Monday 30 June 2014

Budget Porch Decor

  Budget Porch Decor
 
When I say this is Budget Porch Décor, I'm not lying!
I didn't spend over twenty dollars on this project.
And aside from two dollars spent for the round table, the rest of the budget went towards flowers.
 
Nearly all of my budget porch décor project was accomplished by shopping from my own home.
 
 
I wanted our screened in summer porch to have a feel of stepping back in time.
I wanted it to look like my Grandmother's porch might have.
 
 
To add a little charm, I covered two cheap plastic chairs that were left behind by the previous owner of our home with a Salvation Army  vintage tablecloth and a pink chenille bedspread.
 
The Cedar birdhouses were built for me years ago by my father.
They are especially treasures to me now that he has passed on.
 
The blue glider rocker was rescued from a neighbours drive during our village wide free dump day.
It's the first time I'd ever picked something up from a curb, but boy am I glad I did!
 
I mixed leftover paint until I got just the colour I wanted for the chair and then used leftover vintage sheets I had from another project to cover the cushions.
 

 
The chair in this photo was given to us many years ago by my in-laws, way back when we lived in the Midwest.
It brings back a lot of fond memories from those days gone by....
 
Everything else is pretty much stuff I've collected from many years of  thrift shopping.
 
 

This photo is the porch before I began my budget re-do.
It really was honestly a lot more work than I thought it would be.
But Tim and I are enjoying the porch so much more than we did last year, that it has been worth all the effort it has taken in the end.
 
I hope you enjoyed my budget porch reveal.
Wouldn't it be fun if you lived close enough to drop by and enjoy a glass of tea here with me?
I spend a lot of my blogging time here on this porch, so in a virtual sense I guess you are here after all!
Happy Monday
Kimberly
 
I'm partying here:
 

 

 
 


 
 



Saturday 28 June 2014

June Photo Day Challenge

  June 22-Green
 
As I had mentioned yesterday I am participating again in the June Photo Day Challenge at Kati's Little Corner
For green I chose my favourite old wheelbarrow. I use this wheelbarrow several times a week, usually to dump the weeds I've pulled out of my flower bed into the woods out back!
 
June 23-Pair 
 
Here is a pair of Scottie Terriers I bought at an antique store a few years back while I was visiting in the Mid-West.
I was dreaming of having my own little Scottie at the time.
 
June 24-Hot 
 Don't laugh!
If you live in the North you know that we truly do consider 28C a hot day here.
 
 
 
June 25-Cold 
 
A refreshing cold glass of tea on this HOT day!
 
June 26-Thermometer 
 
This little thermometer reminds me of one of the Seven Dwarfs. Which one do you think he might be?
I only paid one dollar for him off of a discount table at a Field's Store in Ft Nelson, BC.
See, treasures don't have to be expensive.
 
 
 
June 27-Fruit 

Tomato, a fruit?
Yes, and if you don't believe me you can read all about it here from someone who is far more knowledgeable about botany than I am!

June 28-Yellow
 
The one and only yellow bloom, so far, that has opened on the Potentilla bush in our backyard.
I'm hoping it's not going to remain the only bloom that opens....
 
Well, this is my contribution to this weeks Photo Day Challenge.
I hope you will join in on Katie's challenge too.
And I hope that you have a good weekend, friends!
Kimberly
 
 
 




 
 

 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 



Friday 27 June 2014

My Favorite Porch Vignettes

 

I love putting vignettes together, don't you?
 
 
I especially had fun creating several floral vignettes for the budget screened porch project I worked on this last week.
 
 
There are fairies on my porch watching over the flowers....
 
 
 
There's a sweet little doggie on the porch watching over me!
 
 
And there are deer there too holding my pen and pads for whenever an inspiration might hit me.
 
I really did have a lot of fun digging through my stash of goodies and creating a space where Tim and I can enjoy hanging out in the evenings.
Are you spending  much time on your deck or porch this summer?
I hope you are!
 
I plan to be back to share more photos of my entire budget porch redo with you early next week.
 
On Saturday I plan to join Katie's Little Blog for the June Photo A Day Challenge again.
I hope to see you there!
********************************************************
 
I can't let the day go by without saying,
Happy 40th Birthday to our oldest son, Jefferson!
 
I'm Partying Here:
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 


 
 




Tuesday 24 June 2014

A Re-Purposed Lamp

 


I'm not sure whether you will remember me saying  last week that I was working on a re-purposed lamp for our screened in porch or not....
 Well, I'm happy to report today that the re-purposed lamp is now finished!
 
 
 
It is now hanging, pretty as can be, from a rafter of our screened in porch.
 
 
Here's how I did it:
 I made my re-purposed lamp from an old lamp shade that I had stripped the old fabric off of.
 I then attached an old thrift store lamp upside down to the lamp shade frame, right in the center where a finial would've been screwed on.
 
This was done with torn strips of white t-towel fabric that where wrapped around the base of the re-purposed lamp and then wrapped again to the inside frame of the shade.
 
 
Next I wrapped the top and the bottom of the shades frame with the torn white t-towel fabric and then covered the lamps base with a white doily, just to add a little prettiness to it.
 
 
To decorate the shades frame Tim downloaded a couple of vintage seed packet prints I had found on Pinterest  for me.
I attached them, along with a tiny bouquet of periwinkle, to the frame.
Then lastly, I tied three long t-towel strips to the top of the frame for hanging.
Refer back to photo #2.
 
 
Here is a view of it hanging in our porch.
As you can see I really went for bright and cheerful colours in there!
I will show you more of my budget porch re-do in the next few days.
*******************************************************
For those of you who read my post from yesterday, the measuring sticks that I had found in my basement were used in the past by lumberjacks to measure the width of a tree in the forest before they cut it to be sure it was legal size.
I am told they now have a computerized way of measuring.
That figures!
 
I'm off now to see what you are busying yourself with today and  then to see if I can't find a party or two to join!
 
Partying Here:



 
 
 

Monday 23 June 2014

A Warning!

 
BE WARNED
 
I want to tell you a little something I discovered last night...
This only applies  to you if you have Google Plus.
 
I was browsing through my photos on Google Plus and there were so many photos there that I didn't need any longer, since they are all from my previous blog postings, so I started deleting them.
 
Yes, you probably already guessed it...
I was unknowingly deleting them from my previous blog post!
 
This is the warning!
Do not delete your Google Plus photos because they are actually all of your blog photos!!!
 
Oh, I know that many (probably most) of you don't need to be warned of this.
You were smart enough to figure this out!
But I have often wondered when I have seen blank photos on other blogs why the pictures were no longer there.
Well now I think that the blogger may have unknowingly deleted their photos as I started to do.
So just in case there is even one person out there that doesn't know this, I want to save you the pain of learning this the hard way as I did!!
 
 
 
Now, on a more fun note...
Would anyone like to guess at what these three objects were used for?
I found them in my basement and photographed them some time ago to see if anyone could identify them for me.
 
I do now know what there use was, but I'm curious to see if any of you can guess!


Saturday 21 June 2014

June Photo Challenge

 
Hello Friends!
 
Today I am participating in the June Photo Day Challenge at Katie's Little Corner.
Never mind that this is week three and I am just now starting....
You know what they say about being a day late and a dollar short?
Well, that's me!
 
Let us begin!
 
 
June 15th Photo Challenge-Backyard
 
 
 
June 16th Photo Challenge-Bright
Because he is such a smart bear!
 
 
June 17th Photo Challenge-Stripe
 
 
June 18th Photo Challenge-Something Old
 


 
June 19th Photo Challenge-Refreshing
 
 
June 20th Photo Challenge-Book
 
 
June 21st-Summer
 
 
If you don't mind joining in late like I did, here are the remaining photo challenges for June.
 
I hope you're all have been enjoying your summer as I am so far!
I'm just been very busy it seems....
Blessings-Kimberly
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Canada Day Decorating

 
 
 
 
O CANADA,
WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE
 
 
 
Yesterday I shared decorating ideas for The Fourth of July.
Today I want to share some neat ideas for your Canada Day celebration on the 1st of July!
 
 
I found all of these Canada Day décor ideas here.
None of these are my originals!!
 
etsy.com
 I especially love this print!
You would want to place the heart in whatever Province or Territory that you resided in, of course.
 
etsy.com
 
This is sure a cute idea for a t-towel, don't you think?
 
 
I like this, but I'm thinking I could come up with a printable that would express better my love for Canada.
I think it would be nice to make it more personal.
I'll have to get to work on this right away!
 
What would you put on your printable if you were making one, to express what Canada means to you?
I'd love for you to share your ideas.

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Monday 9 June 2014

Free Fourth of July Patterns

 

 
The Fourth of July is still several weeks away, but I have begun to notice that many peoples thoughts are turning towards preparing for the days celebration.
In fact, while looking for ideas myself I happened across this sweet and simple flower arrangement above from a Home and Garden site you can visit here.
The site has many simple and original ideas.
 
Frankly, I have a couple of Patriotic Samplers that I have kept displayed year round in one of my former homes.
They are packed away now, but I still have the patterns that I used, so I will share them with you.
Perhaps you would like to have the time to work them up and then display them as a part of your Fourth of July decoration.
 
 

 
 

 
Now, there you have it...
I do have a few other patriotic patterns that I'll share in the next few days as well.
Happy sewing, my friends!
Kimberly


 
 
 



Saturday 7 June 2014

Thrift Store Finds

 
 
I know I told you I would show you the swag lamp I had finished, but I decided I would save that for another post.
Instead I wanted to share my Thrift Store bargains with you today.
 
I had been wanting to start a collection of rolling pins for a while now, but I never seemed to happen upon any anywhere to buy.
I was pretty thrilled when I came across two!
And both had coloured handles which I had been looking for.
 

Here is a close-up view of the silverware.
Real silverware-I love it!



My daughter sent me a couple of photos last week that I wanted to show you.
This is Lambert on his 7th birthday.
I think he just gets handsomer and handsomer with every passing year!
 
 
And guess who has a new puppy now?
I think it's safe to say this is his new best buddy.
 
 
This is my outdoor girl, Starlet. (on the right)
She's probably hunting for crawdads or tadpoles!
She is also an excellent marksman girl.
She can shoot a bullseye with a bow and arrow or a gun.
I think I need to talk her into coming up here for Moose hunting season next Fall!
 
 
I also received some cute photos from my DIL of Reece and Brigam.
 
 
I see our little Reecie has gotten his summer buzz....
The boys are really enjoying playing together now that Brig has gotten a little older.
All I can say is watch out for the mischief now, Mom!
What one doesn't think of, the other will.
I know this from experience, of course.
 
That's all from my corner of the world.
What plans do you have for your weekend?
 
Blessings-Kimberly