Scent to Me....Thank You!

I got a beautiful gift in the mail this week

- I was the lucky

winner of a giveaway.

I wish you had smell-o-vision because this candle is not only

 beautiful packaged in a glass jar but it also smells heavenly.  I want

to thank Kristy from Starfish Cottage.  If you have not been

to Kristy's blog - you really should go!  It's really lovely and

full of coastal decorating inspiration!

Here's just a sample:

I won this lovely candle from a giveaway hosted

by Jennifer @  The Old Painted Cottage blog. 

 If you click on the link I've provided here

(The Old Painted Cottage)

you will see Kristy's

cottage is the feature cottage for June 2012.

Thank you again Jennifer & Kristy!  I will enjoy!

Peggy

Belly Up to the Bar - In Style!

These bar stools were so solid that when Mr. Biff brought them home

I didn't even wince (not even a little) at the horrible mildew on the

seats.  I was sure we could do something with them. 

I first tried sanding - um, no....nothing.  I then tried a bleach based

powder cleanser and a scrub brush....um, still no.

I tried some peroxide.....yeah, ah, nothing.....so I did what every good

DIY'er would do - I pulled out the Zinser primer and primed the living

heck out of them. 

I wasn't satisfied with the thought of painted seats and I surely didn't

want to paint both chairs (I am not fond of painting chairs) so I

pulled out my staple gun, some burlap, some foam and some batting

and covered the seats.  The seats unscrewed easily and once covered

screwed right back on.

After a good wipe down, a little clear wax and a touch up here and

there with my trust brown and black Krink paint pens - voila!

These chairs were a test of our theory that we could purchase

something and quickly turn it around without a huge

investment in time and materials.....

I'll let you know once they sell if it was

a success or not!

Mr. Biff says "Belly Up" to the bar in style!

Playing with Photoshop

I don't have a smart phone so I can't do the fun stuff with Instagram

however I do have Adobe Photoshop and although it takes more work

I can do some funky stuff with it.  I took these flower photos recently

and decided to play with them last night in photoshop. 

This is really very vibrant yellow Scottish Broom but I thought

it looked kind of interesting in red....

A little piece of clover...

A daisy....he loves me, he loves me not....

This one above  I used the "water colour" feature on.....

A little bee on the blackberries....

And this one I left untouched - I just liked it better this way!

Ok - that's it - hope you enjoyed!

I have to get busy - it's "painting day"! 

 Happy Sunday!

Bright Shiny Things!

I had a great day today.  Just hanging out with Mr. Biff.  We ran a bunch

of errands and then, on the way home, stopped at our favourite recycle

depot/thrift store - "Skip City".  Today, for a measly 5 bucks - I hit a veritable

jackpot of mercury glass!  Check these out:

The blue reflection in the mercury glass is "me" in my

new blue sundress! Please ignore the doorknob - not exactly

a well-staged photo!

The apothecary jar is over 12" tall - it's gorgeous! 

Bonus - in the bottom of the apothecary jar!

There was a young girl looking at these two pieces but I mentally

willed her to put them down - which she did because as she said to her

mom "there's yucky stuff inside"!   So I admit, I did pick them up gingerly

only to discover that the "yucky stuff" was melted candle wax!

I also got this funky shirt I am going to use as a seat cover on a chair and a

huge chunk of this fabric, along with the vintage frame.....yes, all for FIVE

dollars.....can I get a "hell yeah!"

Mr. Biff brought home this lovely little chair the other day too.  I have the

perfect little desk/table to go with it.  They'll make a great set for a little

girl's or boy's room - depending on the colour I choose!

I've got a few other cool things to show you but I don't want to get you

over-excited so we will pace ourselves.......stay tuned!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

This is my 3rd week of posting "Wednesday's Words of Wisdom" and

I'll be honest - the words are seldom going to be mine but they will be

words that resonate with me and hopefully you too.

When things happen in your life or that of your friends - you naturally

seek to understand the reason.  Many of us take comfort in our faith and

are certain that there's a path or a plan for us.

I would wager that there's no one that has not heard and probably

shared with someone:  "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

 or "Adversity builds character".....I used to respond

to my Mom - "hey, I'm enough of a character - I don't need more!" 

 However those words hold truth.  I hope that you will

 add these lovely words to your collection to pull out and offer to

a friend or family member when times are tough:

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than

you believe, and stronger than you seem,

and smarter than you think.” 

Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh

Such simple words to impart Wednesday Wisdom!

Thrifty Finds and What About That Emily & Jef!

I will admit it - I am a hopeless romantic.  There, I said it.  I try each

season of the Bachelor or Bachelorette not to fall but each time I do! 

There's something about the show - frankly I find some things a little

wrong - however I am not judge and jury - simply a reluctant fan.

I had to watch the final episode!  Yeah, it's done - now my new mantra

will be "no more bachelor", "no more bachelor"..... check back with me

to see how I do...hahaha!

I did get a chance to drop by my favourite spot - Skip City as Mr. Biff

and I call it - it's our local recycling depot that also has a community shop.

I've noticed, of late, their prices are going up (like everything else) and

the thrill of finding something cool for next to nothing is waning.  Here's

what I got today:

 Sorry for the blurrrrrrrrrr....this little mirror will get a lovely

coat of white and be shabbied up.

 A cute little Ikea lamp - to paint and make pretty!

 Love these chunky shelf brackets - they are iron and already

shabbied up - I know just where I am going to use them!

And I love this little rustic tin - embossed with

"Heartful Garden"....love it!

I paid a total of $14 - I guess it's not bad but it's more than I thought it

would be (am I getting cheap?)

Hope you all had a great weekend and here's to romance!

Cheers to Emily & Jef!

YOU Are Welcome!

Marcie @ The Beach with the wind in her hair!

I am thrilled and humbled to welcome over 50 new followers

over the past week to my little blog!  I really hope you will enjoy

what I post - it is, and will, no doubt continue to be, a mixed bag

 of DIY, Decor and general ramblings!  I love to talk about

day-to-day stuff as well as my fabulous spouse aka Mr. Biff

and my lovely pooches Marcie and Bee. 

They do show up from time to time in photos (hee,hee).

Graphic from the Graphics Fairy

I love to hear from you so please leave me comments and please know

if you have a blog I am likely going to show up as a new follower at

"your place" soon!

Thank you again and welcome!

p.s. hurry - the big giveaway will be over soon!

Christmas in July - go check it out @

Happy Hour Projects - I'm a Sponsor!

Trundle Beds and Mad Cows

Mr. Biff and I always have a good time - even when, believe it or not,

I am being a little crabby (menopause is not for wimps!)  Anyway, yesterday

we got this great little day bed with a trundle bed (bonus!) on Craigslist

for my craft room.  Mr. Biff was great - he helped the guy we

bought it from take it all apart and stuff it piece by piece into

our smallish truck.  It all fit with some finessing.

When we got it home last night we discovered we'd left behind the bolts and

the knobs for the top of the bed.  It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been

20+ kilometres (about 10 miles) away! 

For whatever reason (do I really need

one other than being menopausal?) I was cranky tonight when Mr. Biff picked

me up from work.  We headed out to pick up the missing pieces.

We had planned on stopping for a quick dinner somewhere on the way home.

To reward Mr. Biff's fabulous tolerance of my less than stellar behaviour I caved

and we went to Rotten Ronnies McDonald's.  Here's how the drive thru

conversation went:

He:  What are you going to have?

Me:  Yuck, I don't know

He:  I'm having the Angus burger

Me:  I don't like anything here!  Just get me a big mac

- did you know it's been 30 years (seriously!)since I've eaten a big mac??

He:  well there's probably a reason for that

(we ordered and are now driving up to the pick up window)

He:  I always order an Angus burger - no risk of mad cow disease

Me:  What?  Mad cow disease?

He:  Yeah, I think you can get it from eating burgers ....

Me:  What?  Then more calmly:  I guess it doesn't matter

since I clearly am already infected.....

He:  laughing his head off

Me:  are you calling me a mad cow?

He:  I didn't say a word.......

Good thing we love each other!  Now tomorrow - I am going to put

the bed parts together and get started on my craft room (formerly guest

room makeover!)

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Last week ~here~ I talked about how my Mom and Nan had

so many great quotes and sayings.  I absolutely love provacative

quotes that challenge you to think or see things differently.

I want to share a quote (or two) each week and invite you

(nay, I beseech you .... weird -  I channeled Shakespeare there

for a moment!) to share you favourites in the comments.

Here's this week's words of wisdom in support of all

you bloggers who wonder should I blog or not:

Source:  http://dolphinee.skynetblogs.be/

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.

How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the

moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood

is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over

his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop."

  ~Vita Sackville-West

Christmas in July Giveaway - over $600!

I am thrilled to be one of the sponsors of

 a giveaway on Happy Hour Project's

Christmas in July.  Adrianne has set up an

amazing array of great giveaway

packages - you just have to go and see

them to believe them!

I would love for one of my followers to win something!

Click  ~HERE~  to go on over to enter.  Please tell

Adrianne that I sent you!

There are many, many sponsors!

Whatcha waitin' for?  Go!

Working on a Sunday

Sometimes - even though I work Monday to Friday - there's

more work than I can get done in a regular week and so I go to

the office on a Sunday.  One of the things I love about doing that

is:  NO phone calls and NO interuptions!

I reckon (reckon? watching too many episodes of Duck Dynasty I reckon)

I can get more work done on a Sunday at the office than

I can in a couple of regular week days.....

The only downside - no Sunday in jammies hanging out with the

dogs - and getting house projects done. 

I think I might need a maid....

Hope you had a good weekend,

p.s. I think my dust bunnies killed the cleaning fairy!

All About Chalkboards

I have a pin board on Pinterest dedicated to chalkboards - I love 'em!

You can check it out here.

I have followed the trend willingly and have a great little silver tray

chalkboard on my kitchen counter that I like to write inspirational messages

on for Mr. Biff (and me!)

Here's what I started with:

You have to carefully tape off the outer rim - it's a bit time-consuming

but worth it for the result:

Don't forget to "season" your chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over it!

Once you start making chalkboards I promise you - it will be hard (maybe

impossible!...hee,hee) to stop!

Here another one I've recently done:

This was a mirror that I got at a thrift store for $6 bucks.  It

was gold and it's HEAVY!  I spray painted chalkboard paint

right over the mirror....BUT....I've since learned - turn the mirror

around in the frame, paint the back of it with chalkboard paint

and when are bored with your chalkboard - turn the mirror

back around....easy, peasy-lemon squeezy!

I painted this one white originally - didn't like it so added gray,

didn't like it so dry brushed it again with white and for now,

I think I like it ok!

It offers a great place to write up my menu or offer welcome

or thanks in our dining room.

I've done about a half a dozen more - I will share them

in the coming weeks!