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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How it’s Made

Yesterday I partnered up with Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip to share how to style a Two Tiered Tray. We both shared  our videos on Facebook. Every Wednesday we share either a craft or how to decorate something in your home. And Every Wednesday we get asked the all important question “Can you tell me how it’s made?”. So this week, as well as sharing the video we thought that it would be fun to share how we made several things that we put on our trays. If you would like to see my video, please go here. Don’t forget to visit Terrie here.

Valentine’s Day Mug

I love the look of the Rae Dunn mugs.

However, I don’t like the idea of storing a ton of mugs for each holiday.

So I make my own holiday mugs by taking plain white mugs and adding vinyl lettering to them.

I have a Silhouette machine that makes it super easy for me to make a design.

Once I’ve decided on a design, it’s simply a matter of cutting it out and adding it to the mug.

Don’t have a Cricut or a Silhouette machine?

No worries!

Your local craft store has a ton of peel and stick lettering that you can use!

Mini Rolling Pin

In my video I had taken one of these sweet little rolling pins, cut out vinyl  lettering and attached it to the pin.

Well, since you may not have a cutting machine I want to show you just how easy it is to use peal and stick lettering.

Simply choose the letters of the word you want to use, the stick them on.

Once I have my lettering on, I like to add a bit of bakers twine tied in a bow for a little extra embellishment.

Seriously, it couldn’t get any easier and it takes very little time!

Mulit-media Sign

A few years ago I made the multi- media heart signs.

If you missed it you can see it here.

I made all sizes, shapes, and colors with a ton of different embellishments.

They are so easy to make and I have used them just about everywhere here at the Castle!

Conversation Heart Mug

The last craft is the centerpiece on the top tier.

It’s a cute mug with a conversation heart.

I found the heart at Hob Lob and it’s originally intended to be used as a floral pick.

However, it was much too long for my mug.

I simply cut it to my desired length using a small hack saw.

Placed a piece of styrofoam into the mug.

Next, add the heart pick to the styrofoam and cover it with crinkly white paper.

The centerpiece is done!

I hope this answered your question “can you tell me how it’s made?”

If you’d like to see just how this two tiered tray was put together, don’t forget to head on over to my Facebook site ( link above).

Also, be sure and visit Terrie @ Decorate and More With Tip to see the cutest tray ever!

P.S. she actually MADE her tray.

You don’t want to miss this!

Until next time…

                                                   Don’t forget, if you loved it, be sure to PIN it!

Welcome! Can you believe that it’s already September 1? I would complain, but for the first time that I can remember I’m ready for fall. With the first of every month comes the DIY Challenge and I’m loving this months theme – Fall inspiration! Nothing makes me feel like it’s fall until I get my kitchen decorated. One of the things that I love best is pulling out fall themed kitchen towels.  Which is why I’m sharing how to make fall kitchen towels with you today!

A great big shout out to Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip. She’s our fearless leader and  I can’t tell you how much work she puts into hosting each month. Thank You Terrie!

Also, if you are visiting here from Blessings by me, I’m so glad that you are here!

Now, let’s get started!

I love cute flour sack towels.

Especially the ones that have fun quotes.

One teeny tiny issue though, sometimes they can get pricey.

So, I decided that I could make a few of my own.

In some ways this craft is so simple that I’m almost embarrassed to share it with you.

Simple, yet time  consuming!

Supplies:

1. Cutting Matt
2. Vinyl
3. Scissors
4. Iron or Heat Press Machine
5. Computer
6. Flour Sack towels. I found mine here.
   

   
   Step 1:

Before I go much further, I realize that not everyone has a cutting machine, however I plan to offer you what I think is a cute alternative at the end of this post!

I used my cutting machine’s software to upload a design for my kitchen towels.

Step 2:

Once my design was finished, I loaded my cutting machine with vinyl and let it do it’s magic!

This particular design has several colors.

Each color was cut out separately.

Step 3:

Iron on your design.

In my case I had 4 different colors, so each color would have to be ironed on separately.

Honestly, I know that there is a way to put all of the layers together before ironing them on, I  just haven’t had the time to watch a tutorial to figure it out!

I ironed mine on with my new heat press machine, however an iron works just fine.

Here’s how my Fall kitchen towel turned out.

I love it!!!

So much so that I think that I will be making some Fall and Christmas ones for gifts!

Now what if you don’t have a vinyl cutting machine?

I have two ideas for you.

Did you know that you can buy precut vinyl decals?

Well, you can!

You order, then simply iron on.

And what about stencils?

How simple would this be?

All you would need would be kitchen towels, paint and a brush!

I love making kitchen towels, but I also like that I can choose my design, color and theme to perfectly match my kitchen.

Making Fall kitchen towels have never been so much fun!

Now it’s time to head on over to visit Liberty at B4 and Afters, I can’t wait to see what she has made!

Also, be sure to visit all of the other DIY Challenge participants and their wonderful Fall projects!

Decorate and More with Tip

Jessica Simmons

Cloches and Lavender

Bluesky at Home

Bushra’s Lifestyle

Pretty DIY Home

A Vintage Flare Farmhouse

Blessings by Me

B4 and Afters

As always, if you loved it, be sure to Pin it!!

On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, I was lucky enough to come upon their 90% off isle. It was suppose to be a quick run in, run out  trip, but I made the time for a quick stroll. I found several things that just had to come home with me, including the cutest bamboo candleholders ever!

Each candle One of the candleholders was missing a slat on the bottom for the glass cup to sit on.

However, I knew that would be an easy fix.

Each candleholder was$4.49 each.

I grabbed all four that they had left.

I love the look of bamboo, but I’ve never really known where to put it in my home.

While I think of myself as an eclectic decorator, bamboo always seemed a little too Gilligans Island in my home.

With the recent trend of gold bamboo picture frames, trays, and all things chinoiserie I knew that I could finally find the perfect place for a little bamboo.

Once the broken slat was repaired, I gave each of the candleholders a couple of coats of gold spray paint.

I was so excited.

Until I set the candleholder next to the picture frames that I already had.

The gold on the candleholder didn’t seem gold enough and looked really flat.

And even though the candleholders might never be next to the picture frames, the gold color just didn’t work for me.

My solution was to give the candleholder a quick coat of Rub N Buff.

The new gold color  had  the luster, warmth and shine that I had envisioned.

The gold candleholders pair well with my white pumpkin, fall leaves and berries.

I love this fall vignette.

My sofa table sits in a walkway, so I put potpourri in the glass cups instead of candles.

Less chance of a lit candle getting knocked off.

Plus, it smells heavenly!

I love this how well the gold looks in my blue and orange fall living room.

But I can’t help but wonder how they might look in a different color.

How about a bright hot pink?

Maybe a bold navy blue?

A deep emerald green might be nice!

No matter what color my bamboo candleholders eventually end up, right now they are perfect just the way they are!

Until next time…

Remember, if you liked it, be sure to PIN it!

Hello my friends! Today is the first Wednesday of July. Which means that today is the DIY Challenge. This month’s theme is Summer. Which is right up my alley ’cause summer is my favorite time of year! Today I’ll be sharing how to make a garden hose guide.

However, before I share that, I want to thank our hostess, Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip. Terrie is one of the sweetest, most talented gals I know, so if you haven’t visited her go there NOW! You can thank me later.

Also, if you are coming here from Jodi’s, The House House, welcome. I’m so glad that you stopped by. I always love to meet new friends.

We’ve been hand watering the flower beds since the pool dig started.

I gotta tell you that watering the flower beds and the flower pots on our wrap around front porch became quite the event.

Clearly it was time for some garden hose guides before I killed a few plants.

I went to order a few and quickly became discouraged, as all of the cute hose guides were quite pricey!

After doing a little research on making some of my own, I remembered that we had some left over finials from the new fence.

Add the finials to a copper pipe and Ta- daaaa !- new garden hose guides were born.

After picking up a copper pipe from the big box store, The Hubs was kind enough to cut me 18″ pieces of the copper pipe using a jigsaw.

Once he had them cut out, he used a rasp to sand down the rough ends of the pipe.

Now, it was my turn.

The left over finials were black.

Honestly, I almost left them that color and called it good.

However, I loved the look of the copper so much that I wanted the finials to be the same color.

I lightly sanded the finials, then gave them a few coats of Martha Stewarts Copper metallic paint.

After the paint dried, it was time to glue the finials to the pipe.

I used E6000 glue along with the double sided foam tape.

Because my finial was a little larger than my pipe, I wrapped some double sided foam tape around it.

Then liberally coated the tape with E6000 glue and inserted the pipe into the finial.

After letting the glue completely dry, I lightly sanded the finial to give it a worn and slightly distressed look.

The last step was to put a protective coating on the finals.

And my garden hose guide was done!

I have to say that I love the warm color of copper in the garden.

However, if you aren’t a copper fan you could use plain pipe and top it with just about anything.

Door knobs, drawer pulls and curtain rod finiasl are just a few that come to mind.

Now if you will please join me in visiting Pamela at DIY VIBES.

I can’t wait to see what she – and all of the other talented bloggers – is doing this summer!

DECORATEANDMOREWITHTIP | PALLETANDPANTRY | CELBRATEANDDECORATE | CLOCHESANDLAVENDER

B4ANDAFTERS | AVINTAGEFLAREFARMHOUSE | BLESSINGSBYME | PAULASHANDMADESPACE

THEHOUSEHOUSE | PATINAANDPAINT | DIYVIBES | BLUESKYATHOME

Let’s be honest. While I love the 4th of July, I’m not one to do a lot of decorating for the holiday. I’m not really sure why. I justify my non-decorating with the thought that it’s a lot of decorating for one day. But Christmas is only 1 day! And let’s get real here, I spend WAY more than a few days decorating for Christmas. This year we are have a few guests over for the 4th, so I was determined to get into the decorating spirit. At least a little. Today I’m sharing how to put together a 15 minute 4th of July Mantle.

I started with a freshly dusted, mirror cleaned mantle.

After pulling out my meager 4th of July decor, I found this fabric banner that I had made a few years ago using fabric scraps, ribbon and jute.

On top of the banner, I hung a string of red pom poms that I picked up at an after Christmas sale.

Tip: I use small clear Command strip hooks to hang my banners.

On a quick trip to Michael’s a few days ago, I found this red, white and blue decor kit.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I picked it – and a couple of others – up just in case.

FYI – Michael’s is having a huge sale right now on their Spring, Summer and Red, White and Blue items.

This kit is normally $9.99, but with a 60% discount the kit came in right at $4.00!

The kit came with 5 hanging fans.

Putting the fans together was super easy and took a whopping 3 minutes.

The fans came with double sided padded sticky tape to attach the paper medallions to the middle of the fans.

I cut the tape in half to adhere the medallions, leaving me with 5 more pieces of tape which I used to stick the fans to the mirror above my fireplace.

Once the top half of the mantle was complete, it was time to bring a little color down to the lanterns on the hearth.

I added simple red and white pom ribbon to each lantern for a tiny splash of color!

And my 15 minute 4th of July Mantle is complete.

I couldn’t be happier with it.

I love that it’s super cute and bonus – it was super fast and easy.

My kind of 4th of July decorating.

Until next time….

Welcome to week 2 of the $100 Room Challenge. If you are new here, the room I chose to work on is my Art Studio/office.

If you missed week 1, you can see that here.

The $100 Room Challenge is issued by Erin from Lemons, Lavender and Laundry. She has given the challenge to several bloggers to renovate a room in 4 weeks with a budget of $100. I’ve chosen my office because it was such a hot mess and there was absolutely NO creativity going on in there!

Week 1 was super productive. I can’t tell you how happy I am with all the small, and big, projects that I’ve gotten done. Most were just cleaning out the knick Knacks and organizing! Here’s the before and after of my closet shelving. I can not even begin to tell you how free I feel having gotten rid of and organizing all the stuff! Also, and this is a big one, these shelves came with the house and were installed at an angle. I took them apart, drilled new holes and re-screwed them back together so that the shelves were flat! Game changer!

I finally got around to putting all the wrapping papers, bows, tape, sacks etc. on to the wrapping cart. And since I’ve cleaned out the closet, I have plenty of room to roll it in and out when needed.

Unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to take a before of this 4 tiered stand. It was a pretty turquoise that looked great in my last studio, but no so much in the new one. A quick coat of left over white spray paint fixed that!

Same with the stool! It’s not the best picture, but I found an old photo of my old office. The stool is sitting in front of the workstation in all it’s black, white and gold glory.

This was a simple upgrade. I spray painted the legs navy. Since the seat was a little short on padding, I added some left over foam to the top and covered it with extra material that was left over from the curtains.

Speaking of curtains. I made a lined relaxed roman shade to go over the window behind my desk. I fell in love with this material and ordered it as soon as we moved in last October. As of today, I haven’t hung the shade yet, but plan to as soon as possible!

For some reason I didn’t include this in my to do list last week. In fact, I didn’t even think about it until I was fitting the window seat with foam to sew a seat cushion. Nothing wrong with golden oak except it matched nothing in my room. I gave it 3 coats of white cabinet and trim paint that I had left over from the fireplace remodel. Now I just need to find, or make, some awesome pulls!

The bulletin board makeover was on my list. Thankfully, between paint projects, I was able to get it done.

I took the right two panels off of the board. I kept the white panel background and replaced the black ribbon with this raspberry and white ribbon. To replace the buttons in the center of the ribbons, I raided my stash of old jewelry. These old “ear bobs” as my Granny used to call them, worked perfectly and added a little bling for fun. On the fabric square I simple used left over fabric from the curtains to recover it. It was easily attached using spray adhesive. Again a quick coat of left over white spray paint was used on the black frame.

And now for my favorite new addition to the room, the floral wall mural. I’m in love! And it adds a huge punch of color that this bland room desperately needed.
That’s it for this week! A little organization, sewing and a lot of paint. I’m happy to say that I’ve knocked out a huge chunk of projects, however in the coming weeks the projects are sure to be a little harder and a little longer!
Make a window seat cushion. Paint the desk top. Paint the white workstation top. Work on a lamp. Make a decision about a chandelier or a reno of the current ceiling fan. Accessories. Drawer pulls.
So far I’ve used a lot of left over paint from my furniture and mural painting business so my grand total for expenditures is $60.26. A huge chunk of that was for the fabric and a gallon of SW Indigo paint.

Please come back next week for week 3, but in the mean time I hope that you will join me in visiting the other bloggers on the $100 Room Challenge!

I am so excited to announce the giveaway winner!

Congratulations Tina Robinson Paige!

Please contact me at tammy@patinaandpaint.com

or Private Message me on Facebook with your mailing address!

Until next time….

I’m so excited to be a part of this months DIY Challenge Tablescape Inspiration!

Each month our hostess Terrie, from Decorate And More With Tip and more, challenges us to make a fabulous DIY project. This months challenge was to make something for our Thanksgiving table.

On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, I saw the cutest burlap placemats that had words of gratitude printed on one end.

I was in a rush and thought that I’d come back later and pick them up for my Thanksgiving table.

Can you say bad life decision?

Of course, when I went back, they were sold out!

My solution? To make my own.

Step 1:

I found my burlap material at HobLob, for $3.88 per yard, less my 40% coupon.

Cut out a 14 x 20 rectangle from the material.

One rectangle for each placemat you plan to make.

Step 2:

Once you have your rectangles cut out, sew one half inch all the way around each placemat.

Step 3:

Once you have sewn the outer edge, start pulling strings off of the edge to give it a tiny fringe.

Sewing around the outer edge of the placemat stops your placemat from unraveling more than you want it to.

Step 4:

Now to put the words of gratitude on the placemats.

You could use any stencil you have to put the words on the end of the placemat, however I didn’t have one that would fit.

I made my own stencil using my Silhouette.

Step 5:

I knew that I probably wouldn’t use these again, so I made my stencil out of vinyl.

Simply, cut it out, then using transfer tape, peel it off and stick it onto the placemat.

Step 6:

Once that was done, it is simply a matter of adding paint.

Give each placemat 2 coats of paint.

Once the paint has dried, remove the stencil

I love that the words on the placemats are subtle.

I feel like this DIY is super simple, but has a lot of impact.

Which is my kind of DIY!

Now my Thanksgiving table is ready for the holiday.

I hope enjoyed my DIY challenge so much that you will join me in visiting my fellow DIY Challenge bloggers.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Happy Fall y’all! I can’t believe that it is officially fall, especially as it is still in the 90’s here. Since it’s the beginning of fall, it’s time to start decorating with pumpkins.

There are as many ways to decorate with pumpkins as there are the different types of pumpkins themselves!

The possibilities are endless.

Today I’m going to share with you a few ways that I’m decorating with pumpkins this year, as well as a few of my favorites in the past.

Over the years, I think that I’ve used just about every pumpkin there is out there.

Here, you see a light up glitter pumpkin on my Halloween mantle.

I’ve even hung pumpkins in the trees!

I love sitting out here in the fall with these fun lanterns swinging int he breeze.

Of course, you will always find pumpkins on my front porch!

Some of my favorite pumpkins are these blue and white decoupage pumpkins!

These are super easy to make!

You all know that there will almost always be painted pumpkins here at the castle!

I can’t remember a time when my fall mantle didn’t have pumpkins of some kind on it!

These “fancy” pumpkins have a special place in my heart and I will be using them again for Halloween!

Pumpkin season here at The Castle lasts from September through mid-November.

This pumpkin was my Thanksgiving center piece a few years ago.

My hands down, all time favorite pumpkins have to be my velvet pumpkins!

As you can see my love of pumpkins is huge.

Whether the are real, faux, painted, sewn or lighted with glitter, pumpkins will always be a staple for fall here at The Castle!

So break out the pumpkins, y’all.

Fall is here!

Until next time…

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Remember last week when I shared my Dollar Tree haul? I found so many good things, I couldn’t wait to get started using them. Today I’m sharing how I made a happy harvest wreath. It’s super easy, took less than 1 hour and cost under $20.00.

Here is a list of the supplies you will need:

One 18″ wire wreath – WalMart $2.77

1 1/2 rolls Burlap ribbon – Hobby Lobby $9.99 on sale 1/2 price.

Wire – free as I already had it in my studio

Ribbon for a bow – about 3.00. I bought 2 rolls of ribbon and made 3 bows.

Happy Harvest truck sign – Dollar Tree $1.00

This burlap ribbon is perfect for my wreath for a couple of reasons.

It’s a wire ribbon, which means that it will be easy to use and keep it’s shape.

Any pesky loops going the wrong way?

Simply twist it around to where you want it!

Also, I liked the lighter, more bleached out color of this ribbon.

I won’t bore you with the actual how to on this one.

However, in case you want to know how to make one, there are a ton of how to make a burlap wreath video’s on Youtube!

I found one to refresh my memory and I was surprised to see that the lady giving the tutorial said that it took about 10 minutes to make one of these wreaths.

She must be a ton speedier than I am for sure!

Honestly, I’d estimate it took me about 25 – 30 minutes to make this wreath.

While not hard to make, it is a little time consuming.

Once my wreath was made, it was time to add the embellishments.

This Happy Harvest truck sign from the Dollar Tree is definitely the star of this wreath.

I love everything about this sign with one exception.

The super shiny silver leaf that came on it.

However, that was a super easy fix.

I simply added a few coats of Martha Stewarts Multi-Purpose metallic gold paint.

To hang my sign onto my wreath I used about 12″ of light weight wire.

To give my wreath a little more color, I added this bow that has a ton of fall color.

Honestly, I love my happy harvest wreath.

I can’t wait to hang it!

Now, if it would ever get cool enough here in North Texas to feel like fall that would be awesome.

Right now it’s 105 with no end in sight.

Come on fall!

Until next time….

A cordless vacuum review isn’t normally the kind of thing I share with you. However, it occurred to me that if I was having a hard time deciding on which one to buy, that maybe you might be too.

Now, before I start with this review, you should know a couple of things. I am not getting paid to review this vacuum and I am no vacuum expert! Just a girl who wants a good, reliable vacuum that works and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg!

What started my looking for a new vacuum was that the hose on my upright broke.

Hands down, there were two vacuums that were referred to me by almost everyone that I spoke to.

The Dyson cordless vacuum and the Roomba.

Now, I like the thought of a Roomba, but know myself enough to know that I would need a vacuum that had attachments. So the Roomba was out.

P.S. I have not one but TWO girlfriends who have Roombas that they love so much that they have names for them. Think Sergio….tempting, but no.

I loved the features that the Dyson promised but hated the price tag that went with it.

Then , I saw a fellow blogger on Insta say how much she like this vacuum.

Two days later, the Hoover vacuum was on sale on Prime day.

Sold!

It came with a ton of attachments, including a wall hanger.

It was super easy to put together, light weight and it easily fits under the edges of furniture.

The thing I like best about it – it easily can reach under my coffee table as it can almost lay flat and still have suction.

That’s a big win for me!

Also, it is not only great on carpet, it rocks on hardwoods AND medium weight throw rugs.

Which is a huge plus for me, as I have a house full of hard surfaces and rugs!

Now for the list of cons.

This vacuum only comes with one battery.

Which, is not that big of a deal, unless you are doing some heavy duty cleaning in a large house.

The good news is that you can purchase extra batteries, which I will be doing!

Another negative is that the canister is small.

For me, this isn’t that big of a deal, but it may be for some.

I like that there are no bags and it is recommended that the filter be rinsed out in the sink.

Since I bought my vacuum in a bundle on Amazon Prime day, the cordless vacuum came with a hand held vacuum that also runs on the same battery.

I love this!

I love that this hand held picks up the slack for the cordless.

One last negative, which may or may not be a negative for you, there is no storage for all of the attachments!

My OCD goes a little crazy on the small details. Sigh.

That’s everything. I hope that this cordless vacuum review helps those of you, who are just like me, lost in the world of vacuums.

Until next time…

We put the Castle on the market a few weeks ago. Which has put quite a few of my projects on hold for awhile. Since I can’t work on projects, I have been shopping! Have you been shopping lately? All of the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decor is everywhere. I’ve only got one thing to say – it’s too early!!!!

While I feel that it is way too early to be shopping for the fall holidays, as a blogger, I acknowledge the need to work ahead.

So, what does that mean? It means that I couldn’t help myself from taking a little stroll through the isles!

This Jack-O-Lantern ribbon was one of the first things I spied.

The pumpkins remind me of the Halloween art that was around when I was growing up!

This trick or treat sign is one of my favorites.

However, I found few more like it that I’m also in love with at Hob Lob.

I may have to make a few of my own!

This trick or treat pillow caught my eye….

We all know that I have a throw pillow addiction, so this would be a fun addition to the thousands that I already have!

This super cute glitter skull door mat is so cute!

I love it.

It’s the perfect combo of cute and spooky.

My second favorite door mat was this sweet Boo! mat.

Nothing spooky here, just a ton of cute!

Not only did they have a ton of Halloween decorations, but they had some very cute Thanksgiving items as well.

I loved the smell these Vanilla/Pumpkin scented wax squares.

For me the house needs to smell like fall as well as look like fall.

And, if you know anything about North Texas, you know that we really don’t have much of a fall season.

So we create our own!

Aren’t these cute fall camper and truck decorations cute?

I honestly would have taken that camper home, except I hope to be moving soon.

Okay, remember I said throw pillows may or may not be an issue for me?

My name is Tammy and I’m a pillowaholic…

I saw this sign and couldn’t help laughing.

This one is so true, whether we like it or not, Christmas is coming.

No matter how much fun it is to stroll through the isles, day dreaming of the fall to come, I have to admit that I’m still in summer mode.

I’m still enjoying sipping sweet tea, watching the fireflies and floating in the pool!

It’s too early, and too hot, to even think about the upcoming holidays yet!

Until next time…

Summer is in full swing and the 4th is right around the corner. Slow your roll summer! With that in mind, I’m already planning my outdoor 4th of July table.

I’m a big believer that just because it’s outside doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

In fact, for this table I used everything I had on hand and it took me less than 25 minutes to put it together.

Setting a pretty table doesn’t have to be hard.

Here’s the secret: it’s all about layers!

I started with a blue and white buffalo check table runner.

Then I added blue straw placemats.

Next up, white chargers.

I have a ton of these gold chargers.

Using a little white Rust-Oleum spray paint I made them a little more 4th of July friendly.

After the white chargers, I added a fun red and white dot melamine plate.

Followed by a blue bandana salad plate, also melamine.

Don’t you love how far plastic plates have come from years past?

It’s hard to tell that some are not ceramic!

These Target dollar spot napkins finish out my 4th of July table.

To make things super easy, I’m using mason jars for glasses and silverware holders!

Nothing says summer like a mason jar!

I look at it and think sweet tea and lemonade.

The centerpiece is these three “firecrackers” that I made last week.

If you missed it, you can see how to make them here.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with my 4th of July table.

You can’t beat that it only took 25 minutes to drag everything out and set it.

Best of all, it cost $0!

That’s my kind of table.

Until next time…

It’s official. I’m taking a break!

We’ve been to crazy town and back the past two weeks.

Getting ready to put the house on the market and hosting the annual Lagaly get together has been our main focus.

However, I’m not complaining!

Getting the house ready for so much fun has been rewarding to say the least!

So what have we been doing?

We’ve thinned out the pond lillies.

Which I love and hate at the same time.

Thinning them out leaves them looking a little sad for awhile.

However, in few weeks they will be full, green and blooming!

This pond is ready for a few fish!

The partio is cleaned, swept and ready for guests.

The umbrellas are up and chairs are ready for rest and sipping some sweet tea.

They are the perfect spot to watch a few games of washers.

Did I mention that we are a competitive family?

The redneck pool is up! Woo hoo!

However, the water has been a little to cold for this girl.

It has to be in the 90’s for me to get in!

Baskets are full of sunscreen, toys and other fun stuff.

Did I mention toys?

The Hubs and I went to Sam’s and filled our basket with all sorts of pool toys, googles and floats!

However, I think it needs to be said that sending your husband alone to Costco can be dangerous!

He came home with all sorts of fun things for the littles. I secretly suspect that the water balloons are more for the adults than the kids!

We’ve even pulled out a few indoor toys just in case…

The house is clean, the food is prepped so I’m taking a break!

It’s time to spend some quality fun time with those we love.

Until next time…

Hey friends! Can you believe that it’s already May? I have to admit that this year seems to be flying by and May’s calendar is already FULL. Since Mother’s Day is a little over a week away, I thought that I would share a few Mother’s Day gifts that have caught my eye. In fact, I wouldn’t mind having a few of them myself. Hint, hint!

First up, these beautiful begonias. I love these so much that I bought not only myself a hanging basket, but I also bought a few for my sisters! They come in this beautiful pink, a vibrant red and a soft Georgia peach color. Y’all know I couldn’t resist the pink! You can find these at your local Sam’s for $12.98.

Next, some of the coolest earrings from Kendra Scott. I love these! You all have probably seen these already as I’m always the last one to jump on the band wagon. In fact, I don’t own anything by Kendra Scott, but might just have to buy these! I love how the clear crystal ones change color to match what you are wearing. My kind of earring!

These aren’t too shabby either! I LOVE all the beautiful colors. These are a work of art!

Next up, something I’ve had for awhile, but totally love and wear almost all the time.

Co-ordinates cuffs. The co-ordinates on each cuff is unique to you. Favorite place. Where you got married. Where you had you children. You name the place! A few years ago I asked The Hubs to make a couple of these for our boys for a gift. They were a hit. Two years, and tons of cuffs later and The Hubs has his own business. Roxx Hydz Leathers. You can find those, and other fine gifts here: Instagram.com/Roxxmakers

And last, but certainly not least if you love botanicals as much as I do then these are for you. I think these would be fabulous in a chunky black frame. And for $15.00 for four of them, it’s a steal!

That’s it from The Queen’s wish list. I hope that this makes your Mother’s Day gifts buying a little easier!

Until next time…

If I’m totally honest, I love painting children’s rooms and furniture more than anything else. Which means that I love my job during the holiday season, as I get to paint a lot of things children related. This year I got to paint a super fun toy chest and and Ella’s table and chairs.

I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had painting both pieces!

Queen Lally asked if I would paint a table for her granddaughter, Ella.

Of course, I wasn’t passing up the opportunity to paint something fun!

This set is from Doug and Melissa.

It started out a plain light wood that was primed and painted white!

Once it was white, the decorating and fun painting began.

Her only requirement was that I use the colors turquoise and purple.

After a few quick sketches we came up with this design.

A monogram, which is my favorite, polk a dots, flowers and squiggles all came together for a super fun design.

I think that Ella’s table and chairs turned out pretty darn cute!

Merry Christmas Ella!

Until next time….

Tammy

Have you ever read DIY articles about what to do with your “extra” closets? Yeah, me too. I used to laugh hysterically. Ain’t nobody that I know got an extra closet! Until I did. Empty nesting is good for something. So I made mine into a wrapping closet. My one guilty indulgence. Unfortunately, from time to time, mine blows up and its time to start  cleaning out the wrapping closet. In a big way!

See what I mean? Being a small closet, thankfully it also makes me clean it up in a timely manner. There is no room to do otherwise. Also, Christmas is the perfect time to change things out and tidy up a little bit. Here’s how I do it!

The elves have been busy decorating here at the castle. Of course, they always start in the heart of the home, the kitchen. This years theme is simple, less fuss and not as over the top as in years past. It’s a black, white and red Christmas kitchen!

I don’t buy all new stuff from year to year, instead I like to mix and match a few new things with old things from years past. Don’t get me wrong. It’s tempting, however every time I consider it I hear my sweet Granny’s sarcastic voice saying “Well, aren’t we Miss Aster!” For those of you that are younger than dirt, that was her way of saying that we aren’t made of money. And even if we were, money doesn’t grow on trees! Thrifty was her middle name.

The Hubs and I made a quick trip to Oklahoma to celebrate Beep’s 1st birthday. It’s hard to believe that she’s already a year old. For those of you who don’t know, Beep is my great niece. And we are all in love with her!

The theme of Beep’s birthday was Boho Wild One. Which for me, meant lots of turquoise, flowers, arrows, feathers, tee pees and a ton of color! I have to say, it was a very fun theme which I would love to share with you. Or, at the very least, the highlights!

I’m not sure if you know it or not, but I started this blog to promote my furniture restore business four years ago. Over time the blog has morphed into more of a life style blog. However, there are still days /weeks where I’m swamped with furniture makeovers. That’s this week. Today I’m sharing a trash to treasure vanity makeover.

A friend texted me asking if I  had seen this vanity in the trash down the street. Nope, I had not. So I hopped into the car and went to do a little dumpster diving. This is what I found!

Since it is summer and a few of you will be looking for a good read, I couldn’t wait to share with you what I’ve been reading.

As a former librarian and a lover of books, I read a lot! So when I saw that Melissa Radke was looking for people to be on her new books launch team, I signed up as fast as I could!

Y’all I cannot tell you how excited I was when I got the email from Melissa telling me I was in!

Happy Friday morning to you!  Sorry that you are receiving the second blog post from me in one day, but I’ve got some important info for you! Yep, I’ve updated my privacy policy. I’m sure your inbox has been filled with this kind of notification over the  past few days from your favorite bloggers.

If you are really into this kind of thing you can go to my home page and find my privacy policy there. ( I did type my fingers to the bone writing that thing!) If you have better things to do, let me break it down for you!

Okay, I’m going to give it to you straight. I’m the last person to give advice on fashion. Yet, here I am doing just that!

It’s the Ten on the 10th! This months theme is Fashion. I have to admit that when I read the theme I almost took a hard pass until next month. On the girly scale I’m probably at the 30- 40% mark. Maybe! Let me give you a little background before I share my sage advice with you.