My husband and I decided to put a chandelier where we had removed a fan light while remodeling the kitchen. I thought it would be interesting to find a vintage one and updating it. I was on the hunt. I checked garage sales, antique stores and didn’t find anything that inspired me. Finally, I checked craigslist. I am always uncomfortable meeting people to exchange money for goods. You hear so many horror stories about people getting hurt or robbed. In the past, I always had my husband go with me. He’s a pretty good sized man and most people wouldn’t mess with him. He was busy as were both of my daughters. I loved the chandelier I found on craigslist and knew I had to have it. It was the right price and in town. I emailed the seller and we arranged for me to go to her house. We talked on the phone and she said when I got to her house, she would bring the chandelier out to the car. I wouldn’t have to enter her home. I told her how nervous I was about dealing with craigslist and she told me I should be and gave me some tips to follow on future endeavors. What a great buy and visit!

After bringing the chandelier home, I waited for my husband to see it before attempting to clean and paint. He was so puzzled by all the lampshades. When I picked up the chandelier, there were lampshades with it. The seller said they never used them but when she moved into her home the shades were on it. The posting on craigslist didn’t have shades on it. I told my husband we weren’t using them and the relief on his face was comical. We had both looked at the posting on craigslist and agreed that was what we wanted. I tossed the shades in my crafting room and started cleaning the chandelier.

After cleaning and painting the chandelier white, I needed to replace the sleeves and buy lightbulbs. That was harder than I thought. I found the sleeves but they were all too long. I asked my husband if he could cut them down and ordered them on Amazon. It took me 3 tries to get the correct lightbulbs. But finally I had everything ready. My husband, Daniel, helped me or rather I helped him hardwire and hang the chandelier.

It turned out great and the cost of buying, painting, replacing the sleeves as well as getting lightbulbs still made it a bargain!

After Christmas is over, I often get the “Winter Blues”. Taking down Christmas decorations makes me think of how much time is left before the next holiday. It seems forever!!!! This year I got on Pinterest and looked up winter decor. I found that many of my decorations could be left out in a new setting and would make me feel like the time isn’t passing so slowly. I usually go shopping for after Christmas stuff but I knew I already had too much. If I chose winter decor (ha ha) I wouldn’t be spending it on Christmas stuff or so I told myself. I ordered 2 white lit birch trees, 2 lit up moose, and 2 white sparkly deers from Wal-Mart at less than half price. Love a bargain but couldn’t wait for lower sales.

I had stored all of my village homes and businesses that were for Christmas. I had 2 houses that were from PartyLite without any Christmas connection. I used leftover Christmas candles, and arranged them in a winter landscape using a piece of white chiffon fabric. One of the pins on Pinterest had wine glasses turned upside down with winter scenes inside them. I liked the idea but wanted to keep it simple. I stuck petals in one and put a candle on top. I thought a pine cone would be pretty under the wine glass. I found 5 pine cones from an old project, painted them white and sprinkled glitter on them while they were still wet. I stuck one under a wine glass and put a candle on top.

Deciding I liked the pine cone trees, I stuck the rest of them in the holes of my wooden candle holder/miscellaneous stand and loved it.

Pine cone trees. The paint looks like snow and the glitter looks like star-dust!

Winter landscape. So wintry and cozy at the same time!

The sled I used on my stoop underwent a season change. I took off the sign, ribbon and horn. Put in with the 2 trees, plopped a snowman in front and I have another winter landscape.

Of course we are having a dry winter. It has snowed only once or twice. But at least the decor makes it feel all cozy and warm. I also left my lights and tree (without the ornaments) up in my family room. My husband says I should enjoy my tree until spring. That’s exactly what I am doing!

While getting the bedroom bench out of my closet for my last project, I noticed an old hall bench that was also collecting dust. I thought it would go well with my kitchen table.

Getting ready to paint the bench.

Of course, I painted it white. Rustoleum chalk paint is one of my favorite paints to use. I love the finish. After the 2nd coat was dry, I banged the edges and made marks to make it look aged. I used a General Finishes sealer.

It looked so good, I thought about putting it back in the hallway.

After sitting it with my table, I knew the grandkids would love it.

When I sat on it, I found it wasn’t very comfortable. It was the right size for the grandkids but wouldn’t be comfortable for them. I found some left over foam cushion from my bench I made last year from an IKEA shelving unit. Just enough. Then I went looking through my fabrics for a kid friendly, soft and cute pattern. I found one with birds on it in a flannel type fabric. I knew it would go with my colors of navy, aqua, gray and white.

It was perfect for the table. It looked so much better than before!

I’ve needed more storage and seating in my living room for awhile. I went through the house to get ideas and ran across a bench that came with our bedroom set that was sitting in our walk-in closet collecting dust. It was dark wood with an ivory material on the cushion. I visualized it with different material and with storage cubes underneath.

I went through my collection of material (I buy clearance fabric at Hobby Lobby and Walmart every time I go) and chose a patterned one that went with my other decor. Since I’m in my paint it white period, I took the bench apart and painted it white. While waiting for the bench to dry, I took the cushion and recovered it using the patterned material.

I put the bench back together with the new cover and set it in the corner. Now all I needed was some storage. I went to Target to see if that had any cloth storage cubes in stock. Normally I would have ordered them from Amazon. I was in too big a hurry to finish. The only thing they had in stock that appealed to me were a basket weave type storage cubes in white. I bought 3 of them. Once I got home and put them under the bench, it wasn’t the look I was visualizing. I got on Amazon and ordered 3 black cloth storage cubes. I had to wait 2 days but when they came in, they were exactly what I wanted. Once I put the storage cubes under the bench, I decided to put together a skirt around the front to cover the tops of the cubes. I love my new seating and storage. I put my grandsons toys in the bins and freed up the floor space.

I’ve seen posting of wall plaques using mason jars on Pinterest and decided to try it myself. I opted to stain the boards instead of paint them. I had several pins that went to blogs that had homemade stain. I chose one and started the process.

I made tea in a jar and set it aside along with the tea bags. Poured white vinegar into a jar and put a steel wool pad in it. I let both set for a 24 hours. I cut 3 pieces of 1 x 6 boards and laid them out on the floor. Brushed the tea on sides and top of each board. Let them dry. Turned them over and brushed tea on the other side. Let them dry thoroughly. Brushed the vinegar mix in the same process. After they dried, they were beautifully stained a dark rich look with the wood grain showing through. I loved it!

Before                                                      After

I drilled 2 holes at the top of each board and 1 in the position I wanted the lip of the jar to be placed. I tried using clamps to hold the jars in place and didn’t like the result. I finally used thick wire I keep around for sign hangers and like it much better. After placing the jar on the board with the wire, I put flowers in the jar. The 2 holes drilled at the top were for hanging the board. I pulled natural sisal rope through the holes, tied a knot on each end and hung them on upside down black ceiling hooks.

I love the end result. The homemade stain was so easy to do. I will use this process over and over.

Just now posting my Christmas decorations. Between holidays, family and parties, busy, busy, busy.

I use to put up all my decorations from wall to floor to outdoors. Then I slowly lost interest in digging it all out of storage. Since I have my 2 year old grandson often and my 10 and 4 year old grandson and granddaughter occasionally, I decided to do it for them. Christmas is magical for small ones and a sweet thing to watch. The lights, the sparkle, the all out wonder of the Christmas decorations.

I bought a new pre lit 7 foot pine Christmas tree at the end of the season last year. I was eager to put it up to see if I liked it as well as I remembered. The ease of assembly is fantastic. No lights to wrap around. No testing the bulbs. Just 4 parts and plug in. Just as easy and pretty as I remembered.

Then comes the door hanger. I had been making my own from Spring to Summer to Fall. Now it was time to try Christmas. I had an idea what I wanted but knew I was missing some key pieces. I found an old fashioned metal and wood sled at an antique and flea market in the West Bottoms of Missouri. Fantastic place to get ideas and pickup items you can’t find elsewhere.

I found a bugle decoration and ribbon on the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby. I strung some lights and garland on the sled. It still needed something. I took a piece of paneling, cut it to size and painted it white. I then went over it with red paint in stripes and then painted a area for writing with black chalkboard paint. Wrote “Happy Holidays” with white chalk and my door hanger was ready. Only problem I had was getting it to stay on the door. It was heavy and awkward. Finally, I had to admit defeat and place it on the stoop. It still looked great!