Monday, January 31, 2011

What To Do With All Those Leftover Paint Samples

This weekend we started on giving our dining room a new coat of paint. It's been red for many years and I was ready for a change.

Remember all the paint samples I bought trying to choose a color for the dining room? There really wasn't any more room on the paint shelf in the garage to store these paint samples and I wanted to use them up on something, so................


They were mixed up in a bucket and used for the first few coats of paint over the deep red.


Funny thing...the color turned out REALLY pretty! A light pastel grayish green. This shade of green is what I'd been looking for at the beginning, but in the end we chose a bluish grey because it goes better with the furniture, china and other accessories used in the dining room.

I was really worried that I would like this color better than the grey, but the grey is really wonderful too.
Still have another coat of bluish grey to paint on the walls this evening and of course, the trim has to have a new coat of paint, too! Guess what I'm doing this week?!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Pam

Sunday, January 30, 2011

New Finish For Family Photos


Last July I told you about taking down all our family photos in the upstairs hallway when we put our house on the market. It's been a few weeks since it's been off the MLS, and I wanted to put the photos back up.


Here's what the hallway looked like before I took the photos down. The frames were gold and silver & needed a fresh coat of paint, but wasn't sure whether to paint them dark or light.


I decided to go light, since we are repainting several rooms a lighter color.


The frames were spray painted with an off white and a brown paint was put on and wiped off.


I like they way they turned out, but now I'm thinking the shelves should be painted a different color! (The hallway will be repainted a similar color, but will be a little more tan and not so yellow) 
What do you think? Would love to hear your suggestions.
Hope you all had a great weekend!

Pam



Friday, January 28, 2011

Valspar Giveaway

 Just wanted to let everyone know that Valspar is giving away  painting kits on their website. They started last week and are giving away a thousand a day for a 100 days.

 I tried for several days to get one, but because they were only giving a thousand a day, they would meet the daily limit before I signed up. Their day started over at 12 am CST, which meant 1 am for me. One night I was up at 1, so I was able to get one. Valspar has changed the time to 9 am CST, so it will be easier for all time zones to get one.
To get your free paint sample, mini roller and a $5 off coupon, go to the Valspar website.

Happy Friday everyone!

Pam

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Hoping For Spring Tablescape

Has your weather been a little cold and dreary lately like ours has been? Yesterday I didn't even go outside the weather was so awful. Today should be the same, but in the next few days it's going to warm up. Can I get a Halleluiah???
Which leads me to the tablescape... Look a little like Spring? Definitely wishful thinking!

 Nothing new here, just dishes and accessories I already had re-arranged.
 Dinner plates are Mikasa Italian Countryside, placemats were from Marshall's many years ago. Flatware is by Wallace, not sure what pattern. Placemats & napkins from HomeGoods. Water glasses from Target.


The hurricanes were purchased several years ago for a party  & are most likely from HG, Marshalls or TJ Maxx. And of course, my little burlap wrapped votives.




Saw the flowers on a Costco run and couldn't resist!
Next week I'll show you my new dishes and flatware...been spending too much time indoors and on Amazon!

Would love to hear what you do when the weather is dreary outside and all you want to do is climb back into bed. What motivates you?

Would love to hear about it!

Pam

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Valentine's Day Mantel Party!


Are you thinking about Valentine's Day yet?

Valentine's Day is a good excuse to bring out my heart dish. I saw this in a catalog many years ago and my sister in law gave it to me as a gift and I never mentioned that I wanted it! How great is that?  


The silver footed bowl is a something I found at the Salvation Army yesterday for $3.99! It was really tarnished, but I polished it right up when I got home.




Here are the Valentine's I made last year and wrote about this morning.






All You Need Is Love~ Fortune Cookie Valentines

Here's a creative  and fun Valentine I made last year.

Fortune Cookie Valentines

You can put them in any number of containers, but I put them in Chinese takeout boxes.


You can get the Chinese boxes and the paper at Michael's or Hobby Lobby


The messages on the fortunes inside can be personalized depending on who you give it to.
You can find our how to make the paper fortune cookies  at Make Merry Events. Just click here.
Hope you have as much fun making & giving these as I did!

Pam

Monday, January 24, 2011

Choosing Paint For The Dining Room and A Design Plan

Do you have trouble choosing a new paint color for your project?
I certainly do! This is how many sample it took me to choose a paint color for my Dining Room! 
First, I thought pale green would be pretty, so I picked out three green paint colors. I didn't like those, so I went and chose 2 more! 
Then, I decided a green paint  would look great in our kitchen. Of course none of the samples worked in the kitchen- so more paint samples are needed for this room too. Oy! 
Since we are going to be painting the Foyer, the Family Room and Hallways, a complementary paint color has to be chosen for those rooms. I have narrowed it down, but I'm not quite there yet, so there will be more paint samples!

 After much searching and looking at an endless number of dining rooms, I chose grey. I love the grey paint we chose for our daughter's room.
We painted the garage grey also, and I love it in there too. But, the grey for these rooms was too dark for the dining room. Ah! Another sample. This time it only took one grey sample to get it right!

Here's how our dining room looked before the new china cabinet: 
The valance will be taken down, but the curtain panels will stay. I am going to make slipcovers and pillows for the chairs. This project is going to take awhile!

 So, here's the plan: The grey paint color isn't quite as blue as it appears below.


Do you have as difficult of a time choosing a paint color?



Pam

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Somethin Old, Something New

Do you scour Craigslist for months  searching for a particular item? One of my evening activities when I'm sitting down watching TV is to search our local Craiglist. Right now I'm looking for a few things, but about a month ago, I started seriously looking for a china cabinet with a hutch so that my Waterford crystal could be moved out of a couple of kitchen cabinets.
My new cabinet is made by Thomasville - the same manufacturer as my dining room table and chairs, but I think it's a few years older.


Look at all that space!


How quickly it all filled up! If you look closely, you'll also notice a new set of dishes...but you'll have to wait until Tablescape Thursday to see it!


I keep another set of china down below along with china platters and other serving item.
Now that I have my new cabinet, we will be working on updating the room with some fresh paint, slipcovers and pillows. It's definitely time to get rid of that red! You can see my design  plan for this room by clicking HERE

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam



Thursday, January 20, 2011

Something New


I'm getting something old new today and can't wait until it's here! I've wanted one of these for years and years!

Time to rearrange some furniture!

Pam

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Winter Tablescape

Last week I polished the silver and set the table with it. This week I changed it up a little bit and used some green.

I added a green table runner for the length of the table and used napkins on either side.





I bought myself some flowers and put them in the wine bucket. I love hydrangeas and spider mums! Everyone seemed to love the ice bucket the  last time I showed it to you....Don't hate me, I have two of them ; )



Here's what's on the table:
China: Bernadaud Artois Green- Wedding gifts
Crystal: Maeve by Waterford- Wedding gifts
Cut lace tablecloth & napkins: a Goodwill find
Table runner and green napkins: HomeGoods
Crystal Candlesticks- Wedding gifts
Flatware: Wallace Grand Baroque - some handed down from my Grandmother, some gifts, some acquired
Silver Servers, Ice bucket, Center Platter, Salt and Pepper shakers, Napkin Rings were all given to me by either my mother and mother in law.

When I think about all of the above items and how I came to have them, it makes me happy. Many of them were wedding gifts, so all of those friends and family who gave Mr. F and I those gifts are represented at that table. All of the pieces that were handed down to me are special, too. As I set the table and enjoy them it brings back memories of days gone by with the loved ones who gave them to us. A few of the items I have purchased second hand and I wonder whether or not the person who owned them before me enjoyed them or just kept them in a cabinet somewhere.

Which brings me to a resolution. I am going to bring out my pretty things more often and use it for more than just holidays. Really, how difficult is it to use them? We might have to hand wash the dishes and glasses, but doing this once a week really isn't that much work, so why not?

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam




Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Sherwin-Williams Coupon

Just wanted to tell everyone who uses Sherwin-Williams paint that they are giving their preferred customers a coupon for 30% off  paint and 15% off of supplies.
Head on over to the Sherwin-Williams website for your coupon!

 I am really excited because I am picking out new paint colors for my Foyer, Dining Room, Family room, Hallways and Kitchen and they are Sherwin-Williams colors!

Hope you are having a great week so far!

Pam

Friday, January 14, 2011

Polishing Silver - So Much Fun!

I hope y'all know I'm kidding!  I have some sterling silver and silverplated items that I received as wedding gifts and from my mother, but I have an aversion to buying silver pieces because I don't like to polish it. Awhile back I even passed up two very nice silver platters(they were probably silver plate) at the Goodwill that were only a few dollars a piece. Of course I'm still kicking myself over that one, but oh well!
Back to polishing...I can't remember the last time I polished my silver but when I brought out the flatware, I noticed a few tarnished spots , so I polished every single piece! Yay!

So why stop there? I did a  winter tablescape with silver and crystal a few days ago and had to polish a few of the items.


I had a few more silver pieces I could have put on the table, but I was tired of polishing! So, today I went down to the basement and brought these up:

I was afraid to open the box because they had been down in the basement, unopened since we moved into our house 11 years ago. I envisioned them being all black. Thank goodness they weren't. They had been wrapped well  and two anti tarnish silver strips  were in each wrapped silver piece.


They still needed some polishing, though. Polishing silver isn't that difficult. You just wipe on some cream...

and buff off the tarnish...ewwwwww

After wiping the piece off, I rinse and then wipe it all off again.

You can barely see the tarnish on the handle, but it needed to come off. To get into the crevices of the handle, I poured some cream on it and used a toothbrush. 



I store my flatware in these tarnish resistant flatware rolls.



I keep my larger pieces in silver keeper bags that help prevent tarnish. I think I will add an anti tarnish strip to the bag.

This is one of my favorite little pieces. I just keep it wrapped up in the box it came in, inside a drawer. It didn't have any tarnish on it at all and I haven't polished it - that I can remember-- in 24 years. I did polish it today, though, just in case. I serve Buckeyes in it at Christmas.

This was the silver polish I used- I picked up at Target. It worked pretty well and didn't have an awful odor like some polishes I've used in the past.
I would love to know how you care for your silver and how you store it or if you just skip having silver pieces altogether!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Pam