T V Rewind

Here is the spot next to the window by the entry hall. 

The Hoffman 1950s television came from B's Aunt Boodie 

The feed sack picture was bought at an antique store on Main Street. 

We got black "chair" at an auction and found a white and black enamelware pan to go underneath it at an antique store in Fredericksburg. 

Added a needlepoint rooster chair pad from an auction box lot. (Love box lots!) 

Finished off the chair with a patchwork pillow made bu S's great grandmother. 

Texas Vignette

The top of the chest of drawers in the master bedroom. 

This Indian painting was done by J's aunt Gail. 

Little buffalo statuette was inherited from J's parents. The five books on the bottom were gifts from various family members or flea market and garage sale finds.

Antique American Indian book has an inscription dated in the 1900s. It was a gift from S's mother.

Taxidermy Armadillo. Another inherited piece from J's parents.  We got the rock   / Grinding stone at an auction. 

Brass armadillo ashtray. Belonged to J's parents.  

S's cannon.

Vision from the Past

We helped a family member move and clean a relative's estate / home.  Our work was rewarded with this awesome vintage heirloom television.  J is looking into putting a flat screen tv behind the original screen so that it is usable! 

Behind Door # 1

MThe little 5 x 10 space that once was part of an oddly shaped bedroom was converted into a computer room / office about 15 years ago.  It has evolved into a craft room and storage for extra paper goods for the household.  

We got this little chalkboard as part of a set a couple of years ago at an auction.The  larger one goes with our old toys Christmas theme, and this finally one found a home!  

The doors are basic bifold doors but  the plain wooden knob just wouldn't do. Here's what you do with a random antique yard sale doorknob. 

Man of the House

Turned the manroom into an office.  New flooring, did some fishing decor, and hung one of the deer hides along the back of the desk

Happy Yall-idays

Faux fireplace in our Texas themed master bedroom... Decorated for the Christmas season.

Light It Up

Got this fabulous lamp at an auction for $50! 
We plan to put a leather-look shade on it instead of the copper star shade that came with it.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

While weeding this morning we discovered that we have a baby watermelon!

Pot-ential

We had this little “boy” painted black holding garden tools in his bucket.  It had never occurred to me before that the spiky hair at the top was not hair but a TIARA!  It just needed to be painted.  So everything got repainted and the shades got the additional touch of rhinestones in the corners to bling along with the silver tiara before I added the blond rope/twine hair.  A little flamingo sticker on the t-shirt and now we have a cute little “autobiographical: planter.  

April 2010 Focus: Guest Bath

The towels we got as a gift inspired us to go a bit of a different direction with this bath for now.  We had started collecting white and black enamelware and old barber / powder room / shaving stuff to make it primitivish but the towels had fisherman and fish on them.  Sooooooo, we went ahead and revamped the storage shelf into a "water closet" with a pull chain and brass pipe.  We moved the family heirloom tackle box from Landon's John Deere bath and put it on top of the water closet.  There is also a display of fishing flies.  We added a few fishing signs and got a new rug and stool/shelf.   On the stool/shelf we put an enamelware pan to hold magazines and an enamelware bedpan to hold the hand towels.  It's too funny!

By using the new towels, we can still use the navy blue shower curtain and keep the vanity top the same verdigris color for now.  We still have the Sears catalog page on display in here, though!  We'll try to get some more pics of the towels and enamelware on here soon.



 

Spring Break 2010 Mini-Focus: BBQ Patio

We took all the gray/black granite bricks (from the old Methodist Church that our neighbor recycled) - the ones that had lined the driveway in the front and had been part of the pond, and we created a little patio for Jesse's barbecue pit, smoker, etc.  He and the boys also retrieved a big slab of black and white granite that our neighbor had, and they put it on a metal tool cart/stand next to the new "patio" to make a cutting board/countertop  We enjoyed burgers and fajitas over Spring Break from this new outdoor kitchen! 

Nailed to the tree branches behind the grill is a sign made out of old barnwood that says "Grillin' Station"  with pegs for all of Jesse's barbecuing utensils.  We are also thinking about putting a smaller sign with it that says "Ribs Beans Gas."  :-)

February 2010 Focus: Dining Room

We spent the month of February focused on the dining room.  We put down vinyl flooring, added a punch of bright white with new baseboards and door/window casings, and new blinds like the ones in the master bedroom and bathroom.  Jesse added some tin doors to the jelly cabinet - it still needs to be "rusted" and have a design punched in it.  We are looking for a new curtain rod and we plan to add some greenery to the top of the hutch.  Next month we are going to work in the guest bathroom since we got new towels as a gift recently.

January 2010 Focus: Texas Bath

Here is the progress we made in our bathroom during the month of January 2010. Lots of old barnwood trim!  The mirror/shelf is barnwood, and Jesse made a little stepstool, corner table (to hide the catbox), trash can cover, and shelves out of it.  I love the little iron star details on the shelves - we got a box of stuff like it at an auction!  We decided to keep the door painted like an outhouse because it worked so well with the gray tones of the wood.  Also at the auction, we got a new towel bar for by the shower. I got creative with the rusty-iron textured spray paint and made a toilet brush holder out of one of Jesse's old boots!  Since I took these pictures we also got a longhorn topped paper towel holder that we are using for extra rolls of T.P.  and a new white blind and white Battenburg lace curtain to match the ones in the bedroom.  Oh... I added some fake bluebonnets to the flag toothbrush holder that is on the shelf under the mirror and we picked up a few towels that are red and look like they have blue bandana trim on them. Next month we are moving on to the dining room!

Chair-ies

Here is the sort-of slipcover that I made for the craft room chair. It is just a plain rolling office chair and I took some of the Mary Engelbreit fabric that I had left from the pink room before it was pink and made a simple cover. Kind of dim and grainy but you get the idea (camera phone, you know).

Rub a Dub Dub

The non-footed clawfoot bathtub we bought for 20 bucks at a yard sale. It has a Halloween theme right now.

Pretty in Pink

This is one of those finds that I wasn't expecting to find. After a severely disappointing trip to the flea market, we stopped at a thrift store to look around for a bit, and I found almost exactly the quilt I wanted for the pink room. I wanted a patchwork rag quilt, but I will settle for just patchwork. It is almost perfect. I also got the pink pillow case and the ivory lace pillow. The headboard is a piece of iron fencing that we got on our little summer getaway trip. It is hard to see with the lighting, but the curtain in the window is actually my wedding veil. On the wall to the left is Jesse's baby quilt. The pink and ivory water can on the floor beside the bed was the water can that my mother-in-law and her brothers used when they were picking cotton as kids.

I'm also posting a picture of the pink chair that we got at an indoor flea market a few months ago.... I still need to paint the wooden part with some off-white to age it, but it is a nice color upholstery.

The Big Screen

U.S. Fence & Yard at Lowe's: 32"W x 46"H Vinyl Utility Screen

We decided we needed some kind of screen at the corner of the house to conceal the dumpster and the recycling bin next to the driveway. Saw some similar screens to this at Home Depot, but I think I am going to look for one with this design because the shape of the top is similar to the curve of the address plate that we got. Probably will leave the spider lilies in front of it so there will be some bright green to coordinate with the house!

The JOHN, Deere

Sugar and Spice

The holiday decor went into the kitchen also, this year. I got some pine garland and a few silk poinsettias and put them above the cabinets. There were also a few sprigs of pine tucked here and there along with a poinsettia throw rug by the stove. I later added a couple of cookie cutters tied with bows to the walls. Then I saw the gingerbread men.... I think that next year this room will be poinsettias and gingerbread men. Each room seems to be getting one holiday plant and one holiday symbol theme...

Reindeere Games

I used what I had with reindeer on it and added some holly sprigs that I got at Walmart - and a holly rug. The John Deere bathroom was the Rein Deere bathroom for the holidays! Next year I plan to get some holly fabric and make some hand towels or else find some reindeer hand towels to hang on the towel ring next to the sink.