More Rusty and Dusty Treasures

Last Saturday I went to an indoor sale and found some great things that I blogged about HERE. 

 

I was thrilled when the guy said he'd be open again on Sunday.  (most places are not open on Sundays here)  I thought about a few things I'd seen on Saturday and was so happy to find them still available.  I must say, his prices were much better the second day!  :)

 

 

My favorite find was this old ice cream bucket.  I love the color, love that it has some writing on it and love the metal pieces on it.  It came with all of the heavy ice cream making stuff, but I plan to use it differently. 

 

A couple of years ago, my friend Heather and I were out shopping.  We found this fabulous birdhouse.  We hemmed and hawwed about it for quite awhile, but I was getting on a plane to go home and couldn't figure out how to get it home very easily and she wasn't sure if she was ready to make that investment.  Well, not long after, Heather's husband surprised her with the very same birdhouse to put in her GORGEOUS garden!  It looks amazing and I love that we were together when we found it the first time! 

 

 

So now my husband can work his magic on it and we will have a similar one in our yard.

 

 

 

 

I found this set of numbers in a cast iron holder.  I am excited to get them heated up and make some fun projects with them.

 

I find tons and tons of canning jars at garage sales here, but not blue ones with zinc lids.  Score!

I'll be sure to post when the birdhouse is done and if I find a fun project to burn some numbers into some wood!

 

Thanks for your visit!

Pam


I am linking to the following parties:

 

How to Warm up Your Home

The first day of spring is getting closer every day – it's the 20th March for anyone who isn't aware – but for now the weather in the UK is fickle, and largely chilly.

If you don't have the luxury of double-glazing, roof insulation, and central heating in every room, you might be finding the inside of your home isn't really a whole lot warmer than the outside at the moment.

Sure, four walls prevent wind, rain, and snow from getting at you, but having to wear several layers in front of the TV to avoid losing toes to frostbite can stop you from being comfortable during the colder months.

So, what to do? Well, if your heating isn't brilliant, the best way of retaining warmth in your home is to stop the cold from getting in and prevent what little heat you have from getting out. Furthermore, you shouldn't underestimate the power that making a room seem warmer can have.

Your three main weapons against the cold – draft excluders, cosy cushions, and sofa throws.

A jolly sausage dog draft excluder, for example, can stop drafts from sneaking in under your doors, and a union jack cushion could really brighten up the place. Not feeling patriotic? How about a stripe cushion? Pick whatever you like – just make it colourful!

There are a variety of places you could go to locate these items – but to find them all in one place, visit Pure Home Designs. If you're feeling extra fancy, you can even buy a fragrance lamp from this place – they've got it all!

The Best Green Ideas for Each Family Member

When you make the decision to move onto a more environmentally friendly way of living you might wonder what green ideas are right for your family.

By taking some time to think about each one of them you can work out what would suit them perfectly and help the planet at the same time.

Keep the Grandparents Warm

Keeping warm in the winter months is vitally important for the older generation and there are some green ways of doing this. For a start, you could check whether anything they need to use more in the cold months is out of date and needing upgraded. Better heating systems and a new energy efficient boiler are great investments and will help them use their energy more efficiently. You could also have a look at their current level of loft and cavity wall insulation as well as see whether their windows and doors are currently letting too much hot air escape and too much cold air enter. 

These changes needn’t be too expensive as companies like Help-Linkcan provide help with financing such projects.

Get the Kids out Cycling

The younger members of your family can also contribute to your family’s green approach to life. For example, if you often take them to school or to their out of school activities in the car then perhaps they can cycle there instead now. Of course, if you want to go with them and make sure that they stay safe on the journey then you will need to get a bicycle for yourself as well.  Being more active and avoiding the car as much as possible can become a way of life which you all get to enjoy. This can lead to greener holidays and all sorts of other plans. In fact, getting the kids involved in your more environmentally aware lifestyle is one of the best ways of getting more fresh ideas which you can all carry out.

Even the Babies Can Join In

If you have a little baby then you might think that there is no way of getting them to join in on your family’s green life. This isn’t true at all. One great start is to use washable cloth nappies over disposable ones. During the first few years of their lives babies go through an incredible number of nappies and they are products which take a long time to decompose. In fact, it has been suggested that it can take up to 500 years (that’s right; 5 centuries) for a nappy to decompose. A reasonable figure for the number of nappies a baby uses in their early years is around 6,000, so you have every reason to look at cloth nappies for both environmental and financial reasons. Other ideas to help your baby get a green start in life include avoiding jars of food, breast feeding and sticking to organic clothing.    

Where I've Been...

I'm one of those people who never wants to come home from vacation.  For someone who loves being home so much, I still have trouble fathoming wanting to come home from any vacation that's under at least a month.  (And we never get away for a whole month so maybe if we did, I'd still want more.)  

{I'm proud of my little guys for carrying all of their own things through the airport and everywhere- Christian (5) and Justin (3)...  Justin got slower at the end but we got no complaints!}

We spent the past week in the Keys (Islamorada) and just had the most relaxing time. My goal (and Dave's too!) on this trip was to try to "get bored."  It didn't happen though.  I've realized I just don't think I'm capable of boredom any more.  When I was a little girl, my grandmother never let me say the word "bored."  She believed (and I now agree) there's always something that could be done and that there's no excuse for being bored.  She'd say, "Don't say that word!"

{We stayed here- The Cheeca Lodge and I've never loved a hotel/resort so much!!}

I flipped over the shower... (below)   Do you see that the back wall is a sliding glass door?  You could open it up to the private balcony for showers.

Heaven.

And on the private balcony was this tub:

The water for the tub came from the ceiling in a really strong (hose-like) stream (not ike a shower head but a totally solid stream of water)... It was insane & so beautiful.  I  loved looking out at the tropical foliage.  The curtains could zip close if you needed privacy.  We used the tub when Justin got stung by a man-of-war and the poor guy had to soak in scalding water to release the poison.  I felt bad that he had to endure the hot water so I did it too and I kept saying, "We're going to to this together. Mommy's here." and he finally said "Mama, why do you keep saying that??"

There was lots of quality family time, which we so needed... Our house and life are so full all of the time, so it was really important for us to be able to just focus on spending time with each other.

We lazed around the beach and the boys really bonded...

We basically just wandered around with each other, ate a TON, read, swam and relaxed:

I loved the tea stand Cheeca set out every morning....

We had some windy days and I loved being in sweats on the beach with my tea & my man:

The baby (Luke, also known as "Louie" or "Lulu") pretty much stuffed his face with crackers the entire trip:

{His favorite toy is a wooden chicken drumstick...  I don't get it}

I loved getting to be with my family 24/7 for a full week.

 We felt like were alone most of the time which was what we wanted more than anything...  We had a spot on the beach or lagoon to ourselves on most days because the resort is so spread out.

We explored the tiki torch-lit nature trails at night & I loved how they made these palm trees grow:

We enjoyed drinks & dinner under the tiki bar & I loved the lanterns:

Something for everyone:

I'm home feeling ready to rock and get moving on a bunch of exciting projects.  (And I CANNOT WAIT to go back one day!!)

I'll be back later this week to tell you about an amazing project we're working on in Florida!!  I'm so excited!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Winter Garage Sale Scores

Generally there aren't a lot of garage sales here in the winter, and especially this year with so much snow, but yesterday I went to an indoor sale that was great!

The place was PACKED with stuff.  I had to walk through several times just to feel like I wasn't missing a ton of stuff.

I found this old can (I'm not sure if it was originally a milk can,  or maybe can for fireplace ashes?) I cleaned it up for a place right next to the fireplace.  It's very heavy and the lid fits really tight.

This old jar got a cleaning and a 'new' zinc lid.  I filled it with wine corks.  Apparently we're going to have to pick up the wine consumption to get this baby filled!  After a couple of other wine cork projects, our stash is lame.  :)

I love old coffee cans.  And they cleaned up nicely.

This wooden box was filled with gunk.  I cleaned it like crazy and even sanded out the inside.  I now feel like I can use it in the house.  I love old advertising boxes.

Here's all of the loot.  I am also excited about the two galvanized buckets that I will use outside this summer. 

I even went back today and got more stuff.  I'll share those finds later this week.  Oh how I love rusty, dusty treasure hunting! 

Thanks for your visit!

Pam

I am linking to the following parties:

HotPrice Competition

The online fireplace retailer, HotPrice is offering you the chance to win a FREE MULTI-FUEL STOVE. Boasting 5kW heat output, this stunning stove will make a great feature in any home. The model up for grabs is DEFRA approved, meaning even homes in smokeless areas are able to burn wood.

This great prize, worth over £600, also includes a one metre length of stove pipe, steel register plate, fire cement and a heat resistant glove.

 

To enter, all you have to do is ’like’ the HotPrice Facebook page and share the photo of the beautiful wood burning stove on your wall, it's that easy! 

You’ll find it all at www.facebook.com/HotPrice. The winner will be drawn at random on 1^st of March, 2013. Good luck!

Home Goods and Pier 1 Happy

I love shopping at Home Goods and Pier 1.  Last week I was in Home Goods and found this pretty wreath.  I love the springy look of it.

 

I also found this great big blue vase.  I love the color, love the size and the texture of the jute around the top.

I like that these items add a little interest to the corner behind the couch.

 

 

 

I love these carrots that I found at Pier 1. 

 

Here is a picture of our back patio from this morning.  I'm thinking that a backyard party is out of the question for a bit...

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your visit!  For those of you able to garden right now, I am officially jealous! 

 

Pam

 

 

I am linking to the following parties: