A Lil' Fall at the Farmhouse...

I hope the weather is as delightful at your place as it has been here.  The days are simply perfect right now - 65 to 75 degrees - light breeze, plenty of sunshine - well, simply perfect.  Today while I was outside I snapped a few pictures of things that I'm loving right now. 

 

First things first - this GLORIOUS maple tree.  It is the tree I see when I wake up in the morning -  outside my bedroom window - it's over next to the cabin.

 

As you can see - we have started to landscape a bit - still no mulch and we are still missing two porch railings - but hey we are getting there.  I can't believe we've been here nearly a year and still have MUCH to do!

 

This picture gives you a better idea of where the cabin is located.  For those of you checking in for the first time - this was my late FIL's cabin - a place he dearly loved.  It is on the historical register - nearly 200 years old and has military significance.  I'll share all about it with you sometime.

 

 

My in-laws built on to it after restoring the main cabin.  You can see a small kitchen addition in the back.  A lot of great family memories have been made here.  Right now we roast lots of marshmallows around the fire pit - mmmmmm. 

 

 

Just past the cabin in the back is an old barn - a reeeeaaaally old barn.  It needs repair and we'll get to it someday but I still love the way it looks.

 

 

The barn quilt on this barn is called "Glitter, Glitter."

 

 

The sky was beautiful.

 

 

 Out my kitchen window - up on the hill - is the old chicken house and shed.  I love red barns, blue skies and green grass.

 

 

At the entry - I used an old stock tank we had to plant flowers in.

 

 

 It is filled with mums, sweet potato vine, plectranthus and ornamental millet, oh and a pumpkin of course.

 

Another washtub filled with ornamental cabbage and kale and Jade Princess Millet.

 

 

And if you aren't growing these ornamental beauties - you should!  Just sayin'

 

 

 

Have a Happy Fall Day!

 

Simple Cabinet - Before & After

Happy Beautiful Fall Saturday to you.  I told ya last time I'd share some pictures of a cabinet re-do with you so here we go.  I found this old hutch at a junk store - it had some flaws of course but I just loved it from the minute I saw it - it was one of those - "I don't know where it's going but I'm getting it anyway" kind of moments.

 

 

It was oak with this neat tongue and groove back.  Once upon a time it had doors but that's o.k.

 

 

 The first thing I did was use some paint from Lowe's called "Flood Tide" and dry brushed the inside of the cabinet.

 

 

 I truly debated leaving it in it's natural color but in the end - the creamy white won out.

 

 

A heavy distressing...

 

 

I had a roll of $1.00 wallpaper from a clearance bin that I used to line the drawers with.

 

 

 And here it is - Simply filled with some of my white pitchers and a touch of fall along with...

 

 

 ...these beautiful orange bowls my mom gave me.

 

 

 And I've already started to store a few napkins in the drawers.

 

 

 

 This is a shot of the kitchen right beside the cabinet as you'll see in the first picture...

 

 

 

 ...and I just love the way the colors blended together.

 

 

 

 

Hope you have a happy day!

 

 

Family First..then..A Lil' Fall

Happy Fall Friends - sorry to be so long checking in BUT...

you know - family has to come first.  About 3 weeks ago my sweet Mamaw, Cleo, had a heart attack.  She is still struggling to recover.  Sadly, my precious Papaw is lost without her and their normal routine.  I just don't know which is worse - physical or mental illness - it has been heartbreaking.  See, I'm 40 - and absolutely blessed beyond measure to still have all 4 of my incredible grandparents - I realize that is almost unheard of.  I knew the day would come when their health would start to fail them - but even though I've tried to prepare myself - it still isn't easy.   I'm gonna keep on hanging on to them and loving them as long as I can and pray for their peace of mind and healing each and every day.

 

This picture was taken mid-August.  Pretty fine looking couple for 87 and 82 - don't ya think.  They have been together 67 years.

 

In the very few days that I have been home lately - I did manage to do a lil' decorating for fall.  Y'all have seen me talk about my mantle in the kitchen - well it's a good place for some seasonal sprucing up.

 

 A lil' wheat tied with orange burlap ribbon...

 Some white stoneware, grapevine balls, leaves and some "baby boo" mini pumpkins...

 A fall "yo-yo" tea towel that was a gift from my sweet Mamaw - there is no tellin' how many of these she has made over the years...

 A "Fall" banner made out of some scrap drop cloth I had laying around...

 Still loving my burlap wreath from my dear friend, Linda...

 Some pillows on the bench, a long island cheese pumpkin and a simple "Give Thanks" sign to finish it off. 

I will be sharing an old cabinet redo with you next. 

 

During this change of season - I'm realizing just how much the lives of the people I love are changing.  Makes me just want to hold on to every second.

 

My Burlap Letter Sign...

Hi Everybody - hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer.  It has been beautiful here with some cooler temps - whew - it's about time it was below 100 degrees.

  Just a real simple project to share with you today - my burlap letter sign.

 

I had a need for something large scale to go over our TV.  I just wasn't able to find anything that I liked - so - I thought surely I had something in my stash I could make and as luck would have it - I did.

I have numerous odd and end cabinet doors - this one set me back $2.00. Just so happens - it was 42 inches long - exactly the lenth I needed!

I also had plenty of letters in my "letter box" - so I decided "HOME" would be perfect.  These cost 1.99 each from Hobby Lobby.

I started out by spray painting the middle white...

 While that was drying - I coated my letters with spray adhesive...

 I simply laid out generous squares of some old burlap I had on top of the letter and pressed firmly.

 I then glazed and heavily sanded the middle panel of the door.

 I trimmed all excess burlap from the letters with scissors and put a light white wash on them.

 Then I laid down some paper in the middle of the door and simply sprayed the outside edge of the frame with some spray paint I already had that happened to blend well with the burlap color.

 I attached the letters with my handy dandy - couldn't live without - glue gun...

 ...and there it is - my burlap "HOME" sign that found the perfect home over the television.

After all - HOME is the best place to be!

-Total project cost - just a tad over $10.00 and was finished in about an hour and a half-

Happy Monday!

My Entryway Buffet...

  Hey friends!  Last night at nearly 11:00 - I had a notion to paint something... 

 Won't you come in and see?

 That's my new/old blue buffett that was screaming for some love...

 See, last night it still looked like this - white - and even though I love white - this just wasn't doing it for me.  It was white when I bought it years ago, I painted it black then back to white and now it is "Flood Tide" blue.

 When I was in Lowe's - I spotted this lil' sample jar - just two dollars and change.  I already had my glaze and wax, a cheap brush and of course my sander - I just LOOOOOVE my "mouse" sander.

 After a lot of dry brushing with that inexpensive chipwood brush, I glazed it, waxed it and put the original hardware back on and now it is perfect - at least for now anyway.

 I bought this piece of art - which was my first "real" art piece purchase a year ago at our local "Art in the Alley".  It is a watercolor and the peacefulness of the fence row and grass just kinda spoke to me I guess.

 Months later - I found this 5X7 rug at Lowe's in the clearance section for 24.00 - it was another jumping off point I suppose.

 Glass vase from Home Goods - a trio of frawns from my "Macho" fern.

 Lamp with burlap shade - Kirklands and that quirky ball - a score from the Peddlers Mall.

 So here is the view from the den... 

Looking out from the office...

And here coming down the steps.   Next - when I live with this new house a little more - I'm seeing stripes, or a stenciled wall or maybe even some wallpaper behind my buffet - but for now...

I'm happy ;-)