Finally...time to look!

Good Mornin Darlins!

Just a little quickie post to show you all a couple new items I have floating around here!

I've had them both sitting beside the couch for a few weeks now and have been itchin to get to look at um!

Finally....after a loooooooggggg" Christmas Tear Down Blitz Day" at the shop yesterday, I was ready to just come home, prop up the feets and R*E*L*A*X!

The first thing is this absolutely FABULOUS

Dreaming of Junking Calendar from my good friend Sue at

Vintage Rescue Squad.

Any self respecting junker needs to have one of these!

The photos alone a worth a drool or two PLUS it's got important INFO......JUNKIN INFO!

If you want one...and I know ya do...just hop over to Sue's blog and she'll hook ya up!

The next item is THIS!! WHERE WOMEN COOK! Now here's the real scoop on how I got this:

Mr. OTM and I went into Boarders so I could look for an appointment book....we walked past the WALL OF MAGAZINES...*sigh* and this was on the end...I grab one...say "I'd like this for Christmas" ...Mr. OTM goes and pays for it...PLUS there is FREE gift wrapping that day and voila...he's DONE!

THAT'S how you do it girls!! Ha ha!

Anyway, I LOVE this mag! After reading it I wanted to bump out my kitchen, go buy a whole set of stainless cookwear, a new mega bucks camera,a cowboy hat for Mr. OTM, a new blender, a new food processer, a cute apron and stock my pantry with everything I could possible ever need to create whatever I wanted to cook...ever!

Need less to say.....it get's ya inspired!

Have good one!

Decorative changes!

Hello Dahlings ..... you'll have bear with me.....please...I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's last night for the millionth time and it always takes me a few days before the afterglow of Audrey Hepburn wears off so you'll catch me calling everything either darlings or super rats!!

YOU all happen to be darlings!

So just for that, I thought I'd share with you some small decorative changes I have made around the house the last few days.

With gift cards burning a hole in my pocket, I headed out to hither and yon to spend um! Every year I try...I REALLY do....to hold on to them and spend them later, perhaps in the summer or fall or just when I need a pick me up day.....never happens.....ever!

Too much information? Just get on with it you say?

Okay....let's roll the photos...

First off is this little darling...(sorry)

I needed a two tiered galvanized serving stand with adorable bird perched on top like I needed a hole in my head BUT......How on earth could I have passed this up??Do you see what I mean? I blame it on the darn little bird. And seriously it's kind of too big for the counter but I am so not caring. LOVE IT!

TJ MAXX gift card...adios!

Next up are NEW LAMPS for the LIVING ROOM! Ran to Hobby Lobby with gift card #2. Had no idea I would walk away with the most AWESOME lamps EVER!
I saw them on the top shelf..way out of reach.I began to hyperventilate while trying to find a ladder, associate, crane ANYTHING to help me get them down! And oh dear Lord they were ON SALE!!! We're talking a huge HALF PRICE ~TAKE HALF OFF~FIFTY PERCENT OFF THE PRICE SALE!
Good grief I had to move FAST! You know there were hoards of other gift card spenders just lurking around every aisle. Not only did I instantly fall in love with these because of their style, we really needed some new lamps. Our old ones were super rats!! Wobbly shades and broken knobs!


I am THRILLED with these new beauties! (The curtains are the next thing to go....I am thinking Ballard Designs toffee check?? Yes?? No?? I need a gift card.*hint*hint*)
Speaking of Ballard, I really think these look like something that would be in their catalog!
Okay, onto this NEXT lamp switch a roo. Remember this one from the spare bedroom re-do this past summer?
A yard sale find that worked just fine but a tad too small for the size of this table.

Soooo...I traded it out for THIS!!!

Just the right size and the shade is wayyyyyyyy

more darling( almost done)

It is nubby linen! I LOVE NUBBY LINEN!

Gift card #2......history!!

And finally...remember my little chandy that hangs above the kitchen sink?

Well I was sitting here the other day and I don't know what made me think of it but all the sudden I thought" gee...I wonder how that light would look with shades?

Here's my answer......ADORABLE! And the best part??? They were FREE!

Get this.....when I went to get out all the wrapping paper and stuff I had to move my old sewing machine case out of the way and these were all stacked up right beside the case. I can't tell you where they came from, or how long they have been in that closet but
I was happy as a dang clam!

Adds some oompf....

Oh and the last change?? Look close...and you'll see SNOW on the ground! Not a whole lot left but we were soooo lucky to have a white Christmas.

I am planning some more changes this coming year:

"new" old dining room table

moving the living room furniture around

re-doing the craft/computer/office /spare room

re-doing the master bedroom and bathroom

not to mention the wedding!

Sooo much to look forward to!

Bring it on 2011!
Bye Dahlings!

okay...I'm officially done! :0)

Christmas Touches around my house

I just put a roast in the oven so that gives me a little while to share with you some of my Christmas decorating I have done around the house.

I wanted to do something different this year. Ever since I have left home and have been decorating for Christmas in my own home I have always gone the country primitive route. All my ornaments were adorable handmade santas, snowmen, candy canes you name it.

Stuffed gingerbread men filled baskets, snowman pillows were on every chair. I still love all of those things but I wanted to see if I could pull something different off this year AND it had to be CHEAP! With Mr. OTM laid off ~ buying all new Christmas decorations was not a priority so I challenged myself with a budget and went THRIFTING! My finds also include yard sale items like this piece d'resistance...

Remember the mail bags I found this past fall? Well...I kept one! I can be a stinker!
I love how this looks and it took all of like 2 minutes to put together.


This little tree was a thrift store find. I love that it has that "real" look to it. The little star ornaments were only .85 cents each at the Depot. I bought all they had left (six) and wish they had a few more. I need a bit more on this tree yet and I was thrilled when I found 12 miniature glass bulbs for .99 at Goodwill. Those will get on after I type up this post!

The white pointsettia was 3.50 at Wal-Mart. The shabby little white bucket I already had and the adorable oval clock was a 4.99 thrift store treasure!

I also found these beautiful marble dove bookends at Goodwill for 9.50 for the pair. I'm not sure if they are staying in this vignette or not...might be a bit much...buy hey it's Christmas so go big or go home right? lol!

One of Mr. OTM's farmhouse stars nestled in a wreath I already had....

The tree we had....EVERYTHING on the tree, ALL the glass bulbs were bought at a thrift store. Price for all you ask??? I dropped a cool 10.00 for the whole she-bang! I have NEVER used glass bulbs on my tree....EVER! This is a first and I am loving the different look. I made the burlap bow for the top out of ribbon I used at the shop.

Little ole ice skates! Well these really set me back! Listen to this one!!

I found these at a yard sale for 1.00 and I turned into a pathetic mess!

You see, I forget my purse and didn't realize it until I went to pay for these. I knew I had change floating around the car so I went scrounging and you'd a thunk(sp?) that I found gold when I
came upon a quarter under the drivers seat then ANOTHER one under the floor mat in the back. Can you picture my rear end hanging out of the car while I scrounge? I was quite the sight I am sure! The rest was in the console but my total was .98 cents. Just two cents short and the lady felt sorry for me I guess because she told me just to take them. She didn't want to take my last dollar. Good grief...so okay...I took um.......but laid the .98 cents on her check out table when she went to help another customer.
Pathetic huh?
Sorry to anyone who may have drove by and saw the aforementioned rear end. I was on a mission.

Sorry this is so dark. The large metal star was a 10.00 garage sale find years ago when I still lived in Ohio. Thankfully I had my purse with me that day...geez!

The old windows (converted into mirrors) I purchased from a gal that walked into my shop one day and said" I have these old leaded glass widows you might like"....I fell over.....then got the checkbook. These I have had for years and never get tired of looking at them.
Below is an adorable handmade cookie cutter ornament made by my friend Tammy of JUNKWILD! What you don't see is the carton of handmade fudge it was attached to. The fudge had since been inhaled and it resting nicely on my hips!

This old post was a garage freebie! The BEST kind right??

I was rummaging on the lower shelf in a Salvation Army store when I came across a huge plastic bag filled all these pine cones! Some are painted white, some are glittery and some are plain. The whole bag was 3.99.

I love the natural look....

Meet my.......tree skirt! I saw this lone drapery panel and fell in love with the texture...

It had that burlappy look yet was a woven nubby cotton...

and it was CHEAP! The sticker says 7.99 but lucky me, all blue tags were HALF OFF that day!

I came home and cut off the part where the drapery hooks went and then just folded the edge over and hemmed it. It will be great as a table cloth after the holidays.

I just pooled it around the bottom and that's it!

I would loved to have found 4 of these panels because I would have used them on my windows~ but a tree skirt/ tablecloth makes me just as happy.

The pine cone wreath was yet another thrift store find~1.99. I layered in on top of another wreath I already had and hung it up with burlap ribbon. It's a bit hard to see but some of the pine cones look frosted and I love the bits of greenery that were already tucked into it.

I think this old firewood sign looks pretty good above it. I bought that along time ago at a yard sale for 5.00.....had my purse with me that day too in case you were wondering! lol!

So there ya have it....I am really happy with how all my thrift store Christmas finds have created a comfortable, new, sparkly, natural theme this year. When you add up what I spent just on the Holiday items I bought this year it's under 40.00 and my budget was 50.00.

Look out...I still have 10 bucks just burning a hole in my pocket!

Hope you enjoyed peeking!
P.S. I am linking this to Cottage Instincts Make it 4 Monday! Hop on over to check out all the inspiration!

Browsing Ballard....

I can still remember the day I was doing a home show for one of my dearest Ohio customers. She had just re-done her kitchen/dining room and it looked fabulous. Everything I pointed to, picked up, asked about either came from Ballard Designs OR was INSPIRED by Ballard Designs-one of her favorite catalogs. I had never heard of it until that day and I have been hooked ever since. I love their mix of fabrics and accessories and it is one of my go-to places for not only inspiration but for purchases! I always seem to find just the right piece for myself or a client.

Tonight I was browsing for myself. Look at what I found! This bed is......um I don't even know the right word.....Awesome doesn't seem enough! It's that darn little bird perched so sweetly above your heads! The shape is fancy yet simple. This one wants to make me replace the one I just made over in our spare bedroom but I'm not tired of that one yet!
Now here is the item I went searching for. I am loving this burlap bedskirt and already placed my order. I plan on re-doing the master bedroom after the holidays and I am starting with this as my inspiration piece...(that and I didn't want them to discontinue the thing after finally making a decision...you know how it goes!)

Then I stumbled upon this little gem...it comes with red stripes too but I am really loving the brown. I can make my own feedsack pillows but if anybody wanted to grab up two or three of these for say...oh...I don't know....CHRISTMAS ..I wouldn't hate it ya know?
If you've never browsed Ballard Designs give yourself a treat!

It's always fun to look!

MY KITCHEN MAKE-OVER!

I can honestly say that this post took me longer to do than the kitchen!! Whew!....Warning... there are a TON of pictures here and it is looooooooooong but I love lots of pics when I am looking so ENJOY!!This make over was long over due....

burgundy walls made it dark......

the wide border brought the ceiling down in an already small kitchen. We have dreams of bumping it out one day but until then....

we had to stick with a tight budget and use alot of what we had already. I had already taken down the curtains in this photo because it was too dark in there to get a picture...duh that told me something right there!

The HUGE snack bag box is totally charming right?

Okay...enough befores.....are you ready for some afters??

Here ya go...

Whoa.....I am LOVIN it!

Nice and bright and fresh!

Not to mention is is clean a whistle!

swoon.....

this was such an inexpensive update to the pantry...sheet of wainscoting costs about 20.00 at Lowes. We plan eventually to add it as the backsplash around the kitchen too.

I love how it makes it look like an old vintage built in cabinet

one of my fav finds ever!

my mom gave me this old cutting board that now has a rightful place of honor

With no money for stainless steel, granite counter tops or a new floor, I was really pleased with how everything blends together now

pst.....that's the date we met....subliminal of me huh??? I can be sneaky like that!

I don't miss all the baskets up there...this is neater looking to me and easier to clean

had to keep the wine rack!

inspired detail

gotta have some green accents...it seems to always pull it all together!

So there you have it. I am loving this whole look now and it was all put together for about 200.00 including the paint, paneling, sink and new faucet all bought over time. This doesn't include all the goodies I already had around the house.

I am going to link this to White Wednesday over at Faded Charm. There is alot more inspiration to see over there too!

Have a great day!