Y’all! I had such plans for sharing the make over of these pretty canisters with you, but no. It’s been raining most of the week which is not conducive to spray paint. So what have I got for you? Flowers, painting and a clean house. Well, an almost clean house. Mostly.

Clean house

The week started out well.

As part of my Spring cleaning frenzy, I cleaned, decorated and shined up the front porch.

In case you missed it, you can see it here.

Flowers

Due to February’s ice storm a ton of our shrubs bit the dust.

So I’ve been digging those up and replacing them.

I’ve also been so thankful for the perennials in the garden that did survive.

For the first time in I don’t know how many years, not one plant in my pots over wintered.

Which means starting from scratch.

I’m going to look at this as a blessing.

I get to choose whatever plant I want to replace the old ones.

IF I can find it.

Plants are not plentiful this year.

At all.

However, I’m trying to enjoy what I am able to find.

I’m trying to plant the rainbow.

Lots of happy colors.

Painting

I’ve also been painting.

A lot!

Over the past few months, I decided to sign up for a few art classes.

The first class is one where you paint door hangers with a few other creative, fun things thrown in.

There is a new one every week.

Honestly, there are  so many that I’ve been giving my sister’s  a few here and there.

They are very quick and fun to paint.

Plus, I look forward to the class every Thursday night.

A little me time.

This one is one of my favorites.

So much so, that when I cleaned the front porch I hung it up on my front door!

I’ve loved painting so much that I signed up for another 2 day course to learn how to paint these crazy flowers.

Totally out of my wheel house, but I had the BEST time doing it.

I guess an old dog can learn a few new tricks!

So, I hope you will forgive me since all I’ve got to show for my week is flowers, painting and a clean house.

’til next time!

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Spring has sprung and It is officially time to begin the Spring cleaning. So let’s start with cleaning your Spring front porch. Here in North Texas it has been a pollen fest for about a month now. I’m talking yellow powder so thick you could write your name in it. The allergy count is off the charts. I say it’s time for pollen to hit the road!

Clean

I would never tell you what cleaning products to use, as we all have our favorites, but I will share how I get my porch ready for Spring.

As with any room you start cleaning at the top and work your way down.

My porch was relatively clean so I just swept the ceiling with a broom, getting rid of any dirt, dust or cob webs.

Once that was done, I did the same to the walls and floor.

Every other year I power wash the entire porch.

While I’m up on the ceiling I also clean all light fixtures.

Wash Windows and Doors

After cleaning the entire porch, I wash windows.

Since my front door also has a window on it, I go ahead and clean that as well.

Make sure you not only get the window and door, but also the handle and lock as well.

It’s amazing how a clean front door can change the entire look of your front porch!

Clean Furniture

If you have furniture on your front porch now would be the time to clean it.

If you look directly below where I’m cleaning you can see just how thick the pollen is!

Clean not only the hard surface of the furniture, but also any cushions or pillows  as  well.

Plant Flowers

Now that we’ve finished cleaning your Spring front porch, it’s time to add the front porch jewelry!

Plant flowers.

Clean out your pots, dust them off, load them with new potting soil and plant away.

Decorate

Sweep the front porch one more time, then bring out the Spring decor.

I like to start at the front door.

Add a rug for some color and texture.

Then, on top of the rug, add a fun door mat.

There are so many fun ones out there it’s hard to choose which one to use.

This one is from last year.

I’m going to use it until I find a new one for summer.

Add a Wreath or Door Hanger to your front door.

Nothing screams welcome like a pretty front door.

I recently joined classes to paint front door hangers and I am having so much fun!

We paint 3 new ones each month.

This one was from last week and I can’t wait to paint this weeks door hanger.

I can tell that I will need to gift a few of my hangers, cause I only have so many doors to decorate.

It’s a good problem to have!

Sit back and enjoy your Spring porch!

We’ve cleaned everything from top to bottom, we’ve added new plants and gave the front porch a few decorations.

Now, all that’s left is to enjoy the fruits of our labor!

One “room” down 13 or so more to go.

Until next time….

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Hey friends! It’s $10 on the 10th. This months theme is Ladybugs. Not gonna lie, I had to pull out the extra creative juices on this one, but I’m pretty happy with what I ended up with. Spring means planting season here in Texas. Which means that we are outside a lot more. When my boys were little I always tried to find a fun outdoor activity to keep them busy while I gardened. Since our theme is Ladybugs, it only stands to reason that I would think of a Ladybug bug box!

I picked up this colorful bug box at my local Dollar Tree.

It is so fun and colorful, however it was a little plain.

It needed a little something extra.

Plus, if you have more than one little it’s always good to do something that lets each child know who’s bug box is who’s.

Nobody needs a squabble going on while work is getting done!

Step 1

To make my bug box extra special, I cut out this vinyl ladybug on my Silhouette.

If you don’t have a cutting machine there are a ton of vinyl stickers available at craft stores.

Step 2

Apply the vinyl transfer to the bug box.

Step 4

Add extra embellishments.

I added a few “dashes” to show the ladybug’s flight.

On the back side I added the child’s name.

My Ladybug box is done!

I found this magnifying glass at Hobby Lobby and couldn’t resist adding it to the box.

Super easy and guaranteed to keep littles busy!

Now please join me in visiting the other bloggers to see what Ladybug things they came up with.

Patti – Pandora’s Box

Allyson – Southern Sunflowers

Terrie – Decorate And More With Tip

Barbara – French Ethereal

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Hey, friends! Welcome to this months DIY Challenge. This month Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip challenged us to create a high end dupe. What’s a high end dupe? In my house it’s basically making something that is way out of your budget or something that you think you can make rather than spend a large amount of money on. So what’s my high end dupe? It’s a monogramed wastebasket.

If you are coming here from Liberty’s at B4 and After, welcome! I’m so glad that you are here!

That’s right, you read wastebasket.

Which for me is a fancy trashcan.

I recently saw this bathroom wastebasket and fell in love with it.

Until I saw the price.

It was $80.00 before the monogram.

Nope.  It’s not a huge amount of money, but more than I’m willing to spend for a trashcan.

However it occurred to me that it wouldn’t be too difficult to make my own.

I started searching on-line for one with a similar shape.

However, I couldn’t find one that I really liked in that shape.

This is the sad stainless steel one that has been in my guest bath for awhile now.

I figured if I were going to buy one of similar shape I might as well use this one instead of buying a new one.

Plus, somehow something got spilled on the inside that refuses to come off.

Believe me, I’ve tried everything.

So, if I messed it up, no big.

Step 1

I cleaned the stainless steel trashcan with hot soap and water.

Once it had dried thoroughly, I wiped it down with alcohol.

Step 2

Give the trashcan several coats of gold metallic spray paint.

The trick here for nice even coverage is to do several light coats until you have reached the desired coverage.

Let dry overnight.

Step 3

Tape off the areas that you want to remain gold.

For my trashcan, I wanted the top 1/2 inch and the bottom pedestal to be gold.

Then give the trashcan several light coats of white spray paint.

Step 4

Remove the tape immediately after the last coat of white spray paint.

I cannot stress how important this step is!

If you leave the tape on overnight while the paint is drying you run the risk of the paint peeling off.

Let the white spray paint dry overnight.

At this point, inspect the trashcan to see if it needs any paint touch ups.

Step 5

I decided to go with a double wedding monogram just like my high end wastebasket had.

To do this, I went online and found a style of font similar to the one on the wastebasket, printed each letter out.

Once I had the letters printed, using tracing paper, I laid traced the letter L, then laid the traced letter on top of the second printed letter and traced that.

This made my double monogram.

Use transfer or carbon paper to transfer your monogram onto your trashcan.

Step 6:

Using gold metallic paint and a small liner brush, I painted in my monogram.

It took me 4 coats to get the metallic paint thick enough that I couldn’t see through it.

Be sure to make as smooth of strokes as possible, to ensure a smooth finish.

This was my first coat.

As you can see it’s pretty transparent and my strokes aren’t that smooth.

The uneven strokes caused me to have to put more layers of paint on than I would have liked.

Step 7

To protect both the inside and outside of the wastebasket, I spayed several coats of Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze on it.

And this is the finished monogramed wastebasket.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

The best part?

I cost me nothing as I already had everything on hand.

Now, please join me in visiting Terrie at Decorate and More With Tip and all of my other fellow bloggers to see what wonderful upscale dupes they created.

Decorate and More with Tip | Sweet Southern Grace

Cloches and Lavender | Purple Hues and Me

B4 and Afters | Patina and Paint

Blue Sky At Home

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Have you ever shopped at Buc-ee’s? I know... there are some of you that think that Buc-ee’s is a gas station that has great food and the cleanest public bathrooms in Texas. And you would be correct. BUT… shopping at Buc-ee’s is  also a great place to shop for just about everything you could imagine from fire pits to t-shirts to home decor.

We recently met on of our sons at a Buc-ee’s  about an hour from our home.

Of course, I made sure we had a little extra time to browse through all the shopping goodness.

The main reason that I started “shopping” at Buc-ee’s was their huge supply of Mud Pie.

Mud Pie is truly one of my favorite lines.

This time around I found the cutest measuring spoons.

I’m obsessed with these sweet little glass jars.

Those glass knobs on top are just the cutest!

I had no idea what I would do with them, so I left them at the store, but I keep coming back to their cuteness.

My brain is on overload thinking how I could use them.

I also saw this line of pottery that was super pretty!

That butter dish is just the sweetest.

They also have a good collection of Round Top items.

Also a favorite of mine.

As I was taking this photo, The Hubs walked up and asked what I was going to do with them.

My reply: ” I have no idea, but they sure are pretty!”

That earned me a huge eye roll.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I will find a crown if there’s one to be found.

These wine glasses were calling to me from the moment I walked in!

Mama loves her some shiny.

Truth.

You can’t get much more southern than this, or more accurate.

Too stinking cute.

Honestly, I have no idea what the inside of this book looks like, but if it’s as pretty as the outside I feel as if we all need a copy. They had me at the hydrangeas.

And that blue…

I have to say that if there were any negatives to shopping at Buc-ee’s – other than the huge amount of people who are always there – it would be that these beautifully colored bins were a display and not for sale!

They were in several places around the store.

Which had me running around to all of them looking for a price tag.

I was like a spider monkey jacked up on Mt. Dew.

Sadly, a worker asked if he could help me and I was emphatically told that they were not for sale.

At this point The Hubs escorted me from the store ending my shopping adventure.

If you get a chance to shop at Buc-ee’s, GO!

Until next time…

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One of the questions that I get asked a lot is how to store throw pillows and pillow covers. So this Week in our Decorate With Me video series, Terri from Decorate and More With Tip and I are answering that question!

If there is one thing that I decorate with in almost every room of my house, it’s throw pillows.

Of course I’m excluding the bathrooms and the kitchen!

Here are just a few places you will find them in my home.

The Library.

Guest bedrooms.

Master bedroom.

They are even outside.

I love them!

However, after a while of buying pillows for every season, every color etc. you start accumulating a huge selection of pillows in every color, shape and size.

Often you have no place to store them.

I’ll be honest, the storage issue had me looking at whether or not to buy actual pillows.

So much so that for the most part, I’ve chosen to invest in good pillow forms and pillow covers instead of an actual pillow.

When I do buy pillows I store them in labeled bins.

The bins are then stored in the top of one of my guest room closets.

As you can see this isn’t perfect as it takes up a huge amount of space.

One of the reasons that I love to use pillow coves is that they fold up nicely and are easy to store in a small space.

I’m lucky enough to have 2 empty drawers in my guest bedroom to store them in.

Drawer number 1 has pillow covers that fit pillows that are 16″ and 18″.

If you look closely you can see that I’ve labeled the inside of the drawer where they should be placed.

Drawer number 2 has all of my 20 – 22 inch pillow covers.

Not only are they sorted by size, but by color and pattern.

This makes it super easy to find the cover I need at a glance.

3 Quick Tips to help keep your Pillows and Covers tidy and in great shape!

1. Organize your pillows and covers by shape and color.
2. Once a year check your pillows and covers to see if you have used them, if not donate them or give them to a friend. This opens up space for ones you will use and keeps them from getting overcrowded. Over crowding causes wrinkles and disorganization.
3. Before placing your covers or pillows back into their drawer or bin check to see if they need to be cleaned or mended. Nothing is worse than pulling out a pillow and finding that it is stained or has a tear.

What if you don’t have an empty drawer or space in the top of an unused closet?

Since pillow covers are small and fold up nice and tidy there are tons of storage options.

Under bed storage, small containers like the ones I use for pillow storage, or pop up cloth cubes are great options to consider.

I hope that I helped answer how to store  throw pillows and pillow covers for you!

Be sure to check out how Terrie is storing her pillows here!

Until next time…

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Easter is just around the corner and it won’t be long before we will be taking down the bunnies and the sweet Spring decor. I think of this time of year as the in between time.  Too early for full on Summer, but I don’t want to decorate totally in Spring decor either. So how do we decorate right now? I like to transition slowly from Spring into Summer. In all honestly, I’m really ready to get outside and plant! With that in mind, today I’m sharing my Spring to Summer kitchen.

The first thing that I do is CLEAN!

Clean from the ceiling to the floor.

Scrub the oven and sink, mop and wax the floor and shine up your appliances.

Take everything off of the countertops and clean those as well.

It’s also a great time to clean out the cabinets and drawers.

Donate what you haven’t used in a year, throw away anything that doesn’t work, is chipped or broken.

Add Fresh Flowers.

This is the perfect time to bring the outside in.

If you do nothing else, clean and treat yourself to fresh flowers or greenery.

Throw open a few windows and let in a breeze.

Add a few plants or greenery.

Again, bring the outside in!

Chances are you don’t have access to cut flowers yet and if you don’t want the weekly expense of buying fresh flowers, plants are the way to go.

Don’t have a green thumb?

No shame in that game, go faux!

This time  of year green plants mentally put you in a good mood and get you looking forward to summer.
So bring on the green!

Don’t forget to give your nose a treat!

Let’s face it, if it looks clean and smells inviting then odds are you want to spend more time in that room.

Add in a new floral or fruit scented hand soap and candle.

Right now I’m really enjoying this Bath and Body Rose Water and Hibiscus hand soap.

It makes me feel like I’m in the garden even when I’m not.

If you are like my BFF and are on candle restriction ( You must remember to blow them out!) then try a scented wax burner or oil diffuser system.

Your nose will thank you!

Add a fresh, new hand towel.

There is nothing like a fresh new hand towel to dress up your kitchen!

Am I right or is it just me?

It doesn’t have to be expensive, just wrinkle free and fresh looking.

This crisp new blue and white towel can be found here at a great price.

Change out your artwork and decor items.

This is the perfect time to bring in lighter, brighter decor items and art.

I chose to add this cute little print of a plant under a cloche that says “Please Grow”.

How appropriate is that?

This is also a great time to look at freshening up your rugs, runners, placemats and napkins.

You will be surprised that by doing these simple things just how much you will love your Spring to Summer kitchen!

Plus, this concept works in all rooms of your house, so give it a try in other rooms as well.

It really is perfect for this “in between time”.

Until next time….

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Pandemic Easter table. Boy are those words that I thought that I would never say together! I can’t believe that we have been self distancing for over 1 year now. With Easter just around the corner I’ve been planning my table. Like last year, we will not be having a huge Easter get together. Even though it will just be the 4 of us, I am still planning on celebrating as best as we can!

As always I start with a clean table.

This year since it will be a more simple celebration, I felt like a simple decor was appropriate.

A fun bright turquoise buffalo plaid table runner is topped with this sweet little rabbit centerpiece.

Place setting

Each place setting has a blue placemat, followed by a pink buffalo plaid charger.

If you missed how I made those, you can see it here.

Since my charger has a gold rim, I used my silverware with a gold bead inlay.

To match my bright and cheerful table runner, I’m using turquoise stemmed glassware.

A white plate, followed by colorful rabbit appetizer plate is added to my place setting.

I love how a white plate makes all of the colorful items stand out.

The sweet rabbit plate adds just a little bit of fun.

Each place setting has a different color rabbit plate in either blue, yellow, pink or purple.

For a bit of whimsy, I added these white wooden bunny napkin rings.

The chinoiserie pink and white napkins are a perfect match for the pink and white charger plates.

The final piece to my place setting is this beautiful blue glass egg cup filled with chocolate eggs.

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE them!

Extras

Of course, I can’t forget what I call the “extras”.

I like to put pretty salt and pepper shakers either at each place setting or with in easy reach of each one.

This year I chose to go with the easy reach.

At one end of the table I have the sweetest little bunny riding in his truck.

The other end of the table hosts a bunny and his carrot.

Both of these sets add a fun element to my table.

The last thing I added to my Pandemic Easter table was this bunny tail chair tie.  You can see how I made these here.

Who says that a  Pandemic Easter table can’t be simple, colorful and and fun?

Not me.

So bring on the Easter celebration!

Until next time….

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One of the things that I look forward to every year is decorating my Easter Table. I’m always on the look out for one small item that can take my table to the next level. I recently saw  Bunny Tail chair ties that I knew would make my table stand out.  So today,I’m sharing how  I  made  my  chair  ties.

Supply list

Here is a list of supplies that you will need to make a chair tie:

Burlap Ribbon  – 2.5″ – I found mine here.

Hot Glue

Glue gun

Mini Rick Rack

Bunny Tail

Straight pins

Scissors

Step 1

Cut off 6″ pieces of your burlap ribbon.

You will need 2 for each chair tie.

Near the top 1/3 of your ribbon, starting on the outside edge, draw a curve up to the top, center part of your ribbon.

Draw a mirror of that curve on the opposite side, forming the top of your bunny ear.

Cut out the ear.

I used this ear as a template for each bunny ear that I needed.

Step 2:

Using your hot glue gun, glue mini rick rack to the outside of each ear.

Once that is done, pinch 1/4″ from the outside edge of the ribbon and bring it to the center of ear.

Hot glue in place.

Repeat on the opposite side of the ribbon to form your bunny ear.

(The rick rack will be the BACK side of your bunny ear so pleat the ribbon on the side without the rick rack)

Step 3:

Using the burlap ribbon, tie a bow around your chair.

If you have a fairly square backed chair, I would tie the ribbon around the entire back.

However, since my chair back is round, it was easier to simply tie the ribbon to the center of the chair.

Step 4:

Using your hot glue gun, carefully hot glue the ears to the back side of your bow’s center.

Be sure to put the back of the ear facing you.

Also, hot glue the mini rick rack to the bottom of your bow’s tails.

Step 5:

Using a straight pin, pin your bunny tail to the center of your bow on your chair.

Be sure that the sharp end of your pin is tucked into the bow to prevent getting pricked by the pin.

Let’s face it, it’s looks cute and charming until somebody get’s stuck by the pin!

Making these bunny tail chair ties couldn’t be any easier!

I love how the furry little tails dress up my chairs and put a smile on my face every time I see them.

My only regret was that we aren’t having a big family get together so that I could make more of them.

Who doesn’t love a project that is easy, takes very little time to complete, doesn’t require a huge supply list and looks fabulous?

Later this week I will be sharing my finished Easter table with you so stay tuned.

Until next time….

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Bunny Kisses & Easter Wishes! I’m not sure where I read that recently, but it got me to thinking about what little gifties that I would be sending to the little’s in our families this year for Easter.

I try to stay away from toys and candy.

Also, since there are 12 littles I have to be mindful of the budget.

Those two things alone, prohibit buying a lot of things.

However, this year I saw the cutest item ever!

This bunny pancake maker.

How cute is this?

I immediately decided that instead of individual gifts this year, I would send family gifts instead.

Of course, at the time I ordered them, they didn’t have 6 of these available.

So I started looking on-line for a few more.

I was so happy when I found the same brand pancake maker , just in a different color.

Other than being the cutest thing ever, the best part of this little pancake maker is that the price point is under $10.00!

Now, I couldn’t just gift a pancake maker without pancake mix!

It is organic and makes approximately 26 regular sized pancakes.

Perfect for a family gift!

Of course, what would a celebration be without sprinkles?

Especially when making bunny pancakes?

I found the prettiest “bunny kisses & Easter wishes” sprinkles that you’ve ever seen!

They came in a big bottle, so I took small cookie bags – which were the perfect size – and placed sprinkles in them.

Then added the bundled up a bag of sprinkles to each family’s gift bag.

Next I made a few fun Easter Cards to go with each families bag.

The outside was decorated with a fun easter wish, while the inside said ” Peeps love Pancakes, We hope that you do too!”

Of course the card’s envelope had to be as cute as the card!

I had these black and white bags that all of my gifts fit into perfectly.

All they needed after they were stuffed with the gifts was some colorful tissue paper and the addition of the cards.

I think that these are my favorite Easter gifts yet!

AND the entire gift came in under $20.00.

My kind of easter gift – cute, economical and fun.

These cute little Easter gifts so remind me of the saying ” Bunny kisses & Easter Wishes!”

Until next time…

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It only took us about 6 weeks, but our kitchen remodel is done! I am so happy to say that we are no longer living in never ending dust. More importantly, the dark hole that used to be our kitchen is now a light, bright space that we love.

Before I share the finished kitchen, let’s take a look at what the kitchen used to look like and a recap of all the work we’ve done.

The Old Kitchen

The original cabinets were a white oak that had been lime washed.

I’m not sure of the original stain color, but over time they had taken on an orangy, peach color.

The top coat had worn off in spots and they had seen better days.

The granite countertops had been installed 18 years ago and had chips and dings in them.

You can’t see it, it had  a bright burgundy color in it to match the backsplash trim.

I was not a fan of either.

What I hated about the counter tops the most was that you couldn’t see when they needed cleaning.

Drove. Me. Crazy!

Don’t even get me started on the backsplash and the yellow under counter lighting.

Work in Progress

Step one was to have the counter tops replaced.

I agonized over this one decision more than any of the rest.

The trend is to go with a white quartz, but having everything in the kitchen white would be a little too much in this small space.

I loved the look of Soapstone, but didn’t want the up keep that came with it.

And after having busy granite in the last two homes we had, I was ready for something a little less “extra”.

So we went with a timeless look.

A black Quartz called Pittsburg.

It isn’t very shiny and has little bits of shiny pieces here and there.

Farmhouse Sink

For our sink we chose a farmhouse white porcelain sink.

LOVE it!

A brushed gold faucet was another big decision for me, as I was trying to choose timeless pieces, rather than trendy ones.
However, every time I would go looking at faucets I found myself drawn to the gold.

After the gold faucet was installed I was so glad that I went that route.

Bye Bye Raised Bar

The raised bar was removed to give us more countertop space.

Plus, the new countertop was extended about 6 inches to give us a place to actually be able to sit at the bar and eat.

What a game changer!

Painted Cabinets

The cabinets were painted next.

An airless sprayer was used and I have to say that it was one of the best decisions we made.

Previously, when painting cabinets, we sprayed the doors and drawers and hand painted the cabinets due to my fear of overspray.

Never again.

The spaying was easier and looks fantastic with little to no overspray.

In the middle of painting the cabinets and installing the backsplash, Snowmagedon took place and North Texas became  a frozen Tundra.

Since a spray tent was to be set up outside for the drawers and doors to be painted, we had to wait for the thaw before we could finish the painting.

Same with the backsplash.

No cutting tile with a wet saw outside in sub-zero temps.

Cabinet Hardware

After the thaw, the cabinets were finally painted and gold hardware was added to the drawers.

Glass door knobs were the finishing touch for the cabinet doors.

Tile

Then came the backsplash.

Other than the countertops, this was my one big splurge.

Originally, the plan was to do a white Subway or Moroccan tile backsplash, until I saw this Byzantine Arabesque Bianco by Ivy Hill.

It was love at first sight!

Once all of the major items were installed, it was time to do touch up paint, install molding, caulk, paint the crown moulding, paint doors, and put in under counter lighting.

All of which took a few days.

The last thing on my list of things to finish was to install the pendant lights above the island.

There is nothing like adding a little bling to make a space pretty.

Finished Kitchen Remodel

Here’s the north side of the kitchen remodel.

BIG difference, right?

The Hubs and I eat here all the time and we love it.

I left my island blue, but painted the pantry door back to SW Pure White to match the cabinets.

The original plan was to put a wooden top on the island, however there was a little mix up with the installers.

I walked in when they were done and the quarts was there.

Oh, well – plan B.

Plus, it’s not like I hate it or anything!

This is the south side of the kitchen.

I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m keeping the valance or changing it up.

For now it stays.

Other than a few different decorating choices still to be made, I’m officially calling our kitchen remodel done!

I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

Until next time….

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March 17th is just around the corner and even though Texas has opened their restaurants, we will be spending it at home and I will be setting a casual St. Patrick’s Day Table. Normally, IF we did anything at all for St. Patrick’s Day it would be to throw on an “I’m Irish” t-shirt and go out to partake of very casual dining. However, just because we are staying at home this year doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. Just so we are clear, it’s so casual that it isn’t even going to be at the table.

It’s going to be at our new counter height bar in the kitchen.

But it would be weird to say “casual St. Patrick’s Day bar”.

Gives a whole new visual!

Green and Gold

The plan is to use all things green and gold.

Sounds easy, right?

However, when I started planning I realized that I really don’t have a lot of green or gold.

I started with this nubby bright green placemat.

Followed by a gold charger.

Dishes

Next, I used a white hob nail plate, followed by a Bordallo Pinneiro Cabbage salad plate.

I added this gold and white striped napkin and gold napkin ring.

As well as my gold rimmed stainless flatware.

This crystal Pioneer Woman tumbler finished off my  place setting.

Dessert

For dessert I took a mini vanilla bean cupcake and placed into a black pot.

For a fun embellishment I added a green “Lucky” coin.

If I had been serving this to company,  I definitely would have pushed the cupcake further down into the pot.

But we both know that the cupcake was going to be eaten faster than you can say Shenanigans, so why bother making getting it out any harder than it already was?

The Centerpiece

I had this green pot complete with a multi- green plaid bow.

The bow is what tied everything together, as I used several different green colors in my place setting.

Normally, I would fill this pot of gold with a fun plant, however this time I filled it with beads, an Irish sign, lucky coins and a cute Leprechaun!

With the addition of a few fun shamrocks on each side of my centerpiece, my casual St. Patrick’s Day table is complete.

Even with the Pandemic, we can still celebrate and make holidays special for the ones we love.

Now if I could only catch a leprechaun and wish for dinner to be cooked and served by someone else!

Until next time…

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Hey Friends! It’s $10 on the 10th. I love it when fun and talented bloggers get together to share great ideas for under $10, don’t you? This months theme is Spring.  When I think of Spring, I think of birds, blooms, sunny days and Easter! With that in mind, I thought that it would be fun to make a Spring egg garland that I could use not only for Spring, but Easter as well. I love a multi-functional decor item for sure!

I actually made this garland a few weeks ago and I made it two different ways.

Today I’m sharing the painted egg version with you.

However, if you don’t like to paint, but love to craft with paper I have a video that is right up your alley.

You can see it here.

Supplies

For this Spring Egg Garland you will need:

Wooden egg cutouts. I found mine at the Dollar Tree – 6 for $1.00.

Paint

Paint brush

Twine

Scissors

Small Carrots – I found mine at the dollar tree – 6 for $1.00

Yarn

Pom pom maker or a piece of cardboard

1/4 inch ribbon

Hot glue and glue gun

Base Coat Eggs

The first thing you will need to do is give your eggs a base coat of white paint.

Set aside to dry.

Design Your Eggs

Just like a girl scout, I like to be prepared.

I traced around my eggs and drew the designs that I would be painting on each egg.

Paint Eggs

Using acrylic paints, I painted my designs onto the eggs.

As you can see, I painted multiples to make more than one set of egg garlands to share as gifts.

Once they designs were complete, I glued small bows to the top of each egg.

While my eggs were drying, I made 5 pom poms for my garland using a pom pom maker.

These are super easy to use, however you could also make poms using a piece of cardboard.

I purchased my pom maker here.

Once my eggs were painted and my pom poms were made I tied them, as well as the carrots to the twine to make my garland.

I used jute twine to tie on the eggs and the carrots.

I left two of my pieces of yarn long on my pom to be able to tie it to the twine.

And this is what the finished painted Spring Egg garland looks like!

So how much did my garland cost?

Eggs – $1.00

Carrots – $1.00

Everything else I already had left over from another project.

So my  painted garland ended up costing me a grand total of $2.00 plus tax.

My scrapbook garland ended up costing me a bit more.

I purchased new scrapbook paper to match my Spring/ Easter color scheme.

50% off at Hob Lob – 6 sheets of paper came in at $2.20 including tax.

Both garlands were under $5.00!

Please join me in visiting these talented blogger friends of  mine to see what fun Spring ideas they have for us!

Terrie – Decorate and More With Tip

Patti – Pandora’s Box

Cindy – Cloches and Lavender

Corine – Junk to Gems

Until next time….

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Hey Friends! It’s that time of year where I want to be outside planting, however I know that Spring isn’t quite here yet. So I’m inside decorating and crafting for Spring. Today I’m sharing how to make a Paper Bunny Door Hanger with you.

Draw a Bunny

First thing I did was draw a bunny.

(If you don’t want to draw yours, you can go on-line and get a clip-art outline of a bunny.)

Once I had my bunny drawn, I cut out 2 bunnies out of brown wrapping paper.

Cutting Out Batting

Also, using your bunny pattern cut out 1 layer of batting.

Paint the Bunny

On 1 layer only, paint the bunny the color of your choice.

I chose to paint my bunny turquoise.

Mainly because it’s such a bright happy Spring color.

Obsessed about Spring?

Yes. Yes, I am!

Sew The Bunny

Take the unpainted bunny pattern ( layer 1) and lay it out.

Add the batting ( layer 2) to layer 1.

Place the bunny that you painted (layer 3) to the top of the bunny stack.

Pin the bunny layers together.

Using a sewing machine, sew around the outer 1/4 inch of the bunny.

Don’t have a sewing machine?

You could easily glue the outer edges of the bunny together to create your bunny.

Embellish Your Bunny

Now is the time to add all things pretty to your bunny!

Using white paint, add highlights to the bunny’s body.

Don’t forget to add the bunny tail!

At this point,  I wanted to add a flower to the bunny’s ear.

So instead of just painting it, I decided to make one just like I did the bunny body.

Adding a cute  bow completed the embellishments!

Add the Hanger

Using a hole punch, punch a small hole in each of the bunny’s ears.

Cut about 12 inches of wire.

Run the wire through the hole in the bunny’s ear, then loop it and twist the end around the body of the wire.

Do this with both ears.

This is what your bunny will look like at this point.

However, since it’s for the door, I felt like my bunny needed a little something else.

Maybe a greeting?

So I went in a little unexpected way, I decided to make him a hip hop bunny!

A Hip Hop Spring bunny!

I love this paper bunny door hanger and can’t wait to decorate with her.

One note of caution, because the bunny is made of paper, she’s definitely an indoor bunny!

Until next time…

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Good Friday morning y’all! I don’t know about where you all are, but here in North Texas we’ve been experiencing Spring like weather. After the frozen Tundra of a few weeks ago, the weather is so welcome. Since I’ve been dreaming of Spring, I’ve been thinking about my Easter table. While it won’t be like it has been in years past, I’m still trying to make it special. I was planing how I wanted my table to look when I came across these beautiful pink and white charger plates.

They had me at Buffalo check.

And then I saw the price and kept on scrolling.

However, I kept thinking about them.

How pretty they were and how cute they would look with my spring centerpiece.( you can see the video here)

Which got me to thinking, could I make them?

I had 4 chargers that I had painted white some time ago.

Which was perfect for my base paint color.

Step 1:

Make a grid for your plaid pattern.

Find the center of the charger plate.

Once you’ve done that, lightly draw a line down the center.

From there you will mark lines 2″ apart.

Then turn your plate 180 degrees and mark your charger the same way.

This will make your grid for the check pattern.

Step: 2

Tape the charger plate.

Following your grid pattern, tape off every two inches.

Do this vertically, but not horizontally.

Step 3:

Paint your first set of stripes.

Before painting, be sure to burnish the edges of your tape to prevent any paint leaking underneath it!

Then give the non-taped off area a light coat of paint.

Let the paint dry.

After the paint has dried, give the same painted area another coat of paint.

Now, at this point remove the tape and give the plate another 180.

You can tape the lines off again – but be very sure that the paint has thoroughly dried OR the area you just painted will peel off.

Or, I found that it was just as easy to paint the next set of stripes without using tape.

Step 4:

Add gold to the rim of the charger plate.

Once the next set of stripes has dried it’s time to add the gold on the rim.

This was the part that I wasn’t too sure about.

Honestly, it turned out to be so much easier than I thought.

I chose a flat brush the width that I wanted my gold edging to be, loaded the brush with gold paint, then started painting.

TIP: I found that if the outside of the brush lined up with the outside of the plate and I didn’t put too much pressure on the brush it was super easy to paint this edging.

This is what my pink and white charger plate looked like when I was done painting.

Not too shabby!

I chose to go with a darker pink paint that matched my napkins that I planned to use, but other than the color I think they are a good dupe for my inspiration chargers!

Step 5:

I gave my pink and white charger plates a good spray of this Triple Thick Clear Glaze.

I love how shiny it makes them as well as protects the paint.

Which I definitely wanted to do after spending the time to paint them!

The best part?

They turned out looking exactly like I wanted them to with the rest of my Easter table.

Here’s a sneak peek!

So, would I spend the time to make them again or splurge and buy them?

I definitely would make the pink and white charger plates again!

Until next time….

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Welcome to the DIY Challenge! Every month, on the First Wednesday, our hostess Terrie from Decorate And More With Tip issues a challenge to a group of fun bloggers. This month’s challenge is to Upcycle! I will be sharing my reversible Spring / Easter sign that I made from pallet boards.

If you are coming from Cindy’s at Cloche’s and Lavenders, I am so happy that you are here! Doesn’t she make the prettiest decor items?

Last week I shared my Spring mantle with you. In the middle of the mantle, the showpiece of the design, was a few signs that said Spring. Guess what? It’s reversible! I have to admit that my reversible Spring/ Easter sign may just be my favorite decoration this year.

When we built our pool last spring, everything that was ordered came on a wooden pallet.

Some we gave away, some we threw away and some we kept, thinking that we would use a few for projects.

Well, today is the day!

I asked The Hubs to grab me a couple of boards to use to make a reversible sign.

And because I’m a sharing kind of gal, here are the instructions to make one for yourself!

Cut your boards

After taking the pallets apart, I had The Hubs cut 2  of each 7″, 6 1/2 ” and 6″ boards.

Paint the boards

After giving the boards a good sanding I painted all of the boards white.

Place the “kick stand” on your boards

You will need a way to ensure that your boards will stand up.

To do this, all you need is a small dowel rod and a hole the circumference of the dowel in the bottom of your board.

Find the center of the board and drill the hole.

Cut the Dowel Rods

Using a small Miter box, I cut the dowel into 6 – 2 1/2 ” pieces.

To make your boards stand up, simply slide the dowels into the holes that you drilled into your boards.

If you are using the “Spring” signs, you will push the dowels all the way through, flush with the front of the board.

The dowels will then stick out the back, forming a “kick stand” to make your boards stand up!

Place Lettering on Boards

To put lettering on the boards, using your computer to print out the lettering of your choice on your printer.

Flip each letter over.

Using a pencil color around the edges of your letter. You should be able to see the letters through your printer paper.

Flip the letter over to the right side and place on your board.

Using a stylus, or your pencil  trace around your letter.

Your letter is now transferred to your board.

Paint your letters

Using the paint of your choice, paint the letters.

Embellish the letters

Now this is the fun part!

I painted a decorative edging around the outside edge of all of my boards..

Added highlights to each letter to make them stand out.

And added a little glitter paint to give them a little depth.

Oh, who am I kidding?

I added the glitter cause it’s fun!

So let’s take a look at my reversible Spring / Easter sign.

Here’s the Easter side.

And here’s the Spring side.

I’m seriously loving my reversible sign!

Now that you’ve seen my upcycled item, it’s time to head on over to CD’s at Pallet and Pantry to see her upcycled project!

Don’t forget to visit all of the DIY Challenge participants to see what upcycled items they’ve created!

DECORATE AND MORE WITH TIP | Blessings by me | JUNK TO GEMS | CLOCHES AND LAVENDER

PATINA AND PAINT | PALLET AND PANTRY | B4 & AFTERS | PURPLE HUES AND ME

SWEET SOUTHERN GRACE

Happy March 2! I know I say this almost every month, but time is flying!  Which makes me so happy as I can’t wait for Spring. We are still working on our kitchen, but progress has been slow due to the weather. So when I can’t be working on the kitchen I’ve been making a few fun decor items. Today I am sharing how to make an easy wooden tray.

I’ve been looking for a round wooden tray to hold my canisters in my kitchen, but so far I either haven’t found the size I need or one in my budget.

On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby I found this “tray” in the wood section.

Since it had a hanger on the back I feel like it would hang on the wall, however it was the perfect size of the tray I wanted.

Plus, the tray was on sale making it $11.89.

All it needed was feet.

I also found these solid  wooden balls for $4.99.

With both the feet and the tray base together the price came in well under $20.00.

Which was more than in my budget!

Here’s just how easy it was to make.

Step 1:

Paint your tray and wooden balls.

I used white spray paint.

Since the center of my tray was not wood, I felt that a spray paint would adhere to the surface better than an acrylic paint.

Step 2:

Glue the wooden balls to the tray.

Once the paint had dried thoroughly, I flipped the tray over and removed the hanger.

Tip: Remove the hanger before spray painting. Don’t be me!

Then, using a ruler found the center of the tray.

If you look closely you can see my pencil lines.

Using E6000 glue, I adhered the wooden balls to the bottom of the tray.

I used my pencil lines to make sure that the feet were spaced evenly apart.

Step 3:

Distress the tray.

Make sure that the glue on the wooden balls dries thoroughly.

I cannot stress this enough.

If they aren’t sufficiently adhered to the tray, they will fall off.

And nobody wants to have a tray loaded with pretties when a foot falls off!

After your glue has dried, give it a quick light sanding to distress the edges.

I just wanted hints of wood showing through, not a full blown distressed look.

So, easy on the sanding.

Once you have finished distressing your tray, you are ready to load it up.

I am so happy with the way my tray turned out!

Also, wouldn’t it be pretty if you added a design to the middle?

Maybe Mod Podge a napkin to the center to match your kitchen?

The possibilities are endless.

Making an easy wooden tray was well… truly easy!

Until next time….

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Hey y’all! I thought that I would pop on here and share a quick and easy Easter bunny wreath with you. It literally took me less than 15 minutes to put it together and most of that was more me trying to decide how I wanted to make it.

I’ve had this bunny/ wreath for a few years.

It’s not really a wreath, but since it’s made of grapevine and leaves, that’s what I’m calling it!

Years ago, when I first bought this bunny I put flowers in it.

As with most things, over time it needed to be updated.

I looked for more flowers, but really didn’t find anything that I loved.

So I got to thinking, what would a bunny put on his wreath?

Eggs? Yep, but so predictable.

I know that If I were a bunny I’d want carrots.

So carrots it is!

Add flowers and leaves.

I left the brown crinkle paper in my wreath and added some cute Spring flowers and some greenery.

This helps fill in the background and make the arrangement look full.

Add carrots

After adding the flowers and the leaves, it was time to add the carrots.

I added large, medium and small carrots.

Burlap carrots, orange and white check carrots and carrots made form twine.

Even bunnies like a little variety in their food choices!

Add more filler

Once I had filled my bunny’s basket full of wonderful looking carrots, I added in a little more filler.

A few more sprigs of flowers, leaves and a sweet pale yellow bud vine.

Put a Bow on it!

Now that my wreath was full of carrots, flowers and greenery, it was time to give my bunny a little bling.

I used three different colors and 3 different patterns of ribbon to make this simple bow.

A neutral with furry white edging that reminds me of a rabbit’s furry tail, a beautiful orange and white buffalo check and a small grow grain ribbon sporting carrots.

I think it matches my bunny perfectly!

Easter Bunny Wreath

The last item to add to my bunny wreath was this sweet furry bunny tail.

Isn’t it just too cute?

And I love that it’s a little “unexpected” addition to my Easter bunny wreath.

I’m officially calling it done and ready to hang on my front door!

How to Hang it…

For years I’ve used one of two different kinds of wreath hangers.

One that most people use is the one that is an inverted S that goes over the top of the door.

However, I’ve had issues with the door not closing well with those.

At my last house, the front door was metal so I used a magnet door hanger.

At this house, obviously this door is made mostly of glass and wood so the magnetic door hanger is out.

I found this suction cup at Hob Lob for $2.99!

So far it’s holding up beautifully, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Pun intended.

I have to say that I think that this is one of my very favorite door hangers/ wreaths!

Its cheerful and it just screams Hello Spring, come on in!

Now it’s time to do a little front porch Spring update to match my sweet Easter bunny wreath!

Until next time…

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Welcome to the  first Spring Blog Hop. What’s a Spring Blog Hop?  Two talented ladies, Cindy from Cloches and Lavender and Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip rounded up a group of fun bloggers that get together every season and share fun crafts, decor, recipes etc. that exemplify that season. I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see what all of the ladies on this hop  are sharing for Spring!

If you are coming here from Michelle’s at Blessings By Me, Welcome! I’m so Glad that you are here.

Today I’m sharing my Spring mantle with you.

With all of the sub zero temperatures that we’ve had in Texas this past week I am so ready for Spring!

However, I’m not ready for a full blown Spring/ Easter theme quite yet, so while you will see a few bunnies and eggs, you are more likely to find lots of fun color and the fresh green plants against a neutral back drop.

I started decorating in our living room this year since we’ve been huddled around the fireplace so much.

Section 1:

When I decorate my mantle, I think of sections.

Section 1 is the left side when I’m facing it, Section 2 is the right side and Section 3 is the middle.

It just wouldn’t be spring without a few stems of Spring flowers.

These sweet carrots are a few of my favorite things.

I purchased them last year, here, and will probably purchasing a few more this year.

Section 2:

On the opposite end of the mantle from my flowers, you will find the sweetest white bunny.

I’ve had him for many years and he’s still a favorite of mine.

His basket has sported all sorts of fun treasures.

Candy, flowers, and eggs are just  a few.

Section 3:

New to my Spring decor this year is this reversible Spring sign.

If you flip the boards around to the back side you will see the word Easter!

It was so fun to make and I’ll be sharing how I did it with you soon.

Also new, the fun Spring wreath.

If you’d like to see how it’s made, you can see the video here.

It’s hard to say which piece of decor is my favorite, but these  felt ball garland are way up on the list.

Honestly, every time I look at those brightly colored balls they just make me smile!

I couldn’t forget about the hearth of my fireplace.

No big decor switch up here, just add a few eggs to bring Spring down to the hearth.

My Spring mantle is very simple this year.

Which leaves room for me to add in more fun stuff when it’s time to decorate for Easter in a few weeks.

That concludes the tour of my Spring Blog Hop.

I hope that you will join me in hopping over to Corine’s at Junk to Gems.  She always inspires me and has the most beautiful home!

Also, below you can see a list of all of the participants, don’t forget to check them out also.

Until next time……

CLOCHESANDLAVENDER | DECORATEANDMOREWITHTIP | DIYBEAUTIFY

THECROWNEDGOAT | THEHOUSEONSILVERADO | B4ANDAFTERS

BLESSINGSBYME | PATINAANDPAINT | JUNKTOGEMS

FRENCHETHERAL

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Hey Y’all, let’s make a St. Patrick’s Day Sign! Can you believe that it’s almost March??? With March’s arrival comes the decorating of Spring and St. Patrick’s Day. Honestly, I don’t do a lot of decorating for St. Patrick’s Day. However, I thought that it might be fun to do my two tiered tray in all things green this year.

I had this sign in my craft closet and it’s the perfect size for my tray.

I paid .69 cents for mine as they were on the 90% off clearance.

Word on the street is that your local Dollar Tree has very similar ones available.

These cute wooden shamrocks came from Hob Lob this year.

$2.99 for a bag of 12.

Now all I needed was a little paint to finish my sign!

Step 1:

Remove the beads from the sign.

Once that is done give the  face of the sign a good coat of white acrylic paint.

When the face is completely covered and no writing is showing through, paint the sides green.

Step 2:

Paint your shamrocks.

I painted the smaller of the two shamrocks green and the larger one white.

When the base coats have dried, it’s time for the fun part.

Decorating them.

I decided to give the green shamrock tiny white dots.

The larger white shamrock received a plaid pattern.

What could be more Irish than a plaid?

Now if you don’t want to paint these shamrocks, I think they would be super cute covered in St. Patrick’s Day themed paper!

In fact, had we not been in an ice storm here when I made these I definitely would have done so.

TIP:

Because both the sign and the shamrock received multiple coats of paint and nobody wants to sit and watch paint dry, I used my new heat gun.

Why I  haven’t purchased one sooner is anybody’s guess!

I love this thing.

In the past I’ve always just used a hair dryer – or just watched the paint dry.

The hair dryer works just fine, but it tends to blow the smaller pieces around.

The heat gun has low velocity of air output and dries paint almost instantly.

SCORE!

Step 3:

While your sign and shamrocks are drying, paint your wooden beads.

I did half of mine in green and the other half in white.

Put paint on a paper plate and drop your beads into the paint.

Next, I take them out of the paint, making sure they are covered well, and lightly wipe away the excess paint.

Then I place them on a BQ skewer and lay it across the opening of an old cup allowing them to dry.

Super easy!

Step 4:

Once all of your pieces have dried, glue them all together.

Using a hot glue gun, start with the sign and work your way up.

Step 5:

String your beads onto a piece of jute, then reattach them to your sign.

I like to reattach the beads exactly the way they were before I took them off for the most part.

If you have trouble restringing the twine through the hole, cover the ends snugly with scotch tape.

It keeps the ends from fraying as you re-insert them into the hole.

Be sure and tie the knots securely.

Step 6:

Paint the word ” Lucky” at the bottom of the sign.

I’m just going to go ahead and apologize here.

I did take a picture of this step, however it  was so blurry you have to wonder what I was thinking at the time!

If you don’t trust your handwriting, simply use vinyl peal and stick lettering.

Now that everything is finished on your sign, give it a good coat of a clear protective coating.

Once it dries, your sign is done!

I love how cute my St. Patrick’s Day Sign is!

It gives my two tiered tray lots of color and is the perfect size!

Total cost of the sign is under $1.00.

Cute and economical.

My kind of project!

Until next time…..

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Happy Mardi Gras! Here at the Castle Fat Tuesday is one of our favorite holidays. Mainly because we like to eat King Cake. But there are a lot of misconceptions about Mardi Gras. Often  I get asked some pretty crazy questions about Mardi Gras and what it represents. So much so that I thought that I would share just a few fun facts about Mardi Gras with you.

What is Mardi Gras?

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French.

The Mardi Gras season or Carnival season begins on January 6, Epiphany, the day that the Wise Men found the baby Jesus, and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday the beginning of the Lenten season.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of lent, so Fat Tuesday has always been a celebration of enjoying all things before Lent begins.

What are the official colors of Mardi Gras and what do they mean?

The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, which represents Justice.

Gold, which represents Power.

Green which represents Faith.

How old is Mardi Gras?

Mardi Gras dates back to March of 1699!

So…. really old!

Is Mardi Gras only in New Orleans on Bourbon Street?

Nope.

And it’s not all about boobs and beads either.

Several parades take place all over the city of New Orleans .

Including family neighborhoods.

It’s also celebrated coastally.

Mobile, Alabama claims to be the 1st city in North America to host Mardi Gras.

What is King Cake and when do you eat it?

King Cake is very similar to a cinnamon roll.

It is sometimes filled  cream cheese, raspberry filling etc.

My favorite King Cake is with a simple butter, sugar and cinnamon filling.

What sets King Cake apart from other cakes is that a small baby, representing Jesus, is hidden inside the cake.

Whoever finds the baby is said to have good luck for the rest of the year.

So Yummy!

King Cake is only eaten during the Mardi Gras season.

Fact: It’s illegal to ride a float in New Orleans without wearing a mask!

As crazy as it sounds, this is true and was put into law at the beginning of NOLA celebrating the Mardi Gras season.

The theory behind it was to get rid of social constraints for the day.

If no one knew who you were, then you were allowed to mingle with all classes of people.

Today is just tradition that the city still enforces.

So that’s all of the fun facts about Mardi Gras that I have for you today.

While I am certainly no expert about all  things Mardi Gras, I hope that I’ve given you a few fun things to think about on Fat Tuesday!

Happy Mardi Gras Y’all!

Until next time….

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Today I want to talk about free artwork. Lately I’ve been all about art. Real art – either I’m motivated to paint or I’m purchasing  prints made by artists. However, art can be expensive.

When we had new countertops put in our kitchen recently, we also decided to go ahead and have both the powder room and the guest bath countertops replaced. Which led to new mirrors, faucets, towels… well you get the picture.

In the powder room I had this paint by number painting that I did awhile back.

It was fine, but I never LOVED it.

Janet Hill is one of my very favorite artists.

Her art has the best sense of humor that just reaches out and grabs me!

A few years ago I purchased “The Disappearance of Lonnie Lightfoot” print from her.

My Granny had a closet filled with her formals, jewelry and scarves when I was small.

If I was very good I was allowed to play in that closet, so this print reminds me of pulling up a chair and getting lost in all of my Granny’s finery.

I had it framed with “gaudy joo-ry” all around it and hung it in the powder room.

This print was my inspiration for making a small gallery wall where my paint by number used to hang.

I recently ordered this print “Selfie at the Mermaid Public Fountain” to go with it.

Someday, if I’m lucky, I will have all of the photos from her collection on my powder room wall.

But not today.

So I set out to find free artwork to go with my prints.

Frames:

The first thing I did was dig around in my decor closet for unused frames.

My JH print was in a white frame, so that’s the color scheme I was looking to go with.

I found several different shapes and sizes that I knew would give my gallery wall visual interest.

After a good cleaning and even a couple of coats of paint on a few, I was ready to look for artwork.

Artwork:

I googled free art work and came up with a ton of sites that you can download just about any style of art you can imagine.

I found several that I felt like would be perfect.

Some of my favorite sites are:

The Graphics Fairy

Pixaby.com

Unsplash.com

Using card stock, I simply printed out the artwork that I found in the sizes I needed.

Framing:

Now it was simply a matter of framing my prints.

And deciding what order I want to hang them in on my gallery wall.

Create  Your Own Prints:

One other thing that I used  for one of the smaller prints was the app Waterlogue.

I’ve used it several times before and love it.

Using your own photos, you can create watercolor prints in your phone.

Again, it’s simply a matter of printing them off and framing.

It really couldn’t be simpler!

The hardest part of this whole process was deciding what artwork to use.

The best part?

It’s free!

Until next time….

It’s $10 on the 10th! I always love this blog hop because there are always some of the best ideas that come from these special ladies.  Our theme this month is Crafts. Which is totally up my alley! Today I’m sharing how to make some last minute Valentine’s Day cards. These cards would be perfect to do with your littles and  if you are like me and just enjoy creating Valentine’s cards they will be perfect for you too. And it doesn’t hurt that they are fast, fun, pretty and inexpensive!

Supplies for last minute Valentine’s:

Cards and Envelopes.

Markers or pens

Embellishments

Washi Tape

Scissors or craft knife

Glue dots

Valentine Stamps

Stamp pads

Step 1:

I found my cute red note cards at Michaels on sale 40% off.

They were originally $4.99 for a pack of 10.

On the front of your card, apply Washi tape of your choice.

You can find this Washi tape here.

Step 2:

I had this felt heart stack in my supplies.

It was the perfect embellishment for the front of my card.

To adhere the heart to the card I used a glue dot.

The front of the card is complete.

Easy, fun and simple!

Step 3:

Next, let’s work on the inside of the card.

Really you could write your greeting on the inside of the card and skip this step, but I already had the stamps and stamp pad so I made a few cards using the stamps and a few cards I just wrote in my message.

Load your stamp with ink from the stamp pad.

Then carefully place the stamp on the card.

Press and hold firmly, making sure all of the stamps surfaces touch the card.

This is what it looks like when you are done!

While the ink was drying I went on to the next step.

Step 4:

The envelope!

Have you ever heard of FriXon pens?

I use them in my Rocketbook, but until I took a recent art class I never thought of using them in art.

FriXon pen’s ink disappears when it is exposed to heat.

Which makes them perfect for sketching out your design or drawing a line for lettering.

Draw your lines, do your lettering, then heat them up with a heat gun or a blow dryer.

Genius!

Draw a curved line.

Following the line, add the last name of your Valentine.

Once that is done, fill in the rest of your Valentines name and address!

Step 5:

Add doodles!

Now this is where this project gets fun for me.

Decorating the envelope.

I mean, who wouldn’t love to get a piece of mail that was pretty?

Since my card’s theme was hearts, that’s what I doodled on the envelope.

Step 6:

Don’t forget the back of the envelope!

I have a stamp that has my name and address on it and I usually stamp the center of the back envelope with it.

Then decorate around the stamp.

Step 7:

Finish the inside of the card.

Once your envelopes are decorated, it’s time to add color and details to the inside area that you previously stamped.

I also like to write a personal note to each Valentine.

This is what my finished envelopes look like.

The addresses have been blurred to protect my Valentine’s…

As you can see each one is different.

Have fun and let your imagination guide you!

One last thing….

For my little’s Valentine’s, I like to add a few fun things.

This year I found these heart puzzles.

I simply painted on Conversational heart slogans.

When I mail them I will take them apart and put the pieces into my hand made cards for the littles to put back together once the card is opened.

The butterflies are wind ups.

Simply wind up the butterfly and carefully place them into the card.

When the card is opened, the butterflies will “fly” out!

So how much did my last minute Valentine’s cards cost?

The cards were on sale for $2.49 making them .25 for both the card and the envelope.

I already had the pens, markers, Washi tape and the embellishments except for the heart puzzles and the butterflies.

Puzzles 12 ct = on sale for $2.49.  With 12 puzzles in each package they cost .21 each.

Butterflies: $8.99 for 18, bringing them to .50 each.

My total for each card is under .75!

I hope that you will join me in visiting the other talented bloggers in this hop to see what wonderful things that they have come up with!

Terrie – Decorate and More With Tip

Ann – The Apple Street Cottage

Patti – Pandora’s Box

Barbara – French Ethereal

Cindy – Cloches and Lavender 

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When I last shared my kitchen remodel plans with you, this is what my kitchen looked like. A little sad. Very dark. A little outdated. A lot has changed since then. It’s been a few weeks, so I thought I’d share my kitchen remodel update with you!

Here’s a day by day update.

The day before the counter top crew arrived, I emptied out all the cabinets and removed everything from the walls and countertops.

Day 1 :

The countertop crew arrived and started demolition on day 1.

They took out the bar wall and made it counter height.

Moved an outlet that was on the bar wall, tore out the backsplash and put up new sheetrock,  and rebuilt the sink cabinet to hold the new farmhouse sink.

Day 1 was hoppin’!

Day 2:

Not much was going on here at the castle, except cleaning up massive amounts of dust.

Everywhere.

The crew were busy in their workshop making the countertops.

Day 3 :

To say that I was excited for day 3 to get started was an understatement!

The countertops were installed, as well as the sink and faucet.

I am in love with the new sink!!!

She’s so shiny and pretty.

Day 4 and 5:

The original plan was to do the backsplash, then the cabinets.

At the end of day 3 we saw that the weather was going to to change drastically by weeks end.

Since part of the painting would be done in a spray tent outside, we needed to get the painting done before the weather turned cold.

We spent 2 days removing doors, hinges, drawer guides, drawers, undercounted lighting, light switch covers and covering all surfaces with ram board, paper, tape and plastic.

Once all of that was done, we sanded, scraped and cleaned all cabinets, doors and drawers inside and out.

By far the hardest 2 days so far.

Day 6:

We sprayed the base cabinets white.

I will say this was time consuming, but so much better than painting and rolling the cabinets.

We purchased a new stationary HVLP sprayer.

Not only was it affordable, but it was so well worth the investment!

This was the half way mark and I was like a kid on Christmas morning.

Day 7:

The Hubs and I had a lot of work to catch up on, so not much was done other than remove all of the tape, paper, plastic etc and give the room a good cleaning.

We still have to paint the drawers and doors.

Fingers crossed we get them done before it gets too cold.

Already it is so light and bright.

No more dark hole!

We still have a lot of work to be done.

Repair the walls where they took out the bar wall.

Paint the doors and drawers.

A few places need paint touch up.

All trim and crown molding needs to be painted to match the cabinets.

The white plug in on the island will be replaced with a black one.

The black towel rack on the island will also be painted gold.

New hardware will be installed onto the cabinets.

And a few places either need caulk or trim moulding.

Of course, everything needs to be put back into the cabinets!

Yep, a lot still needs to be marked off of our punch list, but I’m already loving what we have done so far!

Also, happy mail or should I say happy packages have started arriving.

These are my new counter height bar stools.

That’s it for the kitchen remodel update.

I’ll be sure to share more with you next week!

Until next time….

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