Using a Garden Gate as Art

Hello everyone!

And..........Happy Halloween!  Are you all ready for the trick or treaters tonight? I will be, just as soon as I run to the store. Can you believe that I am just now buying candy?!  I have never waited this late to buy it, but must say that I'm glad it wasn't in the house all month tempting me. 

We are finally starting to get some Fall color around here.  These are some trees  behind our house.

Recently, I did a little shopping at an antique store near my house and came across something that I never expected.  I found an old painted garden gate leaning up against the wall and decided it might look good somewhere in my home.  I brought it home and propped it above my fireplace mantel where it has been ever since.  

I fell in love with the old chippy paint and rusty wire.  It even has old hardware on it.

The wood isn't in perfect condition but that is another thing I like about it.  

I love that it looks like it came from an old farm or something.

If it had been any bigger I wouldn't have been able to use it above my mantel.  It's a great statement piece for the room yet flows with the rest of the space.

I took this picture at night, but it gives you more perspective of how it looks in the room from further away.  

The mirror, that was over the mantel, is now in another room.  I will share that with you another day.

Now, it's time to get busy carving the pumpkins!

Hope you have a great Halloween today.

~ Kelly ~

Creative Halloween Costume Ideas

Hello everyone!

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to share some creative Halloween costumes that I came across.  Some of you may still be tweaking your own costume for a party or for your kids.  These are all so inventive and unique.  If nothing else, it's entertaining to look at them.  

This boy is going as a penny. I never would've thought to do this!

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This baby is a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.

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I loved this one for a group of teenage girls.  It's "Rock, Paper, Scissors"!

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This one looked pretty simple.  Is that a lampshade being used as a toothpaste cap?

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How cute and clever is this one?  Care for a little cheese? This mouse is too cute to get caught in a trap though!

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Now, I KNOW you all know what this is!  Very cute and easy to do.

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I love this one too.  It would be fairly simple to make.  "It's raining cats and dogs"!

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And we must not forget the family dog!  How about this one?  It's an actual chia pet!

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I look forward to answering our door to the little trick or treaters this year.  This is the first year that I don't have any kids going trick or treating.  It will feel strange to not join the crowds.

So, do you have a favorite costume from Halloween?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

What I Purchased at the Fair

Hello everyone!

I promised to share what I purchased at the Country Living Fair this past weekend.  As usual, I found things that would easily meld with my grey and white color scheme.  

First up, were these pillows from French Laundry.

I bought a pair of these.  I actually used them in separate places though.  One is on the bench in my foyer.

And the other one is in a chair in the family room. They are so soft and have down inserts.  The covers can zip off for cleaning.

Then I found these pretty guinea feathers in a small inkwell jar.  These were from Silhouettes and More.

While rummaging through some booths that were selling antiques, I found this old bread board.  I love how thick it is.

And finally, I bought this rustic Christmas garland.  I like the tiny pine cones on it. It's from a company called Nest.

I'm excited to begin decorating for Christmas now that I have this garland.  I also have a few other new things that I'll be using this year.  

I wish the Country Living Fair would set up twice a year!  Once in the Spring, and then again in the Fall.  That would be great!  Wonder if anyone is reading this that has any control over that.  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~ 

Country Living Fair 2014

Hello everyone!

Here in Ga, the Country Living Fair set up in Stone Mountain Park.  It was a beautiful day.  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend for it!  I thought I would share some pics of things that caught my eye.  There was SO much to see, that I'm sure I didn't see everything.  It really takes either a FULL day of walking around or a weekend to see it all.  I would go back again this weekend, to see what I missed, if it wasn't so far away from me.  

So......if you're ready to come shopping with me, let's go!  Lots of pics ahead. (Some of these pics are not the best since they were taken with my cell phone.)

This vendor is always a favorite of mine.  It's called French Laundry.  They sell amazing down filled pillows.  They sell them at rock bottom prices at the fair, but higher at their store in NC.   They had bed linens, kitchen linens, stockings and more.

I thought this was a strange piece of art.  It's a paint brush covered in white paint and dried.  Huh??

These pretty live topiaries were for sale.  I didn't get one though because I was afraid it would die.  

I spent a lot of time in this booth.  I was smitten with all of the grey and cream everywhere.  But, it was a bit pricey.

Loved these custom made signs from Between You and Me.  She has her own blog too.

There were some paint demonstrations going on in "Cash and Cari's" booth..

I told my sister to "strike a pose" with this pretty Christmas garland she was admiring.

I loved this booth too.  It was so pretty!

I almost bought one of these white crafted pumpkins.  They were so cute with their wooden stems and spanish moss.

Well, that wraps up another season of the Country Living Fair this year.  I was so thrilled to get to go and hate knowing I have to wait another 365 days before it will be here again.  

I will share the goodies that came home with me in another post.  Hope you enjoyed tagging along with me.!

~ Kelly ~

Furniture Changes

Hello everyone!

Well, I promised to show you what happened to the chest in my foyer and the coffee table in the family room, so here it goes..............

The coffee table got repainted in a grey.  The blue always seemed to stand out too much, so grey was a logical change.

I used a grey color from Benjamin Moore, called Chelsea Grey.  I already had this paint on hand.  

I can't tell you how much happier everyone is (including me actually) that this coffee table is back in position.  It really just fits this space better and the way we use this room.

I moved the chest in here, too, where the chair used to be.  Then the chair was placed by the fireplace.

So, everything found a new home.  The grey wooden chair that was in here moved to the dining room.  I'll show that to you in another post. Whew!  That was a lot of furniture moving.  

I have been nursing a bad hip all week.  It started hurting last week and then started feeling better last weekend.  Of course, that's when I started making all of these changes.  Then, my hip got VERY mad at me and started giving me muscle spasms.  It was awful!  So I've been taking it easy all week so that it would feel good enough to go to the Country Living Fair tomorrow.  So far, I think the inflammation has gone down enough to allow me to go.  Fingers crossed that it stays that way!  

I will take my camera so I can share my trip with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Stacked Trunks

Hello everyone!

I hope you know by now not to get too comfortable with the way things look in each post that I do.  Because, I have, yet again, moved things around from the way they were in my last home post.

I must explain why I made this change though.  I LOVED using my wicker trunks for a coffee table!  I love the style, the texture and the vintage look.  However.......................practicality was more important.  And using the wicker trunks were not practical for setting a glass on  or propping your feet up (as my family likes to do).  So, I decided to bring back my wooden coffee table.  Now, that left me with a problem of what to do with my trunks!  So, I decided to stack them in the foyer, in place of the chest of drawers that was in there.  I have always loved the look of stacked baskets and trunks.  

These trunks are large enough to use in a big space, so using them in foyer was a no-brainer!

I ended up placing an old crate filled with greenery on top to give it some more height and interest.

So, now you must be wondering where the chest of drawers went.  Oh..............you'll see!  This started a big domino effect (which I'm finding is done a lot in blog land).  I will share where it ended up, along with another paint color change done to my coffee table, soon. 

Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

A Fun Evening

Hello everyone!

Last night, my husband and I went to have dinner at my childhood friends house. We haven't seen each other in several years, so it was so exciting to reunite. We had the best time!  She lives in an old neighborhood and just recently had a company revamp her backyard.  That included a wonderful fire pit too!  Come along and I'll show you some of what they had done.

Here we are sitting around the fire pit having wine and snacks before dinner.

From left, Beth (my friend), her husband, my husband.

I told my husband that we MUST have one of these fire pits now.  Isn't it nice?!

Her backyard got a complete makeover because they had a lot of water drainage problems.  They came in and added a lot of river rock to allow the water to flow better through their yard during a rain storm.  This little bridge carries you over one of those sections.

This part of her back yard has grass and big boulders with plants surrounding it.  These pictures don't do it justice.

I forgot to take pictures of the other side of the yard, but she had some trees planted with landscape lighting added.  So pretty!

And here we are together!  We have been friends since we were little bitty. She was even a bridesmaid in my wedding.

(Note:  She wasn't wearing any makeup because she was just getting over having the Shingles rash on her face.  Yikes!) Don't worry, she wasn't contagious. 

Aren't childhood friends the BEST?  Do you still keep in touch with your old friends?

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~