Gourd Topiary - I’m in love <3!

We are in a stretch of gorgeous Fall days here in Michigan.  The nights have been chilly, alright, darn right cold (in the 30’s and 40’s already!) followed by bright sunny days that warm quickly.  It really is so beautiful!  I started my day by headed to the county market farm market.  Seriously, I’ve lived here all my life, and never gone to this market?  What is wrong with me?  Fantastic people, fantastic prices, lovely, fresh produce and flowers.  I was quite smitten.  I’m going back on Saturday with the hubs to pick up some salsa ingredients.  I knew it existed, but went to a painting girls night at a really cool farm house last weekend, and was greeted by a killer stack of gourds.  I had to know where she got them.  The farm market was the answer.
So I picked up a topiary of gourds too while I was there and had a fun time decorating the front porch with them.  This may be my favorite porch EVER!  Barn wood, hydrangea, gourds, moss, horseshoes, grapevines, mums, cabbage, and burlap!  I’m swooning over here, It’s like winning the decorating lottery, only I don’t get any money just something pretty to look at.   So here it is ~ please, enjoy!






And just for fun, here’s the picture I painted at the farm house last weekend.  I’m no Picasso, but I did it all myself!


So thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you enjoyed my porch.

Diane

Linking up at:

Flusterbuster
Myuncommonsliceofsuburbia
Memoriesbythemile
The36thavenue
Somedaycrafts
Tatertotsandjello
DIY-vintage-chic
Autumn-abounds-link-party-and-1000-giveaway

Fall Mantel 2013

No better day than today to share my Fall Mantel, it is after all, the first day of Fall.

With a little bit of old and a little bit of new, I created my mantel.  It looks so different with the new color in the room, which is a fantastic Fall accent in itself.

My wreath and my pendant banner are among the reused.  The only thing I did was add a few feathers to the wreath, since they are “in” this fall.

The bunting banner I made last year out of things I had laying around.  Still cute.

My white owl collection is new.  And thanks to a great sale, I spent under $15 for all 3.  The jug is a vintage find, and the spool is from last year too. 

New to me this year, although I found it at an antique store, is this wooden black crate.  It was $12, and I couldn’t pass up it’s rustic appeal.  An acorn on a candlestick, a white pumpkin, and an old horseshoe round out the other end.  And that’s it!  I’m ready for the cooler weather, blankets, sweaters, fresh picked apples, a fantastic color display in the trees and pumpkins galore.  Hoping you take the time to enjoy the season.  Warm regards, Diane

Linky Parties:
DIYshowoff
Homestoriesatoz
Thriftydecorchick
Myuncommonsliceofsuburbia

Fall Vignette

I have a quick share for you today.  I’ve been working over the last week to get my house updated for Fall. It’s officially here on Sunday!  I showed you my summer display in my china cabinet in my Family Room Reveal last week.  Here’s a reminder of what it looked like for summer:

And here’s what it looks like for Fall:

I have such a good time updating it for the seasons.  My son made that sweet little owl a few years ago, and I don’t think I fully appreciated it’s cuteness until this year.  I’m also loving the vintage yellow bowl that was my Grandma’s, and of course bringing back my pears made out of lightbulbs was good too.  Missed those little fellas! 

Here’s a little collage to showcase the contents a little closer.

Have a super weekend!  I think my hubs and I are going to get up extra early and drive an hour and a half to an Antique Festival.  Should be fun, especially since we need to be back home by 1pm for my son’s first flag football game!

diane

Linky Parties:

DIYshowoff

Fabric Pumpkins

I don’t know about you, but this Fall I am Mad about Plaid! That’s why I created this little pumpkin.

Isn’t she just so sophisticated with her little belt?  It’s actually one of those wrap brackets, that just wasn’t for me.  The plaid is from a pair of boys PJ’s that I picked up at Good Will. 

I used a foam pumpkin I already had and wrapped the fabric around it.  The stem is just twine wrapped around and glued.

Here’s another one I made.  Using a little girls dress that had two patterns.  After gluing on the panels I used some ribbon to cover the edges.

This one was much harder, and not my favorite child, but she’s cute in her own special way.

Have you started your Fall décor yet?  It’s getting easier now that the temperatures are dropping. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. 

Enjoy your day!

Diane

Linky Parties:

funkyjunkinteriors
remodelaholic
iheartnaptime
Primp your Pumpkin-party-2
skiptomylou

A Family Room make-over (the reveal)

Ok, I have to admit, I’ve been a terrible blogger this past summer.  Basically, I haven’t blogged at all.  I wish I could say it was because I was off on long and luxurious vacations, but I wasn’t.  I did have a wonderful family trip to Punta Cana in the beginning of summer, and a couple of beautiful camping trips within our state, but over all, I was just lazy.  That and we were down to one computer and getting time on the computer meant fighting off the kids, especially with so many rainy days.  My one big accomplishment this summer was the long awaited redecorating of my family room.  It was one of the last rooms I had left to do, and I really don’t know what made me wait so long.  I hated the green carpeting and broken blinds from the day we moved in, but as things tend to do, it always slipped down the list.  This spring we set aside some money for new carpeting and blinds, and started planning the redo.   Those were the two big expenses, and I planned on keeping my furniture.  So here’s what the room looked like before I started.  It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but the walls were a really light mint green.  And look at that dog!  I swear she has a way of sneaking into so many of my pictures!

Family room before VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The first thing I did was paint the walls Great Plains Gold by Benjamin Moore. Well I take that back. The first thing I did was agonize over a color.  I saw so many people painting their rooms very light colors, and they looked so clean and yet cozy.  So I painted the room Owl Grey by BM.  I love yellow and grey together and I thought I’d work with that.  After several days of staring at the room, I decided it just wasn’t for me.  The carpet (which was still green) was throwing a green cast on the walls, and it looked way too similar to the previous color, just cleaner and fresher.  The final straw came when I got a call from Lowes saying the carpet color I ordered (a grey) was no longer available.  I took this as a sign that this room was not meant to be this color.  I went back to the drawing board, and started all over again.  First, I chose the carpet color I liked.  After all, paint comes in many more colors than carpet!  Then I went to visit my neighborhood Benjamin Moore color specialist.  I love getting an expert opinion on my color choices, and after one fail, I just wasn’t looking forward to repainting a third time.  Jill, the color specialist, was a great help and we worked together to come up with a great color.  You can find Jill at her Facebook page – ColorRedesign, even if you don’t live near me, she has lots of great information on her site. 

After painting, the carpet was installed and the new blinds came in.  I went with a looped roman shade and panels for the doorwall.  This gave the room a much more modern feel.  I am sorry there are no great pictures of the blinds.  I tried and tried to get a picture, but alas, my amateur photography skills proved how difficult it is to take pictures into the light.  Maybe some day. . .

Well by this time, you must be thinking – show us some after photos!  So thanks for reading along this far.  I know I’ve been a little long and windy, but after such a long break, I guess I have a lot to say!

So here are the after pictures ~ Enjoy!

I am so much happier with the warm color.  I learned a big lesson about listening to my heart, instead of following what others are doing.  I feel like the colors go together with the existing furniture so nicely.  The room has a lot of harmony, and the new furniture lay-out makes the room feel so much larger.  We also extended the hardwood flooring from the kitchen into the laundry room.  The carpet in that little hallway was always so filthy.  The wood is much easier to care for.  Many of my accessories were repainted or brought in from other rooms.  I didn’t really buy anything new, although my new lamp shades were found at Target for $4.60/each.  Couldn’t pass up that deal!
Here’s a quick peek inside the curio cabinet.  This was my summer vignette.  I just spent the last 2 days rearranging this room for fall.  I hope to have those pictures up soon. 

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my family room.  I hope you liked it!

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK       PINTEREST       HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

linky party:

thirtyhandmadedays
diy-vintage-chic
tatertotsandjello
funkyjunkinteriors
remodelaholic
diyshowoff

Tutorial on cleaning a bathtub drain

You’re standing in the shower up to your ankles in water.  After your shower or bath the tub takes F-o-r-e-v-e-r to drain or maybe there’s a funky smell in your shower that you just can’t narrow in on, and even after you clean the bathroom your nose says something still isn’t right.  Your drain has become slow and you might be thinking you need to pick up a bottle of drain-o or maybe even call in a plumber.  But wait!  Before you waste any money on this problem, why not give it a shot at fixing the problem yourself- for FREE!!  It’s not difficult, although it might be a little gross.  Some of you will find great satisfaction  in doing this.  I kinda do.
Here are the tools you will need to do the job. A screwdriver (depending on your drain you may need a phillips head instead of a flat head), A pair of skinny pliers, some baking soda(mine is from Target, and you’ve never bought your baking soda at Target, you should, the Market Pantry brand is super cheap, like .29 cents), some vinegar, and a few paper towels. 


Begin by looking at your drain.  Your plug might look different than mine, but they all pretty much are the same in that they unscrew, and then have a screw underneath  that you can remove. I start by removing the top part, that says push on it.  I simply unscrew it with my hand.

Under that it looked like this.

I put a screwdriver in and removed the insert.

Under that you will generally see a +, you may not be able to see it if there is a lot of hair built up.  This + is the  reason that hair gets caught up.  I am doing my teenage daughter’s drain today and she has really long hair.  Long hair means she uses lots of shampoo and conditioner.  Using lots of shampoo and conditioner causes a build up of gunk in the drain, along with a bunch of hair washing down together, and it’s no wonder that the water can no longer get down the drain!  Now comes the gross part.  I’m not going to lie, sometimes the hair, soap, and conditioners smell really bad when you pull them out.  They’re starting to rot. Put your paper towels down in the tub along side of the drain, and pick up your pliers.  Insert them into the drain and pinch and then pull up.  You should come up with a clump of hair.  Make a face and put it in the paper towel.  Continue doing this until the drain looks clear.  I sometimes use a combination of the screwdriver and the pliers if I can’t reach all the hair, and if you don’t have skinny pliers, you may be able to just use your screwdriver, but the pliers are easier.

Here is the grossness that I got today.


Puke right??  The sad part is I did this less than six months ago.  It’s not really anyone’s fault and has nothing to do with how clean you are or how often you clean your tub.  It just accumulates where no one can see it , and until the drain starts having trouble, you don’t really think about it. 
Moving on. . .

The next thing I do is just a great maintenance item.  I pour about a half cup of baking soda down the drain, and then pour in vinegar until it bubbles up to the top of the drain.  I leave that for about 15 minutes, and then pour really hot water (not quite to boiling) down the drain.  This will help disinfect the drain and clean it too.  That’s all there is, now reassemble your plug in reverse of what you needed to do to get it apart. 

Now turn on your water and watch it go down the drain beautifully.  Pat yourself on the back because you just save yourself some money, and by the way, Drain-o won’t clear up this type of problem anyway, it’s not a clog stuck in the drain, it’s stuck on that little + .
I know this is a little gross and if you don’t have the stomach for it, ask your hubby to give it a try before you call someone!
Now the next time your drain runs slow, you will know just what to do.  Hope you found this helpful!  I appreciate you stopping by.

Diane

party links
madefrompinterest
diyshowoff

Pallet Sign–All American Star

 

Summer is winding down.  I can’t believe how quickly it came and went this year! Weird, wet and cool weather weather dominated around here.  I am hoping for a beautiful Fall to make up for it.  My husband had an idea to make a pallet sign this weekend while it was actually nice out.  After some brainstorming he came up with an idea to use some of our barbed wire we had picked up this spring at a  barn.  I love how the signed turned out, and really the toughest part was getting those gosh darn pallets apart!  Man, it’s like they make them to hold really heavy things or something!  After some trial and error, we came up with a good method using a brick,a cinder block, and some muscle to get them apart.

To begin we started by painting half of the slats in a watered down red and the other half in a watered down white.  Then I made a star stencil to use as our guide.

 

Carefully, we bent the barbed wire around the cut-out and nailed it in place as we went. 

And that was it!  The sign is going to hang in our barn inspired basement. I really love the rustic appeal it has. 

     

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK                      PINTEREST                         HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

Link Parties:

the36thavenue.com
justdipitinchocolate/im-co-hosting-party-at-fluster-buster
Design, Dining & Diapers
frenchcountrycottage
DIY-vintage-chic.blogspot.com
tatertotsandjello.com
madefrompinterest
diyshowoff
homecomingmn
funkyjunkinteriors

21 Dazzling DIY Bedding ideas

Bedding can really make or break a room.  The problem is that it can also make or break a bank account too!  There are so many layers to a bed, and really everyone of them is important, from the mattress protector, up to those cute throw pillows, you want to make sure they are comfortable and practical. You need to ask yourself, do I really want to pick up 9 throw pillows, 2 shams, and 4 pillows every morning when you make the bed?  If your answer is yes, then go for it!  If not, you might want to consider a cleaner less fussy look.  After all, it’s your bedroom and it needs to work for you.

Realizing that you can spend a fortune on bedding (and yes it will look like it), but there are also so many DIY ways to make your bedroom your own.  The possibilities are endless as your imagination.  That’s why I was so excited when  @HOMETALK ask me to curate a DIY Bedding idea board for their site.  Click on the picture below to be taken to my board.  There are ideas for re-making a bed skirt that is too small for your current bed, re-purposing old Vintage pillow cases as lamp shades, making pillow cases and curtains from linen towels, using dropcloth for curtains or a bedskirt, and of course a few ideas for those DIY throw pillows you will be picking up every morning.  Plus there are lots of other ideas that can help to cut the cost of decorating your bedroom. 

I was particularly excited to see the post on the drop cloth curtains with the fabric top.  It’s so similar to what I did in my own bedroom, except I was lucky enough to find valances at Target that someone had returned from an on-line purchase marked at 75% off.  Along with some curtains I had bought at #Home Goods, I cut the valances down the center and then had them sewed along the top to create a very custom curtain, all at the beautiful price of $160 (including the seamstress costs).  Did I mention that is for 3 windows or 6 curtain panels!!

             

                
The stencil ideas are also great because, with stenciling so popular, you can really customized any thing you can think of.  Take plain sheets and make them custom, cheap curtains from Ikea can become a show stopper with stencils, and you can choose the perfect color, which isn’t the case with store bought options.  Pillows are easy and great to stencil, and even a plain duvet or comforter can be made your own.  I hope my board gives you some inspiration to try a DIY in your room!
         

Once again, Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your day!

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK       PINTEREST       HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

Linky Parties:

Somedaycrafts   Shabby Creek Cottage  ,   House of Hepworths,   The Frugal Girls ,  The Thirty Sixth Avenue,  A Glimpse Inside,  52 Mantels, beneathmyheart, somewhatsimple

Be You

Back in the Springtime I created this simple little bunny silhouette from a picture frame.  The glass had broken and I didn’t want to just throw it out. 

So I added some burlap to the backing, frame it up with some trimmed burlap ribbon, and cut out a bunny silhouette on some decorative toile paper.  It was cute and worked far beyond Easter, but with the hot days of summer upon us, I decided to peel off the bunny, and create something a little more up to the season.  I recently found some cute cloth stickers at Micheals on clearance and used them to update the frame.  Then I just added some twine and some bee ribbon.

Can you tell I have a texting teenager?  I feel like I’m always telling her to be herself, and not worry about other people think.  Maybe seeing the on the Kitchen backsplash everyday will remind her {wink,wink}.

Thanks for stopping by to see my project!!

And remember to Be You because you are great!!!

Stuffed Cabbage and Zucchini Fritters

Stuffed Cabbage, Pigs in a Blanket, Gumki.  These are just a few of the names people give to one of the best comfort foods around.  When I was a kid and my Mom made these, I hated the cabbage, but loved the meat.  Now that I’m grown, I love the mixed favor of both. Making these also makes me think about my Mom and Grandma, since I make them the way my Mom did, in my Grandma’s roaster.  I know they’d be proud.
It’s a hot and humid day here in Michigan, but I had a large head of cabbage from my visit to the Eastern Market in Detroit this past weekend, and I didn’t want it to go to waste.  So I pulled out my grandma’s roaster and cleaned it up, then I got to work.  Making stuffed cabbage isn’t hard, but there are a few steps. There are hundred’s of recipes and variations to making these, but this is my recipe and I’d like to share it with you.

Stuffed Cabbage
1 large head of cabbage
2 lbs of ground beef (I used chuck)
2/3 cup of uncooked white rice
2 eggs
1 medium onion chopped
splash of milk
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 14oz cans of tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups of water

Start by mixing the meat mixture which is the beef, onions, rice, eggs, milk, salt, pepper.  Mix together with your hands and then set aside.
Put a large pot of water on the stove and fill the bottom with water, maybe an inch or so deep.  Allow water to come to a boil.  In the meantime, cut around the core of the cabbage head.  You don’t really have to remove the core, just cut into it to separate the core from the leaves.  Carefully start to remove the leaves for the head of cabbage.  Yes, some of the leaves will tear a little, but they are still useable.  I throw away the first couple of leaves, because they are usually not very nice.  Once you get about 8-10 leaves removed, place them in the boiling water and cover.  Steam for about 3-4 minutes until leaves soften a bit.  This makes wrapping much easier.  Once they have softened, remove with tongs and put another batch in.  This recipe will make about 20 rolls, so I usually do 2 batches of leaves.  At this point prepare your baking pan by pouring 1 can of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 cups of water into the bottom (no need to mix up).  This prevents the meat from sticking and provides enough water to soften the rice inside while roasting. 
You can now start to roll your cabbage.  Place on cabbage leaf on a cutting board, curling side up.  Grab a handful of meat (maybe a half of cup and roll into a log shape.  Try not to condense the meat too much, otherwise the rolls will be dense.  I like them to be very tender.  Then wrap up the meat in the cabbage by folding in the top and sides, and then rolling down to the end of the cabbage leaf.  Place open end down in roasting pan.  Once you have filled the pan, pour the other can of tomato sauce over the top.  At this point it should look like this:

Turn roaster on to 300 degrees and place cover on pan.  Allow to slow roast for around 3 hours.  Check every hour.  I usually turn down my roaster to 275 degrees after about one hour and will also check once or twice to make sure the bottom of the pan is not drying out.  If it does look dry, try adding about a cup more of water.  Just don’t get too much water or they will lose flavor.  Bottom should look moist, but not like the cabbage rolls are floating in it. 

I place my roaster in the garage on hot days.  This keeps the heat and the smell out of the house.  The stuffed cabbage will smell delicious while baking, it’s the next day when you will glad you did this.  This is what mine looked like at about 1 1/2 hours. 

 

Isn’t Grannies roaster cute?

Stuffed cabbage is fantastic served with mashed potatoes, but today I am going to try making zucchini fritters with them, since my husband is watching his carbs.  I have a new recipe from Family Circle I’ll be trying.  Here’s a link if you are interested: Zucchini Fritters

You will know the stuffed cabbage is done when you can see the rice popping out like in the picture below.

I was impressed with the zucchini fritters.  It was a nice substitute for potato pancakes, which I sometimes make with these too.  I didn’t end up using the Greek yogurt and lime sauce with the fritters, instead I just used light sour cream.  The lime just didn’t sound good with the cabbage. 

 

Hope you can give these a try one day.  The fall is a great time to make these too, when the days are cooler.  Thanks for stopping by.  I loved sharing this recipe with you!

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK       PINTEREST          HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

Linky Parties I'm at:

Pinterest-blitz-7 @ Debbie-doos

Sundae Scoop Link Party @ iheartnaptime