Pottery Barn Inspired Hamper

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I love this hamper from Pottery Barn

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and I love this one too!

The price on the first one is a bit high and the second one is currently sold out.

Soooo...

I was out at Ross one day and I found this hamper you see below

not an exact match, but close enough.

I thought that maybe I could fix it up a bit and make a new liner for it...kind of like a cross between the two hampers.

I took out the original nylon liner and painted the wire basket black.

Then I used the liner as a pattern and made a new one with blue striped ticking fabric.

and now I have a brand new Pottery Barn {sort of} look alike!

For about $14 including all the fabric...not too bad!

Have a great weekend.

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

It's All in the Numbers

 I love old, vintage enamel numbers but let's face it, they're not exactly easy to come by on the cheap!

I did however, find these.

to me they're just perfect and I love how they look adorning my laundry baskets

storage baskets

and in the linen closet too!

You want to know where I found them?

They're not old, vintage, or thrifted.

Nope, I found them at the craft store in the scrapbooking section.

AC Moore

I have a feeling that I'm probably the last to know about these...I don't get out to the craft store very often but when I do, they always seem to have all kinds of new goodies that I never even knew about - haha!

but just in case you're like me

and didn't know about these

I thought I would let you in on the secret ;)

I think they're fabulous!!

Have a happy day!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Diary of a Sofa

I have always longed for this Ektorp sofa.

It's neat and it's tailored but also comfy and casual.  It invites you to come and sit awhile...

but best of all, it is slipcovered.  With a husband, 3 boys, a girl and two dogs...it has to be.

We love everything about this piece of furniture.

There is one thing that it's missing though.

It doesn't yet have a story to tell.

I have always enjoyed old things for the stories they have to tell.  The long lives they have lived and the way they have been loved.

Something occurred to me though as I sat in the quiet dark that first night we brought this brand new sofa home.  I missed the stories that our old sofa held.

The seemingly endless days that I spent lying on it, suffering from all day morning sickness.

Little ones with tummy aches, scratched knees and pinched fingers sitting upon it with ice packs or bowls of chicken noodle soup.

Quiet evenings spent long after the kids were tucked into bed, snuggled up with husband watching old re-runs of the Andy Griffith show.

Do you know, I even went into labor late at night with our second baby while sitting on that couch?

It was our first furniture purchase when we got married and moved into this house.  Without even realizing it, that sofa was keeping a diary of sorts.  It was building a history right there in our family room.

  It has worn many different slipcovers and has witnessed several different style changes in its day.

All of a sudden I realized how much I would have missed this old sofa if we had passed it along to someone else.  Thank goodness it only traveled as far as our basement where we will continue to enjoy it there.

For now though,

a new story has begun.

Do you ever find yourself attached to a piece of furniture?  Have you ever had a really hard time getting rid of something that you don't use anymore because of the sentimental value that it holds?

I'd love to hear your stories!! I have been working on de-cluttering and I find myself running into this sentimental roadblock over and over again.

Have a beautiful day!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Trying on a Little Pink

I love this month of January, a fresh start to a new year, a clean slate...

spring is right around the corner and garden plans are beginning to fill my thoughts.

We're easing into this new year

and we're even trying on a little pink for Valentine's Day.

I like the small hints of pink here and there...reminds me of the pretty flowers to come, the hopeful promise of spring, warm breezes...

Have a good day!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, we hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

The Manger

The decorating is finished

 and this week we're baking and tying up any last minute projects.

I came upon something today that I thought was cute and I wanted to share.

While my little ones are fascinated with the twinkly lights on the Christmas tree and the shiny, sparkly ornaments, 

 the one thing that really captivates them is the manger scene.

  I have three of them in different places throughout our home and my youngest children have discovered all of them.  I frequently find them with a chair pulled up to the table or lying on the floor, playing with the animals and the wise men.

  My youngest adores the baby Jesus.  She calls Him her baby.  It's not unusual for me to discover a sheep buried in the couch cushions or a camel sitting on the desk.  Today though, I noticed that the baby Jesus was missing from each of the mangers.  I wondered if maybe she had them tucked away somewhere safe.  Some secret place where she could play with them later.
But I was wrong.

 She found the statue of Mary in our family room and she placed them all there.
This is exactly how I found them.

So sweet.
Even the very young know...especially the very young.

Have a peaceful evening.
xo and God Bless,
Kathleen

A Ballard Designs Stocking Knock-off and...Christmas all Through the House

The windows

are

all adorned...

...the chandeliers too...

the coffee pot is on,

ready to welcome you!

Our hearts are set on home,

no place we'd rather be...

gathered all together to trim the Christmas tree!

*****

We have been busy decorating and fluffing, enjoying this Christmas season.  I've been working on a few projects ~ super simple and inexpensive that I will share.

First up are these stocking I made - inspired by Ballard Designs.  I saw them on the current cover of Country Living magazine...LOVE them but not for $39.00 each!

So, I made my own. 

Very simple really.

  Take an inexpensive stocking that you can buy at Walmart and lay it out on a piece of burlap that has been folded in half {or freehand it}.   Cut around the stocking so that when you're finished you have two matching pieces.  Sew them up, wrong sides together.  Now turn it right side out and sew a piece of upholstery webbing onto the top edge of your stocking.  Lastly, sew on a loop of ribbon, jute, or whatever you have on hand so that you can hang it.  I used seam binding.  That's it!  For less than a dollar each, you have a pretty Ballard inspired stocking to hang on your mantle.    

***

Another fun project I did were these faux mercury glass ornaments. They're actually plastic and from the dollar store (shhh...don't tell anyone)

They were an unattractive gold color when I bought them.  I simply spray painted them with metallic silver spray paint.  Now here's the cool part about this project.  The plastic and paint that these ornaments are made of don't completely agree with  spray paint.  The silver paint covers it well enough, but it bubbles up here and there creating a look that resembles mercury glass.  I loved the finish that this created.

the ornaments needed a little something paired with them so I also made this chalkboard.  The tray is another dollar store find that I taped off and sprayed with chalkboard paint. 

throw in a pretty glass bowl of citrus

and you have an instant vignette for the kitchen island!

***

Underneath the coffee station in the kitchen, I added this basket of old percolators and tucked in a bit of white pine greenery.

I put a Christmas tree laden with candles up on the mantle.  See the champagne bucket it sits in?  A great French bucket look-alike until I can actually find an old authentic one{I found these for $6.99 at the Christmas Tree Shops}! 

I hope you are having a blessed advent season.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen