Last chance.

Our little town up north in the middle of nowhere hosts the last curling bonspiel

of the year called Last Chance Bonspiel, for obvious reasons.

As I've been dragging junk out from under the beds for my next garage sale,

I'm rethinking whether or not I'll ever use said junk and giving it 

one last chance to shine in our home.

Sometimes all it needs is a little refresh.

I asked my design assistant to remove the shiny black paint from this old window frame

and voila!  Gorgeous weathered wood hiding underneath!

I'm not completely sold on this arrangement yet, so I haven't painted

over the 49 nail holes I've filled from the previous look.

I picked up these sconces in July of 2011 and they've
been granted a temporary reprieve from the garage sale pile.

On May 7 (Just like the birth of our daughters, I remember the exact day they were delivered.)
our sofa and love seat will celebrate their 26th birthday.  Our daughters flew the coop
at 18 years of age, but our faded and worn furniture is reluctant to leave.  sigh

As you may remember, after reading her book last summer, Marie Kondo changed my life.
After selling a garage full of vintage items for pennies on the dollar, I'm much more discriminate
 as to what I'll fork out hard earned dollars for.  I actually went to an estate sale
today and left without spending a dime!

But.....

Lookie what I found in our youngest daughter's garage sale donations!
I violated Rule #625:  Do not look through items your daughters are giving away.

I held them in my hands and contemplated their fate.
Do I really need them?
Yes, I do.  No, I don't.
What to do, what to do........

Have you noticed that Pinterest seems to know exactly what you're thinking about?
I clicked on Pinterest last night and look what popped up....

source

 source

source

That settles it.

Rufus and Barkley will be staying.

So.
It seems I've still got some work to do before I'm completely cured,
but those dogs didn't cost me a dime!

 Well, actually, I did buy one of them.


Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!
Vickie

* I'm joining the parties at:
Thoughts from Alice Sundays at Home
The Essence of Home  Share Your Style

Kitchen update.

I've been trying to stay focused and only allow myself
to work on the kitchen project I've already started
before I get sidetracked by another.

Did I happen to mention that we've got 2 kitchens?  hehe

Don't worry, this kitchen was finished months ago.

The red shelves were made from a window cornice that I had Bill

cut out for me.  I didn't care for the way the cornice looked, but we were

able to repurpose the bottom scallops for open shelving in the play kitchen.

I found a set of vintage faucets and a bright red sink (Rubbermaid).

An ironstone pitcher to hold mini utensils is a must!

I wasn't able to find a Keurig, but this old tin coffee pot

makes a mean cup o' joe!

These stove knobs actually click on the different settings.

I had a serious love affair with Brach's Malted Milk Balls for years,

so when I spotted this fluorescent light at a local flea market,

 it had to come home with me.  I don't care for fluorescent lighting

anywhere else, but this one provides plenty of light for junior bakers.

Before.

(5 years ago.)

After.

 I don't think I need to tell you how long it took me to finish this up.
Disclaimer:  I did not choose the baseboard trim color, but give me a break!
  We've only been in the house 10 years.  hehe

Now for the progress in the big girl kitchen...

I chose to use the wider tongue-and-groove planking.  Since we aren't
finish carpenters by any means, I figured it's less expensive to make
mistakes with a single plank rather than a whole sheet of beadboard paneling.

It's moving along at a snail's pace because I've been cutting each piece
with a hand saw!  The cuts are straight, but the bullnose tile is uneven (it's made to look that way), so we'll cover up the edge with 1/4 inch quarter round molding when we finish.

Bill cut out the openings for the outlets where I marked them,
and believe it or not, we got it right!  Woo hoo!  Now we just have to remember to pull
the outlets through the openings and add the plastic spacers
 before we glue and nail the boards down.  Tutorial at Thrifty Decor Chick.

A brief look back at where it all started....

This photo does not do the kitchen justice.  :o)
In 30 years, somebody will be viewing my planking and painted cabinets
the same way I looked at the Z-Brick, faux butcherblock countertops, wallpaper,
dated cabinetry, fluorescent lighting...............

I'm not even going to try to explain this.
That's the upper cabinet I removed on the right.
I'm keeping it for a while......just in case.

I especially like this view showing the dark doorway trim butted up
against painted trim in the kitchen and dining room.

A look ahead....

(Found on Pinterest.  Original source unknown.)

Um, yes please.

Thanks for stopping by!
Vickie

Junior bakers use only the freshest ingredients.

*I'm joining the parties at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olson  Share Your Cup Thursday 
Knick of TimeVintage Inspiration Party 

Winter whites.

I took my sweet time deciding whether to paint it or leave

it "as is", but in the end white paint won out.

If it were hanging in a bright white kitchen, I'd have left the pretty weathered wood,
 but this is where it lives and the wood finish just felt dark and heavy.

 I simply painted it with good old-fashioned white semi-gloss paint.
  There's plenty of texture under the new paint to show its age.
  I picked out the knobs at Hobby Lobby to go with the old wood finish,
 but I think they work fine with white, too.

I brushed a combo of rust and brown craft paint over the new chicken wire
to make it look as old as the rusty hinges on the doors.  It only took about 45 minutes,
but it was tedious work that would have taken 5 minutes if I had done it
before I stapled it to the doors.  Hindsight.

I found an old pink sewing basket to join a faded quilt on top of the cupboard.

Since it's the holiday season, I glammed it up a bit with
teeny tiny 1 inch trees I found at JoAnn Fabrics.

 I glittered the trees, glued a wee jingle bell on top and set the trees
 on old spools of thread that were left inside the pink sewing basket.
  Since I don't decorate with pastels anywhere else in the house,
 I had fun playing with them here.

Now it feels so much brighter in this corner of the room!
Our house is not large by today's standards, so every room is a
multipurpose room.  This is the Master Sewing Guest Room.

On the other side of the room........

This little dresser had been stripped of its original finish and was an 

awful shade of brown when I found it.  I painted it with yellow chalk paint

and propped a Christmas ornament on top that looks like a dollhouse.

It sits on my old pie crust table that I painted white last winter.

  I have no idea what possessed me to buy this at an estate sale
other than it's so darn cute!  It's hanging on the white door that was a victim
 of my accident with a can of stain this fall.  As you can see, all the stain came out
 and it's back to a nice crisp white.

Well, that's the extent of my decorating so far because I took on the
monumental task of painting our kitchen over the past 4 days.
I.  Am.  Exhausted.

It's almost done, but I had to call it quits because it's time to
deck our halls!

Thanks for stopping by!
Vickie

*I'm joining the party at:
Mod Vintage Life  Mod Mix Monday
Shabby Story Creating Christmas
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday

Magic moments.

Winters around these parts can get long and rather depressing at times,

but there's something magical about the first snowfall of the year.....

especially when viewed through the eyes of a child.

Free Holiday Mouse pattern by Barbara Prime available on Ravelry.

Our two city mice spent almost a week with us while their parents vacationed, and
as luck would have it, we received our first dusting of snow during their stay!

Before they braved the weather, I shared a tradition with Maggie and Mack that I carried on
 with our own girls when they were small.  They were serenaded by Christmas music
 during lunch while we watched the beauty of the snow falling outside.

  I don't rush the season in any other way, but year after year my Christmas cd's
 are dusted off and played on a regular basis as soon as we have snow covering the ground.
  Even the drive to work is a whole lot merrier when I've got Bing along for the ride.

 After lunch they were each given an Oreo for Frosty's eyes, but
one little elf felt the need to take a bite out of hers first.

What big eyes you have Frosty!  And I guess there is no
"right" way to insert his carrot nose.

Snow day.  :o)

Meanwhile, over in Beaverville (my pet name for their home in the country)
Finley and Willie are busy decorating the oh-so-sweet homemade dollhouse we
found for Finley's 4th birthday.  If they're anything like their DeeDee, they'll
be entertained for many years with the wonder of life in miniature.

I managed to snap a few photos while they napped,

but once they were up, my camera was set aside for snuggle time.

  Unfortunately
the birthday girl was sick during her party, but she soldiered on and hopefully
she'll enjoy some quiet play time with little bro today.  Sending hugs and kisses your way, Finley!

If you look closely, you'll see that whoever made this house even added

rubber doorstops to the handrails.  Don't you love the doorknobs?

A big smile for her invitation photo taken in their woods
with a deer friend.

I haven't had a chance to do much around the house these past few weeks,
but I did carve out enough time to make about 10 yards of fabric twine.
You can find an excellent tutorial to make some for yourself over at My Poppet.

It can be used for all sorts of things, like embellishing gifts,
Christmas tree garland, string bikini, tying kitchen cabinet doors shut, etc.,
 but I machine-stitched mine into an oval shape to make.....

a sweet little braided rug for the dollhouse!  It took all 10 yards
of twine to make this 9 1/2 inch rug.
Tutorial for rug making can also be found here at My Poppet.

The rug warms up the very pink floors of the dollhouse.
*Note: I bought a lead paint testing kit and the dollhouse tested negative.
You can find the testing kits at Lowe's.

And lastly, my mother turned 75 years young last Sunday.
(I hope I'm as young as her when I hit that milestone birthday!)
She had plenty of help blowing out her candles from 4 of her 5 little elves.

One little elf woke up with the stomach flu the next day.
I think we all know how this story ends.  :o)
The gift that keeps on giving......

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your magic moments while they last!
Vickie

Four balloons tied to the mailbox.

*I'm joining the party at:
Cozy Little House  Tweak it Tuesday

Time flies!

It's been 3 months since I last published a blog post, and
who woulda thunk?  The blog world has survived just fine without me.  : )

I took a much needed break for various personal reasons
and to finish up a laundry list of projects around 911.


  When we bought our house back in 2004, I set a goal for myself to have everything completed
 within a decade, and my deadline is just around the corner.  Ten years sounds like an eternity,
but when you factor in putting our girls through college, two weddings, the arrival of 4 grandchildren,
thousands of miles in our car traveling back and forth to visit them,
  and trying to juggle it all while working full-time most of those 10 years.......
well, the time has literally flown by.

Guest bedroom.  Started Feb. 2011.  Finished May 2014.
(I may be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records
 for the slowest room rehab in blog history.)


Sooooo......have I met my goal?
No, and it's entirely possible I never will.
  I was stuck in limbo for years because my master plan was

 to fix all the plaster walls and ceilings in this old house.

Once I let go of that idea, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Over the past few months, I've painted right over the cracks in the master bedroom above
 (more photos in an upcoming post), so I have only one bedroom left to tackle.
  It's not so daunting now that I've embraced
 the imperfections that are an integral part of this old house.

 Flat finish paint covers a multitude of sins.

It's my new best friend!

 You've seen bits and pieces, but the guest bedroom is finally done.
A six month project that took over 3 years.

Come on in!

My resident carpenter made me a small wood shelf to display my red sewing machine.
The cuckoo clock was a $3 steal from my favorite local antique shop.
Unfortunately, it was a going-out-of-business sale.

I found an old green dress at to "hang out" with the red one.

 I was kind of stumped when it came to dressing the windows.

I tried floor to ceiling curtains, but I didn't like the way they covered the trim detail
 around the windows, not to mention, a guest could get hopelessly tangled in all
that fabric stuffed in the measly few inches between the bed and the wall!

When I came across jumbo red rick rack at Hancock Fabrics last winter,
I bought a few yards and tucked it away for a rainy day.  I cut up a vintage
tablecloth and a few pieces of mismatched fabric and trim and stitched it all together
to make simple valances to cover the roller shades.

  The rick rack grabs your attention so you don't notice
 the vintage food stains on the tablecloth......I hope!

I painted the $1.50 estate sale 1960's wood mushrooms to add a spot
 of quirky landscaping to the dollhouse shelf.

Mini gallery wall featuring Smirky the Bear.

What's that I see reflected in the mirror?

This dollhouse was a $10 fixer shoved in a crate in the basement of St.Paul Antiques.
You know it had to come home with me!
It's painted in my favorite colors (never mind the rust)
 and fits perfectly on top of my old cupboard.

I hope to find an old braided rag rug for the room,
 but other than that, the room is done.  Top to bottom.
 Done.   I love that word!

Sigh.

Lastly, I've come to the conclusion that for me, working 3 or more days a week
 and blogging on a regular basis leaves me very little time to DO the things I love.
Since I'm not retiring in the near future (unless our crew at work wins the lottery),
 I've decided to cut back on computer time at home.
There are just not enough hours in the day to do it all,
 so if I'm gone for weeks or months at a time, I'm not going to sweat it anymore.
 Life is too short!!!

Case in point:

 On Saturday our baby turns 30!!!

Happy Birthday Megan!!!

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you do something that makes you happy today!
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants What's it Wednesday
Jennifer Rizzo Fabulously Creative Friday