jewelry holder

I have had all of my jewelry scattered in different places. Some was in my closet, some were in the bathroom. It was driving me nuts and half the time I was trying to detangle them. I saw some big cork boards at homegoods that I liked, but they weren't really big enough and for $40, I thought they were kind of plain looking. I spotted this vintage frame at a flea market a few weeks ago. Loved it. I spray painted it using this Rustoleum almond color.

I then took an old cork board I already had and cut it down to size. You can just buy a roll of cork, but I have found that sometimes it is not sturdy enough. You may need to attach it to some plywood. They always have huge cork boards for about a $1 or 2 at thrift stores and they are really easy to cut. I used some left over fabric that I had used for another project. You can order this fabric here. I took the fabric and wrapped it around the sides with fabric glue, but you can use a staple gun as well. Then, I hot glued it all in place. It's been a very happy new home for my jewelry. :) a closer look.......

total cost: $15

Restaurant Knock-Off: Texas Roadhouse House Salad

I love the House Salad at Texas Roadhouse so when I was stumped for what to serve with dinner one night I decided to recreate it at home.


It's a very simple salad made infinitely better by their homemade Ranch dressing and croutons made from their delicious rolls (two things I haven't tried recreating at home yet). It's just greens (romaine), tomato, hardboiled eggs, cheddar cheese and croutons.

Next step - make my own Ranch dressing and find a knock-off for their rolls.

Clue

The Spring birdsong is so sweet, I am sure even the birds sing en Francais.

Rocking Chair Makeover

My good friend, Julie, passed along an old rocking chair to me. Actually her mom gave it to her to give to me. :)

It was a nice surprise when I saw it sitting in my garage when I came home one night.

So a couple weeks ago I started making it over on a nice warm pre-spring day...but that is when my whole family had the flu and I about passed out. So I went back to bed and it sat 1/2 finished waiting for me.

Finally yesterday I tackled this project.

And here she is today.

I painted the chair with some leftover black paint from my kitchen cabinets.

After it was dry I sanded down the edges with an electric sander. I sanded down the hard to reach areas with just a small piece of sandpaper.

Then I applied MinWax dark walnut stain. I love the richness the stain added.

Don't you like her legs?

I wanted to add a little detail to the chair. Taking advantage of what I had, I used this stencil from my kitchen project.

And stenciled just a small design to the back. I think it adds just a little enough detail without going overboard.

Sshhh...don't tell but she's still "tacky" from the stain.

After it's dry, I'll add a clear spray sealer so we can enjoy it outside.

Cost of my chair and makeover-FREE!

Love those kind.

Tomorrow I'll share another free makeover I whipped up this week.

I've linked up to a few of these fun linky parties.

I Am Somewhere Lovely At The Moment

Can you guess where I am?

Recherche et le developpement.

YES, I MESSED UP!

OKAY...THANKS TO LINDA AT: http://parkersparadise.blogspot.com/  SHE LED ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND IT'S FIXED....
But if you want to know what I messed up on I left it on!

I was putting a picture as a header for my list of BLOGS on my sidebar and thought I was deleting the 'words' that I had on there, I clicked 'delete' and WALLA....NO BLOG LIST!
I'm so sorry to everyone who might think I deleted you!
It was not intentional...just a huge OOPPSS!
Now it's going to take me a month of Sunday's to get them all back on.
It will be ongoing for a day or so. IF you see you are not on here let me know...I had probably 30 or more.
As long as I'm on here I might just add that we went to Madison to the Wholesale Market yesterday. It was nice but small. Seems the larger ones are in the east or Ohio even.
I did get to see RACHEL from TOO FAR GONE PRIMITIVES!
This was her first time at the Madison show - she has such wonderful Primitive goodies.
http://www.facebook.com/toofargoneprimitives#!/toofargoneprimitives
I bought some Easter Tin Chocolate Molds (Chick and a Bunny)  and a sheep picture along with a glass Chicken candy dish - the kind that the chicken is the top of the covered dish, Purple flowers, a hand painted Spring flower picture and lots of wonderful goodies for our website. It was a long 3-1/2 hours on our feet...guess we could have done it in less time but you always have to make that second trip through.
PICTURES LATER WHEN I BRING UP ALL MY SPRING/EASTER DECOR
I want to say how wonderfully my E-Patterns are selling...I'm in awe of how many have sold in just the short 12 days I've had them listed.
Don't forget you can order from me directly - just go to the tab at the top and see what's available at the moment...more are being worked on.
Enjoy your wonderful Spring like weather. It's 45 here right now and the sun is shining nicely. Doug is out raking and I'm inside and stumped at how silly I could be to delete all my favorite blogs!!!
Have a good one.
Karen

How not to whitewash a floor

1. Remove lid to a gallon sized can of white stain

2. Balance lidless can of white stain on the edge of the bathtub

3. Knock over can of white stain onto freshly laid wood flooring

4. Use spackle knife to scrape puddles of white stain back into can

5. Vigorously rub paper towels over entire area

6. Think positive thoughts.  Perhaps you have just discovered a new inventive whitewash application.  

7. Realize that no, you have not.

8. Retrieve the belt sander.

Terrific Under Ten Tuesday #7

Do you have a fun craft?

Martha Stewart

Thrifty Decor?

Martha Stewart

A fun makeover?

A favorite kiddo project or activity?

A favorite thrift find?

Or a Favorite Recipe you would love to share?

Black Forest Cupcakes via Better Homes and Gardens

Then I would love for YOU to link up to Terrific Under Ten today!

Here are a few "rules":

*Please be a follower of my blog.

*Your project must be made or bought for $10 or less.

*Please do not link up Online Shops or Giveaways.

*You can link up to 3 projects. (They don't have to be new. Look in your past posts and pick out some favorites to share.)

*Link to the specific post and not to the main page of your blog.

 *Add the Terrific Under Ten Tuesdays button to the bottom of your post, side bar, or to your linky party list.  
<center><a href="http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/MommasPrimitives/linkypartybutton-1-1.jpg"/></a></center> The linky party will be open for 2 days. Then I will feature some favorites on Friday! *By linking up, you give me the permission to use your photo(s) from your post on Feature Friday.  



gallery wall complete and with a story

I could have done my gallery wall with just pics of my kids, but I already have pictures of my them in pretty much every room. :) Nate Berkus always says to have your house tell your story. I actually have always thought that as well. I mean, not in those exact words, but I have always thought your home should be a reflection of who you are and your personality. So, here we go..... Each frame is from a flea market or thrift store, excluding the bottom right one. I already had that one. This first pic I found was in my parents basement. When my grandfather was superintendant at the Naval Academy, this was the Navy football team and they presented him this photo. Actually, former quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, Roger Staubach is number 12 in this photo. It was just sitting in the basement along with a million other pictures of my grandparents. I asked my dad if I could have it because it seems silly that these amazing pictures are just sitting in a stack where no one can enjoy them. I bought the frame at a antique store for hardly anything and I spray painted it white. Then of course there is my "G" to represent our last name. :)

Here is our little family. It's my favorite family picture so far and it just had to be hung.

My husband and I have a heart for the children along the amazon in Brazil. He and I both have gone on seperate trips and I am going again in June. I cannot wait. When my husband, Brad was there this past January, he absolutely adored these 2 little ones. As soon as he got home, he told me all about them and how he wanted to pack them in his suitcase and take them home with him. I printed out this picture to remind brad of these two and the amazing trip that he had. The frame was $6 at my local thrift store and I painted it a dark gray. I mean, really, can these little guys be any cuter?

An old picture of my grandmother. Beautiful. I love looking at it.

Here is the final wall. The bottom left is one of my parent's wedding pictures. Although, I think I may have to switch that frame out for something a little bigger. I'm not feeling it. Where that pic is, I think it needs to be something round or a bigger rectangle frame. We'll see. So, all I need is a few pics of my husband's side of the family and we'll be good. (mother in law......hint hint. I need pics!)

Itchin' To Get Outside

Here I go again wishin' for spring again. LOL

It's cold outside. Sigh...

I got many outside projects planned for this year. Our yard, deck and house need a little sprucing up. So I'm eagerly waiting for the warmer weather to stay so I can tackle my to-do list.

In the meantime, here's some wonderful outdoor eye candy that I can enjoy.

Source: Country Living

On my list is to add black shutters our front windows. Love this window box. I have a perfect window to do this to. Now if I can only keep the flowers alive...I have a terrible green thumb.

Adding more seating areas pretty like this is a must also!

Finding thrifty/rusty finds to decorate the outdoors is also on my list. Love this chair.

Our deck needs repainting. I'm thinking a white or light blue/gray color for the floor.

Total dream land space for my yard but still loved this photo!

Other things on my list:

Spring clean our landscaping with cutting down bushes and ornamental grasses

Paint trim on house

Freshen up outdoor decor with paint

Power wash house

Fix up dead patches of grass

Fertilize

Weed prevent our landscaping

Patch and paint retaining wall

Paint front and side doors

Oh and so much more...

Who wants to come over to help? I'll provide some yummy food and drinks!

What do you have on your sprucing up the outdoor list this year?

Fabulous Felting!

We really are very lucky to have such a talented bunch of creative Halfpenny Home friends, one of whom is Rachel, who has agreed to do some felting workshops at the studio over the coming months. Rachel brought in some of her work to show us and we were so taken with it we thought we should share it with you!

I particularly love the felted flowers, including this beautiful poppy, which can't fail to cheer up even the dullest day!

These colourful felted mats are just gorgeous and are what Rachel will be teaching at her first workshop at Halfpenny Home.

I love the pretty spring colours in this one.

On subsequent workshops Rachel will be showing us how to make one of these beautiful felted lariats.

This lily lariat is my absolute favourite and Rachel has even embellished it with pretty little bronze seed beads.

And what better way to keep your teapot nice and toasty!

Don't need much excuse for a cuppa! Now I just have one more reason......

As luck would have it, the new issue of Oh Comely has recently arrived - perfect to go with that cuppa!

I'll be putting the latest copy of Oh Comely on the website over the next few days. Meanwhile, I had to share with you a shot of the back cover, which I think is just lovely!

Do get in touch if you'd like further details of Rachel's felting classes at Halfpenny Home. The first one is on 30th April and you need to do the first one before moving onto the other projects.

Jacqui x