Friday, December 4, 2009

Christmas Decor Part 3....

Yes, I know, I missed posting yesterday, I've just been so tired and haven't really done a whole lot other than daily stuff. And then went I loaded these pics tonight, I realize how bad and blurry they are, but I'm too lazy to retake them, so they will have to do. Some are night time pics and some are day time.
Thank you all for the kind comments, I really appreciate them.
Here is my mudroom/breezeway area, this the part of my home that connects the garage to the rest of the house, it's used as the main entrance. This is the corner between my kitchen and the half bath.
The other corner by the kitchen, the front door is on the right. This is a hutch I picked up a couple of summers ago for $10 at a yard sale, it was a hideous baby poop brown, so I painted it cream, then it went black. It holds my glass cake stands and candle sticks. To the left of the hutch is a large hall closet and to the right is the half bath. Looking into the mudroom from the kitchen. Another view. I love the tatted curtains I got at goodwill this summer. The other one hangs in another window in the mudroom that is not pictured. Oh, and the bench was a garbage find from Texas, my neighbor was throwing it out, so I asked her for it. It was a honey oak color before going black and the seat opens up for storage. The garage door. Not pictured to the right of this door is an alcove that has the other window, peg and shoe racks(my messy area) and the 2nd stair case that leads to my oldest son's room. Here is the half bath. And here is the outside. I'm not happy with the porch right now, but I don't know what to do with it this year and I'm too tired to worry about it. The outside pics came out terrible.
So that's it for now. That completes the main floor tour, except my craft room, which I will share at some point in the future. And I may get around to sharing the upstairs soon.
Have a great weekend,
Tiff

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Christmas Decor and House tour Part 2...

Well, again, I wasn't able to get on to post until this evening and with the way blogger does photos, it takes me forever to get a picture post done. Plus, I'm not a blogger expert so the only way I know how to do pics is to load them backwards and then that makes editing horrible, so sorry if there are repeat pics.
Today is the front foyer and the kitchen. Here is the cow in my kitchen window over my sink.
Looking into my kitchen from the mudroom. A blurry pic of the upper cupboards lit up with lights. This is the corner where my Big Cookie cutter tree was supposed to be. And it was for a few a days. I modified it and didn't put the back branches on it so that it would squeeze into the corner. Then I put candle lights on it and my collection of kitchen ware(as seen in photo), along with my cookie cutters. It looked cute, but not totally to my liking. And I'm the kind of person who will decorate and totally strip a tree 2 or 3 times if I don't like the way it looks. So I left it for 2 days, but realized it needed more lights. I go to add the lights and as I'm doing it, the tree topples over on me! Spilling half the ornaments. Ok, so I set it back up and strip everything off it. I go to put more lights on it, and only half of them would work and I used all my other strands on other things around the inside and outside of the house. And I wasn't buying more this year. That was the last straw with the tree and I took the whole thing down. So no cookie cutter tree this year and I'm fine with it. One less thing to put away in January. Here is a pic of my non traditional curtain rod, I will use almost anything if I find it interesting. Another view from the mudroom. Looking at the other end of the kitchen from the family room side. Looking out the kitchen window towards the back of the house. Here is the old farm screen door that I salvaged from an old barn, it hangs in the archway between my kitchen and my dining room, which isn't a dining room anymore, it's my craft room. Built in hutch on one side of my kitchen. Remember that big furkin I got at goodwill, I painted it and primmed(it's the one on the bottom). I like the way the simple tree looks sitting in this spot. Hutch in my kitchen. Another view of the kitchen, I think this may be a repeat, sorry. Another view. That tree on the counter is going to be filled with gingerbreadman ornaments as soon as I make a batch. I have to keep my island fairly clear because we use it a lot. Another view. I made this gingerbread advent calendar last year, she hangs on my pantry door. I painted that cupboard in the corner white a few years ago, but soon it will go black or barn red. Stove area. I need to make a wood stove cover, I love the look of them.
This is the middle of the built in cupboard.
another view. Another view. I hung the metal ware in the corner after the tree came down, just to fill the space. Built in area. I bought this greenery with berries this year at the Mustard House in Buxton, it's one of the few Christmas things I bought this year. Shelf above the screen door. My dead duck that my kids tease me about. I bought it years ago off of ebay. Nobody likes it but me! Sign above the archway to my family room. Another one of my Christmas cacti that are already in full bloom. This one likes my kitchen window. Now the front foyer. This is the main front door of the house, but nobody uses it but the dog, everyone enters through the porch/mudroom door. Here is the dog kennel bench my dad built 9 yrs ago. Top of the bench. Stocking and wreath on the door. The front door. I hate the light fixture, but haven't found a bargain to change it out yet. Another view of the hallway, this time during the daylight. Little hutch above pie safe. Another view. I finally hung the wood game boards I got at goodwill this past summer. Quilt rack in the hallway, opposite the pie safe. The wall is actually faux, it is a big archway between the hallway and the dining room, but my dad closed it off for me with beadboard so I could have my craft room.
View with the stairs. Looking up the stairs. Someday the risers will be covered with rug hookings. And that's it for tonight. Tomorrow will be the mudroom, downstairs bath, and outside. I'm not totally happy with the way my craft room looks at the moment, so it may be awhile before I share pics of it.
Have a fantastic evening,
Tiff

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Christmas Decor part 1....

Sorry for posting this late, it was a busy day. I thought I would break up the house pics into several posts because there are a lot of pics. We will start with the family room. Sorry that some of the pics are blurry and I don't know how you guys take such beautiful pics of your homes, mine always come out looking so stark or washed out and not homey. But anyway, here we go...
My house is far from being "prim purist", I don't think my kids would go for that, so I for now I do it cozy primmish, :) Here is the "monster" couch, not my style, but at least it's not totally modern and it serves our family needs. This is the view looking in the archway from my kitchen.
Here is the opposite end of the room, looking in from the smaller archway by the front door and staircase. Here is looking out the archway into the eating area of the kitchen. This the left hand corner of the family on the fireplace side. Someday I want a whole cupboard to hide the TV. Closeup of the fireplace mantel. I did it totally different this year and kept it very simple. The fireplace. Took down the mirror and hung the blanket rack back up. This dry sink is to the right of the fireplace and holds my Christmas cacti. The corner to the right of the fireplace. This is the opposite side of the room, across from the sofa, "my chair", actually my bed as of lately(the sleep apnea from this pregnancy has forced me to sit up to sleep). Looking into the room from the other end. Here is the other end of the room, towards the front of the house. I couldn't get a good pic of the tree without it being blurry. It's a faux tree that I flatten the branches on to make it like a big feather tree. This way I can squeeze more ornaments on. They are all of my glass ornament collection, I've never counted, but there are probably close to 500. Another view. Don't mind the dollhouse, it is under renovation right now :) The display between the front two windows. My hoosier. Another view of the hoosier and the santa suit hanging by it. Display by my chair. Closeup. I tend to keep my santa stuff in the family room.
So there is the family room. Tomorrow will be the kitchen and front hall.
Have a lovely evening,
Tiff

Monday, November 30, 2009

Make Over Monday and Stuff...

I think I finally finished the Christmas decorations!! Well, almost, still some tweaking to do, but I did take pics and I'll share those tomorrow. I figured I had better take them while the house was fairly put together and clean, because with 6 munchkins, it doesn't take long for it to get messy.
For today, I'm sharing some of the stuff I got from 2 weekends ago and some make overs...
The first pic shows some glass ornaments and garland I bought at a church sale for a $1.50 total. I try to buy some glass ornaments each year to add to my collection for my tree, so this is this years contribution. I love this glittery garland, but ironically, I couldn't find anywhere to use it, it was just too sparkly to go with my decor this year. But I will save it for some other year.
And here is a nice big black and cream check table cloth I got at an antique store for $8. Lastly, this large 3 tier shelf at an antique store for $3. This is the best antique store around, it's a lot of junk but a lot of treasures and so cheap!! Now for the make overs.... Here is a little cupboard I picked up from Goodwill about a month ago for $9.99.And painted over.... I still need to sand it and rough it up, but for now it looks better. And I didn't paint is black! Mostly red with some black grunging. And then there was this dresser at goodwill that I just had to have. It was a big purchase for me at GW, $22, but well worth it. It's a vintage Sears dresser with a cloth label in the drawer. I loved the lines of it and the hardware was usable. The red paint actually looks OK in the pic, but trust me, it was hideous, almost a pinky color. Here it is done, well almost, not primmed up yet, just the base coat. And no, I didn't do black paint again, mainly because I was out. So it went green. I couldn't find an adequate spot anywhere for it, so right now it's in my sewing room.Like I said, tomorrow will be house pic day, actually I may make it over several days because I took about 100 pics, and that's just of the main floor.
I'm just glad it's all done, I'm so tired and don't have the energy I used to have, I'm definately feeling very pregnant these days:)
Have a beautiful night,
Tiff

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Cookie Cutter Swap Package Sent...

I mailed my swap package yesterday to a lovely woman in Texas. She doesn't have a blog, so I thought I would show you what I sent her. I made 3 crocheted cotton dish cloths in a Christmas red, these work up pretty quickly and you don't really need a pattern for them(it's all single crochet). I also made a decorative Christmas towel from a piece of linen like fabric I picked up at goodwill(I have a ton left and plan on making more because I love how it turned out). The holly is done in wool and then I just stitched on the x's along the bottom. And then I included 11 cookie cutters, 4 vintage tin ones, 3 new wood handle ones, one red heart, and 3 vintage red ones. The swap never stated how many we were supposed to send, so I hope I did enough.
Here is the towel, I just zig zag stitched the edges, folded and ironed into thirds, then hand stitched on the wool holly and the x's along the one bottom edge. Everything wrapped and read to go... I've been busy painting furniture and moving things around. The two big trees are up, but not decorated yet(that is today's job) and some smaller trees are out. Things are going slower than I planned, but that's OK, it will all get done.
Have a great weekend,
Tiff

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your day and be thankful for your Blessings.
Love,
Tiff

Monday, November 23, 2009

Cows....

Sharing yet another collection with you, my cows. I always have trouble getting good pics of this window, because during the day, the sun shines straight through it, so night time shots will have to do. This is my kitchen window, over my sink. I added the shelf in the middle just so I had a place for my cows. Some are ceramic, some are plastic, and one is tin. Oh and the big one in the window is wood and was found at a yard sale 2 years ago for $3.
The house is getting there, I just need to put away some stuff on the kitchen table and finish my sewing room and then all the Christmas decorations are going up, I can't wait. I'm doing two full size trees this year, one in the kitchen with all my cookie cutters and vintage utensils on it and the other one in the family room with my glass ornament collection. Then I will have 5 or 6 smaller trees through out the house. Oh and I forgot, I still have two large painting makeovers I need to do before I can say the house is done for now, not sure when I will get to those, and I still have to show you what they are!!
I have realized that responding to blogger comments does not work the way typepad does. I have tried to directly respond through email and apparantly no one gets it, so sorry if I'm not responding, I think I will just start commenting on the actual posts when others comment and that will be easier.
Have a fantastic day,
Tiff