White-washed Easter Blocks.....(Repost)

****This is a repost from one of YOUR favorites from last Easter.....Just thought you'd like to see it, again ;)  ******


As I was walking a couple of weeks ago, I spotted several wood blocks that someone had put in their trash pile (this house is doing a lot of reno….so hopefully I’ll be able to pick up some more!). Can you say FREE?!?!?! I have seen several of these painted blocks on Pinterest with words and sayings and already had an idea of what I wanted to do with them.

I got them out today to do my “thang” with ‘em. I’ve planned on doing my Easter pianoscape in a natural, neutral color scheme this year, so I’m figuring, white, beige, brown, wood, etc…….. So here’s what I did.

Here are the FREE blocks. I’m so glad they weren’t all the same size, makes them more interesting!

I bought a package of sponges at the Dollar Tree the other day. They come 4 to a package and they make great paint daubers! I just cut one of them thirds and that was plenty big enough.

I didn’t have a full tube of white paint, so I thought, let’s do a white-wash look. I put as much of the white paint I could get into a bowl and added water, stirred, and this is how it looked.

As with my Chevron Easter Egg Burlee door hanger , I printed out some lettering on my computer, then put tape over the lettering before I cut it out (to make it more sturdy for the stencil), then stenciled the saying out on the blocks.

And this is what it looks like, FINI! I did do a couple of streaks of the brown paint on the top and sides of the blocks to give it more depth.

Not too bad for FREE! (Yep, love that word!

I’m thrilled that you’ve taken time to stop by and see my tutorial! Please be sure to leave a comment! I read each one and would love to hop on over to your blog too!

New Store Open!

Hey Everyone! Yes, it's been some time, a LONG time since I've posted! I did want to let you know that I opened up a new store over at BigCartel and I am so excited about it!

Please take a look when you get a chance! Be sure to bookmark http://SouthernTraditions2.BigCartel.com.

 My prices, for the mean time, are a little lower over here than in my Etsy Store! I'll also post Coupon Codes on my Facebook page that will only be available on my Big Cartel store :)

After you take a look, be sure to come back and comment about it :)

Homemade Dog Shampoo!!!!

I’m such a huge fan of PINTEREST!!!. I saw a blurb on there the other day for a home-made doggie shampoo that claimed to kill fleas on the spot (yeah, no pun intended!LOL!). I’ve really been impressed with some of the home remedies that I’ve found, I figured, why not give this a try?

Leroy, our German Shorthaired Pointer, has had fleas this year. I have NEVER seen a flea on him until this summer (I guess it’s because we had such a mild winter this year, yes, even for the deep south!). He’s been scratching, biting at those little suckers and seems as though the flea drops that I put on him haven’t worked as well this year. Probably ‘cause we’ve been getting so much rain, ‘specially from Isaac, he’s been a drenched dog!

When I read the ingredients, I knew I’d have to alteast give this a shot, as I want to make him as comfy as possible. When I read the two reviews, they said it killed the fleas immediately, but I was a little skeptical, but gave it a try anyway!

Ingredients:

½ cup Dawn
½ cup vinegar
Water to rinse

That’s it! Combine the Dawn and vinegar in a bottle, then generously apply to your wet mutt. I rubbed it in, starting on his head and worked my way down to the tail-end……and SERIOUSLY!!!!!! Those ‘lil nasties just fell off and died! I was absolutely amazed! I guess the only time you need to keep it on is how ever long it takes you to scrub-a-dub the whole pooch, then gently rinse ALL of the soap off of him. It was really easy for me to see the fleas dead, since Leroy is a short-haired dog, but I’m tellin’ ya, this stuff works! By the time I got down to his tail….there were about 15 dead fleas on it~!

Here’s some pictures of the HAPPY HAPPY flea-free dog!

This is another one of those recipes that I’ll be keeping, now that I know it works so well! I was petting him earlier this evening, and his fur was so soft and there were no “dry” spots on him.

I'm sharing this home cleaning idea with the following link-up parties:

CraftOManiac
TaterTots and Jello
Design Dazzle
Uncommon Designs
Savvy Southern Style
The 36th Avenue
Five Days, Five Ways
French Country Cottage
I Should be Mopping the Floor At the Picket Fence
Between Naps on the Porch
Stringtown Home
Claiming Our Space
Be sure to go by and see all of the other great ideas for DIY crafting!

A visitor

I know I've posted pictures of butterflies in my zinnia garden before, but I also wanted to share with you some of my favorite scriptures. Maybe you're going through a time when you need reassurance that everything's going to be ok. Remember, God loves you, yes, YOU!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Phillipians 4:6

Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.
Psalm 25: 4-5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3: 5-6

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3:13

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Chirst forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

Whoever calls upon thename of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:13

Sharing this with Beki over at The Rusted Chain for Fingerprint Friday

and these amazing sites too:

CraftOManiac
TaterTots and Jello
Design Dazzle
Uncommon Designs
Savvy Southern Style
The 36th Avenue
Five Days, Five Ways
French Country Cottage
I Should be Mopping the Floor
At the Picket Fence
Between Naps on the Porch
Stringtown Home
Claiming Our Space

Paper Napkin Wreath Tutorial

It's amazing what can inspire you. I saw the cutest package of paper napkins at the dollar store about a month ago. Ms. M is getting a total reno of her room (hmmm, do you still call it a reno when you're not knocking down walls and just painting and decorating??? What do you think?) Anywho, when I saw the napkins, I knew I needed to get them, but still wasn't sure what I was going to do with them (yep, I have waaayyyy tooooooo much of that stuff in the house, you know, for future projects!) Well, this time it didn't take me long to know what I was going to do!

Can you say WREATH TIME? All I needed for this project was a pool noodle, scissors, package of napkins and tape. Yep, only 4 ingredients items! {thought I was cooking for a moment!} {Oh, and I did have a rotary cutter, mat and the ruler thingy, but you really don't need them, as long as you have scissors you're good to go!}

The napkins measurements were 13" x 15 3/4". All I did was unfold them from the package, and cut 4" strips (of course, the last one was only 3 3/4"). Then unfolded the strips and cut on the folded line of each one. I had a ton of these when I was done cutting all of them! (No, I'm not gonna do the math right now, too tired, {{{{YAWN}}}). I used every one of the little squares to fill up the pool noodle.

Once I had them all cut, I took the end of my scissors and started making slits in the noodle. I gently pushed the center of the napkin into the hole, and repeated the process until the whole thing was covered ;) Seriously, how easy can it be? Time consuming.....um, maybe just a little, but it will go by fast when you're sitting on the couch watching TV with the Hubs! I guess you could put a little glue on the napkin before you poked it in, but I decided not too.

Right now I decided to put the personalized glass ornament hanging from the top of the wreath for a decoration, but might change it out later. This is just another element that we've added to Ms. M's more 'grown-up' room.

I hope you've enjoyed this easy, easy tutorial! I'd love to hear from you if your visiting :) Comments make me smile!!! Please feel free to follow me on GFC or via Linky Followers! If you have a blog of your own, please leave a comment, as I'd love to follow your blog as well!

QUICK QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU DIY-ER'S: When you do a room reveal, do you have EVERYTHING done for decorating, or do you show a majority of what's been done, then have new posts for items you've added after the reveal? Thanks so much for your help :)

Sharing this tutorial with the following:

CraftOManiac
TaterTots and Jello
Design Dazzle
Uncommon Designs
Savvy Southern Style
The 36th Avenue
Five Days, Five Ways
French Country Cottage
I Should be Mopping the Floor
At the Picket Fence
Between Naps on the Porch
Stringtown Home
Claiming Our Space

Bolster pillow tutorial.....Quick, fast and easy!

We have been busy revamping Ms. M's room! We have already painted it a beautiful gray color, added some really cute wall decorations, and have re-done her dresser! She's going for an elegant but still-girly french motif, with a pop of HOT PINK! Yeppers, that's right, HOT PINK! :)

Here's a quick and SUPER EASY PEASY bolster pillow tutorial for ya. I used what I had left of some cotton duck material that I purchased at Hobby Lobby about 2 years ago. The length was 38", but I'm sure when I purchased it it was longer, but it still made for a really nice-sized bolster for her bed! I also had a pillow that we no longer used, so I cut off the cover and used it for the stuffing! Reuse, reduce, recycle! Oh, and can you say FRUGAL?????LOL!

I love being able to use what I already have at home! It's a challenge for me, because if you're like me, I LOVE LOVE LOVE to go out and purchase new "stuff!". This time I was able to use what I had and I'm pleased with the results. Ms. M was thrilled with her pillow, I guess it was the squeal that gave it away!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Sharing this quick tutorial with the following awesome link-up parties!

CraftOManiac
TaterTots and Jello
Design Dazzle
Uncommon Designs
Savvy Southern Style
The 36th Avenue
Five Days, Five Ways
French Country Cottage
I Should be Mopping the Floor
At the Picket Fence
Between Naps on the Porch
Stringtown Home
Claiming Our Space

Beach inspired pianoscape........ DONE!

WHEW! Yep, took me long enough (now that schools fixin' to start and fall's just right around the corner), but better late than never's what I say!

As always, I wanted to do a pretty pianoscape that didn't break the bank. It's soft, simple and pretty. I love the pops of turquoise and yellow. But ya gotta love the soft tans/whites too! YUM!

I reused my favorite twin frames (got them for a steal for .50 each at an estate sale and whitewashed them).

Used my Silhouette to create the light house and anchor with "summertime" underneath.

.80 seablue glass votives and a $2.00 bag of shells from Michael's placed in my dollar store apothecary jars

$1.20 for 3 starfish (at Michael's)

Hmmmm, I wonder if I should bring my wreath inside and add to this? Yes?? No??

As always, I really appreciate you stopping by! Why don't you say "HEY" while you're here and let me know where I can see some of your decorating goodies?

I'm sharing this decorating idea with the following link-up parties:

CraftOManiac
TaterTots and Jello
Design Dazzle
Uncommon Designs
Savvy Southern Style
The 36th Avenue
Five Days, Five Ways
French Country Cottage
I Should be Mopping the Floor
At the Picket Fence
Between Naps on the Porch
Stringtown Home

Lovin' it.......

I can't tell y'all how much I'm lovin' my Silhouette Cameo! I found these awesome serving trays the other day, and since we're such big ROLL TIDE fans, I knew what I'd have to do with it.

I love how fun these are and the endless possibilities I have now! WOW, these would be super great Christmas presents! I can do these in any color combination (just make sure that you have either red or blue in it, as that's the only two colors of serving trays I can get right now! LOL!). Great for High School football parties too!

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you'd like to see how much these are, please feel free to stop by my ETSY STORE . Are you ready for some football?