I designed the Avett's poster after their website.
and, I don't know if you've ever seen these little hotties up close, but this laminate was my PERSONAL fave...
Even though I've been far away from you, my dear friend, don't worry -- I'll be checking back in here and there, and I have truly enjoyed seeing what you guys have been up to! You're such a creative inspiration to me. I truly am blessed to have such creatively talented friends out here in blogland!
Thanks to new friends out in blogland, I've found new inspiration for projects I have lying around my house. My kitchen is now painted, with a color 90% of all bloggers have an affection for, my organization skills can rival that of revenue-generating experts, and I'm starting to LOVE shopping at thrift stores and flea markets, searching for the next trash-to-treasure project. When I stumbled upon this chandelier at our local Goodwill, I nearly passed out with excitement.
Look at her! She's truly a remarkable chandelier, and I'm sure there are lots of homes out there with this very chandelier in their dining rooms. I've been in the market for a chandelier, but it's hard to find what I want with very little moola in my pocket. 
So when I happened across this chandelier for a mere $20, I thought to myself there might just be some potential here.
Her little "fake candle" thingys just slipped off...
Then we headed outside for a little fun. I used Rustoleum "oil-rubbed bronze" paint, and had at it!
First, we drilled a nail into the side of the kids' playground equipment. They didn't mind, they were swimming in the pool, so they let Mommy and Daddy do as they wish. For a good five minutes. It was five minutes of pure bliss. We went from BRASS to CLASS in no time!
Hello, lovely. Aren't you just darlin'!!The spray paint took literally minutes to spray. I only used about 1/3 of the can, and the scorching Kentucky heat baked this color right onto the surface. No sanding, no prep work. Just spray-n-you're done!
Can't you see her with some cute shades, dangling from the dining room!? She's gonna be a show-stopper!
There you have it! My weekend project all wrapped up! I can't wait to get that ugly-excuse-of-a-chandelier off the wall in the dining room, and replace it with Sheila. Don't you think she looks like a Sheila!? I think that's what I'll call her.
So, I have been very busy lately, seeing the kids off to school, working my tushie off at work doing wonderfully creative projects, and in my spare time I make big messes in my kitchen. Now that my wall painting is finished, I'm finding it quite intimidating coming up with new and exciting decorating ideas for my kitchen. What once worked on top of my cabinets is no longer working, and besides, I am in for something new and exciting. IS THAT SO WRONG!?
One of the things I can't seem to part with is this old birdcage, and I'd like to bring it back into my kitchen, only it SCREAMS 80's home decor show giveaway... know what I mean? Can this little birdhouse be brought into the 21st Century?
In less than five minutes, I was saying goodbye to the Burt Reynolds brass and hello to a newly updated Nester-type birdhouse that is beginning to grow on me. 
Not long ago, I was browsing through a local consigment shop, when I stumbled across a small, brass lamp. The size of the lamp was perfect for an under-the-kitchen-cabinet light source, and with all my blog-stalking lately, I've had an itchin' for a lamp for a long time.
The problem is I'd need a really small lamp. And finding a lamp that uses a regular bulb (no specialty bulbs) was proving to be rather difficult. I know all those ladies at the consignment store thought I'd lost my marbles, staring at this lamp and contemplating whether or not the lamp was even small enough, and I even decided against the lamp and moved along. But I ended up coming back two days later to see if she (we'll refer to her as a female lamp) was still there. And indeed, she was.
I bought the base for $1 and the lampshade for 25 cents, and decided I wouldn't be out that much money, should the whole DIY project prove hopeless.
Meet my team of experts. They're cheap, and come well respected by spray paint experts all over blogland. All three of these cans are just the start of my ever-growing collection of spray paint cans. Hello. I am in love with my spray paint. I decided on the Oil Rubbed Bronze can of Rust-oleum. Let the transformation begin!
STEP 4: Lay down your favorite material, and cut it. Or, if you're like me, double check your pattern to make sure the lamp didn't shift during the tracing process, and then check it again, and then stop second-guessing yourself and cut already. We have a lamp to put together, and she's gettin' impatient, for goodness' sake!!
STEP 6: Fold over one edge of the fabric and iron it down. I took Kara's advice and glued it too, but I agree, it isn't necessary. Wrap the fabric around the shade, then hold it in place with a dot of glue at the top of the top and bottom of the shade. Make sure the fold goes on OVER the other end of the fabric. Glue the fold down with a long, thin strip of hot glue.
Hello, Lovely.And now, I just want to stare at her in amazement. Now, I feel guilty that I didn't get her on the first day. All she needed was a little cleaning, and some paint and fabric, and Voila!!
A special thanks to Kara, for giving me the tutorial I needed to see past the ugly lamp, and for $1.50 and some leftover fabric and paint, create a really great lamp! You rock, girl!
Well, if the title doesn't get you, nothing will. Who doesn't want to add REAL ESTATE to their kitchen!? Kitchens today are much bigger than they were back in the day, when our grandmothers were in their small kitchens, cooking and baking all day, yet even as our kitchens have grown, we still find ourselves asking for more space.
Oh my God. Will you look at that corner!?!? Now, mind you, I have a rather large kitchen to begin with. I love my kitchen, it was the selling point of the house. The problem with MY big kitchens is that the space that isn't used as much ends up looking like the picture above. Cluttered, mismatched pieces of summer that we use, then put over there to use again later. I know that picture above looks "staged," but I'm actually embarrassed by it. I did NOTHING to move any of that. The lantern, the two mini coolers, the nail polish remover, the bottle of oil (??? Didn't know I had that!!) is aaaallll mine. They are pieces of life that get pushed into that corner that have no home of their own, so they get put in THAT corner. After a while, my rather LARGE kitchen starts to get a bit smaller. And then smaller... until that one day when I run outside in my curlers and bathrobe and slippers, wave my dish towel in the air, screaming, "I'm not gonna TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!" and decide to something about it.
I see people do this on HGTV and wonder, where in the heck do they put all of that stuff!?!? And I now know. They put it all behind the cameraman. Good Lord, how can one little corner end up with so much STUFF!? Having said that, it's best to try and start with a clean slate. This corner took me hours to clean off, because I was trying to find a NEW home for all that crap.
I know myself pretty well. Well enough to know if I don't go back into this project and map out some sort of organization, it won't take long before the "Mom, where does this go?" items to creep back into this innocent space. I sat down with a notepad, and wrote out the things I needed for my kitchen: a space to pay bills. A place for mail to reside. A central location in the house for charging stuff. You know, the important things in life. I wanted this corner to have purpose in our family for it to really work.
Once I knew what I wanted the space to do, and where I wanted it to sit in the space, all you have to do is make it happen! The best advice I can give is to shop in your own home first. Don't go CRAZY and purchase a bunch of expensive organizing bins that look cute sitting side by side. They make for a great picture on a blog, but is that REALLY functional? For me, I decided to find those items in my own home that make it easy to do what I do. The best part? It was CHEAP. I didn't spend $50 or more on some organizational supplies. I used what I had.
Take for example, the glass mug that I never drink in. I would never throw it away, because that's my Alma Mater!! I have to "represent" and put it in a prominent place in my home. Now, it holds pens I'll need to {sigh} pay those pesky bills. Also, I recently purchased that black organizing bin, because everyone has those now, and they look so functional for such an otherwise chaotic project -- charging everything.And who DOESN'T need a picture of their favorite pooch sitting under a gorgeous, newly refinished lamp!? More on the lamp later. I spray painted that square basket black and am using it to house some blank mailing envelopes and a brand spanking new box of Crayolas. I think every gal should have one brand new box of their very own, to create with...
What you don't see in the picture above is just behind the upper left cabinet. I cleaned out that cabinet to put in it a "bill sorter" - a slotted box with each slot numbered 1 - 31 for all bills to go into. So when the bills (and other important papers) come in, they all have a home far, far away from the eyes of invited guests. Who wants to see your bills and important papers, anyway? It's very inspiring to me to have a home for all those crazy papers, and a dedicated spot to deal with paper clutter.
Wow - I'm so glad I designed a kitchen corner that I love so much!
All summer, I keep a pretty close eye on some favorite blogs. And I keep hearing from some of my faves their favorite desserts and recipes. I love this. I am a fan of cookbooks, recipes, and any kitchen gadgets I can get my hands on. Hey, you never know when you'll need a good tool in the kitchen. Usually I'm the tool in the kitchen, but that's another story.
What I've found very disturbing this summer is all the "easy" recipes out there. You know the ones I'm talking about -- those recipes that claim they are SIMPLE and BASIC and QUICK, when one expensive trip to the grocery and 14 ingredients later you realize this wasn't so SIMPLE, BASIC nor QUICK. I've already shared with you my easy ice cream cake recipe, and it's sinfully easy... and cheap... and such a WOW factor, I thought I'd step into the cobbler ring, and throw up my sister's recipe, just in case you're collecting 'em.
Mandy's EASY Cobbler (You'll never find anything easier, I promise!)Do you have an easy recipe? I'm all ears -- I collect them, remember? I pride myself in the "cheap and easy" category.... wait, that came out wrong... well, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!
