Faking a fireplace mantle

I don’t have a fireplace in my living room, although I do have one in the basement.
I used my cubby bookcase as one instead.


Improvise and use what you got :) I’m still working on what to do with the cubbys.
I’m linking to Stephanie Lynn’s Sunday Showcase – head on over :)

Rats

I cut these rats out and plan to have them all over the stairs, I have a lot of stairs

I’m going to a friends for dinner tonight.  I used the velvet fabric from the thrifted dress that I bought a few weeks ago to make a wine bottle cover.

Coffee table talk

Someone had a party.


I picked up this table from a seller on Kijiji for $60. It was love at first sight and in pristine condition.

It is a beautiful creamy white, solid wood with a very slight amount of distressing.

There is a band of carved wood under the lip (sorry, crappy camera)

It is large too, it most definitely can be used as a dining table if the base were taller.

(I probably should have vacuumed first :)
My tastes change pretty quickly, but this table has been with me for some time now, and I don’t anticipate it leaving any time soon.

Word Blocks - Halloween

I wanted to try the seasonal word blocks project that I found at Little Birdie Secrets for some time. 
I used what I had around the house. My blocks are made from 2 x 2’s and I would have preferred a 4 x4 , but whatever :)  Everything is closed today, so use what you have.
Now I have blocks for every occasion.

Next time I will use a beefier font as well as beefier wood. Lessons learned :)  Since they are pretty small, I created a shelf for them to sit on, made out of a 2 x 4 and a 1 x 2.
I’m linking up to the following parties:

A quick update to my bedroom

I redid my bedroom several months back
Here is a refresher:
Before the last update

Updated


Yesterday I found this fabulous fabric at the GW for $15, reams of it.

So I got to work this morning, updating my bedroom.
It’s not a very big space and there is a king sized bed, so floor space is at a premium.
I recovered the canvases, created a slip cover for the ottoman, added pink ribbon to the lamp shades, brought in the dresser that I updated last month and added a green cushion. The only thing that I bought new (to me) is the fabric.




Does anyone know which way is up on this fabric?
The only other thing I would like to add is an area rug. I don’t like a fussy room, preferring to keep things uncluttered, so you won’t see a lot of accessories :)
I’m joining in on the following parties:

Lamp makeover

Brassy before but I really like the shape of it.

I picked up the shade today from a dreadfully ugly lamp at GW. The fabric is an old top that I no longer wear, but I do like the pattern of it; so don’t throw away those old clothes :)

Love this

Yesterday the kids and I went to a donkey sanctuary.  I snapped quite a few pictures, but they were mostly of the kids and their eyelashes aren’t nearly as long as this Jenny's are.

Patio stones done

It’s been a couple of months, but I finally had the patio stones laid today.
Because I don’t have water access back here, I decided to fill the whole space with patio stones.  I now have more usable space, the bbq is close to the door and I will get to work next spring sprucing it up.
I would have liked to do interlock, but because of budget restraints, LOL, I chose to use the 30 x 24 pavers. My friend that laid them for me was none to happy with me; these suckers are heavy and difficult to level.
I’m so pleased to have it done and it now feels like an extension of my home, rather than a dark hole.

Pretty paper covered books

While looking for something crafty to do this morning, I went to Brown Paper Packages fabulous site and found a great tutorial on covering books, very easily, and I am all about the easy :)
I thought I was clever when I covered my books with craft paper, but they were a little boring.

I used scrap book paper that I already had, two way glue because I didn’t have two way tape, some gold distressing ink and ta da, much prettier and they inject some needed colour.



Joining in on the fun at:

empty picture frame gallery

I finally got around to completing this gallery wall. Most of the frames were given to me, some of them are the moulding that I bought at the Goodwill and the two oval one’s are also from the Goodwill.


I also sprayed the lamp glossy black and added grosgrain ribbon. The white was just too dull.

I’m joining in on the fun here: