Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Pumpkins For St. Patty's Day


What in the world is the deal with people and their pumpkins? 
I keep seeing pumpkins on my way to work and it is almost St. Patrick's Day. Is there some tradition I don't know about involving a spring pumpkin? Maybe he who keeps the pumpkin the longest gets a prize? I don't think there can be any prize involved with a rotten pumpkin sitting on your porch. I don't usually carve mine and they are past their prime at Thanksgiving.
 Pet Peeve Alert!  
Seriously, when you get your Christmas decor out, out goes the pumpkin in the trash. I have seen people set the snowman next to the pumpkin. Is this just me? Does it bug you too?
 I took some pictures as I was whizzing by some houses around town.
Above is a wheel barrow full of fall produce. It was really cute but.... now it is getting moldy. 
I understand that pumpkins cost good money. I  mean I am frugal, but I would not attempt to save a pumpkin. It really is one of those decorating elements that doesn't transition to another season. Sorry people the pumpkin is no pinecone. 
A few years ago I saw a cute pumpkin display in a yard. There were several sitting on a bale of hay. I saw it for months and months and months. It sat there so long that the hay started to sprout.  The pumpkin rotted until it was just a puddle of mush. Ironically enough, I drove by the next spring and there was a pumpkin vine sprouting out of the now black and moldy hale bale. The bale of hay finally just disintegrated into the yard. I don't think they have attempted this type of display again. 
I hope at least they got a pumpkin from that vine. 
=)
I have thought about starting a society. The Society for Responsible Seasonal Decorating. 
S.R.S.D. We would have a slogan which I will share at the end of the post. 
There would have to be tenants to this society. 
The Christmas wreath should come down before the first snow drop blooms.
The Resurection Sunday adversisement should not really still be there in June, July and August. (I have seen this.) It's probably still there.
The scarecrow is not really a year round decorating element, (at least not as far as I know?) My neighbors wanted me to run across the street and push it over so we would not have to see the shabby (and not in a good way) scarecrow. I didn't want to get arrested for a run by scarecrowing. They finally moved, so no more scarecrow!
And the big giant Easter eggs must be removed before you have your first pool party of summer. 

For those of you who are old enough, do you remember the old Glamour magazine? It had a do's and don'ts section. They took pictures of women wearing fashion don'ts.  For some reason I was always afraid that I would find myself in that magazine. =/
I thought about that today as I snapped another out of season pumpkin photo. So... throw your pumpkins away! 
Don't let this be you.

  I don't know why I notice these things as I am driving. I wish I didn't.  I am very visual so maybe it is just part of that. 
I hope you know that I am kidding.
But as I go, the slogan for my society.
Please Decorate Responsibly!

Katie
Linking with nobody.... just for fun! 
Have a wonderful Thursday. Hope you enjoyed your leap day.



Monday, February 27, 2012

News and Small Project.

I am pleased to say that two of my blog posts were featured in different blogs. 
Read about the first one here.
Thank you, Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage for featuring my counter redo.


and 
the second one here.
Thank you, Debbie from Debbiedoo's Newbie Party.

I am unbelievably excited that other's are appreciating the results 
of all our little projects over here.
Thank you!

 We had a quiet weekend at home. The weather has been gorgeous. Mr. Bill was outside. I was in and out bringing some of the outside in. 
I love, love a cottagey, garden inspired interior. So I am bringing a little of that to my bedroom for spring. I will show you more, but for today I have a quick reveal of an under $10.00 project I did. 

It's no secret that my adult children have recently moved out and we are nesting the empty nest.
Well one of them left something behind. 
I found a greenish twisted wire planter box in the garage. It had grape leaves and grapes on it. I was going to use it in the yard but I already have several of 
like this.

The one I found in the garage was not as cute as the one pictured above, but I thought it had potential. I was not wild about the grapes and grape leaves, however. I have seen tons of cute iron items but have passed on them because they had ivy or grapes which I think dates them a little. 

 But because it was free, I figured I would try to hack them off. The grapes bent right off. I had to work them back and forth a little but they broke off pretty easy.
I used a hammer and a pair of pliers to peel off the grape leaves. I was left with some wire tendrils that I thought looked okay. I tried just hanging it with a nail, but I thought it needed more. I was tickled to find this porcelain knob in my junk drawer. The nail has anchored it perfectly. I thought it added a cute touch. 

I have a crush on these adorable tiny clothes pins. 
I found these at Michaels. They were $1.49.

I use them to attach vintage postcards to various memo boards around the house. I have a stack of vintage postcards and I rotate them for the seasons. 

Initially, I got a pretty good supply from my grandparents, but I have added to them over the years. The ones I chose were $3.00 each.

I picked out two and pinned them to the wire.
I took the coconut fiber liner out of an old hanging basket.
I added a pansy that I was going to plant outside. It was 50 cents.
I cut some ivy and put it in a jar. 
It will root and then I'll plant it outside.
I got that little trick from Andrea over at Opulent Cottage. 
Cute, cute blog.

I covered the tops of those with some sheet moss.








Sneak below of what else I have been up to. 

New bedding and pillow project.

There you go. 
My wonderful $8.00 project. 
It adds dimension to a room and is a fun change from another picture. 
I will change out the postcards and plants for summer. 

See you soon! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. 

Katie
Linking with:Debbiedoo's-Newby Party                                                                                 
&The house in the Roses- Show Off Your Cottage Monday
&Keeping It Simple- Motivate Me Monday

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Garden Room Redo Pictures

I promised you more pictures of my garden room spruce up.
Read about it here.
I can't really call it a makeover. Nothing really changed except the paint color and a few accents. These small changes however, have made a big impact in how I feel in the room. It's light and bright, a wonderful place to sit in the afternoon after I get home from work. The light comes in from the southwest and casts beautiful shadows. I have done my best with the photos considering my camera.
Enough chatting. Let's get to the pictures.
Here is what it looked like before.
Here it is today.
I have collected black and white checked fabric since we started the room. 
I love needlepoint pillows with a black ground. I got this one years ago. They have since morphed to other rooms as well. I may put them away for a while but, every so often they have to emerge again. I especially love them at Christmas.
The green and black fabric came from Walmart last spring. 
Love, love the pop of green.


I brought in some of my antique quilts.

My cute shelf from my weekend antiquing.

Revamped with new beadboard on the back and new paint.
Getting the scotch tape off of the side was a challenge!
I love the galvanized bucket.

Faux paperwhites. The cute snail came from Hobby Lobby last spring.

Our coffee corner. The little antique chairs came from my 
grandparent's lake house.
I have had them forever in the attic. 

I love lamp light. I really do not like overhead lighting. 
(I would  have lamps all over my classroom, if they would let me;)
Mr. Bill thinks I am part mole.

The other corner with the recliner I recovered for Mr. Bill.

I told you I wanted to do pears because Dear Daughter did some pear art work in school. I am so blessed to have an artist in the family.

I ran to the thrift store and got gold frames. I spent $8.00 for both. The mats were a good background for these. 
I am crazy about them. 

I also felt a little white china was in order so I got a plate rack the same day. It was only a dollar. I spray painted it white and popped in some bread and butter plates I had on hand. I love having an assortment of spray paint colors around. That way I can paint on a whim.

New green valances from Lowes. $9.95 each. 

I love the ceiling. 

The view from one of the windows during the day.
I'm wild about my sweet fountain. Don't you love the sound of water in a garden? 
It makes a hot day feel cooler. 
(Unless of course it is over 100 degrees for 72 days in a row! I'm not bitter.)
The same view at night. 

I put a picture of my winter plant stand in the collage, so you can see we really live here and not all is photo perfect. I've tried to tidy it up. But...

I found these cuties when I came home from work today. I can see them from the garden room window.
I hope the dog has matured and this year she won't bite off the blooms!
Who me? I'm just chewing on this sprinkler I found in the yard.
Sprinkled with spring green,
Katie


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

My Favorite Room

Do you have a favorite room in your house? I do. 
It was about this time of year that the magazines would start arriving showcasing wonderful garden rooms, sun porches and sunrooms. I spent many years coveting these spaces. I tried to convince Mr. Bill that it would be so easy to enclose our porch. After all we had a roof over it. We only needed three walls. I thought we could even use old sliding glass doors instead of building walls and windows.  
My husband was not convinced until... we had teenagers. We have one of those houses where the game room is open to the rest of the house. It's upstairs but, it is a landing type of space at the top of the stairs. Every sound can be heard throughout the rest of the house. The staircase acts like a giant funnel moving the sound from upstairs to down. It also funnels smells upstairs. We call it the smellevator. 

I loved having that t.v. room when my children were small. How else would I have heard my pre-schooler say "D*mn it, Joe." to his G.I. Joes. I still wonder what Joe was doing wrong and where my child could have possibly heard such a phrase.

We needed a place to be able to shut the door and watch television without competing with the activities upstairs.

Once Mr. Bill figures out how to do something he is pretty handy. He spent almost a year working on this porch. 
He framed it,
 installed the windows,
 and dry walled it himself.
 His brother came and helped him with the electrical. 
I helped tile the floor and texture the walls.
Bill and I had differing opinions on how to decorate the room. I envisioned a room filled with flowers, toile and white furniture. Mr. Bill however saw a lodgey, log cabin kind of look. 
I ask you. What about garden room says log cabin?
Guess who won the debate.
We compromised, of course! 
We painted it Foxy by Sherwin Williams. 
It satisfied my desire for a red room after the demise of my red dining room.
The settee belonged to my grandparents. 
I had to sleep on it at their lake house.
It's not the most functional piece of furniture so I would like to replace it with a small sofa someday.

This french chair is one of my favorite pieces. It was at a garage sale, but the guy was putting it in the trash! It was covered in a hideous shocking blue velvet. This is an older Waverly toile. 

My newly painted dish dresser. Read about it here.

Mr. Bill's birthday gift. I recovered an old recliner I found at my favorite thrift store.
 I surprised him with it when he came home from Boy Scout camp. 

My momma's little toy stove again. 


One year I decorated a fall tree.
My Gingerbread Tree.

The view from the kitchen.

Cozy winter seating arrangement.

Summer seating arrangement. We loved having our coffee at the ice cream table. 
I got my spool table at a garage sale years and years ago. It was covered in green paint. It was only $5.00. I am wild about it.

Well... as I was uploading pictures for this post I noticed how dingy things were looking after 8 years. So I got busy painting. 
Sherwin Williams Urban Putty, a lovely neutral with a green undertone. 
Can't wait to show it to you.

I will show off more of the room later in the week. 
I am smitten with this room. It was worth all the hard work. 
I'd love to hear about a favorite room in your house.
Leave me a comment!

Katie

Linking up with:Debbiedoo's: Newbie Party