I was a winner!

A few weeks ago,  Sherri Mitchell emailed me to let me know that I was the winner of her giveaway!  Yay me!  I knew that it was going to be a great giveaway when I entered, but I didn't realize it was going to be THIS GOOD!  Thank you Sherri!  You can find her awesome blog here http://sherrimitchell.blogspot.com/ if your not already a follower please check her out, you will  love her blog as much as I do.  Here is my treasure box!

Love, love, love it all!

These are cool!  Super simple yet brilliant! Flowers torn from paper, aged and a button in the center.

One of my favorite things in the box, an old prescription-I think I'm going to frame it and put it in my bathroom.

                                     


                                     

 Beautiful tags

I used the twine that was in the treasure box and criss crossed it on the back of this frame.  I added some of the really cool tags, a piece of lace and a paper flower to it.  Its just what this little frame needed!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Josie

Family Portrait...

This is my youngest daughter Gabi and my son Gus, they are basically the most  photogenic people in  my home.  I'm not a huge fan of going to a place of  business and taking family portraits.  What I do prefer is taking my own pictures and developing them on my own, almost always transforming them to black and white photos.  We haven't taken a family portrait in many many years.  I have prepared my family (yes, I heard a lot of moans and groans and whining) to take pictures this weekend.  Whether they want to stand beside each other or not for 15 minutes is not my problem, no excuses, no absentees.... nothing...Its going to happen, or I'm going to be one cranky lady!

I need some ideas!  Other then the beach (although beach pics are always the prettiest, I live 1 1/2 hours away) and I'm going to be lucky to get everyone in one picture, I am not going to press my luck with a long car drive. Do you have any pretty spots that you can suggest that would serve as a pretty background?

Once again, thanks for all of your help!

A small glimpse of my past and my frogs....

When I was a little girl about 10 years old somewhere around 1986, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents home.  We lived a block away from them which meant that I was there everyday for at least lunch and dinner.  My grandma had a cute backyard space with a garden, a brick pathway lined with hanging impatiens of all colors.  I remember spending most of my time back there just me, my grandparents dogs, and my barbies.  My grandma had cement figurines scattered throughout the garden.  Different types of garden gnomes, fairy's, turtles and frogs.  I played with these statues and they were make believe friends, neighbors and pets for my barbies.

Fast forward to 1991...My grandma Beverly passed away from colon cancer.  I was 15 years old and pregnant with my first daughter.  I was shielded immensely from her sickness and death.  My grandmas items were dispersed through out the family and everyone seemed to pick up and move on.  My grandpa trucked on through trying to make the best out of the situation.  We all missed my grandma and we all knew that nothing would ever be the same in our family.

Moving to 2009....My grandpa Denny was a very stubborn man.  He lived on his own with tons of help from all of us as a family.  My mom took daily drives to his home at least every day if not twice.  When she couldn't, I did.  I love my grandpa more then words can express.  Sadly in 2009 my grandpa passed away.  I think of him everyday and miss everything about him.  I will never, ever meet or know anyone as special as him again.

Last year 2011....In passing I had mentioned to my mom that I wish that we still had my grandmas frogs with the umbrella that she kept in her backyard.  Those frogs were my friends when I was little, and most importantly they had once belonged to my grandma.  I knew even then that my grandma loved her garden, so she must have loved those frogs, which also meant that my grandpa the king of the house loved my grandma that loved her garden and the frogs!

August 5, 2011....My birthday....My mom called me to tell me that she had something special made for me for my birthday.  To my surprise here is what she brought home to me:

MY GRANDMAS FROGS!  After lots and lots of happy tears, she explained to me that she went to person that made fountains and started to describe the frogs and the umbrella.  The guy knew what she was talking about because they STILL have the mold!!  Who would have guessed!  So even though this is not the actual frog that belonged to my grandma, it is exactly like it!  Exactly like it!  Thanks Mom!

Now......does anyone out there have some barbies that I can borrow?

Thanks for stopping by, I know it was a long post.
Josie

Some "new" things around my house....

I'm looking sooo forward to tomorrow.  You see tomorrow is Saturday, and we all know what happens on Saturdays......... You guessed it!

Yard Sales and Estate Sales!!!!!  I have been on the hunt for dinning room chairs for a while now.  The last couple of weeks  I haven't been able to find what I want but I have been finding other treasures :)

A vintage tool box that I will be the home for these flowers.

A crate that is hanging on my front porch.

I found this drawer in my dinning room hutch.  This is the silverware drawer that is part of the hutch.  I painted the sides while leaving the face of it natural.  The backing was a salmon color velvet, so I just slid a see through patterned scrap booking paper to sit up against it.  I hung it in my master bathroom and added some treasures that I had on my bathroom counter.

And lastly,  I found this bread box at our local Salvation Army.  I have been looking for one of these for a very long time.  Guess what, on Fridays this particular store has a half off sale so I got this baby for $3.50!  I cleaned it up, painted it and distressed it.  It is going to look perfect in my newly painted kitchen.

Thanks for coming by,
Josie

Only in California!

Literally last weekend felt like Spring.  The weather was in the high 70's, with the warm sun beaming down on every single leaf or flower in my back yard herb garden.  Wooo hooo, home projects begin!!!

Then today happens!  I just found out that the weather will be bad this weekend.  Rain like crazy!  Geeeezzzz, the kitchen will look a mess for at least another week!  Don't get me wrong, I love the rain, but not when it interferes with my plans.

Look Mr. Weather....either keep it raining so that I can forget about my home improvements and curl up in bed with hot chocolate and a book OR stay warm and sunshiny so that I can finish my projects!  Im not playing around anymore! :)

How cute is she!

It never fails....I usually work on small projects in my living room.  Which means I am usually on the floor.  It never fails that Ginger finds a cozy spot right smack in the middle of whatever I am doing, and there is nothing I can do about it other then take a break because moving a fat Basset Hound is definitely out of the question!

Here she is doing what she does best!  I was in the middle of making my own chicken wire cloche.  I haven't been lucky enough to find glass ones that don't cost an arm and a leg so like many others I decided to improvise.

I had this metal cake stand for a few years, I repainted it and formed a cloche out of chicken wire.  I quickly spray painted the chicken wire and added a simple black bow.  I also had this cute bird that I sat in it. 

 On another note......my house is a mess!  My kitchen is under construction as I am re-painting my cabinets and adding a super cute chalk board to the side of one.  And within the next couple of weeks I will be ripping out my downstairs carpet and installing laminate wood flooring.  I can't wait!  Meanwhile, I have to adjust to not having things in the spots that I want them in.  My sister came over tonight and said that "my kitchen looks sad" :(   I asked her "are you sure that my kitchen doesn't look  like  it is under construction?"  She answered "nope, just terribly sad".  I will post before and after pics later.....way later :)

Bye, 

Josie

I see signs everywhere!

I didn't realize all of the different signs that I have in my home until the other day.  Every time I shop the one thing that always draws my attention are signs.  Although I prefer wood signs, I love them all :)

What about you?  Do you seem to have a collection of signs as well?

Remember this little table?

Remember this little table?

Well like always, I couldn't keep my hands off of it.

While painting it, I thought that I would regret it.  But now that it is done...... I don't.   I kept flip flopping back and fourth on whether or not to paint it.  After long consideration, I went for it. Next month we will be installing laminate wood flooring in my home and I thought it would probably blend in a little to much.

I also changed over a ceiling fan in my dinning room.  I chose to go with this 70's wicker light fixture.  It was brown, of course I painted it Ivory.

I found this gorgeous fabric in L.A. and asked my friend to make curtains for me.

She did great job.  Now our neighbors in the 2-story home next to us, cant peak in while climbing their stairs during our dinner time.

I also painted another gold, very goddy picture frame that was given to me.  I hung it above my front door and added a "love" sign in the center.  This window above my door peaking on the lower half of the picture will also get a curtain.

Thanks for coming by.
Josie

Pet Love!

If you haven't noticed yet, we LOVE our pets!  Within the first week that we welcome in our new friend we take pictures of them.  I only do black and white pics so I go to our local Rite Aid and convert them. We then frame them and ink up their adorable paws and press them on scrapbook paper.  These framed pics/paw prints are hung in the kids game room.  This is our official "welcome home" initiation :)

What do you thing?  Is this something that you can see your family doing?  This sort of thing would also be a really cool gift for the animal lover in your life.

Until next time!

More Finds!

Hi Everyone....

Just a short post to show you what "new" things I bought this weekend :)  While my hallway/laundry room was being worked on due to the terrible water leak we had, somehow the ceiling light fixture got broke :(  I haven't been in a big rush to replace it because I wanted to find something special.  On Friday I found it!  I found a 50's light fixture on craigslist for $20!

Blown glass with heart shapes.

Beautiful detail!  I love it!

This really pretty bowl for $3.

It looks cute in my dinning room hutch.

And this little side table for $5.  At first I thought I would paint it then distress it, but now I'm not sure.....I  kind of like the wood.

And an overview picture....never mind the dog fight that was occurring the same time.  Soon after this shot, I was literally taken down.  Those silly dogs sleep in the sun and rest  peacefully when they are outside, and when they are inside they horse around worse then my kids do!

Have a great day!

A little bit of this and that....

Hi Everyone!  Thought I would share a few things that I have been meaning to post.  I also have a hidden agenda for tonights post....I need your opinion on something.....But first off here are a couple of yard sale finds:

These really cool jars, I got four of them for $1.75

I tied twine around them and added a tea light candle and hung them in my back yard.

Bottles in a perfect brown glass one of which reads "Purex" and another that reads "Clorox".  A perfect addition to my downstairs bathroom.  All for $5!

Another jar filled with rusty goodies for $1.

A 7-UP Crate that I turned upside down and put a wired lantern on top, on my porch.  I'm not to happy with it here, I'm sure I will move it somewhere else when I find a better spot.  I got this for $4.

I have had this awesome vintage window.  I have it hanging in my hall/laundry room.  I bought this from the Rose Bowl Flea Market last year.

The blog world is full of pallet love!  I made this piece over the past weekend.  I found two very light pallets at work (my co-workers think I'm nuts) and dis-assembled planks from one pallet and added them to the other.  I roughed painted it white and hung it on my wall.  I added a "love" sign and a 3 dimensional star.  It made this space comfortable and welcoming.  I love it.  NOW....FOR YOUR HELP:

This is the wall that everyone sees on the way up and down my stair case.  I have started a collage of old and current black and white photos.  I like the randomness and the uneven spaces between each picture (my house is full of imperfections and that sort of makes it feel like home..) I sort of just add as I get a new picture.  Heres my problem,  towards the top is a light fixture, this ugly fixture came with the house when we bought it 3 years ago.  It was brass, I painted it black.  I never removed it or replaced it because it is odd shaped and I didn't have the paint color that the house was painted with to touch up.

Fast forward to today.  We had a leak in a major pipe in my laundry room and drywall was cut out.  This leaves me with....I MUST GET THE PAINT MATCHED....so if I must get the paint color for the laundry room, then I can take down the fixture, paint under it and add another.  YES!

What type of light fixture should I put in its place?  I would love something vintage rather then new.... I also need to keep the fixture there because it is our source of light to get down the stairs at 3am.

Any ideas?

Please help....

I'm desperate, I don't have any ideas whatsoever!

Thank You so much.....your the best!

Josie