Archives for April 2011

Hello everyone!

Happy White Wednesday.

I’ve been waiting for a nice day to take pics of the family room and mantel, but so far it’s been grey, grey, grey.

I find taking pics of my mantel difficult at the best of times. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a corner fireplace, or justy my lack of skill but the pics never seem to look as good as the real thing.

Anyway…here is my beachy summer mantel, yeah I know it’s kind of early but I’ve had my spring mantel up for a few months now and I’m ready for a change!

I don’t know if you can tell, but we painted the family  room a color called silver streak by CIL paints. It’s a very pale blue/grey and looks very fresh in the room.

I’ve kept up the driftwood candle holder from the spring mantel shown here, but removed the greens and twigs.

Love this lantern that I got at homesense. I had visited PB and had an idea of what I wanted, without the PB price, and found comparables at homesense for a fraction of the cost. The shells and starfish I’ve had from previous years.

You may remember my post about getting this vase at GW complete with shells. I’ve added a few more thrift find shells along with a candle. The candle is getting shorter and my shell collection is getting larger! It is really magical at night when the lights are low and all the candles are lit up.

I found this old paddle at Aberfoyle a couple of years and have yet to find a spot for it. It’s just standing up beside the fireplace for now.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my newly decorated mantel!

Thanks for stopping by and

Be Blessed!

I’ll be linking up with:

Good Life Wednesdays @ a Beach Cottage

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a shoestring Decorating

Show and Tell Friday @ My romantic Home

SNShttp://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/04/sns-79-showcases-farm-tables.html @Funky Junk Interiors

Hi everyone!

I can’t believe it’s been a week since my last post!

Life’s been busy here at RH.

Hubby and I went to Cosco the other day and they were selling their 12 inch pots of hydrangeas for  twenty bucks! These pots hold a plant that is approx. 3×3 feet, they are HUMONGOUS and held about 25 blooms!

I always buy them in the pot and cut my blooms from it. It’s cheaper than buying a bouquet of hydrangeas and you can’t get fresher than just cut from the plant. I was able to get 5 arangements from 1 plant.

They came in blue, pink and green, hubby chose the  blue, either way, you can’t go wrong with these beauties!

Aren’t they gorgeous?

Here is another arrangement in a lovely ironstone pitcher.

I placed them in some vintage mason jars I found at the thrift store. I love the old zinc lids and decided to keep them on. I have one of these arrangements on  either side of the sofa. 

Here is the arrangement again with our freshly painted kitchen cupboards in the background!

Hubby decided to take the plunge and started painting them over the weekend. It’s only taken 5 years! I will be doing a post on the kitchen makeover soon.

Yes, I’m still waiting to find that elusive “perfect” or just one that fits lampshades!

Here is another little peek. The family room has been repainted a pale blue, there are some new summer cushions added and the mantel has been beached up for summer! Yes it will be here before you know it.

Will be posting that shortly as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hoping you all have a lovely blessed Easter weekend!

Linking up with:

Good Life Wednesdays @ A Beach Cottage

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Transformation Thursday@ The Shabby Chic Cottage

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a shoestring decorating

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors

Hi everyone!

Just rustling through my cupboards the other day and found these:

They started out like this:

A pair of white PB linen/cotten blend pillow shams.

I had forgotten that I even had them!

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them after reading and loving a post by Carol Spinski on dying thrift finds, you can find it here. Carol is an amazing photographer and stylist and has a beautiful blog!

If you have some things that you’ve forgotten about in your cupboards or have a great thrift find, how about giving them a new lease on life, so to speak, with some fabric dye!

I got together my supplies and used Dylon brand because that was the brand I found at my fabric store.

You’ll need:

package of dye

iodized salt

gloves

measuring cup

measuring spoons

you’ll need to use a stainless steel container, I used my sink, as well as a stainless steel stirring utensil.

I put on my gloves and  mixed the packet of dye in 500ml of warm water to dilute the dye. Then I poured my mixture into  the sink with 5-6 litres of warm water.

My brand of dye required that I put 5 tbsp of salt in the sink of warm water. Put in the dye mixture and stir/mix well.

I placed  both of my pillowcases in at the same time. My directions said to constantly mix/stir the fabric into the dye for 15 min.. I did it for maybe 10 min and then my back was sore from standing ,lol. Then you’re supposed to  stir occasionaly for 45 min. I didn’t want  my pillow cases to be as dark as the color on the package so I took them out after half an hour.

I then rinsed them in cool water until the water ran clear, after rinsing I washed them in the machine in warm water and then dried them. 

This is how they turned out. You can see that they’re practically the exact same color as on the package. I must admit that I wanted them to be a little paler. But, it was my first try at dying fabric and I will know for next time. The color is actually a very lovely turquoise called “Bahama Blue” it even sounds nice!

Here they are with my  my daughter’s bed spread in her room with a couple of her other loves. What girl doesn’t love Tiffanys and she has all her little Tiffany boxes on display with one of my perfume bottles that she “borrowed”  from a little collection I had. It all has a lovely beachy feel to it and I thougt it would be a great direction for her room makeover.

Until she told me that she actually loves white and vintage! White and vintage? How does she know about white and vintage?!  I guess I’ve really rubbed off on her. Lol. Yes, she says she wants her bed all in white with some vintage. However, she does like this picture frame  I picked up today  and wouldn`t mind it…yeah right. Lol. Ok, I may have to use this direction for my other daughter, who btw, also loves Tiffanys!

 Not only will they not leave the nest, they want me to decorate it too! Lol

Thanks for stopping by!

I will be celebrating my 6 month anniversary of blogging in a few days and am working on a giveaway! Will keep you posted.

Be blessed!

Will be linking up with:

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on shoestring Decorating

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors

VIP Party @ Design Garden

Hello everyone!

I’m in the midst of  sprucing things up…again! lol.

I’m starting with the family room, adding  some shells, changing up the cuhsion covers and adding some great beachy candlelight.

I’ve seen these lovely beachy mason jars filled with  candleight  everywhere. I seen them at PB last week and loved the way they have them displayed. They had them hanging from an old vintage ladder in an outdoor setting. Can’t wait to try that out on the deck soon but will probably hang them from my umbrella.

They look great with some glass candleholders.

I just twisted some wire around the rim of some old mason jars I had in the basement and added a little handle so that they can be hung. A little sand and a votive candle and you’ve got a pretty little candleholder, So simple to do!

This is how they look lit up at night.

Again during the day.

They look great hanging! Here I’ve just hung it from the light fixture by the handle, but you can use twine, jute, wire or fishing line to hang them.

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors just posted on Mason Jars with a linky party! you can link up here and look at all that great inspiration, you will be amazed at what can be done with a simple mason jar!

I’ll be posting again in the next couple of days to show the rest of the family room spruce up!

Thanks for stopping by and

Be Blessed!

Will be linking up with:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Good Life Wednesdays @ Beach Cottage

Transformation Thursdays @ Shabby Chic cottage

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Open House Party Thursday @ No Minimalist Here

Hello everyone!

I hope you’re all enjoying the weekend!

Some of you have asked about my new camera lens, it’s a Nikkor 55-300mm DX  VR11.

I started with the kit lens 18-55mm  that came with my Nikon D90 and have been waiting for the day to add  this new one.

One of the exciting things that have come along with blogging is a passion for photography and although

I am such a novice right now I look forward to growing in this new found love of mine.

I’ve taken a few pics of my daughters with this new lens and decided to share some of them with you.

By now she had  had enough.

This is my youngest daughter Hope and she allowed me one pic and that was it. She then said her lips looked  purple so I changed it to black and white…sigh

This is my eldest daughter Charity, (the back side of her anyway! Lol) with Butters trailing behind.

We decided to enjoy the day by  taking a walk along the beach which is just down the road from us.

If you’re a dog walker, you don’t need to ask what’s in the bag!

There is nothing like the sound of waves slapping up onto the shore. Both hubby and I come from a long line of Islanders and we both find the sound healing in some way…we’re blessed to have it so close to home.

Butters loves it down by the beach, leash off, wind blowing through his fur and  he is in his glory!

Love this pic of Charity and Butters walking side by side.

Since we’re here, I couldn ‘t help but show a pic of hubby, yes it is a little blurry but don’t blame the lens!

This is how you’ll find  hubby a lot of the time. Listening to worship music and or a preaching message, yes he can do both…don’t know how but he calls it “multitasking”! Lol.

I thought if the girls could bare it so could I! Lol.

Looking forward to sharing more pics with you all.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hello everyone!

It is sooo nice to be back!

I didn’t want to say too much in my last post in fear that it wouldn’t post like my previous 5 attempts.

Thanks to so many of you that sent me some love and encouragement during my lonely week! Lol. It was well appreciated.

Despite my mishaps with blogger I was still able to enjoy the great spring weather! It’s still a little cool here but  the sun is shining!

I thought I’d bring a little more spring inside and what says spring better than a  couple of bunches of tulips?

What is it about flowers that breathes life into any room?

You can see where I finally hung my Farmer’s Market sign.

I’m also trying out a new lens. I’m loving the pics!

Thanks for stopping by.

Hoping you all get a chance to tiptoe through the tulips! They’re only 5.97 a bunch at walmart.

Linking up with these ladies:

Frugal Friday @ The shabby nest

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Another sign…another attempt at posting it!

Hoping that this little fix finally allows me to post some pics!

I found this piece of wood already put together and painted at a thrift store last week for 4.99. I copied and painted some letters from my word program and then gave it a good sanding and voila!

It’s a nice size at 1×4 feet.

Still trying to figure out where to hang it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with these ladies this week:

SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors

Metamorphosis Monday @ BNOTP

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal charm

Tuesdays Treasures @ My Uncommon slice of Suburbia

Good life Wednesdays @ Beach Cottage

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Chic Cottage