Monday, September 13, 2010

Fall Vignettes and a BIG Thank You!

I'm all about fall decorating lately and I'm finally ready to show you more fall vignettes.  It's time for Tabletop Tuesday and Nifty Thrifty Tuesday so please hop on over to both of these sites after your visit with me.  Be sure and tell them I sent ya too Okay?


But before I go any further I want to say a great big Thank You to our friend Jennifer from All that Glitters.  She had a fantastic giveaway not to long ago that I was the lucky winner and recipient of.  Girl, I just love all my wonderful goodies!  I won't be featuring them all on display today because one item I'm saving to show you for another very special meme.  However, let me show you what was waiting for me when I got home from running errands on Friday.  Of course I had to open it right away and this is what it looked like inside.

Oh, I love the black and white check ribbon and toile paper!  Thank you!


My very cute red large rooster measuring cups are adorable!


And this candle smells divine.  I can't wait to burn it and enjoy this wonderful scent.  Don't you just love the container the candle is in too!  I will definitely be keeping that when the candle is finished.


And last but sooo not least this adorable tin sign!  I just love it!  It even has a cute metal hanger attached.

Thank you so much Jennifer!  I am so inspired to have one of these giveaways of my own soon, and I know just the occasion coming up to have one!  I love your beautiful note card too!  Please be sure and check back later to see how I am using some of this! 


 Of course you won't have to wait on the candle.  It looks right at home right next to my rooster who got a dash of fall leaves and a sweet little pumpkin.  I bought these pumpkins from Ross last year, three in a box.  I saw they are back this year too and are only $3.99 for the box of three.  So if you like them, get on over to Ross!

My candle with the rooster topper moved next to the vinegar decanter.  I added the red candle ring I already had and some fall leaves to the ivy!  Easy fall spruce up!




I added more fall leaves to this Ivy also.  Do you recognize the canape holder.  It was the one I got from Goodwill for .50cents.  I spray painted it with ORB and added these little square bowls I found from Ross. 



I still have not found any 5" square plates I prefer yet but these bowls certainly did fit the bill.  They were only $1.99 each too! 


My dining room buffet table got a little fall decor too.


Just enough to let you know it's that time of year.


And this little vignette has me pretty pleased!  I already had the pumpkin with the blessing on it and put it on that gold candlestick I got this year at a thrift store.  How do you like the bow?  The cute little pumpkins in front of my tin plate are from the dollar tree.


The coffee table got more ribbon and a few more items also.




The cornucopia is an old one I had as well as the leaves, but it looks great next to this new pumpkin I got from Hobby Lobby.




These adorable little pumpkins came from Hobby Lobby too!  I got them on sale at 50% off of 2.50 each.  Not a bad deal huh?  I just love the cut work on these!  Gorgeous!



I have to also show you my arrangement outside!   It's been done awhile and I thought I was going to get the porch cleaned up to show you, now I'm not sure when that's going to happen!   So, I thought I'd at least show you the table by the front door!

There's Mr. Sassy looking very handsome next to my arrangement.



As if all of that wasn't enough, I just have to show you my latest deals.  I made my Walmart run this morning and look what I found all on clearance.  Our Walmart is already marking down the fall items.  I guess it's time to make room for Halloween.  Anyway, so many lovelies!  But I really needed these!


I don't know about you but we go through kitchen towels like crazy!


I don't usually have to replace the oven mitts to often but the ones we had, have been burning our hands right through the mitt.  The dark burgundy smaller mitt and holder were only $1.50 for the set and the larger mitt was only $2.50.


The heavier towel in the background was only $2.50 and the two rooster towels only .75 cents each!


And this beautiful linen looking towel was only $1.50.

Did you notice that they had the Better Homes and Garden label?  I sure did!  I am just so in love with all the Better Homes and Garden stuff that is coming out in Walmart!  It is fantastic!  I even saw some plates I fell in love with that were Better Homes and Garden.   No surprise there huh?  No worry, I didn't get them.  LOL!

Well its looking very fallish around here now! 
It's still pretty hot though in the afternoons, but the leaves are falling and it's definitely in the air!

Thanks for stopping by...have a great Tuesday!
Mary


Sunday, September 12, 2010

Sewing table makeover


I am ever so happy to have this makeover finished!   It is my sewing table makeover!  If you follow my blog you know I have been working on this since the makeover of my craft/sewing room.

Right about the same time I decided to makeover one of the spare bedrooms upstairs into my craft/sewing room our son who lives out of town decided to bring home a piece of furniture he no longer wanted.

When he moved out he took this desk with him to use as a desk and dresser in one.  He decided he no longer wanted to use this as his desk and dresser and then bought his own furniture to use that was more suited to his own style.  So, this meant he called home to say, Mom, I'm bringing that old desk home!  This was great news to me as I had always used this desk for my sewing table.  It is narrow enough that I can bring the presser foot around and sew easily.  It also has enough drawers to store all my sewing items.  However, this is how it looked when he brought it home.  It has looked this way for quite some time actually!  I decided immediately it was time to give this desk a makeover too!





 
I gave it a very good sanding  then several coats of off white paint.




I decided to leave the top unpainted, so I could put a stain on the top.



I was really pleased at how well I sanded the top out.



Here it is after the first coat of stain.  The Mr. took over from here and gave the top 3 more coats of urethane after this.  He really wanted to make sure we had a good finish on top, since this was a hand me down piece from his family.


Rather then put the same old wooden knobs back on which I didn't have all of, I decided to use some other knobs that I already had.  They were the brass knobs that I had from the kitchen when we first moved in.  I kept all of them after replacing them with the crystal knobs.  So I pulled out 6 of them, rubbed them with Acetone and spray painted them with ORB!



They really turned out great and I was so thrilled to be able to use them.  I am now pondering all the other things I will also be able to use them for.



So, here is my sewing table!  Please don't pay attention to the picture frame I have sitting on top.  I will either be buying a nice print to go over my sewing machine or painting something special to go here myself.  The frame is here to help me visualize.



I am so happy to have this project finished because I have many sewing projects stacking up that I really want to get too.  Yes, those fabrics on the chairs are all sewing projects lined up to be completed.



I put a runner on this desk for now so as not to scratch the top.  I really want to put a glass or Plexiglass top on here so when I sew I can move things about without worry of marring the top.



Here's a close up of the knobs!  Yep, I need to touch up under the top, I'll get to that!



Here's a close up of the stained finish on top.  Beautiful isn't it?









I'm still loving how my sewing and craft room is coming together!  Thanks for joining me today!
I hope you enjoyed your visit and come again!
Mary

I am linking up to http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for Metamorphosis Monday.
Please be sure and join the link above for more wondrous transformations!
Mary

Friday, September 10, 2010

When it all comes together!

Don't you just love when it all finally comes together.  I do!  That's how it was for me yesterday!  I spent my time around the house straightening up and rearranging a few things that I've been meaning to get to but just hadn't gotten to yet.  You know how that goes.


Anyway, it started with one big, whew,  I'm so glad I finally found the right look moment.  Do you remember when I showed you this plate arrangement back in July in this post?

I had been working on this for some time and looking for just the right plates to add.


To refresh your memory I added the two blue Vera Bradley plates to complete this arrangement.  I was very excited to have found them at the beach this year at one of my favorite stores.  They had just the right colors for this dining room and were just the right size.   But after living with them for a few months they just weren't cutting it for me!  I hate when that happens!  Does that ever happen to you?  Well, it does me, and that's when you realize you aren't done yet.  You keep on looking for something else.

So when I saw these two plates at Marshalls I thought that's it!  They are perfect!  That will be it!


They are black with off white, and who doesn't love toile right?


So pretty and what a deal at only $2.99!  Well, I'm not even going to show you what they looked like on the wall.  Sadly enough I pulled the price stickers off before I got them on the wall and then realized I liked the Vera Bradley plates way better then these!  I resigned to keep the toile plates and use them for some of my tables capes.

Then as I was out and about this week I decided to stop in at Belks.  I haven't been by there in awhile and I was thinking I really need to stop by and check out their clearance china.  I don't know about your Belks, but ours puts china on clearance all the time.  I love to look through their clearance and find small pretty dishes and saucers to use for candle holders.  I once found a pretty white for Wedgeford china dish for only one or two dollars.  I know right!  I like to give these small dishes with a candle as gifts from time to time.

Okay back to my story, while looking through the clearance dishes I found two more salad plates that I knew would be perfect.  The colors were right, I liked the pattern and OMG!  They were on clearance for $1.89 each!  I brought them home put them up and that's when the WHEW moment arrived.


This looks sooo much better to me.  I like how they blend with the other dishes better then the Vera Bradley plates I had.


They have a white (not off white) background and a gold rim..but not too gold, like the frame below.  It 's going to get a before and after treatment of it's own soon.  Don't fret I know just what to do with that!

These are from the Biltmore for Your Home line of fine china, exclusively at Belks.  LOL!


The pattern is Crochet Flower.  Very pretty name huh?  I love it!

Now don't worry the Vera Bradley plates are staying in the dining room because I do still absolutely love them.  I just need to get some plate hangers for them.

They will look excellent stacked on top of each other here above this chair!  That way they are not competing with any other plates.

Then as if that wasn't enough I did more cleaning and organizing in the black sideboard in my dining room and came across two of these gold plate stands that I wasn't using.  I knew I had one, but had forgot I had two.  I put the black toile plates in my cabinet and then pulled them back out. 

I had another wait a minute moment, I know where these need to go!  Didn't they look kind of fallish to you with the wheat and everything?  I know I said I like to keep my mantle streamlined but these plates were begging to be displayed. 

I actually think this is still pretty streamlined though.


And I love this set up!


I think I have gone dish crazy lately since tablescaping.


But I sure do like this look a lot better too!  Who doesn't love toile right?
I am linking to Arties Vignette Fridays.

Hope you enjoyed the changes, thanks for stopping by!
Mary