It's all in the details...

My nephew and his wife recently welcomed  their first little treasure into their house and she is a beauty! Of course that meant Sandi had to go shopping for a sweet little girl to welcome her into the family. I know it is a hard life, but someone has to do it. lol

As soon as I saw these adorable little shoes I knew they were meant for Karleigh Brynn.

I put them in a cellophane bag, sprinkled in a few silk flowers petals...

...added a tag and a string bow and they were sent on their way.

I think she will look adorable in them...what do you think?

Shutter finally up and a WINNER!

I have still been working in the kitchen ,but seem to be pulled in fifty different directions lately so it is taking longer than I would like. The lighting here today is not good at all  either so it is what it is.

  Hubby attached these brackets to the wall for me to hang my shutter on.  Remember in a previous post how the shutter was just nailed flat against the window as a valance? I have had it that way for several years and although I still love the shutter up there, it was time for a slight change and I love it!!

I got 20 of these *chippy, shabby, grungy* brackets at the Peacock park warehouse sale last year for free! From what I understand they were originally table legs,but I love them as brackets! We also used them on a shelf in the kitchen, but I will keep that for another post.

Next project will be working on some type of curtains for underneath the shutter. I have an idea brewing in my head so we will see how that turns out. I have to have something here because the sun just beats in as it is on the west side of the house. {please ignore the clutter ...this place has been clutter city for a few weeks since I took on this project, but it will all be okay in the end right?? lol}

My collection of pretty vintage silver spoons ~

okay...now to the winner of the vintage strawberry boxes...drum roll please....

  I used a random number generator and these cutie pie boxes are going to be winging their way to

SARA of SWEET MAGNOLIAS FARM

Congratulations Sara!! I think I have your address, but please get it to me just in case and I will get these in the mail next week. I also wanted to share them with more than one person so I choose a couple more names to send ONE box each to. They will go to Trisha and  Dawn so please send me your address ladies :)

Happy weekend everyone!! 

Strawberry Season GIVEAWAY!

With strawberry season upon us here in Michigan I wanted to do a giveaway and I knew exactly what I would offer! I haven't done a giveaway for quite awhile now so it is time. :)

I have had several of these vintage strawberry boxes laying around and I want to share them with you. Truth be told, when I decided I wanted to do this giveaway, I had to go on a search and find them first! ha! Story of my life. You would think by now that I would have a organization "system" in place, but nope, not me. Don't get me wrong, I am a pretty organized person, but I still can't  remember where I put things half the time.  :)

Aren't these the coolest old boxes ever?? I love them!! They are so cute at their small pint size.

The winner will get five of these adorable boxes shipped right to their doorstep. How fun is that??!!

Entries limited to USA and CANADA only please.

To enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post
2. Share this giveaway on facebook
3. Share this giveaway on your blog sidebar or with a post

PLEASE leave a separate comment for each entry that you do. Thank you!!

So you have chances for three entries. This will be a quicky giveaway as it will end Thursday
{June 29} and I will pick a winner on Friday. So get your fingers clicking and ENTER NOW!

As a side note, I am still loving my new computer and high speed, but yesterday hubby transferred over all the photos etc. on the external hard drive from the other computer and goodness!! I was looking in my folders last night and it transferred everything at least TWO times and some folders FIVE times. I think it will take me weeks/months to get these duplicates/triplicates etc. cleaned up. Wow...:) Happy Monday!!

Kitchen Wall Tutorial

As promised I am sharing a tutorial with you on how I did my kitchen wall in the previous post and as usual I did not think to take a photo of all the supplies needed...so here is a list:

1. white tissue paper
2. assorted rubber stamps
3. black rubber stamp ink pad
4. paint
5. paint brushes
6. wall sizing
7. old rags
8. ladder {just don't miss the last step on your ladder and fall off like I did a couple
times...I have the bruises to prove it. ha!}
9..the will to actually take the time to get this project done

First, I took several pieces of white tissue paper and stamped the images on them that I had chosen.( I stamped them on the dull side of the paper and not the shiny)

This is what mine looked like and no two were alike believe me. That is the beauty of this project...you can't mess it up no matter how hard you try. 

After stamping several sheets I ripped them in four strips and then ripped the strips into pieces. All sizes and all shapes. Every now and then I would run out of pieces so had to get more tissue paper out and stamp, stamp, stamp. :) I also made sure and ripped off all the straight edges that were along the outside of the paper.

Next, I added some drizzle gray paint to the walls ...Ceramacoat brand . I used it out of a 2 ounce bottle and I still have a lot left. {the walls were already primed with rustoleum white painters touch paint, but I would call it a light gray instead of white} I just squirted a little on my paintbrush like the photo above shows.|

Then I smeared the paint on the wall. There is no right or wrong way to do this at all. Just slap some paint on your wall.
As you can see this shade is a  tad bit darker than the previous shade that is painted on the wall.

Next, I took a wet rag and wiped it in swirly motions to spread the paint around and to give it a "mottled" look.

The above photo is what it looked like when I was done. Again, you can't mess this up! A lot of this will be covered by the tissue paper pieces, so a little of the darker paint will show up between the pieces and it will be just perfect.

After smearing the wall with the darker paint {confession time here...I did small areas of the wall as I went along} I mixed up some wall sizing {you can find this in the wallpaper section of a home improvement store} and painted a little on the wall where I was going to attach one of the tissue paper pieces.

Then I took a piece of stamped tissue paper and put it on the wall.

Like the photo above...it does not matter if it has a few bubbles, but mine rarely did.

With the paper being so thin, you can dab the bubbles out with a dry brush or...

...with your finger...this part may seem a tad daunting but it is not. I didn't rip one piece of paper while doing this. It went up so fast and so smooth.

I will say also that if you get a piece up that you don't like or if part of it messes up just take a dry paper towel and carefully wipe it of the wall.  Being thin tissue paper, it will ball up and come right off.

This will be your finished project!! 

I really do love how it turned out. Up close it literally looks like old stone and with the applied paper being so thin, it just looks like part of the wall.  My son and daughter-in-law came over a day or so after I finished this up. As soon as they walked in the kitchen they noticed the wall right away and went right over to it. My son could not believe it was tissue paper because it seriously looks and even feels like a stone surface! {I am sure it helped that I have old uneven walls to start with lol}  He kept saying, "NO, it is not tissue paper....NOPE it can't be"...lol. 

I haven't sealed it. Still thinking that over. I am not sure if it would smear the stamped part or not. Probably not because I used archival ink , but I am not sure. Will have to test it first on a piece that isn't on the wall. I hope some of you give this a try and if you do please let me know how yours turned out. I did get a new window treatment partially finished so will show you that next. I do love simple projects even though this one took a few days. What can I start next...hmm...:)

Happy Sunday!!

The experiment on my kitchen wall...

...turned out great and I am very happy with the results!

One night laying in bed with my mind going a million miles an hour {as usual} this idea popped into my head. Don't have a clue from whence it came, but at any rate it came and it was there to stay. This is my french style script wall...I love how it turned out. What do you think?? I tried to take pics along the way {some are not very good at all} so I can share the tutorial with you.  Hopefully I can do that soon.

I wanted a statement wall that wasn't like all the others in the room and I think I achieved that look. :)

Still loving it...:)

I found this lone peony yesterday on one of my bushes. It was the only flower this year I think so I picked her, named her "Luscious" and brought her inside for a photo shoot.

I added some old bottles around her and start snapping away.

These photos are probably kind of redundant, but I think they vary a tad bit. lol

I really need to learn how to concentrate on all the little details when taking my photos. You can't even tell that the number on the peony jar is *82*. Working on that in my head. :)

Please do tell me what you think of the wall. The picture isn't the whole wall because there is above the window yet off to the right and then down the other side, but I got it all done!! YAY!! A labor of love I will say and I sure love it. Will be working on window treatment next and not totally sure of that so keep tuned for further updates. {lol}
Happy weekend!!

{still LOVING my high speed!!}

Peonies...love/hate relationship

A big hello from Michigan to all my blogland friends!! I just want you to know that I am back up and running on a new computer!  It will take me awhile to get things all in place , but I am figuring it out as I go. I asked hubby to install my two favorite photo programs so I can at least do my photos and he was kind enough to do so. Between a new computer and my newly installed high speed, I think I have died and gone to heaven....seriously!! lol

I love peonies and I know that many of you do also, but my peony plants are not doing so well as of late, so I am in a love/hate relationship with them. I am lucky to have two or three blooms on a bush!! I don't know if it takes a few years for them to produce many flowers or what, but I am getting very impatient.  I am praying they do produce many more flowers in the years to come. Three peony bushes were planted on the property when we moved here over 32 years ago and they are still here , but they are way down at the other end of our land and sadly have been pretty neglected. {weeds grow up around etc.} I asked hubby last year and this year if he could at least just mow around them so I could have their blossoms in my home. He has obliged so I am hoping that they will start producing like they used to. I would move them, but I am scared that I would kill them. What do you think? Have any of you had experience moving peonies? I think they are pretty touchy, but maybe not ??   Any help would be appreciated. :)

I need to get busy now and get something else accomplished today. My kitchen is still in limbo. The wallpaper is not all hung and that means there is stuff all out of place and a ladder sitting right in the middle of the room, but I am hoping to get it done this week...or mostly done...or maybe dream of getting it done?? *smile*

Oh the joys of redecorating...:)

until next time ~

Old wallpaper, roses and HIGH SPEED!!

Am I ever amazed today or what?? HIGH SPEED finally came to Buckeye Road yesterday! Where it took me literally an hour or longer to upload THREE photos to  my blog before, they are here in a flash now. I LOVE IT!! I still have no idea how to start a new paragraph on this MAC, but hey we will work with what we have for now. I see a new computer in the very near future. ha! Don't know how to watermark my photos on here either so hopefully no one will swipe them for their own.

I have been removing old wallpaper in the kitchen this week and just happened to set a pitcher of my beautiful old fashioned roses on the shelf. I loved the old and torn paper for a background. Thinking I should have left it this way and not re-papered just for photo ops. :)

Roses, old wallpaper and a camera...it doesn't get much better than that does it? *smile*

I just LOVE these roses! The bush was here when we moved onto the property over 32 years ago and since then I have dug up starts and planted them here and there around the property and they grow just fine! I need to start some more this year.

Roses always look nice in frenchy style buckets along side a hat from the Goodwill. :)

This is the bush that started it all.

The fragrance of these roses is just heavenly. They sure don't make them like they used to anymore. Today I am so very thankful for my divinely fragrant roses and my high speed!!! :) What are you thankful for?