Cutie Patooties!

Yesterday Shannon and Taylor came by to pick me up so we could buy Taylor some tap and ballet shoes....she's about to become a ballerina! Since it was "game day" Ta-Ta just had to wear her smocked cheerleader dress I got her, plus her plastic necklace and bracelet, and what outfit is complete without sunglasses? Isn't she just the cutest thing?

Then today (Sunday) all the kiddies were here for a early Labor Day cookout. The girls dug out old Halloween "ears" and wanted to pose for MiMi...of course Jackson had to get in on the action too!

Anytime all three of them see a camera, they automatically say "cheese"!!!!

And finally we have Pop "driving" them around the backyard in a wheelbarrow....who knew such a simple thing could be so much fun?!?!?!?

Labor Day plans here are on hold, waiting to see what Gustav will do. Lake plans are cancelled as there is a lake wind advisory. We'll just sit tight and hope for the best. All the kids are supposed to go to Panama City, Florida next weekend for a long-planned vacation, but with Gustav and Hanna right on his heels, those plans might have to change.

I pray everyone in Gustav's path comes through safe and sound....

Football on the Plains

Who says football is only for the fellas? Around here, as I'm sure in all parts of the country, football is in the air! I love watching the game on TV and really "getting into it." But nothing can be any better than actually being at the game, tailgating all day, cheering on your team, fun (and foolishness) with friends and family, and then dragging home at the end of a long day (or night). Here in the deep south, when football season starts, it is soooo hot you just about melt! Then it seems like overnight the air changes, the weather gets crisp and cool, and there is excitement in the air the day of the game that you can feel in your bones! We stuff ourselves with food all day and drink hot chocolate or coffee at night. Of course, you can't forget those delish hotdogs at the game! I love night games, especially when the weather turns cold....sometimes I can hardly feel my feet at the end of the night! We get in our car at the end of the game, turn up the heat, and slowly make our way home. Fortunately, we are only about an hour from our college team but with the traffic, it can take quite a while to "get out of town" and make it home.



I'll leave ya'll with a little story my mama used to tell.....one day the lady of the house was getting ready to do some laundry. She was in her laundry room and decided to strip off her clothes and toss them in the washing machine since she was already in there when she noticed her son had left his football helmet in the laundry room. She plunked it on her head so she wouldn't forget to take it to his room. On her way to her son's bedroom, there was a knock on the door and forgetting she was bare nekid (as we say here in the south) she went to answer the door....only to find a repairman there who had come to fix some ailing appliance. He took one look at her and said "Lady, I don't know whose team you're rooting for, but I hope they win!"



I guess I told that little story to say.....I hope all of ya'll's teams win this year!



W-A-A-A-A-R EAGLE!

Tater Tot Casserole and Stamped Napkin Project

All this redecorating made me hungry so I decided to fix one of my easiest and quickest suppers last night. We love tater tot casserole and it's so easy! It only takes ground beef, creme of mushroom soup, onion, cheese and a bag of tater tots. Hubby likes the mini-tots or "crowns" (so he doesn't think he's eating as many carbs as the "bigger" tots!)

Just brown the ground beef, adding a finely chopped onion. I realized I did not add the onion so I used some pico de gallo I had in the refrigerator which was a mixture of onion and red and green peppers - added a little zing but still tasty!

Top it off with the bag of tater tots and cook at 350 for about 30-45 minutes, until the tater tots are done. You can add grated cheese if you like

Look at all that dripping butter from the corn on the cob -- Paula Deen would be so proud of me!

NELL HILL INSPIRED STAMPED NAPKIN PROJECT

I love anything Mary Carol Garrity of Nell Hill's fame does. Her home and shop are always such an inspiration to me. While she can be a little "over the top" for most day-to-day real life, you can still adapt her ideas to your own use. When I saw her tablescapes and stamped napkins, I saved the pictures because I knew I wanted to try and recreate the napkin ideas.

Love the initials on this napkin

Fall-ish table setting

Gorgeous stamped monogram on linen

Here she uses a square frame as her "charger"

(above photos courtesy of Nell Hills)

So I went and purchased some linen napkins...ironed out the wrinkles.....

Got my fleur de lis stamp......



...and came up with this.

You can see where I played around with the napkin....first putting it on top of the salad plate and then underneath. I think I like it under the plate best


And while it's not as "grand" as Nell Hill's napkins, I think I've came pretty close to duplicating her stamped napkin effect

I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful suggestions left about what to do with the inside of my three corner cupboard. One of my sweet blogging friends e-mailed me that I might want to just paint it instead of using the scrapbook paper (which was the suggestion I got most) because the paper might clash with my vingettes. I tend to agree with her so for now, I will just leave it painted until I come up with a color that I think will look good. Who knows when or what that will be!

EDITED TO ADD: A lot of ya'll have asked about the ink I used for the napkins. I got both ink pads at Hobby Lobby. The brown one is called "Saddle Brown" and the cover of the pad is called Staz On. It also says it's for every surface but when I just now read the back, it says it's not recommended for fabric. Oh, well, I've never been much on following directions! I'm not planning on using the napkins other than for "looks" so hopefully I won't have to wash the napkins to see if the ink stays on. The black ink pad just says "Dye Ink Pad" (acid free). I think this ink is supposed to be used for stamping on paper projects....again, I didn't read the back! This little project was a lot of fun so I'm going to be doing more napkins but first I think I'll buy more "appropriate" paint! Thought I'd give ya'll the heads up since it seems like a lot of you want to try this. It would be a good idea if you buy ink made for stamping on fabric.

Filling In The Blanks

Most of Sunday afternoon was spend cleaning up after the painters and trying to decide where to put what....

Here is a little glimpse of my black three corner cupboard. I am going to give it a fresh coat of black paint but I just don't know what to do about the inside color. So I'm open to all suggestions from all you talented girls out there.....what do ya'll suggest?

I did put stuff back in there and I think I like what I've done so far. I needed a little color and lots of texture for all that creamy white and Latte. To accomplish that, I utilized one of my favorite decorating tools.....books! The older the better, they can be ratty, I don't care! Then I just started putting stuff on the shelves until I was pleased with how it looked.

On top I put my white tray we got at Scotts last weekend (took this shot from the ladder....can't you tell?)

Here's what I did with my little tortishell bookcase/shelf

That old beat-up looking train case came off the street!

Here's the silver I picked up at Scotts Antique Market I polished. I brought in some of my silver coffee/tea pieces from the dining room to mix in with the white plates

I still wanted to use the copper pot rack and pots so back in they went...

I do have some textured Roman shades about the same color as the tortishell shelf but only one got hung yesterday. Don't know what I'm going to use over the kitchen window....maybe the same Roman shade or I may make a pretty valance.

We got the glass top table moved in and I set the table with some pretty dishes and flatware. I have some linen napkins I'm going to stamp (like some I've seen in the Nell Hill's books) to complete the tablescape. I'll show the kitchen table later.....right now I'm waiting on some slipcovers I ordered from Ballards to see which ones look best. Got to hang plates and platters and a few other things before it's "done" (or at least presentable!)

If ya'll have any suggestions on the inside of the corner cabinet please feel free to share!

First Coat Of Paint and Counting.....

I just wanted to share a few pics of the new kitchen color and trim. The painters were supposed to be here at 8:00....hadn't heard from them by 8:30 so I called....said they'd be here in 30 minutes. They finally got here at 10:00! Oh, well, what can you do?

As soon as I could, I left to go get some dark bronze spray paint for my original cabinet hardware. I did replace about 5 knobs with old fashioned cup type hardware in an oil rubbed bronze finish but no way was I going to pay to replace all the other hardware and hinges. I've used that bronze spray before and it matches the new hardware perfectly.

Then on to find a nice roman shade for my window seat. I debated between an off-white cotton duck roman shade or a dark brown roman shade which I found at Target. Of course, when I got home with the roman shade, it did not fit so the search is still on.

The painter had one coat of Latte on the walls when I got home and I just love it! When hubby came in, he liked it as well. This is the color he favored....gotta keep 'em happy! All the chair rail and cabinets had been primed and had a first coat of Pearl White applied. Tomorrow they will be back at 8:00 (yeah, right) to 2nd coat all the walls, all the trim they did today and start putting the molding on the cabinets. That's what I can't wait to see!

I need to change out some bulbs

Of course, this is not where my lamp will go but I wanted you to see how pretty it looks in the room. I've had the tortishell shelf for a while and I want to use it in place of my sewing base and marble top table..it may or may not stay.

The ugly old window seat got a fresh coat of Pearl White

Here you can see the primed chair railing.

How do ya'll like the way it's turned out so far? I think I'm going to be a happy camper when it's all said and done. Now if I can get my cabinet guy to get my cabinet built over the stove and I can try and get this room finished (as if there is such a thing!)

Things Have Got To Change Around Here....

Today my kitchen gets a long awaited make-over! I've lived with and loved my red, rooster-themed kitchen for several years now, but it's time for a change. I find that lately I'm being drawn to the classic neutrals and all the creamy shades that look great with chocolate, khaki, white, and black. So I'm taking the plunge and after endless hours pouring over magazines, decorating sites and blogs, here's what we've come up with:

LATTE for the walls

All the trim, moldings, and baseboards will be in a shade call Pearl White. I didn't want a stark white but something much softer. When my decorator friend at the paint store showed me the Pearl White sample, I knew that was the perfect shade.

We are having a cabinet built to go into a little alcove area above the stove. It will have a beadboard back and a couple of shelves for display. It will be lighted from above or there will be a place I can put a small lamp. My plan is to paint that cabinet black, distress it and wipe it down with a dark stain.

When I started to get the urge to change things out, I remembered I had packed away some really pretty cremeware. Here's a few of the pieces I found:

This wonderful pair of tureens.....

....some "faux" pears! I had enough to fill both tureens full!

Cute little plate picked up for 50 cents!

A few of the "new" old stuff I'll use

Found these monogrammed lamps on a wonderful site....I really "need" the linen color one with the chocolate monogram



I have a table base similar to this one....I've already painted it and I'll have to work on getting it to look something like this one.... Already have a glass top for the table base

...to use with 4 Parsons chairs covered in slips like these

This photo started it all. I saw it on the Decorating Den "before-and-after" gallery and I fell in love with the deep brown walls and white cabinets. Of course, my cabs look NOTHING like this nor do I have crown molding like this. However, I did find a clock very much like the one in the picture at Wal Mart

I know, I know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this picture....red walls, roosters galore....but I want to go in an entirely different direction. BTW, the rooster prints are for sale. If you are interested please e-mail me and I'll give you more particulars....

This rooster tray hung in the alcove where my new cabinet will be built

That's about it for now. I can't wait for the painters to get here and get started. It will probably take them about 2 days since they will be painting out all the trim and chair rails which are stained (from the 80's)....as well as adding some wider crown molding around some of the cabinets and some rope trim as accent trim to my plate rack.

I'll post pictures just as soon as the painting is done....

Happy Friday everyone!