brightest winter moon

tonight is the brightest moon of the year.

special effects from picnik include softening and matte.

g.w.'ing 1.25.10

hadn't been thrifting in about 10 days. here's a few finds for this trip.



found:

1. concrete angel statue
2. black easel
3. pewter vase....made by international pewter.
4. fostoria crystal hearts and diamonds goblet.....avon 1978, i believe this came originally as 2 goblets and included candles. the original adhesive sticker is still attached to goblet.

can you believe this whole vignette was less than 5 dollars? well the candy added another 3 dollars. the candy suckers were 3 for a dollar at dollar tree.





here's a close-up of the goblet.....i love this piece for valentine's day. it's filled with red hots.




cute little white china plates.....already strung with black and white ribbon......soooooo matches the theme in my dining area already. i am impressed that someone had thought of this idea....will look for more plates like these.....and make some more.





pear candles on an iron tray.....most expensive trinket of the day. 4.99.





finally, a 12 inch cornhusk turkey for next fall's decorating. have always wanted one for fall decor. but for now we need to say bye bye to him, he's heading down to the basement storage room. see ya in about 9 months...little gobbler.

linking to.....

building of THE loft- week 1

this weekend the human backhoe started the first big interior project on our log home since we moved in a year ago.




we knew from the moment we looked at our sweetwater bend log home that we wanted to open up this upstairs hallway. the hallway is actually 20 feet long and very narrow, altho in the pic it appears shorter than that. the room to the right was a 6x16 storage closet. we wanted to make a loft area for our boys to hang out in and we wanted the loft to overlook the staircase leading up from the greatroom. the two other rooms in the pic are the boys rooms. there is one more guest bedroom and bathroom on this level also.




the interior of the storage room was a dark and dreary space. i thought about maybe a craft room for this area.....but i couldn't fathom the idea of sitting in this dark space and being the least bit creative.

and i truly did not need another stuff collecting area in the home.




the new roughed-in loft space. note that it took about a day to build the new 16ft header and get this sucker installed. it was made of triple 2x12 douglas fir. and this not even a load bearing wall......hehehe. human backhoe, 17 yo son, and i lifted this thing into place.......a couple people in this group were muscular, i suppose.





looking from inside the storage closet towards where the loft overlook will be.




hey where did that wall go?......it IS gone!!!!!! yeah!!!! i CAN see the staircase. i can see the boys performing romeo and juliet already.......teehee.


here's the plan....not inorder of completion:

1. install heartpine wide plank floors
2. knock down the texture ceiling
3. build in an entertainment/storage system under the eave so as not to take up floor space.
4. install loft balcony railing that overlooks the staircase that leads to the main floor. this will probably be wrought iron. altho we haven't completely ruled out a pine railing of some sort.
5. of course.......paint.......no more 1980's green or stark white walls in this area.
6. oh and.....remove carpet on the stairs and refinish the existing wood stair treads that were previously covered.

my plan is to have this done before spring.........ummmm hb's plan is to not have any imposed deadline's by me......:0)

chocolate FUDGE pie

chocolate FUDGE pie.........no kidding. this is no understatement...lol. this is a killer chocolate pie. when i read the recipe that only 1/10th of this pie is a serving.......uh i was like ummmm right......only 1/10th? give me at least an 1/8th(more likely 1/6th) of a slice of this pie.

oh my goodness....this is like eating pure silken fudge. i could only eat a small piece. it is like eating a chocolate truffle middle, to be even more accurate.



and



i.love.chocolate.truffles.














the recipe is from Southern Living's Feb. '10 issue. page 96 to be exact.




here's the simple recipe.......


1 pie crust shell
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares
1 can sweetened condensed fat free milk
1/2 carton of fat free cool whip



directions:
1. bake pie crust shell at 425 until crust is browned and allow to cool
2. melt 6 oz unsweetened chocolate in microwave in medium sized glass bowl, stir every 30 secs.
3. wisk in can of sweetened condensed milk to melted chocolate
4. wait 2 mins, then fold in cool whip
5. scrape chocolate mixture into pie shell and refrigerate for at least 4 hours
6. top with cool whip or whip cream .......i used chocolate whipped cream from rediwhip to add a garnish to my pie.
7. top with rasberries if you want......mmmmmmm




this was considered a guilt-free healthy recipe?.....ummmmmmm ok.....teehee. low fat sure, but i was in pure chocolate sugar heaven eating this!


oh and btw.....i did only eat a 1/10th size piece....imagine that......:)


silver pieces are from one of our local goodwills......the heart is especially gorgeous and a very heavy piece. linking this gorgeous piece to........

romantic feather valentine's wreath

simple and elegant valentine's feather wreath. so very easy to make.


here's the only things you need:

1.pale pink feather boa
2.pale pink gingham or pale pink wire ribbon
3.straight pins






4.straw wreath











*just wanted to update as i got a couple emails on the pink boa.....picked it up at hobby lobby for 3.50 (50% off).....quite the bargain. everything else i already had at home.



and so simple directions(i hate to really even write them out):

1.wrap straw wreath in ribbon, using straight pins to keep in place as you circle around the wreath.

2.wrap ribboned wreath with feather boa and pin into place as you circle wreath.

3.attach valentine ornament or leave simply as feathered wreath.







.........old fashioned romance in a wreath.




linked to http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

repurposed sofa table

we have wanted a buffet for our great room dining area since we moved into our sweetwater bend log home a little over a year ago. i had looked (shopped) and looked(shopped)for one. there were 3 criteria the buffet had to meet:

1)that it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.
2)it had to fit into a pretty narrow space, so no more than 18 inches in depth.
3)it had to have excellent potential for refinishing. i didn't want to have to repair a drawer that didn't work right, etc.

after having not being able to find something just right, i decided to go up in our attic to see if i could find anything that could work. i had forgotten we had this extra sofa table stored up there. i had the human backhoe help me get it down. i then placed it with an old plate rack i had up in the attic also. of course, i had forgotten about this piece too. this is what they looked like before refinishing and decorating. never mind the dust.



after all the priming and painting and new drawer pulls, hb and i brought them up from the basement and placed them on what has been a bare wall since we moved in. i then did a quick deca-ma-tate to it....secret code word for decorate....in our house....:) note that the plate rack is hung directly on the sofa table. i didn't want it raised up higher on the wall.




a small collection of glass hearts used to deca-ma-tate with....in honor a valentine's day coming up.




i love, love, love this knitted scarf used as a runner on the table.....really warms it up for winter.



and here are the cute little toile bunny hang'em ups purchased a few weeks ago hanging beside the plate rack.




and another apothcary jar found at goodwill recently filled with candy hearts....i love that the two candy hearts that can be read the best in jar when taking the pic said "i want you" and "i'm in love". hey h.b.....did you see that?





linking to

just one corner in our home is more than our neighbors

just one corner in our blessed homes is more than our neighbors in haiti have......our families prayers are with the people of haiti and all those who are helping in their very own ways.

dj

cohesive plate grouping

i received 5 sweet little plates that had been handpainted by a friend of mine as a gift back in 2008. it has taken until now for me to finally get them placed in our sweetwater bend log home.


i knew i wanted them grouped together but couldn't figure out how i wanted to present them as a group. i didn't just want to hang them each by themselves. i thought about a shadow box type configuration, but then i found these plate hanger discs at micheal's. maybe you all have seen them? you glue them to the back of the plate and it doesn't ruin the finish on the back of the plate.....i.e....my friend's sig and date on the back of each plate will still be there when i remove the adhesive disc. this was an important thing to me.






so that is what i did ....i then looped wire ribbon through the metal hangers that are attached to adhesive disc. by doing this i had a cohesive grouping of the sweet lil plates. i like cohesiveness...makes things less knick knacky, i suppose.





a close-up of one of the plates. i think it's beautiful.

linking to....

blue and white snow day

today was a snow day for the boys. the first of the year for our district. the boys and i love snow days. we had a blast making cookies, ice skating, and cross country skiing. to make our day a tiny bit special, we got out my grandmother's currier and ive's china to enjoy our cookies on. the currier and ive's tumblers were a gift from the human backhoe from when we first met. i love them. they can be hard to find tho. i think it is important to use the special things in our home every so often. there is no reason for it to just be stored away.....for some day.




we baked the cookies using the classic tollhouse recipe....we added nestle chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts and a whole cup of buttah.......mmmmm mmmmm.

my 17 year old, cole, took the initiative to head down to the lake to clear an ice rink for us....thank you.



thanks guys for a fun lil' snow day. bummer for me tho....i am sure you will have school tomorrow.....:(

january decor in the log home

happy clean january decorating....

above is a collection of goodies mainly rounded up at the local goodwill's and salvation army. we are fortunate that we have 4 of these within about 20 mins. of our house. i think there hasn't been a week within in the last few months that i haven't rounded on them. anyone else as fortunate to have this same situation? i think i am a bit addicted to them........least it's a cheap addiction. don't be nodding your head dear hubby......i can see you....:)


a love collecting R's...i love how they look in general.....if i find a unique one...i usual have to have it..uhhhh.. it's a good thing my last name starts with a R then, huh?......love this one painted on glass i found at hobby lobby. i need to do this myself! may have to put this on my list.




a few other things i am loving this jan. are these little finds found at "the lobby"......again there are 3 h.l's within 30 mins of sweetwater bend. we live in a dangerous area.....monetarily......:)





this is my total find!!!!!!! this apothecary jar for twenty dollars at hobby lobby on major clearance. it was 80% off. cannot wait to fill it with goodies thru the year. any ideas for the month of january? the boys would like candy changed out monthly......hmmmmm.....a good candy for january? any ideas? i really need to think on this.......maybe just leftover xmas candy.....hehehe....mom's just kidding boys.....really i am.

finally these cute little bunny hang 'em ups....don't know where they are going yet.......another clearance find at h.l.




aren't they sweet?

the nude sink

quick! take a look at this gosh awful nude/buff colored sink......



have you ever seen such a hidious color for a kitchen sink? well i hadn't. but we lived with it for a year......imagine that, for someone that has so little patience in regards to priority reno projects. no matter how much me or human backhoe scrubbed on it....it never ever looked clean. now wave bye-bye to it as it is headed to the habitat for humanity restore store bright and early in the morn.


and tadah!!!!.....here's our new baby.....(you might wanna protect your eyes from the gleaming white surface)....:)



it is a brand new huge cast iron kohler drop-in sink that we bought from craigslist for $70 last july. i really wanted a true farmhouse apron sink, but for the price of this one, ol' hb and i couldn't pass it up. this sink is huge and it makes for very easy washing of larger items.

we then added the gorgeous moen lancaster pull-down faucet in the mediterranean bronze finish...and there went any savings that we had incurred with the sink.....sorry hb.

well we still have a lot to do in our little log home kitchen as we renovate as time and moolah allows, including the more than temporary laminate counter tops you can see in the pic.

here's a running total on what has been completed on our kitchen by my dear h.b.:
-new sink installation
-new double drawer dishwasher installation
-new french door refridgerator and installation of new water line to it.

and here's a running total of what still needs to be completed:
-oh nevermind.....it'll all get done, won't it hb?.....:)

linking to the before and after party at......http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com