Enjoying Every Minute

I did some baking that I talked about last week, but this is not one of those posts where you will get a wonderful recipe at the end. Nope, these yummy muffins came from a box with some flax and fruit added in for fun. Cooking and baking is not one of my favorite things to do. If you have a tried and true easy recipe of any kind that you would like to share, my husband will thank you.

A little someone was waiting patiently for them to cool...

The weather here in the Midwest has been beautiful, and knowing winter is heading this way makes me want to spend as much time as possible outside, so that is what we've been doing...

Apple picking in Wisconsin

Spending the day in Chicago

And picnics....lots of picnics.

I am determined to get some unfinished projects done and off my list so I can share with you soon. Hope you're getting some of this nice weather!

A Little Fall Decorating

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. The weather is perfect, the leaves are beautiful and I feel energized. I even feel like doing some baking.

I don't go too crazy decorating for fall, just a little something here and there. Today I thought I would show you where the TV lives in our house. I added a little fall to the buffet that holds all of our TV stuff. I used to be a hide the TV behind closed doors kind of girl, now it hangs on the wall for everyone to see.



Normally the Louis chairs sit across from each other like the picture below, but until I find the right piece to go in front of the old window, the chair keeps it from getting knocked down.



I love mixing painted and stained furniture together in a room. The buffet is a reproduction from a really cool store in Chicago called Vintage Pine.





The photographs on either side of the TV are wild flowers taken on a trip to Glacier National Park. A couple of my favorite white and orange pumpkins are sitting on estate sale candle holders and a bunch of acorns say fall is here.

 As you can see, I have a thing for pumpkins and gourds sitting on candlesticks.

I found the letters for a dollar each at Hobby Lobby and used some leftover chalkboard spray paint to give them a matte finish.

We're going apple picking this weekend to start the fall festivities. Any fall plans for the weekend?

Playing along with Cottage and Vine's Fall Party and Hooked on Houses show-us-how-you-decorate

Bedroom Set Makeover Part One

I'm always keeping my eye out for well made furniture in need of a little love. A couple weeks ago I found a bedroom set on Craigslist and crossed my fingers for two days waiting for the lady to call me back. There were a few people interested, but I was the first person to leave a message so I got to see it first. I finished painting three of the five pieces.



All the original hardware was there but one piece was broken on the long dresser. I ended up moving all the hardware down and added two pretty glass pulls from Anthropologie. They have a nice vintage feel.

First I filled the top holes with wood filler, and then I sanded the whole piece down just to get any grime off.



This time I tried putting primer through my paint sprayer and it worked just fine. I did two light coats and sanded in between. I also sanded in between each coat of paint for a smooth finish.



The scalloped mirror is so sweet.



I love the flower detail and now it really pops.

I used a sanding block to distress the edges just a bit.

A sweet couple bought them this weekend for their little girl's room. I'm happy they found a good home.

Sharing with Make-it-4-monday   Piece of work Wednesday @ Primitive & Proper

                      Life In The Fun Lane Fresh coat friday

Easy Leaf Garland

When I got home this afternoon there was a box waiting for me, inside were two beautiful baskets from the French Basketeer. Right away the little one wanted the small basket for her own and started filling it with flowers.

I noticed the leaves were already changing on the Dogwood tree so I called her over to see. We gathered up a bunch and brought them in.



I wanted to use them somewhere so I decided to make a garland for the mantel. It took me less than ten minutes to put together.

I poked a tiny hole at the end of one leaf; I used the tip of a sharp knife.



Before I pushed the stem of another leaf through I used a dot of hot glue.



It's not necessary to attach them by the stem, that's just how I started so I went with it. 



I used hot glue to attach it to the mantel; the the Nester says it will come right off, just be sure to test it first. I am curious to see how long this lasts, who knows, it might look terrible in the morning. I will keep you posted.

Centsational Girl is having a decorating with autumn leaves party.



A Great Find

On our way home from Michigan a couple weeks ago we came across a few garage sales. Our car was already full but I did manage to fit this cute little chair in.

It was already sanded down to the bare wood and ready to be painted or stained. I'm thinking about painting it a fun color to use somewhere in the house, just not sure where yet. Maybe the dining room or living room. Oh, and it needs a seat and some fabric too. Any ideas for my seven dollar chair? I would love some suggestions.

Mirror, Mantel & Chalkboard Paint

The dining room still isn't finished but I thought I would show you a part of it that is. Remember that giant gold frame and mirror I found at a garage sale for fifteen dollars? It was painted a while ago and now it's finally hung.

Here is a reminder of the frame before paint.

I painted it a fresh white and hung it over our faux fireplace mantel. A few ferns from the garden are a simple arrangement until I can figure out what to do for fall.

This is the mantel before I painted the walls Oatmeal, the same color as the rest of the house. Living in a small bungalow I wanted better flow between the rooms.

I was inspired by Rie at Home & Harmony to paint the inside of the mantel with black chalkboard paint.

A sponge roller is the key to a smooth finish when you're using chalkboard paint.

I usually don't use tape when I paint because it always bleeds through somewhere, so I take my time instead. Using black paint changed my mind this time so I tried Frog Tape. It worked great! Better than I expected.

 

Here you can see a little peek of the gallery wall I started working on.

 

A few of the frames still need to be painted and pictures need to be printed. Hopefully I will check that off my list this weekend.

Linking to Domestically Speaking

Making Big Boy Furniture Last

I recently painted a couple of dressers for a friend. It was her husband's furniture when he turned five! To be honest, I wasn't sure if they would look any better after painting them and adding hardware.

Here are a few before pictures...

Do you see how the drawers overlap the cabinet? That will help explain the next picture.

Because of that, the drawers needed to be removed and wrapped like presents before I could paint them. If I didn't wrap them, the overspray from the sprayer would have been all over the sides and insides of the drawers. This was my husband's idea and it worked perfectly.

Let us get one more look at the orange finish shall we?

I think the big impact for these dressers is the hardware. They didn't have any their whole life until now.

For the long one, I put all the pulls on and didn't love it. So I used wood filler and filled the newly drilled holes so I could use the glass pulls on the top three drawers.

I think the glass pulls make all the difference on both dressers.

So what do you think? Big boy furniture making a comeback? ;)

Linking to metamorphosis monday Mustard Seed Creations Fresh-coat-friday

Beach Bums

Our week at the beach wasn't long enough; two weeks would have been perfect. We stayed in Union Pier Michigan, a cute little beach town.

The yellow house we rented was the perfect size for our family of three. If you have a bigger family, the house across the street could work for you.

Most of the homes in the neighborhood are rented out for part of the year.

The beach was a couple blocks away and the pool was right around the corner. We swam there or played at the beach every day.

Some days we had the pool all to ourselves.

The beach is the little ones favorite place to be. She must get that from me, I spent a lot of time at the beach when I was younger.

She saw her first sunset...

And made her first s'more

Delish!

I got to visit one of my favorite shops while we were there. I had a few people ask me where we got our coffee table so I thought I would show you.

The Plum Tree is owned by a sweet older man and his wife. She paints some of the beautiful furniture their son makes. They sell a lot of antiques too.

I love how it's tucked into the woods.

We will be heading back in a few weeks to visit our favorite pumpkin farm. It's become a tradition for us; this will be our 7th year. Today is a perfect seventy degrees and I'm thinking about fall my friends.

Have a fun and safe weekend!