Up To The Challenge

This is the first time I have joined other bloggers to participate in a challenge.

We all looked at the same pic, a wreath shared by Christina of The DIY Mommy, and created our own version of the heart.

 I decided to make one of my easy wire wreaths.

Having just made this wreath for the guest room, dried roses were out,

but I remembered I had a few dried sunflowers from last summer.

It's a super easy wreath to make:

 1. Take wire - I don't know the size because it was what I had on hand

 2. Twist the wire into a circle

 3. Twist and turn leaving loops along the way - my wreath has 4 layers of wire

4. You can leave the wreath as a circle or simply push it into a heart

The next step was greenery - I looked around the garden and snipped leaves from a neighbor's tree that hangs over our fence.

Just like I twisted and turned the wire, I twisted and turned the leaves, adding more until I liked what I saw - the last step was to hot glue the faded old sunflowers onto the wreath.

I love styling vignettes and with the wreath finished, the fun began.

I didn't want this vignette to be strictly for Valentine's Day so I went with a simple message

and snipped flowers from the garden for a bouquet on the table.

On sunny days, door swung open, I sit on the window seat in the dining room and look out at this little spot - I just put the table and window on the porch in December and I love them their new home.

The next morning I decided that the table needed a little tweaking so I shopped my storage shelves and came up with a few heart items.

I snapped pics, liked what I saw, but . . .

I visited the tree to snip a bit of greenery for one little tweak

and with that I was done.

Now that you have seen my version of our Pinterest challenge,

 you need to visit my fellow bloggers to see what they have created.

Decorate and More With Tip

The Latina Next Door

A Heart Filled Home

Decor To Adore

Follow the Yellow Brick Home

County Road 407

Le Cultivateur

Bluesky At Home

French Ethereal

Stilettos and Shiplap 

 ...   ...   ...   ...   ...   ...   ...  ...

Join me at

My Wee Abode for Homestyle Gathering

After the Ball Is Over

By ball, if you read the title of my post, I'm referring to Christmas - I always have difficulty coming up with decor ideas after the colorful and creative chaos of Christmas.

The first room I tackled was the guest room mainly because Steve bought me one of the items I put on my Christmas list.

I spotted the Cabin Crafts chenille bedspread at a local vintage shop, Tattered Door.

Steve hates shopping, but he doesn't mind when I give him the names of the shops and pics of exactly what I want.

The cabinet got an update with clocks and hands.

 I had Steve bring in a new painting for above the headboard - we have lived in our city for over 40 years, but had never seen this view until recently when a neighborhood family invited us to a children's service at the Mormon church.

My old Underwood got a new message for a new year, but I'm not ready to share the word yet - still preparing the post.

I always dry my roses and had quite a few in a box I wanted to use for something else.

So I grabbed an old grapevine wreath from the garage and started hot gluing dried roses onto it - the eucalyptus was added at the end to give the wreath a little flair.

I always like popping quotes into my decor and this one really fits my life right now.

I used the cart as a workspace while I made the wreath so I decided to go for a desk look on the cart.

It is so nice to see the rooms of our house slowly coming to life once again in the new year.

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Sharing with Shabby Art Boutique for Create, Bake, Grow & Gather

How Did We Do?

Today I am sharing how we did on our 2018 Goals - our 2019 list is growing, but not ready to share.

I came so close this year to actually finishing my goals 

- I bought the stencil to paint the porch, but it arrived the week before we began our bathroom remodel and it would have been futile to paint the porch with all the workmen going in and out.

The old door in the guest room painted a soft blue pops off the white wall, but it is white once again because

I moved 11 pieces around the house in December and the blue door just didn't work with the red cart.

Getting the table in the bedroom just right took far longer than I expected.

but after many color variations I love how it turned out.

I really worked hard to get a chippy look- this picture shows a bit of the crackle I achieved.

Making a new cushion for the window seat was easier than I anticipated.

I wanted a blue and white plaid and as luck would have it, I found the perfect fabric at the first store I checked.

I made the matching pillows with leftover fabric and the white pillows from a remnant my sister-in-law gave me.

Luck was with me again when I found these pillows at Marshalls - cotton fabric, down filled inserts and they were $19 each!

I thought I would throw in pics of projects that weren't on the list, but they finally happened - like finding a chippy old bistro chair.

For several years I've been wanting to get my grandma's rocker (rocked my babies in it) out of the garage rafters and paint it white.

Painting the fireplace white had been a dream for ages 

as was finding a way to hide the television.

Remodeling the bathroom wasn't even on our radar, but it happened.

So, "How Did We Do?"

I did buy the stencil to paint the porch floor - a navy towel was the only blue thing I could find to give you an idea.

And, all this extra credit should count so, I would say we did great!

And, I leave you with a peek at our first project of 2019.