Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Baby Bird and Bunny!


For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you’ve seen some of these pictures, but I just had to show everyone the sweet shots I took of some nature around our house.

We were coming home the other day and walked toward the front door when we saw something furry dart around a flower pot.  At first it startled me, but then when I saw what it was, I VERY quickly ran inside the house to grab my camera.  This is when I wish I had a clue what I was doing with my camera, because you don’t get the chance to photograph this very often….

so sweet!!sweet!

He’s so cute I could just die!  He even let me pet his little back! This is the most tame bunny I have ever seen.  I stayed outside with him for about an hour and he would just hop up to my feet!
You certainly don’t get that opportunity every day!

SWEET!sweet!

Couldn’t you just kiss that little nose?!

so cute!sweet

 

I also found a baby dove up in our front tree….WAY up in our tree, so the pics aren’t the best, but he’s still sweet.

sweetbaby dovebaby dove in it's nest..way up in a tree

Just had to share my nature walk with you!

I am SO excited because I have some really fun projects coming up to show you! (at least two…maybe three, depending on how fast I can work! lol)

I’m working a really big project right now too, but trust me, it’s gonna be a while on that one!

What kinds of things have you been taking pictures of lately….nature, kids what? Please share!

Hugs
Missy

Friday, July 22, 2011

Garden Gatherings….


Thought I’d show you some goodies from my garden!

This is the first time I’ve ever grown eggplant and it’s turning out wonderful! I fixed eggplant parm for dinner the other night and it was delish!

garden goodness!


This was my first gathering of green beans…oh they were yummy! A little slab of salt bacon, some onions, seasonings and hours on the stove…mm mmm mmmm, that’s good eatin’!

my garden beans!


I swear I could make a meal just on cucumbers and tomatoes!

goodies from the garden


What’s ready in your garden?? Or if you don’t have a garden, what’s your favorite summer time veggie?


This post is making me want a salad!

Have a great week!

Missy

Monday, July 18, 2011

You’ll Never Guess What I Got!

Okay…you all remember last month when I posted about my birthday and had a wish list?  Well lo and behold I got an item from that list and just let me say it wasn’t the cake from a bakery in Las Vegas! lol
Here’s what I got!
canon rebel

Yep….I got the Canon Rebel I wanted!  It was a God thing really! My hubby was so supposed to get a bonus, but we pretty much knew where most of it was going…however, he got more than he was told….and guess what?  It was the amount my camera cost, so he took me to the store and said, “here, I want you to have this”.    I’m married to the bestest, most wonderful man in the world! (and yes, I know bestest isn’t a word, but that’s what he is!)
IMG_0082

I SO don’t know what I’m doing with this camera…. let’s just say I’ve been reading this a lot!….

rebel t2i manual
I have found some wonderful tutorials on you tube and also some blogs with some great tips!  Pioneer Woman helped me a lot with understanding apertures, exposure and all those other foreign words!  If you’re interested here is a link to her post. (when you click it, it’ll go to the 3rd post, but there are links in the first paragraph to take you to the 1st and 2nd one)
I wanted to share some photos I’ve been taking with my new toy! I cannot believe the clarity of pictures it takes….it’s amazing!  Please remember, this camera  is very new to me so my shots aren’t exactly professional (cause I’m not either!), but the crispness of the photos just amaze me!
These are blazing star flowers that are in my front yard…I really enjoyed getting up close on these…they’re so pretty!
blazing star photo
lovely
I caught the bumblebee as he was taking off…see his little wings are all stretched back. hee hee hee
got this little guy as he was taking off
pefection
I was taking a picture of this baby bird that had just left the nest and the momma was squakin’ her head off at me! lol
baby bird....momma was squakin'!
This is just a shell ball that I have in a pot of rosemary, I was just amazed at the detail in the shells! (can you tell I’m lovin’ my camera?!)
sea shell ball
I was trying to see how close up I could get on some stuff, so this is a pic of the back of my wicker chair…I like how textural it is!
upclose shot of my wicker chair...you can even see the dust!
A pic I took of the fireworks when our county had their annual 4th of July celebration.
fun at the 4th
These are pics I took of Sweet Pea (my g-baby, for those that are new around here) :0)    These aren’t that great, but I had to include them..I mean, she’s a doll baby!
My lovely sweet pea
I love her little teeth! :)
my girl

These last few shots are some I took when I ventured out into manual mode on my camera.  Let me just say I was scared to death I was going to break something, but after watching a few tutorials, I did it!
Tomatoes from my garden after the rain….
an umbrella of grape tomatoes
Another blazing star…..
perfection
Now you all know what I drive! lol …………….
my car
my car
Then I discovered another mode on my camera and found out it takes b&w pics, sepia tone, etc.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!
favorite of fence
This is yarrow from my front garden…
yarrow beauty
A succulent from my back yard….
succulent

My beautiful middle child!…..
my good lookin' boy!

The fire hydrant that sits in front of my house….ugh I hate this thing, but it kinda looks neat in this picture. : 0)
fire hydrant  :)
My flower garden….
my flower garden
And this is my favorite.  I took this picture after a rain shower…you can see the one droplet inside the rose is about to fall.  I LOVE my new camera for making me passionate about taking pictures again!
raindrops...love it!
Hope I didn’t bore you to pieces with my photography, but I couldn’t help myself!

What kind of camera do you have, and do you love it?  Also, do you have any great tips for a VERY novice photographer?
Have a great day!
Hugs
Missy

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Lettered Cottage made me a ………….


I happened to be on twitter the other night and Layla, from The Lettered Cottage, sent me a tweet saying that she’d had a great time making a cute little button for my blog for her new blogroll.

I immediately went over to her blog to see what she came up with and then straight back to twitter to ask if I could steal borrow it! She said yes and was even sweet enough to email me a bigger copy cause when I blew up the little one it was fuzzy. 

Wanna see my new bloggy button?  Please feel free to take it to replace my old one if you have it, or take it for the first time if you don’t already have it.   I will love you forever! (ok, I’ll love you anyway, but it would make my heart go pitter patter if you take it)

 
 
MyCottageCharm
 


Layla is one of the sweetest gals in all of bloggy land and I  adore her!   SO, thank you Layla for the sweet gift!
If for some reason you don’t know Layla (like you’ve been living under a rock or something) you need to go over to her blog and see all the wonderful decorating ideas for yourself.  She and Kevin have boundless energy, and talent running out of every pore of their beings!   Check out The Lettered Cottage today, you won’t be sorry!

Hope you have a blessed week!
Missy

Monday, July 11, 2011

What to do with old drawers…..


I was very blessed recently to go through an old house that was built in 1916, and take out what I’d like to have because they were tearing it down.   There was an old butler’s pantry in the house and there were some drawers in it that no one wanted, so I snatched them up. (I’ll show you what else I took out later)

See how large these drawers are! I got three of them.
what can you do with an old drawer
Wanna see what I did with them?

First I purchased some of these little wheels from Lowes….
rolling casters

I flipped over the three drawers and installed the wheels on the bottom, one in each of the four corners of each drawer.  (just look how well these drawers are made….out of solid wood too!)
installing casters

I wanted to use the drawers this way under my son’s bed, but all three of them wouldn’t fit soooo…… I did something a little different…

under the bed storage

I turned them lengthwise and just added knobs on the end….
I did paint them, I couldn’t stand it!
storage ideas

Here they are all lined up under my son’s bed now….
storage ideas
We completely eliminated the need for a dresser in his room with these drawers.  This is a great idea for a small room, whether it be for clothes or toys!  You could use any size drawers that you happen to find!
what can I do with old drawers

My son loves the convenience of having his clothes on wheels and not having a dresser in his room!
Have a blessed day!
Missy
I’m linking up t0:
Before and After party at Thrifty Décor Chick
Best DIY projects of July @ Beneath My Heart

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Laundry Room Extras….things you haven’t seen and the tutorials to go with them!!


So, are you sick of my laundry room yet? lol  (if you’re new and missed it, the reveal is HERE!) I know it’s been a long drawn out ordeal, but it took FOREVER to finish it and I want to be able to show you ever last little detail.  I had  some questions from the reveal and I also want to show you some areas that I didn’t show you before..…so here we go!
I promised a before shot of my laundry room chandy..so here she is.   I got this at the habitat restore for $8 bucks.  I just cleaned it up, primed it good and spray painted it white.
BEFORE:
how to paint a chandelier

AFTER:
chandy re-do

I replaced the shiny brass door knob in the laundry room with this antique knob.  (I’ll have another post later on these…there’s a story behind them)  Isn’t it beautiful?!  I’m going to put a nice back plate behind it later, so that’s why it’s not screwed into the door just yet, but I couldn’t wait to have that little bit of bling in the room!
glass door knob from 1916 house

I had a question from my laundry room reveal post about where I hang clothes now.  You couldn’t see this part of the laundry room from the angle I shot the reveal pictures in, so I thought I’d share it with you now……
laundry room storage
I LOVE how much storage and hanging space there is over there now and also that it’s totally hidden from view when you look into the room.  (it’s to the left of the washer and dryer)

I adore these little wire baskets and they hold paper towels and toilet paper perfectly!
antique wire baskets

I’m waffling back and forth about painting them…I kinda like their old patina…what do you think?
vintage wire baskets

The shelving system was SUPER easy to put up.  See that long bar above the top piece of the board and batton?  You just screw that to the wall into studs (or use molly bolts if you can’t find a stud) and then you just hang the standards from that and then hook on your shelving brackets.  It really is that easy!  I think I installed the whole shelving system in less than 15 minutes!
how to install wire shelving

One more look at the shelves all nice and tidy!
How to hang wire shelving in a laundry room

I also had some questions asked about this curtain.….
furnace cover up

First question….where did I get it? 
I purchased the curtain at Hobby Lobby and of course,  I used my 40% coupon, so it was only $12.00! ( got my memory board above the dresser there too…it was 50% off!)  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Hobby Lobby?!!
hobby lobby

OH how I LOVE this material!!
damask fabric

Next question:  How did I hang it?  I hung the curtain from the ceiling using this wooden curtain rod.  I just measured and found a curtain rod the right length…I was lucky enough to have this in my garage. (I NEVER throw anything away! -sometimes that’s good and sometimes- well we won’t go into my home décor hoarding issues)  lol  JOKING!!!…sort of.
wooden curtain rod

Anyway, I primed and painted the rod white so it would blend into my ceiling….I didn’t really want to notice it.
primed curtain rod

I found two cup hooks that fit the diameter of the wooden dowel part of the curtain rod and just screwed them into the ceiling.  If you’re going to be pulling your curtain back and forth, I’d recommend using hooks with mollies, but this one is stationary and doesn’t get “yanked” on, so these are working for me.
hook on ceiling used to hold curtain rod for curtain

I threaded my tab top curtains on the rod, took off the finials from the ends of the rod and slid them into the cup hooks and then re-attached the finials.
how to hide furnace unit

So there ya have it..a simple hanging curtain solution to hiding this furnace…YIKES!  That furnace unit  is all kinds of UGLY! (oh and my sweet friend Laura was worried about that unit getting hot and catching the curtain on fire, but it doesn’t get hot at all, so we’re all good, but you should consider that before hanging fabric around any units you may have)
furnace unit

I just LOVE what that curtain does for the room!  Isn’t it amazing what a single piece of fabric can do?!
how to hide a furnace

OH, and speaking of fabric, look what I found on Ebay!!!
damask ironing board cover
Yep, it matches beautifully! I’m too embarrassed to show you the before of my ironing board….lets just say it was stained, and quite worn out. lol I LOVE this new cover…it makes my ironing board look brand new again!

Ok, what’s next…hmmm.  Oh, the pictures above the dresser! I promised I’d tell you how I did them.  Here they are above the dresser…..
how to decorate a laundry room

Do you remember  the post a long time ago when I told you I got these picture frames from Goodwill for .75 each?  
DSCN4433
I took them all apart to spray paint them like this…

how to re-do old frames
It took quite a bit of primer and paint to cover these puppies because of all that writing on the mat….see those words?….
how to re-do an old frame

They kept bleeding through when I painted them. See!…..
how to paint a picture frame

I finally got enough coats of paint on there to hide all the wording…success!!
Krylon paint
I used my cricut to cut out the silhouettes for the pictures themselves.  I found 4 matching silhouettes in the Child’s First Year cartridge, but you could easily Google silhouettes and just use those to cut out of black paper.  I found oodles of them when I Googled it.

I used some aqua colored scrapbook paper to back the silhouettes and ended up with these…
damask memory board

(that’s the memory board I got at Hobby Lobby!)
I just LOVE how my little pictures turned out and they only cost me $3.00 for all four, because I already had the paint and the scrapbooking paper!
silhouette bird pictures

I’m trying to remember if that was all the questions. Hmm…..

OH, someone asked the dimension of the room, it’s 6’ 8” x 8’ 8”, so it’s a very tiny room, but it sure does have a ton of storage!   Speaking of storage, lets look at all the places to store things.

The dresser:   This thing holds a TON of stuff!! Click HERE to see the before.

how to decorate a laundry room

The cabinets:  These cabinets hold my detergents, iron, medicine, cleaning supplies, light bulbs and so much MORE! (and the baskets hold extra soaps, beauty supplies and one is even empty!!)


Laundry room makeover

and of course you just saw this area….
laundry room storage ideas
I truly LOVE this room!  Thanks so much for going along with me on this adventure, it’s been fun and so rewarding!  I actually enjoy doing laundry now….who knew!

If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask!
PS…I did have one person ask about the durability of the flooring and so far, it’s held up great. 

Have a blessed day
Missy

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