Bench Buddy

Just a few changes this past week.  They are small but go along way in getting towards where I wanna be!   It all started when I saw these bench's in the Ballard's Catalog!  Nice Right???

 I love this bench, but I am not about to pay that amount of money for a bench when I knew I would come across something eventually that fit the bill.   These little bench's have a variety of uses and that's the appeal to me!   Worse comes to worse and I would beg the Mr. to make one and I'd ONLY have to listen to him complain about it the whole time.  But, that didn't happen because I found this one!

 I purchased this little bench some time ago from a consignment store for about $18.00.  Again, the Mr. thought it was absurd, but I loved this bench and had been looking for one for some time.  As I've showed you in a previous post it really comes in handy for keeping my laptop and favorite book handy next to my best chair.

 Anyway, while I have loved this bench, I did not love the stained finish.  I wanted a black bench!  Finally after a year or two of procrastinating here is my transformed little bench!  How do you like me now???

I think it's pretty sweet now!  It even already had a built in distressed look!  LOL!

That's it for today folks! One down, a zillion to go!  How about you? 

 Have you ever gotten on on the bench kick too?  They really are great little things to have around and are so easily available in all shapes and sizes to fit any space.

I am linking up for Met Monday today, please check out more wonderful transformations here:

                                     http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Leave me a note if you stop by, love to hear from ya!

Need Technical Blogging Advice

So today I switched to a new template.  I am using Minima Stretch but am having a very difficult time getting my collage pic to (fit to size) in the header.  It is either too small if I choose shrink to fit and too large if I don't shrink to fit.


I am using Picasa and cannot figure out how to shrink original photo to appropriate size, any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I would like for my collage photo to fit in my header parameters.  If anyone else out there has switched to this template and knows how to make your photos fit this header size, please let me know how.  I'm hoping to stay w/this template as I really love larger photos!  Please help.

Thanks for your help!

Blooming Bird Feeder

Yesterday I learned of a special friends husbands passing.  He and she are both near and dear to my heart because of their simple and strong examples of faith.  My friend is outstanding in her service to our community to the less fortunate.  He was a leader of youth and service in his church.  They shared a love that was genuine and pure and evident to all.  Their love for each other was only rivaled by their love and commitment to Jesus!  In September of 2009 he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and after a hard fought battle, the lord took him home on April 28, 2010.


I am sharing this with you because I cannot write today w/out writing what is on my mind and heart.   Like me,  they also shared a love of birds!  She and I had many talks about how they loved to sit on their porch together and watch the birds.   One of her many favorite scriptures is posted on my blog.   She is a spiritual mentor to many and myself as well.   We have discussed this scripture, from Matthew 6:26, about how God provides.

I believe God uses all of us to provide in many ways!  So, today in honor of my friend and the loss of her dear sweet husband I am sharing my latest bird feeder.  In my last post I mentioned I wasn't quite finished with my outdoor vignette.  Well the truth was, I thought something needed to sit on the little chair.  I had been thinking of potted plant or a lovely teacup feeder as our blogging  friend Debbie showed us here.

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

 

But then I was out and about this week and came across this at T.J. Maxx for $1.50.  Don't you know the wheels started spinning in my head as I gazed at this, I'd bet lots of you would have done the same.  Yes, this is a potted plant with a metal flower that has lost it's bloom!

Luckily, I remember I had something here at home that would work perfectly with this.  I've had this candle holder for some time and used it outside quite a bit as you can see it was starting to loose it's luster.   Trouble was how to get it to adhere w/out putting a whole in it and risk breaking the glass.

Then while rummaging in the drawer to retrieve this old candle holder I came across this old lid from a jar candle that I no longer have.  I picked it up and was thrilled to see it was just the size I needed to make a perfect base for the glass.

So I got out my husbands tools, shhh, don't tell him and tapped a whole in the top and attached to the top of my metal flower with some crazy glue.  Then I pulled out my craft paints and added some iridescent green to the leaves and stem and the jar lid.

Then after lightly painting a little white on the pot I glued the glass on the top w/the crazy glue.

And there it stands, ready for the finishing touch.

And for the final touch, I moved this little metal flower that has regained it's bloom plus a whole lot more.  I added a little bird seed and it was done!

It now serves a purpose as a new bird feeder in my yard and has claimed it's spot beautifully in my outdoor vignette.  Isn't it just the sweetest flower ever?  I love it!

I hope you will forgive me for arriving a little late to the parties, but real life has it's priorities.

  I am linking with the following parties today, please see these sites for more great finds.

http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/ for Frugal Friday

http://decormamma.blogspot.com/ for Frugalicious Friday

Thanks for sharing my world and let me know you stopped by.

Have a great weekend everybody!

It's Curb Appealing!

Improving the curb appeal of my front entrance has been quite a job!  It started several months back with the removal of several very large shrubs in the front of my house. This is how our entrance looked last summer.   I really don't know what these shrubs are but they are some of the hardiest shrubs ever!

 They continue to grow like crazy and require regular clippings  all year long to keep them from totally blocking the front porch.  Please note how tall they have to get to do that.  It's Amazing!  They also have small peculiar smelling blooms that are not the most appealing to me.  It's always hard for me to remove a thriving plant, but with a little help from my DH we finally did it. 

We removed just enough on each side to add several of my favorite shrubs, Gardenias!  Can you imagine just how wonderful this will be when these babies are blooming?  I can!  I have several in my backyard already and had them all around our other house.  There is nothing sweeter then Gardenia's in bloom!

With the removal of those very large shrubs my poor little bird bath needed some company.  I found this sweet little wrought iron chair at Tuesday Morning, then the Foxglove and the Coreopsis at Walmart. 

  All this blogging has me thinking vignettes everywhere.  So this is my lovely little outdoor vignette.  I think I want to add something more and am working on that, stay tuned.

 There are two very large light purple lantana that will fill in nicely before too long on each side of the steps but you will have to wait on those also.  Every year they come back even larger then before.

I also moved around these pots from the back deck with the ones I had here previously.  My larger clay pots eventually gave way to chipping so I retired them to backyard and moved these forward.  I just love the bright pink and orange geraniums!

And finally one more thing you will have to come back for, these lovely window box planters.

  I found these at Tuesday Morning also, but they only had one in this size so I am still waiting to see if another one turns up.  I really hope so since they are the size and shape I prefer.  We have (3) Tuesday Morning's here w/in easy driving distance for me so I know I find another eventually with a little patience.  I plan to hang these on the railing on each side of the stairs, here.

Did you notice I have these lovely PVC railings that pose a dilemma?  Ordinary planter brackets are not going to work here.  I do have a solution I am saving for later.  However,  I would love to hear your solution ideas or if you know of an inexpensive supplier of PVC planter brackets if there is such a thing.

Well, that's a sneak peek into the makeover of my front entrance.  I'm not all there yet but a whole lot closer and I am loving it.  I am almost ready to move on to the front porch.  Come back for that one too, K?

Leave me a message if you please, I love hearing from you!

I am linking with the following parties today, please go by these sites for more wonderful stories and pics!

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ for Outdoor Wednesday

http://www.thestoriesofa2z.com/ for Ready,set, Vignette

http://alwaysnesting.blogspot.com/ for Woohoo Wednesday

Foyer Vignette Update

Hi!  Yes, I am a little obsessed with perfecting this space.  Sometimes a picture is what you need to see balance a little better.  I kept thinking I love those Hydrangeas there, but they really need to be a bit bigger.  Well, while I'm contemplating getting a larger Hydrangea display I did a little swap-a-roo!  I moved my vase of Iris's off the table in den and added a few more.

Wow!  What a difference that makes to me!  I am much more satisfied with this. 

What do you think? Much better, huh?  And don't worry I just moved the smaller hydrangeas here.

  Sorry, Marty!  Not sure if I should be re-entering again today but sometime inspiration hits a little late. 

Also I had a request to see my stairwell stenciling so I've decided to share that today and join another party too.   Of course that would be the Nifty Thrifty party because I did this because I was being thrifty.

My stairway is pretty as it was but has a very simple design.  I love all types of moulding and had considered adding decorative wood trim but didn't want to pay for what I would love to do.  Sometimes, you have to prioritize your projects with your budget.  This just was not high on my spending list.  So I actually stamped these out on the wood with paint to get the look I wanted.

As you can see I am not very picky and didn't worry with getting thick coverage.   I wanted a subtle look so I chose a neutral beige color and stamped away.  I am very happy with the outcome and since I already had the stamp and paint on hand it didn't cost me a dime.

I think it adds just that little bit extra surprise that grabs your attention and makes you smile.  Hope you like the changes and updated blog, man, am I on a roll.  I've been drinking lots of water today from our blog friend Liz's suggestion here @  http://lizssavvyseasons.blogspot.com/ .  I've also added drops of lemon to help rev up the metabolism and it seems to be working.  I am getting so much done today!  Linking up with Marty again, and with Linda today as well at the following;

http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/



Well, gotta go, the screen porch needs cleaning again.  The oak pollen is still high around here and leaving me with another mess.  Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by AGAIN!  :))

Foyer Vignette

I've been working on my foyer vignette.  The foyer table is one we have had for some time and store all our old photos in..those mega amounts of photos that are on paper.  It is quite literally loaded with a few albums and box's of photos.  Our thinking has always been in the event of  a fire and there's time shove this table right out the front door.  So this old cabinet table remains our foyer table!  One day maybe I'll tackle the table itself, but for now I'm just trying to keep the vignette on top pretty.

It was difficult to get good photos today as it was somewhat overcast so I hope you'll bear with me.  The entrance is the first thing people see when they enter so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I came across the lamp a few years back.  It's a pineapple lamp of course!

And pineapples mean, " WELCOME "

And here is the rest of the vignette

Of course all good southerns display hydrangeas in the summer

And when company comes I like to greet them w/fragrant candles in this electric candle warmer

So sorry for the glare on my tin plate. Yes, you read that right, it's tin.  It was ordered online from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in N.Y.  The design is called the "Duke of Gloucester" Pattern taken from an English Worchester soup plate made about 1780.  I saw it some time ago in a magazine and had to order one too!

And these newest little cuties were picked up today at the $1.00 store.  I may give them a glaze soon, but they are right cute for now an look just adorable perched up there on this small butter plate stand.  I purchased this at an antique store for $1.00.  It's basically a plate glued onto a glass candle holder. Cute!

The mirror I've also had for some time.  It's nothing special but it fits the space nicely and I can display my Bradford Exchange plates around it perfectly.  Speaking of plates, I started collecting these when I was a young girl in high school.  I had a part time job and wanted to invest in these.  I love Norman Rockwell and these were something that interested me quite a bit.  I never did complete the set, but I do love the ones I have.  Take a look and see if you agree.

These are part of the "American Dream Collection".  Each plate depicts those momentous times in life.

Well, that's the way I have it set up today.  It's still not exactly what I would like this table to look like but it's getting closer.  I am open to any and all suggestions and am linking up with Marty today at

 http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

for

Be sure and check out more awesome posts here too!

Thanks for stopping by!