Vine + Letter = Warm Welcome

As a tribute to my hubby's work in his math class, I have done a bit of math myself.

I ran across a long vine the other day.
In retrospect, I really didn't "run across it". I went to the store just to get it. Either way, I ended up with one very long vine.

Then, I added an "e" I bought at Pottery Barn.

When I got home I drilled a hole in the bottom and stuck a wooden dowel in the hole.
I think my hubby thought I was making some type of strange fairy wand, but no.

These two now share a common residence...
in my door bucket.

This go 'round I wanted something fresh, simple, and white.

I think these two things add up nicely.

I love how full and hangy it looks.
Hangy isn't really a word, I know, but it does look full and hangy. Doesn't it?

To me, it's a perfect welcome for late winter/early spring!

Goodbye Creepy Kitchen Floor

Creepy floor, meet readers. Readers, meet creepy floor.

I know this travesty is enough to get any food joint shut down, so I feel the need to explain...

We scraped through four layers of linoleum to get to this point. Our plans were to stain the concrete to match the rest of our casa.


Then we ran into this nightmare, cue slasher music.
It's a combination of glue, the back part of a layer of linoleum, and God only knows what else.
We've tried scrapers, chemical cleaners, you name it. Nothing seemed to get it all up.

Fast Forward A Year... ROFL!
The other day we found ourselves wondering around Lowe's.
When we walked by the vinyl planks of faux wood we both got a glint in our eyes.
We picked up four boxes of these planks on sale for $23 a box.

We've put down several of these floors. They are super economical and installation is very quick.

It would have been nice to have the concrete carry through, but at this point we're just ready to have a kitchen floor that wasn't previously spotted in a nightmare.

We're over half way through with installation and we plan to pick up some new baseboards.

Here's a little peak at our new kitchen floor, minus baseboards.

S. Y. Wilson & Co.

Do you ever have a Saturday that starts with getting in your vehicle and proceeds to this conversation...

Hubby: Where do you want to go?

Me: Oh, I don't know. Where do you want to go?

That was this Saturday. Where we wound up was someplace wonderful, though.
I was kicking myself for not bringing the camera. If I had known we were going to visit this place I would have brought the video camera. I did manage to snap a few pictures with my phone, though.

Out of the blue, we finally wound up going here:

This little store began it's life in 1893 and has been run continuously since. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all original to the store. My daughter thought that was really cool. It went from a general store to what it finally is today, a gallery of antiques and historic items.

The second floor had a rope up so you could look but not enter. It contains tons of old stuff that I could have stared at all day, had our son not been acting Completely Horrible! The second floor had more antiques you could buy and antique caskets to gaze at!

Of course there are other sites around this little town that are adorable, especially the old houses. We enjoyed peeking in all the windows and doors this lovely lady had to offer on the ground level. We like to picture ourselves living there, even though it's just a daydream.

We did pick up some cool things today, including a comforter from Marshalls. I've had no luck finding a paisley comforter in the colors I wanted. After several trips that ended with us returning empty handed, I could tell my hubby was really anticipating a new comforter. To speed things up, I picked up this white one. I really love the crispness of a white comforter. If I ever decide on a print then I can always coat it in a duvet. :)

We picked up the spools at Wilson's for $1 each! We picked up the old bottle at Wilson's, too. My hubby thinks it's a perfume bottle. Can you believe it was only $2? We were happy to find that the pump on it still works. My hubby loved the salt and pepper shaker set. It's not an antique, but the caddy is easy to take back and forth to the table and the shakers that fit in it are cheaply replaced if the kids break them, unlike our last set of fancy S&P shakers.

Here's a website link if you are interested in more information on S. Y. Wilson & Co.
http://www.treasuresof.com/View.aspx?treasureId=6226

Happy, Happy weekend!

My what nice soap you have!

The better to wash your manos with, my dear!

Are you a gal or guy that likes your soap to look purdy?

Yeah, me too.

Ever since I bought my first soap caddies from Williams-Sonoma, oh so long ago, it's been an obsession.

For the last year I've been wanting something that looked like and old seltzer bottle but worked as a soap dispenser. Sadly, my search hasn't turned up any.

I have come across several great ideas though. You wanna see?

Just click the picture for the link.

First up... soap dispenser created by bloggers...

How about this vintage beauty with a pour spout?
You can actually buy the spouts and pop them into a bottle of your choosing!

Or this terrific and easy homemade tutorial for personalized soap?

How about some Etsy finds?

The person that makes these will monogram them, too.

And, I love this. I can see it with some milky white soap. So simple but beautiful!

Or what about this rustic beauty? Fantastic!

Maybe you require some glitz and glam? Ah! Sparkles!

Maybe ebay is your forte?

Hearts all around this charmer...

I'd love to hear any of your soap makeover ideas! :)

Farm Table Facelift

Above - a sneaky peaky - Keep reading to see our farm table go from mean green to out of sight black and white.

If you've been reading then you'll remember this Craigslist find that my hubby tracked down. We got a table, five chairs, and small credenza for $40. I still have to track down a sixth chair.


As of right now, the credenza hasn't been touched, but let's focus on the positive.

I picked up this primer...


I also picked up this stuff, below, in semi-gloss white for the chairs and flat black for the table.
This is not one of the actual cans but they were this brand and type.
Prime and paint...

Get rained on and have to bring everything in... Choke on fumes and gag...
Bump into wet chairs a million times... Contemplate throwing the paintbrush and furniture out the window... Decide against that and continue painting ..

Finally finish!... Yearn to jump for joy... Realize you have no energy to jump for joy... Settle on a big grin... Beam at your new beautiful table legs and chairs... Get inspired to tackle the credenza... After a few days rest of course. (I am sick with a cold, after all.)