Paint & Monogram a TV Tray

 TV trays are so useful. We have a set of four pine trays from a "big box store". 
Doesn't everybody have this same set?

To give this light pine wood table an "update" I used my Cricut to print out a letter printed on vinyl.
 Painted it black with chalk paint using a roll and back brush technique. I used  spray paint for the under side.
Once the paint was dry - I  peeled off the vinyl letter and sanded the edges. By wiping a dark stain into the exposed wood - I got the dark wood look I wanted.
When I fold the tray to store - the "B" is not upside down (I have done that before).
Topped with clear wax makes it have a "finished" look.
Computer stand, drink tray or perfect for smore night on the deck.
You can view another TV Tray makeover HERE.

Sharing with: The Charm of Home, Liz Marie, Funky Junk Interiors

My Exciting News!



                                                                      Hello everyone,
                           I have some exciting news to share today. Many of you over the past few years have encouraged me to do a book/magazine of my photos so I decided to take your advice and just do it! So, after putting in a lot of time on the computer going over all my photos from the past few years I have finally completed it!!!
                       
                                It was hard to pick which ones to use. I wanted to use a little mix of garden, tea party and cottage photos.
                         It has 82 pages with over 185 photos in it for your enjoyment!
                                My good friend Snow and I enjoyed many hours together working on the text (Snow has a real gift for writing and is a fun person to work with) and then we added a few more photos we just couldn't leave out.Thank you Snow-can't wait until we can work on the next one! Ha!Ha!
                                                                The back cover.
It was pretty exciting to get the first shipment of books delivered.


                     Thank you to all of you for your encouragement and to my family and friends  as well. It was fun putting it together and I hope you will enjoy it.

It is available to buy or preview through MagCloud just click on the link below

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/545753

MagCloud will ship to many different countries as well so check it out if you are interested.

For any local readers it will soon be available at Time Worn Treasures and Antiques - There is even a book signing scheduled there for Saturday,May 25th!

I am giving away one of my books to two of my readers anywhere in the world so if you would like to be entered in my giveaway please leave a comment and I will draw two random numbers on May 15th.

Feel free to spread the word by taking the photo on my right sidebar- thank you!

Good luck!!!
Carolyn


Happy Weekend!



Happy Weekend!
I hope you are enjoying your weekend-it is a pretty cold one here for this time of year but warm sunny days are expected for this week.




                 While it is warm and cosy indoors it was pretty frosty out a few nights lately. I love to go out early on frosty mornings to take a few shots around our pond to capture the reflection.

The first daffodils of the season from our garden with hundreds more to come!
             We have a couple of Canada geese and a pair of ducks that come and go from our pond.
                                                   I did say it was cold and frosty!

I have some very exciting news to share in the next day or two along with my very first giveaway so I hope you will come back to check it out.

                                                Wishing you a cheery warm weekend!

                                                                                                Carolyn

Ben's Room

My kids used to think bunk beds would be fun. I did not think it would be fun to hear them argue about who sleeps on the top bunk - etc..

Ben begged for one for so long that we ended up purchasing a loft bed for him when we moved into this house. The idea of using the floor space under the bed sounded great and no arguing with his brother since there wasn't a lower bunk.
The bed is a double size which I thought would be good since most bunks are twin. Ben was used to sleeping on a queen bed or bigger since he was born
(long story - twins - needed sleep - etc).
Yes, he had a lot of floor space but the bed was so hard to make - Ben never really cared and I gave up. When Ben was sick - it was annoying to have to climb to the ceiling to check his temperature or just see how he was doing. He would end up in our bed a lot of the time.
I went to Lowe's to purchase this inexpensive circular Skil saw. (I am not afraid of saws but I get nervous using a circular saw - sold my last one at a tag sale - darn, who knew I'd ever need it again) I didn't want to take the whole bed apart just to take the four legs down to the garage to shorten them so I cut the legs right there in his room. This is an IKEA loft bed that we had to cut down 12 inches to begin with to fit our 8 foot high ceilings. I'm not going to give details on how I cut this bed down myself while it was still in one piece - balancing was key is all I will say and I have no bruises or broken bones. =)
I cut the bed down enough to be able to see Ben's face when I say good night to him. I can even make his bed for him.
Underneath the bed he can sit and play games or read on a bean bag.
Good storage space, too.
This whole project started when Ben asked me to hang that sword on the wall.
His bedding is simple but comfortable. Down comforters - my favorite! Kids should have comfortable bedding - I think. I gave them electric blankets one year for Christmas when we lived up north.
There's still plenty of floor space.
I gave Ben my chicken wire wall art.
A display area for his coin collection and photos.
Though this bed didn't need a headboard, I thought a rustic piece above the pillows would look cool. I can leave him messages when he doesn't want to listen to my voice.
These white shelves were here when we moved in - they come in handy for books and trophies.
Ben is 10 years old - no little boy theme, just stuff he loves.
Ben's the sweetest little boy in the world and silly, too!

You can peek at Luke's room HERE.

Sharing with: Funky Junk Interiors,

Herb Planters

Our weather has been so warm and pretty.


I picked up some herbs and flowers from the nursery today.
Rosemary, Basil & Cilantro
I put them on our sunny deck.
Now G-R-O-W!

Time for Tea



                                                                  Hello everyone,
       It was sunny but cooler here today but I enjoyed spending the day in the garden doing spring garden chores-pruning,weeding,and my favorite chore, dividing and moving some perennials around the garden.
Anyway,after a day in the garden it is nice to come indoors and enjoy a nice cup of tea.


                                     This pretty teapot was a gift from my husband a few years ago.
                                       Love all the blooms on this geranium!
                 I have never been so absent from my blog but with all the spring cleaning indoors and out I just haven't had the time for taking pictures etc..I hope you will be patient with me a little longer as soon the spring chores will be done and there will be lots to blog about!

Today,I am joining Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage,
and A Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life.

Thank you for visiting me,
Carolyn

Happy Earth Day

I am so glad we actually have a designated day that we can contribute to our earth. 
Even if we don't all go out and plant a tree, we can just give a little thought about how we can contribute to keeping our earth clean and safe. In our family, we talk about littering and how it can effect wild animals and fish.

The earth is everybody's responsibility to keep clean.
 One day last winter, we took the kids sledding at a park nearby. When we arrived there was nobody there - but somebody had taken apart these styro-foam sheets and ripped them into pieces. (Maybe they had been used as "make-shift" sleds). Gatorade bottles, chips wrappers and all kinds of garbage strung all over our lovely park.
It made us sad to see that. So before we went sledding ourselves, we found some trash bags and picked up every bit of garbage in site. We didn't really get to sled much after all but we sure did leave that park all clean and nice for the next sledders.
We recycle what we can and pick up garbage on the ground when we find it.
This blog is about reusing old items and giving them new purpose, too. Like in Luke's old room, we reused my old headboard painted black and an old fence section that was headed for the garbage.
In my old bedroom we used an old window, door and random wood from the garage for the headboard. The white bench was from our very first house we bought in 1996. One dresser was a tag sale item.
We used an old door for our basement entrance.
We enjoy and respect nature.
(from our camping trip two weeks ago - cold!)

Isn't it great that there is a trend in re-purposing furniture and old architectural finds? Keeping and finding a home for these items helps our earth, too.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Just a little change makes a big difference.

Happy Earth Day!!!!

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