Two recipes to share

If you've been following along  for awhile, you know I love a good recipe.  And if it's really good I will share it here with you.

These two I found browsing through Pinterest.  I must say since discovering Pinterest my dinner repertoire has improved significantly.

For copyright reasons I will be giving you the link to these blogs.  Because they deserve the credit not me.  So please go to their lovely blogs and Pin or comment.

Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Damndelicious

 

Throw in a salad and have a quick and easy week night meal.

And

Seared Salmon Tacos with Honey-Lime Slaw

Peas and Crayons blog 

 

 These both were pretty quick and easy, not to mention DELICIOUS,

 enjoy!

Library Makeover

I'm starting to doubt if I will ever see the sun again. We need the rain, but I'm silently willing it to go away.


When we bought this house, I knew I wanted one of the rooms to be the library.  And I always have to say it with my nose in the air and the snootiest accent I can muster.
That's the best way to say it.

And here is "The liiiiibrary." 

Way before,  before Pinterest or this blog was even a thought in my brain.

Here are a couple shots of how it has looked for five years. 

I slowly but surely collected unique pieces of furniture to make this room inviting and comfortable.

As of today

The color on the wall is Ashwood, trim is White Dove both by Benjamin Moore.

Click here for the Sofa makeover story

Ever since moving the computer into this room, I'm in here a lot more.  So I wanted a space that would be cozy and practical. 

We love it.


Link Parties
DIY Showoff 
Miss Mustard Seed

Very old dresser

This dresser has quiet a history.

My understanding is that it was the first dresser for my husbands uncle when he was a boy.

Little boy clothes, and underwear once sat nestled in the cute little drawers.

Fast forward many years later, it was now in the bedroom of another little boy.  My brother in law.  This is where I believe the wear and tear really happened. :)

More years passed and it was now the one and only dresser in my husband's college apartment.

Then when I got married it traveled with us to our big house in the burbs.  Originally I wanted to get rid of it.

The bottom two drawers were slightly broken, so in went the baskets.

 I don't have a before, before picture.  But here it is after one of my very first paint job's ever.  Before the blog and when I thought a thick coat of glossy white would do the trick.

I stripped off the white on the drawers, sanded and stained them.  I painted the frame a warm green color.

I left some of the white paint on purpose.  I liked the look of it flaking off the edges.

Hard ware from Hardware Hut .  I will be filling them in with specified labels for each drawer.

Click here for full library reveal.


Link Parties~
Miss Mustard Seed

Ten on Ten

I've been wanting to participate in this link party for some time now.  It's a different kind of link party where you post ten pictures you've taken throughout the day.

  Rebekah hosts Ten on Ten over at her beautiful blog A Bit of Sunshine.

And since photography has become quite a hobby for me ever since I got my nice camera two years ago, I decided to join up with this once a month party to challenge myself to take unique photos.

So here we go.

My kitchen window in the morning.

 Playtime on the porch

 Doodling

 Flowers blooming in the backyard.

 Time for a wagon ride!

 Pickles with lunch

 

Time to color.

Pillow fabric choices for my new/old sofa .

Rearranging the bookcase

Nap time.

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Reupholstered Antique Sofa

There have been a few chairs here and there  and here again.  But never a sofa.

This is my first attempt at anything of this size.  I had also never made a cushion cover either.  Learn as you go, that's my motto.

This little gem was found at a random estate sale I happen to be driving by on my way home from another estate sale.
After looking through the house and walking by this couch several times, contemplating the thought of
 re upholstering it myself.  I knew if I could accomplish the task, it would be the ultimate addition to my new library decor.

Finally after much debate within myself, I made the man an offer of $50, and he took it.

A couple of sliced fingers, worn knuckles and lots of hard work later,

here is the after.

The fabric is a soft blue/grey linen.  It was hard to finally decide on a fabric and I love this one!

I struggled with the idea of painting the wood frame.  But in the end my better half and I decided it would look better with the natural wood, than painting it white.

I'm glad I chose not to paint now, because there are a lot of other wood touches in the room and it really ties them all together.

Over the next few weeks, I will be looking for colorful fabric to add some more pillows.

Just a few more pictures to hang before the big library reveal!

 A little idea of what it looked like before.

Link Parties
Knick of time
Jennifer Rizzo 
Miss Mustard Seed 
Classy Clutter

MIA

What a great past couple of weeks.  I have not worried about blogging or doing projects. 

Well, maybe one.  My first sofa upholstery job is completed.  More on that later.

But first a Christmas round up of sorts.
 

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and enjoyed your family as much as possible. 

I noticed a lot of bloggers took some much needed time off around the holidays, and I'm so glad they did.

Sometimes we just need to unplug from the internet and focus on what is really important.

 

Happy 2013!  Hope we all have a great year!

 

Stay tuned for my antique sofa reveal...

Here is a little peak at the before

 

Can't you just smell the musty odor?

It's a wonderful life

The past few days have been a little confusing for me.  When humans turn on each other and kill one another, for no apparent reason, I'm very confused and worried for our society. 

So I've been trying to find the beauty in the world around me.  Because I still firmly believe there is more good than evil in the world. 

However when tragedy strikes, it sure make blogging and painting furniture seem trivial. 

Anyway, here are a few photos that made me feel better about life, and I hope they can brighten your day as well.

Beautiful blooming flowers in December.

The cute little wreath that hangs on my back door, and makes me feel like I live in a cottage.

 My beautiful angels sent from Heaven.

One of the most amazing days of my whole life.

 I believe that one of the main reasons we are here on this earth is to connect with one another.  And I feel truly blessed to be connected to you through this amazing internet.

I hope you all have a joyful holiday.

Much love,

Kathleen

Sweater Stocking with Ruffles

I don't know what you did last night, but I was crying my eyes out at Parenthood.  In my opinion, one of the best shows on television right now.  I always get too involved with the show and so sad when it's over.

I only have a 2 shows I have to watch every week.  Parenthood is one and the other shall remain nameless.

Ok, it's Revenge.

Here's a stocking I made today!

Okay, if I'm being completely honest, there are more like 5 shows I have to watch every week.

This was so very easy to make.

Step one: Lay a cut out template of the size you want your stocking onto an old sweater.  And cut around template.

Once you've cut out your sweater you should have 2 pieces exactly the same size.

Next: face the right sides together and pin around the perimeter of the stocking.

  Make sure the right sides are facing each other and sew around the stocking.  Leaving the top open.

Turn it right side out

 Using a glue gun I took two strips of red and white fabric and gathered ruffles around the the bottom of the top portion of the stocking.  I did the red first onto the sweater and the white on top of the red.

Once your finished gluing, flip the top down.  Glue on a little piece of ribbon to make a loop for hanging, and your done!

 

Link Parties
                                    Classy Clutter