Ironstone and Silver

What is it about tarnished silver and old ironstone that is so inviting?

I think it speaks of a simpler era. 

It's pretty to look at and it warms up a room.  It's  inviting and it's homey.

It says welcome, come on in.

It's heavy in the hand,

solid, yet feminine.

I came across this amazing stack of ironstone in perfect condition and it was priced at 25 cents per plate.  I bought all eleven plates.

When I walked up to the cashier to pay for them she said, "these things are so heavy, I just gave away a whole box of them.  I never did like them." 

I had to pick up my jaw off of the floor.  She didn't like them?  Too heavy?  What?

I just couldn't imagine not liking them.  Ironstone to me is just about as pretty as the finest china. 

In fact, I might even prefer it over the finest china.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

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Thank you to everyone who has been voting for me.  I really appreciate it.

I'm halfway there!!

Please keep voting ~ contest ends Wednesday and I'm so close!!

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xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Laundry

I love baskets.  I guess you could call them a weakness of mine.  I never pass up a good basket when I see one.  I especially love the old ones and the patina they acquire. 

I recently put this one to use in the kitchen.

  We seem to go through several dish towels in a day, and this is the perfect place to toss them until they're ready to be washed.

Not only is it functional, but the towels look pretty in there too.

Today was wash day...

I love the way those towels smell when they come off of the line, still warm from the sun.

I hope that you're having a happy day.

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Linking up to Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Thrift Store Treasures, a Nightlight, and Circle of Moms

Guess what?  I have something to share that I'm pretty excited about.

I am in the running for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Home Design Moms!!

I would be thrilled to get your vote!

All you have to do is go to the top left of this blog (just under the header photo) and click on the purple circle button. Then click "vote"

You can do this once a day, every day until May 15.

If you've already read about this on Facebook, I apologize for the repeat of information.

Thank you to everyone who has already voted! I sure do appreciate it a lot!

On to the thriftin'...

I was in the Salvation Army thrift store last week and found a few things that I really liked.

I've got something fun in mind for those wicker paper plate holders and for the old spice rack too.

I really love the old Paris Opera House painting!!  I just don't know whether or not to paint the frame.  What do you think? 

I thought that the face on this chalkware boy was adorable!

I did paint these cherubs. 

They got Rosemary's gesso treatment.

This Madonna here was my favorite though.  I found her at a church rummage sale.

She is ceramic and had this hole in the back.  I had an idea.  I knew right away that I was going to turn her into a nightlight.

I had a little light on a cord that I bought about a year ago and

I decided to use Rosemary's Old World paint technique to make her appear a little older.

I love these little holes that the light shines through.

I like the way she turned out.

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Don't forget to vote!!

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Have a great afternoon!!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Featured at Knock Off Decor!

I wanted to give a HUGE thank you to Beckie at Knock Off Decor for featuring my Pottery Barn knockoff lamp shades!  I was super excited to be featured on her awesome blog!  You'll have to go over and pay her a visit.  There are lots of amazing projects to try over there.  You will definitely come away inspired.  Becky is also the author of Infarrantly Creative and Roadkill Rescue.Thank you Beckie!!

Infant of Prague

Would you believe me if I told you that this used to be an old plastic night light that I found at the Goodwill?

Seriously!

Take a look again.

When I found it, the plastic had taken on a shiny, peachy color and it wasn't in very good shape.

However, it is the Infant of Prague and since I do collect them, I just had to bring Him home with me.

The other thing that was bugging me was this blue paint.  Do you see how it was over sprayed onto the body and other sleeve?  I needed to fix this.

A can of gray spray paint, a bottle of white gesso, a paintbrush, and plenty of paper towels.  Yep, that's all I needed.

For those of you who read Rosemary's blog Villabarnes, you've probably already seen this technique.

If you haven't, you've got to visit her.  I discovered this painting technique while reading her blog.

FABULOUS!

Anyway, you just paint your object gray.  When it dries, brush over it with white gesso (small sections at a time - it dries quickly) and wipe off with a paper towel.

Brilliant.  Thank you Rosemary!!

So here He is again 

He's lovely!

I couldn't stop there though.  I painted several frames that I had too. 

These were just plain wood with little metal filigree scrolls in the corners

and this one was one of those gold plastic Syrocco frames.

Cool huh?

Have a great weekend!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Happy Anniversary

Today we celebrate 13 years of marriage

and you still make my heart flutter.

I love you more and more

every single day.

I thank God for the Blessing that is you and our family.

Happy Anniversary, my love.

I love you with all of my heart!

Make Your Own Pottery Barn Grain Sack Lamp Shades

This is the story of how two thrift store lamps, a vintage suitcase, and a mini trophy cup changed to whole course of the bedroom decor...in an afternoon.  During nap time.  I even rearranged all of the furniture.

AGAIN!!

Funny how just a few simple items can do that to you.

It all started with these fabulous lamps that I found at the Salvation Army on Friday.

Yep...you read that price tag correctly...$5.00!

I needed them because Jack {the naughty puppy} chewed the cord on my favorite bedside lamp and then proceeded to knock the remaining matching one over about a month later - completely breaking it in half.

Anyway, I've needed some new lamps for awhile now but let's face it, they're expensive!

So I'm in the Salvation Army looking for something totally unrelated when this pair of lamps seemed to jump out at me.  It was love at first sight. 

But of course, I couldn't leave without this vintage suitcase or mini trophy cup either! 

Okay, so back to the lamps...

I had every intention of just using my existing drum shades on these new lamps, but when I got home, I happened to see these amazing Pottery Barn lamp shades here on Pinterest.

I couldn't stand it!

I HAD to make some for myself!

So I did. 

First, I made slipcovers out of some leftover drop cloth.

Then I just pulled them onto the lampshades that I already had...

...like this.

Then I taped off my pattern and used this method here for painting on the grain sack stripes.

Here they are all finished in the bedroom.  Pottery Barn inspired lamp shades.  Turns out I like these lamps even better than the ones that Jack broke.  I'm so glad that I came across those PB shades on Pinterest.  The best part?  They didn't cost me a dime.  {I already had everything I needed to make them}

I love them!

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Have a wonderful evening!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen