Lil bit of everything

I've been a busy little bee making little "upgrades" here and there to our home. I thoroughly enjoy anything pertaining to home decor, landscaping etc. I have seen pictures of houses with full length shutters on either side of the front door and decided that i needed some on ours too! I asked the opinion of some of my family/friends and some were nay and some yay! I decided to go ahead and install them and i just love them! I think they have a classic look and help to dress up the font door a bit.

We have been in the process of redoing our front porch and since we're trying to pay cash, its taking longer than we would like! We have the floor done, but still have roof, posts and railing to be completed. I am so anxious to have it done and enjoy the end results. For now, we are enjoying solid sturdy floors! The previous owners took every cheap shortcut they possibly could which resulted in a rotting porch 3 yrs later! UGH! 

I have been faithfully checking craigslist for wicker/rattan patio furniture and it finally paid off this week! While it is not in perfect condition, it was ONLY $19.00 and is a plastic wicker! I have plans for it involving paint!!! Big surprise there! I want to paint it a dark brown/bronze.

 The table in the above picture will be going back to the porch, but at the moment it is serving a purpose elsewhere. I am continuing to look for an inexpensive wicker chair to take the place of the rocker. I also want to change out the rug for something more neutral, but will wait and stalk the clearance racks until i find one i like!

The kid's room is next on the list for a makeover. They will be getting a set of bunk beds soon which calls for new twin sz bedding...which means new paint etc! I already have a color scheme in mind, just need to make it happen. In the meantime, i went ahead and whipped up some curtains. Excuse the wrinkles and makeshift rod....it will be replaced with a real one soon.

Does anyone else love Target as much as i do?! They always have cute trendy home decor, clothing etc available in their stores. I just couldn't pass up the plates pictured below. Can't say i had a plan for them when i purchased them, but for now this is their home. They add a nice pop of color in the living room.

Now, on to the master bedroom! While i loved the bed spread, the yellow walls never did much for me. Maybe they were just the wrong shade? Who knows! I decided i was more than ready for something more calming and relaxing in our room. During one of our Target excursions i spied a comforter on clearance and when my dear hubby told me to get it, i didn't hesitate!

Ahhh....its like a breath of fresh air! I soon got busy looking for the right fabric/pattern for curtains and was more than happy when i found what i was looking for at Wal-mart for $1.50/yd! For less than five bucks i had new breezy curtains. 

You will notice in the above picture that the frame hanging over our bed is blank...minus the heart. I've wanted to remedy that for a long time, but could never come up with something i liked. Since i've changed the colors in the room i knew exactly what i wanted to do. Best of all...it didn't cost me a thing! I was able to use items i already had on hand. I simply added burlap behind the glass and hot glued the metal love on the font. Love it!

The paint i am using on the walls comes from ACE hardware and so far has cost me NOTHING! They have been giving out qt size samples of your color choice on select saturdays and i have been fortunate enough to get in on two of them! They are doing it again this saturday and i plan to be there!!

The verdict is still out on the little plates. I snagged them at Pottery Barn with a coupon! While i love them, i'm not sure this is the right place for them. We shall see!

 Goodwill has been coming through on their pillow selection lately and i was thrilled to find this cutie for $1.99. The two big white pillows at the back of the bed also came from Goodwill, but originally came from Pottery Barn! Woohoo!

Anyhow....Just though i'd catch ya up a bit on what I've been working on around here. I'm sure blogger thinks i died a long time ago...being the "faithful" blogger that i am! I. Must. Do. Better!!!! Ha, who am i kidding? I seem to say that every time. Until next time!

Birthday Girl!

Last wkd we celebrated Chastity's 4th birthday. Let me tall ya...we had one excited little girl on our hands!! She had been looking forward to her birthday for quite some. I just love seeing her excitement! 

For the past year she has been consistent in her wish for a cake with flowers. She just recently decided that she would also like to have a castle cake. I had planned to buy the Wilton castle kit, but at the last minute i became extremely cheap frugal and decided to make my own! For a 1st attempt i was pleased with the outcome. Its faaar from perfect, but it made a certain little girl extremely happy and was half the cost!

 Can hardly believe its been four years ago that we headed off to the hospital to meet our new little bundle. She has blessed our lives and we are excited to watch her develop into the little lady God wants to her be.

Catch Up!

I am playing  bit of catch up with these photos. These are all from Thanksgiving day, but i thought they were too cute to not share. Besides, "mammy" and "papaw" love seeing their grand babies!!!

The pictures below are just random. There are some days that we take Andy to work so that we can have access to the car for the day On those days, we often meet him for lunch. A favorite spot for us, is a lake that is close to his office. The kids love to take bread and feed the ducks and birds. its so much fun to watch.

This was their first experience playing in the fountains! It was definitely a winner! Next time, mommy will be prepared with dry clothes!

 Mommy's little helpers! They absolutely love to help in the kitchen and i try to slow down and let them. Not an easy task at times, but so worth it to see their look of pride when they've completed their project!

Rolling out the dough for sugar cookies.

This takes real concentration!

So proud of her completed cookie.

So sweet!

Snow Days!

Let's just say....Florida is definitely lacking in the snow department during winter! So, when we heard that there would be "snow" at a few places; we jumped on the opportunity to let the kids play in "snow"! The 1st stop was basically one big chunk of white ice, but the kids...and daddy...still enjoyed themselves. Mommy enjoyed standing on the sidelines remaining dry and snapping pictures!

Caleb wasn't too thrilled with the "snow" at first. Can't say that i blame him.

...and they're off!

Bet you can't tell who these kids have for their mommy?! To put your minds at rest; their cups contained hot chocolate. Although, they will gladly accept coffee if offered! What can i say....they know whats good!:)

Enjoying more "snow"! aka soap bubbles. I must say, it was pretty during its flight to the ground. After that...not so much!

Excuse the blurry blob below!

Out with the old, in with the new!

We've been busy little bees around here lately! We decided to finally tackle the job of a much needed porch renovation....what a mess! Thanks to the previous owners, we had/have quite a bit of work needing done. More on that later!

In addition to the porch; i shared with Andy my thoughts on installing a subway tile backsplash. He was more than willing to give it a go! Yay! Below is a "before" picture of one half of my kitchen. Blogger is not cooperating with me tonight so, the "after" picture awaits you at the bottom of this post!

As you can see from the picture below, i have taken a completely different direction with the colors in my decor and lets just say.....i love it! Its so bright and cheery...something i can use a lot of right now! The yellow is probably my favorite so far! I REALLY ventured out when i purchased these pillows. They are definitely on the bold side, but i think they blend nicely. What do you think?? Thanks to Old Time Pottery, they were mine for a mere $2.88 each!

Snagged this beauty at a garage sale a few weeks ago for a project at church, but it ended up being too big. So...after several coats of spray paint it became a cheery yellow and graces a wall in my home!

 Who doesn't like a little subway art?! I was so excited to find this one at Wal-mart for $3.97! I really like the sayings on it.

My young herbs are desperately trying to survive my son! I had to put them out of reach after finding them "thinned" out by sweet this fingers.

And....the "after shot! This was a 1st for both Andy and i and i'd say it turned out pretty good for our 1st!

I'm very pleased with it.