Oh My Gaping Hole

Some of you may remember that I have been looking for a chandelier to replace the one I posted about here.

I had been looking for a vintage one in the antique shops, but no luck.

Mr. M. has been looking at the gaping hole and is ready to just put up whatever he has handy.

NO, no, no!

So, I am in a hurry in my quest for a new chandelier.

I would like something vintage with crystals and it can not be too big or it will get hit every time someone opens the front door.

I have been trolling around eBay, but anything that is good is way too expensive.  I spent many hours scouring the Internet for a new chandelier because my local search has me coming up empty handed.

Last week I finally decided on French empire style. The last step was to find the perfect one for a great price..........yeah that may take a little while.

Remember how I said I tend to follow my inner shopper, who tells me to go down certain roads even when I am supposed to be picking Mr. M. up to take him out to lunch and now I will be late.

Yeah, well my inner shopper won and I am Happy dancing tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just about fell on the floor when I saw it, just sitting in a chair with some of the crystals laying next to it. 

Even though there was no one else in the store, I promptly picked it up and carried it to the front.

So, I asked, does it work?

Yes, and she had some more of the crystals behind the counter. 

I'LL TAKE IT!

As soon as I got home I took all of the crystals off and washed them, there were a heck of a lot.

Then I tried washing as much of the glass on the chandelier, did I mention that it was ALREADY rewired.

As my son would say SWEET!

Look at that crystal. 

I may actually have an actual antique in my home.

I showed Mr. M. as soon as he got home.

There was much eye rolling when I asked if he could hang it.

NOW?

Well, yeah, oh and I kind of want to take the chandelier from the living room and hang that one in the hall and put the pretty new one in the living room.

Can we, please, pretty please.

More eye rolling and he needed a nap.

NOW?

Buggers.

I tried to be patient.

Made the kids dinner.

I would like to say that I tried to keep the kids quiet so they wouldn't wake dad up, but that would be LYING!

Oh, you're up, did you have a nice nap?

Are you hungry?

Can we hang the chandelier?

Then I got the; WOMAN YOU ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY look.

But, then he said, I'm going to need a ladder.

YES!

Of course there were some choice words because, man was that chandelier heavy.

Too heavy to go into the living room.  Oh well, one less step to do.

TA DA!

Isn't it just beautiful.

I am so happy that I waited this long.

See, everything happens for a reason!

The best part, it cost less than what I would have had to pay to fix the one that broke. 

Gotta love that!

I am sharing my treasure with Debra from Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday,

Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

 and French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.

Come and join me for lots of inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

Impatient Painter

I don't know about you, but I am an impatient painter.

In fact, I have ruined many pj's because I couldn't wait for my husband to wake up to change my clothes and paint early on some mornings.

Today was no exception.

There was a package waiting for me yesterday when I got home from work. 

 I have been waiting for it to come and I was so excited.

Yep, I joined the chalk paint club, I bought it from HERE.  I think there may be a slight delay in the shipping because EVERYONE else seems to be buying some too.

I had to wait and paint today because I made the mistake of mentioning to Mr. M. that I wanted to paint the cabinet in the dinning room.

He did not say it, but I know he was thinking,

 "but you just painted the cabinet black last year." 

 He has learned that when his wife has painting on her mind it is best to just let her be.

As soon as I got back home with my youngest son from pre-k I started painting.

I did not even bother to move anything!

Not much room to paint, I kept getting the back of the paint brush hung up on the small table.

Why bother removing the contents when I can just paint carefully.

Just look at the difference of the black and white.  I bought Chalk Paint as seen on Miss Mustard Seed's blog.  I chose Old White and Louis Blue, I know, I know, I am not a blue person, oh well, I guess I will just have to use the paint in my son's room.  He likes blue. 

In a quick 1/2 hour I was able to almost finish painting the whole piece.  The side I painted first was already dry so I did a second coat on a small area and I am happy to say that I will only need two coats to cover the black. 

 WOW!

My new WHITE cabinet!

I have painted many pieces of furniture over time and I was kind of in disbelief about how well the chalk paint would cover, look at the bottom right corner of the upper door.  I am a believer and I may just be ordering some more, no blue this time. 

Well, if they have an aqua I may, just don't tell my sister!

So, you can see I have a new WHITE cabinet that I love!

How about you?  Are you doing any painting or are you still waiting for your chalk paint to arrive in the mail.......

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

I am joining Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday, if you too love anything white make sure to stop by all the participating blogs.

Easter Tree

My Easter tree center piece.

I made simple tags from pictures of vintage Easter postcards.

Easter decorations around my home are much more simple than the other holidays I decorate for.

I am joining Debra from Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday,

Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday,

Courtney from French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.

 We have an egg hunt at my husband's fire hall that the kids just love to participate in and then we spend Easter with my family at my father's farm house. 

I hope your weekend is filled with lots of family time too.

Happy Easter!

Blue for a Day!

Hello, and how are you?

I wish I could say I have been busy creating, but no, I was sick, the kids were sick. 

So there was a lot of couch time.

I did manage to visit TJ Maxx, one of my favorite shops before I was sick.

Everywhere I look there is blue, on the pillows, in the painting, the rugs, clothing, accessories.

BLUE!

You may have read that I am not normally a blue person, even though I do enjoy seeing it in other people's homes.

BUT, I just kept seeing blue, maybe I was changing my mind. 

 We girls are allowed to do that!

So I bought beautiful blue Ralph Lauren pillows.

They look great in the dinning room.

A beautiful picture of blue hydrangeas for the wall.

NO!

no

no

I

just

can't

do

it!

Today I am taking them all back.

No one can say that I didn't try.

But, I think I may just keep these.

These napkins I found that almost match perfectly the fabric I bought last year to use in the shed.  Well I could not bring myself to use it yet and now I might just try to make a few pillows, small ones.  Baby steps.

I have a feeling I will always try to work a little blue into my home, but I can hear my sister in my ear.

But you don't like blue.

A girl can try can't she!

How about you? 

Is there a color you love when you see it in magazines or blogs and then try in your own home and know it just will not work?

I'm so BLUE..................

THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE WHITE

Happy Wednesday! 

Payday-GOOD!

Sick child-BAD!

THE WHITE!

TJ Maxx just opened a new location 5 minutes from my work.

Guess where I was on my lunch break on Monday.

OH YEAH, I scored this beautiful candle holder!

I finally caved in and bought another small cabinet from my favorite local craftsman.

I have heard rumor that a friend may be opening a new shop for the summer and she will be featuring more of his creations. 

Just look at the detail and the paint job, would you guess this is made and not antique. 

The man has talent!

Now do you think I can make this black cabinet to look like the cabinet above with some of that paint Miss Mustard Seed is raving about?  I hope so, I just bought two cans, and I don't know if it is spring fever but one of the cans is blue.

I am not a blue person but I can't help it, I can't get that robin egg blue out of my head.

How about these cuties.

They are pin cushions made from vintage doilies. 

Mmmmm.....now I know what I can do with all those doilies I bought last week.

Well I have lots to do this week.

How about you, any projects to keep you busy.

Oh and guess what, it was 70 last Sunday and I worked in my flower garden ALL day long.

Happy, oh so happy!

I will be joining Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday, Debra from Common Ground for Vintage inspiration Friday and Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and maybe a few other parties.  I'm in a party mood.

White Treasures!

Do you ever decide to go somewhere because you feel a pull or tug to go in that direction?

Well, that is how my morning went and I am so glad I followed.

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and to follow your instinct.

Even if it is telling you to go shopping!

I was feeling the urge to visit my favorite Sally shop but I was kind of resisting because I knew there was laundry to do and I could be cleaning the house.

Well, I decided to follow my inner urge, much more fun than laundry for sure.

In fact I had enough time to visit two Sallys.

I usually tend to get lucky when I follow a tug, just look at all my new treasures.

 

 My shopping cart was full of white beauties!

I managed to find a couple of white platters and some small white plates.

  

Remember the twins from my last post, well I scored two more white bed spreads. 

 I thought I was done sewing for awhile.

 I guess I am going to be making another set of twins slipcovers for the wing back chairs in my bedroom.

I also managed to score some great linens at a local antique shop.

Even though I do not exactly NEED anymore, how could I pass up such pretties.

There were four table runners with monograms and I just could not say no, could you?

How about this cool straw hat, love the bow but it has some neat history too.

This is written on the back of the hat.

I also managed to finally find some white tulips and Hyacinth's for my home.

I can't wait to fluff the house this weekend with my new treasures.

Oh and guess what, it was warm and sunny all day and the weekend forecast is calling for warmer weather and sunshine.

Oh happy day!

I am sharing my treasures for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home and Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage.

 

Thank you for visiting me today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Twins!

It has been a while since we last chatted but, no, I'm not having them.

 I slipcovered them!

Aren't they adorable!

After my success with my chair last week, I decided it was time to conquer a wing back chair.

Now, if you know me, you know I do not do things the easy way.  So, not only did I slipcover a wing back, I did two at the same time. 

 And I LOVE THEM!

I must say, I did a pretty good job for not having any training from grandma.  You see, my grandma passed away recently, she was 93.  I found out at the funeral that my cousins were ALL taught by my grandmother how to sew a slipcover. 

WHAT?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME! 

I guess I missed out on that one. 

Oh well, I did pretty good with what I remembered from my mother and the help of Miss Mustard Seed's videos.

This is what is under the party dress.

I was lucky enough to find a matching pair of RED wing back chairs at our local Salvation Army several years ago around Christmas time.  I love these chairs because they are well built, heavy duty......but I wanted to use them more, instead of just for the holiday season.

I used a mixture of two fabrics I had in my stash in the basement.  The textured one is a vintage bedspread I bought at a flea market with this very idea in mind. 

Right now I have the chairs in my dinning room, I am patiently waiting for the lazy boy to die a slow death before I can put them in the living room.  Maybe I can speed up the process and have the kids see who can launch their sibling the farthest from the foot rest, no I wouldn't do that, I'm not that naughty. 

I am happy to be able to join Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday, Restore Interiors for  Restored it Wednesday and Furniture Feature Friday with Miss Mustard Seed and a new party in the house over at Designer Garden it's V.I.P. because we all are!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!