LOOK WHAT I FOUND

Every time I see all the gorgeous tablescapes that everyone does, I am always especially drawn to the gorgeous pierced, lacy chargers that I see. I set out on a quest to find some. Well, there are some gorgeous ones out there, but way out of my price range, but I stumbled upon these. I just think they're gorgeous and really affordable. At Uptown Baskets I found a set of 4 12 1/2 inch chargers for $24.95. Can't beat that. They are metal, and that's even better because if you don't want white you can paint them. Now how fun would that be. The site and order information is shown below. Hopefully it will enlarge enough to read. If not the toll free number is 1-800-811-4438. At this price this can be just as much fun for all the tablescapers as the Target Birdie Salt and Peppers.





I have ordered mine and can't wait to get them. I love passing along a bargain. Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate the visit.

Dessert for Two - Foodie Friday

Today I thought I would join Foodie Friday with an old standby and my family's favorite. Thanks to Gollum @ http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com for hosting this wonderful event. Be sure to go by her blog and check out all the wonderful Foodie items and collect a few new recipes.




We are having dessert for two. I made my DH's favorite pie for dessert tonight. It is just a good ole' standyby, Chocolate Pie. I have an old recipe that my grandmother use to make and the chocolate filling is just so special, I thought I would share it.

3 tsp. cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
Combine in sauce pan and mix well : Add
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks ( reserve the whites for the meringue )

Cook stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat and add l tsp. vanilla. Let cool slightly and then fill baked pie shell. Top with meringue or chill and top with whipped cream.
I hope you enjoy.

A fabulous Giveaway & a New Blog Friend

Nancy at Loves to Create http://lovestocreate.blogspot.com is having a fabulous GIVEAWAY. Just look at all of these gorgeous mirrors. She has decided to recycle and give away these treasures. Go by her blog and check it out. You will definitely want to participate to win one of these beauties. She also has a post showing how she has transformed many of these same types of frames to fit her current decor.

Hope you win, and me too!!!

Hugs, Marty

Familyroom/Kitchen/Breakfast Room - Met Monday

When we moved into our home a couple years ago, it was new but really builder bland. The kitchen, breakfast area and familyroom are all open to each other and while we spend most of our time here, it has been the most ignored area. I wanted all new furniture and the kitchen was so bland with white walls, light maple cabinets and beige formica. I tackled part of the kitchen with a mini-remodel first while I shopped for furniture and worked on the rest of the house. As time has passed, and our money tree shrunk I have been reminded of what is a want and what is a need. Watching tv and seeing all the people loosing their homes and everything they have has given me reason to be thankful for what I have and to see what I could do to make it a more welcoming space. Some of these pictures you've seen before in previous posts, but I have included them here again as this is really all one area.





The first thing we did was paint the walls a dark yummy chocolate brown. This at least made the cabinets look better.




Next I polished the cabinets with dark paste wax, added hardware and replaced the island top with a gorgeous granite remnant (this was a fabulous gift), added a new sink and faucet. Major improvement.





We extended the counter with the granite, added the corbels and now it is a great place for someone to sit and visit while I'm cooking or to have a snack.





The breakfast area is directly across from the kitchen. The furniture was moved in and nothing was done. I was still shopping and trying to decide what I wanted. Just click on any of the pictures to enlarge.





Well when I decided to get my act together I started with yards and yards of $3 fabric for drapes and a lot of wonderful GW finds. All of the dishes came from GW and I have had so much fun with them. I love the hunt and get so excited when I find a treasure.





This picture is taken standing beside the island looking into the breakfast and familyroom area.




This is the familyroom area with all the furniture that I thought was way too big and I was so tired of it and wanted to replace.




Well a few drapes that I made and more accessories from around the house and the GW and I really like the room now. It looks so much more inviting.




This shows how the familyroom and breakfast area are one room.




The entertainment center sits on the wall next to the kitchen and across from the sofa and is also filled with more GW treasures.



I am thankful for what the Lord has provided and I am reminded daily to pray for all that have lost their jobs and their homes. Such a valuable lesson to look around and be thankful for all of my blessings and to make the most of what has been given to me.




Thank you for stopping by, I always appreciate and look forward to your visits. God Bless

Old Friends and some New Friends

Since I joined the wonderful world of blogland, I have been so impressed with how so many people from other sites are here and I consider them old friends. Then there are those that you get to know quickly and soon they feel like old friends. Silvia at JUST THE BEGINNING http://silvia-justmystyle.blogspot.com has become one of those friends. I have only know her for a while, but her warmth and inner beauty just makes you feel like you've been friends for a long time. I was so honored when she recently gave me this wonderful and lovely Friendship Award. I hope all of you will visit her and get to know her. She is truly such a lovely person, and so talented. You will love her blog. She does the most amazing vignettes. Thank you Silvia, I count it such a blessing to have you as a friend.






I have also stumbled across some other wonderful blogs that you might like to check out. Most of these are fairly new and they each have so much to offer. Below is a list of some of my new friends. Please visit them and welcome them to the world of blogland. You will be blessed.

A Romantic Life - The Victorian Garden @ http://victoriangardengourmet.blogspot.com

Courting My Blessings @ http://lifeintheslowlane.blogspot.com

House Blessing @ http://houseblessingopenhouse.blogspot.com

Life Blessings @ http://nananors.blogspot.com

Linda Caroline @ Home @ http://lindacarolinehome.blogspot.com

Luxe Lanai @ http://luxelanai.blogspot.com

My Little Happy Place @ http://mylittlehappyplace.blogspot.com

Thoughts From My Lavender Cottage @ http://thoughtsfrommycottage.blogspot.com

I so remember when I first started my blog how all of you were so generous to become followers and encourage me. I do thank you all and I am glad to call you all friends. Hopefully you will visit all these wonderful ladies and find new friends too.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate and look forward to your visits.

Hugs, Marty

Master Bedroom Freebie - Met. Monday

Thanks again to Susan @http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com for hosting this Metamorphosis Monday, be sure to visit her blog to get a list of all the wonderful participants. You will be so filled with inspiration and ideas that you won't want to miss a one.


I'm not sure this really qualifies as a Metamorphois of a room, but it is a change and it was totally free. If you've read my blog before then you know that I've used gold and red as a color scheme for years, so when we moved into this home with all the cocoa carpet I needed to dream up another color scheme. While getting my arms around that task, I settled for a lot of beige. Below are pictures of the Master Bedroom and the way it's been for while, nice and beige.




Since none of the red or gold accessories I had worked, it was just left really beige.



Recently I decided to change the Living Room to a much lighter look for the summer. You can see that in an older post. Once I changed all the pillows and some of the accessories, I had a problem where to store the ones from my winter look and so the bedroom was a great candidate. I used the pillows, throw and some of the accessories, and it gave this room a change, plus it solved the storage problem. That's two for one!



I moved the ottoman in front of the leather chair and what a great place to sit and read a book.



Really very small changes, but I enjoy the dark peach color in the room. Maybe when I change the Living Room back to the winter look I will be able to use some of the summer things in here for another new look. Now that's really getting mileage out of what you have.



Thanks so much for stopping by, I always so enjoy and appreciate your visit.

Breakfast Room Redo - Met. Monday

Thanks again to Susan @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for hosting this Metamorphosis Monday. Please visit her to see all the wonderful ideas and inspiration that everyone is sharing. You won't want to miss a one.


With every move and new home to decorate, there's always that one room or area that what you had before just doesn't seem to fit or work, and so you plan to replace with all new. That is the case with my kitchen/familyroom/breakfast area combo. The family room furn. just seems way to big and no matter what I do it is just hard to make it work. For a while I have looked for a new smaller sofa and couldn't find anything that I thought was right. Then our economy hit the skids and so I decided to put off the hunt. Well now I am tired of this area where we spend most of our time looking so bad, so I'm making do with what I have and doing some thrifty decorating. Below is a picture of the sad state of affairs I had left the breakfast room in. No decorating at all, just sit the furniture down and leave it.





I finally decided to get my act together and use a little bit of imagination and some thrifty fabric ($3 yd.) and make some drapes and to do a little house shopping and see if I could pull this area together. I know this is not the prettiest spot for the computer, but I love to have it in this area of the house because it allows me to watch tv, cook, visit with the family and also visit all of you at the same time. I've decided to leave it and embrace it. Well just going through closets, shelves in the garage and the kitchen cupboards I was able to pull enough together to make a huge improvement. It may not be perfect, but it does look better.





Boy have I ever gotten a million decorating miles out of all the plates I've been finding at my Goodwill. I put a few around the mirror to give it a little more importance and pizzaz. It really does look better doesn't it? Did you notice I also put some on the table with the soup tureen? Goodwill has definitely become my favorite store.





The adjoining familyroom is also going through a transformation. I am using all the furniture that I thought wouldn't fit and making it work. Just have to hang the drapes and do a few tweaking with accessories and hopefully it will be done this week. I think we can all make do and still have a pleasant home if we just look around and think positively.

Thanks for stopping by, I always look forward to your visits.

Adding a Touch Of Spring

My family room, breakfast room and kitchen are all one open space together, which I love. We have an entertainment center that is really big and takes up most of one wall. It was previously filled with books, and a lot of library type items. I decided to change things and give it a more springy look and fill it with a lot of the white ironstone and other china pieces that I've been collecting. I think it's great for a change.



This picture shows that it sits next to the kitchen. I would love to close the doors and hide the TV, but this older TV is so huge the doors won't pull out and close, so until the new TV arrives, this will have to do.




Ironstone and Easter decor, most all from the Goodwill. Don't you just love a bargain.




Ironstone and part of my antique kitchen items. I like to use what I have.




This was just a little change that brightens things up a bit and brings a little spring in and it didn't cost a dime. I just used everything I had stached in the cupboards. Can't beat that! What are you doing to add a little spring to your home?