Sneak Peek

A sneak peek....

...of a new little addition to our family that will be arriving in a few weeks!

A shimmee and a sketchbook

I made some more books for my etsy shop, which I'll be building up some more this summer. I loooove these books. I made several for myself and I think they are perfect as sketchbooks or journals. The pages are gridded and are great for drawing and sketching designs. Or you can ignore the grid completely.



I'm giddy over this one. The paper is to die for if you love vintage fashion.



Quaint and Quirky Etsy

Free Class Alert

I just came across this free photo editing class that will start July 6th. The website is offering this class as part of its site birthday. I always love learning new photo editing techniques and free is *always* good!

Kitchen Makeover

Today's the day to show kitchen improvements! As with the living room, the kitchen is not complete. It needs things on the wall, and mostly it needs a full size kitchen table. You'll see...

BEFORE!!

AFTER!!!!

The door and lower walls are painted "Covington Blue." I saw this paint color on an episode of Divine Design with Candace Olsen when I was obsessively watching HGTV before we moved.
We owe a lot to my mom, who painted MUCH of the kitchen. Thanks, Mom!

The upper walls are "Pear" and the cabinets are "French Ivory." I swear that naming paint colors must be the funnest job on the planet!

My husband and dad put in the lovely wood floor themselves. I love it!

We still have the same antique kitchen table. We found a table and chair set we like, but now we just have to locate the money for it...... This tablecloth makes me happy though. I found it at an antique store in Connecticut some time ago.

Josh found this key hook at Joanns and I think it's pretty perfect!

The grrrrrrreat kitchen towel set came from my mother-in-law. It is so perfect for the kitchen. She found it in Florida, but it's part of the Moda Home collection. I am currently obsessed with their kitchen and house products. They are so quirky and vintage!

The lovely towel set, (plus a red one)

I am completely happy with the kitchen improvements! Decorating is so fun!!!

Scenes from the (new) Living Room

We take a break in the "action" (yeah, right! BUT the chair actually finally got stripped tonight! More updates coming...) to bring you scenes from the new living room. We still need to hang things on the wall, but you can get an idea of what it looks like....

BEFORE


AFTER

We painted the walls "Kraft Paper" by Martha Stewart and the trim a classic white.



Added our own special touches








And if any of you were wondering, Sir Linksalot is now guarding the front door. Watch out!

EM:Chair Edition - Episode two

Well! I pulled staples out of that chair all. day. long. Apparently when you recover a chair, it's good to get one that is NOT well made. The well made ones just make it really difficult.

ONE pile of staples...

As you might know from Extreme Makeover: Home edition, things rarely go as planned. For my day's labor, the bottom, back, and part of one side are stripped. That is with my husband putting in a few hours after work!

I can, however, recommend tools from my experience. You will need a small screwdriver, a large screwdriver, and a sturdy pair of needle nose pliers.

Grace came over to check on my work. She doesn't approve of improvements that means she won't be able to sit on the furniture, so she's getting one last sit in here. My parents had her shaved for the summer. Sob! She doesn't look too bad in this picture, but she actually looks pretty hideous and not at all like herself. Poor baby!

End of day one (out of what seems like might be hundreds!)
Stay tuned tomorrow!

Extreme Makeover: Chair Edition

In today's episode of Extreme Makeover: Chair Edition, we will be making over a very comfortable, but unappealing chair. About a month ago, this unfortunate chair found itself kicked out of its home and put in the driveway to be sold with other items from its former home. We thankfully found this chair, and its younger brother, Ottoman. This nice duo deserves a new home, but their red, blue, and yellow...whiskers?... would not do.

Disclaimer by Keri "Ty" : I have never reupholstered a chair before. This could be a complete disaster, but it might be entertaining and laughable at the very least!

Step One: Carefully take off the old pieces of upholstery. Make sure you take the pieces off in tact so that you can use them as a pattern.

Step two: Get nervous because there is hardware in there that you've never seen before. (Not these tacks, but some claw things at the top).

Time for a commercial! Change the channel and come back later for some more updates!

Progress

I figured I'd update with some pictures of completed projects.

Here are two kitchen improvements:



A roman shade for one of the kitchen windows. I used a tutorial here: Roman shade tutorial in 20 pictures or less.

I really like the way it turned out and the instructions were super simple.

Here is another kitchen project - an under cabinet curtain. Ignore the plywood floor. We've had some flooring delays because the hard wood floor we ordered was back ordered. It is in now and may start going down tonight! How exciting!

This is a closeup of the under cabinet curtain. I added some of the striped fabric from the window curtain to the upper part of the curtain. Both fabrics were from Joanns - 54" decorator line.



Outside things are coming along as well.


Josh is making us a patio in the backyard. He's making sure the sand is an even 2"


Laying the patio bricks.


Homeownership is fun! Now that things are *MUCH* more settled, it's fun to get into the projects. The craft room has had lots of progress as well. I'm just not ready for photos yet. Stay tuned!

Wednesday

The weather here is so different from the beginning of the week! Fifties then, mid-eighties tomorrow. That's New England for you!

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Banana Republic Outlet

Necklace: Kohls

Flip Flops: Reefs

Monday and Tuesday

Skirt, sweater, knee socks, and t-shirt - Target

Boots - J.Crew

T-shirt - J.Crew

Skirt - Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes - Steve Madden leopard print

Flower belt

WIFD Sunday

It's another week of feminine dress! Or... let's see what Keri wears this week and if she can actually post on her blog EVERY day...

Sunday's outfit was predetermined for me really. I went to a 50th birthday party for my aunt and ladies under 50 wore lavendar and pink. Ladies over 50 wore purple and red. We had a great time!

Skirt and sweater: Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes: Kohls

This is at the party. It is an old house, turned in to a bed and breakfast that also does events.

It was lovely and totally my aunt's style!

The elegant mantle

The tea setup - The menu was tea, pastry and sandwiches.

My aunt - was she surprised?

Some guests

Happy Birthday, Auntie Cheryl!

My mom's gorgeous cake... handpainted!!

My grandmother - she was quiet festive with her nails!

Stay tuned for more outfits this week!

Mothers, Grandmothers, and Aunts

Today was our church's Mother's Day luncheon. It was exceptional, as always. The theme was "The measure of a woman." Our favors were measuring tapes (the kind for garments) and measuring spoons. The gentlemen of the church, sporting measuring tape suspenders did all the waiting on us!


The centerpieces were adorable - large Pyrex dishes filled with foam flowers. The center of each flower was a measuring spoon.


Here is the annual picture of the ladies of my family. This year, my mother-in-law was in warm and sunny Florida, so she did not attend. From left to right: Me, my mom, Gram, Grammy, and Auntie Paula. My aunt told us today that she's expecting her third child! My newest (and last) cousin will be due in December!

My mom and me:

Like my flower? It's my very first blog contest win! I won my friend Hillary's blog contest. I loooove this flower. The center of it is a vintage pin. Please visit her etsy shop to see her other creations!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there!

A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman--who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.

Proverbs 31:10