) While taking this shortcut I noticed a little area of trim on clearance. This particular trim caught my eye and I stopped to examine it further. $1.00/yard on clearance??!! Hmmmm, may just be enough to trim out my dining room lamps. I bought the remainder of what was on the little bolt, finished my shopping and came home.

I measured it on the shades when I arrived home. Hmmm, again, may just be enough! Like just enough. Like the perfect amount!

Down to my basement Work Room I went (more on that later ~ this has been my personally declared - Organize your Work Room week - hopefully, I'll be able to move around a bit better when I'm finished organizing).

Out came the hot glue gun (always keep a bowl of iced water near by for instant relief to those finger burning accidents - which will occur! Gee, wonder how I know that?)

Not bad for a couple of bucks and a couple of minutes for my time.

Blessings. . . until next time,

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~ 2009!!

Happy New Year

Dear Friends!!

Welcome 2009!!

Another year closes and a new one begins. Isn't that exciting? It's a time of new beginnings, fresh starts and things renewed. I'm excited! It's been a wonderful 2008 getting to know so many new friends through blogging. I never thought when I began this blogging journey in 2007 that I would come to love it as much as I do. I feel like so many of you have become close, personal friends to me too. I've enjoyed checking in on all of you and getting to know you and your families as well. And, wink, wink ~ just what you're all up to :)

I'm looking forward to some down-time now that the holidays are over. I've taken down all the CHRISTmas decor and placed it back in its proper storage location. I worked very hard today to get it done too. Doesn't everything seem so clean and fresh when it's all back to normal? Our youngest told me it's not called clean and fresh, but BARE! This is my time to clean-out, purge and re-organize our household, try new recipes and just NEST in my own personal BLISS *sigh* . Now, doesn't that sound wonderful???

Blessings. . . until next time,

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME. . . THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!

Ya-Hoo we're heading home today!!

I really didn't want to come up to the cottage this year after CHRISTmas. I just didn't feel up to it. I have so many things I wanted to finish at home and I'm. . . just. . .plain tired out after CHRISTmas. But hubs loves his cottage and wants to spend every second here he can. He has a highly stressful job, so if this little place is a piece of heaven for him, I'm right here with him.

But. . . he decided we should go home (Yeah!!) due to the storm a brewing later today. Yes, more snow!! We left for the cottage on Saturday afternoon. Yeah, it was fun at home Saturday morning trying to pack to leave too. Our power went out just as I was getting ready for the day. I packed, put on my make-up by candlelight, and my hair, oh, let's not even go there. Just think, no blow dryer, no curling irons, aauugghh!!

It was so foggy the last half of the drive to our cottage that I was scared to death!! I honestly think we could only see about 2 feet in front of our car at times. That is too dangerous for my liking. I was praying the entire time. We arrived at the cottage to find the guy we hire to plow our driveway DIDN'T - this time!! We called and got his voice mail and he came out the next morning with his snow truck/plow. Too late, we still had to truck in ALL our stuff from the street upon arrival because there was 3' of snow in our driveway. No way was our car going to plow through that stuff. The snowplow guy put us on the wrong list. The "plow when I get a call list" and not the "plow when we get 3" of snow list!" Hopefully, he made the correction!!! He did apologize, so that was nice.

It's very windy and cold right now so the kids don't want to go outside sledding, or skating ~ the usual things they do up here. So we went to see Marley and Me yesterday. Great movie, the ending stinks. That's all I'm going to say. It's a movie that you are laughing at until the last 10 minutes, then you're crying.

So, I'm off to pack up the cottage now and head home. Home. . . it's where I want to be.

Blessings. . . until next time,

IS IT REALLY OVER ALREADY!!!!?????!!!!

Happens every year. . .all the wrapping, shopping, baking, cleaning, cooking, entertaining, decorating then * poof * and it's all over!!

Well, did you all have a wonderful CHRISTmas celelebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus?? I hope you and your family had a great CHRISTmas with lots of memories and plenty of pictures. We had a wonderful CHRISTmas, but we forgot to take pictures on CHRISTmas Day, can you believe that? We got too busy opening presents, cleaning up the wrappings, making dinner, cleaning up dinner, etc., etc.

We were supposed to head up to our cottage early Friday morning, but the weather did not cooperate with us. We had a lot of freezing rain/ice ~ so we decided to stay home an extra day or so until it the roads are safe. What's an extra day to wait for safety? It was a wonderful day too. We. . . did. . . NOTHING. Just rested. Boy, did I need that!

We'll head up in the morning when the temperatures have risen a bit. Then, while at the cottage, I'll make our family's favorite Bean Soup with our leftover ham bone. That, with a fire, with our family, at the cottage *sigh* doesn't get any better than that :)

Enjoy your family time!!

Blessings until next time,

Merry CHRISTmas & Happy New Year!!

Merry CHRISTmas dear friends!!

I hope everyone has a most wonderful, peaceful and Merry CHRISTmas with their friends and family.

My husband is not traveling this week, so we're enjoying some time together. We actually went to a movie this evening and saw "Four Christmases." I was somewhat disappointed. It's the kind of movie that I wish I had waited to see on DVD and not spend good money on at the theater. Do you know what I mean? Like OK, but not GREAT!

Our 14 year old has her last day of school tomorrow. Yeah, I know!! A lot of schools are out already. Their last day was Friday. Our district has "winter break" for a week in February so we have to go a few extra days just before Christmas. It's actually OK with me. I mean what are people really supposed to do with geeked up kids a few days before CHRISTmas anyways? But, the flip side is, what are people supposed to do with bored kids, in February, in Michigan, in the middle of winter????

I'm going to be taking a break from blogging probably through the holidays to enjoy the season with my family. I hope you enjoy your CHRISTmas and New Year too.

. . . and please remember during all the shopping, wrapping, running, decorating, baking, eating ~ to take time to remember why we celebrate CHRISTmas. The ULTIMATE gift we could ever receive. The birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord for sending us your son ~ to save your people ~ to make it possible for us to have eternal life through HIM. Thank you, thank you. Amen!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!!

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PAST HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL :)

Yes, I live in Michigan. The Lord "blessed" us again with a fresh, pure, blanket of the the white stuff. We had a huge dumping of snow on Friday morning (like 12" of the fluffy white stuff). EVERYTHING was shut down and cancelled. School, colleges, businesses, entertainment events. . . the ROADS!!

It's funny, after spending time in San Antonio (during the end of May) where it was hot and humid and hot and humid and over 100 degrees. . . I don't complain anymore. Personally, I'd rather have the snow and cold! Yes, seriously. Even our 14 1/2 year old is not complaining anymore about the snow and cold. She was actually wishing for snow when we were dying from the heat exhaustion while visiting San Antonio. Yes, Texas is a beautiful state. I actually "lived" in the Dallas/Fort Worth area one summer. It was hot, but dry. Big, big difference to us northerners anyways. That humidity can kick your fanny and leave you exhausted. I think it's just whatever we are accustomed to ~ whatever you've been raised in becomes your "norm."

I'm prepared. We have bread, milk and all the food we need. My Christmas presents are purchased and wrapped and are under the tree. Everything has been purchased for Christmas dinner and I'm just enjoying the "homeboundness" ~ is that even a word? Well, it is now!

I'm sure those in the southern states prepare for ungodly hot weather as we here in the north prepare for our snow. Get all your "stuff" done and out of the way. . . and just stay in the house.

Yeah, we'll be in here for a while. We are expecting another dumping of snow tomorrow night, Sunday. Of course, our 14 1/2 year old is hoping for another snow day. They are scheduled to attend classes through Tuesday, then off. We'll see.

Blessings. . . until next time,

CHRISTMAS DISHES

I almost forgot to show you my CHRISTmas dishes!

A few years ago, while out doing my thing (garage/yard sales) I came across this lovely CHRISTmas set of Farberware dishes. I always thought it would be so nice to have a set of dishes for just CHRISTmas, but didn't want to spend the money. Some sets are kind of pricey for only using one month of the year.


This was a complete set of 8, including a large meat tray, serving bowl, creamer, sugar and teapot. It was only $10!! AND it was in perfect condition. Not even a chip on them.

The pattern is White Christmas, making them all the more special. I have always loved the movie and have seen the play twice ~ so I knew I had found my CHRISTmas set of dishes. The price was right, the name was right. They were PERFECT!!

Blessings. . . until next time,

MEGA BATCH OF CANDY

Do you like peanut clusters? We do, especially at CHRISTmas time! (For those of you coming over from Darlene's Blog (Our Creative Life) for the "Cookie Recipe Swap" ~ Darlene asked me to link up my candy recipe too. Hope you all don't mind!

Here's the recipe for a huge batch of these babies. They're really easy to make when you use the crock pot. Just dump all the ingredients into the crock and let them slowly melt together. They are yummy, yummy too!!

Peanut Clusters

1 (16 oz.) jar unsalted peanuts
1 (16 oz.) jar salted peanuts
1 (12 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (12 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips
2 (12 oz.) bags peanut butter chips
2 (1 lb.) packages White Almond Bark/Vanilla Candy Coating break into pieces

Layer ingredients, in order listed, into (4 quart or larger) crock pot. Turn the pot on low, cover it with a lid. Allow to melt for two hours, then stir to mix. Replace lid and continue melting ingredients for another 30 minutes.. Check to see if almond bark is melted, and if so, stir and spoon mixture onto wax paper. Allow to cool/harden - 1 hour or so before removing.

You can see it makes a large amount. Just perfect for holiday gifting to friends and neighbors. Monday I'm taking a large tray of candy, cookies and Pizzelles to our youngest daughter's school for the teacher's lounge. So, I'll once again be cranking out those Pizzelles. If only I could keep my family out of them LOL!

Blessings,

WE'RE NOT ITALIAN, BUT WE LOVE PIZZELLES

Pizzelles are the perfect little cookie to have with a cup of coffee or tea. I have always loved them ever since I was a little girl. I had an aunt who made them every year at Christmas time. Yummy, yum. Her hubby was Italian and she learned to make them from her mother-in-law. Lucky lady. I looked forward to these special treats every year. That was long, long ago. . . .


Besides knowing how much I loved Pizzelles, all I knew was that they were made with a special Pizzelle waffle iron; which I didn't have. . .so I couldn't make them.

Until. . . this fall. While garage/yard sale shopping I came across an almost new-like Pizzelle waffle iron!! Can you believe that???? The owner told me she had purchased it only to make Pizzelles for her daughter's wedding. She had not used it since and has no desired to use it again. She had a price of only $5 on this treasure.



It also included the original instructions and the "Classic Pizzelle" recipe. I asked if I could plug it in just to make sure it worked. (I didn't test something once and after getting it home found it didn't work ~ bummer!) Oh yes, this little baby was mine once it started to heat.

I was a happy girl making these babies!! And my family was happy too when these Pizzelles were finished. Now my family loves them too and it will become part of our Christmas tradition from now on :) .

Blessings. . . until next time,

WHAT'S UP WITH THAT???!!!!????

OK friends, help me out here!!



What's up with the attack on holiday sweaters????? Everyone is making fun of them, swearing they would never want to receive one for a gift (don't worry family/friends, I've never gifted anyone with a CHRISTmas sweater and I don't have any future plans to do so either). I've heard ladies saying they would never be caught dead in one, blogging pictures of them wearing holiday sweaters in the past years and asking "what were they thinking???" blah, blah, blah.


Yeah, that picture is one of my holiday sweaters ~ I have several :) I love to wear them with jeans and a turtle neck the same color as the sweater background. I mean, doesn't everyone? Guess not!


Maybe it's because I'm 49 I don't see any thing wrong with wearing them. Is it an age thingy maybe? I mean, I can't see our 14 1/2 year old or our 21 wearing one, but does everyone feel like that????

. . . just wondering friends, just wondering.

Blessings. . . until next time,

HOLIDAY HOUSE TOUR!!

Welcome to our Home!

Thank you Tracey from Notes from a Cottage Industry for hosting the Holiday Tour again this year.
Merry CHRISTmas and welcome to our home!! I know you have a lot of homes to visit today, so I won't talk to you much on your tour :)

Don't you think I would have seen this pillow knocked down before I took this picture???!!! I love this pillow too. It says "Be Naughty ~ Save Santa the Trip!"

May you have a wonderful Christmas with many special memories to treasure with family and friends. Remember through all the hustle and bustle that JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Blessings. . . until next time,