Junky Mirror Gets a Facelift...

I found this old blue mirror at a Thrift shop. I can't remember exactly, but I think I paid a dollar for it. Remember when country blue was all the rage? Well, that was a LONG time ago. It's not so cool anymore. But that doesn't mean that this little mirror is done for. Not yet. I liked the shape, and the little rose accents. Yep. I think there's hope for it.

A little white spray paint, and a little bit of chalkboard spray paint makes all the difference! And seriously, it took all of 10 minutes. I may go back and add a touch of antiquing to the frame, to bring out those cute little roses.

The tea cup holds some pieces of chalk. Gotta remember not to use that cup for coffee....

It looks right at home, huh? It will be rather interesting to see what kind of messages start showing up. You know, this could really be a cute way to post a honey do list...

A Little Scrap Therapy...

Blog hopping can be dangerous. Browsing around out there in blog land, I ran across some beautiful scrapbook pages, and well, I got the itch. I've gotten way behind in my scrapping, and so I've been putting it off because I had so many pages to do it seemed overwhelming. (how's that for a run on sentence...) I was long over due for some Scrap Therapy! I dug into my stash of papers and had me a good ole time. Ahhh. I feel so much better now.

I told you I was behind - this was last November.

And these pictures were taken when Jackson was 4 years old. It's about time I got busy.

I also made up a little wedding card for some friends who are getting married this week.

Maybe I should keep blog hopping to stay inspired! Than maybe I could get caught up...

Happy Father's Day!

The hubs has celebrated his 5th Father's Day today! He's practically an old pro. Of course, Mommy made all his favorite foods, which is probably why he was so willing to sit nicely for this little photo... I gotta play my cards just right - he'd rather go to the dentist than have his picture taken.

The little guys simply adore their Daddy. He can barely get in the front door every evening without being tackled. Who needs a dog?! It doesn't matter where they are or what they are doing, they know exactly when he steps in the door. They come flying, arms outstretched, screaming DADDY'S HOME DADDY'S HOME DADDY'S HOME!!!! Happy Father's Day, Daddy. And really, I love you as much as they do, but if I gave you a greeting like they do every day, somebody would probably have me put away... Besides, I don't think I could muster up that much energy.

I took the boys out for another little photo shoot yesterday. They're at THAT age. You know the one. They'll look anywhere EXCEPT at the camera. They won't stay in the spot I put them. And I can't for the life of me get them to wipe off that plastic fake smile. But after 100 shots (quite literally, I assure you.) We got a few pretty good ones.

I can't wait until Jackson's a teenager - I want to see what he does with that cowlick. I've tried every kind of do, and it just won't submit. But I'll have to say, the little dimple makes up for it :)

Not sure what he's doing with his fingers. Maybe he's trying to do some yoga move.

Our neighbors have the greatest courtyard, chock full of beautiful flowers. A lovely spot to take some pictures...

I told Carson to sit on the edge of the flower bed. He missed...

Was a cute pose, but there was no smile anywhere in him. I did everything short of standing on my head. He must be part Indian.

I had to get one of the hydrangeas - I LOVE them!

The very minute I told the boys we were all done, They bolted in the house, tore outta their clothes, put on their trunks, and jumped in the pool. Yep. It was that hot outside. They stayed out there all afternoon and played the day away. Jackson came in with pink shoulders, and Carson had two bee stings, but no burns. He's the tough one. He never even knew the bee had stung him! I'm SO glad it wasn't Jackson, he'd still be in therapy...

Fluffing in the Kitchen...

I love corbels. I've always wanted to put big beautiful corbels in my kitchen. But....have you priced those things lately? I just wasn't willing to shell out a hundred bucks for a chunk of beautifully carved wood. So, you know me...I had another plan. A cheaper plan.

I found these shelves, yes shelves, mind you, in Hobby Lobby's clearance aisle. When I saw them my wheels started spinning.

A little paint, some antiquing here and there, and now I finally have my "corbels". Love 'em! (even if they're not the real thing...)

We've also been doing some more shifting around, we moved our dining room table into the kitchen. That made enough room in the living room for me to bring my piano home, which is of colossal importance. The whole keyboard thing just wasn't cutting it for me. Here's the way you saw it last....

Oh, wait...one more thing. I spruced up my toile panels to look all customy fancy-like. All it took was 2 dollars worth of gingham, some trim, and a hot glue gun. Voila - custom drapes, Brittany style.

And here's the way the kitchen looks now...

Actually, we have more room around the table in here than we did when it was in the "dining area" of the living room. And I'm loving my "new" chairs. Next on the to do list is to refinish the table, and I'm afraid that's gonna be a doozy. (That's why it still isn't done) So that's what I've been up to - I have lots of room around my table, I have my piano back, and all's right with the world.

I just can't believe it! Nancy at Southern Lady featured my kitchen project on her blog today! She is such a gracious Southern lady and it's been so much fun getting to know her through her blog. To see her post, click here. Also, just thought I'd add if you want to see all of the before and afters of the kitchen, you can click here.

I'm gonna cheat and use this post as my Finished Object Friday for this week! (don't tell anybody I actually posted this on Thursday...) Go over to the Chari Tree to see more cute finished projects. She makes the. cutest. bags. ever. I just love 'em!

SpLAsH!!!

We intend to take advantage of every minute of summertime. I signed Jackson up for kindergarten (through A Beka) so I want him to enjoy his last few months of freedom to the fullest. It kinda made me sad to think about it - life as he knows it is about to cease. And it will be that way for the next 13+ years. Poor child.

So, what better way to spend summer than in the pool?

The goggles just slay me.

Poor little guys. They're pitifully scrawny. Their own father said they wouldn't be winning any Mr Universe titles any time soon. And I'd really have to agree with him. Must remember to buy those wheaties...

I love this picture of the little peanut making a splash. Isn't water neat?

Jackson had to watch the little guy go down a few times, and make sure it wasn't deadly or anything before he took the plunge himself. The big weenie.

Awww... what a little sweetie.

I took some cute videos of them screaming down the slide and splashing into the pool, but...

I can hardly bear to admit it....

I took every one of them with the camera turned sideways. And what's worse is...

I do it all the time. (hanging my head in shame) You'd think I'd remember the next time. Because it really is quite uncomfortable to watch videos standing on your left ear.

sigh...

My Happy Place... and a FOF

Our master bedroom is mostly finished, so I decided to go ahead and share it. I never did have much patience... If you want to see the room before, click HERE. I love the lighter colors, it's just so soothing.
90% of the decor in this room has been spray painted. I just gathered up things from around the house, painted it all white, and voila. New room. The curtains are all sheets from dollar general. I turned them around backwards to make the colors softer. I'm thrilled with how well they matched everything. I'm holding out for an old headboard, so far craigslist is letting me down.

I'm almost too late to get in on the Finished Object Friday, but here's my project. I bought this antique buffet from craigslist (where else?) for a mere 30 bucks. It's huge and SUPER heavy, and I love all the details on it. I knew it would be a great piece to paint...

Here's the finished project. I picked up the mirror at a Thrift shop for 8.00.

A few of the knobs were broken, so I got some clear glass ones for the top drawer, and I think I like them better. The little curtains in the dresser were the pillow cases that came with the sheets. I haven't quite decided if I like it with curtains, I may take them out and have some open shelves for pretty boxes or something. What do you think? Are the curtains too much?

I'm enjoying the shabby cottage look. I had really gotten tired of our dark formal colors. I think it's important for your bedroom to be a restful place, and a place that makes you happy.

I tried to link up to Chari's Finished Object Friday party, but I think Mr. Linky's on the blinky...

C'mon out to the Porch...

Yep. Progress is still being made at the old Fogleman house.

Remember this picture? This is the house when we first bought it. The black doors and shutters really depressed me, but there were other things to be done first, so we put off that little project for a while. Well, I tried to be patient. I really did. But finally the black just had to go. I bought the paint and we gotter done. So what if the urge struck me right in the dead of winter. We were out there painting shutters, bundled up like crazy Eskimos with snow flurries flying about our heads. Oh, yes. Just ask Dave. He remembers it most keenly. Not fondly, but keenly.

Ahhh. Much better. But wait.

WHO HID THE HOUSE?
I mean, I like shrubs and all, but when they threaten to swallow up your house...well, that's a different story. What good is a pretty porch if it's buried under bushes? So after much hint dropping, asking nicely, and maybe just a teensy weensy bit of whining, my sweet hubs wiped out the bushes for me. Actually I think it was the part where I threatened to hire some guy to come over and take them out that got him going.

WooHoo! The porch has finally come out of hiding. Now I have a whole new flower bed just waiting for plants. Short plants.

I also white washed my porch furniture, and basically did a little "fluffing".

The chairs started out green, and the little table (that I picked up at a local Thrift shop) was black. Generally, I like things to match. So, out came the trusty carton of spray paint.

I found some used pillow shams (From the Waverly Garden Room collection) that I loved, so I stuck them on the chair cushions for a quick redo. I really like the new colors. It's so much brighter. I plan to add a few more sheer panels. I put up one that I already had to see if I liked it. It really softens the look of the whole porch. Besides that, it's a cheap way to add some punch - you can get the panels for 4.97 at Wal-Mart.

I needed something for my table, so I "shopped the house", and found this metal can. It had a rooster on it before, so I painted it (of course) and glued on some flowers that I cut out from scrapbook paper. Then I shabbied it up by sanding of some of the paint and paper.

The front porch is now so much more inviting!

Maybe next week, I'll take you out back to the deck and show you around.

Cowboys and Indians

Our living room was a battle grounds for some cowboys and Indians on Sunday afternoon. Jackson is the little Indian, the Cowboy is Rev. Hedstrom, the conference President.

The boys just love it when the Hedstroms come through for a visit.
We all got a kick out of the cowboy game - things get pretty interesting when a 5 year old is making up the rules! It takes a special kind of person to go out of their way to make a little boy's day. Someday Jackson will look back and treasure times like these...