Making over a thrifted picture

with scrapbook paper and the letter "H"



Making over a thrifted picture originally from Target was fun and easy. I picked it up with an armload of other stuff for $3.00, so I probably paid about $1.00 for it. The picture wasn't me at all, but I knew the frame and mat could be something great, so the wheels started turning. It's time for a makeover!!

I didn't remember to take a before picture until after I had started painting the mat, so you will see a half painted mat and the picture that came out of the frame.


The mat was a brown mottled look. Nice, but not what I needed:




Here is the picture that was in the frame. Just not me:



I wanted a monogram for this makeover, so I sketched out an "H" on an Aldi ad, just for practice. I like it, so I just filled it in right on the ad with a sharpie:


Last but not least, my daughter and I put it all together and it was ready to hang. I use artist pins to hang almost everything in my house. They only make a small hole and they are strong. My box says "nickel steel pins size 17". They certainly wouldn't work for Great Grandma's priceless treasure or something heavy, but for small things they work so well:




I cut the "H" out of the ad, sprayed it with spray adhesive and attached it to a piece of scrap book paper. Oh, the wonders of scrapbook paper.

Here it is:

sorry about the laundry reflections in the background. I'll post a better picture later.

Victoria did something amazing with scrapbook paper today. I can't wait for her to post it for all to see. Stay tuned...

{Christina}

Best yard sale find

and the winner is...

A BIG GREEN EGG for $29.95 (isn't $29.95 a strange yard sale price?)! This small "Big Green Egg" was sitting at a yard sale with a post it proclaiming it's price. It was a Fri/Sat yard sale and I was there on Sat so I am shocked that no one else had snatched this little puppy up. Now, if you don't know why I am making such a big deal about this find you need to look it up here. Also, let me just tell you, this egg is a $200 to $300 smoker! Mine came with the cover and my hubs contacted the Big Green Egg mfg and they sent us a book for free!

I have made some pretty bad yard sale purchases over the years but as we were eating some delicious salmon that we had just cooked on the BGE my hubs told me this makes up for all of them!

My Sweet Girl's room

edited to add:

Victoria had to work today, so I'm linking to this older post for Rhoda's favorite thrifty find party. I know that the darling pink bed in her daughter's room is one of her favorite finds ever, along with this.
Since we share this blog, here is a link to one of my favorite finds. I paid only $5.00 for the painting and it is a favorite around here. Make sure you go and join the party.

I took pictures of Sweet Girl's room yesterday. Her room is one of my favorite in the house because it's just so precious. Before she was born I had a hard time with all the crib bedding out there so I went with the Shabby Chic line of regular bedding from Target and had my talented sister Beth make a bumper pad out of a twin size quilt. I used a twin bedskirt on the crib by pinning it into place. After that I looked for the bedding to go on sale and picked up a duvet cover, sheets, etc on clearance for when she would transition to a big girl bed. I am in desperate need of some pink throw pillows to tie everything together, in fact Target has this pillow that I want to get to add to her bed.

Years ago (before sweet girl was even a thought) while shopping at an antique store with my MIL I came across this pink bed and decided I just had to have it for my guest room. Before we moved sweet girl to her big girl bed I was considering painting the bed but I just loved the pink distressed paint and the decorating queen (aka Christina) told me it would be fine left as is.

The dresser came from Lakewood for $110. I just loved the shape of the mirror and it was a great height for a 6'3" man to change diapers on the top when she was a baby. :)

The Decorating Queen made the lampshade seen in the corner, hubs rewired and painted the lamp (bought for cheap at the same antique store as the bed), MIL brought the tea cart over from her house to use as a night stand. The white eyelet curtains came from my sisters MIL.

I had to show the detail of the picture hanging on the wall. Beth cross-stitched this for me one Christmas when my Mother had us make each other gifts instead of buying something for one another.

I added the letters just this spring...bought the letters at Hobby Lobby and a pad of scrapbook paper on clearance at Target that had great papers that coordinated with Sweet Girl's room.

So there it is...the most precious room in my little house!

Crunchy Munchy

Photo Source: Creative Commons


How about a yogurt parfait layered with some crunchy goodness. We loved this recipe for homemade granola growing up and it still hits the spot.

Granola

3 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 cup untoasted wheat germ
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 T. cinnamon
2 T. brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in an oven safe pan. (I use a jelly roll pan)
Combine honey, oil and vanilla and microwave for 30 seconds. Pour the honey mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until well coated. Spread out to bake.

Bake at 300 degrees for 30 min. stirring approx. every ten minutes. Cool completely.
Place in an air tight container.

We add raisins, dried cranberries or blueberries at the table.

Nuts and seeds are great too. Walnuts would be especially good but with ds's nut allergies, we stick with dried or fresh fruit.

Another great yard sale find!

Just last Friday I found a darling table & 4 chairs for $40 at a yard sale! They caught my eye because my friend has wanted a table that she can paint and I figured for $40 it was a steal. The chairs became my passion after I got them home. I kept looking at the lines and thinking how well they would go in my own dining room with a coat of black paint on them.

I am showing you a picture of the table out on my carport. One down side to all the yard sale shopping I have been doing is that, much to my husbands dismay, we are beginning to look like Sanford & Sons!!!!!

The Five Minute Mantel

Well, I only had about five minutes to work on a summer makeover for my winter mantel. The truth is that I procrastinated until hubby called and said he was on the way home from work. I'm not totally happy with it and it really doesn't look lighter, but here goes...



BTW, can you tell I'm not into symmetry? And it is so traditional! Although I have a good bit of traditional decor in my home, I am also contemporary too...this certainly doesn't show that at all.


edited to add:
I decided to try something else and think I like this better. What do you think?

Fall Mantel Needs Summer Makeover

This is my fall/winter mantel. I haven't changed it in that long. Just today it crossed my mind that we really have at least two more months of summer here, so I'm working on a lighter summer look. Come back tomorrow and hopefully it'll be ready. My walls are not green like they appear in the picture. I don't want green walls. Go away green walls. Sisters and dh---stop laughing. The walls are *not* green.

P.S. Am I the only one who has to get out the Windex and a dust cloth before I take pictures to post?