A Few Valentine Touches

Hi everybody! I really didn't intend to do much for Valentine's Day but I went to one of my favorite antique stores and saw this little darling.

I put her in the center of my dining room table.
I'd already scattered some hearts cut from sheet music.

Isn't she a cutie?

I scattered a few vintage Valentines around.

I put my red transferware out. 

I got this heart garland at Michaels last year.

The hanging shelf got a few vintage milliner flowers, a tiny oil painting and some birds. 

The rest of the decor is sprinkled with birds. 

Do you have big plans for Valentine's Day?    
Katie 

Crime Shows and An Ottoman

It is time to fess up. 
Have I mentioned that I love crime shows?

Not the fictional crime dramas.
Those freak me out. Nope,
 I like the real crime re-enactments.

This may sound crazy but I spent a lot of time catching up on "my stories" while Bill was traveling.  

One night I decided to slipcover our ottoman while I was binge watching. 

This is the third such cover I've made for this foot stool. We picked it up 15 years ago at a J.C. Penny outlet.

We never had the red fabric showing because I immediately covered it in a brown damask to match the sofa. A few years ago, I recovered it with a purple shower curtain because purple fabric was no where to be found.

A sign shop donated some white remnants to our school last year.  Several lengths were left over so I rescued a few pieces before they went out with the summer trash.

Do you want to make one?

Cut a rectangle slightly larger than the top of the ottoman so that you allow for the seam.

Sew purchased cord or welting around the perimeter of the top. I made covered cord.

Sew a band of fabric almost all the way around the ottoman. This band was 6.5 by 64 inches. Once I was almost all the way around, I sewed the two ends together and then finished attaching it to the top. You can see the seam in the photo below.

Finally, choose what kind of skirt you would like. 
I sewed a ruffle around the perimeter of the ottoman. 
The drop on this one was 15 inches deep. 

Read about an easy ruffle method here.

I love the flirty skirt.

Here it is in its new spot.

The cat has adopted it because it's nice and squishy after 15 years. 

Unfortunately, the cat is black.

We have some good news about Bill and his job. 

He has another new job with no travel!!

I won't need to start projects at all hours of the night and 

no more need for binge watching crime shows. 

Whoo hoo!   

 Katie   

Linking with,
Between Naps on the Porch     
Coastal Charm   
The Scoop   
A Stroll Thru Life   
Savvy Southern Style    
From My Front Porch to Yours

Crystal Chandelier Love

I know I am not alone in my love for chandeliers.

I am contemplating where the next one will go.

I have one waiting… but I need Bill's help to hang it.

I thought we could take a look around at the various examples in our home.

The light fixtures in this house were so ugly. We systematically replaced them as we saw them at garage sales or for free. 

This one hangs in our entry way. 

This one is the only one we bought for retail. It was an oops from Lamps Plus. 

Someone sent it out for a custom color and then didn't want it. We got it for a steal @ $90.00 but hanging it cost a fortune. 

$345.00. 

This light needed proper bracing in the attic and a lift to hang it.

Worth it in the long run, but we were both cringing at the bill.

The dining room chandelier came from the Jr. League garage sale. 

It was $25.00.

The scale was perfect for this room but it didn't have crystals.

It was antique brass for years until I painted it oil rubbed bronze two years ago. 

I went all MacGyver on it, adding crystals here and there until it couldn't hold anymore. 

They are wired and hot glued like crazy.

:)

I love it so!

The kitchen chandelier came from the ReStore for $20.00. 

It was a brass color not real brass.

I painted it O.R.B. and added the crystal drops.

They were about $5.98 for packages of 4 or 5.

I actually took the time to drill holes for this one.  

It looks dialed back compared to the dining room even though I covered every possible arm.

The laundry room fixture was only $5.00 at an antique store. 

It was also antique brass. 

(I was convinced antique brass would be the next finish to come back into style.)

Still waiting...

I dabbed it with black paint to cut down on the gold color.

I think my husband thought I was crazy, but it's crazy cute.

The little chandelier over the piano came from a garage sale 20 years ago.

It was 25 cents! It came with some crystals but many were missing. 

I don't understand why people don't put them back on if they fall off during cleaning.  

The guest room has a ceiling fan and the powder room has a bathroom fan with no light. I'd like to put a smallish one up in the powder room but it wouldn't be code for resale. 

The chandelier in Rebekah's old room also came from a garage sale. 

It was 50 cents.

  

It has its original color and candle covers. 

I am wild about this fixture!

 I used to be able to pick up bags of crystals at my favorite thrift store. 

Every time I saw them - I bought them. 

Unfortunately, I don't see them anymore. 

Jonnie's room on our tour is off limits for the time being. 

It's been stripped of its shabby roots since my youngest moved back in. These pictures are old.

This one came out of my step mom's house in Tulsa. 

It was already painted when she bought the house. 

I tried to strip it back to its original pastel blue and pink but this paint would not come off. 

I just love it and now I'm happy the paint was so stubborn.

This room will get a makeover when Jonnie moves back out. 

The last one is my faux bathroom chandelier. 

It wouldn't be code to have this wired and I haven't found candle cups yet. So it waits for its final transformation.

I thought the days for finding vintage, gilt chandeliers were over but as I was driving through a 70s neighborhood, I spied this number out of the corner of my eye. 

There is no shame in rescuing something destined for the landfill.

It has many of its crystals and I'm in the process of getting more. 

Sadly, my Lowes doesn't have them anymore. 

Can you guess where it is going to go?

It means taking down a ceiling fan, which I may regret in August, but I can't wait to see this one in its new spot.

Katie

Linking with,
French Country Cottage    
Coastal Charm   
The Scoop 
A Stroll Thru Life   
Savvy Southern Style  
DIY by Design

Magic Mushrooms and a Sunny Space

The garden room/sunroom is one room where we can have a little whimsy.

At Christmas I was pondering the "why" of the mushroom ornament as I have several old ones. I pulled them out to put on my Woodland Christmas tree. I'd never done any research about the 
Amanita Muscaria and I wondered why they were so prominent at Christmas.

I googled it. 

Some folklore has it that reindeer ate mushrooms and then pranced around. Thus they had the ability to fly Santa around the world. The little red capped mushroom with the white spots has hallucinogenic properties. Cases of poisoning were reported but it's a rare occurrence now.

  

 Mushrooms were depicted in Victorian children's literature and were often seen as homes for gnomes and fairies. 

I was at Hobby Lobby after Christmas looking for some inspiration and noticed that they had a fairy garden aisle.

The aisle is chocked full of anything to create a fairy garden but I thought that the mushrooms and gnomes would be a cute accessory in the garden room.

It's something different and 

the gnomes can help take care of the plants at night. ;)

I didn't want to overdo it but I did want to sprinkle a few around the room to help brighten up these dreary days.

Well, I love a little whimsy and I love red and white. 

They proved too irresistible.

I particularly thought this guy and a mushroom looked cute in the birdcage. 

I also loved this tiny house and these "log" flower pots.

I picked up this little door with the red heart and a Mrs.

One of the kids made the terra cotta gnome in elementary school. 

The whole room got a really good cleaning. 

I love this room at this time of year. Bright and cheerful on a cold winter day.

Thanks for coming by.

Katie   

Linking with,

From My Front Porch to Yours  

The Brambleberry Cottage    

Common Ground