Tuesday’s Tip

 



{PREVENT glue strings from a glue gun}

• On a clean glue gun tip,  apply petroleum jelly.
• After applying a dab of glue, pull the tip up slightly from the pool of glue, then SWIRL the tip a few quick times. This will break off that sting.      Glue….. pull up slightly….. swirl.   Tah-dah! :)
• If you still end up with a glue string, run hot air from either a hair dryer or embossing tool over the strings.  

Oil and Vinegar Cruets

 

I was in need for some cruet bottles.  See my kids {most of the time} would rather eat at a sub~shop than most other fast food places.  With school back in session, we will be making a lot of subs for lunches at home.  I found these bottles at the local Wal-mart. {ohh how I wished I lived closer to a Target}  They were a little plain, so I add some vinyl. 



{oil and vinegar cruets}

I had in mind a really ornate font, however when I couldn’t find a FREE font that I liked, I decide to make my own ornate font. 

Used SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) program to create my own font

1. Start measuring out a square about 2x2”
2. Find a corner design with lots of scroll work and copied it four times
3. Make 2 corners small and the other 2 corners a bit larger 
4. Placing the 2 small corners opposite of each other on the square and repeat with the large corners
5. Find a font “V” and “O” that you like and place on top of the corners.
6. Click “WELD”.   Now you have a square, 4 corners, and a letter that will cut out as one!





 Now I’ve got my eyes out for a small plate or basket to hold the oil and vinegar cruets! 

Linking to these Blog Parties

 

  XO’s,

Carrie

 

Welcome to the 85th Metamorphosis Monday! A Story of Hope and Healing...

Colette Gauthier was given a 5-15% chance of survival by her doctor. She had moved into a dismal rental house and was out of hope. Kelee from The Katillac Shack went to Michigan and with the help of Guideposts Magazine where she is their Inspired Home Expert, she created a beautiful makeover to change Colette's "sick" room to a healing space.




The goal was to create an uplifting and beautiful space to help Colette during her recovery from cancer, as well as lift her spirits through the course of her chemotherapy treatments. A miracle resulted for the room and Colette Gauthier. Seeing is believing in this wonderful video below. (If you can see four tiny white arrows beside the Vimeo name, click on those to enlarge the screen. When finished watching, hit escape.)



You may read more about Colette at The Katillac Shack and the story is featured in the September issue of Guideposts.


Here's how you can help!
For every comment you leave on this post and at The Katillac Shack and Facebook/Guideposts, $1 will be donated for the next needy makeover recipient. :)


One dollar ($1.00) donated for all comments received at The Katillac Shack, Pink Saturday, Spiritual Sunday and Country Wings in Phoenix and on this Metamorphorisis Monday post. That's a $5 donation from DesignGivesBack.com by commenting at all these host sites! :)






Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

I'd love it if you would include the MM button in your post, to make it easy for others to find you MM post. To do that, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo on my sidebar.

Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the opportunity for visits for all participants.

Please do not add your link below, until your MM post is actually published to your blog. Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)

Where Do You Blog? Party

Kate at Centsational Girl is having a Where Do You Blog? Party!


Have you ever wondered how the home offices or blogging spaces of your fellow bloggers might look? Where do they sit and create the posts you read? Be sure to stop by Kate's and check 'em all out!


Where Do I Blog?

When Max cat plants all 15 lbs of his furry, little body on top of my chest every morning asking to be fed, I roll out of bed, feed his Royal Furryness, and then...




I walk the 15 or so feet to my desk in the dressing room located just off my bedroom. My blogging spot is right in there...you can just see the chair from my bed.




So, now that you know from whence I blog...




I guess it's time I 'fessed up and shared who really writes all those posts you read.




Meet SAMMY!




Not only does Sammy create all the posts you read, but he's a whiz at using the mouse!




And he can really pound out posts on the old keyboard, lickety split!




After a hard day's blogging, Sammy likes to just sit back, kick up his feet...and admire his latest post. :)



So...that's where I, uh...I mean Sammy, blogs. Oh, there is one more spot that Sammy and I love to blog...click HERE to see one of my fav places to create posts. :) Stop by Centsational Girl to see where all your fellow bloggers do their blogging.

(You can get your own Sammy HERE.)

When Life Gives You Lemons...

What do you do? I'm a firm believer in just digging in my heels and pushing forward.




Don't waste time asking why...




Or, why me?




Listen to your heart and find your strength from within...




How's that old saying go?




"If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."



Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday .

More of This

Well the weather has cooled off some>>>>> dropping down into the 80’s!  The high was 89 for today….. hey it is the 80’s !  and on the plus side the humidity has dropped!!!!!

That let’s me do more of this



While I’m at it, let me share with you my favoritest paint.

{okay I know what it’s not a word but…}



{BM Iron Clad Low Lustre Latex Metal & Wood  Enamel}

This stuff paints like a dream!  It is a paint and prime all~in~one.  I have painted our back door and railing, the boys’ bathroom vanity, and my oldest son’s bed set with one gallon of this paint.  BE WARNED----- this paint doesn’t come cheap!  At least I think $44.95 for a gallon of paint is a lot.  {but stop and look at all that I painted with just one gallon?!?!?!}

This is the first Benjamin Moore paint I have tried and if any of the other paint formulas are as good as this one… I’ll be a “Benjamin Moore lifer”!  In fact I’ll be able to let ya’ll know just how great {at least in my opinion} the other formulas are  later this evening.  See, I just picked up a quart of  BM “Regal” low~lustre paint.  I tried to paint with Behr’s top off the line paint and it was like painting with water compared to BM.  I haven’t been able to nail down the right color for my youngest son’s head and foot board.  If only they made a machine to scan the color I keep seeing in my mind’s eye.  {you’re right…. that could be scary}



Right now the bed set looks a little too “COUNTRY” blue for me to live with.  I’ve mentioned it before I’m not a huge fan of blue so it drives me even more insane than usual to find the right color.

Have a great evening,

Carrie

Lemonade Days... Welcome to the 105th Tablescape Thursday!

It's still very much summer here in the sunny south...and I'm loving every moment of it. I'm one of those strange people who loves hot weather. Cold weather...not so much.

Since I was really hoping you might be stopping by this evening, I made us some yummy lemonade and cookies. What's that? You're wondering about that tripod out on the deck? Shhhh, that's my top secret, special ops, hummingbird spy station. Either that, or I'm spying on the neighbors. ;)




A few months ago I was shopping in HomeGoods, one of my favorite stores in this big, ole world...and I came across this awesome beverage server. It was super reasonably priced, as most things are at HG.




Wouldn't it look great with the bottom portion filled with shells for a beach party?




You could use tangerines if you were serving an orange flavored drink.




I think the possibilities for the bottom section are endless. It would be lovely just filled with summer flowers....or how about mini pumpkins for the fall.




Oh, oh, oh...great idea just hit! How about ornaments at Christmas time...with a yummy cranberry punch above! :) I think I'll have fun trying new things in the bottom.




Soooo, come on over here and grab a lemon-covered glass...




And fill it up with some icey cold lemonade. I've saved you a spot right over here on the swing.




Don't forget the cookies...ya gotta keep your strength up for porch swinging, ya know. :)


Happy Sweet Summer, dear friends! Fall will be here soon enough so let's savor these last warm days out on the porch...every. single. last. one of them.




2-Gallon Beverage Server: By Artland, The Simplicity Collection...found at HomeGoods
Lemon Glasses: Dollar Tree, last summer, I think
Information about the Tabletops, Ma Maison china seen on the hutch can be found HERE. It's #7 under the Non-Holiday Group and #6 under the Holiday group.

Looking forward to viewing your beautiful tablescapes!



Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name. Then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

You may see a red X once you enter your link. No one else can see the red X, it's just there in case you make a little mistake and need to delete your link and re-enter it.

I'd love for you to use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post. To do that, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo. Or, just grab the html code posted on the sidebar under the TT button.

Please, link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday, thus increasing visits for all participants.

Please, do not add your link below, until your tablescape post is actually published to your blog.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name in ALL CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

Fabric Key Chain

 

It’s time to face the facts, my darling daughter is finishing up Driver’s Ed and will be receiving her driver’s license in a few days  …..ouch…….   I know. 

I want to surprise her with something special and after running across this great tutorial on how to make a Fabric Key Chain from the Idea Room, I knew I had to make one! 

 {I did say one. Right?}



I knew I had enough scrap fabric and ribbon to make one, I just needed to find the hook.  I found this one at Hobby Lobby.



Using two different fabrics requires a different threat in the bobbin.  Notice black on the top and the lime green on  bottom.  

At the last minute I decided to add one more layer by glue on the pink poke~a~dot ribbon. {I used fabric tack glue} 

I love the way this fabric key chain turned out! 

And it was sooooo easy!!!!  I just want to make a 100 of them.  {if I only had the time}  I will definitely be making one for myself….. maybe one for fall,  one for Christmas, one for Valentine’s Day, one for Spring!??!?!?!?!  Just LOVE them. 

Did I mention how easy they were to make?  {it took longer for me to photograph, upload and edit, and to write this post!}

 

One last thing……

I had a few of readers had asked about the Camera Bag that my mother made my daughter



She purchased a pattern from an individual over at Etsy.  Click here to find the Camera Bag Pattern.  You can see more photos of the Camera Bag HERE.

All It Takes

{Is a GOOD Night’s SLEEP}

I spent the better part of last night trying to correct an error message that I kept getting in Photoshop CS5.  I tweaked, updated, scanned, and googled for hours without getting anywhere closer to a solution.  I put the computer in sleep mode and went to bed………

Woke up this morning, dragging my heels to the computer, and in less than 20 minutes had the problem solved and no more error message! Can I get a ….. Whoo Hooo!!!!!



Sunday night…….. I was blog hopping and saw a post over on the Idea Room about setting your camera in RAW format.  {okay I thought to myself….. why not at least try it for a few clicks of the camera in RAW}

Monday night……. Researched how to view and edit RAW files in Photoshop CS5. {okay.  seemed easy enough}

Tuesday night……  Clicked a few shots on my Canon 50D and tried to view and edit in CS5.  That’s when I kept getting this annoying ERROR message.  And I tried and tried and tried to correct this error with NO such LUCK.  That is until…….

Wednesday morning….. the heavens opened and the angels sang!!!! 

I always knew I was a morning person!  I really need to schedule all my major THINKIN’ projects for the mornings and leave the evening for mindless activities….. oh say ….. cleaning the toilets.

Hope everyone had a good night’s sleep,

Carrie

The Endearing Art of Silhouette

Hi Everyone! Hope your day was grand! Have you had a chance to visit the "Before and Afters" linked for this week's Met Monday? If not, scroll down to the post below and enjoy! I have to tell you, y'all make me feel lazy when I see all the wonderful and creative things you are doing in your home!


The Endearing Art of Silhouette:

Today, I thought I'd share a special moment in time...21 years ago. One morning I read in the newspaper (remember those?) that a renown silhouettist by the name of K. Housel Bogue, was coming to Macy's to cut silhouette portraits. She would only be here for a couple of days and appointments were booking fast.

I had previously had a silhouette of my son done by another artist and was disappointed when the final product didn't look anything like my sweet boy. So, in nervous anticipation, I drove to Macy's where Mrs. Bogue worked her magic. I was both thrilled and stunned...she beautifully captured my son's countenance and I would be forever grateful.




He was little...for a moment. And when I need to remember, I pause in my entry and look longingly at that sweet, sweet face.



Twenty-one years later, Mrs. Bogue is still working her magic. You can read about it HERE and can even arrange to have your own special someone's silhouette portrait cut. Apparently, she can even create a silhouette from a photograph. Silhouette cutting is almost a lost art and some fear it will disappear entirely one day due to the advent of computer generated images. I hope not because there's something very special about a hand-cut silhouette.

Holding On To Summer

It’s getting to the end of summer and everyone is looking forward to FALL!  I really love the fall season as much as the next person but I can’t seem to decorate for autumn season just yet.  Let me enjoy the last bit of summer to at least……..Labor Day.



With that being said…… here is a small summer beachy vignette.  The small black stones are ones you would use to decorate the bottom of a  fish aquarium.  I  also have orange stones!  Black  and  orange stones….. perfect for  fall spooky decorating!  {when the time comes}

Carrie

 

Beautiful Bath Renovation, Welcome to the 84th Metamorphosis Monday!

Hi Everyone! Hope you've been having a fantastic weekend. The rain finally let up here and we've had a gorgeous summer day. I love summer and will be so sad to see it go.

This week for Metamorphosis Monday, I'm sharing a bathroom renovation. It's not one of my baths...how I wish it was! Mary, who lives in the beautiful state of Virginia, sent some great "Before and After" pics of the changes she made recently in her guest bath.

BEFORE:

About her bathroom before the renovation, Mary said: "My before pictures do not show how the bathroom was decorated. I had been using green and brown, hiding the harvest gold shower tile. I never disliked harvest gold but the tile was cracked and starting to fall off.




Unfortunately, the previous homeowners had taken some shortcuts after a previous water leak and had failed to repair the subflooring properly. Mary said, "The floor was supposed to have been repaired 15 years ago, but never was."




"The previous owners had someone come in to repair the floors and all they did was lay another tile on top of the old tile! The old tile was prettier! The moisture in the wet subfloor was going up into the wall by the shower causing the tile to fall off!"


Mary, I feel your pain. It's not pleasant to find these kind of surprises when you start a renovation.



Let's take a look at how it looks now. :)


AFTER:

WOW! Gorgeous!



A little close-up of the beautiful wood cabinet and oiled bronze knobs.




Take a look at the shower, now. The harvest gold tiles that were falling off are now gone for good! Mary went with neutral colors knowing this would be a great benefit down the road for resale. I love using neutrals in kitchens and baths. You never tire of them and you can add in all the color you want with your fabrics, shower curtain, towels and accessories.




Some of the beautiful detail work/trim...




Mary chose towels and accessories in soft creams and aquas.




The shower curtain is a soft aqua color, too.




Mary was kind enough to share all her resources for her beautiful bath renovation:

Tile: American Olean "Avila Crema" 12 X 12 on floor and bath; floor is straight pattern; wall and shower in broken joint pattern
Grout: Mushroom
Tile Trim: American Olean "Alysse Blanc" 3 X 10 listello in tub and on top of wainscot
Tub and toilet are American Standard in "Linen"
Wall paint color: Benjamin Moore HC-81 Manchester Tan
Ceiling paint color: Benjamin Moore 624 Bath Salts
Counter top: Marblux Cultured Marble "Wheat"
Cabinet: Shiloh
Style: Asherville
Wood: Maple
Finish: Medium with Mocha Glaze
Pulls and Knobs: Amerock "Inspirations" finish: Weathered Nickel
Faucet: Price Pfister
Shower faucet and Shower head: Delta
Shower curtain purchased at Dillards
Towels both at Dillards and Target

Mary, thanks so much for sharing this wonderful metamorphosis! Now I'm itching to start my long overdue bath renovations!


Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

I'd love it if you would include the MM button in your post, to make it easy for others to find you MM post. To do that, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo on my sidebar.

Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the opportunity for visits for all who participate. I don't like having to delete links, I truly don't. But it isn't fair to the other participants who do link back, if I allow some to participate and not link back, showing they do not care if their fellow participants get visits or not. I hope you understand why I will have to delete your link if you do not link back to the MM party...just trying to make it fair for all who participate and maximize visits for all who participate.

Please do not add your link below, until your MM post is actually published to your blog. Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)