New Blog Look and Thrifting Collection

Happy Saturday everybody! It sure feels like spring here in Iowa today. We are looking at a high of 61 degrees. Never thought I would be so happy to see low 60's.... that is dead middle of winter in Florida & Georgia...haha. It's been getting nicer out and when it gets nicer out I get out more for pleasure versus "have to." Goodwill & Salvation Army are my two favorite places to thrift.
 Before I show you some of my recent finds I would like to give a shout out to
 Linda @ A Blog Fairy
for her incredible talent in giving my blog a MUCH needed makeover.
She has a beautiful blog and her presentation of custom services is totally amazing!! If you are looking for a blog facelift or want to completely give your blog a new look, Linda is your Lady :)
Thank you again Linda!!

Some days I come home from thrifting empty handed but not lately.

This metal watering can was out on an end cap in Goodwill...so glad I was there early or it would have been gone pretty quick. Looks like all it needs is some spring flowers and a spot on my front porch.

 

These 4" square gavanized topiaries would look cute with succulents, don't you think? They were only 88 cents each.

This plaque is ceramic and I am not so sure yet what it needs. Maybe some sanding to get rid of the shiny bronze areas and a light coat of chalk paint???? Still deciding.

 

 

The wreath is another GW find. I like how natural it looks. The hanger was from Hobby Lobby. Normally my preference would be to make somthing like this but at 50% off it cost me less than buying the knobs alone...so I caved and bought it.

 

My job is in a huge industrial area and thats where my most recent find was. I was just driving by minding my own business and there they were,

Stacks of pallets!

 I stopped in to make sure with the business owner if it would be okay for me to grab a couple of them. He said yes, so three are now mine. Plans are being made for these pallets to have a new home in the man cave my guys are working on in the basement. Shhh...they have no idea. I know in my brain what I want to do. Let's see if my hands can follow.... will share more on that in a future post.

Hope ya'll are having the same beautiful weather in your neck of the woods. Blessings and see you soon :)

Karen





Valentine's Day

Hello All!

We had a very nice Valentine's Weekend.

Mr. Darling took me out for an incredible surf and turf dinner on Saturday evening. It was such a treat to share a meal with him alone. No dogs staring at us from the living room...LOL!

Sunday I set the table and decorated for my 2 special guys.

 
 

Even my plain little salt & pepper shakers got dressed up for the occasion.

I decorated their plates with accordion folded paper napkins and little hearts I stitched up on my new machine (courtesy of Santa)



Added some heart confetti.

and a lovely ceramic wine bucket my friend at work gave to me for Christmas.

It is very unique in that it you can use chalk marker on the outside to decorate it for any occasion. I will definitely be using this a lot!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday :)

Karen

Craft Room Ceiling

The craft room ceiling was a work in progress a lot longer than I thought it would be. Finding the right look without spending much made my brain hurt from so much thinking...LOL!

This is what needed to be covered...but with what??



I spent many hours, days and possibly weeks staring at it over and over. The first thought was to cover it with paint and maybe give it a more light and open feeling.

My craft room vision did not include this dark, dirty wood.

When I say unfinished basement I mean just that. Insulation is showing around the entire ceiling so covering that was another challenge to overcome.

Instead of looking at it repeatedly I knew it was time to just dive in. One afternoon when I got home from work the paint came out and I got busy. That was a Friday and by Saturday evening it was done....well sort of done. The paint was soaking into the wood and it was very difficult to get even coverage. The beams were taking the paint pretty well and at least it looked a little cleaner and brighter.

So back it was to staring at it.....

Then I saw this lovely room and the ceiling!!

Finally I knew what might work.

Fabric :)

Source

I have lots of curtains that are used for different seasons around my home. There were some I knew I had not used in a very long time that would give the soft and bright look I was going for.

It did not take long and I was headed to my storage area to grab what I needed. The curtains were cut lengthwise in half and gathered to fit the spaces between the beams.

I borrowed Mr. Darlings heavy duty stapler to secure the fabric at each end. Standing on a step ladder and holding the fabric while stapling is no easy task. I may look for something to finish the edges where the staples went in later but for now it will do just fine :)

I left a skirt to cover that yucky insulation that was showing around the edge. I think it softens it pretty well.

This portion of the craft room project cost me nothing but my time.

Mr. Darling has offered to install some shelving for this space from some leftover wood. I will share that with you next time. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!!

Karen