Long time coming.

I thought I had better at least post something!  I know that it's been way too long, but I just needed a rest.  Now that the weather here in the Maritimes has finally started to warm up and be spring like for the past couple of weeks, I have thrown myself into a long list of projects.

I have some outside spray painting I want to do, but of course the wind always decides to pick up when I decide to do it.  This weekend I'll have to put together a make shift paint booth if the wind doesn't bugger off!

I finally did some painting inside.  Yay!  After a couple of years of putting it off (I really do not like to paint!) I started with my kitchen.  It has been the same color for about 13 years now.  Now the color was actually fine, but it was time for a change.    The old kitchen:

My little helper getting ready to paint---Smooth Like Butta---just as the shirt says. 

 

Psych!   Pictures of the completed room to come.  I still have some finishing touches to make.  But at least you know I'm doing something!

So many projects, so little time.  Chairs to redo, slipcovers to make, sooo much more painting to do.  

For my home I want fresh, I want clean, I want simple.   

I love looking at all the blogs I have listed on here and get inspired by many of their ideas.  That is one thing I did do.   I continued to follow all the blogs and gather inspiration to make my home a place I love to be.

 July 29, 1949 - February 10, 2011

My mother-in-law Cathy passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Cathy was a very special person in my life and I will miss her terribly.   She was strong, vibrant, determined, caring and loving.  Her family was most important to her and she to us.  I really depended on her advice and I'm sure if I still ask her, she'll answer me... somehow. 

I want to thank her for being the best mother-in-law.  She always made sure that we were all taken care of even when she was not feeling her best.  My children always knew they could depend on her when they could not depend on me.  She never missed a concert, recital or special occasion that they were involved in.  She was a fantastic mother and grandmother.  Morgan said, "I picture Nan in heaven with wings and a golden circle over her head.  She was an angel to me."  She was to all of us. 

Cathy loved poetry and a friend gave me this poem. I like it and think that she would too.

Miss Me But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little, but not too long

And not with you head bowed low

Remember the love that we once shared

Miss me, but let me go

For this is a journey we all must take

And each must go alone

It's all a part of the Master's plan

A step on the road to home

When you are lonely and sick of heart

Go to the friends we know

And bury your sorrow in doing good deeds

Miss me, but let me go

--Anonymous

Tired.....

I am soooooooo tired. 

I have been crazy busy working and trying to get Christmas together.  I truly didn't have any time to post.  I wanted to post some projects I was working on but figure I will wait until after Christmas as the recipients may see them on here!

Maybe Santa will bring me some extra time for Christmas?

Happy Holidays!

Sue

Candles and Coasters

Okay, finally a couple of projects finished that I can post.  

I had these birch discs hanging around for a couple of years and had forgotten about them.  I found them again last weekend and thought that I would make some coasters.

I peeled the loose bark and gave them a good sanding.  Although they looked pretty good by themselves, I had a few ideas I wanted to try.  I found a fern leaf stamp at Michael's that I really liked.

After stamping and letting the ink dry, I sealed them with a couple coats of satin finish clear coat.  

Nice eh?

For a couple others, I mod podged on some M's.

 

I think that they turned out pretty good!  I likey....


On to project 2:

 A friend of mine told me that she went to a craft fair and saw this candle holder on a panel from an old wood door.  She loved it but couldn't bring herself to pay $45 for it.
 So this is my interpretation of what she saw.

I dug out one of the many wood panel doors that I have collected over the years and cut down the door into four panels and sanded them. (Wear a mask and goggles in case of lead paint!)

I had an old rusty hinge that I thought would be perfect, but couldn't quite figure out how you would put a candle on it.  Tada!  Enter the bed spring.  Twist it though the bottom of the hinge and secure the top through one of the holes.  I thought it was quite the genius is I say so myself!

A couple of coats of clear coat, a glass candle holder and viola!

I hope she likes it.....

Well, I had better get back at it!  More projects to wrap up!

Sue

Great DIY gifts!

Okay,  I have to share this cute Soap Dispenser idea that I found over at Cinnaberry Suite!  And don't be surprise if a few of these go out with my packages.  What a great idea!

Photo from Cinnaberry Suites blog.

Cinnaberry has lots of great ideas.  You'll have to check her out.

SERENITY NOW!

I need a minute (or many minutes) of calmness.  

Stare--breath in--breath out--stare some more---slow the breathing and get lost in the photo below.

  

There.......don't we just all feel a little better?

I'm sure I'll be back again sometime today....

Sue

sticks and mugs

I didn't want you all to think that I forgot about you.  I've been busy, but here's something to look at:

Photo courtesy of Living, etc.

Photo courtesy of Living, etc.

You can visit Apartment Therapy for a few other ideas.  Happy decorating and see you soon!

Sue

The Art of Baking Bread

Believe it or not, there used to be a time when homemade bread was boring and store bought bread was a treat!  Can you imagine?!  There have been fights at my house over who was going to get the first slice of warm, baked bread. 

My mother-in-law has been wanting to teach us how to make her very special brown bread for many months now.  We have always put it off assuming we had loads of time.  NEVER assume that time is on your side. 

So, we decided to grab the opportunity this past weekend and have our lesson.

 Here are the girls all ready to go.

 Laura doing her job as "dump-the-flour" girl!

 Emily and her Nan putting the dough in the pans to rise. 

It was a wonderful afternoon and the bread was DELISH!   I would have posted a picture of the bread but it disappeared before I was able too.  The special recipe was passed down another generation and we got to spend some quality time together. 

We were very blessed to have this day. 

Sue

Oops, my bad.

It seems that I didn't change the setting so you could leave your comments on the blog instead of having to go back to Facebook.   Doh!  (Remember, I am new to this blog world and still working out the kinks!) Hopefully you will not have any trouble from now on.

Remember those cute halloween ornies from Lipstick and Laundry?  Well the kids and I gave them a go and here is how they turned out.  Great job guys!

Sue

The stuff you find!

The more I search through blogland, the more great ideas I am finding.  Check out these magnetic baby food jar organizers at The Little Apartment!  Great eh?

She also uses them to make a cool string of lights.  She colored the bottles different shades.   Again.... cool idea and super cheap!

I love all these ideas, it's just having the time to do them all!

p.s.  The kids and I spent last night making the Halloween ornies from the last post.  I will post pics soon!

Sue

Salt Dough Ornaments

I found this great craft posted at Lipstick and Laundry.  She has tonnes of great stuff on her blog!  Lots of easy (and cheap!) Halloween crafts.  I know that I'll be making these Salt Dough Ornaments over the weekend, as well as these tasty little Acorn Treats to eat while crafting!   These projects would be lots of fun to do with the kids.

Happy crafting,

Sue

My latest roadside find...

My latest roadside find.   Now I am looking for suggestions.  Just clean it up or change the material too?  I love these stools.

Sue

Fall table runner

I was out looking for a fall table runner yesterday, but I couldn't find anything that I liked that didn't cost a fortune!  What I did find, were some thick colorful felt leaves at Dollars and Cents in Windsor.  They are large (approx. 14" x 16"), beautiful fall colors, cheap, and I really wanted them.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew I would figure out something.  On the way home (before the great washtub find) it occurred to me "Duh!  Table runner!".

Long table runner?

Or more of a centre piece?

What do you think?

Sue

Happy Dance!

Well looky-looky what I found on the way home today!  Hubby and I were on our way home when I spotted these little gems on the side of the road for trash.  Unfortunately, my car was full of stuff and I couldn't get home fast enough to unload and head back.  I thought for sure that they would be gone.  THEY WEREN'T!  Yay for me!

A cute little chair that just needs to be cleaned up (maybe a fresh coat of white paint), as well as a small wooden bucket and crate.  I see some fall mums for the bucket and maybe some gourds for the crate.

 

The washtub I used right away. 

I had some poor petunias slowly coming to their end, but were still good enough to go into the washtub.

The chair and boxes I will use for fall displays as soon as I get to a roadside stand for some gourds and pumpkins.

If anyone has some different ideas to share on how to use these items, I would love to hear them!

Sue

Raven Maven

While I was perusing through my local dollar store last night I decided to check out the Halloween selection to see what might interest me.  Low and behold (angels singing here) ....

I believe I actually squealed out loud!  I have been admiring one of these made from iron at a local shop for the past few months, but I haven't been able to bring myself to pay the $40 for one.  Now mind you, this one is plastic, but hey, beggars certainly can not be choosers and once put in its special place (when I figure out where that is!), no one will be the wiser.  Did I spend $40 or $2.   $2!!!!  And not only did I get one, but a pair! 

That's right!  A pair!  (You have to keep crows in pairs!)  I'm so happy. :)

I also found this great frame which I will fill with photos tonight.

Anyone who says the dollar stores are full of junk is crazy I say!  Crazy!

Sue

It's Almost Fall Y'all

It's the last full day of summer (sigh).  Time to close down the swimming pool and put away most (not all) of the patio furniture (I have to hang on to summer just a little bit longer!).  But it also means time for redecorating!  Bring on the harvest decor!  I'm all about the pumpkins, hay bales, and cornstalks! 

Look at these white lovelies....

Photo from Sunset.com

And this lovely canned pumpkin label from The Graphics Fairy.  This site has the best vintage pictures and images!

 

Look at the great watering can project done with this label by Ewenique.

My head is full of ideas.  Is yours?

Summertime Blues

As summer is coming to an end, I reflect back to the summers of my childhood.  As soon as school was out, my mom would pack four kids the car and off we would go to St. Martins to visit her parents.  My grandparents had the greatest old house which was literally feet from the beach.  The house was huge and the places that you could play or hide were endless!  I miss that house.

I also miss driving around with Grampie in his old red Chevy truck listening to an 8-track tape of Elvis Presley singing "Peace in the Valley".  We would sing our hearts out!  Of course Grampie was the only one that could get those really low notes!

These are my grandparents.  I love these old black and whites of them. 

My grandmother LOVED the beach.  She walked the beach everyday, rain or shine, collecting shells and beach glass.  She would then make artwork and crafts out of of what she collected.  I always wanted a piece of Grammie's shell art and my Aunt Wendy (whom I love dearly!) made sure that I received a picture and a vase.  I treasure these.  They are two of my most favorite things in my house.  Aren't they great?

Sand dollars

Sunday, September 5

We took a family day trip down to the southwestern shore of Nova Scotia to visit some of our favorite beaches.  There is a gem of a beach just outside Lunenburg called Sand Dollar Beach that we love to go shell hunting on.

On any given day you can find lots of sand dollars buried in the sand when the tide is out.  Of course I love collecting anything nautical and I had the kids on the hunt.  We collected about a dozen of these little treasures.  I used to have a nice collection of them, but one day my mother-in-law told my daughter that if you break a sand dollar open, there are five small birds inside.  Emily of course then had to save all the little birdies from inside the shell.....

There are many different sand dollars that you can get in stores and online, but I have to say that my favorite of all are the ones that can be found right here in Nova Scotia.  And cost? $0 and a great family day.