Granny Crochet Blanket

I love the trend right now of using granny crochet blankets.  I found one the other day at Goodwill and love it.  It was only $1.99 so not a big investment.  The only problem is I have no where to put it quite yet.  I played around with a couple of spots in our house, but nothing seemed right.  I really like the Hollywood Regency look, and this isn't it.  I will find a spot for her someday.  These are some pics of me trying to make it work.

I updated my chalkboard with an attempt at chevron.  I didn't work too hard at it because Noah's birthday is  Sunday and I will be writing something new for him.

I also added a new picture to the chandy with ghost shade I posted the other day here.  I added some crystals to each corner of the ghost shade.  Hope you all have a good day.  

Ghost Shade

I have been struggling with the light that goes to our downstairs.  It is silver and it had the traditional boob glass with like white powder swirls in it.  I can't like it.  That by the way is what my son Noah who is almost three always says when he doesn't like something.  This is what it looked like.

I then just finally couldn't stand looking at it anymore so I removed the glass shades and added an Edison light bulb because I love those so much.

I wasn't sure what to do.  That light was such a pain to hang and I just wanted to update it a little bit.  This morning I decided to check out Goodwill to see if there was anything there I could use to make it look better.  I didn't see anything till I was about to leave the store.  They had these black rod iron style planters that I thought would work out perfect.  I want to be able to see the light bulb, just don't like the look of having nothing.  So of course I jumped right in on the makeover when I got home and forgot to take a proper before, but this is what was in the planter.

 You get the idea.  Tons of people out there have been making these shades.  The nice thing about this shade is that it isn't actually rod iron, it is like a hard rubber that we were able to bend to attach to the existing light.  This is what it looks like now all hung.

It looks pretty cool.

I got some other treats there too, but saving for another day.  Love Goodwill....

UPDATE:

I decided to add some crystals to the corners of the light.  It looks a lot better.  

UPDATE Part 2:

I decided to spray paint the planters silver.  The black just didn't match the main part of the light.  I think this is it for this light.

Record Collection

I mentioned that I have gotten quite a few AWESOME records lately during my yard sale adventures.  The hope we have is to have all the basic old rock and great party music, and then build with newer artists.  The last garage sale I went to had like five boxes of albums and they were only 10 for $3.00.  There were so many albums that I could barely look through them, not to mention having the kids with me.  I did get like 12 albums, then went back a couple days later when everything was free.  I got 5 more records.  This is where I keep the little vintage squares.

I also got a fabulous deal on an air conditioner for the porch.  The windows out there can't hold a standard air conditioning unit, we needed a portable one.  My theory in garage sale world is one you have probably heard before, "if you think it, it will come."  I literally found this my first weekend out and about.  It was $46.00.  It works awesome, and has a retail value of $329.00.  The people had moved, and the windows they had wouldn't work with this anymore.  Our windows didn't really work with the unit either, but we had a piece of plexiglass cut to size and put her in.

The other cool item I got, that probably isn't exciting to you all is a rustic bowl for nutcrackers.  It was .50 cents.  My grandmother always had one, and it just seems super vintage to me.  It will be out at Christmas.  The strange thing is I am allergic to nuts, but still had to have it. I know I need some nut crackers. 

The next thing I want to find is a vintage glass and brass serving/bar cart.  I just have to think I will find it and I will.  Let us see how long it takes for me to get this piece.  It is a must for me right now.  I want one similar to this.  Love it.... Fingers crossed.

Seriously Though

O.....M.....G......  I just figured out how to get my pictures bigger on my blog.  I know yeahhh I am only coming on 2 years of blogging.  Well from what I can tell looking at all the fabulous blogs I see out there you all probably know how to do this and can even probably erase an age spot from my face.  If there are any decor people out there like me who don't happen to be computer genius's you just click on the picture you download and click on large or extra large in the blue box. DAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I'll get it someday.  In fairness to me we were using wordperfect in college, and the internet wasn't really around.  I did Pottery instead of Photography.  I feel like my pics look so much better now.  Geeeeeeezzzz

Deck Progress

Tom filled the tubes with cement getting ready for building the deck.  It was a big deal because it was a cool 91 degrees out that day.  

The projects are a little slow going right now due to the extreme heat.  Garage sales seem to be pretty slow right now as well.  I have found quite a few records to add to my collection, which I love.  I got a surprise tweet from Andy Cohen.  I showed him a picture of Molly watching him on TV and I sent him a picture of it.  He tweeted back xxo.  I was so psyched.  Love his talk show and all the Real Housewives shows.  Toodles.

Zgalleries Throw

My new throw from Zgalleries.  It is hard to think about needing a lux throw like this right now, it is hotter than hell outside.  It was $30.

Deck

We broke ground on the building of our new deck.  The deck will be off the porch and overlooking our pool.  We have not opened our pool yet, because we do not have a proper fence around it. Tom rented an auger the other day to dig the 4 ft holes we need to put the sonar tubes in.  The tubes will be filled with cement this week.  This is where the support beams will be to start the building of the deck.  The first hole that was dug had a huge rock about 3 ft down.  Tom worked and worked to get that mother out.  Then the second hole had a piece of wood that the auger couldn't get past.  Tom ended up getting his chain saw out and sawing it in two.  It was probably the worst part of this deck building process I hope.   I can't wait for the deck, I have so many ideas for it.  There will be more done out there next year, but this year we are starting with a basic rectangle deck.


This is the auger, it was rented and cost $72.00.  Digging 4 ft down by hand would not have been fun.

This is the area where the holes are going to be dug for the support beams.

 This is the auger in action.  This part was easy, finding things down in the ground that you have to get out by hand was the hard part.  Hopefully this will not happen to you.

 These are the tubes in place after the holes were dug.  The area around the tubes needed to be back filled.  That means putting the dirt back in hole around the tubes.  Tom put water around it as well.

 This is the pool area.  The deck will go out to the beginning of the  pool deck.  We need a beam right on the ground in front of the pool deck.  There is 3 ft of gravel below the pool deck so we are going to use a piece of cement for the beam that goes there.

It will be nice when it is complete.  We have quite a bit of work ahead of us.  

Curtains for Windows on Porch

I decided to bring out some curtains I had used at one time out on the porch.    They are a white gauzy type of curtains. The curtains really flow all around when the windows are open and you get a good breeze.  It started out looking like this.

Then I started washing the windows and noticed something walking behind the fence of the pool heading up front.  I looked twice, because a couple weeks ago I saw a huge bear run across our front yard.  It was a black bear and according to everyone I tell the story to they are harmless.  This is what I spyed.

It was just a deer.  She ran away so fast I couldn't get a good picture.  I continued working and this is what I ended up with.

I moved my desk/table in the corner.  I also added a disco ball above.  When I put the ball up I thought, "is this too much?"  but then I read this and new it had to be cool.  Adam got a telescope for his birthday that we use for checking out the stars at night.

Have a good day kids!

Design Star

I loved the last Design Star episode sooooo much.  I am obsessed with  Kardashian home decor, especially Kris Jenner.  The contestants made over her office building and it was right up my alley. These are some pics from the show.  




Those green color tufted couches are awesome!

 That wall paper is the inspiration for my porch painters tape wall.  I thought it was greek key design, I was wrong.  I still love it.

 I love that mirrored wall on the right!

Do you guys watch this show?  It's way better then watching another episode of House Hunters.  My favorite contestant is Danielle. This was Danielle's work for Kris Jenner.  There was more to this room I was just unable to find more pictures of it.  Love the stripes!  

She also did this room for the white room challenge.  I love the gold accent color and dramatic plant.  I think I need some vegetation in the porch, hmmmmmmm.

Happy Fathers Day to all the good Fathers out there!

Gold Curtains

I got some curtains for the porch the other day.  I wanted to have gold curtains.  I love the look of  black, white, and gold with touches of silver.  I convinced Tom to hang the curtain rod for me, and I put the curtains up.

UPDATE:  I thought the curtains needed a little something, something.....So I added some white sheers behind.  What do you think?

    The windows that it is covering is what used to be an outdoor window, as the porch was an addition.  It is ugly, so it needs to be covered.   
     I hope to of course go to some garage sales this weekend.  Adams baseball team is moving on to the championships, and he made the all star team!   School is out for the summer, so I will be a little busier than I usually am.   Have an awesome weekend!
UPDATE:
I decided to put the gold curtains on clips.  I think it looks better.

Docksta Table

I am so excited to show you my new craigslist purchase.  I got the docksta table made by Ikea.  I love this table!  It was listed for $40 and stated it was wobbly and and had some chipped paint on top she paid $179 for it.  I had looked up reviews of the table and lots of people had said the table was wobbly so I was nervous that Tom wouldn't  be able to fix it.  I don't know what I was thinking!  Tom can fix most anything.  He took it all apart and tightened all the nuts and bolts and this baby doesn't wobble at all.  We filled the chipped paint with wood filler, sanded, primed, and spray painted the top in glossy white.  Oh and the best part.... It was only $30, I talked her down $10.  I plan on using this as our new office / desk.  It isn't completely set up the way I want yet.  I am sure I will be changing it up a hundred times.  Check it out...

The white spots are where the chipped paint was.  The top of table is made with press board, so the only thing that really worked to fill those areas was white wood filler.  You should sand it down until you see the chip mark.

This will be a great place for me to get my blogging on.

A little black and white never hurt anyone.

Thirty bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!