Green With Envy

Lately I have been incorporating green in my décor…it goes well with all my creams, khakis and blacks.     I was lucky to find a pretty pair of green pillows and another lantern this week and love how these simple changes give me a whole new look.   

Here’s my Easter/Spring mantle.    I love, love, love my wreath.    It’s not a boxwood but I think it looks like one.    I made a simple burlap bow and hung it on the mirror with a Command Hook.

I kept my existing frames and added the books, bunny, nest and floral stems to the urn.    I also dug out an old leopard buffet lamp to add to the mix.    (Sorry about the cord showing, I should have tried to hide it!)

 

 

I’ve had the cute green bunny for several years….and I’ve been collecting green books at thrift shops for pennies!

 

 

 

 

LOVE the color of this urn….it is sooo heavy and stays up on the mantle year round

 

I love how it looks with the sun streaming in

 

I wish I was a better photographer so that you could see the richness of these pillows….they look kinda washed out here but they are a deep emerald green.   Yes, they are velvet but I love them!    I found them at World Market…two for the price of one!    They were $9.99 each so I think I got a great deal.     Before I saw these I picked up two other green linen pillows there that were $29.99 each…I was having a real conversation with myself about paying over $60 for a pair of pillows and I’m not sure I would have gone through with the purchase but when I saw these and they were buy one, get one, I quickly put the linen pillows back.    (And yes, the lantern still has it’s price tag on…just forgot to cut it off!)

 

 

 

I love the color of this lantern.   I passed it up at first but finally convinced myself it **had** to come home with me!

 

I added some mini-books and two little Dollar Tree bunnies inside….we’ll see how long that lasts when my little 2 1/2 year old grandson gets here!

 

Here’s my foyer table.    I just put a nest under a cloche and added the cute bunny print to an existing frame

 

Nothing green here but I made a new little vignette in the kitchen.    I forgot I had this basket so I was happy when I **found** it hidden under the sideboard in my dining room.   

 

 

 

 

These are real eggs….we’ll probably have them tonight as deviled eggs!  

 

 

That’s all the Easter/Spring decorating I’ve done.    What are some of your favorite colors to use this Spring?    I’d love to know!

Signs of Spring

I know many of you are still knee deep in snow but I wanted to show you some early signs of spring in my side yard this afternoon.

My azaleas are blooming!  

Also, I’ve been doing some Easter decorating and will share that soon.    Here’s a little peek at what’s going on…

 

 

I’m really into green this year and have been incorporating it throughout the house.    I bought some gorgeous green velvet sofa pillows today and a pretty green lantern.     I can’t wait to show it all to you!

Don’t forget to “spring forward” tonight!

Fabulous Finds

I love finding out about products that improve my life and/or make it easier.     I’ve come across some beauty posts where the user pays mega bucks for their products and justifies it by saying “you only have to buy it once a year”!   I even saw one post where they blogger raved about her $300+ moisturizer….not gonna happen around here!     So today I’m going to highlight a few things I’ve bought recently that have made my life easier and friendly on the pocketbook.     I have not been compensated by featuring any of these products, I just thought I’d share them with you in the event you might find something that you haven’t used/seen/bought before.

The first item is a pair of shoes I picked up this past weekend.    I was out shopping with my daughter and granddaughter and we both ended up buying the same pair of shoes.    Because I have a lot of trouble with my feet and legs, I’m always looking for shoes that are stylish, reasonably priced and most importantly, comfortable!    

 

 

Wow!  I can’t say enough about these shoes.   They are the Skechers Go Walk.    You literally feel like you are walking on air!   I’ve been looking for a pair of shoes to replace the ones I bought several years ago and paid a lot for but they have had it.    I found another pair a few weeks ago, bought them but took them back.    I’m so glad I did because I probably wouldn’t have bought these.    Daughter put them on without socks and rolled up her jeans to a little cuff and they looked so cute!   Plus they are washable.    I’m sure I could wear them throughout the summer but I’m planning on saving them for our London trip next year.    They come in many colors but I opted for the black….thinking about going back and getting a gray color too!

 

Next is this little item I ordered off one of the home shopping networks.

 

Emjoi Micro Pedi

For the price of a pedicure, this thing works like a charm!   I’m always a little skeptical of things like this as they usually don’t live up to their billing but this one sure did!    I have very scaly feet and have used every product on the market to try and help them.    I even got a costly prescription one time that didn’t do a thing.    The one I got came with an extra roller bar and little brush to clean it with.     The first time I used it I couldn’t believe the dead skin it took off!    Now I use it about 3-4 times a week (sometimes less) and my feet are in much better shape…especially my heel area.    If you’d like to maintain your pedi at home, I’d say pick up one of these and give it a try.

 

I saw the next item featured on Dr. Oz.    I’m not sure how I feel about Dr. Oz….but anyway, I picked up a jar of this moisturizer next time I was in Wal Mart and love it. 

 

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  I use it on my face at night, before putting on makeup, on my elbows and especially on my feet at night after using my micro pedi (above).    The jar lasts forever and it’s under $6.00.   

I also bought this next little item because we love us some bacon around here!    However, bacon is not your friend….it leaves it’s fat friends on my hips….but being from the South, I can’t give up bacon totally.    So I thought I’d try and make it a little “healthier” by leaving all the drippings in the bottom, which this claimed to do.

 

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I also picked this up at Wal Mart…I think it was under $10.00.    I used it the first time last Saturday morning when my granddaughter was here eating breakfast….we both declared it a winner!  

So that’s my take on some recent purchases I’ve made.    Let me know if you try any of them and what you think!

Tally Ho!

We’re going to London!   This will be a celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary which is in October (2013) but we’re not going until February 2014 so I have a whole year to plan!    I’m so excited.   I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go to London (and Europe) and when I started talking about it late last year it was only wishful thinking.    But unless something hugely unforeseen occurs, I’ll be in the Motherland a year from now!      And since my brother-in-law is a Delta pilot, he’ll be flying us over first class all the way baby!    One little problem….I’m terrified of flying!   I have to take a prescribed medication to even get on the plane but my sister has assured me that the time will pass rather quickly with Champagne and a long nap!

She brought these books to me to check out…looks like a lot of reading will be in my future!

 

 

So many places I want to see over there.    Now I’m going to ask anyone who has been to England for your input on places to go, things to see, where to eat, etc.   We will have a little itinerary but it never hurts to have lots of good ideas.

Now for a little situation I’m having which is waaay off the subject of my trip.    We went on vacation last week to Vicksburg, MS.   We took this same trip a few years ago and loved it and just wanted to get away for a few days.    I’d been having trouble with my left knee and last Tuesday night while coming out of a restaurant, my left knee “popped” and I couldn’t walk.    I had to be put in a wheelchair to be taken to our car!      Scary, I tell ya.    But strangely enough, earlier that day I was on Facebook and my friend Kat had posted she had just been diagnosed with a Bakers Cyst.     Just out of curiosity I looked it up and it sounded exactly like what I was experiencing.    So when the knee “popped” on me I checked into it further when we got back to our room and sure enough, I was experiencing most of the symptoms it talked about.    So we had to cut our vacation short and come home.    I went to the doctor on Friday and had an ultrasound which confirmed the cyst.    Now I’m going to an orthopedic on Monday for further treatment.       I’m hoping they will drain it or whatever because it’s pretty  uncomfortable to walk on for any length of time and since I’m my mom’s caregiver, I still have to get out and take care of her needs.     Have any of you experienced a Bakers Cyst?   I’d love to know how things turned out for you if you did.   

 

I’ll be posting a few pictures from our trip later this week.    We visited the hauntingly beautiful Windsor Ruins in Port Gibson, a town that Gen. Grant said was “too beautiful to burn”.

 

 

   And since we were soooo close (wink) we also drove over to Monroe, LA to visit the Duck Commander….any Duck Dynasty fans out there?    I can’t believe I’m admitting it here for the world to see, but we LOVE it!

 

Happy, happy, happy!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

I hope your day is filled with love!

Burlap Runner

I’ve been wanting to make a burlap fringed runner for my dining room table for a long time.    A couple of weeks ago I decided it was time.     After measuring the length of my table (70”) and taking into consideration the “drop” of the fringe (I wanted it to be about 8”-10” long) I cut my burlap.    Basically, I cut the burlap in 1/2 which gave me a width of of approximately 23” x 78” long (this was the length of my table plus 8” for the drop).    That’s where I made my mistake.   The fringe starts just at the end of the table instead of dropping down 2-3” BEFORE the fringe starts…does that make sense?    You’ll see what I’m talking about below.    But even with that “mistake” I’m happy with how it looks.    I do plan on making another one the “right” way and using this one on my kitchen table….luckily it fits that table just perfectly!

Enough of my jibber-jabber…let’s get to the pictures!

I painted my dining room in these neutral colors back in 2009 and still love it – which is a record for me!!     (You can read my original post here)  It was my interpretation of the “Something’s Gotta Give” dining room.   It’s the first room you see when you come into my house and it’s so calming.   I love the play of dark and light with my white ironstone.       I’m still happy with my drop cloth drapes too!

 

We keep the two ladder back chairs in there to have extra when we have company….I don’t like them in there but they do come in handy with company.    I think I’m going to put them out in the storage room and bring them in when we have people over.

 

Here’s what I mean by the drop being too short…I wanted the fringe to start about 2-3 inches BELOW where the burlap falls off the top of the table.   

 

 

My granddaughter Taylor was with me one day at Michael’s and she picked out these white pieces and greenery.     That girl knows what her Mimi likes!

 

 

 

I ordered these slipcovers from Ballard's several years ago and they don’t quite fit my chairs so I just folded the top over like a little flap….I can live with that.

So there you have my latest little project.    Thank you for visiting my little corner of the world.    Hope you all are having a fantastic week!

 

Linking to these parties:

Coastal Charm

 

 

here

 

 

here

Update on Ethan

There is breaking news that  the kidnapper is dead and little Ethan is alive.   Details are slowly coming to light.    Ethan turns 6 years old this week and this is the best birthday present he could get!   I believe his birthday is Wednesday.  (You can read the back story here).   Here is a link to the breaking news.

Ethan has been taken to a local hospital for evaluation.   He has been reunited with his family.   You may be able to follow this on the Nightly News tonight….it’s on here (CST) for more in depth coverage.

If you are interested in sending Ethan a birthday card or well wishes here is the address:

Cards for Ethan 

c/o Lt. April McDaniel

400 Headquarters Street

Napier Field, AL 36303

It is also requested the cards be signed inside with the city and state from which they are sent.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your prayers for the safe return of little Ethan.    Praise God for the good outcome for this precious little boy!

Prayers For Ethan

I was going to post about my latest project but it seemed so inconsequential compared to a situation that’s been going on locally for four days.    On Tuesday a man entered a school bus in an attempt to kidnap some children.    When the bus driver tried to stop him, the kidnapper shot and killed him.    A little boy, six years old, fainted and the kidnapper took him off the bus and entered his underground storm shelter with him.    The news has reported the child has Asperger’s and ADHD.    Can you imagine how frightened and scared this little boy is?    His name is Ethan and I would ask that you send up a special prayer for his safe return to his family.    The parents have been able to send him his medication and some coloring books and the authorities are speaking with the kidnapper and Ethan through a PVC pipe in the ground.     Some people are leaving their porch lights on until Ethan is returned to his family.

No one knows what the motive is for the kidnapping or shooting.    Please keep this family and little Ethan in your prayers.

Sweets for your Sweetie

Can you believe we’re only a few weeks away from Valentine’s Day?   Me either!   Time seems to go by so fast lately.    

My husband and I both have a sweet tooth (or would that be sweet teeth?)…anyway we like to have something sweet to eat after dinner at night but since we’re trying to eat a little healthier trips to the Dairy Queen just don’t figure into a healthier lifestyle!   I have a few recipes that are good but not as fattening as those Blizzards or Chocolate Turtle Bowls!  

Here’s a recipe that a friend gave me when we both were doing Weight Watchers.    I don’t remember how many points each slice is but I would think no more than 4 points.     

 

Lemon Pie

• 1 1/2 cups skim milk (or 2% milk)
• 1/2 tub crystal light lemonade (not the whole tub) – (I used 1 1/2 sleeves of the individual servings which I had on hand)
• 1 large box instant fat free sugar free vanilla pudding
• 8 oz. fat free Cool Whip
• Reduced fat graham cracker crust

Mix lemonade and dry pudding mix together then add milk.   Fold in Cool Whip and pour into pie crust.    Refrigerate for about an hour and serve!

 

New Foyer Rug

I recently shared a lamp shade makeover I did for my foyer lamp.    Since I was using black & white/cremes I knew I would have to replace the old rug we’d had in there for years.    I never liked that rug at all…my husband bid on it at an auction and bought it for something like $5.00….yeah, so that should give you an idea of what it looked like.    Really, it wasn’t that bad but just not my style and certainly didn’t “go” with my new black & white color scheme.    It was too contemporary for me anyway…I’m more a traditional kinda girl!

I started looking on line and found several that I liked.    My good friend Kelly over at Talk of the House even went the extra mile and sent me some links….btw, if you aren’t familiar with Kelly’s blog, please be sure to check it out….you’ll thank me later!

I’ve had good luck in the past buying rugs from Overstock.com so that’s where I found my new rug.    And although it could be a little bit bigger, it is perfect in my foyer.   

Still a little “lumpy” but that will settle down in a few days

 

It’s more crème than white but I think that makes it looks more expensive

 

I was able to get this rug with a credit I had at Overstock for a little over $30!    That’s my kind of deal.   

 

 

See how it “goes” with the lamp?    

I’m now officially “done” in my foyer.    I added some black frames with white mats on the wall and need to add some family photos to them but other than that, I’m really pleased at this quick little makeover.

Here’s what I did to achieve this very affordable facelift:

1.    Recovered an existing lampshade with black and white check fabric

2.    Bought a new rug

3.    Used an existing white vase and added some greenery I had on hand

4.    Added black frames with white mats (already owned) on the walls

So for less than $50.00 I got an entire new look for my foyer!     I think I got a lot of bang for my buck.

Next project will be making a burlap runner for the dining room….hope to start working on that this weekend

The Girls

 

Okay, ladies, today I decided I’d do something I’ve never done before (or at least haven’t done in a long time)…I went to be “professionally” measured for a new bra.    Since I’ve entered my “mature years” my body shape has changed and I’ve gained some weight and I was tired of buying and wearing those cheapies I’d pick up at Wal Mart (I can’t believe I admitted that)….although Wal Mart does have some cute ones.

I also wanted a little more support for “the girls” but still have some pretty undergarments without looking all “granny like”.    I ended up with a nude one and a leopard one….I know, my wild side is coming out.      The leopard one is very tasteful but pretty and the nude one I can wear with just about anything.    

Now I just have to do something about my granny panties…..just joking (maybe)!

Dinner and a….Wreck?!

 

 

Last night as we set out for a nice dinner we were involved in a hit and run!    The car that hit us had first come straight across where we were when he was originally sitting in a turn lane…I saw him pull up next to us which blocked our line of vision to merge into the traffic so my husband said he was just going to let the guy go first….all of a sudden I looked over and said “he’s going to hit us” and about that time he plowed into my side of the car…BAM!    I was scrambling over to my husband’s side (driver) as it appeared the car was going to keep coming into my side of the car.    When it all ended my husband got out and I could hear shouting coming from the other car….these days you don’t know what anyone might do so I begged my husband to not say anything but just see about the damage.    I tried calling 911 but was so shook up I couldn’t so I handed my cell phone to my husband and we called the police.    About that time, the driver of other car said he was going to “turn around” and sped off, then made a U-turn and took off down the street where he had just come from!    We got a partial tag number, description of the car and the driver and his passenger….I have never been involved in anything like this!     Thankfully no one was hurt but I’m a little sore today and sitting with a heating pad on my shoulders.     The police think they may be able to track down the owner of the car with the partial tag and description of the car….I hope they do!    The guy probably didn’t have insurance or possibly didn’t have a license…he may even have some warrants out for him….why would he run?

We’ll be taking the car for an estimate tomorrow and getting in touch with our agent so we can start the process of getting our car fixed.    We had just talked on Friday night about taking a little vacation next month so hopefully the body shop can get our car fixed before then.    

So…how was YOUR weekend?

Valentine’s Day Love Banner

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner (a month from today!) I decided to make a little banner for my mantle.    I don’t usually decorate for Valentine’s Day but this year thought I’d do a few things.     I’ve made banners before (here & here) so I knew this would be a quick & easy and no-cost project (the best kind!).    I just cut out my triangles from my template and stenciled “Love” on it.   I wanted to do something a little different so I made the “O” out of a heart.     I ran off a heart pattern on my printer, cut it out and used it as my stencil…..there was a little mistake that you’ll see at the bottom of the heart where the paint smudged under the bottom of the heart but I didn’t think it looked too bad so I left it.     It adds character, right?  

 

 

Maybe I’ll call this my “question mark heart”!  (Ha ha)

 

I haven’t sewed it together yet but just wanted to give you a little preview of how it looks.    I’ll sew it onto twine and use some Valentine ribbon to tie on the ends.

I also found some chalkboard subway art and ran it off to use on my mantle as well.

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My daughter always tells the twins “I Love You To The Moon and Back” so when I saw this I knew it was perfect!

How do you decorate for Valentine’s Day….do you go “all out” or just do a little bit?    I’d “love” to know!

Ballard Inspired Lamp Shade

Now that Christmas is over, I wanted to make a few changes around the house.      I’ve been studying a lot of my Pinterest boards and found that while I love the all white look, black and white really speak to me.    Fortunately, I have a lot of black & white accessories so I decided I’d incorporate those colors throughout the house for a cohesive look.   

“They” say that your foyer, which is usually the first room people see when they come into your home, should give an impression of what is in the rest of the house.    I decided to ramp up my foyer table by adding a new lamp and lamp shade.    The lamp that had been on the foyer table for years was a yard sale find which had served it purpose so I wanted to replace the lamp and use some things I had around the house so this would be a fairly cost effective change.    I found a lamp at my favorite flea market and used a drum shade off another lamp I had (of course, now I have to replace that shade!).    

I’d seen a black and white check shade in the Ballard's catalog but it was waaaay more than I was willing to pay.   I can’t find it on line or in their catalog so I don’t know if they still offer it….both reasons to make one.

There are numerous tutorials on line about covering a lamp shade so I didn’t photograph the steps.    Since the shade I was covering was a drum shade, it was very easy to just cut a piece a little bigger than the shade without having to make a pattern.     After cutting out my piece of fabric, I folded over the top and bottom and pressed it to have a smooth edge.   

 

Then I just hot glued it around the top and bottom edges.

I tried to keep it smooth but after it was all glued down, there were a few wrinkles and the edges didn’t come out as smooth as I wanted.    So I added a piece of trim to the edges.

 

I think it adds a nice finish.    (There was still a wrinkled place but hopefully no one will notice once it’s on the lamp)

Want to see how it looks?    

 

 

Everything on the table I already had.    The only thing this “makeover” cost was the flea market lamp base.

 

 

When my husband came in tonight he even said he liked it!   He either doesn’t notice anything new or doesn’t comment.

I put some old books under the cloche and added a little frame with our initial.    I’ll probably change out the computer printed monogram but since I was trying to use what I had, I just went with it.

 

 

I also added some black and white frames to the mantle and a piece of subway art…of course I need to add a picture to the large white frame.

 

 

I really love how the mantle looks so it will probably stay like this for a while.   See that pretty little shell?    My sweet granddaughter gave that to me at Christmas…she said she picked it up last summer at the beach and knew how much I loved shells!    Sweetness, I tell ya!

Next on my radar is making a burlap runner for the dining room table.    Since I’ve been in “project mode” lately, I hope I can get it cut out and made while I’m in the mood!

If you read my blog lately, you know my SIL went to Miami for the Alabama-Notre Dame game.    He is a H-U-G-E Alabama fan while the rest of us are Auburn fans.     I do want to offer my congratulations to Alabama for a fantastic game….this means our state has won the last 4 BCS Championship games!   

Back In The Saddle (I Hope!)

I’ve been on a somewhat self-imposed blog break for several reasons.    First of all, my husband has been on vacation for the past 3 weeks….let me just say, he can never retire!   My goodness, did that ever upset my little routine!    I enjoy him being home but enough is enough !     Then my mom had a fall which meant time spent in the ER but we were lucky that she only came out with a bruised forehead and black eye.   I came down with a terrible cold on Christmas Day and am just now getting over it….suffice it to say that I’ve just not felt like doing anything!

I’ve had a few little things I’ve been wanting to do around the house and now that he (finally) went back to work and I’m hopefully on the road to feeling better, I’m ready to get started on doing some little projects.    One thing I’ve been wanting to make is a burlap runner for our dining room table.    I bought a length of burlap today for that as well as some fabric to recover a lampshade.     Just a few things to make some little changes around the house.     Just as soon as I get these two things done, I’ll be sure to share them with you.

My grandchildren start back to school tomorrow.    I’ve kept Taylor a good bit, Jackson stayed at work with his mom and dad (they own a business here in town).     Today was her last day with me so we did some special things….she painted a birdhouse and we went to lunch at her favorite restaurant.     I love that she likes spending time with me (and her Pop) as I’m sure there will come a day in a few years she won’t think it’s “cool” to be with us.     So for now, I’m going to enjoy every minute.

On a different note, we are all big Auburn fans except for my my son-in-law who is a huge Alabama fan.    He’s actually in Miami for the Alabama-Notre Dame game tonight.    He flew down with his brother and two other guys…none of them had tickets for the game.     My daughter just called and he was able to buy a ticket….to the tune of $500!     Thankfully he got some Christmas money from his parents so that’s how he spent that.     

It feels good to be back….I’ve missed you all!