A project a day...

 For the New Year, I've been trying to work on a project a day.

 

It can be something as small as cleaning or organizing one drawer, one shelf, or a file folder up to tweaking and reorganizing an entire room (if the mood strikes).

Last week I shared my dining room hutch makeover.

(The dining room hutch actually sits to the left of the fireplace in the living room 

because there's no room for it in our tiny little dining area).

 

Of course that makes our already small living room really tiny,
with the sofa sitting right in front of the fireplace.

Speaking of the fireplace, I did a bit of tweaking on the mantel, trying out some new arrangements.

A piece I painted several years ago is flanked by hands, books, and busts.

This lady head planter and the vintage hat are a favorite, purchased for a song on the same day, but at different thrift stores in Cambridge. I think they were meant to find each other.

 

The fireplace and living room look so different today than they did in the 90's...

Back then, the fireplace was still brick. When we started switching over from a darker primitive decor to a lighter cottage style, hubby really did not want the bricks painted white (my first choice - I love that look!).  So we compromised and he built a fireplace surround/cover to go over the bricks. I think that one change has had the biggest impact in our living room makeover.

(There's a link on my sidebar showing how hubby built the fireplace cover.)

My church birdhouse is the only 'fireplace decor' that remains next to the hearth from my primitive days. Back in the 90's, an old friend and I were at a craft fair in Sturbridge, MA when we came across a young couple from upstate New York selling these awesome oversized, rustic birdhouses. It's a purchase I've never regretted! I couldn't bear to put it outside and chance it getting ruined, so it has always remained indoors. This angel has also been around for a long time. He was purchased years ago at an "after Christmas sale," and even though he was being sold as a Christmas decoration, I keep him out year-round.

The old weathered cutting board and wreath that used to hang over the mantel in our primitive days now sit above the sliders in the family room.

And although our living room is tiny, there's always room for cottage kitties! There are white ones...

 

... black ones...

... and one very special White and Black one! There's also a very special gray striped Tiger one, but she never ventures into the living room, preferring to spend most of her time in on the bed in Amanda's old room.

(As you can see, the snow we got Wednesday is just about gone... Yeah!!!!)

So now that the living room has been tweaked and organized, it's time to find another project.

A small one. Maybe I'll try a healthy new recipe for today's project:)

 

(Happy thought for today:
It's becoming more and more noticeable that the days are getting longer :)

This week I'm joining Claudia at Mockingbirdhill Cottage for Favorite Thing Saturday,
 Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Donna

Coming out of seclusion...

Hello friends. I want to take a moment to thank everyone, from the bottom of my heart, for the lovely, heartfelt words of support at my dad's passing. I thought I would get back into the swing of things much sooner, but it has taken more time than I expected.

I have thrown myself into work, trying to keep busy and stay focused. If I'm busy, I don't have time to think. Blogging makes me think. I have to think about things to write about, usually what is going in in my small little life. Dad is always in my thoughts it seems, and it's just been too hard to put into words what I've been feeling.

I want to apologize about the "Bad Case of Blogger's Block" post that showed up in November on my blog. Can you believe that that was a post I actually started over a year ago when I couldn't think of anything to blog about? I grabbed some photos from my computer, intending to eventually making it a coherent post and I scheduled it to go live the following year. I then forgot all about it and because I haven't blogged since August, I didn't realize it had gone live in its rough, non-verbal state.

So what have I been doing? Dealing with guilt of my dad having been in a nursing home/rehab facility, a place he did not want to be. Wishing I had done many things differently. Revisiting so many things and wishing I could go back in time and do some things differently which (in my mind) may have changed the outcome. Stress eating. God, have I been stress eating. I will be getting rid of my Weight Loss log on the sidebar because I've regained all the weight I'd worked so hard to lose. If I ever feel up to starting the weight loss journey again, I'll start a new log on my sidebar.

I'm still wearing dad's blue shirt. The one everyone said was "his" color. They were right. It's a beautiful shade of pale blue. The rhinestone brooch was my addition. I can say without any hesitation that my dad never sported the brooch when he wore this shirt.

When I take a break from transcribing, the shops, and/or trying to paint, I sometimes see these beauties in our neighborhood.

A friend called me last week to let me know they were in her yard, so you know I had to grab my camera and head down for a visit.

After having no tree at all last year, we decided to take a chance this year even though Baby is as crazy as ever. We didn't put any of our breakable ornaments on the tree which was a smart move because she's constantly batting at everything and trying to climb up or through the tree.

She's a very mischievous little cat and I'm certain she thinks the tree was solely put up for her amusement.

I have a feeling she will miss it come January.

Sweet Jarrett is also enjoying the tree. I think all the critters are excited that Santa will be bringing them some treats. They've been very, very good this year (yes, even Baby).

Our little Tiger, now 18, spends most of her time on Amanda's bed, laying next to the heating vent in my office/studio, or watching the world go by outside her window... Santa knows her favorite treats are Temptations and I'm sure he'll be leaving her a few different flavors.

(Baby watching for Santa)

I doubt I will be back before the holidays so I want to take this time to once again thank you ALL for your kindness and to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Donna

Thrift Store Mantel Decor...

I've been playing around with the mantel decor a bit and thought it might be fun to group several thrift store finds together...

There's a silver candleholder, some small shaker bottles, a white footed vase...

... and my favorite, the lady head planter vase on the end (found last year at a thrift store in Cambridge, MA). Although she's elegant just as she is, I wanted to try a few different looks on her...

Here she is modeling a bit of faux ivy....

... and here she is sporting a bird's nest to celebrate SPRING.

 Decisions, decisions...

Although it's hardly spring-like, with it's black velvet brim, I kept coming back to this vintage hat with the delightful netting and rhinestone embellishment (picked up at yet another thrift store in Cambridge last year)...

So for the time being, Miss Lady Head Planter Vase will sport her black & white hat while sitting on the mantel among my other thrift store finds.

I'm linking up to Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday, so be sure to stop over and see what everyone is sharing this week!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Donna



The Mantels of Christmases Past...

Last year was the first Christmas with our new white fireplace. (I think my husband did such a good job boxing in the old brick fireplace!)

I started thinking about some of the different 'looks' this fireplace has had at Christmastime...

Christmas Eve 1992... These are the teddy bear stockings the girls have had since they were infants. That year the pine garland was placed on top of the mantel, and not much changed for many years...

Christmas Eve 2000... The living room got a new paint job and since family photos had taken over the mantel, the pine garland was hung underneath. One thing that didn't changes was the teddy bear stockings...

Jumping ahead to Christmas 2005... The prim-to-cottage transformation has begun. The old mirror above the fireplace has been replaced with a vintage paint by number (I love that old mirror though - it now hangs in the entryway)...The ancient (24 year old) wall-to-wall carpet has been ripped up and the plywood subfloors painted white. The walls are now creamy white, a white fireplace screen has replaced the old black one, and a white berry garland has replaced the pine garland of years past.... And the teddy bear stockings were replaced by pink stockings... Not!!

Same year, Christmas Eve 2005... There's no way those teddy bear stockings are ever going to be replaced! They are (and always will be) hung on Christmas Eve so Santa can fill them when he arrives...

Christmas 2006... We're getting there. Family photos have been removed from the mantel (but are elsewhere throughout the house, no matter what the decorating experts say!)... Bottlebrush and sparkly trees and reindeer sit on a white table runner...

Christmas 2007... We're done (sigh of relief). I now have the beautiful white fireplace that I've dreamed about since falling head-over-heels for the shabby/cottage look; and beautiful hardwood floors (first photo) were installed over those terribly hard-to-clean white painted sub-floors... A leafy garland (from Wal Mart) has replaced the white berry garland (which didn't really show up against the white fireplace)...

GARLAND HANGING TIP!! Two years ago I purchased reindeer and mirrored glass snowflake stocking holders from Target - mostly as decorations for the mantel because I don't really trust hanging filled stockings from them ... But I discovered they're perfect for hanging the garland and lights from! (I didn't want to put any nails into my new white fireplace... the old garland used to hang from cup hooks I had under the mantel, but I didn't want to do that either). The weighted stocking holders have been a perfect solution for me!

I think I'm going to make a cup of hot chocolate now... It's rainy and bone-chilling cold here today... I hope you're toasty and warm wherever you are!!

Donna

Mantel Makeover...

Not long ago, I gave our fireplace mantel a little makeover...

As you can see from my blog banner, I used to have family photos on the mantel. Apparently that is a huge 'no no' in the decorating world, especially if it's overdone (and since my family photos were also on the dining room hutch, the dining room half wall, and the tops of various cupboards, etc., I'd be hard pressed to argue that I might not have been a tad obsessive... and we won't even mention the photos in the bedrooms)...

So I decided to put some of my family members into storage... (sorry guys - I still love you... honest!)

Just look at this perfectly shabby little candle holder that a good friend gave me this past Christmas (thank you, Jill :)... I wanted to put it someplace where it would really stand out, so I placed that on the center of the mantel flanked by two bluebirds. Now I have tons of white birds around my house, but these are my only two blue birds. I actually got them in the Christmas section of Target this past year. I have no idea why they were considered Christmas decorations, but when I spotted them I knew the colors would be perfect with the painting over the fireplace. And the finishing touch was this sweet little NEST banner that I got on ETSY.

I didn't know what to place on the ends of the mantel, so I finally decided on some tall candle holders and glass vases. This one just has a long piece of creamy white ribbon curled up around the inside. The ribbon was purchased for a project I never got around to doing (typical me...)

And then, of course, I have some of my creamy white buttons filling several vases as well...

So that's how the mantel looks now. I think it's really nice for a change (teeny confession though... by nature I'm a very symmetrical person, so I think the center section with the candle holder and birds is great, but the fact that the sides of the mantel aren't identical mirror images of each other is driving me nuts... be calm, Donna... remember, you're trying to not be so rigid.. to be more open to new ideas, new ways of doing things)...

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some of the family photos I tucked away eventually start popping up 'here and there' around the house though, because when all is said and done, all the "do's" and "don'ts" of decorating don't really matter if we're not happy within our own four walls, right?

Donna

P.S. Joanne at My Little Cottage in the Making has a giveaway going on her blog for some BEAUTIFUL creamy white buttons and lots of other cottage/shabby goodies!! Be sure to visit her blog to enter her drawing!

Update: I thought it would be fun to add my name to Kari & Kijsa's Mantel 101 list! Since I did a "Mantel Makeover" post not long ago, I'm just linking to that. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's mantels as I'm always looking for new ideas and inspiration!!

To paint or not to paint... that was the question....

Welcome to anyone who hasn't seen this older post!

This is what our fireplace looks like now, several years after the 'makeover.'

This is what it looked like right after the 'makeover.'

And this is what it looked like right before the makeover!

I absolutely love the look of brick walls and fireplaces that have been painted white. My husband? Not so much! So we compromised on the idea of building a cover for our brick fireplace that I could paint white, and I think he did the most fantastic job! I love the way it turned out!




















He basically measured and cut a single sheet of birch plywood to cover the front of the fireplace, even cutting a hole for the flue knob.


















To make things really simple, we purchased decorative trim that was just the right width to cover both sides of the fireplace, and also used decorative trim under the mantel and around the hearth. We then applied some trim to cover the corners, wood puttied all the holes, and painted everything white. I have two king size ruffled pillow shams laying across the brick hearth until we eventually finish that part. Since we only burn candles in the fireplace, the material on the hearth isn't a problem and I've actually grown to like the way they look!



















And to cover the hole for the flue knob, I found the sweetest watercolor painting at a yard sale a few years ago - it's a tiny little masterpiece that's just the perfect size!

Yes, I couldn't be happier with our fireplace makeover, and hubby couldn't be happier that the brick fireplace is perfect intact underneath!

Donna