Newest addition to my kitchen

Here is the newest addition to my kitchen ... I saw a post on a blog. (forgive me but I can't remember which one it was) of a handmade island. Well, I drew out my idea and told my hubby. Voila...he built me one...

UPDATE: The blog I found it on was Picket's Place. You can check it out here.

This would be the beginning stages. I forgot to take a pic before I started painting it.

Here it is almost finished!!! I say almost because he still has to add the shelf on the bottom. I can use it though and that makes me HAPPY!!! Since I have a small kitchen, I didn't think I could have one, but this works perfectly. Isn't it pretty??? Luvvvvv it!!!

Welcome to all my new followers! I spent so much time last night checking out other people's blogs that I didn't have time to post on my own. Well that and playing Rock Band with my husband's family! That game is addictive! Did I mention that I love to sing?

My daughter decided to fall and bust her head open this afternoon. I'm still debating on whether to take her to the hospital. She is acting fine, but has a cut about an inch long on her head. We're going to watch it for a little while. Having a girl, I haven't had to deal with many bumps or bruises. I guess that's why I go into overprotective mode when she gets hurt. My husband says she's fine. Right now he's winning the hospital visit fight...I'll keep you posted.

Playing with my camera

I don't have any projects today. I figured that you needed to see the girl behind the projects. This would be Crimson. We were playing with my new camera today. I like the black and white close ups. She looks so innocent... Key word...looks!

In deep thought...

What??????
Ahh...this one is really sweet...Now you have a peek at my beautiful Crimson.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week. I am feeling MUCH better today. The Crud is going away. I still sound funny when I speak, but at least I can breathe. :) It's been raining all day. All our trees are covered in a nice sheet of ice and the weather "people" are calling for snow and more ice tonight. I really "love" winter! ( If you didn't catch that, I said "love" VERY sarcastically!!!) Of course, the saying around here is..."if you don't like the weather, stay a while, it will change." I love Tennessee. (that wasn't said sarcastically) Just love it more in the summer.

Well, have a good night!!!

I've got the CRUD!

Hey all, I am so sorry it's been a while since my last post. I have the CRUD. You know the coughing your head off, squeaking like a mouse, annoying runny nose, CRUD? Yeah, that's what I have. It royally sucks!!! Anyway, I didn't want to leave you hanging out there with nothing to read about, 'cause I know I'm the only blog you read....ha ha just kidding.

The salt and pepper shakers I won on ebay came in. They're kind of small, but they are Lochs of Scotland so I am in LOVE with them!!! I had to make a perfect place for them so I did what any good bloggin girl would do, I searched for some ideas from my favorite bloggers. I found where a couple people used dressers and added a few shelves to make a hutch. The "hutch" part will come later, but for now I have the dresser...painted white of course, with a few little treasures on top...


Here is a better pic of the sale and pepper shakers. Can you see the "S" and "P" on the top of them. Aren't they super cute????
You probably remember my Goodwill finds a couple weeks ago, if not you can click here to see the before pics. Below is a pic of me in mid-paint...

Here is the finished project... Aren't they going to be awesome on my daughter's lime green walls? Now to find the perfect shade of lime green...

The other day I posted my pay it forward game. If you remember I had won on the Grand Occassions page and I was posting to "pay it forward." Well, I'm still trying to find my 3 people. Please read about it here. I can't wait to read your comments.

Now I'm going back to bed....

Another project finished!!!

Remember the $7.00 lamp? It was cute with it's creamy plain shade and pale pink base. It would have been sweet in a baby girl's room. Well...not my baby girl's room. It needed some help. So...
Lets get some purple cheetah print material. Add a little stich-whichery... (love those no sew projects, just as much as the sewing projects!!!)
Pin it to the lamp shade and then hot glue it down...
Add some cute lime green shaggy trim...
Voila...a lamp fit for a princess!!!
She hasn't seen it yet, but I hear a squeal coming...

I found out this morning that I will be receiving a wonderful handmade surprise from my blog friend Elizabeth over at Grand Occassions!!! Go ahead and check her blog out...I'll wait... It's awesome, you don't know what you're missing if you don't check it out...

Ah, you're back...

Okay, so you're asking why she's sending me a wonderful handmade gift? Well, I'm glad you did. It's for this awesome "Pay it forward" game going on. I was one of the first 3 people to post a comment on her page yesterday. The first 3 people are receiving handmade gifts from her. So how do you get to join in on the fun? Just be one of the first three people to post a comment on this blog! I will send you a handmade surprise, but only if you PROMISE to blog about it and send the first 3 people who comment on your blog a special handmade surprise. So...leave your comments. I can't wait to create something wonderful for a new blog friend!

One finished project

I finally finished one of my projects for this weekend. I have been extremely busy painting and hot-glueing for the last 3 days. I took a few minutes to drop in and read posts this morning, but didn't stop long enough to post one of my own. Well, I have finally called it quits for now so here goes...

But first...one of our fellow bloggers had her baby Friday, the baby has heart and lung problems and needs your prayers. Please stop by Kelly at Kelly's Korner and let her know you are thinking about her and baby Harper.

This is my daughter's dresser. We painted it when I was pregnant with her. She will be ten in May. It definitely needed an update. If you didn't already know...her name is Crimson. She has decided on black, purple and lime green to redo her room. So, here goes...

This is the before shot of the drawer pulls. You can see the drawer pulls on the top of the dresser in the first picture. This is after the original paint was removed.

Paint them black...

Add some fuzzy purple trim...

Paint the dresser black and attach the drawer pulls. Much better for a ten year old!!! And now for the rest of the room...

We bought a bunch of wall hangings at Hobby Lobby this weekend. They were having a 50% off sale so we picked up quite a few. She still wanted her name in her room so we picked out the letters to decorate her wall. Those are painted black and waiting for me to finish them. I found a cute little lamp at a local antique store a couple weeks ago for $7.00. I think I already posted a pic of it, but if not it will be in a future post. All the shelves for her room have been painted black. I was going to post a pic of them, but realized I didn't take a pic once I gave them the last coat of paint. We have decided on a soft lime green to paint her walls, so all the black and purple decorations should look great. I still haven't found the perfect material to make her comforter, but I'm sure I'll eventually find it. We have been looking at zebra print, but found purple cheetah print that looked better. The zebra print will probably still find a home, though.

By the way, thank you to my followers and subscribers. I really enjoy blogging. It has inspired me to complete projects I have wanted to do for a while. My husband likes it too. I can usually complete a project if it is for someone else, but have a hard time completing it if it's for me. Now, I feel like there is someone else counting on me. Thanks again!!!

Look at what I won on ebay...

Look what I won on ebay...

I know, I know, it's a very small picture. I couldn't get it to enlarge for some reason. I'll take a better pic when they come in. At any rate...they are Lochs of Scotland, just like my plate collection! I was sooooo excited to find them. Below, is a pic of some of my plates. Don't they just look awesome!?!? I traded plate hangers with my BFF and this one just looks so pretty!!!

Well I must get ready for work now...not that I want to in this extremely cold weather, but gotta make money somehow. Why can't we get out of work when it's 4 degrees? My daughter has a snow day and there's no freakin snow...go figure!!! Okay, Okay...I'll go get ready now.

Later,

A. Rose

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Great Goodwill finds

Here are some AWESOME finds from Goodwill...

The first thing is a jewelry box. It was a whopping $1.99! I think I'll go broke!!! Well...maybe...if I keep shopping there. Those $1.99 things do add up...but that's another topic!
This is a picture of it open. See the 3 layers? I'm going to paint it a creamy white. It's going to be pretty... I'll show the finished product later. (I have a long weekend...Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is Monday...yeah!!) I think I'm going to be busy painting! This pic is of my $0.99 frame and the $0.49 screen. I'm not sure what the screen was for. It had two wooden pieces on it. One on each end. My hubby took the wood pieces off before I could get a pic. Anyway...I'm going to paint the frame and the screen. I think I'll use the creamy white on this as well. After I paint them, I'm going to attach the screen to the back of the frame and put a pretty ribbon on it to hang it. I can just see all my handmade earrings hanging on it. I'll have to post a pic of the necklace hanger my hubby made me. It is SWEEEEEET!
This shelf was 99 cents!!! I bet you're asking if you read that right...you did!!! The white one below was marked for 99 cents, but this maroon one didn't have a price tag. When I got to the register, I told the cashier that it didn't have a price tag. She's like, umm, 99 cents! Iwas thrilled!!!
This white and green shelf was $3.99. I know, I know...why $3.99 when the other one was 99 cents? Well, I technically bought this on a different day, but since I bought the other ones to match it, I thought I'd go ahead and post it. Still...$3.99 is AWESOME!!! I can only imagine what these 3 shelves would have cost me at a normal store???? No, don't think I want to imagine.
These 3 shelves will be painted to match my daughter's room. However...we have to paint the room, buy the bedding, make other decorations, ya da, ya da...so, I'm going to wait a while to paint them.
The cream shelf above, is out of order. This pic was supposed to be below the maroon one, but I'm still learning this blogging thing. Anyway, this one was 99 cents too!!!!
This shelf was $3.99 and also bought on a different day. The same day as the green and white shelf. It's going to be painted white or creamy white and go up in my kitchen. Maybe some pretty plates will sit proudly on it??? By the way, I finally put some of my blue and white transferware plates up in my kitchen. I also won salt and pepper shakers, off ebay, from the same collection. Maybe that will be tomorrow's post. Until then...here's hoping you have a magnificient night!!!!

Just a few crafts

I have to apologize for the length of time since my last post. My hubby came home last Thursday night and we have been running like crazy since then. I found a few awesome deals at a local antique store and Goodwill, I will post those tomorrow.

Here are a few of my recent crafts...
I know it's after Christmas, but I thought I'd post my wreath. I enjoyed making this. My husband brought the grapevine home from one of his hunting trips. He wound the vine to create the wreath and I decorated it. I was so excited at the end result!
This isn't really a craft, but I love these. I managed to get the candle holders for $12.00 for the set at Home Again Antiques. A local antique store. They were normally $24.00. The candles came from the Dollar Store's after Halloween clearance sale. I paid $2.00 a piece for them. They were normally $8.00 each.
These picture frames were 99 cents at the Goodwill. They were originally gold and white. I drybrushed them a deep chocolate brown. The swag was $1.99 at Goodwill. I added the lavender flowers...much better!
I found this wreath and these frames at Goodwill as well. The frames were 49 cents and the wreath was 99 cents. I drybrused these frames the same chocolate brown. The dark purple flowers were all over the wreath. I cut most of them off and then added the lavender flowers and the mauve bow.
This started as 3 hearts. I added leaves, flowers, and a bow to go along with the other floral arrangements. The frame was 99 cents, also from Goodwill and drybrushed with the chocolate brown paint.

It was fun creating a look for my office. I started with bare cream walls. I couldn't stand it. Now I have wonderful pictures of my family, along with pretty, girlie, floral arrangements. The total costs was around $15.00, including the paint! A year ago, I wouldn' t have stepped foot inside a Goodwill. Now, I go in there trying to find a new project. To all of you out there wishing you could be crafty...you've got to start somewhere...why not help someone out by shopping at your local Goodwill?

Happy hunting.

My blue and white obsession and my ugly kitchen

The plate below would be the plate that started my blue and white obsession...my parents had a whole set of these. I grew up eating on them and by the time I was out of the house, I couldn't stand them. My father died 7 years ago. In the last year I have found that items he owned mean more than gold to me. My brother, who is 9 years older than me and would remember this, told me that the plates came from a grocery store. Apparently, if you spent so much each week you could get one for free. (Why don't grocery stores do that now? I'm sure I've spent enough at Wal-mart to have a table setting for 20!!!) The plates are made by "Lochs of Scotland." I have been searching all over for the saucers, cups, etc.. I did manage to find 5 saucers in an old run down store that, if it weren't for someone telling me it was a great place to find dishes, I would have never stepped foot in. They wanted $4.00 a piece, I managed to talk them into $15.00 for all 5 of them. I don't know if it was a good deal or not, but the sentimental factor was definitely worth it! While we're talking about it, my mom passed away too. I was ten when she died. She tried to get me to sew and make crafts with her when she was able. At 5 and 6 years old I didn't care about it, I wanted to play with my dolls. By the time I was 7 she was too sick to teach me. Now, almost 22 years later, I wish I had listened to her!!!!
Below are pictures of my ugly kitchen. I was on Cindy at Romantic Home's blog today. She has pics of her top 10 redo's in 2008. One was a pic of her kitchen, which is set up similar to mine, just decorated much better! I asked for her advice and said I would post some pics of my own kitchen. My first puchase is going to be blue and white toile. I want to make a beautiful curtain like the one over her kitchen window. It is absolutely gorgeous!!! After all this talk about Cindy's beautiful kichen...please don't laugh at mine. If you have any ideas on how to fix it up, feel free to leave them.


In this pic you can see my hubby's handiwork. There wasn't a dishwasher in the house when we purchased it, just an empty hole that looked like the stove should go in it. Well...you would think, except for the fact that the plug for the stove was on the side wall and the cord wouldn't reach it. We looked everywhere for a longer cord and then gave up. Since we had an empty hole, my hubby decided he'd put the dishwasher there. We're going to eventually tear out the cabinets and replace them, but for now we used floor tiles to cover the makeshift countertop. I think it turned out pretty good for a few minutes of work. We still need to put something across the front, right now it's just open wood.
The little bit of decorating I have done is more of a Tuscan style, you know...the wine and grapes style. I really liked it at first, but I'm getting bored with it. I have a feeling I'll be ebay-ing soon!
Sorry for getting all sentimental on you earlier. I know it's crazy, but that one blue and white plate brings back more memories than anything else I own.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope this "hump" day is going well for you. The hubby comes home tomorrow night, so I am very excited!!!!

Goodnight!

A.Rose

Awesome Consignment Store Find!

Good afternoon! This antique vanity isn't the conignment store find I am referring to, but I just love it. My husband's sister had it in a storage room collecting dust. I wanted to paint it white, unfortunately the hubby won't let me. So...I cleaned it up and added a few accessories. The 2 blue and white vases are from Marshalls. $3.00 a piece on clearance! Below is a better pic of the vases.

Here is the awesome consignment store find. Can you believe this chair was $4.00??? I couldn't believe it! I am going to paint the legs and recover the seat. I haven't decided what fabric I'd like to use. Once I decide, I'll post the finished product.This will be my first try at recovering a seat, so wish me luck!

I really love this blogging thing. Of course, I think most of my time has been spent reading other people's posts, not that this is a bad thing. I've learned a lot. I guess I am naive, though. I didn't realize there were so many people out there that like the same wonderful things I do. I look forward to getting to know all of my sister bloggers! Have a wonderful Tuesday night!!

I love After Christmas sales!!!!

Look at the amazing Christmas ornaments and decorations I picked up at Wal-mart this weekend. Everything was 75% off! 




This huge box of 100 ornaments was normally $70.00. I got it for $17.50! That's only 17.5 cents per ornament!!!! The purple ornaments were only $1.25 a box. All the picks and garland were $0.75 cents!

I am counting down the days until next Christmas! I will finally get to have a purple and silver tree. My hubby usually doesn't like "girlie" colors on the tree, but since everything was so inexpensive...he saw it my way!!!

Speaking of the hubby. I am missing him right now! He had to go away on a business trip! I am very thankful he has a job, but still wish he didn't have to leave. With the icy roads, I am praying for him to stay safe and make it home soon! Please keep him in your thoughts.

Tomorrow, I'll post a picture of the chair I found at a consignment shop for $4.oo!!!

Happy Blogging!!!

A.Rose

Sterling silver candle holder

Happy New Year's Day!  I hope everyone had fun celebrating last night!

My mother-in-law gave me this beautiful sterling silver candle holder, well it would be beautiful with a little cleaning. I've always heard that you can use toothpaste to clean silver, but I haven't ever tried it. My husband had heard that you could use ketchup, so we thought we'd try it. It worked a little, but you really had to scrub to get the petina off. He then thought that you could use Coke, so we tried that. The only thing the Coke did was take off the dirt. So...I went and got the toothpaste. It really works! The first picture is after my hubby finished cleaning it. The last two pictures are when we first started using the toothpaste. It turned out very nice.