Reinvented

I love a woman who is real. (and a woman who has my blinkie button posted as well as our new widget).....Kimm........besides having the same name as me, but with an extra M..........is real. Over at Reinvented, her motto is Home Decor for Real People, with Real Stuff and Real budgets. Isn't that the truth? Isn't that the struggle to decorating at times, is finding what works for you within your budget? Not sure about you, but at times I am accused of having a Champagne taste on a beer bottle budget. And like Kimm, I have learned to work my yard sale or Goodwill mojo to get things the way I want. We are women after all...........if there's a will, there's a way.

Stand back ladies..........would you look at that front door? It may not be red........but my second favorite is black......with a RED monogram. And those polka dot pots are da bomb! I think I'm going to steal that idea to place on each side of my new gate that my perfectionist husband built........he gate that we just found out we can't paint for 6 mo......something to do with it being cedar......bla bla bla........I don't want to talk about it.......but I know these pots will look super cute next to my gate when I have to painted white.....

While were looking at pots...........she did another one for a friend. I love this idea, I don't know why I just don't take the time to do a few for myself, or friends. I think it's one of those items that is pretty simple but has that high gasp appeal for originality.My neighbor JUST did this for her headboard this weekend. She painted hers black. This is a GREAT inexpensive idea and really........so much cuter than most. Kimm was actually the brains behind this below.............Yes, yes, I know I posted it a couple of weeks ago thinking it was from another featured blogger..........but she was only showing Kimm's work. If you missed it, then feast your eyes on this great idea for framing. She used an embossed wall paper as her background. She distressed it a bit, added the photos and TaDa!

She has a couple of before and afters on her blog too. We love those.........keep em coming.After...........she shows how she added the decorated embellishments before painting it black. Anytime we can find something to paint...........we're happy. Enjoy her blog..........leave her a nice comment.......she's sweet.

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Just a note to let you know we have SO many great blogs to click through on our baby blue widget to the left. I'm finding so many blogs for my FFF (future feature file) too.

Blue Castle

I have found the Ultimate Crafty Thrifter, Sarah with Blue Castle...............if you think you're thrifty.........you may want to review that title after you read her blog. Sarah looks at anything and everything as a new project.........I swear she's channeling the great women of the great depression. She's ready........really.

I'm loving this chandelier she re-purposed. She uses paint as her decorating weapon........there is nothing she won't paint......I love paint.

Cute!
While we're talking light fixtures.....she just took this one out of her bathroom. Most of us would either sell this at a garage sale, or drop it off for GoodWill..........right? Well not Miss Sarah.
She couldn't let it slip from her crafty mind............she thinks out of the box.........
Yes, that's the SAME fixture. It's now a candle holder. This would be so perfect for an outdoor room.
She must have taken a tip from Southern Living at HOME and just turned it upside down. Did you ever notice that? Every one of their products can be turned upside down for a different decorating approach. WAIT! Does this mean she didn't use the glass bulb holders? I bet she used them for something.I know........you were wondering what she did with the back plate..................not to worry. It was not thrown away.
She painted it........of course...........added decorative paper or fabric, a vinyl "family" and she's got herself a new piece for her walls. Seriously........would you have thought of that? I wouldn't have.

This window mis-treatment has one up on The Nester...........It's not fabric...........it's a throw rug she found on sale. A THROW RUG! Think outside the box people.

I am such a sucker for monograms and chalkboards..............NO, the S is not for Sucker.Loving the doors upstairs in her home. She decided to paint the outside of each door the color of the room inside. Isn't that blue dreamy? Get this.........she bought that at Walmart in their reject pile........she got lucky didn't she?

Like I always say.........there is so much more......you gotta go visit her. The girl is resourceful with a capital R! I've never seen anything like it.

Buzzings of a Queen Bee

My house is in such disarray that I knew exactly what to do..........start looking around for inspiring blogs to get me motivated.........it's also a great distraction. Hmmmmm........clean the playroom or blog........tough decision.

Buzzings of a Queen Bee is a charming blog full of all things domestic. It's a delightful way to distract yourself from the things around you that need your attention.

I love this girl not because she has my button.......but because she's not afraid to paint something. Great reasoning. She had inherited an old brass bed. She didn't like the brassy look.........she felt guilt about wanting to paint it........but hated the idea of having it and not enjoying it. She loved the antique look..........just not brass. So she did what every bold creative woman would do................painted it. It's adorable and she now enjoys it.

Now what really caught my eye was this chair. A chair that so many of us would just pass on by, But Queenie saw the good bone structure, the great lines, the classic look and took mercy on this poor old chair.

She had slip covers made in a wonderful black and white hounds tooth. I LOVE that!

I had been looking for a similar fabric for a small slipper chair I have..........she has a pillow made in the exact fabric I want, but her pillow is red and I want it in the black......don't you love the tiny little bee's?
She is always finding inexpensive way to spruce up her home. Take this bucket tin..........cute in it's day.......but not cute enough anymore..........Using a little scrapbook paper and some mod podge...........she now has a very stylish bucket. While we're looking at all the black accents of her lovely home.........she has a great photo wall. Something I highly recommend for all homes. This is such a great way to add style and charm to a large wall.......also a great way to display a large amount of photos. I've added other accents to my photo wall. My large monogram and the number indicating the amount of people in our family. I plan to add a silhouette of my son sometime.............maybe I can do that next instead of cleaning.Why don't I think of these things. Why settle for a plain lamp shade? She has several lamp shades she converted to her own liking. I guess some come with a self adhesive shade??? Who knew? This one she used a glue spray, a little fabric and some fringe.


Are you jealous of her yet? Well........she also cooks. Chicken Pot Pie...........this sounds perfect for a weekend meal...........like tonight. So glad that's planned.



With her many tutorials...........WE LOVE TUTORIALS! She created this cute little pot for a gift. Simple, cute, inexpensive and perfect!

Now this is a look I love! Anything 3 in a row is right up my alley. I know, I know..........Christmas is so over............we are done done done! But wait.............
See that pail that's painted red with white polka dots? I want it.
And this advent calendar.........she showed a tutorial on this. WE LOVE A TUTORIAL!

Did I already show this? I've looked at it so many times I can't remember if I shared it with you already.

It's a very simple idea.........I know it doesn't look like it, but trust me........you can do it.

Grab yourself a cup of joe and pay Queenie a visit. Please let her know how you found her........I have a feeling many of you already know her.

Paper Poppies

Whoo hooo.........I'm up to 324 followers! See it's the little things that make me happy. I hope you'll enter the giveaway for a blog design. Just scroll down......you'll see it.

Today I am kind of cheating. Since it's my blog, I can do that. I am featuring Jessica.

Paper Poppies. I featured her before, but it was her other blog.

Details, details.

Jessica is a girl after my own heart. Not only does she believe in painting furniture..........I believe all furniture should be painted. :) She loves junk.........shopping for junk........me too!! Way better than the mall.

She found this hutch that most people would just walk past.......but she saw the potential..........

BOY HOWDY! Didn't it turn out great?Love the green. A little paint take a piece of old furniture a LONG way.She recently had a write up in her local paper about these coffee cozies. Maybe I'm way behind, but I have never seen these. I love them.......so cute. This is the best idea ever! I also remember seeing it on Skip To My Lou. Such a great idea and great gift...........if you know how to sew that is.If you ARE one of those smarty pants sewing kind of people.........then you can also show off and make this homemade Tic Tac Toe game.Since I'm re-living Jr. High this week...........I'm not even going to show you her scrapbooking............she's a total show off.

Plum Pudding

Hello my pretties...........if you follow my personal blog, then you know that I am doing the happy dance today mixed in with a little roger rabbit!

But what also makes me happy is the creative creativeness of Plum Pudding! I keep thinking that I featured her before, but I don't think I did. She doesn't have my featured button.......that's the real reason I have that.

Just when I think I can't see anything new, I see it. That's the beauty of being creative. You can apply it to anything. Reminds me of the famous question "What is Art?"

Megan is one of those super mom's............if you're having one of those days, you may want to wait til tomorrow to read this............but wait.........actually she may inspire you. It's not about being perfect. It's about creating.........giving your children many different types of experiences......still..........she's pretty perfect in the getting your kids away from the TV. I bet she doesn't have a TV. WHAT? No Oprah?

Not all of her craft adventures are frame-able.........this one is down right messy. You compulsive cleaners out there will need to stick your neurosis in your back pocket for this one. I'm 99.9% sure that my husband never got to do this as a child. Shaving Cream. Kids love this. I remember being a good mom and letting my son do this on his art easel.......I even added colors to it.......outside of course.
While were on messes...........kids love anything they can make a mess with. It's not a mess to them, it's learning. I did the rice thing with my son..........I used a large sand box. The sweeping got a little tedious or stepping on rice wasn't so fun. But my son loved it. I don't recommend using beans.........perfect for the nose.
And it certainly helps to have hard wood floors for this project.
This is an idea I am going to try soon! Why it never occurred to me to try a lettuce spinner. Duh! I had never bought one of those paint spinners........they just looked too cheap and I wasn't paying full price.


End result.........ART, you can actually hang! Would you look at that. I love the fact that she recycles products and makes use with her kids artsy stuff. Brilliant! It's not hard, you can see that.........it's all about looking at things with a different eye.
This is one of the first things I saw when I placed her in my FFF file (future feature file) These re purposed jars! They are just peanut butter jars. How many of these have you thrown away? Never again. But the ribbon through the top really seals it for me. You could even go a step further and create some fancy labels. I think she did that with another project using her children's drawings............. Of course she did. :)

OK, the most creative I ever got with cereal boxes was making towers. Would you look at this. Again.........not terribly difficult. Something we could do with out much cursing.......especially since the kids would be involved. I think I remember her having the template for those cute little ducklings.This one my son will be all over. He has begged for me to buy this stuff. And I have to admit......I am a terrible mom. I have never bought my son Sculpey clay. There I said it! I've bought other stuff.....but not this. Love how these turned out. My son would probably wear that........More Sculpey clay fun. I actually made fake fossils like this with some cornstarch formula. This looks much easier. Imprints of anything from nature is always a great lesson. If you're from Oregon, you must visit the John Day Fossil beds. Amazing place. We came back with a box of fossils.......you can dig behind the highschool in Fossil.........of course.Another great idea.......instead of throwing away those milk jugs. Create a storage place. While she was doing a home school project on China.............I know..........I'm feeling inferior too.........but we can catch up...........she incorporated Fortune cookies with messages inside. I think my favorite.........did I already say that? Well, they're all my favorite or I wouldn't have picked them to me on my blog.

But this mobile made out of garbage! Love the color, the shapes...........really she should write a book.

And don't think for a minute that I missed these chairs. LOVE THEM! Megan has the perfect site for anyone looking for children's activities.......and you will probably already have all the supplies needed if you just look around your home.

Go rub her down with some TCB love.

For all you Etsy shops, or you mom business', or any of you trying to gain some extra exposure for selling your goods for the holidays.........I am offering $10 /week ad opportunities. From Nov 8th - Dec 13th. Space is limited. Email me for details. krjdemmon@comcast.net