Southern Hospitality

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2009-08-12T17:48:00.001-05:00

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It’s Moving Day!

2009-07-24T16:40:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday and have I got some exciting news today that I haven't mentioned, but has been in the works for a few weeks now.

(image from cardsonque.com)

No, not me and my hubby. You and I are moving to a new BLOG address. Hope you’ll all join me over at my new place, still comfortable as an old pair of shoes, the new and improved, Southern Hospitality. I went ahead and bought my own domain name like many others have done and I’m now using Wordpress instead of Blogger.

With the Internet Explorer and Blogger issues that have been happening lately, I just felt it was time to move and settle in at a new address with my own name: Southern Hospitality Blog

Southern Hospitality.com wasn’t available, so I had to take the next best thing, but from here on out, this is where I’ll be: southernhospitalityblog.com

And here is the direct link: Southern Hospitality

Now, what I need for ALL of you to do is this:

You will need to click on Subscribe to my blog to restart a new blog subscription for the NEW blog and add the NEW blog url to your subscription service. Many of you subscribe on Google Reader or a feed reader of some sort and I would encourage ALL of you to try that if you haven’t. It’s a great way to keep up with your favorite blogs and you can see in an instant when a blog is updated with a new post. I don’t want you to miss a thing! You will see a Subscribe button over at the new blog (as there is here) and all you have to do is click on that and add my NEW blog to your subscription list. Easy!

If you have my blog link on your sidebars, PLEASE update that also with the new url address for the NEW Southern Hospitality blog. That way all of your friends and readers can find me too.

If you have my blog button on your sidebars (and I hope you do), PLEASE grab the new code button from over there (which will now link directly to the NEW blog) and change that out in your template to update too.

Update your Thrifty Treasures button with the new code too, so that your buttons will link back correctly.

Thanks SO much to all of you for being so supportive of my blog these last 2 1/2 years! I’m looking forward to many more years of fun and projects with all of you. Now I’ll be settled into a permanent home and I want all of you to feel at home there. You’ll notice that the look is nearly identical as this one is and I may be tweaking and changing things around a little bit, but it will now be my new home. I'm very excited about the move and I want all of you there too. Please don't leave me!

And it’s only going to be a good move if YOU come along with me. So, please help me make this move smooth and seamless by taking the time to adjust your links and buttons for me.

Thank you SO much!! If you click on over, you’ll find a new post up and things will go on as usual over there.This will be the last post here at Blogger, so hurry on over!

Bookcase Displays and Vignettes

2009-07-23T11:30:00.006-05:00

I absolutely LOVED hearing all the shoe tales from yesterday's post. Ya'll cracked me up with all the shoe love. Funny how we all remember so many details about those special shoes we loved and had-to have, which goes to show that we women sure can bond over our shoes, can't we?

One more thing, if you leave me a question in the comments, sometimes I forget to go back and answer it. I have my comments moderated for anything older than 2 days, so that I can see them all and keep up with them. I read every single comment that ya'll leave! So, if you ask a question and I don't get back to you on your blog, please email me and I'll be happy to answer. Some leave questions and they don't have a blog or a way for me to contact them, so that gets hard too. I don't mind the emails, I can shoot off a quick reply.

By popular request, I’m doing a post all about bookcases and vignettes around the house. Now mind you, I am totally not an expert on all of this. I just do what I like and play with things until they look good to me. I don’t particularly follow “design principles” or go by the rules. You're heard me say it many times. I’m not a minimalist and that is totally true, as I enjoy my collections and those things that surround me and make me smile.

But, I’ll give you all a few pointers of things that I have learned. It’s often said that things should be grouped in odd numbers and that’s one thing that does seem to consistently work for pleasing displays. I know everyone doesn’t like as much stuff as I do and that my house would be considered cluttered by many, but that’s OK. I do what I like. This is the bookcase in my blue guestroom and I’ve filled it up with all sorts of little treasures that I’ve found in my hunts. Most of this came from yardsales or were gifts or things that I’ve had a long time. I’ve got plenty of books that I use stacked on these shelves and most of them I’ve read. I sort of grouped some like things together with the finials on the right and then 3 items on the left with fake grass in the middle. No rhyme or reason, really just what is pleasing to my eye. Might not be pleasing to anyone else. The small round pottery piece to the left was a gift from a friend and the redhaired girl was a blog giveaway prize I won in the last couple of years, a handpainted tile.

Lots of bunnies here, and these were found at yardsales. I hung that little bunny plaque right up on the beadboard and sort of kept the 3 grouping thing going here. Added the small aqua jar that I just found here too. The yellow pottery piece on the left I found at an antique store and I love the shape of it. All those shells there were found by me while beach-combing in Florida.

More books, urn, armillary, and a nice white piece of coral (a lucky yardsale find for $3), all of this found at yardsales, except the framed print. The print I bought from Kari and Kjisa, since I couldn’t resist that cute bunny and it's hanging on the beadboard on a little nail.

On another shelf, this is a group of 3 again, with an iron bowl and fruit made out of beans & seeds (don't even remember where I got those), bunny planter, and a small bunny oil (a Tuesday AM find) on a bamboo easel. One thing that I love to do is vary the heights of things. That always adds more interest to groupings. If everything is the same height, it can be pretty boring, so keep that in mind. Vary those heights. And layering is always something I love to do. It adds dimension to bookshelves and keeps it fun to look at.

Here on the night table, I have the tall lamp, plus a dried arrangement, so I kept the middle part lower with the clock sitting on books and a small vintage oil painting hanging on the wall behind. This is what I mean about layering, adding that little special something on the wall.

In my laundry room, this shelf on the wall holds a symmetrical arrangement which is always a safe way to go. The large birdcage in the middle, flanked by the 2 small topiaries and then 2 different birdhouses on either end. Interesting, but not boring and the middle piece is the tallest.

Dining room table centerpiece. Again, a group of 3 things. Largest and tallest in the middle with the cloche sitting on a cake plate and flanked by 2 dark wooden candlesticks. Simple, but pretty.

My foyer table gets changed quite a bit, but I always go back to 3 big things on here and I like that the best for impact. I sometimes do some smaller things seasonally, but to me the tall something in the middle with the lamp and statue on either side is a good balance. The middle urn gets changed out periodically for another one too.

Here on the kitchen shelf, I’ve just filled this up with all my green Bordallo pottery and it’s sort of staggered in height to keep it interesting. The small leaf plate is hanging up on the wall with a plate hanger. I love to do that sort of thing whether it’s in a bookcase or shelf.

My fireplace mantel is totally symmetrical, with the large painting, 3 pears centered and the fleur de lis sconces on either side. I should play around with this more, but I sort of like it simple. You can see I found a place for those recent yardsale finds of the candle sconces.Had to move another pair to make room for these.

So, to sum up doing vignettes and bookcases, here's what has worked for me:

Keep in mind that odd numbers work well for displaying things, think in groups of 3’s or 5’s when you put items together.
Sometimes displaying a collection of all one thing is the way to go, like my white dish collection in the diningroom. Since it’s all the same color, that makes it more interesting than if I threw in other patterns or colors.
Vary the heights when you are displaying things. If you line all your items up on the fireplace like little soldiers, that will not be a good look. Nor is putting a bunch of tiny little things on the mantel either. They will just get lost and it's not pretty! This is probably one of the most common mistakes I see that a lot of girls do.
Go for bigger and fewer items when you’re working on a table or coffee table. (not that I follow this suggestion all the time either, but I try)
Adding books or some sort of riser is a good way to add some height to an object when you need it. I love those small plaster pedestals for that sort of thing and have a few of those and look out at yardsales for things like that.
Use what you love, don’t just buy something because it is trendy. (and yes, I don’t always follow that either) :)

One thing that I’m working on doing is getting rid of the cheapie accessories that I’ve collected. I’m really, really tired of the Made in China mass-produced stuff and I’m on a mission to rid my house of it. I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it. No more resin and cheap China things will come in here. I’d much rather look for American vintage or European vintage things to bring in and get rid of the other stuff. So, I’ve got a ways to go, but I just might have to do another yardsale this fall. I’ve also gotten rid of about half of my fake plants. Not all, but many of them are gone and I’d love to use mostly real, since I’ve always loved real plants so much. It really isn’t that hard to take care of them and I have a lot already.

I’ve noticed that dishes made in China are not nearly as durable as Italian and Portugal made china pieces are. There’s a world of difference in the quality, so no more of those either.

So, I hope you got a little bit of good and useful information with this hodge-podge of stuff I’ve shared. Like I said, I’m totally not an expert, but don’t mind sharing what I do and how I do it and hope it will benefit all of you too.

A big thank you to Artie, at Color Outside the Lines, for sending me this Martha book, Tag Sales & Flea Markets! Hmmm, wonder how he knew? :) Very nice surprise after I sent him something, but totally did not expect this at all. So, thank you Artie! I’ll really enjoy adding this book to my collection.

Check out my newest sponsor, Her Southern Charm (click on the sidebar link). We'll be having a fun giveaway next week for a fabulous piece of jewelry, the Aniston singles necklace. It's adorable! Go and have a preview and don't miss the giveaway coming up next week.

Don't miss both giveaways in the 2 posts below! You will not want to miss out on possibly winning one of those.

Ritz Crackers $100 Giftcard Giveaway

2009-07-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

All of you need to click on over to my review blog for this one! Trust me, you will not want to miss out on this giveaway too. I'm doing a Ritz review and a $100 giftcard giveaway, so read all about it here:

Giveaway

Go on over, someone will win this and it might just be YOU!

And don't miss the post below for another giveaway today.

Honey, it’s all in the Shoes

2009-07-22T05:00:00.001-05:00

When I got an email asking me if I’d like to participate in an online book tour reviewing a new book by Birmingham’s own, Phyllis Norton Hoffman, and the subject is shoes, I was all over it! I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a lifelong shoe addiction. Guilty as charged. I actually did a post back in January titled Can you have too many shoes?? And I’ve concluded that no, no, you really can’t.

Here’s a little about Phyllis, from her online bio:

A leading figure in the publishing industry, Phyllis Norton Hoffman is majority owner and president of Hoffman Media, LLC.

A native of Hoover, Alabama and a graduate of the University of Alabama in Birmingham, she began her career as a Certified Public Accountant with a nationally known firm before founding a special-interest publication company in 1983 that is now known as Hoffman Media, LLC.

Hoffman is recognized industry-wide as a savvy businesswoman and talented entrepreneur. She serves as the creative engine of the company, producing an ever-widening range of beautiful magazines including TeaTime, Southern Lady, Just CrossStitch, Sew Beautiful, and Taste of the South magazines. She is also a sought-after speaker across the country, a devoted wife and mother and a church and community leader.

Did you catch the magazines that her publishing company is responsible for: Southern Lady and also Cooking with Paula, which is not listed on that. I actually got to meet Phyllis last year at a women’s event our church was sponsoring and she was the speaker. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her and she even brought magazines for all of us, so I really loved her then. Magazines are my love language.

(In Style Home, Spring 2006, Mariah Carey’s closet…don’t we wish?!)

The tag line of the book is “Celebrating the footsteps of the Contemporary Woman”, and it really is true that as we grow and mature, so do our shoes. Phyllis tells many humorous and witty stories all throughout the book about her life growing up and how shoes played a major part in it. All done with wit, wisdom and a whole lotta fun thrown in. I sure do remember my first pair of grown up heels that I finally got to choose one Easter when I was around 12 or 13. Oh my, the excitement of looking for the perfect pair of 1” heels! You’d have thought we were shopping for gold. I think they were black patent with ribbon ties that came across the top of my foot and the heel was tiny, but oh yeah, it was a heel. Finally, I had arrived.

From Cinderella’s glass slipper, to Dorothy’s fancy red ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz, to fashion mavens Jackie O and Princess Di, Phyllis covers the gamut of shoes and finery and what a role all of that plays in each of our lives. Most of us as women feel good in a pair of good-looking shoes, no doubt about that. They can make you feel sexy. Or sassy. Or dowdy. They can certainly make or break an outfit, as well as even be cruel at times. My days of wearing a lot of high heels are probably past me for the most part, I just don’t do a lot of dressing up anymore, but I can remember feeling really cute and sassy in certain shoes that I’ve had over the years.

My closet is still full of them, even if the heel is back down to that 1” I started with when I was around 12. Phyllis shares many of her life struggles and how she got through them and even the shoes that walked her through those struggles. A witty and fun book to read (especially if you’re Southern and even if you’re not). She laments wearing white shoes before Memorial Day or after Labor Day (a cardinal sin, just listen to your mother), which is what most of us in the South have heard all our lives. The rules have relaxed a bit over the years, thankfully. I don’t even own a white pair of shoes anymore. I do remember very vividly the white go-go boots that were all the rage when I was in Jr. High School and that Phyllis fondly remembers in the book. I don’t remember having a pair, but I think my sister did. She was older and got to do things before I did, darn it.

Phyllis Norton Hoffman takes you on a journey examining these defining moments, sharing what she has learned when she was required to wear different shoes – from a mother and wife to entrepreneur and businesswoman to publishing powerhouse to doting grandmother – and provides advice for women on putting their best foot forward, no matter their role, circumstance, or stage of life.

So, if you get a chance to read this fun and fascinating book about women and our devotion to all things shoes, I’d definitely say do it! You’ll thoroughly enjoy tip-toeing through the pages with Phyllis, in whatever shoes you might choose for the day!

I love what cooking queen, Paula Deen, says on the cover, “Phyllis and I have taken many steps together. I take mine in flats!”

Amen, Paula! Flip-flops for me.

And for the really fun part! I am getting 3 copies of this book to give away to my readers, so all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me your favorite memory of shoes and what your favorites are. You know I love some shoes! Contest closes Friday evening at 6:00 PM Central time. I'll pick a winner and announce it Saturday a.m.

Easy Peach Cobbler

2009-07-21T05:00:00.005-05:00

First, I want to thank all of you who are coming by and participating in Thrifty Treasures every Monday. It's really gotten huge and I think we've even converted a few girls along the way to shopping this way. Ya'll make it so much fun to do this, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. It does make Monday more fun, don't you think? Now, if I could just get through the links in one day, I'd be able to see what all of you have found (didn't make it through them this week yet). I think I'll start at the end of the links next week and work my way backward.

We love some peaches around our house and since we live near peach territory, Chilton County, AL, that’s the fruit we stock up on this time of year. Nothing better than fresh peach cobbler either! This is one easy dessert, so I hope you’ll try it too.

Easy Peach Cobbler

6 large peaches and about a cup of blueberries (optional). Peel and slice peaches

1 Pillsbury pie crust in a pie baking dish, thawed (use the individual pie crust & put in your own pie dish for best results)

4-6 slices of white bread (I used wheat & it was just fine) with crust trimmed off & cut into 1” strips

1 stick of melted butter

1 egg

1 cup sugar

2 TBL regular flour

Put pie crust in pie pan when thawed and arrange.

Place sliced fruit in next

Melt butter in bowl, add egg, sugar, and flour. Mix until blended (by hand).

Place strips of bread over top of fruit (like lattice) and pour butter mixture over the top.

Bake in 350* oven for about 35 mins. until golden brown.

Enjoy with vanilla ice cream.

I got this recipe from a friend and couldn’t believe it was bread over the top. She used white, but we don’t buy white at our house, so wheat it is. And it tasted just as good to me.

After pouring the butter mixture over all.

It bakes up nice and golden brown with a little crunch to the crust.

With vanilla ice cream, they will be screaming for seconds! I think you’ll love this one. I'm participating in a bloghop today, so check out the other recipes.

Also, added to Jen's Tasty Tuesday.

All for $10

2009-07-19T14:12:00.007-05:00

When I get in my car on Saturday mornings and head out to the yardsales and estate sales, I never know what I will run across. And to me that is the most fun thing about shopping this way. I don’t always have things in my head that I’d like to find, but I’m just open to finding things that jump out and grab me, saying “take me home with you”. And if the price is right, I do.

So, this week, I bought all of this for $10. No big huge finds, but fun things. Everything was a $1 or $2. Cheap entertainment, don’t you think? The wooden birdhouse was $1 and I’ll paint it a creamy white and probably add it to my garden collection in the laundry room.

This pretty coral and white pillow was only 50 cents and I’ll put it in the blue guestroom. One day soon, I’ll do a post showing where I’ve used some of my finds, so stay tuned for that.

I just love bamboo things and have picked up a few things made out of it in recent years. This little stool was $1 and is not big enough for a stool, but will be great on a bookshelf with something sitting on it. I keep that in mind when I’m out there too and love to use textured things on bookcases and shelves and there is always something that needs some extra height. That’s a little tip for you to keep in mind when you’re out scouting and see something small like that. Ask yourself, “where oh where can I use this?”. Lots of places, I can assure you.

These vintage Pyrex pieces were $1 each and match my kitchen, so I couldn’t pass them up. I like to use glass pieces like this in the microwave to warm things up. Trying to stay away from the plastic.

Girlfriend loves her some shoes! In fact, stay tuned next week for a fun shoe post (with a giveaway, no, not a shoe giveaway). These were too cute to pass up, gently worn probably only a couple of times, judging from the almost pristine leather soles. Original clearance price on the box was $80. I got them for $2. Vero brand, which I’ve never heard of, but they are soft as buttah and I love the pointy toe and cute little heel.

Aqua blue metal earrings were $1. My jewelry collection has grown so much from inexpensive yardsale finds, it would be hard for me to walk in a store now and pay the prices.

Gap white cotton sweater was $1. And, I know you’ll be jealous of this next find….I did it again!

Scored another old vintage fan, this time for $1.50. It works too. I know! Hate me now. One for each guestroom. Check out the shabby white base on this one.

This wasn’t a yardsale find, but a library find. Our little library has book sales most all the time and they sell hardback books for 50 cents. I’ve always admired Jackie and this will be a fun book to own.

So, let’s get the party rolling. OK, girls this week I’m going to post some rules and stick with them this time. If you are not sure that you’re doing your links correctly, PLEASE read up. I’m spending way too much time on Mondays fixing links. So, I need everyone to read these next 3 things. I’ll explain it in detail HOW to do links correctly.

1. Add your permalink, NOT your blog link to Mr. Linky. A permalink is this: Once you do your post on your blog, click on the TITLE of the post. Then look up at your browser where the address is displayed. THIS is your permalink for THAT post. You’ll notice your blog name is there, in addition to more letters and numbers that are for that post only. Right click on the url address, copy it and then come back and PASTE it here on Mr. Linky. It’s really that simple. If you post your blog url, no one will find your thrifty post later. If done correctly, people can click on your link months from now and land right on your correct post. So, my new rules from here on out (and everyone who does Linky parties does this too). If you do NOT put the correct link in, I will have to delete it. This way everyone will learn how to do it correctly. I know some of you are new and that’s fine. We all had to learn how to do links.

2. Please add a link BACK here to my blog post either by a text link OR by using my Thrifty Treasures party button that is posted on my sidebar. I really don’t care which one you use, please use one of them. That’s the fair way to do these parties. That way when you participate in my party with a post at your blog, everyone at your blog can come over and join the party or at least see the other participants. If you do not have a link back to my party post, your link will be deleted.

3. Please visit other party goers and leave lots of comments! Everyone loves comments, so go and blog hop and comment on as many as you can.

I’m not trying to be mean, but need to have some guidelines that are followed. These parties are getting big every week. That’s it! Please read all of this and if your link gets deleted, you will know why!

If you haven't visited The DIY Showoff, go on over and check it out! She highlights lots of projects around blogland. I sent in my beadboard wallpaper project and Roeshel put it up this weekend.

Not sure what is going on with my regular Mr. Linky, so try this one!! Just click on the link below and a new window will open with all the links. Then you can add yours. Regular Mr. Linky will be back next week.

Todays Thrifty Treasures Participants

1. Christina at Yardsalequeen
2. Queen of Fifty Cents
3. Phillips Phamily Mama
4. The Shabby Chic Cottage
5. ThriftyAnnabella (Garage Sales)
6. ThriftyAnnabella (Goodwill)
7. The Undomesticated Wife
8. Charla @ For the Sake of Time
9. Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam (yard sale decorating)
10. Amanda @ Serenity Now {Steals, All for $2.20!}
11. Queentomas
12. Rhonda @ A Home With A Smile
13. Joan@anythingoeshere:giveaway
14. Helen Joy-Barclay and Me
15. Rhonda @ BlueCreekHome
16. Tarva At Talking Tarva
17. Olive Rue
18. Marla
19. Yard sale Saturday lots of great finds
20. Cheap&Sweet Yard sale Friday found a digital camera more
21. Pat@Back Porch Musings
22. Cheap&Sweet What I did with my $2 yardsale chair "Must see"
23. Beth@Stories of A-Z ($2 Cut-outs--Help me!)
24. Marianne@songbirdisnesting
25. Sue@sullivanandmurphy
26. Ellen R @ Create in Me...
27. Debra@Bungalow, Spent 8$
28. Carol @ Old Glory Cottage
29. Gina @ Moneywise Moms
30. Mary Lou@Marmielus Nest
31. Jo
32. the lazy peacock
33. Nicole@BugaboosCreations
34. Meg @ Home Whimsies
35. Ashleys Busy ( Revamped Bench )
36. Kari @ Reese & Marie
37. M@Pleasures of Homemaking
38. Caroline@FOREVER VINTAGE
39. ThriftyTeacherBlog- before & after part 1
40. ThriftyTeacherBlog- before & after part 2
41. Terry @ Cherished Treasures
42. Alicia
43. Bill @ Affordable Accoutrments
44. Sandra
45. Sarah@Our Cozy Robbins Nest
46. Amy Lynne @ Mom*s Balance(Hubby's Surprise)
47. The Bloom Girls - Fireplace Mantel and Tile Surround
48. Gwen@MurphyGraceHome
49. Shauna @ They Call Me Lucy
50. Bonnie @ Cottage Hideaway
51. Sandy@CoppernThings
52. Shari @ My Cottage of Bliss
53. Nissa @ Sweet Paisley
54. Linda @Nina's Nest
55. ellen b
56. Michelle@Dei Gratia
57. Suzanne in TX
58. Jenn@First Comes Love
59. Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman ("new" Meakins dishes)
60. Shirley Corwin
61. Dab of This and That
62. Susan
63. Kammy-Small Home in the Country
64. OnOurWay - Weekend Finds
65. Melanie Elissa
66. Shery
67. Our Creative Life
68. stefanie
69. Tracey
70. Maggie Elizabeth
71. Cami @ Creating Myself
72. Susan@thoughtsfromovertherainbow
73. A Beach Cottage Junkin' Tour
74. m-tales from an oc cottage
75. Elizabeth@SouthernWhimsicalGrace
76. Christy @ EmbellishedBayou
77. Brittany
78. bj
79. Carmen at Life with Sprinkles on Top
80. Darlene @ Darlene's Days
81. Linda@Parker's Paradise
82. Chrissie Grace
83. Cindy @Fairy Tale Cottage
84. Beth @ Soanywaytoday
85. Traci-Goodwill side table
86. Bama Girl in AZ
87. melissa *320 sycamore
88. Samantha at My Texas Nest
89. Carrie
90. Amanda@Imperfectly Beautiful (My $8 Loot)
91. Kristen @ Klynne Designs
92. Renee @ Cottage Lifestyle
93. Junk Mammas
94. Michelle
95. Laura@White Spray Paint
96. Kelli@JOY
97. Meghan @ Mrs. Shopswell - $2.30 Total!s
98. Meghan @ Mrs. Shopswell - A Thrifting Giveaway!
99. Victoria & Christina
100. Mrs. Homemaker
101. C @ Project Pretty
102. grannyann - Thrifty Treasures
103. Kelly@sundrenchedmoments
104. Geek Details
105. The Gaines Gang (Godwill Before & After)
106. Joy @ JoysofHome
107. Pink and Polka Dot
108. Carrie@thiscozyhome
109. Andrea @ Big Creek Cottage
110. Lisa
111. Designs on 47th Street
112. Jennifer @ Poppyseeds
113. gina @ tickle pink thrift
114. Leslie @ Orphaned Decor
115. Rhonda
116. Helen Joy-Barclay and Me #2
117. Melanie @ The Old White Cottage
118. Angela@Welcome Home
119. Paulsbride - household treasures
120. Callie@ Advetures in Stay at Home Wifedom
121. newlywedknot
122. Jackie
123. SusieQ
124. Adventures ~ Tina
125. ani @ kindnessonhertongue
126. Pages by Heather (Classic A&W)
127. Brooke @ VintageSunshine
128. Christine-ThisCraftyChick
129. Kathy@Having a Hallelujah Good Time
130. Kendra @ Domestic Princess in Training
131. Stephanie @ A Fine House
132. Marcia
133. Amy-My Bambino Bliss (Vanity)
134. Cheryl

My Sweet Folks

2009-07-18T05:00:00.002-05:00

Going home is always such a treat. I just love my parents and they have always, always been my rock and are to this day. Mom still cooks up a storm and last weekend was no exception. She whipped up this meal of fresh veggies for our lunch last Friday and man, oh man, was it good. Fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, along with green beans, potatoes and dumplings, sauteed squash and that dish in the middle is fried eggplant. She uses Panko Japanese breadcrumbs for those and it is delish! I came home with a pile of veggies myself and cooked it up this week. I still can’t fix my veggies quite like my mama does though! She's had years of practice.

Mom taking out the cornbread from the cast iron skillet. She can make some mean buttermilk cornbread.

Mom sent us home with some of her homemade pepper sauce. The best on turnip and collard greens, which Peter hopes to grow at our house this year.

This is the house I grew up in from the time I was 16. We lived in the house next door to this one originally (a 3 bedroom brick ranch) and then my dad built this house when I was a teenager. The cabinets are painted blue and my mom still has plenty of blue and mauve around. She is NOT into decorating, so I have no idea how my sister and I got so much into it, but we did. She cares not a whit about keeping up with trends, much less with the Jones's. They live a simple and frugal life and that’s no doubt why they are so blessed with good health. It is not a fancy house at all, very basic, but it’s home to them and they have no desire to move anywhere else. Many a fabulous meal has been cooked in this tiny kitchen over the years.

As I mentioned, we celebrated my day’s 82nd birthday over at my sisters. I forgot to take a pic of the food, which was pork chops with side dishes (got too excited and dove right into the food), but I did take a pic of the pound cake I made. Here are my parents sitting on the deck enjoying the good weather we had that day. It wasn’t too humid for a change. Buster’s getting some attention from my dad. Buster is a lap dog.

I made this pound cake again (only this time I substituted cream cheese for the cream), a good Paula Deen recipe. My mom made a churn of homemade peach ice cream and we all pigged out.

I sliced up fresh peaches to go with it and it was absolutely a perfect summer treat. We grew up making homemade ice cream with a hand-cranked churn (I always sat on it to keep it from moving) and I have some very fond memories of eating that homemade ice cream, usually vanilla.

(me, Beverly, and my sister, Renee)

This is Beverly, an old friend of our family, and we invited her and her hubby over for our celebration. It was great to see her again. You see, we go way back with her big, extended family in Marietta, since her daddy and mama were one of the original families in the church when we moved to Marietta in 1963, the summer before I would turn 7. My dad became the pastor of the small church that he led for 27 years and her parents and mine have remained close over the years.

There are 7 siblings in her family, so they are a big bunch and here’s a fun little tidbit for you. She’s Travis Tritt’s aunt. Yes, the grammy-award winning country singer. Travis’s mother and Beverly are sisters and we know all of their extended family. Precious people. Travis grew up in my dad’s church as a little fellow, singing and playing his guitar in church. He had such a great talent, but we didn’t dream he would make it as far as he did, but he certainly did make the big time in country music. We’ve stayed in touch with this wonderful family over the years and after Beverly’s parents both passed away in the last 5 years, her daddy just in the past couple of months, my dad officiated the funerals for both of them, as well as Travis’s own father, who also passed away very recently. A finer family you will never find and it was great to catch up with her and hear about the rest of the family. The last time I saw Travis was over 4 years ago at his grandmother’s funeral and he was just as friendly as he’s always been, hugging each of us and catching us up on all he’s been up to since he became a country star. We have fond memories of Travis growing up as a small boy singing in church.

In fact, he wrote a song later on during his career called Bible Belt, which was written about a scandalous time in our little church involving a sordid affair with some youth leaders, when Travis was in the youth group choir which was traveling and singing that summer. It all came to a head during that trip while they were in fact, in Alabama at a church on a Sunday morning and the incident left an indelible mark on all of those young people, I'm sure. When the song came out and we heard it for the first time, we had to laugh all those years later at how awful the whole thing was at the time. That was just one incident that my dad had to deal with as a Pastor. Ahhh, the life of a Pastor is not easy. I was away at college during that time and my mom filled me in on the phone of all the goings-on.

Now, here’s something I’m going to put on here that I’ve never done before. My mom likes to keep busy during the winter months and has always done some sort of needlework. She got this set of 7 dish or hand towels out when we were home recently and showed me what she had been working on over the winter. These are all angels, all hand stitched by my sweet mama on a white cotton pique dish towel. She just does it for fun and had never thought about selling any of these, but she really didn’t want to keep them, so I told her I would put them on my blog to see if anyone would like to buy them.

I figured a fair price would be $42 for the set of 7 towels and I’ll even offer free shipping. So, if you are interested in buying these towels, please let me know by leaving a comment OR by emailing me. The first person to let me know will get them. That’s $6 each.

She did a great job with them. Neither me nor my sister or niece really collect linens like this, so none of us wanted to particularly keep them, so I hope one of you would like them for your collection. Especially if you love angels.

Thanks for going home with me!

See you Sunday afternoon for Thrifty Treasures.

The Alabama Theater

2009-07-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

It seems that the older I get, the more interested I am in history. How we got where we are today. One piece of history that we recently toured in Birmingham is the historical Alabama theatre, a landmark in the downtown district. I’ve passed by this sign many times since we moved here and always wanted to go inside and see it and the recent Open House was the perfect excuse to take the tour and enjoy this magnificent bit of architecture that’s been preserved. I’ve been in the Fox Theatre in Atlanta many times and the Alabama reminds me so much of the Fox, but smaller. Both are from the same era and from the sign below, they call the design Spanish/Moorish. It is certainly something to behold, so come along with me for the tour.

You can see from the historical sign outside, that the theatre opened in 1927. Can you imagine this place in its heyday?!

Someone had parked an old car out front, so it seemed fitting to take a pic of it, even though this car is from the 50’s.

National Register of Historic Places. Since 1987, the theatre has been owned by Birmingham Landmarks, Inc., a non-profit organization. They now use the theatre for a wide variety of events and receptions, both public and private, weddings, classic films, national touring shows, film festivals, opera and symphony events. It is busy each year with over 250 events. We plan to return at least one weekend to take in a classic movie that is offered each summer (and they were very generous and handed out complimentary tickets to everyone who came to the Open House). Gone With The Wind is just one classic movie being featured in the summer series this year. In fact, it is showing this weekend and we are going! It's been years since I've seen it.

Box office in the lobby.

I was totally fascinated by all the beautiful light fixtures, as you will see from my many pics of them. This is the one in the soaring lobby.

One fixture on a wall going up the stairs.

Another view of the mirrors and fixtures in the lobby.

One of the ceilings.

A quick pic in a chair in one of the hallways. It was pretty dim in there, so pics were hard to get.

Going up one level. See how magnificent this old place is?

I’m SO happy that these old theatres have survived. I know the Fox in Atlanta was almost torn down at one time and that would be a crying shame for any of these old girls to come down. Thankfully, the Alabama has survived and looks as gracious as ever.

A row of seats.

Looking into one of the ladies rooms.

Part of the ladies room too.

Wall of windows

Looking to the stage. I loved the curve of the top of the stage, there was so much beauty to take in.

The domed ceiling.

More architectural details.

Another pretty light.

From the very top of the projection room, we had to climb some stairs to get this birds-eye view of the stage.

Statue around the theatre

Another bust against the mirror.

Loved the old signs.

Recognize this lady? Yep, that’s Mz. Scarlett herself.

Stage, again.

Tophat backstage.

The theatre is known for the old Wurlitzer organ that still plays a mighty strong tune. These guys were great with it.

Left box overlooking the stage.

Right box

Looking UP from the floor to all the levels of seating.

Above the stage.

One corridor on a floor.

More magnificent lighting.

Again, the lights. I just thought they were all stunning.

Ceiling detail.

End of a row

More lights.

The signs, I loved them.

Those lights, could they be any prettier?

So, we left the Alabama and went just across the street to the old Lyric Theater, which opened in 1916. Sadly, this old theatre has not survived intact and is in dire need of repair. The same owners own both theatres and it is said to cost $20 million to get this old place back up to the original state. That’s a LOT of money and I sure hope that some way, some how, they are able to restore this one too.

It’s peeling and falling apart and it’s such a shame, because this one is truly beautiful too.

You can get a glimpse of what it once looked like here.

That’s the sad part of these stories, it costs so much money to repair and revitalize these old buildings, but it sure would be a shame to tear them all down. We need to preserve our history for future generations.

I hope you enjoyed going with me to tour The Alabama. If you live here in Alabama and haven’t been inside this beautiful place, I would urge you to go and see it for yourself.

Do you have a special theatre like this in your hometown?

My First Chalkboard

2009-07-16T05:00:00.005-05:00

Remember the old mirror I found at the rummage sale over the 4th weekend, for $3? I knew I’d paint it and do something fun with it, so I figured this was finally my chance to do a chalkboard, like I’ve seen ALL over blogland. I think I’m the last one to do this one. I was waiting for the right piece. :)

And this chunky wood shelf with the ugly faux grain laminate was a steal at $2, and I’m so glad I snapped it up. After a coat of black paint, it looks totally different and really a shoe-in for a Ballard’s look-alike shelf. Are you ready to see them finished?

I did a few coats of spray chalkboard paint on this one, then taped off the inside and sprayed the outside with the trusty Heirloom White that is all over blogland too. Great color, by the way! I have a quart of the stuff that I've had for a couple years, but the spray paint really comes in handy for fast projects. And to answer your questions, YES, I did paint right over the mirror with the chalkboard paint. It seems to be holding up fine, so even if you're not supposed to do that, you know I don't follow rules. I did about 3 coats, letting them dry in between. I'm sure it might scratch off if I tried, but it is fine for writing. Tape and newspaper come in handy for masking off areas you don't want to paint.

Used some Kilz on that nasty shelf to make sure the black satin spray paint would stick. Sorry, I missed the other spray steps, but you get the picture. See what I do for you girls?

Here’s the mirror with her fresh coat of white paint. Ahhh, so much better and such a great fit for my kitchen now. Maybe I will now have a place to display a weekly menu for my hubby who has been strongly hinting that I should do some meal planning around our house. Ha! Whatever for?? I actually did write the weekly menu (Monday - Friday) on here this week and he loved it. My man likes to eat and when he's not eating, he likes to read about what we are having for dinner. :)

And the black shelf. I debated on which color I wanted on these and finally came to the conclusion that I needed to mix it up with black and white. How you ask?

Well, here’s my thinking process. I looked over this area and decided that all white would be too much white in one area by my antique cupboard here in the breakfast part of our kitchen.

So, a mix would be better. Black on the shelf and with the chalkboard being black, the best balance in my eye was to do the frame in white and I’m really happy with the way it all looks together. Sort of picks up that black and white zebra runner too.

Now some would think this is all way too much stuff, but you know how I feel about that. I’ll say it again. I’m not a minimalist and I love to layer things. Added more of my green dishes to the black shelf to balance out that side and with the chalkboard underneath, it works for me. I love the trend towards a simple tablescape too, but I also enjoy hanging stuff on the walls. It just makes me happy!

Those are Splenda packets on the bunny dish within grabbing distance for my morning cappuccino.

There’s an old phone jack under the chalkboard that we’re not using, so this was also a good way to cover it up.

I know how we all love a good Before and After project, so there you have it. From shabby to chic! This wall makes me smile.

Kimba's DIY party is also going on, so stop by there for lots more DIY ideas!

My Sis’s House

2009-07-15T05:00:00.003-05:00

My sister has been married to Bruce for going on 10 years now and after initially moving in here and decorating the house, she’s been making some very nice changes. They recently got additional hardwoods installed and all the floor sanded and restained and it all turned out beautiful. They are looking to downsize in the near future, but will have to see how it goes with home sales since it's not looking great at this time. In the meantime, with all their kids out of the house, they can enjoy the changes for themselves.

As I’ve mentioned before, we usually have our family gatherings at their house, since they have such a nice outdoor porch and back yard to enjoy on these nice spring and summer days. So, I thought y’all might enjoy seeing their house. This is coming in the frontdoor. It was time to get the walls repainted too, so she decided to use my Whole Wheat paint by Sherwin Williams as her main color this time.

The foyer is flooded with natural light, so it really looks light here and you can see how much darker it looks towards the back of the greatroom. Renee loves decorating almost as much as I do and enjoys puttering around with it too.We didn't get this trait from our mom, as she could care less about decorating and changing things around. I'll show you a glimpse of my mom's kitchen in another post.

She’s going to be replacing the familyroom furniture in the near future too. And she’s been scouring Craigslist in Atlanta looking for some bargains and boy, did she score on a couple of deals recently. There are some great things on the Atlanta Craigslist. I can't believe how much better it is than ours in Birmingham.

She found this HUGE entertainment center in an ad from a store selling their furnishings and got this gorgeous piece, as well as the island that goes with it. If you’ve ever heard of Habersham, this line is very similar, although it is not an official Habersham piece, it certainly has the look. It’s in 2 pieces and she said they had a heck of a time getting it in the house. Had to haul it on 2 trucks. And the price of this beauty is amazing. $1,000 for this large and magnificent piece, a real steal if you’ve priced entertainment units lately. And it’s solid wood. It’s hard to tell in this pic, but it’s a soft beigy color with a little green undertone and has very nice distressing.

With their huge greatroom ceilings, this piece fits perfectly. She said it’s 9’ tall.

The detailing on it is exquisite.

Over the fireplace.

Looking back towards front door.

Greatroom looking into kitchen area and onto back porch.

This is a true open floorplan house with great flow for a party. The greatroom opens to the kitchen, which then connects to the livingroom and diningroom combo.

Several of you mentioned the backyard, here's the link to my Mother's Day post, which shows a lot of their lush backyard and pond. Click here!

Say hello to Buster, the Boston terrier. He’s a fun dog and loves to play tug o’ war. And he once got so excited, he peed on my husband. At least my hubby laughed about it.

Breakfast table looking into kitchen. There’s the island she also scored from the same sellers. She got it for $350, which I thought also was a great deal. Mom made her kitchen window treatments too.

Very pretty piece, it looks wonderful in her kitchen. If they do move, she’s taking it with her.

And this is Holly, a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix and she is a real sweetie.

The diningroom is right off the kitchen. She left this room red, but I think I’ve talked her into lightening it up too, like I did with my red diningroom. She mentioned that she thinks she is going to paint over the red too. When she and Bruce got married, he had all this cherry furniture made by Kincaid. Very nice furniture, all solid wood, but it’s all exactly alike. Queen Anne Cherry. Too much of a good thing. It was in the foyer, greatroom, dining room, and master bedroom. All Queen Anne Cherry. She’s prepared him over the years, that she is going to get rid of some of it and bring in some new pieces, not so matchy-matchy, so now she’s finally getting around to doing that. They asked for my advice on some things they should change out. She just spray painted that brass light fixture to black and it looks so much better already. So, in case you have a brass fixture like this one which is in a lot of homes all over the country, here’s what it would look like painted.

Looking into kitchen. She’s going to sell the table and chairs, as well as the china cabinet and that wall is where the newly painted hutch will go. Anyone in the Atlanta area interested in a solid wood Kincaid table and chairs and china cabinet?? She’s going to sell it for a good price.

Livingroom sofa.

Livingroom chairs. She is tired of these chairs too and they will also be going.

Recognize this piece? Yep, we both bought this from the decorator a few years ago. She’s going to change her knobs to black too after she saw my piece.

So, that’s a little tour of my sister’s downstairs main areas. Hope you enjoyed seeing more of her house. They’ve been working hard on it and it looks great.

Hop over to this blog and this Etsy site for a fun vinyl wall art giveaway! Lots of great stuff to choose from.

Staining an Oak Banister

2009-07-14T05:00:00.003-05:00

It was 3 years ago right after we moved in this house, that I decided to tackle this project that I originally posted about here. In fact, click on that post from last year for all the details on how I did mine. If you have those light oak railings and banister on your staircase, you might want to do this too. It was a really easy project!

These top 2 pics are the Befores and you can see the dramatic difference that stain makes below. The beauty of Polyshades is that it’s stain and poly all in one. I did NOT sand, prime or do any prep to my railings, I simply brushed on the Polyshades to darken and deepen the color of the stain and I’ve been really happy with the outcome.

My foyer table has come a long way too. See how light the oak railing is in the above pic?

This is After: Polyshades Bombay Mahogany applied.

I was looking for contrast with the floors, so I’m fine with the 2 different tones of wood.

This color blends very well with my older vintage pieces of furniture in the living room too.

And I love the darker, richer depth of the stain now. I’m so glad I did this one! So, I’m digging this project up again, because I met a new blogger recently who was inspired by my post last year to do the same thing at her house.

(Kate’s foyer, BEFORE)

Kate at Centsational Girl, mentioned that my project had inspired her to do something with her plain oak railings in her house too, so she has just finished this project and I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce Kate to those of you who have not yet met her. Kate lives in CA, has fantastic taste and a wonderful DIY blog that you will totally enjoy. So, click over to her railing project too. You will love her entire blog and be hooked like I am!

And, AFTER

Check out what Kate has been up to with wallpaper and moldings too. What a change! I just love it all. Notice how she painted the bottom of the staircase molding white too. Click over to Kate’s blog for all the details. She will tell you all about how she did it and the color stain she used. Now, I want to go back and make mine even darker!

Hope ya’ll will also be inspired if you have those light oak railings. This is a great way to get an instant update for just a little elbow grease.

More Estate Sales

2009-07-12T13:30:00.002-05:00

What a fun and fast weekend we had with my family in Georgia celebrating my dad’s 82nd birthday (which is the 14th)! Whew, I’m tired out just thinking about it. We went over on Friday and first off, me and mom went over to my sister’s house. They have just finished adding some more hardwoods and getting all them refinished, as well as the house being painted inside, in hopes of putting their house on the market soon. They have dreams of down-sizing, moving to a condo or smaller house with less upkeep and space. Since they no longer have kids at home, their house is entirely too big for 2 adults and 2 dogs. But, in the meantime they’ll enjoy the improvements even if the house doesn’t sell anytime soon. I’ll show you inside my sister’s house in another post. I’ve shared the outdoor areas before in previous posts, here last Mother’s Day, since we usually have our family gatherings on their spacious porch and enjoy the beautiful backyard they’ve created.

So, me, mom and my sister, Renee, hit up one of the new antique malls that I had not been in since I moved, called Queen of Hearts. I’ll share that in another post later too. Lots of goodies in there to see.

In the meantime, my sis and I hit up a few yardsales (all a bust) and one huge estate sale in Marietta that was quite amazing. Oh my, the lady that lived in this house must have loved to keep everything, I have never seen so many old, vintage and antique things in one estate sale, all in great condition. Of course, with estate sales, come a higher price. This sale had started on Friday, so by the time we got there on Saturday, everything was 1/2 price. Now, that’s even better. I tried to find something I had to have and took way too few pics, but ended up leaving empty handed.

Most all of these things were all out in the garage. The above old chippy white vanity was marked at $300, but would have been $150 on the 1/2 price day. Still too much, I think. That old scale sitting on it would have been $9, but I didn’t get it, I have to think about everything I bring in my house now.

Have you ever seen an old pram like this? Take 1/2 off the price for what they were asking. I think they are planning to have another Finale sale at some point to clear out even more. I can’t even imagine how much stuff must have been in there on Friday, cause on Saturday, the house was still packed with stuff! Those estate sale people really try to charge too much for things and I just don’t think people are willing to pay the price.

Child’s tricycle, would have been $30 at 1/2 price. Cute, cute!

I think you can read the prices on these little children’s chairs. They were all adorable.

Now, my sister fell in LOVE with this mahogany (late 1800’s) antique round table with 5 leaves and 8 chairs. Half price was $1900, which really is a steal, considering you’d pay that for some new junk that is nothing like this quality. There was a sideboard, china cabinet and a couple other matching pieces. You can imagine how beautiful this was and how well-made this old furniture is. I wish she could get it and she may try to see if they mark it down anymore. It’s a beauty! She has just purchased some other great furniture pieces on Craigslist (which I’ll show you in a later post), so may not be able to get this right now, but boy, is it gorgeous.

This vintage outdoor patio set would have been $55 for all of this on the 1/2 price day. Now that’s a great deal!

And if you’re in the market for an old Cadillac, this 1957 model was for sale too. I didn’t look at the pricetag on this one, but I don’t think it was 1/2 price.

So, I didn’t buy anything! Even though there were a couple things that caught my eye, I decided to pass. I did see a beautiful Italian white marble based lamp that would have been $37 at 1/2 price and I thought long and hard about that, but ended up leaving it. I love those old marble and alabaster base lamps and have seen them for much more money at antique shops. I probably should have bought it! Ahh, regrets. And I didn’t even get a pic of it.

I did get my sister interested in starting a white creamware collection of her own. She already has one white soup tureen, which she was going to give me, then changed her mind when she decided to start her own collection. And that’s great, I love it so much and I know she’ll enjoy her collection too. She found all these pieces at the antique mall that I’ll post on later. And she found a beautiful large oval platter at the estate sale, that I didn't get a pic of. That’s all we came away with, but it’s a great start to her creamware collection!

She found a gorgeous hutch on Craigslist, which is now sitting in her garage waiting to paint. Even though this pine is really pretty, it doesn’t go so much with her house, so she is going to use my painting method and paint it black. She may leave the back of the shelves pine and paint the rest black. That’s a great look. And the price on this beauty? $150!! I’m SO jealous and love this piece. I’d love to find something like this too, although I’d have to get rid of something to make room. I can’t wait to see it when she’s finished. She’s really gotten the bug to buy some nice second hand pieces and make them work for their home. Wait til you see 2 of the Craigslist things she scored! I'll show you that in a later post of her house.

So, let’s get the party rolling this week and see what all YOU have found! You know how to play, so please sign up with Mr. Linky and be sure to add a link back to THIS post so that all your readers can join the party and see everyone’s finds.

And please, please put your permalink (your thrifty post url) and NOT just your blog url. I continue to have to go in and fix the links on about 12 of the links every single week!! Help a girl out!

Thanks for playing this week and have fun visiting everyone! Like I’ve mentioned, it’s getting harder and harder for me to visit all of you, but I try!

Todays Thrifty Treasures Participants

1. ThriftyAnnabella (Saturday)
2. ThriftyAnnabella (Tuesday)
3. Completely Coastal (My Thrifty Threesome)
4. Queen of Fifty Cents
5. Christina at Yardsalequeen
6. Queentomas
7. Deana
8. Kammy
9. Cheap&Sweet Great Saturday!
10. Cheap&Sweet Great Friday!
11. Rhonda in OK
12. Marianne@songbirdisnesting
13. Suzanne in TX
14. Carol @ Old Glory Cottage
15. Cheap&Sweet sunday flea market finds
16. Linda @Nina's Nest
17. Jennifer @ chester and donkey
18. Amy Lynne @ Mom*s Balance
19. Pat@Back Porch Musings
20. LadyOfManyHats
21. Thrifty Teacher (Shopping at Home)
22. The Shabby Chic Cottage
23. Tracey
24. The Undomesticated Wife
25. Toni
26. A fellow G.R.I.T.S, Reid
27. Della @ Della Grace's Life
28. Ellen R.
29. Bonnie@Cottage Hideaway
30. Jadehollow
31. Tarva
32. Jane@Frugal Fine Living
33. Susie Q
34. Dab of This and That
35. Melanie Elissa
36. Joan@anythinggoeshere: help
37. Caroline@FOREVER VINTAGE
38. Gwen @ MurphyGraceHome
39. Darlene @Darlene's Days
40. Shauna@They Call Me Lucy
41. Julianne Hendrickson
42. Traci-Goodwill Buffet Re-do
43. Michelle@Dei Gratia
44. Merrie
45. My Three Bubs
46. Manuela@The Pleasures of Homemaking
47. Tam @ The Gypsy's Corner
48. RELUCTANT ENTERTAINER & Canners & GREEN Jam
49. Rhonda @ BlueCreekHome
50. The Bloom Girls
51. Chrissie Grace
52. Cindy @ Applestone
53. Lynette
54. Callie@Advetures in Stay at Home Wifedom
55. Aubree @ The Weathered Cottage
56. Debbie from Pink Roses and Teacups
57. Kelli@JOY
58. Beth @ Soanywaytoday
59. Brooke @ VintageSunshine
60. Meghan @ Mrs. Shopswell at Home
61. Cindy@Fairy Tale Cottage
62. Kendra @ Domestic Princess in Training
63. Nancy@SouthernLady
64. Grannyann- weekend finds
65. The Thrifty Home (Yardsale Antenna = FREE HDTV)
66. Amanda @ Serenity Now {Free Fabric, Fleurs, and Wicker-Oh My!}
67. Quiltpiecer @ Goodwill Haunting
68. Tonya-Hobby Lobby 80% off
69. Nicole @ BugaboosCreations
70. Brittany
71. Brittany
72. Marfa (formula for a life)
73. Lorna~Lace and Ivy Cottage~
74. Shery@evidence of life on mars
75. Terry @ Cherished Treasures(Promo Codes)
76. carolyn@primitivedevotion
77. the lazy peacock
78. Mrs. Homemaker
79. Susan--Runner Mom
80. Pages by Heather (Starbucks Steal!)
81. Pammie Jo
82. Cutie Patootie
83. mary's mom
84. Monica
85. The Gaines Gang (Goodwill Pretty's)
86. RedAries@PotteryShed
87. Lady Katherine
88. Britt @ A Penny Saved
89. Cindy @ Oakview Cottage
90. Rachel (Life Off the Shelf)
91. Joy@joysofhome
92. Dirt Princess
93. Jane (Out of the Crayon Box)
94. Sandra
95. Christie
96. cynthia@come sit awhile
97. Adventures in Decorating
98. Junk Mammas
99. Cheryl
100. Shirley Corwin
101. Pam

Gardendale Antique Mall

2009-07-10T05:00:00.001-05:00

I had heard about the Gardendale Antique mall before and since I was on that side of town not too long ago, decided to stop in and check it out. It just got an OK on my antique mall scale, but was an enjoyable time of strolling and browsing. The fun of looking in an antique mall is you never know what you’ll spot.

This pretty black hutch was already sold, but I checked the price tag and at $129 was a good bargain, I thought.

Birdcage was $10.

Plenty of old books.

And some Jadite for those of you who collect this pretty green vintage stuff.

Seems there is always a dealer who has tons of salt and pepper shakers available. I spotted a set that I have at home that I bought at an estate sale last year. See the top row, the cream and green cabbage leaves? I found those last year for $6 for the set. This one was $10 and not in as good condition as mine.

Not a great pic of this dresser, but it was really pretty. I think it was $500+, not a steal.

A set of old mixing bowls.

I love the old covers of magazines. Check out what House Beautiful used to look like in the 30’s.

This was a nice set of white Fiesta dishes, but I didn’t see a price on them.

How about an old Hamilton Beach milkshake machine for over $300?

Or an old manual IBM typewriter. Anyone else remember typing on these? I sure do!

This Coach purse was about $13. I have a few of these that I’ve found at yardsales. You can’t beat the leather in a Coach.

Pretty black chair with black/white paisley fabric. And so, what did I find at this one?

Two more pieces of creamware for my growing collection that I already showed you previously, but here they are again. These were both found in different booths, but were $1 each. They could be a sugar and creamer set, they look so much alike. Petite in size and very cute.

I just love these old pottery pieces. And these little feet are adorable. This one might get a little plant in it. I’m really trying to buy older pieces these days and not bring home any more resin and Made in China things. Not that I don't still have some of that in my house , but I don’t want anymore. I just love the older things better and I'm on a mission to get rid of most of the mass produced things.

So, that was another fun time of browsing the antique malls. I probably won’t run back over to Gardendale just to shop this one, as we have some on my side of town that are just as good or better, but I’m glad I checked it out.

We're headed to Atlanta for a couple of days to celebrate my Dad's 82nd birthday. My sister wants to go yardsaling, so I may do that Saturday morning (found a promising estate sale listed in their Craigslist), since I've gotten her more interested in doing that too. Whether I find anything or not, I do have something else saved back I can share, so I'll still be here for the Thrifty Treasures party Sunday evening, so come on back for that!

Bruster’s Banana Split Thursday

2009-07-09T05:00:00.001-05:00

Do you have Bruster’s ice cream in your town? Oh, I hope you do. I love this place and when we discovered they do 1/2 price banana splits on Thursday, if you bring your own banana, well that’s a no brainer.

I’ve even been known to have a banana split instead of dinner. My very favorite flavor here is White Turtle. Oh. My. Gosh! The best thing ever. I have them add that instead of vanilla in my splits.

I ate the whole thing. But, don’t tell anyone my little secret, OK?!

Sticks and Feathers

2009-07-08T05:00:00.004-05:00

Added to Kimba's DIY Day!

Here’s a quick, easy, and cheap little arrangement I put together recently, using some black yardsale sticks that I picked up for $1. I have to admit, I’m really liking sticks these days and have started using them a lot in my decor. This is a $5 yardsale urn that I scored along the way in my yardsale journey and it keeps company with all the creamware. But, I decided it would be a great container for some sticks and feathers, since I saw a beautiful white ironstone container at a shop filled with sticks and feathers and loved the look.

Out came my bags of moss that I have stashed in my craft closet. This is a must-have to keep handy. And the best thing, it’s reusable, so I just recycle it to the next one.

You can see in the first pic, I added some foam to hold everything in place. Didn’t even glue it, just jammed it in the urn and it stays fine. Added the moss, no gluing, it stays in place just fine.

I began adding my black sticks one at a time until they were all arranged the way I liked them. I made sure that they were balanced all around with the height & the direction they were going .

I had picked up a dried bunch at Hobby Lobby on their last dried naturals sale for $2.00. Added those in too.

Then, I took my Hobby Lobby feathers than I bought on the 1/2 price sales along the way and just arranged those around the circle of the sticks.

I had 3 taller feather picks too, so I put those in.

And there you have it, a quick and easy arrangement. I moved out the pinecones and added this in its place on the console table.

Let’s see, I think there’s about $10-12 in this one (including the urn). Not too bad for a new look by using yardsale finds and recycled natural materials.

Reader Project: Diningroom Moldings

2009-07-07T05:00:00.001-05:00

I’ve told you before how much I enjoy getting emails from all of you who read my blog, especially those that let me know that something I’ve done on my blog inspired them to try it too. That makes me SO giddy, so again, I received one of those emails recently from Sheila, another reader in Ontario, Canada (you Canadian girls are really paying attention, THANK you, you rock!) So, please read Sheila’s email to me and enjoy HER wonderful DIY project that she and her hubby completed:

Hi Rhoda,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sheila and I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I am 56 years of age and I love decorating my home even though I have no formal schooling on the matter.

I am a faithful follower of your blog and it is my number 1 site that I visit each day. I consider myself a "stalker" of sorts because I always visit but never leave any comments. One evening not too long ago, I lauded your decorating style and mentioned that we had just finished installing picture molding to our dining room after being inspired by your own makeover. I promised to send photos that evening, so I am pleased to be sending them today.

Occasionally I feel we are kindred spirits of sorts because I have always been intrigued by the south. Maybe it’s a fascination from that great movie "Gone with the Wind" but the stately homes, sipping mint juleps on beautiful porches and southern belles have always captured my attention. Someday soon, I hope to visit the lovely cities of Charleston and Savannah.

My dear hubby had always wanted to try this effect but I was never a big fan of moldings until I saw your makeover. I'm the one with most of the decorating ideas for our home, but he's always the one who carries them out. Guaranteed if I had done the work, those moldings would not even be straight- hehe. We actually make a great team but I guess that goes without saying after 36 years of marriage.

So in closing, I hope you enjoy our photos and maybe I'll become less of a "stalker" now and start leaving some comments on your blog. Keep up the great work and thanks again for all the sharing you do!!

Kind regards,
Sheila

Look at those perfectly straight moldings and what a beautiful dining room. Sheila, it’s gorgeous!

Inspired by this project that I did earlier this year, if you want to try something new in your dining room and add some picture frame molding, what are you waiting for? If WE can do it, YOU can too. Sheila, thanks so much for your note and for sharing your beautiful dining room project with me. I just know everyone else will love it too.

My dining room project was also featured over the weekend at One Project Closer, so go over and take a look there too. They are doing a summer contest of Before and After projects, so if you have something to submit, send in your pics. I won a $25 giftcard for entering and being featured, so that's exciting!

Oh, the fun of a Catholic Rummage Sale

2009-07-05T16:15:00.002-05:00

In spite of the fact that it was the 4th of July weekend, a holiday weekend, I still found one sale to go to. I figured everyone would be at the beach or the lake (and I really think 1/2 of Birmingham is gone, as evidenced by the lack of traffic). I mean, isn’t that what people DO on the 4th of July?

Apparently, the big Catholic church in Homewood’s annual 4th of July rummage sale and festival is where everyone in Birmingham decided to go Saturday morning. So, my idea of popping in there quickly did not happen. We had to stand in line. And people, I do not like to stand in line to do my yardsaling, I can tell you that for sure. Especially when it’s hot. And you can count on it being H.O.T. in July in Alabama. But, since there were hardly any others going on and I had driven all the way down there, I stood in line and waited for a good 1/2 hour. In the heat. Sweltering and sweating. I would have really been mad if I hadn’t found any treasures, but I did, so all was good.

I snatched this cute old mirror for $3. It’s maple, but I’ll probably paint it and hang it somewhere. Love the rope that it hangs from. I had to grab things quickly, since there were so many people in there and it was jam packed with stuff. I would have liked to take my time and really browse, but that was hard to do under the circumstances, so I went through pretty fast and grabbed a few things I had to have.

This is a heavy wall shelf that someone probably built from scratch. It’s laminate over plywood and VERY heavy. Love the detail and shape of the corbels on this piece and it was only $2. The faux wood laminate is awfully ugly, but it will get painted. What and where, I don’t know yet. It actually reminds me a lot of my Ballards shelves that I paid a bunch more for. It’s 2’ wide and 9” deep and once painted will be gorgeous.

See the details on those corbels? Nice.

This little adorable original oil painting of a beach scene was $1.50. Love this. I’ll paint the frame a creamy white and distress it.

And you know how I love little bottles. This one was only 25 cents and has a neat stainless steel shaker top.

And a soft as a glove black leather purse by Worthington was $1 and really cute. All it needs is a good cleaning and leather conditioning and it will be perfect.

So, that’s what I brought home on Saturday. It was so crowded that I just flew through there and didn’t take my time to look at everything, especially cause I was lugging that heavy shelf around, I just paid for my stuff and left. Now the good thing is that on Sunday, everything is 1/2 price. So, where do you think I went this afternoon, just to see what all I missed. And at 1/2 price, how fun is that to find more bargains?

So, back this afternoon on 1/2 price day, I spied a pair of custom Roman shades that I thought would be perfect with my toile drapes in my guestroom. 1/2 price was $4 for 2 shades (I’ll probably only use one, but that’s still a super deal). And you know what? They are! Right down to the right color and width of the window. They had the dimensions marked on them at 36” and I knew that should work and you can see it will work perfectly. I’m going to install them right up under that Paris sign and they will be beautiful. I had to use the flash in this pic and the wall color is not this minty, more of a soft pear green. Now, I can get rid of the ugly metal white blinds that are all on the back windows of our house that I hate, but haven’t replaced. One at a time, I will do that too. I could use the other one in my DR, but I really need to keep all my white wood blinds facing the street, so I’ll have to think about that.

This nubby black/tan fabric is just perfect with my toile drapes.

A 1972 David Hicks decorating book was 50 cents. Should be an interesting read.

I saw this cute little marble based brass lamp on Saturday, but at $10 wasn’t willing to pay that much (I’m cheap, what can I say!). And since I didn’t really need it, passed it up, but it was still there on Sunday, so for $5, it made me like it SO much more. I’ll give it a makeover and a new shade and it will be really pretty. Of course, I’ll share the makeover with you. That dated pleated shade will go.

This, I love. I snagged this old Westinghouse fan as soon as I walked in on Sunday, and at $5 a great deal. I would have been too cheap to pay $10 for it yesterday. It’s the real deal and I even plugged it in and it still works. I’ll put this in my toile guestroom up on the chest of drawers and if my guests want to use it, they can. It might be a fire hazard, so I won’t keep it plugged in all the time and hey, the dust was free!

So, that’s my finds of the week. Wasn’t sure I’d get out there this weekend, but I managed to find a good one. I’d say it was a pretty good sale overall and I will definitely go back to the annual Catholic church rummage sale.

Did YOU get out to any sales? There usually aren’t a lot on holiday weekends, I’ve noticed in my area. But, we’re playing anyway, so link up if you have some finds to share. You know the drill by now, so please go by the rules. Please link up your thrifty post here on Mr. Linky and NOT just your blog url. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Todays Thrifty Treasures Participants

1. Phillips Phamily Mama
2. Kim @The Pottery Shed
3. Olive Rue
4. Joan@anythinggoeshere:cabinet door to chalkboard
5. Christina at Yardsalequeen
6. The Shabby Chic Cottage (old finds revamped)
7. Linda @Nina's Nest
8. ThriftyAnnabella (Only $1)
9. Suzanne in TX
10. Carol @ Old Glory Cottage
11. Dab of This and That
12. Patricia @ In My Free Time
13. Della @ Della Grace's Life
14. Melanie @The Old White Cottage
15. Beth @soanywaytoday
16. Bill @ Affordable Accoutrements
17. Caroline@FOREVER VINTAGE
18. Susie Q
19. Jo@2nd Act
20. Brenda@Cozy Little House
21. Stephanie @ A Fine House
22. Cindy@Fairy Tale Cottage
23. A Beach Cottage
24. Jenn@First Comes Love
25. Amy Lynne @Mom*s Balance
26. Queen of Fifty Cents
27. Kammy-Small Home in the Country
28. Rhonda @ BlueCreekHome
29. MelanieElissa
30. The Stylish House (Finding Quality Bargins!)
31. Sue@sullivanandmurphy
32. Jadehollow
33. Michelle@Dei Gratia
34. Sarah Robbins
35. Terry @ Cherished Treasures
36. Rhonda @ A Home With A Smile
37. Jennifer @ chester and donkey
38. Brooke @ VintageSunshine
39. Frippery
40. Carrie - Oak Rise Cottage
41. Bonnie@Cottage Hideaway
42. Amanda @ Serenity Now {Steal on Neat Pottery!}
43. JEN@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
44. Chandy
45. Jackie@Ms Jackies Junque
46. Becky
47. Jennifer @ chester and donkey
48. Shari @ My Cottage of Bliss
49. Maggie Elizabeth
50. Tam @ The Gypsy's Corner
51. Tamara
52. Charla @ For the Sake of Time
53. Amanda@ Imperfectly Beautiful(25 cent fabric)
54. Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman (another bread plate)
55. Tina @ Enchanted Rose Studio
56. Brittany
57. bj
58. Sara @ Be Still and Know
59. Merrie
60. Brittany
61. Julia@ Open Hand Living
62. Lori @ Chateau of Serenity
63. Myra @ Happy Housewife LIving Life
64. Shery@evidence of life on mars
65. Kimberly @ The Cupcake Cuppy
66. Karli @ RockyBella
67. Sharing with Sherri
68. Lorna~Lace and Ivy Cottage~
69. Renee @ Cottage Lifestyle
70. Sabrina...yard sale find
71. Kelli@JOY
72. carolyn
73. Cher
74. Carolina Momma @ Living On Love (Free Blue Mason Jars)
75. Pages by Heather (Frugal Find Friday)
76. Cheryl @ prim from scratch
77. Nicole@Bugaboos
78. Debra@Bungalow, white pottery
79. Toni @ Georgia on Toni's Mind
80. Reid -a fellow GRITS
81. Steph
82. Mrs. Homemaker
83. edie@lifeingrace
84. melissa * 320 Sycamore
85. Grannyann-Weekend Treasures
86. Suzy's Sanctuary
87. Our Daily Chocolate ~ Anna Sophia
88. LeAnn
89. Carrie
90. Chrissie Grace
91. Chrissie Grace (another one!)
92. The Cottage Child
93. Kelly
94. Helen Joy-Barclay and Me
95. Gina @ The Tickle Pink Thrift
96. Sisters Christina & Victoria
97. Melissa
98. Jackie
99. Caro's Thrifty Treasures
100. Shirley Corwin
101. Diane - Four Paws and Co
102. Lisa
103. Shannon Best-{Cass Toy Co. Treasures!}
104. Janene
105. One Shabby Old House- becky
106. the lazy peacock
107. THE NESTER :: Goodwill Treasures!
108. Robin (shabby dining room set)
109. Sarah from At Home With The Hinsons
110. Kendra @ Domestic Princess in Training

A Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Time to celebrate our freedom and enjoy the 4th of July weekend! Hope you and yours have a simply splendid time of gathering together and enjoying this special day in our country’s history.

(pics from BHG.com)

Are you doing anything fun? We don’t have a lot of outdoor things planned for the day (it's SO dang HOT), but we will be attending the Birmingham Tea Party again this evening. Hope to see a few of you there!

Happy 4th of July! We are blessed to have our freedom.

Light some sparklers and shoot off some fireworks!

I haven't even checked the paper yet to see if there are many yardsales this weekend, but even if I don't make it to any (and I probably will :), I'll still have the party starting Sunday evening. See you then!

The neighbors can laugh

2009-07-03T05:00:00.006-05:00

But, we’ll get the last laugh now that we are getting a mess of beans all ready for pickin’! In case you don’t know what a mess of beans is….down South, that’s enough beans to fill a pot for dinner.

From by the front door beans on the fence….

They are loving all the sun they get here and hubby has already picked them twice.

I snipped off the ends, cut them up with a little bacon, salt and pepper and simmered them for about an hour.

And they were yummy with rosemary roasted red potatoes and some BBQ pork from the crockpot. We LOVE this time of year with the fresh veggies. It was not unusual when we were growing up to only have vegetables for dinner, no meat, like hubby and I did recently. Oh, and the creamed corn and crowder peas (I think that's what they are) are from my parent's garden. My mom freezes all of this from their yearly bounty and shares. Love that!

And see what else is blooming outside right now. My stargazer lilies are looking as beautiful as ever, so I decided to bring them inside to really enjoy them on the breakfast table.

I’ve got 3 plants going and each plant has at least 5 blooms. Ahhhh!

There’s nothing prettier to me!

And see what’s hanging out in the window? Yep, all those fresh picked ‘maters from our little garden.

How’s your garden growing? Are you enjoying flowers or food or both? We desperately need some rain right now, but we’re enjoying both.

I'm joining Julia today for Hooked on Fridays, since I'm hooked on home grown veggies.

I'm working today with my designer friend, Mary and am happy to be doing that again. We haven't worked together since last year when she brought back her original assistant who really needed to work. So, I'm excited to have a couple more jobs this next week with Mary. We always have a blast! I won't be able to take pics unfortunately, but here's a project we worked on last year.

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And here’s some great news that a reader passed on to me. American Blinds and Wallpaper has the beadboard wallpaper in stock. I had to locate the exact page it was on, the pattern # is #17267 and the price is $23.07 per roll with free shipping and that’s better than what I paid, so here’s the link for you:

Beadboard Wallpaper

If anyone does order from them, I’d appreciate it if you could click on their link in my right sidebar to get there and then put in the pattern # to locate it. I had to click on wallpaper and then put in the pattern # to bring it up. If anyone buys from that button, I get a small commission on sales. And this is one product that I don’t mind bragging on! Thanks a bunch.

Edited to Add: I just found out the link above is to UN-pasted wallpaper (not prepasted), so glue would have to be used (which might be better if you are using it on furniture or something), but here's another link to Graham-Brown directly for the one that I used. Sorry for any misunderstanding on this:

Graham-Brown Beadboard Wallpaper

Selling Grandma's House

2009-07-02T05:00:00.001-05:00

In case you might be wondering, we recently said goodbye to Grandma Eleanor’s little house, since it was recently sold. With this market, I guess we were lucky to get what we did out of it and after about 6 months on the market, a single lady bought it and has already moved in. Peter and I went by there just to check things out one more time before the closing day.

I know he is relieved to have it sold. No more paying property taxes on it and no more maintenance. It is a cute little house, but with that comes the upkeep of older properties.

The neighborhood in Crestwood still has some very pretty cottages that are in much better shape than Grandma's house was. Unfortunately, this area is not the best in town. This house just a couple houses down has a beautification award sign in the
front.

And it’s been kept up well. I think there are still quite a few elderly folks living in the neighborhood, but younger ones are moving in as well.

And this one across the street really has some nice curb appeal. But, time to say goodbye to the little house. Grandma was not happy about selling it, but it will benefit her in the long run. She only lived in this house for about 2 or 3 years and she’s been away from it for 9 years now. I didn't realize it had been that long. In fact, only 3 years ago when we moved over here, all we heard was how Grandma wanted to sell this little house and use the money to build a log cabin as a second home. I'm talking obsessed for more than a year. Over log cabins. Yikes! So you can imagine all of that to deal with. No way can you just let them do what they want.

She lives with Peter’s mom in a nice suburban brick garden home outside Birmingham. And it’s paid for. So they can really just enjoy themselves without a lot of worries now. She has a little rose garden that she putters in and their property is the perfect size for them. So, farewell little house. Someone else can love the house now. Eleanor is doing just fine where she is.

So, on the way back home, we stopped off in Five Points to have dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant.

Surin West. We ordered egg rolls for an appetizer.

And I had my favorite Pad Prik, a delicious entree of pork, onions and green peppers, and mushrooms.

A good way to end the day. Do you like Thai? It's one of my favorites now.

Head on over to my friend, Kaye's blog for a fun 4th of July giveaway this weekend. You'll want to get in on it!

DIY Reader Spraypaint Project

2009-07-01T05:00:00.002-05:00

So, I hear Home Depot is back-ordered on the beadboard wallpaper? That is hilarious! Did ya'll really order that much?! Dang, what if I need another roll? I can't wait to see your projects and I am thinkin' a Mr. Linky Beadboard Wallpaper party might be in order. Please tell me when you finish a project and let's get them all together, OK?!

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Do ya’ll have any idea how exciting it is for me to get emails from all of you, telling me how much I’ve inspired you to get out and yardsale or do a paint project? Well, it is totally thrilling for me to read those letters. I get quite a few emails each week expressing gratitude for my blog and the things I share on here, encouraging all of you to try something new. That’s really what got me motivated to share all of these things on my blog. Because really, I’m just an ordinary housewife who loves decorating and doing projects and I figure if I can do it, so can YOU! And many of you are getting out of your comfort zones and giving it a shot and that just totally makes my day to hear that.

So, recently when I got this email from Victoria in Ontario, Canada (hello up there in Canada!), I was so happy to read her story of how I (just an ordinary wife down here in AL) had inspired her to not only go yardsaling (YAY for that), BUT to also try a paint project for the first time.

I’ll let you read the email from Victoria, it was great and I’m so glad she shared her story with me and graciously agreed to let me share it with ALL of you too.

(Victoria’s inspiration pic from Sarah Richardson)

Dear Rhoda,

You don’t know me, but I feel as though I must extend my thanks to you.

I have been following your blog for a while now and have been really enjoying your projects. You inspired me to take on my own decorating project.

I bought these chairs at a yard sale. (You inspired me to do this also – I am not an early riser so just getting out of bed early on my day off is an accomplishment!) I wasn’t looking for chairs but I instantly fell in love with their lines and saw their potential right away. I bought them. 7 well constructed and gently used chairs for $25!! In reading ‘Style at Home,’ a Canadian decorating magazine, the cottage of a prominent local designer, Sarah Richardson was featured and right away I knew I wanted that colour palette for my cottage (after struggling for years with what decorating direction to take). I went onto her website and after some searching I found the paint chip that she used for some chairs that she had painted for her cottage dining room. I knew my chairs would look great.

Sooo………I have NEVER painted before – EVER! That is why I got married!! (just kidding). Anyhow, after seeing your many amazing projects and transformations I found the courage to give it a try.

I sanded the chairs down, arranged to borrow a friend’s paint sprayer (which I was really intimidated to use – but in reality was quite easy) and got busy. I’m thrilled with the results!

Rhoda, thank you for your great blog. Because of YOU – (YES YOU) and a little bit of courage (okay and elbow grease!) on my part I’ve encountered success and feel like I can tackle anything.

With fondness,

Victoria

BEFORE: Victoria’s bargain chairs…did you catch the price? $25 for all 7?? Now THAT is amazing, a steal of a deal. Victoria, for a new yardsaler, you hit this one out of the park.

And AFTER. Gorgeous!

Don’t they look great? Victoria, you did an outstanding job and you should pat yourself on the back. Now, next time you’ll be on the hunt for some furniture to rehab and will know that you can tackle anything. I just had to share this inspiring email with all of you and this is just to say, emails like this are why I keep on doing this blog!

So, keep doing those projects out there and feel free to share your successes with me too.

If you'd like to see the old historic homes in my hometown of Marietta, GA, click over to Susan's blog for a beautiful post on it all. Ahhh, I just love the Marietta square and how it's been preserved, along with these older and stately homes. Susan did a great job taking pics and showing it off, so please take a look. This is where I was raised.

Beadboard Wallpaper Project

2009-06-30T05:00:00.002-05:00

Thank you ALL so much for participating in the Thrifty Treasures parties! They are really filling up each week and I appreciate you taking the time to do a post and link up. Y'all make it fun! Your enthusiasm is great. I am running out of time to visit every one of you each week, so please forgive me if I don't make it around to see all 100+ of you every time. I try to visit, but just run out of time. Moving on....

Let’s just start by saying this! I’m totally sold on the beadboard wallpaper.

Well, girls I just have to tell you that this project was even easier and looks better than I could imagine. If anyone had doubts about it from my first post, this just might change your mind. This beadboard wallpaper is amazing, that’s all I can say about it. It’s thick, probably 3-4 times thicker than regular wallpaper and I’ve put up regular wallpaper many time before. This is SO much easier to work with. You can cut it with scissors and it cuts like buttah. No shredding or crinkling. So, for those of you who LOVE the details…this one’s for you. Lots of pics, lots of details. I promise you, anyone can do this project. It went so well and turned out so pretty that I’m going to do something else with it. And I know that diehard REAL beadboard lovers will probably pooh-pooh this (and I am a REAL beadboard fan myself), but for those of us who do not have a garage full of power tools, this is the next best thing. I'll go through the steps I used to get it all up there and trimmed out, so follow along with me.

For those who missed the Home Depot link in my first post, click here to order the wallpaper. This is the best price I found on it. It's by Graham Brown and made in the UK.

So first thing is to measure wherever you are putting it and get yourself a yardstick to help keep a straight line. Measure on each side and hold the yardstick across and draw a line side to side with a pencil. That’s how I did it and it worked great. And trimming from top to bottom is easy, you just follow the lines.

Wet the back of it in the sink, let sit for 5 minutes. Book it, Dano. I really wanted to say that. :) Anyone besides me remember Hawaii 5-0? Guess cause I am 5-0, I would. Booking is when you let glue sit and activate so it adheres better. Now, here’s something I didn’t do. I didn’t sand my cabinets at all. I just went right over the painted surface, which was a little glossy, but it seemed to stick just fine and I didn’t have any problems with it. But, to be safe, you might want to lightly sand or degloss if your surface is glossy. That’s my disclaimer. I tend to take shortcuts, as you've probably all figured out by now. :)

My plain jane ends of the kitchen cabinets. Nothing special, but this treatment really makes them look SO much better.

Also an issue when we got our granite, to keep the countertops level, they had to add some shims underneath, which you can see (well, you can if you’re on your head, which doesn’t happen too much, but still) and I wanted to get some molding around the top of the cabinets to fix that little issue. So, this all worked together for me. I bought a small molding MDF piece that fits underneath the granite and then some fancier reeded trim, not too wide to trim out the beadboard. Keep that in mind. To make this all come together and really look good, the extra trim made all the difference too. When you look at the finished product, the trim makes it appear to be the real thing. Now you wouldn’t necessarily HAVE to add the trim under the countertop like I did, but I had that issue to deal with, so I needed to do that. You may not.

Another look at the shims under the granite. You’ll see at the end how it all works.

First thing, I cut and pasted my wallpaper pieces. Only 2 of the ends had to be pieced and you can see the small seam to the right. Not a big deal to me, since regular beadboard also has seams. And I did go back and fill in with some spackle which didn’t totally erase it, but made it less noticeable. If I had worked a little bit harder with it, it probably could have totally disappeared, but have I mentioned I’m not a perfectionist? I’m a “if it looks good, then I’m OK with it” kind of girl. So, that’s the first step. Cut, paste and smooth it out. Make sure you smooth all the bubbles out after you get it in place before it dries. That really wasn’t a problem. I just used my hands to smooth it out and it totally lays flat. No bubbles or anything.

So, this is what it looks like on one end after the paper is in place. Not bad at all, huh? Lookin’ good already and it’s not even painted OR trimmed out. Wait til you get to the bottom pics.

I did this on the top cabinet too. Same process. See the good thing about this method is, if you were using real beadboard it would really stick out from the cabinets pretty far and you’d have to get some bigger trim to trim it out and hide the edges. This way, the wallpaper just snuggles right up to the existing molding and then all I had to do was add molding on the right side and bottom to trim it all out. You’ll see in a minute. This doesn’t add a lot of unnecessary bulk to your cabinets, BUT you get the same look.

Again, the small cabinet above the fridge got the same treatment.

Here’s the spackle I used. I used it on the seams and also in the bigger gaps that I had with the old molding and new molding in a couple of spots. Spackle and caulk is your friend, as I told you when I did this project. You can hide a world of sins with caulk. :) Believe me, I know.

Next up is the molding just under the granite to hide that ugly. I used my miter box and trimmed it to fit each angle and put that molding all the way around the kitchen cabinets under the granite. Used finish nails and wood glue to put it on here. I am NOT a good finish nailer. You will see in the final pics that some of my nail heads are sticking out. They kept bending and I couldn’t get all of them in all the way. Oh well. I really don’t care too much, I just painted over them. :) A real carpenter would fire me. Again, caulk or wood putty goes in the corner to fill in for painting.

Nailing and gluing. Next you’ll see the reeded wood molding I used on the edges of the beadboard wallpaper. This is small and dainty and I like how it looks and it sort of mimics the beadboard effect. I just added it right on top of the wallpaper and flush with the edge of the cabinet corner. Again, you’ll caulk on both sides if there’s a little gap.

Mitered the corners where they meet. Again, nailed and glued with wood glue to get it on here. I’m not great at measuring, but again, it just takes some patience and perseverance and YOU can do it too.

So, one by one, they all got the trim molding attached. Everything got caulked. Wherever you see any gaps inside or out should be caulked. That just makes the final paint job look so much better if you do this.

Caulked and ready for paint.

Same in the master bath. I did both vanities in there too. After all the caulking and nailing, then it’s time for paint.

I love to use this small weinie roller I got at Lowes for projects like this. Works great and with the small brush, they work together well. I rolled the paint on the wallpaper and used the brush to go back and smooth out around the edges and on the molding. When we moved here over 3 years ago, I discovered our doors throughout the house were primed but never painted, so I had to track down a good trim paint color in gloss to paint all the doors and match our existing trim . I also noticed that the trim color that was already here matched the kitchen and bathroom cabinets to a T, so it made it easy once I got the right match of paint to touch up the kitchen cabinets and all the trimwork. In case anyone is interested, I got Anthem White from Valspar (Lowes) and it’s a perfect match to my trim and cabinets. If I was choosing trim paint myself, I probably would have chosen a creamier white, this one is a little bright white for me, but bright white does look good next to other colors. And I wasn’t about to paint out all my trim just to change the color. This one is just fine thank you.

So, after 2 coats of Anthem White on it all, here they are! I just LOVE how this turned out and would do it again in a minute. I’ve already got plans to add some of this to the master bathroom walls around the whirlpool tub.

Nice huh? Would you ever think that this is not the real thing? I really don’t think that someone coming in our house would ever know the difference even up close. The paper actually has a little texture to it that mimics wood.

Here you can see my messy nails, but that’s OK. It’s not bad if you’re not right on top of it. And see, you can barely see the seam after it’s all painted. I did try to sink the nails, but I'm not all that good with counter-sinking. I may go back and work on those nails a bit better.

Side panel by the dishwasher.

Looks great to me!

From a distance. This is how most people will see them anyway, not up close.

Little cab above the fridge. The great part about painting is that you seal down the edges at the top and sides and it totally looks seamless. I did 2 coats of white high gloss trim paint on it.

Bathroom cabinet

Another angle.

So, that’s it! I hope this will inspire some of you to try this too. It’s a no-brainer for those of you like me who do not have power tools at home and don’t want to get into major remodeling with the real stuff. I think this gives exactly the same look for a fraction of the cost. Not to mention, you don’t have to remove any molding to use this. It goes right up next to what you already have, which to me is ideal even if you wanted to use it in a small bathroom on the walls. No removing the baseboard molding. All you’d have to do is put up the wallpaper, add some chair rail molding on top and that’s it. I’m SOLD on it and I hope you’ll try it too and let me know how it works for you. I know if you have small children that tend to run into cabinets like this, it might be a problem, but for most areas without high energy kids around, you would be fine, I have no doubt.

I can see all sorts of possibilities for using this: Back of a hutch or kitchen cabinets with glass fronts, powder room or small bath on the walls under chair rail, inset in a piece of furniture (drawer or door), on the end of a headboard or footboard with recessed panels, on a ceiling, lots of possibilities. So, what are you waiting for?

I spent a total of $50 on the wallpaper AND trim for this little project. Can you say a LOT of bang for the buck?! And I’m not stopping with this. I’ve got some left and will definitely be putting it to good use.

More Thrifty Treasures

2009-06-28T15:00:00.002-05:00

It was a pretty slow weekend for me this time. I think the heat is getting to all of us about now. This week's finds are not that many and were all over the place, starting with this framed watercolor of legendary Alabama football coach, Bear Bryant, whom my hubby loves and reveres, so this is now in his office. It was $10 and I’m not positive, but think it might be an original. It sure looks like it could be when I took it out from behind the glass. It’s signed by artist Peggy Sherry, who I found out is from Kentucky and is a portrait watercolor artist. That’s about all I found out about her, but I’d say she is quite talented. This is a wonderful rendering. I would think if it was a print, it would be numbered.

This picture really completes the wall of Alabama football memorabilia I have been adding in there, one yardsale treasure at a time. I think it looks pretty snazzy and it makes the hubby happy to be surrounded by his beloved Roll Tide!

At an estate sale, I found this little blue jar for $1, another to add to my blue collection.

At the same sale, this large bird feeder was $6. It’s all cedar and has weathered outside already. I thought my hubby would like it, but he doesn’t want me to fool with putting it up outside since we already have a bird feeder, but I have an idea for it. I might even clean it really good and bring it inside and use it up on a shelf somewhere. I've got an idea about putting a plant in it & taking out the plexiglass. The roof is my favorite part.

That’s all I found this week, except I did find a Wilson tennis racket for $1. I was just talking to a friend of mine at the gym about playing tennis sometime and since I sold my old tennis racket before we moved here, mentioned that I’d have to get another one. So, yardsales it is and for $1, I can stand that and didn't even have to look hard for one. Once again, it seems that when I need to find something, there it is! And cheap. That's my favorite part about yardsales.

So, link up YOUR finds to Mr. Linky and let’s see what everyone found this week. Remember to link back to THIS post from your thrifty post and be sure to add your permalink (your thrifty post link) and not just your blog link. Thanks for playing!

As summer continues with this brutal heat we are having, I think my enthusiasm may start to wane for getting out there every weekend, but if I don’t get out there, I’ll continue to have the party through the summer for those who still want to participate.

Todays Thrifty Treasures Participants

1. Joan@anythinggoeshere
2. Pat@Back Porch Musings
3. Queen of Fifty Cents
4. Kimba@A Soft Place to Land
5. Rhonda in OK
6. Carol @ Old Glory Cottage
7. Christina at Yardsalequeen
8. Nicole@BugaboosCreations
9. Manuela@Pleasures of Homemaking
10. MelanieElissa
11. Mary
12. ThriftyAnnabella (Friday)
13. Karen@SavingTheFamilyMoney
14. Linda @Nina's Nest
15. ThriftyAnnabella (Saturday)
16. Gwen @ Murphy Grace Home
17. Susie Q
18. Toni
19. RELUCTANT ENTERTAINER What's Your Style?
20. Debbie @ Plate Addict
21. Kammy-Small Home in the Country
22. Debra@Bungalow
23. Gina
24. A Beach Cottage Wardrobe Love
25. Melissa @ Huckleberry Prairie
26. Suzanne in TX--Drexel Buffet
27. Brittany
28. Brittany
29. A fellow G.R.I.T.S, Reid
30. worldgazing (clocks and silhouttes)
31. Maggie Elizabeth
32. Sandy@CoppernThings
33. Christy @ Embellished Bayou
34. Kelly @ Ruby Begonia
35. Lori @ Chateau of Serenity
36. Bonnie@Cottage Hideaway
37. Beth @ Soanywaytoday
38. Sarah Robbins
39. Michelle@Dei Gratia
40. Susan@thecozychickadee
41. Tina @ Enchanted Rose Studio
42. Vanessa @ Vanilla Lavender
43. Brooke
44. Kristen ~ Pajama Mama
45. JEN@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
46. Shirley Corwin
47. Nissa @ Sweet Paisley
48. Quiltpiecer @ Goodwill Haunting
49. Caroline@Forever Vintage
50. Carmen
51. Jadehollow
52. Cher
53. Amy Lynne
54. Sullivan and Murphy
55. Tyler
56. Sara @ Be Still and Know
57. Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman (old mason jar)
58. Lisa S.
59. Pigtown Design
60. chris @ free range furnishings
61. Myra @ Happy Housewife Living Life
62. Brittany
63. Sandra
64. Lady Katherine
65. Lady Katherine
66. Diana
67. Msslaydbug
68. Julia
69. Shery
70. Carrie - Oak Rise Cottage
71. Merrie
72. Tana@ Crafting R&R
73. Renee @ Cottage Lifestyle
74. Amanda @ Serenity Now (FREE Stuff from Trashy Neighbors)
75. Kelli @ JOY
76. Beverly @ The Buzz
77. Kendra @ Domestic Princess in Training
78. Grannyann-Weekend treasures
79. Cathy @ Then There Were Eight
80. Courtney
81. Christie
82. Paulsbride - boy stuff
83. Stephanie @ A Fine House
84. Joy@joysofhome
85. Monica
86. Pam @ Mayhew Mayhem
87. Amanda
88. C @ Project Pretty
89. Patricia@ In My Free Time
90. French Cupboard
91. Bill
92. Kim @The Pottery Shed
93. Victoria & Christina
94. Shara @ monkeybox
95. Kim-Starshine chic
96. Callie@ Adventures in Stay at Home Wifedom
97. The Gaines Gang (Junk? What Junk?)
98. Cheryl@the coolest mom on the block
99. Amy - A M O R R I S
100. The Shabby Chic Cottage
101. Cass @ That Old House
102. Our Daily Chocolate ~ Anna Sophia
103. Vanessa
104. Sullivanandmurphy
105. Jo - To a Pretty Life
106. Rhonda~Scooterblu's Whimsy
107. K@Thrifty Teacher Blog
108. Stephanie
109. The Queen Of Re
110. Brenda Eason
111. Brandy @ Bargain Bon Vivant

Familyroom Consultation

2009-06-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

I recently had the pleasure of working with Mary Lou of Marmielu's Nest, one of my readers and a fellow blogger, on her family room. She was so sweet when she sent me an email asking for my help, along with pics of her family room. I was so excited to work with her and come up with a plan to lighten up her room on a budget.

Mary Lou was looking to lighten up her family room, as well as declutter it to make it feel more cozy and inviting. I gave her a very detailed note advising her of several things to do in here, so she will probably take her time and get going on it a little at a time. The wall color is a pretty gold, so for now that will stay. She really wanted to lighten up her sofa and chairs and wanted to do white duck slipcovers on the 2 burgandy chairs, but realized that with pets in the house, that would not be practical for her at this time. I mentioned blue denim for the sofa and I think she will do that for a slipcover.

Her hubby really likes blue, so we are going to go for more of a blue look in here with lighter accents. And we have to work around her hubby’s likes and tastes too, so had to keep that in mind.

Love her creamy white armoire, so that is definitely staying. I advised her to do some simple and inexpensive panels on either side of these windows above to soften the windows and give them a more up to date look, so the valances will go. For now, she will keep the shades that are up there, but for future might think about bamboo blinds eventually, which I advised and love.

I gave her some suggestions on breaking up the lamps and adding 1 or 2 different ones in here, since they all look alike. I don’t really like matchy-matchy lamps all the time and prefer to have different, yet coordinating lamps in a room. The only place I have matching lamps is in our master bedroom on the nightstands and do like that look.

We’re going to lighten up the rug and go for something a little more casual. I suggested a striped jute which would look great in here.

A big brick fireplace is always something to decorate around and I suggested she paint this out the same as her trim or the wall color, but since her hubby is totally against painting brick (most of them are!), this will have to stay too.

Mary Lou has some really nice pieces to work with. I suggested she lower the old sign (love it!) and take away the mirror that’s on the chest and make that a focal point with a lamp too.

These vertical blinds will have to stay too, but additional panels could be added to the sides to soften it up a bit also. Both of the reddish chairs will eventually be slipcovered with something lighter, but probably not the white cotton duck that she had originally thought about using. Even in decorating, we have to think about what is practical to live with everyday too, in spite of the pets that share our homes.

So, after a few suggestions, I think that Mary Lou will be able to get a lighter and brighter room once she makes some changes. You can see from the board that I am using the colors of creamy whites, blues, a touch of yellow with a punch of red in here to bring some warmth and life to the room. It’s going to look great! Mary Lou recently sent me an update and she has decided to slipcover the sofa and chairs in denim and will start working on that this summer.

Thanks Mary Lou, for letting me work on your room. Mary Lou wrote me back with this after I sent her the Inspiration Board and detailed notes:

Thanks so much for all you've given me. I have really enjoyed reading your notes and looking at the inspiration board, and there are some great ideas for updating my room. I think it gives me some practical steps to take going forward to change the room to something I can enjoy more. I think this is a terrific service you are offering. I have appreciated being able to get another perspective on my room. When you live with something, it can become difficult to really see the possibilities.

If you'd like to get a Decorating Consultation of your own, click here for details!

And click the board for all the info on each item and where it came from:

Mary Lou by Rhoda12 on Polyvore.com