:: When Spray Paint meets an UGLY Chandelier ::

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.

I think I've been inhaling too many fumes this weekend. LOL! I'm naming DIY projects. I think I need to lie down.

Did you name any DIY projects over the weekend? If so, I'd love to hear about it!!

Birdcage makeover

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!?

What's more, I'm wanting to spend little or no money to do it. Simply put -- I like to brag about how great my stuff looks, yet brag about how cheap it was, all in the same breath. My husband is ecstatic about this new venture I'm on as well. Well, maybe just the "little to no money" part.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?
I'm sure gonna try!

(Now, where's that white can of spray paint?)

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.

Now, where to find a birdnest and a couple of robins eggs to put in it... Don't worry! I'm going to a craft store for that one! Geesh, I'm not THAT frugal!!

:: Turning A Tragic Lamp Into A Beauty ::

If you're here from the great KIMBA's site, WELCOME! to my Lamp tutorial! I love Kimba for always having these DIY linky parties, I could just eat every one of them up!!

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.
And the lampshade? Oh. My. Gawd! Someone actually thought it would be a great idea to "spruce up" this shade with a piece of shiny ribbon-y trim and adhere that mess with . . . brace yourself. . . TWO-SIDED TAPE. I was almost embarrassed to bring it to the front of the store. Once I got that tragic gal home, I knew I was gonna need a team of experts to get this party started.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 1: Clean your surface. I used a damp cloth (water and a drop of dishwashing detergent) to get the lamp free of dust and residue. The lampshade needed removal of a prior DIY project gone bad, but luckily TWO-SIDED TAPE JUST PEELS RIGHT OFF. Lucky me. But more importantly, LUCKY LAMP. She already looked ten times better, just after step 1!! (Can you tell I didn't think much of her prior accessories? BLECK!!)

STEP 2: Spraypaint that ugly brass. I don't have a picture of this step, but it only took one coat to cover that brass, and I didn't even prime it or anything. This was a FUN step, because I started getting excited about the lamp. She had some great curves!

STEP 3: Trace your lampshade onto a piece of large paper. I happened to have A LOT of plain contact paper that I could use for the job. Roll the lampshade over the paper, and trace. And thanks to Kara's tutorial on HER gorgeous lamp, I knew I didn't have to be perfect in my tracing. GOOD THING. Also, when you cut your lampshade pattern, cut out 1 1/2 to 2 inches more all the way around, just to give you some extra to wrap around the shade and glue down.
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 5: Assess any imperfections. This is an extra step that was specific to my lampshade, and probably unnecessary, but for my sanity's sake, I decided to do it. I took a black sharpie, and I colored over the blue ribbon. My fear was that the blue would come a shinin' through that beautiful shade, and I didn't want to risk it.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.

STEP 7: Take a pair of scissors, and start making 1-2 inch cuts into the fabric on the top and bottom edges of the fabric. This is the part you'll be gluing down, and it seems to behave a lot better when you cut it. Careful not to cut too close to the shade, or you'll see the cut at the top of the lampshade. Do this to the top and bottom.

STEP 8: Put the newly finished lampshade onto the newly finished lamp.Hello, Lovely.

She doesn't even look the same, does she? So hard to tell just a few hours ago, she was this ugly duckling...
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!

Thanks for stopping by! Please consider following my blog (linkup on the right), it really warms my heart to see so many people who are interested in my humble site. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Adding Real Estate to Your Kitchen!

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.

I have contemplated this very troubling feat myself when I started taking on my kitchen this summer. I finally got around to painting the walls (Tobacco Road!!) and I'm very proud of the new kitchen. I think my family is, too, because we end up spending more time in the kitchen, an unexpected bonus that I'm currently enjoying. Who knew a can of paint could bring your whole family together like this?? In assessing the JUNK laying about the kitchen, I decided it was time to find a space for bill paying and overall paperwork in the kitchen. I decided to tackle. . .

Cue the low, haunting, dark music here. . .

THE K - I - T - C - H - E - N C - O - R - N - E - R!!!!!!!

{insert evil laugh, blood-curdling scream and spooky loud music here.}

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.

And that's just what I decided to do.

Ladies, whether your space is large or small, here's how you add real estate to your kitchen:

STEP 1: CLEAN THE CRIME SCENE

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.

STEP 2: MAP OUT A PLAN OF ATTACK
'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.

STEP 3: MY MOMMA TOLD ME - YOU'D BETTER SHOP AROUND

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...

Don't forget to see what you might have in your own home, before ya go shopping around!

STEP 4: IMPLEMENT AND INSPIRE

Look back at your plans, and make sure you have a place for necessities. Once I realized the areas I needed now had homes (place to lay mail, envelopes, pens, stamps, charging station, etc.) I was very "inspired" to use this new space for messy paper clutter. Everything has a home now.
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.

Now, isn't that better than that CRAZY cluttered corner?!? Let's have another look-see:

Wow - I'm so glad I designed a kitchen corner that I love so much!

How do you add real estate to your kitchen? What spaces INSPIRE you, and keep their form and function at the same time?

:: Designing a COBBLER that I Love ::

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!)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 stick butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large can of your favorite fruit (I've done peach, cherry and strawberry! They're ALL good!)

Preheat oven to 350, and place stick of butter in 9x13 in the oven to melt. Combine butter, sugar, flour, milk and vanilla. When butter has melted, add your fruit to the hot pan. Pour batter over the top of the fruit. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until you just can't stand it anymore.

Be sure to have bowl and spoon ready, and if you have ice cream on hand, Lawsy-Mercy!! Lock the doors, and be ready for an orgasmic experience in the kitchen!
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!!

Enjoy the recipe! More on my kitchen coming up SOON, so stay tuned!!

:: Designing a Kitchen I Love, Part 1 ::

So, I've been very busy lately. I've been taking good notes of home paint colors you guys like, and there seems to be one color that gets a lot of attention. Tobacco Road paint by Duron. Sherwin Williams bought out Duron paints, so I took a trip to my local Sherwin Williams and ordered just one gallon of paint. Who knew what kind of a difference a gallon of paint would make!
Well, before I show you the "during" pictures (I'm not finished putting my kitchen back together), I thought I'd take a moment to let you peruse through my kitchen before I started.Now, what I'm about to tell you is something (1) you have probably already figured out by looking at this first shot, and (2) I'm a little embarrassed about, but have learned to focus on more important issues to be concerned about... I live in a mobile home. I love my house, and I know mobile homes have a bad reputation of being poorly built, low-income homes, but I can assure you, you can make your home beautiful, just by changing a few things, and focusing on using what you have to make your home a showpiece.

My husband and I have several friends who spent well beyond their means, and have a gorgeous house in a beautiful suburb, with one HUGE problem -- they've spent all their income just to pay for their house, and not being able to afford to actually LIVE inside their own home. We decided to go the other way -- purchase a custom home, put it on our beautiful piece of land, and furnish it to where we're comfortable, with low monthly payments to enjoy other parts of life. Sure, we're giving up having a beautiful brick house nestled in the woods, but at the time, this seemed like the best option for us.

And, honestly, I'm glad we did.

The best part of this home's layout is the kitchen. You can reach this kitchen through large doorways coming off the livingroom, or dining room (love my french doors, too!), and no matter if it's 2 or 22 guests in our home, everyone always ends up in the kitchen. The best part is if you can't make it to the kitchen, you can still be part of the conversation by being close by. The open concept makes this home so warm and welcoming.

There are, however, a few things I need to change about my home. First of all, I can no longer stand the burgundy-hunter green striped panels in the kitchen. You'll notice in the picture above that I've decided to go with Tobacco Road paint. There's actually two colors here - a lighter version of Tobacco Road (Plantation-something) above the color we chose, and Tobacco Road (the larger, darker version) on the bottom. It's hard to see, and there really isn't that much of a difference, but we noticed during the day the lighter version just looked like beige. Nothing exciting. It was how the light came through the sliding glass doors. It just wasn't what we wanted. I'm glad Sherwin Williams has those small "Color to Go" $5 paint samples to take home. We were able to make an educated decision based on what looked good in our home.

The second thing I want to change? The terribly dated, EXTREMELY AWFUL burgundy carpet in the living room, dining room, and bedrooms. I hate it. But hubby has the rains pulled, and I figure if I can convince him, one room at a time, that this is a good thing for all of us (to venture into the 21st century, that is), then he'll trust me enough to put down hardwood floors. But there is a bit of budgeting to happen here. We may need to wait until we get a tax refund in the Spring...! LOL!! I prefer to focus on the positive aspects of burgundy carpet, like you can spill an entire gallon of tropical punch on the floor, and not lose sleep over it. Just dab up, and voila! The perfect color carpet for small, rambunxious children. There, I feel all better now.

Hang in there, I'll fill you in on more Kitchen Loveliness, but for now, I must finish what I've started. More pictures later!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Everyone has a few things in their home they truly love. For me, it doesn't take much (good thing, right!?) but here are a few things in my home that make me smile. Who knew adding a few flags to my favorite red berry wreath would make it festive this time of year?

With blogland's love of all things "beachy", I have put some found seashells from a Florida trip a few years ago to good use inside an apothecary jar. I have to be careful, though, because beachy here in Kentcky can look stupid, because we're nowhere NEAR a beach. There is a pond across the street, does that count? Umm... probably not, I'd wager to say.

This lamp sits on an end table in my livingroom. Is it my favorite? Why, yes, it would have to be this month, because I caught sight of her on clearance for $5. She's gorgeous, isn't she? Sleek, black, and cheap. Oh, how I love her.

A rather pricy pillow at $22, but oh has this baby been all over the livingroom! I love the black and white pattern, and it goes so well with my livingroom decor. It makes me smile whenever I glance in its direction.

This is a plaque next to my front door, that says "family is a little world created by love." I love it, and it's a beautiful thought to cross my mind as I leave for the day. Makes my attitude better when I head to work, and makes it all worthwhile, don't you thing?

Thanks for taking a stroll around my house. Oh! I forgot that in the next couple of days, I'll share a teeny tiny project I'm working on. It's not done, but I'm very excited about my kitchen! Anyways, I'll need your help, m-kay? I'm not sure how to decorate a newly painted kitchen, so stay tuned!! Especially you decorator-types!!!! How do you decorate a kitchen???

See you soon!