My Mom's Birthday Tradition!

Today would have been my mom's 80th. birthday.  After she passed away, I wanted to find a way to keep her memory alive.   I would have taken her out to lunch and given her a gift if she were here to celebrate - since she's not, I have gone out to lunch and bought a keepsake every year since she has been gone.  Today, I went to my favorite antique store and out to lunch.  This is what I came home with - a red iron horseshoe.

I love it's rough look and it's symbolism.  I am not superstitious, but just to be politically correct you should always have your horshoe facing upwards so the good luck fills up not spills out!  I put it in my china cabinet with my mom's china.

This way, I will have countless treasures and memories!  Do you have any traditions that you have made up?  Any creative ways to keep a loved one's memory alive?  It's very comforting.

House Face Lift Beginnings

I love my little brick bungalow house.  It is cozy and perfect for me.  However, I have been thinking lately of adding a little color to the exterior.  I've been thinking about it for a while actually - a long while.  I keep putting it off because I was kind of afraid of not liking the color and having to re-do it all.  That, and all the work that goes along with it.  I finally decided to take the plunge realizing that it is just paint.  Soooo, here is the garage before:

And here it is after - the color is Sherwin Williams Artifact.

I love it.  It adds depth and drama to the front of the house.  I added some painted trim around the front door as well in the same color.  Here is the before pic.

And the after:

A very productive day!  Next I want to paint the bay window and the window over the garage the same color.  I think it goes well with my red door too.  How about you?  Do you stick to neutrals for the exterior of your home or do you go for color?

Fall Craft Fair!

Today, the weather was wonderful and my youngest daughter and I decided to attend the Kimmswick Missouri Fall craft fair.  I hadn't been there in ages.

It was crazy crowded with lots of quaint little shops and more than enough booths with crafts and food!  I absolutely couldn't leave without a corn dog and a funnel cake, lol.

I found some wooden growth charts made out of wood that I loved -

It would be fun to put these in the playroom somewhere and mark each kids name down like in the olden days!  I also found these shabby looking boards with knobs for hanging whatever on and I loved them a lot.

I think I must make some!  We ended up coming home with some apple butter, pumpkin pecan butter, and some pumpkin potpourri that has little pumpkins in it that I couldn't resist!

Here's a closer picture to show the detail:

Love it! We had some great mother-daughter time!  Have you been to any Fall festivals?  Pumpkin butter or apple butter?  I'm a pumpkin fan myself.

Shabby Milk Bottles

My mother, who passed away over 6 years ago, used to work at Pevely Dairy.  Because of this, I like to collect Pevely memorabilia.  Some things were my mom's and some I purchased on-line.  I had a small collection of milk bottles and put them on a shelf.

It was nice, but it was kind of dark and I felt that the bottles were getting lost against the wood.  I had a shabby picket fence piece that I used to use outside.  It is worn in all the right places and in the perfect shape to fit on my shelf.  I had to cut the ends off because it was a tad too long, but it's exactly what this shelf needed!

I think my mom would like it!

Now you can actually notice the interesting bottles.  Always looking for new uses for things - who says you can't have a picket fence on your shelf, right?

Fall Starburst Stick Wreath

I love the idea of a starburst wreath - love the ones with mirrors on the insides too.  I've seen many renditions of using plain old sticks to make them and thought I would make one for a Fall accent.  I started with a circle cut out of cardboard.

Next, I decided on how long I wanted the sticks to be and went out to the yard to gather them,  breaking them into similar lengths.  They obviously do not need to be the exact same size, the variety adds to the interest and is typical of a starburst anyway.  I attached them with a hot glue gun.  I used the backside of a cookie sheet to keep it stable and portable while it was drying.

I wanted some burlap flowers to go around the center and knew that Pinterest would not disappoint.  I found this one at Crafting Moms.  You can click the link to get the step-by-step directions which were easy to follow.  I then used hot glue to glue them around the middle of the wreath which also served to hide the cardboard base.

And here is the finished product!

I love the warm and cozy look of burlap and I find this wreath very charming and quaint.  Do you love burlap?  Starburst decor?  Have you combined them as well?  Please share.

Mercury Glass Vase

Another garage sale find was this mercury glass vase.  When I saw it, I scooped it up super quick!

It was also one dollar - ONE DOLLAR!  Did I mention this was a fabulous garage sale?  And to top it off, it was a benefit garage sale for adults with special needs!  Since I HAVE an adult child with special needs, this was a definite win-win for me.  I pictured it in the playroom on the shelf in the corner.  I was thinking that it needed something with height in that spot.  I then went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some fall flower stems - all of which were on sale! Now this spot is filled in perfectly.

And here's a shot from farther back in the room -

Yep - it works!  I'm planning on switching out the flowers seasonally.  I'm seeing Christmas flowers, then some wintery sparkly snowy branches, then some kind of spring mix.  I'm loving this mercury glass and am thinking of trying some of the DIY ideas all over Pinterest on some of the votives, jars, and vases I have in my collection.

How about you?  Are you loving mercury glass?  Have you tried any of the DIY ideas to make your own?  Let me know which method worked best for you!

Garage Sale Candle Sticks

I went to a great garage sale over the weekend and picked up a couple of fantastic deals.  Here is the first one - a couple of chunky, wooden candle sticks for $1.00 each!

I love the detail on them -

I've always liked the idea of having black, chunky candle sticks with little pumpkins on top, so I sprayed them with Krylon black satin spray paint and viola!

I added a little green jar to the mix that I picked up from a thrift store for less than a dollar and filled it with some flowers.  They sit on a little piece of burlap for a wonderful fall centerpiece.  Just how I pictured it.

Happy Fall!  Do you like black and oranges in the Fall or do you like more non-traditional colors?  Stay tuned for another garage sale find!