This weeks fun finds

Last weekend I went yardsaling with my mom.  We stopped at a few and did pretty good.  Of course we stopped at the thrift store as well.  My car can't seem to drive by it without pulling in!   

I got this old phone while out.  I love old phones,  I love their rings, I love everything about them.  Yes I am insane, lol! :)  $1

This buffalo check pillow is all down and was only $2 and the best part?  I have it's mate waiting for it in a storage container for the new house, LOL!

This wine bottle made me SO HAPPY and the $2.99 price tag had me jumping for joy!!!

I also have a "thing" for baskets, ALL kinds!  This one is metal and with a liner, LOVE IT!  I think it's going in the boys' bathroom to hold their stuff! $1.99

And last but not least, I got this wonderful copper skimmer (my sister will kill me, I know there is a proper term for this...... is it spider? oh boy, lol)  with metal handle and ring!  It was only 49 cents!  I LOVE COPPER.   Last year I took down my potrack over the island and had to take all my pretties down.  But I have two wall hung pot racks for the new house and can't WAIT to display my collection again! :)

I have been working in the garden and planting all my urns and containers this week!  It has been H O T here!  In the mid 90's!!  Only in upstate NY can you wear winter clothes and summer clothes in the same week!!!!
xoxo

We pulled it off!

My sisters and I have been planning a surprise 70th birthday party for my dad for months now and finally, Saturday, we pulled it off!  We had to keep it a secret from my mother as well, just because, lol.    His real birthday is the 26th, so we'll have some cake on Wednesday too for good measure!  

Here are some pictures of the party I thought I would share!  Life is precious! :)

That's me in the torquoise shirt, always under dressed!  lol

This is our immediate family!  Grandparents, sisters, husbands and grandchildren!

And last but not least, I could not just leave these there to be thrown away! :)

Happy Hole Owners!

Yup, you read it right!  Our basement is dug, the footings were done and the walls were poured today!!! YAY!!!  SO excited!  We are scheduled to start the framing within a week or two. I still feel like pinching myself when I am there!! 

 I have been buying interior lighting for YEARS (literally, lol)  now for a fraction of the retail price.  Just in my nature to save a buck where I can!  I have most of my selections picked out already.  But need to make decisions on the kitchen, which is fun but HARD!

My little dirty girl!!!

That L shape part is the wrap around porch.  SO excited to have a PORCH!!

And yes that is my shadow over on the left!  I was standing on a dirtpile to take this picture, LOL!

Anyway, wanted to show you a little progress on the new homefront!  I went garagesaling with my mom today so I'll snap some pics later! :)
XOXO

Kitchen Details

First,  I'd like to thank you ALL for your sweet comments on my kitchen!  You all made me feel so good!  So THANK YOU again!  It's been a labor of love all of these years.   But that is what makes it fun right?!   I love to decorate so it has changed many times and finally gotten to where I really love it.  French country is ME!

A few of you asked some questions so I will post some pictures of the things and answer them for you!

The wall color is Sherwin Williams Blonde.  Which I love and will probably use it (along with it's lighter sister Ivorie) in the new house.  Finding paint colors is HARD!  But when you find one you like, STICK with it! :)


My window treatments were made by one of my good friends Kathleen!  We met when our boys went to preschool together.   She made all her own curtains and valances in her own home. Someone walked into her house and said you should go into business and she did! Her husband made her a real work table and workroom in her basement.   She is a fantastic seamstress!  I had all the fabrics ( I have a fabric buying sickness, lol  my basement is embarrassing!) and drew her a very pitiful picture of what I thought I wanted and she made it EXACTLY!   Her and I always joke that someday we'll go into business together.  She likes the fabrics I pick and admits she would NEVER think to put what I put together, but then likes the end result, lol.   I have mostly ready-made curtains in my house (because I have a sewing machine and don't know how to sew!) but splurged in this room!  She also made me some london valances in my LR that I will show another day.

I almost NEVER pay a lot of money for anything and almost never buy new either!  #1 I'm cheap, but mostly I love the thrill of the hunt and the variety you get at thrift stores, consignment shops, yard sales and etc.  And I think it's SO much fun to bring a piece home that you know will look great with all your other things.  And to pay next to NOTHING for it is the icing on the cake!



My rooster lamp came from the City Mission for $2.  My mother found this one for me, she KNEW I would LOVE IT and she was right!  Thanks mom!  I found the lampshade on eBay, which is the exact fabric used in the rest of the room. They had an auction of 5 lampshades with this one included and when the lot didn't sell, the seller sold me this one for $3 plus shipping.  Another fun find!

My rolling pin collection are all from thrift stores, I don't think I ever paid more than $2 for any of them.  I got the crock at a AJ Wright. 

This little sofa table was found at a garage sale a few years back for $25. I had NO intention of garage saling, I was on my way to somewhere else when I spotted it driving down the road. I turned my car RIGHT around, LOL.   I didn't have a DIME on me.  I pleaded with the man running the yard sale that I was going to the ATM and would be RIGHT back.  I literally went right to the ATM and back and there were people swooning over it!   When I got home I found a name on it and googled it.  Turns out it's very pricey furniture, LOL!  It's all wood and french country, what's not to love?! :)

The rooster plates my dear cousin found for me out thrifting!  I had the plate hanger in my basement from a thrift store, waiting for some plates to go in it! Score!

My crystal lamp on the kitchen counter is from Salvation Army.  I found this beauty for $2.99 about 5 yrs ago and knew it was coming home with me! The plate, plate holder, fleur jar and rooster and topiary spoons all came from AJ Wright for next to nothing.

My coffee lamp!  It's a vintage coffee maker turned into a lamp, found it this way at City Mission for $5.99!  Can you tell I like lamps?  Another obsession of mine!

The jelly cabinet I found at Salvation Army for $8 and gave it a makeover.  I added the wood fleur de lis and then painted it black and decoupaged some roosters that were scraps from a wallpaper border.  I decoupaged some more on top and stenciled the big gold fleur on top.  It was a very fun project!  It holds my tablecloths and cloth napkins which we use everyday because I'm cheap it's green!  No throwing away paper napkins everyday!

                                          before-

      

The chalkboard was covered in another post. You can look at it here. I made it from a frame I got at a consignment shop.

I got this silver bucket (I like it tarnished!) bucket with lion head sides at a thrift store in Florida and it fits all my junk in there nicely!

  I am linking up to A Few of my Favorite Things at Bargain Hunting and chatting with Laurie!  Come and join the fun! :)

Well I think I'll leave it at that. I could bore you to tears with all my goodies, LOL!  But these are a few of my favorite things!  In the kitchen at least! :)
XOXO

Kitchen before and after.....

We have lived in our home for 9 years. 

And I think it's safe to say that the kitchen has changed A LOT through those nine years!  We did a HUGE project last year when we ripped up our tile floor and put hardwood down in the kitchen.  At that time we didn't think our land would ever get approved (it had been 6 yrs of waiting).  And of course literally THREE DAYS after putting it in, we got the call that all was approved!  I simply laughed (because I wanted to cry, lol) and said, well hopefully it will be good for resale!    We already had it in the DR and LR so we were trying to "match" prefinished to the finished on site we already had.  It's not perfect, but I'm fine with it and LOVE my wood in the kitchen!  And will put it down again (darker stain) in the new house!

During the process of taking out the tile, the display end of my island was broken.  So instead of ordering a new end, we put in a pine bookshelf and painted the whole island black!  I still can't decide if I should distress it or not.  It's been like this for almost a year and I love the black.

Some of the after pictures are dark, sorry about that!  It was sunny all day and I took my camera out and the clouds rolled in!  I knew I couldn't wait for tomorrow because it is CLEAN today, lol.  And five minutes after taking the pictures I was fixing dinner, so you know what that means!

Anyway, I'm going to post a "before" picture, but it's really when we moved into the house.  My kitchen has been decorated much differently from these pictures, but when my computer died last year, the pictures went with it! :(      And I have never shown my "completed" kitchen yet.  Hope you enjoy the tour!  Here it is!

Before...

             

And after...

This is the view from the foyer walking into the kitchen

The "old" wood floor (site finished 9 yrs ago) is in the DR and then it meets the new floor (prefinished) in the kitchen.  It's a little different but works fine I think (and hope)!!!

                           

That little toile bag on the pantry holds my daughters bibs!  She gets them herself when she wants to eat! :)

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

XOXO

Edited to add that some details about the kitchen can be found here!

I am linking to Metamorphosis Monday At Between Naps on the Porch, also The Boardwalk Bragfest, WooHoo Wednesdays at Always Nesting, Transformation Thursday's at The Shabby Chic Cottage, Friday Inspired By at The Inspired Room, Home and Family Friday at Home is where my story begins, Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home and Feature yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge! come and join in on the fun! :)