Welcome Home: Garage Entrance Re-Do!

I hope everybody had a nice Memorial Day weekend! It sure was nice to have an extra day off from work. Also, I would like to say thank you to all of my new followers and for all of your comments.  You all have inspired me so much! Ok, enough of all that back to the project that I am supposed to be posting about.

We never use our front door.  I come home from work and I park in the garage and enter the house through the back door.  I have thought the entrance from the house to the garage was just so depressing! After five years of coming through this door it was time for a change. 

I also need to apologize for the before pictures that I had for this little chair.  My camera revolted against me and somehow my memory card got corrupt.  I think my camera knows that I am looking to upgrade it. :)

In lieu of the rebellious camera incident I included a picture of this desk to show you what the chair's color looked like before it got painted. Also, look at that gross white vinyl that used to be the chair's pad.

The next picture is the After picture of the chair.  I got the chair from my grandparent's house. It was going to Goodwill (of course I could not let that happen).  I think the chair is adorable! I spray painted it with Krylon, Satin Ivory paint.  The paisley fabric was remnant fabric from a local fabric store.  The fabric itself only cost $3.48. I have a little left over that I am going to use for a pillow.

Here is the part you have all been waiting for!  I sanded and primed the steps first and then painted them two different colors.  I think it kind of gives it more of a cottage feel.  I used white Ace Royal exterior paint and for the beige color I used Color Place (Wal-Mart brand) exterior paint.  The Color Place paint is good to use for this project but I would not recommend it if you have steps that are exposed to the outside elements all year round. 

Here is the After picture! It looks a little more welcoming if you ask me.  Does that little welcome bird on the door look familiar?  I bought him last weekend at a garage sale . I used a 3M plastic hook  to put the welcome plaque on the door.  I also put a little plant stand and flowers on the step to spruce it up for summer.  I like having a chair by the door so you can sit down and take off your shoes (especially for the husband).  Sometimes his shoes can get a little nasty after mowing the yard or working out in the garage. I am pretty excited with how it turned out.  If anything it makes my end of the day better. 

I am linking to:
Under The Table and Dreaming
Making the World Cuter Monday
Domestically Speaking

The House That Built Me

I wanted to share one of my new favorite songs with all of my friends. I wouldn't usually post something like this but I think this song is pretty special! It is titled: The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert. I think it is song that holds true to anybody. We can all think of a home growing up or even now that built us. A house is made up of more than wood and concrete...love really does make a house a home. My mom and dad still live in the house that I grew up in. I had a small, bedroom that I had to share with my sister. Their house is filled with many of my favorite childhood memories. I don't have any children yet but I hope that someday when I do they will remember their home as the house that built them.

(The song might take awhile to load depending on your internet connection)



I am linking to Always Nesting. I am celebrating life!

Weekend Treasures

I am addicted to garage sales! I love buying stuff and knowing that I am getting a great deal.  Here are some of my finds from the weekend. I apologize for the quality of some of the photos By the way, thank you for the camera suggestions, the Cannon Rebel seems to be the popular choice.

There are several things shown here. The bluish/gray bowl is made by Dansk. The color is Santiago Gray. I got on the Dansk  website and found the Black and White Santiago for $57.50 on sale. Umm, I only paid $1.00.  I think this was my biggest deal of the day.  The bird plate is from Pier1. I paid $2.50 for it. Pier1 still carries it for $5.00.  Those two white square things in the back were $.50 for the set. I will probably spray paint them.  The little bird decoration was $2.00 and the Ball jar was $1.00. The lantern was $5.00. I saw these lanterns at Pottery Barn and thought the one I bought kind of looked like them (minus the chrome top and hinges).

I also found this cute, orange Nine West purse for $5.00. I don't think it had ever been used. It is a great size and color for summer! 

I am linking to:

A Patriotic Table Makeover

I got this table for free (bonus) and saw lots of potential for it. I'm guessing it's about 50 to 60 years old. It came from my grandparents house. It was painted a dark red on the top and the legs were dark blue. I first had to sand and prime the table. I then painted it with white semi-gloss, exterior house and trim paint from ACE Hardware (my favorite place to buy paint). The front is painted with (you guessed it) chalkboard paint. And in honor of Memorial Day I drew an American flag. I think after Memorial Day I am going to probably put our house number on it or our last name. I love chalkboard paint because I can change my mind a million times on what I want to display. I hope you all had a nice weekend! 

BEFORE

AFTER

I am Linking to:

Domestically Speaking
Just a Girl: Show and Share Day 

 

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/06/stars-and-stripes-party/

Wishing!

I must confess that I am in love with the Nikon D90 camera! If I had a few extra bucks laying around I would go buy this camera. Isn't she a beaut?  I currently have a Nikon Cool Pix camera and I like it but it just isn't the same as the D90 (sigh). I have also heard that the Canon Rebel is just as good and it's cheaper  (I like cheaper). Is there anybody that has a Canon Rebel that would be willing to share how they feel about the Canon?

Memories of Grandma

I inherited these bowls from my grandma after she passed away. They make me smile every time I open up my kitchen cupboard. My grandma would always make tapioca pudding for me and put it in one of these bowls (she was so sweet).  I remember feeling so special because she made it just for me! My FAVORITE bowls are those with the little pink flowers on them.

The collection was made by Fire King and I am guessing they date back to the 1950's.  

  I sure do miss my sweet, little grandma!

 

New Use for an Old Bottle

I have always dis-liked the plastic dish soap bottles. They really are an eye sore for me and I have spent years hiding them under my kitchen sink.  I saw this old bottle at a thrift store and a light bulb went off in my head.  I thought it would be so cool sitting on my sink rather than the plastic bottle.  The bottle cost $3.00 and I used the top off an oil bottle that I got at the dollar tree.

I am going to buy yellow soap after I run out of the green to make it look like actual lemonade.  Dishes are not fun to do but at least this makes it a little better! 


I am linking to:

The Real McCoy & Other Garage Sale Treasures

I wanted to share some of my garage sale finds from this weekend! I got some really good deals. Isn't there just something so exciting about getting a good bargain?

I was able to get these little beauties for $.50 a piece. That's right folks $.50 per bowl. These are real McCoy bowls. These aren't as valuable as some of the other McCoy pottery but they are definitely nice to have in a collection.  I am a big fan of their cookie jars! I can't wait until the day I find one of those at a garage sale. 

I was also able to find these two little birds for $.50 a piece and this vintage Pfaltzgraff creamer pitcher for $.50. 

Also, I'd like to say thank you to all of my new followers! It really is inspiring to me to read your lovely comments. I hope you all had a great weekend! I have some more projects up my sleeve and hopefully I will be able to share them with you soon.

I am linking to: 

Pyrex: Old and New I Love You

First of all I would like to give a shout out to my two new followers. Marla from  Always Nesting and Loose Sparrow. I was so excited to see that I have followers. I was worried that nobody would ever read this thing.  I would like to also thank all of you for your lovely comments. It really makes me smile! Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I have loved vintage Pyrex ever since I was a little girl. My grandma has a set of bowls that I just loved. I am a collector of the colored bowls but I will use anything Pyrex. It is just the best stuff on earth. No offense Rubbermaid but Pyrex is number 1 in my book.

I bought these bowls at one of my favorite local thrift stores at 3 different times.  They make me so happy and I didn't pay more than $10 for any  of them. Gotta love these kind of deals! Of course, my collection is still growing.

 This little platter came from my grandma. I love the little flowers along the edge.  I actually have two of these. They are great to use for grilling!

I also have a Fire-King collection but I will save that for a different post.  Keep those comments coming!

Use Your Silverware!

For some reason I have gotten on this kick of decorating with silverware. I think it makes a great conversation piece and is very unique.

This first picture actually has a cool story to it.  This set of silverware came from my husband's grandpa.  The handles say "U.S." on them. We are assuming he used these during his time in war. His grandpa gave them to my husband so he could use them for camping. My husband was cleaning up some things in the basement  one day and I saw them and snatched them right out of his hand. I don't know why he thought it would be weird of me to decorate with them. Needless to say I owe him some camping silverware. I thought the silverware needed a frame to display them.  The frame was a $1.00 at Goodwill and all I had to do was wash it (BONUS - no paint required).

This fork was black when I bought it from Hobby Lobby. I think it cost a whopping $3.00.  I painted it white and stenciled the initial of our last name.

The next fork project was a vinyl silverware decal that I bought from Stampin Up. I didn't want to put it on my wall because I could only remove it one time. Since, I am somewhat in-decisive I decided to put it directly on the glass. I took the backing off of the frame to make it look like it's floating.  I used poster putty to secure the glass to the frame (this stuff works like magic). I think it turned out pretty cool!

I love this next piece of decor! I bought it at a middle school craft bazaar 4 years ago.  It is a little plane made out of silverware.

I found this idea for "fork hooks" from Etsy.  They are very unique and funky!

A Napkin Ring from Elite Choice

And these little cuties (Garden Markers) from Etsy

I hope you have enjoyed my "using your silverware" ideas.