A NEW LOOK AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Surprise!  Notice anything different?  The blog got a little makeover,  I figured after 2 years it was time!  

In the past I've done all of the work on my page myself.  I got it done, but it took FOREVER to figure out, and it just wasn't that fun.  So, I went in search of an affordable blog designer and found Rebekah Louise Designs.  She was able to work me in quickly, and responded to everything in a very timely manner.  She was fantastic to work with and did a great job making my sketchy design ideas into a reality.  And, she was extremely patient and professional as I picked at every little detail.  If you're interested in a Blogger custom design, go visit Rebekah Louise Designs today!

I hope you like it...I really do!  I'm still working out some glitches, adding some pages and links and making minor adjustments, but hopefully everything will be running smoothly soon!

In other news, unbelievably lightning struck twice around here.  Last month I shared with you my feature in Ladies' Home Journal.  I guess when it rains it pours, because this month I'm honored to be in Good Housekeeping.  GOOD HOUSEKEEPING!  The magazine that my mom has subscribed to for years and years and that I used to sit on the sofa and read when I was a little girl (still do, as a matter of fact!).  My favorite columns when I was little were always Hints From Heloise and Peggy Post's Etiquette Column- I guess those homemaking interests started early!

photo via my sister's IG feed

Anyway, I was thrilled to be contacted by an editor that had seen a photo on Pinterest of my drawer pull chalk holders.  They published it in the October issue as part of their readers' feature page.

Thank you to Kathleen and the staff at Good Housekeeping for including me!    

Finally, guess what?  I'm f.i.n.i.s.h.e.d. with my dining room!  Show you tomorrow!!

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FRIDAY FAVORITES (8)

Today, my picks for Friday Favorites are going to be all things FALL!  I have not done one bit of decorating for Fall yet, but hope to knock it out this weekend.  This year I can't think of one thing that I have stored that I'm dying to get out and use.  I want everything to have a very natural (meaning full of nature!) look and feel.  These are some images that have my wheels spinning:

Makely 

via Pinterest

Plumberry Pie 

Dwellings by Devore

via Pinterest

And I'm pretty sure my kids would go crazy for these...

Craftberry Bush

If you want to see some ideas from previous years of my Fall decorating,  you can click on the links below.  Disclaimer, some of those photos I look back on now and think "Yeesh!, what was I thinking?".

Porch and outdoor decorating 

Fall 2012 Decorations

 Fall 2011 Decorations

Fall Mantel 2012 

Fall Mantel 2011

Happy Weekend, hope you get lots done!  I'll see you on Monday, I have a surprise in the works!

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DIY GOLD LETTER PRINT

Happy Wednesday everybody!  I'm locking myself in the house today and getting some chores done that have been SO neglected...piles of laundry (all clean, just need to be folded and put away), shuffling tables, putting away stains and poly and supplies, and getting my kitchen under control.  Does everything around your house go crazy when you're in project mode too?  Thank goodness my sweet family doesn't bat an eye.

But first, I have a quick, fun craft project to share with you.  If you've spent any time in blogland at all, you know that gold foil prints are all the rage.  Stephanie Creekmur makes some especially fun ones.  I think we all fell for her "Hey Y'all!" print when Kristin showcased it so beautifully in her Room Service Atlanta project.  I wanted to order one, but had a specific frame that I wanted it for, and it was an odd size.  I also didn't want to use glass, so I needed something heavier for the frame.

I already had all of the supplies, so I got out some scrap white mat board and cut it to size.  After playing with a few fonts on the computer, I printed out the words I wanted, sized to fit the frame. Apparently I had a random scrap piece of paper in the printer...but it didn't matter.  (If you want to download those cute gift tags, click here.) 

Then, I used this super tip from Makely and some newspaper to transfer an outline of the words to the mat board.

Finally, I used Krylon's gold leaf pen to fill in my letters.  I found that long straight strokes worked best.

After mounting the mat board with some trusty glazier points, it was ready to go!  

Not as pretty as the original, but it works, and fits just right in my fun frame.  

You might remember that I picked this up from the same place I bought my new nightstands while going on a Craiglist run.  We think maybe it used to have a clock face in it, it's not really a typical photo frame.  And, as hard as I've tried to weed out the red from my decor over the past few years, this guy was begging for a glossy red paint job. 

I added it to my chalkboard wall in the kitchen, and am working to add a few more things to make that little space function better.  Hope to show you more soon!

This was a really fun project, and I've already got my eye on my oval antique gold frame for another DIY print.

If you love the original and want to purchase a print ready made, visit Stephanie's store.  I especially love this print...my dad used to say it all the time.

Stephanie Creekmur

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WHY I LOVE CRAIGSLIST...

Reason 1,453,294.  

I picked these huge mounted antlers up last week.  For FREE!!!

I mentioned I've been stalking CL lately for some new chairs for my kitchen table, and one morning I was doing my usual search for "chairs", "rug", and "chandelier".  On a whim I searched for "antlers", thinking that it's time to decorate for Fall and wishing I had some more loose antlers to scatter around.

This was the first listing that popped up.  As I read the details, I noticed the words "free to a good home."  Well, I couldn't send that text fast enough!  I didn't even know how big they were, in the blurry photo they were just resting in the chair.

I was delighted when I made a special trip across town and picked them up to see that they were HUGE!  Mr. K. told me that the family story was that his Grandfather got these (on a hunt, I assume) in Alaska in 1910.  Mr. K.'s wife refused to let him hang them in the house, so he just wanted to get rid of them.  HUH? How do you get rid of 113 year old antlers with such a great family history?  Well, apparently some people don't have hoarding tendencies aren't that attached to their stuff, and he was happy to give them to me. 

I couldn't contain my excitement and shared with my Instagram friends...

The mounting plaque had a yellowish-shellac finish, but I thought the wood might be pretty with that stripped off.  It wasn't...still too yellow.  So, I just painted it black.

So thank you, Mrs. K., for not wanting these in your home.  I sure do love them.  One man's trash...

P.S.- The striped rug is back in the entry.  The chevron just wasn't working for me there, so it moved to my son's room.   Nothing like a good round of musical rugs!

Linking up with:

The Shabby Nest

It's Overflowing

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FRIDAY FAVORITES (7)

Did you see Danielle's fabulous furry chair makeover?  Now I'm considering some chairs like this for my kitchen table, too (with a kitchen table friendly fabric).  They are all over Craigslist!

What about Jennifer's new gallery wall for her daughter's room?  Proof that in decorating you might not always get it right the first time, but keep tweaking until it's perfect!  

Emily's new paint job on her armoire gave me some serious inspiration for my armoire.  I actually had some long pulls like she used in my cart at Ikea last weekend for my armoire, and put them back.  Now they're definitely on my list for the next trip!

My plan for the weekend is to get more work done in my son's room, which is coming along as slow as molasses.  I keep getting distracted with other things.  We replaced a fence and I kept a bunch of the panels so we could do something like this from Just a Girl.  I can't wait to get it done!

Speaking of my son's room, I don't think I've shown you the new curtains in there.  I bought a decent rod at Hobby Lobby, but now I want to do this - so cool for a boy's room!

So, my hands are full this weekend.  What are your plans?

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DIY OVERSIZED CHALKBOARD CALENDAR

Because one entire chalk wall nook wasn't enough, I went and made another gigantic chalkboard for my kitchen!  

We haven't had a family calendar on the wall in a while, and I thought it was time for everyone to be able to see what we had going on.  I had a large picture hanging in my bathroom that was about to go when I overhaul it, and discovered it would be the perfect size for kitchen.

I popped out the picture and the mat and went to work updating the frame.  I wanted to keep some of the gold, but it needed to be brightened up.  I pulled out my trusty Rub N Buff and used a toothbrush to apply it...it works great on rougher surfaces like this getting down into all of the nooks and crannies.  When that dried, I taped off the gold leaves section and sprayed the outside of the frame black.

For the center, I had a piece of hardboard cut at Home Depot to fit.  Then, after priming the board, I followed the directions on the can and painted on a few coats of chalkboard paint.  After it cured for 3 days, I seasoned the board with chalk per the instructions and used a gold paint pen and a yardstick to mark off the calendar sections.  Then, I used this trick to secure the board in the frame.

It hangs right next to the big chalkboard wall, but that one is more for kids' doodling, to-do lists, and messages.

So far, the new calendar has been a big hit!  I think the kids have enjoyed seeing exactly what we have coming up, and we've enjoyed talking about our activities during family meals. 

Linking up with
Home Stories A to Z
The Shabby Nest

Thrifty Decor Chick
A Stroll Thru Life

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BREAKFAST NOOK NEW FURNITURE PLANS

So would you believe I'm STILL not finished with my dining room table?  I think this is the beginning of week 3 for that project.  I lost count.  When you have to wait 24 hours between each coat of stain and poly, (twice!), and work around real life, it takes forever!  I thought I had the last coat of poly on yesterday, but a few spots dried funny and I'm going to do a light sand and one more coat today.  I guess I needed to work on my patience or something. 

Anyway, with the new table coming in, the table that was in the DR will be moving back to the kitchen.  There's a good story with that one that I'll share later, but for today I wanted to fill you in on what I'm thinking.  Of course, I can't make up my mind!

Here's what I do know:

1) I bought a new (craigslisted) loveseat that will get an overhaul and new upholstery that will go at the head of the table, under the botanicals.  If you've been around a while, you might remember that we had another loveseat there for a while and we really loved it in the kitchen.  That one has since moved back to the living room.  The fabric will be black and white striped (are you surprised?).  It's not the same style as my inspiration image below, but the fabric will be like that one.

Little Green Notebook

2) I've already stripped the table coming back to the kitchen-I figured I might as well go ahead while I had everything out from doing the other table.  Here's a reminder of what it looks like and how it looks now stripped down-

I really want it to have a rustic, farmhouse-type look.  I'm really sort of liking it right now stripped down to the bare wood.  I still need to do some sanding on all of it and staining to get the leaves to match, but I hope to finish it off and achieve that well-worn look.

via

Here's what's up in the air:  the side chairs.

I thought about keeping the chairs that are currently there, but I think we're all ready for a change.  I'll probably sell that entire set.  Maybe.

So, there are 4 options that I'm floating between.

1) Keeping what I already have.

2) I have always loved the Louis style oval backed chairs mixed with a rustic table.  I looked at these at World Market several times while we were in Dallas last weekend, and they were really comfortable but something about the wood frame bothered me.  It seemed a little too "fake" or manufactured.  I like either the black (I would probably redo the fabric on the chair back to mix it up) or the linen (not sure if that's the right choice for the kitchen table that we use all. the. time.).  I check Craigslist faithfully but have not ever seen chairs like this.  Even a caned back with this shape would be great.

Miss Mustard Seed

3) I sort-of have a wild hair to mix some really modern chairs with the table and loveseat.  We sat in and *almost* bought the clear Tobias chairs from Ikea over the weekend.  I thought they were really comfortable but some of the reviews said they cracked after a year or so of normal use, and that scratches can be an issue.  If anyone has these, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them!  

via

4) I've had my eye on these Eames knock-offs from Overstock. The big benefits of these chairs for me are the super easy to clean seats, and I like how the wood legs would tie in with the table but still lend a modern look.

via

Putting it all together:

So, what do you think?  Do any of my local friends have some oval-backed louis-style chairs they are ready to part with and sell?   :)

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NEED A GREAT DRESS? TRY SHABBY APPLE!

For some time I've been aware of the Shabby Apple company and their beautiful dresses and clothes.  All of their designs have such a timeless feel to them, like all classic styles that have managed to stay around through the years. They are all modest and lady-like, which can be especially hard to find in a dress sometimes!  

I was recently given the opportunity to review a dress for Shabby Apple from their vintage clothing line, and for this Sunday Dress wearing girl, I jumped at the chance!  I was given many choices, but chose the Moon River style.  It's a beautiful charcoal grey color and I anticipate being able to wear it for a wide variety of events and activities. 

I wore it with a big statement necklace to church yesterday, but when it gets cooler I can't wait to try layering it with a cardigan and skinny belt or a scarf.  The color is so versatile and I'll be able to mix and match tons of different accessories with this dress.

I came *this close* to ordering the "Ski Bop", which is the same dress in a gorgeous red, but I had a few events in mind that I wanted to wear this dress for and felt that the charcoal would suit those better.    

This dress was SO comfortable. It has just the right amount of stretch in the fabric to hold it's shape well, and with the fabric content it will be easy to clean and care for and I'm not worried about ruining it if something were to spill on it.  

Shabby Apple has an entire collection of  retro and vintage clothing with a wide variety of styles and colors. In addition, they have blouses, pants, skirts, swimsuits, and accessories! 

I was slightly apprehensive about ordering a dress online, because I normally have to try everything on.  However, I followed their sizing guidelines and was so excited when it arrived that the dress was a perfect fit!  My order arrived within days and I appreciated their thought given to packaging.

I also love that Shabby Apple donates a portion of it's profits to charity, helping women worldwide be able to work their way out of poverty.

Here are some of my favorites from their vintage clothing line:  

Visit Shabby Apple today, you can also find them on Facebook and Instagram. 

Disclosure:  Dimples and Tangles was provided a dress to review by Shabby Apple.  All words and opinions about this product are mine.

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