Fall decorations

Hi friends, Today I'm joining the blog party at Rhoda's Southern Hospitalityblog.com to show you what I spent my day doing. It was a fun and relaxing way to spend a beautiful fall day. I had all the windows open. There is a cool breeze and the leaves are falling. Just a generally good day. If you want to see all the other blogs participating in the party just click here.

This is my family room mantel. Things changed here were the greenery with berries in the two vases. (I really need to to something about that ceiling fan!) Play like you don't see the dated globes, okay?

Added some beaded pumpkins here and a brown willow plate. I have had two of them for years, I never see them anywhere else. They must be rare.

A close up of some items on my buffet in the dining room. The fall frame holds a framed greeting card I have had for years. It has such a beautiful verse!!

This is the first thing you see when you step inside the door. I found the window at a garage sale before we built the house. Since our entry is small I wanted to use it to open up the space. The little tree is a Christmas clearance item from Michaels that I decorated for Fall.

The dining table holds two new cage lantern things I just recently found at Hobby Lobby for $10.00. I love the lanterns that are so popular right now, but they are pricey. With these, I just put hurricane vases inside to hold the candle or any other item I want to use inside. At Christmas, they will be pretty with "snow" and Santas or angel figures. I put the vases on top of two blue and white saucers to add some color. Then arranged a "Berry vine" garland around them. They are sitting on my thrifted gold chenille afghan.

Various items arranged on the buffet over one of those sparkly netting garland things used for Christmas trees and such. My three tiered stand just has little pieces of floral materials, leaves, flowers and I tucked in a couple of small pieces of blue willow.

A closer look.

Do you recognize this weed? It grows prolificly along the road sides and empty lots here in Kansas. It's called curley dock.. If you cut it when it's just beginning to turn a light brownish pink color from green, it will stay that way. It ultimately turns dark brown so, you have to get it around the first part of June. It's a great filler to use for arrangements, wreaths, or just by itself like here.

Over the kitchen stove, I may put some apothecary jars up here also with maybe hedge balls or dried Sumac berries.

The front door, I found a great buy on these Mums yesterday and they looked so healthy. I tucked in brances of bittersweet cut from our property and also some of those great looking hedge apples. Do any of you use these in your fall decorating? They are such a pretty color.

Do you see the hedge apples?

Kind of strange looking, Huh? But they do look great with all the other colors of Fall and at least on our property, they are EVERYWHERE!!!

Happy Fall to all of you. May you enjoy every minute of this glorious season as it goes by sooo fast!!! Thanks for visiting me today!! Blessings, Linda

Mom's kitchen renovation ...

Okay, so this picture is obviously NOT a kitchen renovation picture. You must indulge me a little, as it wasn't all work and no play, we did have a day of play time with our kids and grandchildren. Isn't she precious? She just loves this kitty! She's just shy of 9 months old.
Grandpa and the other girls had fun planting a tree in the front yard as a surprise for Mom and Dad when they came home from an all afternoon conference they attended. They were so excited. We had already planned to buy a tree for the kids and the girls insisted that we must have flowers and mulch as well!! My creative tendencies must be passing through! Ha.

Okay, girls what do you think of the new kitchen. Isn't it great? Oh, I'm sorry, these MUST be the BEFORE PICTURES!

The whole kitchen measures about 10x10, so it is pretty tight. I grew up in this kitchen and it holds so many good memories for me. My dad did everything himself, cabinets, countertops, flooring. He had to always look for ways to save money. I love that about him. He was industrious and learned how to do it yourself, before DIY was a buzzword.

My Mom has been widowed now for almost 30 years and has managed to continue living by herself and making do. She has worked hard to raise 4 kids on a modest income, gardening and canning and sewing our clothes. We never felt like we needed anything and had a rich life. She is now 85 and as you can imagine, has accumulated a lot of stuff. We are slowing trying to go through some of the things and weed out a bit.

We replaced the old worn mirror with a cute one I found at Hobby Lobby and it is the perfect size. Beadboard was installed on the backsplash and painted in Frozen Pond Behr's paint and primer in one. She loves her bird figurines so we kept those close and added a few pieces of colored glassware.

The microwave has always been on the countertop, so we made a shelf for it over the stove. I think we got it too high, so next trip, we will move it down a couple of inches. I plan to paint the cord white so it doesn't show so much and anchor it to the side of the wall bracket.

This area will eventually have a banquette built in on both walls, we just ran out of time and the next step will be laying down the new oak laminate floor. Then the banquette will be last. It will be finished out in the beadboard also. But for right now, this will work just fine. We convinced her to take the leaf out of the table as the space is just too small. I think when the benches are built she will be able to get more people around this 48" table than she thinks.

We convinced her to turn the Fridge and we put in a new 36" base cabinet beside it. The cabs my Dad had built on this side were only about 12" inches deep. This side of the room looks very different, but it has really opened up the room. I am making a new window valance for it with the fabric I showed you in the previous post. I realize the accessories look spare, but believe me for now this is a GOOD thing.

Back on the other side of the room, The new countertops and sink have made such a difference and the painted cabinets make the room soooo much brighter!! My brother and sister have helped with all this financially and physically for which we are thankful. It has been a pretty major project to do on a limited budget and small increments of time, but I am praying it has been worthwhile. Sometimes it is really hard to know how to help an aging parent. I have many frustrations in this area, but I try to just keep giving it all to God to work it out and to work through all of us. I'm sure many of you can relate. When we get EVERYTHING done, I will post pictures again. Thank you for so manys sweet comments about this endeavor. I wish you all blessings and a beautiful Sunday. Linda

Fun Stuff for Mom's kitchen

Hello my friends! Today I thought I would show you some of the "Fun Stuff" for my mom's renovated kitchen. I've been combing the thrift stores for little items that would bring a bright touch to her little kitchen and I'm excited to see it all come together. We are leaving tomorrow to go for several days of work. We have a new laminate floor to put down over the old asphalt tiles. Plan to install beadboard paneling about 3/4ths up the wall. We will turn the fridge and add a new cabinet beside it. Paint the walls, (not sure if this part will happen this trip, but I'm hoping that we can. There is wallpaper to remove. Then lastly we hope to built in a banquette for seating. I think we'll be using a different table that will fit the size better. I'm sooooo anxious to show that finished result!! but I have to be patient, so here is some of the fun stuff I have collected to pretty it up.
I found the bread box at the thrift store and painted it a fun limey green. The 2 white cannisters came from the Goodwill and I got them for $3.00. The 4 perfectly matching blue coffee mugs will go great with the new wall color-- a dusty greenish blue. The striped fabric will cover the cushions for the bench seat. I found the yellow goblet and the soap dispenser at the goodwill also. each was .75. The striped placemats are from Pier I and I had to pay full price for them, but they were still a good price at $2.00 each. I found the "There's no place like home" sign at Hob Lobby on half-price and also the 3 little pictures which have all the colors we are using.

Striped fabric perfect colors was from Joanns at 60% off.

This floral will be used to make a window topper of some sort. Not sure yet just what style it will be. The color scheme is cream, the greenish blue color "Frozen Pond" Behr primer and paint in one , Yeah!! and the depression glass light green with touches of yellow. I think it will be so cheerful for her. She has needed this update a very long time. I just hope she likes it! So that's what I've been up to painting cabinets and such and redoing my thrift store finds. Oh also I am working hard at becoming a Medical Transcriptionist. It's been hard, but I think I'm making progress. I am taking an online course and when finished I hope to be able to work from home--my favorite place to be. Hope you all have a good weekend. I'll have more pictures when we get back. Thank you all for your kind comments. They mean so much to me. I enjoy all your blogs so much and hope to have more time to visit you all soon. I think I am figuring out more about blogging little by little. I send you blessings for home and family. Linda

September song

Hi friends, It's been a few days since I've posted. Lots going on and the days just seem to flitter by, don't they? I really find it hard to believe that September is already here!. The leaves are just starting to yellow out a bit and some are falling already, but basically everything still looks beautiful, since we have had such an unusually cool and wet summer. I love the view from our front door. Never get tired of just sitting on the porch and admiring all that the Lord has made.

I have come down with a nasty case of Poison Ivy, ugghhhhhhhh!! It seems to be spreading, so I will most likely have to get something from the doctor next week. I've been working on a few projects I hope to show you soon. Last evening we got to get a first look at our new niece or maybe it's great niece, I'm not sure, but I am little Olivia's great aunt and proud to be so. She is so tiny even though she was well over 8 lbs. Isn't she cute?

She couln't stay awake very long....... back to baby dreams. So sweet. Hope you are all having a good weekend. I send you blessings, Linda

Kitchen Renovation in progress

This is the result of several long weekends at my Mom's house. She has needed a kitchen re-do for many years and we finally decided to just START! The cabinets were made by my Dad in the early 50s and were built to last. However, through the years, styles have changed and things were looking a little depressing, don't you think?

. Since the cabinets have such sentimental value to the family, we decided also because of a low budget, to add trim to the doors and paint them all. This took some persuading, but finally she agreed to let us start the process. My DH cut strips of 1/4" MDF and put on each door to resemble a shaker style. Then they were all painted. We live about 2-1/2 hrs away, so every time we've been to see her recently, we brought home doors or drawers to work on. Finally we have them all complete on this side of the. room.Our task this last weekend was to take out the countertop which had been covered with red lineoleum and metal trim. Very fashionable in 1954!!! and replace it with a stock formica countertop and add a new sink. It was a task, but went very well.

We then added a backsplash of beadboard which will travel all the way around the room.

Several layers of wallpaper need to be removed so we can paint the top third a pretty robin's egg blue-green color. The wallpaper is my sister's job. My two brothers will be removing cabinets on the other side of the room to make way for turning the fridge and building a banquette for dining. Also a new laminate floor is waiting to be laid down over the old gray floor tiles. So, several more trips to go before it's all done, but I thought I'd show you a glimpse of the project. It's amazing what just painting the cabinets has done to make the room a happier place to be.

There is always SOMETHING that can be done to give a room a new look and it doesn't always have to cost a lot. We purchased the drawer and door pulls in oil rubbed bronze at Walmart and they look very smart! Hope to show you more photos soon. Everyone have great weekend. We are having all our kids and grandchildren here on Saturday to send off our youngest son and daughter in love to Louisiana. I dread it, but they must go where the job takes them at this point. I just wish they didn't have to take the little 2 yr. old with them!!!!! ha. Blessings my friends, Linda

Guest room favorites

Hi friends, Sorry I've been away for a few days. A lot has been going in my life. I am currently taking an online course for Medical Transcription. It is requiring a lot of time and energies. So much to learn. My "playing" is limited it seems. I really think I will enjoy it once I really get it down. My "learner" is a bit out of practice, ha. I took these pics the other day, when I was playing with my camera. Oh, and I also DROPPED my camera from a step ladder I was trying to go up! Haven't taken it in yet, but it seems to be working, I am just not able to "see" if I am focusing. Not sure what can be done, but needless to say, I am very upset with myself! This picture is of an old dresser we have in the guest room, I refinished it many years ago and bought it at a garage sale for $25.00. The lady told me it came to the state on a covered wagon. It is really pretty. The mirror was missing, and I never replaced it, so I have just hung prints and mottos inside the frame. I rather like it this way. I really love the old "cottage" prints with the thatched roofs.

This little wall cabinet sits on top of a chest, I purchased it at Hobby Lobby, but it has a very old look. It is sitting on top of a chest of drawers, also from a garage sale. I faux finished the top to look like marble as the veneer on top was ruined. This is a great way to salvage a piece like this.

This mirror came from Hobby Lobby and is hanging in the guest bathroom. I love the black color. We put black and white checkerboard tiles in this room. I like the way it turned out. We put a sink top on an old buffet to use it this room. Sorry no picture of it. Maybe later.

Looks like summer is nearly over and time for all our granddaughters to head back to school, I didn't have the quality time I usually have with them this summer because of my schooling. They are all growing up so fast, and our youngest son and daughter-in-love are in the process of moving 3 states away!! I am really bummed about that! But these days they must go where the job takes them. Hope you are all having a good week and enjoying the remaining days of summer. I send you all blessings, Linda

Sunshine in the Morning

Happy Friday everyone! I have been pretty busy doing other things beside creating, so I am just going to show you more pictures of our home. This is the master bedroom and it is so pretty in the morning! Even better in the winter, when the sun comes in at a lower angle. We have a king-sized mattress on a queen-size bed, Yes you can do that. We just put the bed on a hollywood frame and fastened the headboard and footboard to that. And I don't think it looks bad at all. The walls are two colors of scarlet red, one brighter and one darker. The brighter color went on first and the other color (with glaze added) was rolled on and ragged off. Old baby diapers work great for this! I finally found a comforter I liked and have it on now, but alot of the time I use a beautiful king-sized hand crocheted spread that my mother (bless her) made for me. It is a treasure. The curtain panels are Waverly and I bought them way before we even started on the house because I loved the colors and I love flowers. They have a vintage look I think. I decided to combine them with bamboo shades from Target.
Our three daughter-in-laws hold a prime place on the wall on my side of the bed.

This is on around the room to the right. A cozy reading spot. The wicker chair is very old, but in great shape. I found the needlepoint cat at a flea market and made it into a pillow.

I'm looking for the perfect mirror to go here. Probably round. The dresser had an attached mirror, but I took it off because I thought it looked too country.
The tall glass and brass box hold favorite pieces of jewelry, so I can see them all the time. I used the base from a silverplate chafing dish to elevate a silver tray to hold various pretty things. All of this sits on another silver tray.

The other side of the bed. I made the memory box after our 25th wedding anniverysary reception. On the wall, a favorite Sandy Lynam Clough print.

Okay, this area needs work. Ha. There's a little dust inside. Mostly it holds books, pictures and the small TV. I have thought about painting or papering the inside to make it pop more.
Well that's it. Hope you all have a great weekend. Summer is fleeting by! It is hot here this week, we have been spoiled by all the previous cool July! Hope to have three of our granddaughters here next week before they start school.
Blessings to you all,

Linda