A Sweet Gift

Hello everyone!

Yesterday, while it was stormy and raining cats and dogs, the sweetest package arrived at my door.  It brought a ray of sunshine to my home at just the right time!

My sweet blogging friend, Lisa from Texas Decor sent me this cute little tweed pumpkin.

She packaged it so cute too.  

I walked around with it to decide where to place it and it ended up in my vintage scale in my foyer.  

Isn't it darling?!  

Here is a close up of it when I was considering placing it on my mantel.

Thank you Lisa!  If you haven't been over to visit her blog, you must check it out.  She's always sharing great shopping deals that she finds and has recently redecorated her home in a soft neutral palette.  She has a sweet tooth (like me) so she often taunts me into wanting to try some of her dessert recipes as well.

Hope you all are having good weather where you are.  It is finally clearing up here, but we're left with lots of fallen leaves and a soggy wet yard!  

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Vintage Wicker Trunk

Hello everyone!

Last January, I found an old wicker trunk at an antique store and even shared it with you on my blog.  It caught my eye because of it's size and age.  I remember the price being reasonable for it too.  But, I didn't get it because I didn't really have a place for it.  Fast forward about 9 months later, and I stumbled upon it again at the same store.  Only this time, it had been heavily marked down!  Well.......this time I just couldn't pass it up.  I thought I would just have to find a place for it.  It ended up replacing the wicker trunk that I got from Ikea.  And that trunk moved to another location.

The reason it replaced the Ikea trunk was because it is bigger.  

Also, this trunk is a bit heavier, so it stays in place better.

It has nice woven handles on each side.  The inside is even lined in a light weight muslin!

I'm very happy with it and glad to have more than one wicker trunk now. 

 I love the extra storage they provide and many places they can be used.

Do you like wicker trunks too?

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Vintage Balance Scale

Hello everyone!

I hope you're having a good weekend so far.  I woke up to storms this morning, but it is finally clearing up and the sun is shining.  Love that.

I wanted to show you this cute vintage scale I found at an antique store recently.  I had been eyeing the bigger size scales, similar to this, but didn't really have a place for them in my home.  So, when I found this smaller size, I knew I could use it!

I love that it is made from iron and covered in porcelain.  It has a pan on one side. 

And a flat metal piece on the other side.

I wonder what it was originally used for.  Anybody know?

I placed it on the chest in my foyer.

And filled the pan with my lavender sachets and a little pumpkin on the other side.

I love how it is worn in some places too.  This would also look cute holding a small potted plant in the pan. I'm sure I will have a lot of fun using this piece!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Things I Love About the Fall Season

Hello everyone!

Did you know that October is my favorite month of the year?  It's when the leaves start changing colors and the heat and humidity begin to subside.  The festivals begin and apple orchards draw crowds.  I thought I'd share just a few of my favorite things about this Fall season that make October my favorite month.

Driving on roads with bright leaves surrounding me.

 (We're not there yet, but give it a couple more weeks.)

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Seeing pumpkins and gourds everywhere!

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All the creative faces carved in pumpkins for Halloween.

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Sitting around a campfire at night roasting marshmallows.

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My favorite TV show, Homeland, returns.

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Eating chili again on cold nights for dinner.

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Going to Fall festivals on the weekend.

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Sampling the Fall donuts at Dunkin Donuts.

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So..................have I made you excited about October yet?  Get out and enjoy this month!  I'm making up for not having a great October last year (since I missed my son while he was away at boot camp).  

One last thing that this month is good for.............

GET YOUR FLU SHOT!!!

If everyone would get it, we wouldn't see so much flu going around this Winter.  Do your part!  

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Fall Lawncare

Hello everyone!

My husband has a lawn and landscape business on the side (as most firefighters have side jobs).  So, when the seasons change,  you can usually find him outside working in our yard to help it along for the upcoming summer. Now, I know we just got done with summer, but did you know that Fall is the best time to plant seed for new grass?  So, if you have some bare spots in your lawn, you might want to take action now.

My husband first scalped the yard by mowing it down to a low 1 1/2 to 2 inches in height.  

Then he used a core aerator to poke holes in the ground to allow grass seed to penetrate the soil.

Here is a close up of the aerator.

You can rent these at your local hardware store and pull them behind your riding mower.

Afterwards, it leaves your lawn looking like this.  See all the holes and plugs of dirt pulled up?

Next, he uses a broadcast spreader to put out grass seed.  

He simply pours the grass seed in it and walks around the yard while it sprinkles it on the yard.

After the seed is put out, he does the same thing with fertilizer.

These are the products he uses.

(Sorry the bags are open and it's hard to read them.)  But basically, you would need to put out the right types for your yard anyway.  So check with your extension agent or someone in the lawn and garden department at a store near you.  It is recommended that you invest in a high quality grass seed and a slow release starter fertilizer.

One other note:  your broadcast spreader should have a mechanism that allows the right amount of product to be put on your yard.  You would need to set that rate based on instructions found on the product bag.

After you have put out your seed and fertilizer, cover any areas that don't have a lot of grass already with wheat straw.  That will keep the seed in place in case you have a heavy rain.

Spread it out and it will look like this.

We've had a bare spot next to our driveway for a while.  My husband finally got around to fixing the problem.  Hopefully, this area will fill in nicely.

Water your grass daily unless you get rain.

Our dog, Max, decided to join us outside too.  He wasn't much help though.  

He loves his outdoor toys!

So, is your yard ready for Fall and Winter?  Working in it now will bring you a better looking lawn this Spring and Summer.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Faux German Grain Sack Pillow

Hello everyone!

I have always wanted a German grain sack pillow, but they are just too darn expensive!  So, what's a girl to do?  Try to find a reproduction!  And that's just what I did.  I found this one on Etsy.  I tell ya there is nothing you can't find there!

This one is a nice big size, 22".  I bought it as just a pillow cover since I already had the insert.

It compliments the other pillows on the sofa too.  

So, if you ever decide you want something, there is a way to get it.  It may need to be handmade or even purchased as a reproduction, but there is usually a way!  

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If you are interested in this pillow cover, you can find it HERE.

Hope you all have a great Fall weekend.  So glad that October is finally here!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

More Grey in the Foyer

Hello everyone!

During the summer, you may recall that I painted the chest of drawers in my foyer a soft blue.  I loved it at the time, but found that it was locking me too much into that color.  I also didn't have enough blue around the house to make it feel like it belonged there.  I prefer a home that has the same colors flowing throughout and since I've committed to grey and white predominantly, it just felt right to repaint my chest of drawers in a grey color.  I think using blue pillows and accessories is a better way for me to go at the moment if I want to bring in that color.  So...............here it is sporting the same shade of grey that I have on many other pieces of furniture in my home.  

I decided to do a light coat of grey so you can still barely see the blue peeking through.  This gives it more of an aged look.  

As soon as I painted it, I KNEW it was the right thing to do.  It had been bothering me for a while.  I think it would've been fine if I didn't feel it was competing with the flow of the grey and white in all of my other rooms.  

I changed the accessories on top by adding a pitcher of eucalyptus and some lavender sachets.

I found the sachets from another blogger who was selling them.  They smell wonderful and are packaged in some wonderful vintage grey and white ticking material.

So, I'm a happy camper now that I've made that change.  No more trying to work with that blue color that I thought was so wonderful just a few months ago.  See?  Now you know why I have such a neutral home.  I can't commit to certain colors for too long.  I wish I had just painted it this color to begin with now.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~