WAINSCOTING BOARD AND BATTEN IN PROGRESS!!!

I love Wainscoting. I think it gives a home such a cozy feeling. It goes with the Farmhouse style, Cottage, and Coastal. Really, just about any depending on the style you choose. It has such a clean crisp look to it. I lean towards Farmhouse/Cottage style in my home so of course I am in love with the look. And I have fallen for the Board and Batten style (second up -Bead board). So I decided to get started on doing it in my family room. I have wanted to for some time. I'll give ya a quick look at the start of it and then tomorrow or Friday when it's all done I'll post an update. Until then, here's a little look at the progress....

WHO KNEW? APPARENTLY EVERYONE BUT ME!

I just wanted to do a quick share with y'all about a few things I discovered recently that apparently most others already knew. And one that I've known about for years too that I thought I'd share. So if ya didn't already know about these, here ya go....

Elderberry Syrup. This stuff is amazing! My daughter had the flu last week and someone recommended this to me. I think it was my friend Kelly but if I am mistaken...sorry! She took several teaspoons of it and it helped with the symptoms a lot. She swears she felt like it made a big difference in the severity and length of the flu. You can read more about it here. Its completely natural so you can actually use it quite often I'm told and even give it to little ones. It is expensive though.

DECORATING PET PEEVES...HERE'S A FEW OF MINE -WHAT ARE YOURS???

This room is perfect! I'm in love with this room and
I wish I could find the source! I want to see more. 

I'm wondering...do you ever walk into someones house and even though it may be beautiful, think of what you might do differently? In your mind, do you think of how you might rearrange it? Think of what you would do different? Paint a lighter shade? Adjust the furniture arrangement? Add this or take this out? Imagine your style instead? Want to straighten a picture? Or is it just me??? Lol…Because yes, I am that person. But don’t worry, I don’t follow through. I don’t say anything nor do I adjust anything. I won't actually move any of  your furniture….I just think about it. 

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP RECIPE ON A RAINY DAY

Today was a damp, drizzling dark and rainy day. It just screamed for something warm for the tummy. So what did I make? Chicken Noodle Soup. Now I'm not the best cook in the world but I have certainly learned over the years how to "throw" things together and come up with something pretty tasty. And that’s pretty much how I cook. I experiment and throw things together and hopefully they work out. Sometimes they don’t, but most times they do. Like this one.

Checking the pantry, I had all the ingredients I needed, so here is the home made Chicken Noodle Soup I made today. And it turned out yummy!! So I thought I'd share the recipe with you...

ARE YOU READY FOR SPRING AND HERB GARDENS THAT ROCK?

So are you completely and totally over this long cold winter? Coming from someone born and raised in the snow belt of Lake Erie in northeast Ohio I say loudly YES! 

Ok, I guess I’m cheating a just a little...I left that snow tundra almost 8 years ago to move here to southeastern North Carolina. So I am not experiencing it as badly as some, but I am definitely still ready for Spring! So, with spring came thoughts of flowers, greenery and gardens. And that made me think of my herb garden. I love herbs, especially Basil.

INDUSTRIAL PIPE SHELVING -OH HOW I LOVE YOU!!!

LOVE IT!

Hey there! So what are you doing this weekend? Well, let me tell ya about mine so far, because I really am just so happy with my Saturday project. The hubby and I spent this weekend working on a project I have been obsessed with lately. Obsessed! Industrial pipe shelving! I am just so in love with this. Although I realize I am probably a bit late to the party on this one, none the less I am hooked. I really wanted to be sure about this so I waited and waited…continually searching and looking at every Pinterest post I could find. I didn't want to do this unless I was sure, since it’s pretty damaging to the wall and not something you take down after a month or two. So once I knew I was sure, this weekend was the time....

I had a few things on my mind this week that I didn't want to focus on so I was looking for a project to take my mind off it. And this was it! Have I mentioned I LOVE LOVE LOVE this project? I mean I really think this is probably my most favorite project I have done in a long time. Maybe EVER…haha is that a bit dramatic?  Take a look! 

This project isn't exactly hard, but it is definitely time consuming and certainly needs your patience. (And a willing husband or partner helps).

We bought all our part at Lowes. The shelves were bought from their lumber section. We bought a 2 by 10 by 16 ft. length of wood and had it cut down to five 38 in shelves. The lumber for the shelves was only $14.52. Then we went over to the plumbing section and bought the lengths of black piping we needed, along with the elbows and flanges. We bought ¾ in pipe. That was the costly part. I haven’t added it all up yet but I would guess about $200. But considering for me it added tons of storage, it was well worth it. The piping is cheaper if you buy a 10 ft section and have it cut by them. The board we bought was actually only 9 ft in depth even though it says 10. But actually the 9 ft depth is what I really wanted. I left all the cutting and calculations up to my husband. I just knew I wanted 5 shelves with 1 shelf being 18 inches high and the others 12 inches high.

Believe it or not,
 these were the most pricey parts...the flanges.
About $5.50 a piece and we needed 12.

Once we got it all home I began the tedious part of peeling the pricing off each piece of pipe. Seriously, they put stickers with tape around each 10 inch section of pipe! What a pain.. And the hubby began his tedious job of measuring every thing out, setting up and drilling and measuring. We had a few trial and errors but the whole project (actually building it and installing) took about 3.5 to 4 hours.

Since I am not really good at step by step tutorials I will tell you that I just went on Pinterest and searched “industrial pipe shelves” and found zillions! I didn't really use a particular tutorial myself. I just looked at all of them, found what I wanted and showed my husband. We figured it out as we went. I will say this…put it together first on the floor how you want it and then lift to the wall and drill in place. And use screws with anchors in your drywall because it is heavy. But it is extremely sturdy.

I love the added storage these added and the look too!

I still have to stain the shelves a darker color but I couldn't wait to try them out. I decided to wait till we get a few warmer days in a row to stain them because I really want to do it outside due to the fumes. I’ll just take the stuff off then and do them. I’m also still arranging and re-arranging things on the shelf, but quite frankly, that the fun part! And oh my gosh, these will be so useful as extra pantry! The shelves look great I think but more than just aesthetics they hold a ton. So did I mention how much I love them?! J What do you think? Do you like them?

The shelves before loading. 

The shelves loaded up. :)

2015 IDEAS AND PROJECTS AND A 2014 LOOK BACK

So here it is half way through the first month of 2015 and I am just now getting around to blogging again. I took some time off at the holidays and I really felt like I was in no big hurry to get back to it. As a matter of fact I am kind of forcing myself to write this because I still don’t feel like it. Lol…I have been feeling so lazy since the first of the year and I am totally unmotivated to get started on any new projects.

Well 2014 came and went and I think I got a lot done around here. Way back in the beginning of the year I updated my living room and then decided it needed tweaking even more and now looks more like this below. Not exactly, but close. You'll notice all the shelves are gone. 

I turned a useless little.junk closet into a useful second pantry. I did a chalkboard project or two. I painted several different rooms, doors, fireplaces and misc.objects. I tried my hand at free hand art work on a bedroom wall and it turned out great.

THE FUN "MENU" CHALKBOARD at THE NATIONS CAFE

A while back, I had an appointment with our Ladies Ministry Leader Lisa at church. Once done with our meeting, I ran into our Outreach Pastor, Michael. This was back around Thanksgiving, just as the holidays were gearing up. He asked me if I was interested in helping him on some different projects/ministries he had in mind. As we talked, he took me to where all the different items would be stored for our new food pantry and clothing project our church is instituting for the needy in Wilmington.

Stored back with other miscellaneous items was a pallet he had come across.

  
Immediately when I saw it, my brain lit up with ideas for how it could be used in our Church Café...

Post Christmas...ahhhh

So another Christmas has come and gone. Its the day after and I am exhausted. We have a huge family. I mean with all the kids and grand kids we have enough to support both teams of a backyard football game and still have some people left to cheer lead!
We have 7 kids and step kids..and then add in their spouses and kids and it gets crazy. So there is a lot of work, love, mess and chaos in any celebration in our house. Add to that 3 dogs and 2 cats and it is a house full of craziness. But that after all is the fun of it.
So the day after, when I am looking around at piles of wrapping paper, empty toy boxes, unopened and opened toys everywhere, late night sandwich makings, cups left out etc....the day I really need to get busy and clean up?I have no energy left. I am spent. :)
So today amidst all the mess I will clean up..... tomorrow. I thought I'd share a few pictures.

2014 is slowly slipping into 2015.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS OF 2014

And these are a few of my favorite  things…LOL...y'all remember the song from Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music? Well, you'll just have to imagine yourself singing it as you read. :)

I thought since we were closing in on the end of the year it would be fun to share some of my favorite discoveries or just favorite things of 2014.  Just for fun….

First off, I gotta show y'all a picture of one of my favorite trees... I love this tree. It's so old fashioned and yet contemporary. Simple and elegant. I am really sorry that I can't tell ya where it's from because I couldn't find the source online.

Unknown source

And of course my favorite tree would include my own. We have a 12 ft tree in our Family room and then another 6.5 foot tree in our Living room. I'll post pictures later. But for now, here are a few of my other favorite things...

WALKING EACH OTHER HOME THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

So here we are with the holiday season upon us. YAY!!! I so love Christmas. It is seriously my favorite time of the year. People everywhere are nice! Lol…

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with tons of family and food. We put up our tree a bit early this year because my daughter Jessica was surprising her little ones with a trip to Disney for Christmas and wanted them to open their “gift” under the tree. J  

So now I am in the frenzy of decorating for the holidays. I love it! I truly do. I love everything about the Holiday season. Baking cookies, decorating, family, fun, going out looking at lights, the friendly spirit of strangers….everything! But mostly it is a beautiful and festive reminder of Christ for me. It reminds me that this life, with all its joys and sadness are temporal. My forever home is with Christ someday. Because of his sacrifice and blood shed for me at the cross, his death brings me life when I put my hope and faith in Him. That is my Christmas wish for all!  but...

PAINTBRUSHES, RECIPES, FAMILY AND GOD

Wow…did I fall off the radar or what? I just looked at this and realized it has been over a month since I wrote anything! I try to do twice a week but obviously I fell far from that recently. It’s just been a very hectic season. I also think I was going in the wrong direction and trying to hard to be something I am not.

I’m more of a lifestyles blogger. Meaning I like to blog about life. EVERYTHING… DIY projects, style, my faith, family, food, and in general, just-LIFE! I do it because I love to write. And I hope someone will enjoy reading it. But I have been trying to be a DIY blogger. Not intentionally. I think I just happened to do a lot of  painting and projects, one after the other for a while and then suddenly I felt the need to keep up! And it’s been tough! I love paintbrushes, recipes, family and God. But NOT in that order. So time to readjust. That’s part of the reason I vanished. I had no projects to post so I didn't write. And I don't want to do that. I will still do a lot of them...because I do love decorating and DIY projects, but I'm not gonna go looking for them and panic when I don't have a project to post. So….I’m gonna just stop trying to be something I’m not, and write about anything and everything as the mood strikes cause that's what I love most. Writing.  J 

So…what have I been up to?...

FALL IS HERE! WREATHS, PUMPKINS, SCENTS AND MORE.

It's FALL! Yay! This is absolutely my favorite time of year. Especially living in the south. We are having beautiful sunny weather in the 70's right now. What we use to call Indian Summer up north is pretty much the normal weather here, which sometimes extends all the way into December. 
The AC (which I am not a fan of) is finally off. The windows are open and the smell of fall is everywhere. Lawn mowers buzz their last breathes of summer, breezes rustling the curtains, pumpkins all around and maple scents in my Scentsy burner. Oh my goodness I love it. 
So decorating a bit for the season is part of the fun. Surfing around the Internet for ideas, I realize it's time to change up the front door wreath and the front porch. This is how is it looks now.... 

What's on your plate tonight? Honey Horsey Glazed Salmon???

Are you a lover of Salmon??? Well check out this recipe because it is amazingly good! lol... I love it. Mix it up with other seasonings you may like and make sure to use wild caught, not farm raised salmon and buy local if you can! This is what's for dinner tonight! Throw some fresh broccoli and a salad out there and you have a feast!

3 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tbsp Horseradish sauce
1 teas. Garlic powder
1 teas. Basil

I like to saute some fresh mushrooms up to cover the salmon with too. Whip all seasonings and sauces together. Lay Wild Caught Salmon out in a shallow pan. (I spray the bottom and sides of the pan slightly).
Poke some holes in the salmon with a fork. Pour glaze mixture over the Salmon and salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms. Bake at 350* for 20 plus minutes. Enjoy! C'mon! Can it get any easier than that? 

CHECK OUT OTHER RECIPES HERE...

MY WHIMSICAL TREE IS FINALLY ON THE WALL!

Every room should have a little bit of whimsy! 

I did it! I actually free hand painted a tree on my wall! Yay me. lol....

I am so pleased at how this tree turned out! And also, so pleased it is done! It was kind of a spontaneous last minute decision. I mean I have always wanted to paint a tree on my wall, but I wasn't prepared to do so. But today it was pouring rain and I got the itch and looked around to see what paint I had on hand and voila!