Our Spring Mantels / Home Decorating Ideas

April 4, 2013 By 14 Comments

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So if you’ve been following along with us here, you’ll know that earlier this week we revealed my new pair of mantels in our sun room, which Michael custom built for me, and I finished in my own style, to give them the look that I was going for. 

As promised, today I am sharing lots of overall and detail photos of how I decorated those mantels (for the very first time) for the spring season, as well as some home decorating ideas, and tid-bits of other information you may find interesting. I can tell you that I had way too much fun, both decorating and photographing my new mantels, but I truly don’t mind!… Read More

Filed Under: Home Decor, Home Decor, Photography, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

“I Am Third” / A Wood Palette Sign

December 5, 2012 By 6 Comments


It’s always a great day, when I finally get something OUT of my head, and am able to find the time to bring it to life, and have it real and in front of me.  It makes me happy because, there’s a whole lot in my head, that never (ever) gets out!  I wish I could do all of the projects that I actually think of, but I have other joyful obligations too, than just being all artsy 24/7.  So only a small percentage of my notions ever actually come to be.
I’m really glad this one did though, because it’s a meaningful one in our home.… Read More

Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Faith, Home Decor, Into the Light; The Series, Life In General, Parenting, Re-Purposing, The Big Picture, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Painted AMERICAN BIRDHOUSE – Tutorial

June 11, 2012 By 20 Comments

 Summer holds a whole lot of good things, and for us, it really kicks into high gear in the beginning of July, with back to back celebrating of the 4th of July, and our oldest daughter’s birthday!  Then the summer rides out with a little more down time, just chilling on the beach, making day trips, and hanging out chatting and laughing around the camp fire at night. So about this time in June, we’re getting excited for all of the fun to come, just around the corner! The gardens are planted, we’re reaching the end of our school books, and we can just feel the summer vibe coming on the sea breeze!  

What really gives me so much joy, is helping make my home and gardens, reflect the seasons and holidays!  Around here, about mid-June through July, it is all about red, white and blue!  Our family’s homestead is that much more enjoyable, with the little bits of decor I add, and it just puts the happy in my heart, to see it.  But the greatest joy in it all for me, is planning and creating all of those little things around our home.… Read More

Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Home Decor, Tutorial Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pinwheel Wreath – Tutorial and Decor

May 29, 2012 By 12 Comments

Is there anyone, who doesn’t love pinwheels? They are just so fun, so whimsical, and can give anyone that feeling of childhood joy as it spins, no matter how old we are.  I am so smitten with pinwheels lately, that projects involving them just keep popping into my head! This idea of a pinwheel wreath, however, has been on my brain since last year!  I wasn’t sure exactly how I would design it, but I figured it out as I went along, and the results just make me smile!  Just like I knew it would.

What do you think?

I found it fun and easy to make.  They don’t spin, as this project was strictly decorative.… Read More

Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Home Decor, The Homestead, Tutorial Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Antique School Desks and Books

May 21, 2012 By 8 Comments

 

Lately, I’ve been putting time into some things I can’t speak much of, yet.  Well, I could. But there has been too many time in my life, when I have spoken too soon, about many things, that never really came to be, in the end. So I am finally starting to remember to keep my mouth shut about some things, until they are a little more certain! How about that, huh? I’m only in my 40’s.  Anyway, just so you know, I’ve been more creatively productive than it has seemed lately. ; ) Doesn’t it bug you when people speak so vaguely?… Read More

Filed Under: Home Decor, Home Schooling, Language Arts, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tips, Tricks & How-To’s to Our Halloween Decor

October 16, 2011 By 2 Comments


 

I hope you all had the chance to join us, for our Halloween Decor Tour, in which we shared with you all of the festive touches I made, to put a little Halloween in the air, indoors and outdoors!  The post tour naturally consists of a ton of photos, or else how else could I show you all?  That, and my small chit-chat, made the post plenty long enough.  So I promised to share how I made some of the decor, in a separate post in the Crafts & Creations section soon. And here we are.

All of the signage design work that you see in this post (and the tour), that is similar in style and all ties together so beautifully, is part of the Halloween Party Complete Collection, which I purchased from Frosting & Ink Social Designery’s Etsy Shop.  Please note that everything that I printed out, I did so on textured white card stock.… Read More

Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Fan Pulls, The Big Picture, Tutorial Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

An Old Ladder, With New Purpose

March 15, 2011 By 25 Comments

In addition to our continual progress of finishing the inside of our home since our major house reconstruction, we’ve had a continually growing list of ideas for smaller projects around our home.

One of them has involved this ladder inside our home.

It has been right here where you see it, every since we bought our home in 1995.   What has changed a lot, is almost everything around the ladder.  For one thing, at the foot of this ladder, where you now see French doors to our sun room, was a brick hearth, to a black iron coal stove, that was built into a brick wall as a fireplace of sorts.… Read More

Filed Under: Home Decor, Home Improvement, Home Projects, Organization, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Wild Thing….You-Make-My-Heart-Sing.

February 21, 2011 By 11 Comments

BARTERING, can be a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Just look what I struck a deal for…..

How’s THAT for a WILD chair??

Sit and relax for a minute, and I’ll tell you the tale of how it became m-i-n-e.

I got it from my friend, Michelle, owner of Stitch A Wish Designs. (This is her blog, and this is her web site. )  Michelle is an amazing boutique-style designer of all kinds of things, and I have featured her and her work, here on my blog  before. Well, I had learned while reading her blog, that she had gotten a Victorian-style sofa at this great little antique store nearby, called the Antique Chapel, which I frequent myself.   But with the sofa she really wanted, came 2 chairs she had to take also.  This chair above, was a nasty mess.  A dusty pink, extremely worn velvet, that was filthy too.  Imagine.  (Or see Michelle’s blog posts a few pages back, for all of the gory-to-glory photos….later.  There’s a different post on each of her 3 pieces she took, so you’ll have to look through them.) Well, Michelle turned the chair into what you see above.  I believe this piece was only her 2nd re-upholstery project, ever, (the sofa being her first), but it was sure good enough for me.… Read More

Filed Under: Budget, Home Decor, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Smashing Magazine Rocks My Desktop!

January 9, 2011 By 1 Comment

If there is anyone out there, who was looking forward to a peek around our home this past Christmas, I apologize.  You know it’s something I most always share, but somehow I just didn’t this year.  Our home had plenty of Christmas decor (as if I could stop myself), and you can be sure I had fun photographing it all!…. (as if I could stop myself), but I just never blogged it.  I find the transitions between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, a bit of a quick turn-around.  Don’t you?  Especially Christmas to New Year’s!  Just one week to recover from Christmas, get it together,  clean, organize, de-clutter, and switch party-gears?  I need more time!!  Who came up with this calendar anyway?… Read More

Filed Under: Home Decor, Organization, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Homestead: Easter Photo Series

April 6, 2010 By 5 Comments

Please visit Home page once, prior to sections of blogs, for message. : )

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Spring / Easter Fan Pull

April 2, 2010 By 3 Comments

Just a quick share of my fan pull for Spring & Easter.

These beads are so beautiful. They are heavy, like marbles, but smaller.

And just ….pretty.

Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, Fan Pulls Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Winner of the Give Away

February 23, 2010 By

The winner of the vintage set Give Away is……..

Commenter #4 was Wendy!!

Congratulations Wendy!  Please contact us, via the ‘E-Mail Us’ tag in the sidebar, to claim your prize and give us your shipping address, so that we can send along your vintage set to you.  We hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to ALL of you, for participating, and sharing with us your lists of favorite things.  We really enjoyed reading each and every one!  We laughed, we said “Awww….how sweet!”, …..we said “Oh, me too!  I should have thought of that one!”.  But most of all, we loved getting to know you all a little bit better.… Read More

Filed Under: Give Aways, The Homestead Tagged With: , , , ,
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