Spring Blooms



                                                                Hello everyone,
                                    I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Here we are getting some
                                    fresh white snow after a week of spring melting. I am happy to
                                    see gently falling snowflakes outside but indoors to be able to
                                   enjoy some spring blooms.        
                                              A hyacinth will soon be blooming in my pretty
                                              transferware teacup.
                                                          I have taken my some of my geraniums up from
                                                          the basement and cut them back but hoping for
                                                          blooms on some of them soon.
                                  In the winter I like to have some small bouquets in pretty vases.

                                                    Even the asparagus ferns add color.
                                                               A tiny campanula for spring color.

                                                             Roses always bring me pleasure.
                                      And I am delighted to have Vanco tulips grown right here on
                                      P.E.I.in the grocery stores again.
                                  Tulips and a Lady's Slipper teacup ~ perfect!      

                             Brenda from Cozy Little House has a new blog called Color my Decor and
                             I am honored to have  my blog featured on it .....pop in here and check it out!
                             Thank you Brenda ~ I am touched by your sweet words.

                                                                                Thank you for visiting me!
                                                                                                      Carolyn

                                    

A Year of Tablescapes



                                                                      January ~ breakfast in the sunroom
                                                                February ~ Valentine's Day Tea
                                                              March ~ afternoon tea ~spring blooms
                                                                       
 April ~ Easter Dinner
                                                              May ~ Spring Green
                                                                      June~ Lunch in the Garden
                                                              July ~ Rose Garden Tea
                                                             August ~ our Downton Abbey Tea
                                                              September ~ Tea
                                                               October~ Tea
                                                    November~ Autumn Lunch
                                                    December~ Christmas Lunch

                     I thought I would gather a monthly tablescape to share  with you today ~ a year
                       in review.

                    I am joining Between Naps on the Porch today for Tablescape Thursday
                    and the Rose Garden in Malevik for Show-off Saturday.

                                                                                  Thank you for visiting me,
                                                                                                           Carolyn

Recycle, Transform & Love Your Home

Do you Love Your Home? You should!
My advice for keeping your home looking up to date and fresh for a long period of time is to buy items that are interchangeable from room to room. Try to stay with a color scheme or style that flows with the whole house.
as seen on: 
But most importantly....BE RESOURCEFUL!
The above two photos are of the same room taken only one month apart. One is not necessarily a favorite over the other but as seasons change, our family needs change. Two small projects happened here that made this family room function like it's from a whole different house.
Cost? ZERO!
The goal here was to make the TV more visible for winter movie nights. It was a little too high on the mantel. You can view how it was framed in so simply HERE. By only nailing the pine wood around the electronics and avoiding any glue made this option way easier to accomplish. 

Removing the wood slats and setting them aside for the next project was the first step. Then came the relocation of the TV.
A thin foyer table (link on how it was made HERE) was a perfect option to use for a television console because it's tall enough and narrow enough for viewing the screen. But a different look would be nice. So the wood from around the fireplace was used to help "bulk up" the table to support the cable box and to frame in the faux doors that are actually from this...
An old fence that has been one of the best treasures for DIY projects. Cut into two same size pieces and nailed to the center of the foyer table.
The dark wood you see here is from a loft bed that is no longer being used. If you like doing projects with wood, invest in a nail gun and air compressor. Key to making DIY projects go smooth and fast.
Matching handles were screwed into the front to make it look like it functions as a cabinet, but it doesn't. The rest was coated in white paint - not too neatly. Notice the sides are all 8 inch pieces layered to cover the sides. They came from the pine wood removed from above the mantel. Why cover it?
The foyer table was very narrow due to it's home prior to being a television console. A boxy cabinet seemed to fit the look for the new space and the cable box required a little deeper top.
The cool thing is....all the wood that is covering the foyer table now can be easily removed with just a hammer. This is what I mean by "Be Resourceful"! Think about projects you may want to do in the future, don't make anything too permanent.
You would never know such a pretty foyer table hides beneath this rugged cabinet. It will reveal itself again in the future, surely.
Are you wondering what happened to the fireplace mantel?
The left is before and the right is after.
Having a decorative focal point for this room was very important so moving electronics was the best thing that ever happened to this space.
All that was used to cover the giant hole was this...
An old window that just happened to be the perfect size. The glass panes were painted with white primer so that it was no longer see through. Small metal corner brackets secure it to the wall.
(this picture is from Christmas 2012 - link HERE)
That cute window has been used in many different ways and you can see some of them HERE.
Do you recognize the black mirror? If you guessed that it used to be above the foyer table...you are right. Just a  little black paint made it perfect for the mantel.
The great thing is that you don't even have to buy anything to create a completely different space. Try to envision what you already have into what you really want. If you want perfection, you may need to make an investment but if you can be happy with your own creations - this post is for you.
The backdrop here is the old window that was hung horizontally previously, just positioned on the floor vertically behind to console.
A little vision can go a long way.
Recycling your own furniture and creating a new look with them will help you Love Your Home longer and save you money.

After a Winter Skate



                                                                    Hello everyone,
                              Even though our weather has been very spring like the past few days
                             and we lost a lot of snow(don't worry still lots left) I am looking
                              forward to a skating party, and our pond is looking good for it as
                             soon as the temperatures drop again.
                         So with that in mind I have been enjoying hot cocoa for my afternoon
                         break ~ a favorite after skating treat.
                                            Ginger cookies go nicely with hot cocoa.
                                         Love my new mugs from the thrift store.


                    I am getting my skates polished up so I will be ready for the ice.
                                     A few shots from a winter skating party last year.
                  What about you ~ do you enjoy ice skating in the winter?

                          I am joining Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time
                          and Bernideen's Tea Time Blog for Friends Sharing Tea.

                                                                Enjoy your week!
                                                                            Carolyn

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