Sweet Savannah–Part 1

They say there are places that are “heaven on earth” and I believe Savannah is one of them.     Our hotel was located in the heart of the historic district and we had a bird’s eye view of the river.     If you plan a trip to Savannah, I highly recommend the Hampton Inn on East Bay Street….ask for a room on the 6th floor because the view is fantastic!

 

Our room was so nice.    The bed looks lumpy but it was a down filled duvet.     Looked like whoever decorated the rooms envisioned a Pottery Barn feel

 

Loved this sconce….I’ve seen one similar in the PB catalog.

 

Standing on the corner outside our hotel looking down the street.    The weather was perfect!

 

 

My first stop was The Paris Market…I know many of ya’ll have been there so it needs no introduction….just lots of ohhing and ahhing….(warning….picture overload ahead!!)

I’m going to let the pictures do the talking...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant Thursday evening.

 

 

 

That pretty much wrapped up our first day as we arrived late in the afternoon and were tired from the drive and all the walking.    I’ll share more pictures later this week, which includes Uncle Bubba’s, Tybee Island Social Club and No. 411.       Hope you will come back and virtually tour Savannah with me.

Hey Ya’ll!

Just want to grab your attention for a minute to say I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth (yet).    We got back from Savannah on Monday and I’ve been too busy (and tired) to post any pictures or tell about our fabulous trip.    But I pinky promise that I’ll be posting some pictures and telling all about our little adventure.

My painter guy came by last night to see what all I’m wanting to do in the den and the carpenter is supposed to come by this weekend so I can show him what I want done to the fireplace mantle….which means the painting will get started next weekend!!!!   

AND I’m working on a project or two I hope to share real soon….toodles for now!

Savannah

Tomorrow we’re on our way to Savannah….one of my favorite places to be.    

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, no trip to Savannah would be complete without eating at this Lady’s restaurant…

 

We want to eat at her brother’s place ….Bubba’s (there’s a Bubba in every family, isn’t there?)

I also want to spend a day on Tybee Island and see the lighthouses

 

and check out some of the cottages that I’ve read about in some of my favorite books by this author…

 

(Mary Kay Andrews)

 

(via)

 

If I get a chance I’ll post some pictures along the way….otherwise, see you next week!

DIY Stenciled Lampshade

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately…I’m running around like a crazy woman doing little projects, guess it’s a good thing though because my “to-do” list is never-ending!

I started staining, painting and distressing a dresser in my bathroom this weekend….crazy because we are leaving for Savannah on Thursday….wouldn’t want to put pressure on myself or anything!    I want it DONE before I go.   

I was in my local paint store on Friday picking up some more paint to finish up the dresser when I saw a pair of gorgeous lamps (the store carries Pottery Barn type decorator items) with linen shades with a quatrefoil design.    The lamps were $85 each!     Guess that’s not a bad price but I knew I had one at home I could make look pretty darn close to theirs.     So I took my 40% coupon to Michael’s and bought a stencil, came home, taped it on the shade, and stenciled on my design.    My original plan was to go around the circumference of the shade but after stenciling one design I stopped to let the paint dry and hubby said he liked just the one.     I will most likely go back and stencil all the way around but I ran out of time and energy so until we get back from our trip, I will leave it alone.

 

 

Here is the stencil taped on the shade.    I got the shade at Wal Mart….I think I paid around $13.00 for it.    A great price for a linen look drum shade.     It’s a pale linen color and I used white craft paint.

 

There are some places I missed and the center piece didn’t turn out exactly like it should have but I really don’t care!

 

I wish I had a picture of the $85 lamp…mine looks almost identical to it!    Don’t you love it when you can use what you have to get the look you want? 

 

We’re leaving for Savannah and Tybee Island on Thursday.     While I’m excited to go, I can’t wait to get back because the den re-do will be on!     In addition to painting the room, the trim and the fireplace brick, we are going to bulk up the existing fireplace mantle.      Here’s my inspiration for building up my existing mantle….

via

(I love her whole house!)

 

This afternoon after I literally finished painting the bathroom dresser, my sister called and wanted us to meet them for dinner at a barbeque place at the lake.    So we bundled up and headed out to meet them.     It’s a little hole in the wall place but it has the best barbeque around!

Tomorrow I plan to start distressing and glazing the dresser.       I have to at least get my bathroom cleaned up before we go out of town because my sister and her husband are going to stay at the house next weekend to take care of mama and dog sit….like I said….no pressure!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Many moons ago a neighbor gave me this fabulous recipe for Chicken Enchilada Casserole.    I made it over and over and shared the recipe many times.    Eventually I quit making it, don’t know why, but Monday I got a wild hair and decided to make one.     I know there are many variations on this recipe but here’s the one I use.

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 can cream of chicken soup + 1/2 can of water
• 1 small can of chopped green chilies
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies (I used mild…it added a little kick)
• shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
• Tortilla chips

 

Boil the chicken breasts until thoroughly cooked.    Cool and then shred in your blender.    Drain the juices from the chopped green chilies and the Rotel tomatoes and chilies.     Combine the cream of chicken soup, (add 1/2 can of water), the chopped green chilies and Rotel tomatoes well.    Then add in your shredded chicken and mix all together until well blended.       Line the bottom of your casserole dish (sprayed with Pam) with crushed Tortilla chips.    Pour the chicken mixture over the chips and top with more chips.    Bake @350 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes (be sure the chips don’t burn), then top with the shredded cheese.    Continue cooking until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I serve this with a green salad and rolls.    

This is a quick meal that tastes good and goes a long way.     The above recipe should serve about 4.

Love Banner

My sweet little granddaughter Taylor has announced that she loves turquoise….I tell ya, that girl has my heart!    I decided to make a some burlap banners for Valentine’s Day for the grandkids but so far I’ve only made this one…guess I should get off the computer and go make two more….one for me and one for my Birmingham grandchildren.

I’m not going to share another tutorial on how I made these but you can see my Fall banner here and the steps I used to make it….

Here it is cut out and stenciled (color is by Folk Art #481 Aqua)

 

I wish I would have added something between the letters, I think I spaced them out too much

 

Taylor helped me make the bows

 

 

Here is my “love” posing in front of her banner….she’d been playing outside and wouldn’t let me fix her hair….

 

I’ll be so glad to get rid of those gold walls and have the room and fireplace painted!      I dropped my chair off at the upholstery lady’s house today and she thinks she’ll have it ready this coming week….we’re leaving for Savannah in 3 weeks but when we return I’m getting the room painted and hoping to make a decision on the sofa by then.   I can’t wait!!!

Shark!

A couple of weeks ago my son-in-law bought a Shark steam mop and when I saw what a good job it did on their hardwood floors I’d been wanting to get one for our home.    A little story about my SIL:   he is a wonderful helper around the house for my daughter and he thinks he’s the only one who can mop “right”…..to which she just says “go for it”!    

So I did some research on different steam mops and settled on the Shark Pro Steam Pocket Mop+.    It has 3 steam settings and I wanted the option of having different levels of steam.    

 

 

When I used it on my kitchen floor I was shocked at how much dirt it picked up.     I had just mopped about a week ago so you can see how much dirt is not picked up by a regular mop.

I can’t believe I’m showing you how nasty my floors were but it’s amazing how much dirt is not picked up by regular mopping.  

 

Another little cleaning tool I recently picked up is this microfiber cleaning glove.

 

I love that I can just slip it on and run my hand over my furniture without getting out a polishing cloth….I just squirt my furniture polish oil (I like the oil better than the spray) on the glove and wipe away!   I got this  in Wal Mart.

 

And on a much different subject, tomorrow I’m taking my chair to the upholstery lady to have it covered in my vintage grain sack!    I have debated about painting and distressing the chair or leaving the wood as is.    When I saw the photo below I knew I wanted to leave the wood….since my chair is almost identical.

 

via

 

I’m not sure if I’m going to use the same grain sack fabric for the seat of the chair since it’s somewhat scratchy….I bought some black linen to use in case I don’t have enough of the grain sack left to use for the seat.      This is the beginning of my den makeover!    

DIY Jewelry Organizer

Maybe it’s a stretch to call this little DIY project an “organizer” but I couldn’t think of a better word…maybe jewelry “holder”?    Anyhoo, I’ve had this heavy gold ornate frame I picked up at a flea market a year or so ago for $5.00.     I stashed it behind a bedroom door trying to figure out how I wanted to use it.    I had several ideas but Friday night it hit me to use it to hang some of my favorite pieces of jewelry so I could get to them easily.     I cut a piece of foam board to fit inside the frame, took some burlap (who doesn’t have burlap these days?), sprayed it with some fabric spray and adhered it to the foam board.    Then I just popped it inside the fame.    I bought some t-pins and stuck them into the burlap-covered foam board and hung up some of the pieces I wear almost daily.

I snapped these pics early this morning and didn’t have time to style the photos so please excuse any mess.    This was a quick project that turned out just like I envisioned.    Even hubby said he thought it looked good! 

 

 

 

 

And yes, I love turquoise jewelry!