"Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity"


~Plato

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Going Green

Maybe it's the Spring Fever talking
or the fact that Kerri told me about
 this pretty pillow she bought.....
Either way I am really into the
color green right now....
and not just any green...
but BRIGHT green


Looking at these pictures i'm realizing what a
horrible job the maid did of tucking the sheets in
at the foot of the bed...someone really should fire her!
Please oh please fire me...I have so many better things to do



This is the pillow that started it all
Can you believe it came from Walmart!




Since I just couldn't ignore the bathroom
I found this soap dispenser at Target...Love it!
Now I just need to find a shower curtain




The green really makes the room feel fresh
so glad Kerri told me about that pillow!

Now I must go find that maid and tell
her to take the rest of the week off...
she deserves it!

Linking up to

this blessed nest

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Beach Bathroom Picture Walls

This project was totally out of my comfort zone!

I have always loved the picture collages
that I see in blogs and magazines....
but I could never bring myself to do one in the house.
It's just so much random-ness in one spot..
 it goes completely against my personality disorder
of having to have everything lined up and symetrical
But I wanted to do one...so I thought perhaps
if I stuck to one color frame, black and white
pictures and a theme for the photos
I might be okay

(some of these pictures aren't the best..
it's hard to take pictures in a small space
I had to stand in the bathtub)


First thing we did was go through mountains of
pictures that we have taken over the years
while at the beach and picked out our favorites
Then we took a quick trip to Ikea and
bought 28 picture frames in two different styles
and two different sizes

After copying the pictures in black and white
and placing them in the frames we mapped
out the wall with pieces of paper cut
to the size of the picture frame
To be honest I was totally going to skip this part..
SOOOO glad I didn't! It made everything
so much easier.


What's that saying?
Go big or go home
So I fiqured if I'm going to do it..
I might as well go big!
So we continued the frames around the bathroom

And we have more room over on this wall
So when I buy more frames we can continue around




It's taken a little getting use to
But now I love the picture walls
I'm so glad that I went out
of my comfort zone and did it!



p.s Daffodils are out...go get some!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Goodwill Bookcase

The kids, sweet husband and I
were out running errands on
Saturday and we passed a Goodwill.
So I ran in really quick to
see what they had....
Now anyone who shops at
Goodwill and has purchased furniture
is familiar with the yellow receipt
they give you once you pay
for the item....it's what
you need to pick up the piece
once you drive around back..right
Well....sweet husband is
very familiar with this slip of paper
So imagine his face when I walked
back to the truck with it proudly in hand
Let's just say his reaction wasn't
in keeping with his sweet husband status...
But can you blame the man I seem to have
a slight addiction to orphaned furniture

Anyways...I thought it was a nice bookcase


And it was only
$24.99
That's a bargain I thought!

It's very sturdy and well made
it just needed to be cleaned up
my plan is to paint it..but
in the meantime I wanted to
try using the Old English scratch
cover for dark woods
Before I use it on another
 piece I just found
(yes i've been holding out on you)
i'm just not ready to share it yet
it's beautiful...and probably
my favorite thing i've ever found
i'll share soon...I promise
Look at the pretty artichoke/pineapple/acorn
(whatever you choose to call them)
finials on top


I love it in the kitchen/dining area...now all my
serving pieces are close at hand




Next project up...the kitchen!
The new cabinets are in....
it's going to be a race to the finish!
Everything will need to be
done by Easter....YIKES
Can super husband do it??
Stay tuned

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessing of St. Patrick behold you.

photobucket


Happy St. Patrick's Day

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Thyme to Thrift

Sorry I couldn't resist the title...
Friday was a wonderful day!

First stop the produce market
I love the produce market....
and one of my favorite things
to buy is fresh herbs
Mainly because they look pretty
in little white creamers



And it forces me to be creative and use them when I cook.
Because I don't want them to go to waste..


Take a look at all the beautiful fruit and vegetables I found
(yes I do hear french music in my head when i'm at the farmer's
market...doesn't every one???)




The eggplants turned into this....
Eggplant Parmesan made by the kids!
Recipe HERE

After the produce market I went thrifting
and found all of this good stuff



Now if you've been watching our boy Nate
and I know you have....than you know what
 i'm going to do with that ladder!


I never can pass up a cute clock...or a piece
of milk glass...or a shabby frame...or....

Nope i'm not ready to admit that I have a problem!

Happy Thrifting to you all....
and visit the produce/farmers
market this weekend
it's so much fun!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Speak Kindly

Lately the children in this household
have been having a difficult time
speaking kindly to one another.

The punishment was that every time
they said something ugly to the other
they had to deposit .50 cents in
the ugly jar.  However, I realized
that this was very in affective when
my oldest said to me...can I just
deposit $2.00 in there so i'm good
for a few days.

Time to come up with something new!
so while out thrifting I came across
this sweet little mailbox...

Which gave me a great idea....
so I took two of these corn crates



Completely took them apart....
kept the planks that where
in okay shape.....
then I white washed them
After that I went online and found this
lovely quote by Ronald Reagan...

Live Simply
Love Generously
Care Deeply
Speak Kindly
Leave the rest to God

I took the boards
and painted the words onto them

And this is what I did with it all....


This is in the hallway between their bedrooms...
Now when one speaks unkindly to the other
they have to write a note to them.  It must include not only
an apology for what was said...but they also
must write something kind about that person.
And then place it in the mailbox once it's been read...
Let's see at the end of the month just how many
letters have to be "sent"!

It's tough being the mommy sometimes!
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend...
and for some of you a wonderful Spring Break!!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Healthy Eating and a Great Recipe

I'm writing this post because i'm so proud
 of my friend Judy at Gracious Southern Living
she is eating healthier and losing weight!

And to motivate everyone else she is hosting
a link party every week called
Weigh Less Wednesday where
you can post one of your favorite healthy
recipes.

This is an issue that I think we all struggle with.
I for one have fought my own battles...and still am.
I was always skinny...until two sweet little babies came
within 21 months of each other. Then I looked in
the mirror one day and realized that I had somehow gone 
from a size 2 to a size 12! 

Thanks to the help of the South Beach Diet and a trainer I
was able to get back to where I was....but that
was 6 years and no trainer ago.  And to be honest...
I haven't been eating the way I should lately.

I'm not back to a 12...half way there though...
so it's time to get back on track!

So thanks to Judy I wanted to
share with you one of my favorite
weight loss recipes

Smashed Cauliflower
(photo courtesy of All Recipes.com)

Pair it with a small grilled sirloin steak
a great salad with low calorie dressing
and some roasted tomatoes (one of my other favorites)
and I promise you will be stuffed!

Smashed Cauliflower

4 cups cauliflower florets
1 ounce "I can't believe it's not butter" spray
1 fluid ounce fat free half and half
pinch salt
pinch of pepper

Steam or microwave cauliflower until soft. 

Combine cooked cauliflower, butter spray, half and half, salt and pepper
in bowl and using fork or potato masher, mash until combined.
(some recipes call for you to puree it all together...
but I like it a little chunky...
plus then I don't have to clean the whole food processor)

While I realize it's not mashed potatoes...it really is good and at
only 30 calories per serving...how can you beat that?


All of this being said....there is one thing I firmly
believe in...no matter where you are on
the scale...it does not determine your worth as
a person!  Skinny does not equal an important person
any more than over weight equals a person of lesser value.

What really matters is the way you live your life...

be kind
be happy
be considerate of others
be comfortable in who you are
be loving towards your children and family
be thoughtful in everything you do

You never know the life you are touching at this very moment....
how do you want to be remembered?



Can you believe tomorrow is my one year
anniversary of starting this blog?
Wow time really does fly!

Linking to

Weigh Less Wednesday
at
Gracious Southern Living








Wednesday, March 2, 2011

White, Soft and Ruffle-ey...a little girl's bedroom

Those 3 words are how
my 7 year old used to describe
the way she would like her
new room decorated...

White
Soft
Ruffle-ey

so here it is.....

 I apologize for the long post

This is a picture of before in case you missed it

And this is the new room....
Two very different styles don't you think

We started with this beautiful bed that I found
at a thrift store.  My thought was to paint it
white, but my little client was insistent that
we leave it the wood color...REALLY??
But I did what she asked


The duvet and shams are from
Simply Shabby Chic at Target
The rug, window curtains and
 throw on the bed are all from Ikea
And our big splurge...the one that got me into
a little trouble with sweet husband is the
bed skirt from Pottery Barn Kids...curse them
for having such cute stuff that I sometimes just can't resist.

This is the other side of her room...the reading area.
All her books are in the hutch from Bella Cottage
(remember I had bought this from a
 friend and it was in my living room)
The chair we slip covered and I just found a great
ottoman that I still need to make a slipcover for.
The butterfly mobile is also from Pottery Barn Kids...
and yes I was going to make it myself, but I
became very frustrated when I couldn't find the right
size butterfly punch...so I caved and just bought the thing

We hung an old window gate on the wall and hung
the picture I painted for her on it. 
The trunk/baskets hold the
 two million stuffed animals she has.

One of her other request was that she would
like a large round window hung on her wall...
for two reasons she told me...

#1.  so that she could see her reflection in it when she dances
(oh lord help me survive the teenage years)
and
#2. so she could pretend it was a
secret passage into a pretend world
(someone has been watching The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe way to often)


We've had the windows forever and never could
think of a place to put them.  After we hung
them sweet husband and I wished we had
thought of this ourselves and hung them in
our bedroom and added clock parts to it. 
She better watch out...when/if we move
those windows are gonna be up for grabs.


And last but not least she asked for pink flowers
on her nightstand.

I'm very pleased with the way her room turned out
and I feel certain that all her requirements were met!

White.....check
Soft.....check
Ruffle-ey....check check

Now I just need to distress the sign above her bed....
OH!!! A room is never really finished is it?

I'm linking up to
The Spring Fling
 at This Blessed Nest

this blessed nest
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