New Kitchen Table...

Hubby and I took a ride out to the Mustard House last Friday, not really looking for anything for our house, just some of the homemade soap they sell.  Well, because I have the most sweet and awesome hubby in the world, who spoils me to no end... I came home with two new treasures :)  One you will have to wait to see(still have to figure out where in the garden I can put a cow ;) ), but I will show you the other right now...

A new kitchen table.  It works perfectly in this space and really lightens up the room.  We don't need a huge table anymore, and this smaller one(7' instead of 9') lets us have easier access to the patio doors and more walking space in general.  It's a reproduction piece and both sides can be folded down like a tavern table.

I love it!...  and the old table got the faux top and leaves removed and is now in the family room as a game table/sewing table...so win win.

I've tweaked the kitchen since I took these pictures the other night and I will share what I did with it next week.

Now I just need some nice days so I can work outside in the yard... I can't wait for you all to see my other treasure :)   Thank you dear !!

Have a lovely day,
Tiff

Wow, just Wow :)

As most of you know, I volunteer at my boys' elementary school a lot, not in the classroom, but more of a general school wide thing...usually craft and creative related.  I do it because I enjoy it.  I like to see the smiles on the kids' faces when they see a new bulletin board go up.  I like the challenge of coming up with new ideas. And I like to make people happy, especially the teachers and staff who put so much of their time and energy into teaching our children.

This week is volunteer appreciation week and on Monday night we had our volunteer coordinator meeting. At the end of it, the vice principal, Becky(she runs the volunteers, and is a friend and neighbor) gave us each a gift card to a local coffee house(gold card below). It was a very nice gift of appreciation.

Then on Tuesday I went in to do the sea life bulletin board and was told to wait a minute in the office. Becky called me into her office and totally surprised and shocked me with these overly generous gifts...

All the teachers got together and raised money to buy me a gift card to a local restaurant(cutest gift card ever!) and a TIFFANY necklace!!!

Here is the beautiful necklace and pendant.... I am blown away with their kindness. It was totally not necessary but I totally love it :)

But I wasn't the only one they thought of.... they also got Mason a big stretchy frog and an awesome board game(it's called North Pole Camouflage and the upper levels are even challenging for adults, it's a fun brain teaser).  He is my shadow with school volunteering and they wanted him to know how good and patient he is. Sweet, right?

So to all the teachers and staff at Great Falls Elementary School, THANK YOU!!! You didn't have to do it, but please know that you made this shy and under confident girl feel very much loved and appreciated.

Blessings to you all,

Tiff

Bulletin Boards

I finally remembered to take a picture of the May bulletin board I did.  The inspiration for this month was "teacher appreciation".  The 3D flowers came out pretty well, but they were a pain to get attached to the board.

And yesterday I did a smaller bulletin board for my 2nd grader's classroom. They are studying sea life. I made the giant squid and shark and all the kids made the smaller creatures.  It was a simple board, but came out pretty well.

I had to add this one of Mason... he loves to dress up everyday, yesterday was cowboy day :)

Have a beautiful day,

Tiff

Late Spring Mantel...

I had no idea what to do with my fireplace mantel this year after I took down my chocolate Easter bunnies.  After  a few attempts, I came up with a simple mantel that will last into Summer....

I wanted some symmetry, so I used matching crocks on each side with the same plants in them... but a bird nest on one side...

And a bird on the other...

In the middle I just added a wood box filled with most of my glass coaster collection(a lot of them I am actually using with my furniture)...would love to find more green ones.

At a local store I found some really neat prints for a great price... I put two of them in the empty frames on my family room wall....(don't know why this one came out blurry)

And this one, I love old pictures of birds...

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Birthdays....

It's been a wonderful and busy week...

May 13th.... Our new daughter-in-law celebrated her birthday at our house.  I made her a triple layer cake with a brownie center.   She is a very sweet young woman, a bit on the shy side, but I think we all are a bit overwhelming to her.  

They are such a cute couple :)

I also made her a tote bag to take to Hawaii when they get transferred in July... it has handles and a long shoulder strap so she can use it however she wants.

I love how it turned. I used a really stiff interfacing for the first time and it made all the difference.

Then on May 14th, Nathan's Angel day, Becca and I went and got our second holes pierced in our ears...

On May 15th... My sweet and sensitive little boy, Zach, turned 8 years old....

He is the most awesome big brother to Mason, always there for him, and doesn't complain too much about big brothers duties ;)  He is my most emotional child, and takes things truly to heart. He is a kind soul and is growing into a fine young man.  
He loves sleeping with his "stuffies" and got two giant new ones for his birthday, plus a big Lego set.

And I had to add this one of Jenny after her bath yesterday. I trimmed her eye fur so she can see much better now!

Sweet Blessings to you,

Tiff

Always in My Heart....

                                                             Mommy loves you Nathan.

Honeymoon Room and Mother's Day....

One of the big things we did in the house before the arrival of the newlyweds, was to make a honeymoon suite for them.  My 10 year old was gracious enough to give up his room and move back in with his big brother so that we could have the extra bedroom.  After a lot of moving of  "stuff", I painted the room a crisp fresh white and set about decorating it.  I wanted it to have a vintage feeling but not be too cluttered.  I'm still not totally done with it, and since it will remain a guest room after they leave, I will definitely tweak it over time.

I totally forgot to take pictures of the room before they arrived, so these were taken very quickly(like in a minute's time) right before they brought their suitcases in the room.

The view from the door of the room...

I would love to find a an old queen size spindle bed for in here.  And I need the right quilt for the wall, this one doesn't quite work, but it's what I had....(looking for robbin's egg blue)

I got this mirror for $5 at a local shop, I love the blue color on it(I had some paint made up from color matching it at HD, I want to paint more!).  The mercury glass lamp is from The Christmas Tree Shop.

Used that color match paint here on the frame :)  And put together a little cart of toiletries and snacks for them.  The metal bar cart was from the Goodwill distribution center and I paid a whopping 99 cents for it...

One more view... again, not the best pictures, but I was in a hurry....

The whole lot of us... Saturday, they day they arrived, steaks on the grill....

And then for Mother's day we went out to eat... two days in a row I had all my kids together for dinner!!!

I had yummy lobster mac and cheese, not on the diet plan but well worth it....(and I won't tell you about the fudge brownie sundae)

My sweet little man.....Mason :)....

And Jenny.... she is getting big, up to 7.6lbs at the vet on Friday.

Have a wonderful day,

Tiff

Luncheon and Outside Work...

I've been nothing but busy lately, lots of school stuff, and then getting the house ready for Cameron and his new bride(they flew in Saturday).

Last week was teacher appreciation week and on Thursday we put on a soup buffet luncheon for them.  Here  is the room after I decorated it....

Green mason jar center pieces(have you gotten yours yet!?, I got both sizes and I love the green color of them)....

Another view...

My color scheme was mostly going to be yellow and white, and I through in the green jars at the last minute. I'm glad I did because they matched well with the green chairs...happy accident.

Fruits and sandwiches to go along with the soups...

The banner was a pinterest idea I saw...

I should have done more with this side of the room but I ran out of time....(we had door prizes too, the bags on the right)....

We redid the front yard area last week too...  my sweet hubby indulged me and we made a small stone wall across the front....

New mulch and reworked the walkway...

Moved the moose...

See my new concrete bunny?  I love her...  In the big buckets are flowers and strawberries...

I also reworked the firepit outback....

It's not perfect, but I just used what we had and it looks much better...

I have lots more pictures to share but I got a new phone and I have to figure out how to connect it to google+ so I have them on my computer.

Hope you all had a lovely mother's day, mine was perfect :)

Tiff

To Paint or Not?

Spring has been late to arrive this year, and it is only this past weekend that I have even begun to think about what to do with the front porch and back deck.   I know I want it to be clean and simple this year, so I'm trying to stick with that.  We ended up Not having the yardsale this past Saturday. It just wasn't feasible... to much to do before Cameron and his new bride arrive on the 10th.  So we will just shut the garage doors and not let them in there ;)  

As for my front porch... a friend talked me into keeping and using at least one of the wicker sofas.  I moved the outdoor wicker set to the back deck and put the indoor wicker loveseat on the front porch.  I will have to cover the cushions when it rains, but I think it should be OK, since there is a pretty wide overhange to protect it.   My question for you all is, should I paint it?  And if so, what color? Black or white?(I don't want a pop of color, other than from flowers).

I got my ferns this weekend too, I hope they do as well as the one did last year. These are just baby ones, so I hope they grow fast.

What do you think? To paint or not?  The porch is looking a bit naked right now, but I'm working on it.

Have a great day,

Tiff