Before & After

My home is old, as in 100+ years old & it started life as a simple country church. Then sometime in the 1930's it went onto the tax rolls as a duplex type dwelling complete with two front doors! I can't imagine how a family of 5 & another family of 6 managed to live in this home side by side when our small family of 4 are always bumping into each other! Sometime in the 60's it was remodeled into a single family dwelling & we purchased it in 1992. There's lots of little things that I love about my home like it's solid oh so heavy wood doors & crystal door knobs. And a few odd things like the whiff of pipe smoke I occasionally smell (none of us smoke or have friends who smoke in our home) & this odd little shelf over the stove area of our kitchen. I've decorated it with lots of old jars collected from my husband's grandmother's barn, I've had ceramic pieces displayed, currently it's spices. But whatever I've done it's always been a hodge podge mismatched collection that always looked cluttered, never pretty. I'd sure love me some pretty for a change!

On my day off last week I shopped somewhere else other than Hobby Lobby *gasp* I know! Don't tell on me please! I went to TJ Maxx to look around since so many of y'all rave on & on about the great deals you find there. I found this plate for only $3 !!! I *heart* damask & I especially *heart* black and white. So I was thinking what if...

Sort of bare though so I shopped the house, remember these?Put them together & see what y'all think...Now I'm not going to use plate stands for them. I just wanted to see what it would look like. While at work I picked up some plate hangers and over the weekend hung them up carefully measuring and eyeballing to make sure it would look right. Here's my after picture!
What do y'all think? Good idea?

Mistreated windows

I needed a change! The black & khaki homespun ruffled panels I was making do with had to go! So a bit of leftover dec fabric, some quick sewing, and left over crafting ribbon and this is what I came up with. If I knew what I was doing I would have made a mini roman blind type thingy but since I don't know this is it! *smiles* I tried it on a curtain rod but I hated how it looked so I got my dear Mr Darcy's staple gun & with some help from The Girl we stapled it up over the sink... You can't even see the staples really... But you sure can see the uglist kitchen sink light fixture in the history of all kitchen sink light fixtures - for shame!I did use a rod for the back door though...
It was so hard getting these pictures! My camera doesn't want to work half the time *smiles*
I just love this fabric because it feels old fashioned to me & my house is definitely old.
So what do y'all think?

For Nothing

I thought I'd share a tiny little corner of my kitchen with you today. It seems to be where I spend a lot of my time... See the cute little mini lamp on the countertop? An idea I got off of one of the many wonderfully inspiring blogs I visit. Sadly I can't remember which one in order to give them proper credit but I love the little glow it gives at night, makes my kitchen feel all warm and homey. Of course it came from Hobby Lobby, 50% off plus another 15% off employee discount!

Here's a full view of my memo board. Talk about a "for nothing" project! The frame was a cast off from work, the batting was left over from another project, the fabric was purchased for pennies by the pound and the ribbon was left over bits, the buttons vintage from my dear departed Auntie's collection, and the foam core backing was used to protect shipped items at work and was headed to the compactor when I snagged it... I absolutely love "for nothing" projects
A quick shout out to a favorite blog of mine, Confessions of a Happy HouseFrau who added me to her blog roll!!! OMfreakin'Gosh, I'm on a blog roll!!! I'm so not worthy but I thank you all the same! And I'm going to learn to blog roll too so I can list all the fabulously inspiring blogs I visit every day. There are so many wonderfully talented, creative ladies out there who generously share their creative process with the world because they know by sharing true creativity can thrive. Some folks are afraid to share, which I personally think is sad for them and us but that's a blog topic for another day, for now I'm just thrilled to be on a blog roll! Thank you Aimee!