New Game Room Shelf Using English Brackets

 

 

 

 

A few months ago I received these beautiful Cast Iron Shelf Brackets from English Brackets to review.  I was thrilled to receive them as they are gorgeous and so unique!  The company makes brackets in Iron, Brass, Chrome and Wood.  They offer hundreds of choices!

 

Here are the details about the Cast Iron brackets that I received:

 

Each bracket is manufactured from 100% Solid Cast Iron

We use age old tools, patterns and techniques, to ensure each bracket is brought to life with stunning attention to detail

Our brackets are suitable for use with shelves, cisterns, sinks and also to decorate roof supports and frames.

Each bracket is supplied in a traditional cast iron finish with a polished lacquer applied to the surface.

Maintenance is minimal and we recommend avoiding the use of cleaning chemicals and polishes.

 

Check out their website for a multitude of choices. English Brackets

 

 

Here's what I received--They are the Winchester Small Iron Brackets. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hung  them this weekend in our Game Room. They were easy to install, came with all of the necessary hardware and look so nice on the wall! I haven't seen brackets this pretty before!

 

 

 

We added this shelf made by Rubbermaid that we purchased at Home Depot.  It fit perfectly!

 

 

 

We were able to put some pretty heavy things on it.  The apothecary jar and scale each weigh quite a bit.  The shelf holds all of this with no problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love the way the new shelf brings some interest to what was a boring corner of this kitchen.

 

 

 

English Brackets has an easy to use website, great customer service and ships quickly.  I  highly recommend this product and company.

 

Thanks for your visit.

 

Pam

Game Room Updates and Another Scale Redo!

We love our Game Room and the kitchen attached to it.  We have been working on it since we moved in to get it decorated in our style.

My Dad gave us this old Coke machine years ago.  I found this Maid of Honor washtub at a garage sale last summer.  I may leave it here, or may take it outside this summer and fill it with flowers.  I do love the chipped paint and rust (which won't last if it goes outside)...

We decided to change out the glass shades on the pendants.  The old ones were very nice, but way too modern for our taste.  We like how these look.

Here is my husband's latest refurbishment.  It took him weeks to take the hundreds and hundreds of parts apart, paint, have some parts re-brassed and then put everything back together.  As he says with every scale he takes apart, he doesn't think he'll ever get it back together again, but he always does.  :)  We have the glass on order for the base.  Once that comes in, it'll be complete.

Here was the 'before'



And here is the 'during'

  

I love this bottle capper. We found it this fall at Barb's store Treasures From the Heart in Eugene, Oregon. It got a new coat of paint and an old box of bottle caps from ebay and now we're set. Now we need some bottles to cap!



 Thank you so much for your visit and kind comments!

Pam


I am linking to the following parties:

Show & Tell at My Romantic Home
Jennifer Rizzo's Fabulously Creative Friday Party

I'm back...

I've been having trouble coming back to blogging after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School...   I'll be honest that every time I try to write something, I can't because the things I write about here are mostly frivolous & pretty inconsequential, and it seems ridiculous to be writing about those things like everything's okay when it isn't.

I know so many of us feel this way and that the pain won't ever fully go away for most of us...  And that's okay because it means we love and we care.

There are times when I look at my profession- decorating houses- and feel like what I'm doing is crazy when there are so many more important, life-changing things that need to be done.  There's been a stirring in me for a while now to use it to help others more.  I don't think there's any greater pain than losing someone you love and I know I want to somehow try to ease this pain for others.  Dave & I have been doing a lot of talking about it over the past few months & have some ideas cooking...

I've also heard that the students at Sandy Hook will be returning to school in a new building after the new year & that they are trying to turn the new school into a "winter wonderland" by filling it with thousands of paper snowflakes.  You &/or your kids can make snowflakes & send them to the PTA for them to hang.  Here's the write-up I read: "When school resumes for Sandy Hook, it will be in a new building. Parent-volunteers are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland with the entire school decorated with as many unique snowflakes as possible. We encourage senders to be as creative as possible, remembering that no two snowflakes are alike. Please make and send snowflakes by January 12, 2013." 

{image via here}

Please send all snowflakes and donations to:  
Connecticut PTSA 
60 Connolly Parkway 
Building 12, Suite 103 
Hamden, CT 06514

It's a simple project that can hopefully make some of the kids feel a little less frightened when they go back to school...

So...  I probably won't be talking about it much & I'll continue to write about the frivolous little things in life, but it will always be with me...  I won't ever stop praying for & thinking about all of the families in pain and I'll always worry a little more about my own babies.

{Our Christmas Eve snowfall}

I hope you had a happy holiday & this year, Christmas was really special for our family...  I'll be back after the New Year & am taking the time with my family & trying to savor every minute of it- and also to keep my eye from twitching when I look around at the mess that is my house.   ;) 

{My littlest one- Luke or "Louie" as we call him-sorry kid!!;)-  all tuckered out from the Christmas excitement}

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my blog {and for not emailing me about the constant typos that I know are present ;)  and for coming along for the ride.   I truly value your time & your encouragement.  My very best to you & yours.

Heating your home this Christmas

Saving money and Christmas are two things which don’t come hand in hand. Christmas tends to be a time of extravagance, festivities and fun. However, if you’ve got your heating the whole time, you’re likely to be spending an absolute fortune on keeping your house warm. Whilst I’m not suggesting for one minute that you should be extravagant, and you should have fun this Christmas, I’m all for saving some money to make the following Christmases even more memorable. Not only does a fireplace bring warmth, but it also brings people together, which is especially important over this festive period.

Just think of all of the money you could save by simply turning off your heating, and instead, heating your home with a beautiful fireplace. By making this simple change, you could spend more of your hard earned cash on the people you love, and making their dreams come true with the perfect Christmas present. Not only will your fireplace keep your home warm this Christmas, but it will also keep you warm throughout the rest of this winter, but also for future winters, and future Christmases.

When buying a fireplace, its important to choose one which fits the style of your home. The guys at Burning Inspirations boast a vast range of stylish fireplaces at their showroom, all of which can be supplied and installed in no time at all. Invest in a traditional fireplace, and save some money this Christmas.

Fat Tire Sign on "Aged" Wood



This summer when we were on vacation, we found this free poster in a store.  We loved the look of it and wanted to make something fun for the Game Room.



 

I started by finding new, beat up fence boards from Lowes. My husband glued them together.

 

 

 

 

I then applied my trusty apple cider vinegar and steel wool trick to 'age' the boards.   It's so easy.  Just let the pieces of steel wool soak in the apple cider vinegar either for a few minutes or even overnight, then wipe the vinegar on the boards.  These looked 'aged' in two coats!

 

After one coat...

After the second coat. (about an hour after starting)

At the ends, where the cuts were made, I used a drywall knife and made the edges look torn up. I then dabbed on more of the apple cider vinegar to age those cuts.

We used a spray adhesive to get the poster to stick to the boards.

A simple hanger on the back and free art was ready for the wall!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Thanks for your visit!

 

Pam


I am linking to the following parties:

Creative Cain Cabin's Budget Decorating Party



Heartbroken

 

 

I don't really have words for Friday.  I don't think many do.   

 

We've been holding our babies especially close and my heart truly breaks for the parents who can't. 

 

 I feel immense pride in the heroic teachers & administrators who died to protect the children, and it hurts so badly that these all of these beautiful lives are gone.     

 

Please take care of you & yours.

~Lauren 

image via here.

An Oldtime Pinball Machine for the Game Room

We love hanging out in our basement family room/ game room.  We collect vintage games such as Pachinko and some old ball shooter games.  Today as I was on our local 'Craigslist-like' online marketplace, I saw an ad for an old pinball machine.  I do a lot of garage-saling and looking online and have not seen one like this before.  I thought it would look great in the game room.  Of course, it was crazy-worry time for me as we had to drive home 30 miles with it in the back of the truck.  Luckily it made it and my worst "old pinball machine strewn all over the freeway" fears didn't come to pass.  :)

I absolutely love the graphics painted on the sides of it.  We think it is a pretty old one based on the birds' eye maple wood on the edges and legs. 

 

 

 

My very handy husband will be digging into it soon and hopefully get it working perfectly again.  In the meantime, I'm just excited to have it!

 

Thanks for your visit!

 

Pam

With the rest of the world, my thoughts and prayers are with Newtown, CT.



I am linking to the following parties: