"You Should See the "Before" Picture Party

Jen at Sanctuary Arts is having a before and after party and since most of my B&A's are usually rooms or furniture I thought it might be fun for you all to see the exterior of my house and how it's changed since we bought it 10 years ago.

This is it!

10 years ago this was a fixer (and we're still working on it)! I don't know if I'd go through this again though. It was in bad shape when we bought it and every year we try to fix one major thing. It's slow going but we've accomplished quite a bit! That's why it kills me when I watch a show like HGTV's House Hunters and they come back after the couple has purchased the house and it's totally re-done...top to bottom! In as little as three months! You are very lucky if you are able to finance that kind of work. I think most of us just have to do a little at a time as time and money allows.

The After

Yes, I painted the brick! I can't tell you how many neighbors (all men) came up to me telling me what a mistake I was making while I was painting! I'm so glad I did. I thought the brick with siding chopped the house in half and having it all one color makes it look so much more cohesive.

The roof is new, as are the gutters, the windows are new, the storm door is new, that's the original door but I painted it red and we added black shutters instead of the green and this year we installed a new garage door (mainly because the old one broke and we had to).

Old Landscaping

We tore out all those bushes along the driveway. Again, the line of bushes made it seem like that's where the house stopped. Without the bushes you can see all of the house.

I added three Knockout Rose bushes on the other side of that concrete planter. They have since filled in quite nicely and are still blooming!

This is the deck we had built 10 years ago. The one that was here when we bought the house had to be torn down since it was unsafe due to termite damage. I haven't done a thing with the concrete patio. That's a project for next year or maybe the year after that!

This is the screened porch we had built the summer of 2007.

The little planting bed you see in front is one I started two years ago. There used to be a big 'ol pine tree there that we had removed a few years ago because we were always afraid it was going to fall on the house during a storm! So I started planting a few things last spring and I'll add a few shrubs now and then as I find them and enlarge that bed as I go along.

I found some before photos of my kitchen, my master bath and a few other rooms but I'll save those for another day!

Sometimes all you see are the things that still need to be done or things that you just want to change. It feels good to look back and see all that has been done! I was pleasantly surprised!

Is it Too Early For Pumpkin Krunch?

I don't think so! I'm so ready for fall and the weather has been teasing us. First it's cool and fallish and then it's back to humid. Enough already! Anyway, I decided to make the first Pumpkin Krunch of the year today. It's a super easy dessert and the recipe will be at the bottom of this post. It's sort of like pumpkin pie filling with crunchy cake on top.

Remember this tray from the thrift store?

I decided to paint it white because I realized that it would be perfect for using the various tea towels I have. So I've just been folding a tea towel on the bottom and setting the cups and saucers etc on top of that. I love it! It gives me an opportunity to use something I collect!

I took my coffee, krunch and this book outside to relax for a bit today (had to turn the overhead fan on though).

I love the Country Living books.I haven't been disappointed in one yet! Here are a few pictures I marked that I particularly liked.

I want that china cabinet!

Love the big dough bowl filled with squash!

Look at how much cuteness they squeezed into that tiny dining room!

One of these days I'm going to find chairs that I can do this to!

That's such a cute centerpiece and you could use plain terra cotta pots!

Pumpkin Krunch

• 1 large can of pumpkin
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts (I've also used pecans, they're optional)
• 2 sticks of butter melted (I cut this down to 1 stick and I stir a little light olive oil into the melted butter but try it with the two first to see if you like it that way)

Grease a 13x9x2 pan (or equivalent). Blend the pumpkin,milk,eggs,sugar and cinnamon together. Pour in pan. Sprinkle the cake mix over the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle the nuts on top of that. Spread the melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 for an hour or until the top is brown and let it sit for a few minutes. (I've been know to bake it at 400 for about a half hour when I'm in a rush and it seems to be fine but you know your oven).

I hope you are all having a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

It's Fall! (I hope!)

We've been having cooler temperatures so I'm hoping that it means fall is here! I have my last (I hope) dental appointment today so I thought we'd revist some things I've done with faux pumpkins to get in the mood to add a few fall touches to our homes!

To answer some questions about the Master Bath in the post below. The ticking stripe roman shade came from Target almost 9 years ago(I've shown it in previous posts about that bathroom) and the shower curtain is from Bed Bath and Beyond two years ago so I don't know if it's still available. The harlequin & fleur switch plate is from Hobby Lobby.

Pumpkins in tiny pots Fall 2007

Pumpkin w/fabric leaves & ribbon 2007

Pumpkin Topiary 2008 using rub ons

Pumpkin with leaf stickers

Pumpkin with stencilled fleur

Pumpkin in a jar

Green Pumpkin Target 2008

Of course, to save money, the thing to do is to buy fall stuff on clearance during the previous season. Which is what I did with some faux pumpkins so I could try some different things with them this year!

I hope this gives you some ideas of what you can do with those fake pumpkins!

My Master Bathroom

Sunday night I had a dream I was running on top of a balance ball (like at the circus) in a line of people. In between me and the ball was a bed pillow and a folded up comforter. So I was on a ball, comforter and bed pillow, running and trying not to fall off. I looked ahead at the people in front of me and they had even more comforters and bed pillows piled on their balls that they had to stand on and I said to myself "However will I be able to stay on the ball when I get to the head of the line? How can I keep my balance trying to stay on top of all that!"

LOL! So that tells you a little bit about what life is like these days! All good things are happening but even too many good things can be stressful! So, of course, I did a little project Monday that I had absolutely no need to do and didn't do some things I really should have done! The project involves the ducks above and gold plastic frames.

I made some art for a little sliver of wall in my master bathroom! I painted the plastic frames black (of course).

I went to Vintage Printable and decided on some shells. But I didn't want them in color I wanted black and white prints. Here's how I did it in case you want to do it to. It's really a wonderful place and there's so much to choose from (and it's FREE)! Let me know if you try it.

1. Right click on the picture and a menu will appear - on top of mine is Open Link and then a list of other options - click on "print pictures".

2. Then your print menu should open - mine says select printer but our printer is already highlighted. It should say "Preferences" somewhere in that menu screen. Click on that.

3.Now you should have a "Printing Preferences" menu up with different tabs on the top - click on the one that says "color".

4. Under "Color Options" click on "Grayscale" then click on "O.K." and you should be back to your print menu and then just click print. Your picture should have printed in black and white.

I print on card stock - it just gives it a nicer finish but regular paper is fine too.

I love them! I hung them low because I want to add two more (I always see these little oval frames at the thrift). So since I was hanging these in the bathroom I figured I might as well take some more pictures. I don't think I've shown my master bath in a while and I have made a few minor changes since the last time.

Above the toilet - did you notice the harlequin rug in the picture?


Next to the sink

I've shown this photo of the sink before (didn't want to have to move the toothbrushes that are usually there~smile)

Medicine Cabinet

My master bath by the way is very small! My house was built in the 60's and although we have three bathrooms, they're all small. My neighbor added on to his house and he made the old bathroom his closet! This bathroom is 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 not counting the shower which is it's one good feature. The shower is 2 1/2 ft wide and runs the length of the wall so it's 2 1/2 x 5 1/2. But I'm a bath person so it has always irked me that there's no bathtub!

Shower looking in from the bedroom





Standing in the shower looking at the door

When you have such a small room you really have to work the details!

Fleur over the window

I hope you enjoyed the tour! I get alot into that tiny space - it's not minimalist that's for sure!