Category: My Simple Home


Aug
2020

My Old Pine Trunk

categories: Home Projects, My Simple Home

Hey folks!

I had an old wood trunk made of pine in my basement.

It has been there for years.

The trunk is well over 30 years old.

Simple, so simple, even down to the wood handles.

I brought it up from the basement, and decided to use it as a small coffee table for our family room.

Not only will it make a perfect table, but it has so much storage for such a small piece.

It was a bit scratched up, but a little sanding, and a new coat of stain, made it like new again.

To add a little extra something, to bring it up-to-date a bit, I added some black wheels!

The wheels came from Amazon.

After everything was completed, the old trunk, now a coffee table, turned out really nice.

Our family room is where we spend most of our time.

It is not a fancy room, just a room to relax, take a quick nap, and just be together.

A simple room, just like my pine trunk.

This room is filled with things I love, especially lots of family photos.

I hold on to things probably too long, but in this case, I am glad I kept this trunk for over 30 years.

See you all for my next post!

Take care, be happy!


Jun
2020

It’s Summer on the Porch

categories: DIY, My Simple Home, Summer

The most popular blogs are all showing their porches and patios for summer.

Beautiful, expensive outdoor furniture, amazing decks, yards, and many with unbelievable pool areas.

For many of us, just a dream.

If that is what you are expecting in this post, you need to click out now!

But, maybe, just maybe, the most of us want and have simple lives, with little money to spend on such things.

We love what we have.

I know I do.

So here’s my crooked back porch tour for this summer.

Same outdoor furniture for the past 8 years, it is perfectly fine.

Changed up the color with pillows as I do every year.

This year a whimsy bright flower pattern in turquoise.

I purchase most of my pillow covers on Amazon, the prices are very reasonable and good quality.

Again this year, I used red geraniums with the turquoise, love them together.

I used the same wood box planter I made, painted white, with an old knob.

You will see a new birdhouse, thanks to a Mother’s Day gift card from my sweet sister.

My DIY wind chime hangs above, along with a beautiful Dauphin violet hanging basket.

My Shasta daisies are blooming, spreading around the bunny next to the porch. So cute!

The birdhouse I made several years ago is still standing, surrounded by Vinca vine, growing wild on the side of our house.

Well folks, that’s my crooked little porch tour for this year.

Nothing expensive, just loving and using the things I have.

It’s wonderful to us.

Beautiful, peaceful, just ours, a part of the home that we love.

We need nothing more!

Hope you all enjoy your summer.

Blessings.


Aug
2018

Making Candle Holders

categories: DIY, My Simple Home

For such a long time I have been wanting a set of wood candle holders, but the cost for three different sizes, just too pricey for me!

So you all know what I did, I made my own!

From this…

A basket full of various wood pieces and chunky chair legs.

To this….

Creating and gluing the wood pieces together.

To this…Love them!

After deciding on the placement of the different wood pieces, and gluing them together, I painted all with white chalk paint, distressed a bit by sanding, and sealed all with clear wax.

Topped with battery operated candles to finish.

So simple.

In the end, I was able to make all three for a little over the cost of buying just a small one.

The wood pieces I purchased at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, using my 40% off weekly coupons.

I purchased the wood chair leg pieces at Home Depot, under $4.00 each.

They will be so festive for the upcoming fall and Thanksgiving season, surrounded by pumpkins and leaves.

When surrounded by evergreens and red berries at Christmas, they will make a lovely, amazing centerpiece.

Candle holders can be used so many places in a home, tables, dressers, buffets, side tables, and painted many colors.

So fun, so simple, and so pleased with the results, and the money I saved by making my own.

Also, so pleased and thankful, that God has given me a bit of creativity.

Creativity to fill my days with projects that give me so much joy in my heart, and add lots of enjoyment to my everyday life.

So blessed!

With love, until my next project!

 

 

 


Aug
2018

When Life Gives You Lemons…

categories: Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, My Simple Home, Simple Recipes, Summer

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

That is exactly what I did on one of the many very hot days we have had in the past several weeks.

Hard to find anything more refreshing than ice cold lemonade.

A treat for me and hubby when we are sitting together, on our small back porch, which is most days.

Of course, I made a bright beautiful tray out of a thrift store frame, and a lemon filled fabric swatch.

I suppose it does seem as if I am obsessed with making trays.  Maybe so, but they are just so easy and inexpensive to put together, making just a wonderful addition to any table.

The frame I found at the thrift store for $1.00 was large, perfect for my lemonade pitcher and glasses.

A fresh coat of black paint, and simple black screen door handles, completed this summer project.

If I can find a day when my sewing machine doesn’t hate me, I want to make a few napkins out of the remaining lemon fabric.

Lemon print toss pillows, found at Kirkland’s, helped to brighten up my living room for the summer.

The print on the pillows is so wonderful, soft colors!

I like to use toss pillows in the living room, adding color to any season, and they also allow my old outdated wing back chairs look so much better.

To end my “lemon” post, I want to share a recipe I tried from a sweet new cookbook, Magnolia Table, by Joanna Gaines.

I do not buy a bunch of cookbooks, but this one is special.  The recipes are fairly simple, and the photos in the book of Joanna’s farm are lovely.

This lemon pie was so very yummy!  My family loved it!

Definitely a summer dessert.

Here is the link to the recipe.

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, make the best of what you are given, make something good out of a bad experience, turn a negative into a positive.

We are all given bad situations to deal with in this life, but if we ask for God’s blessings, we deal with them, get through them, and move on!

I hope you “squeeze” all kinds of happiness and joy out of this day!

Love to all.

 

 


Jul
2018

Thrift Store Finds – Loved Again!

categories: Flea Market Finds/Thrifting, My Simple Home

Last week, I worked on three small thrift store items, brought home to “relove”.

A beat up tin rooster, a wire basket, and a metal bulletin board.

Cleaned, scrubbed, spray painted, done!

The tin rooster was missing a wing, and could no longer stand up, but he caught my eye just the same!

A bit of cleaning, glue, and matte black spray paint, was all needed to love this tin rooster, and to find a special spot for him in my kitchen.

He is standing tall again, with that “farmhouse” look perfect for my simple kitchen.

The boring wire basket, just needed to be brighten up, and the metal bulletin board, in almost new condition, just needed to be cleaned.

Two coats of my favorite gold spray paint, Rust-Oleum metallic gold, really transformed the wire basket from dull to bright.

The basket is a great addition to the desk area in my spare bedroom.  Perfect to hold extra pillows or throws, or maybe another place to hold my many books.

I love beautiful books, they are one of the joys in my life.

The metal bulletin board caught my eye because of the really sweet scalloped, eyelet trim.

So cute!

Found a spot for the board above my Mom’s old rocking chair, displaying family photos, she would like that!

Displaying photos, another joy for me.

I am all about enjoying photos, using them whenever posssible, framing and placing around my home, or using them in any event or project.

Pleased with all my items, worth the total cost of $5!

Three items, found and loved, by me!

Happy day!

 


May
2018

Living Paycheck to Paycheck

categories: My Simple Home, Random Thoughts

“Living paycheck to paycheck”, a phrase we hear folks say from time to time.

This phrase has a kinda silly, crazy, meaning for me!

Money is so very tight for me and my husband since I stopped working.

Of course, having extra money is not the most important part of our lives.  That is why my decision to stop working to spend more time with my husband, as he deals with a progressive disease, was the right thing to do.

I am learning to do without a bunch of extra things.  It is really not so hard.

We are on a budget, but we both are allowed a bit of spending money each month, my husband saves his, I use mine for my hair, lunches out, thrift store visits and such.

So, at the end of each month, right before “payday”, I see what I have left.

If there is something beautiful I have been wanting, and my “end of the month money” allows, I treat myself!

This was my latest “end of the month money” purchase.

A beautiful canvas of an angel holding a baby.

The cost was $30 at Kirkland’s.

It was special to me when I saw it, reminding me immediately of the day my son was born, holding him in my arms for the first time.

I prayed to our Lord that day, “please send a special guardian angel to always watch over him”.

The colors are soft and lovely, I really love it!

The canvas has found a home above my painted gray, thrift store table.  So beautiful together.

Tuesday was the day before my monthly spending money was replenished!

I had $5 in my wallet, all was good!

Love you all!

May the angels watch over all of you, and those you love.

Have a blessed Sunday.

 

 


Mar
2018

It’s Finally Here – Springtime!

categories: Easter, My Simple Home, Spring

According to the calendar, today is the first day of spring.

Unfortunately, the teasing continues.

Two days of warm temperatures, and then, as is today, cold, rainy, and snow.

This was a photo taken from my front door just a few days ago!

Hibernating is about over!

I guess it is about time to give up my flannel sheets.

Our woodpile is low.

Fires in our wood burning fireplace are coming to an end.

We will miss our fires, they were the center of our home during the cold winter months, drawing us to the glow and warmth.

The change is near with Easter in only two weeks.

My magnolia tree is budding, the daffodils are up, and there are so many robins in our yard, giving my sweet kitty someone to chatter with!

Yesterday, I gathered my spring and Easter items, and I also changed my front door wreath.

It will be nice to be able to sit outside once again.

Longer and warmer days ahead.

Projects will be changing from inside ones, to outside.

Today I will clean a bit, and find just the right places for all of my bunnies and chicks!

Hoping you find some sunshine in your life today.

Happy Spring!


Jan
2018

A Million Tiny Little Things…..

categories: Celebrate, Christmas, My Simple Home

There is a scene in one of my favorite movies, Sleepless in Seattle, when Tom Hanks talks about his wife in such a beautiful way, “it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they were supposed to be together…”.

When cleaning up a bit yesterday, room to room, picking up and dusting, I realized that Christmas in my home is a bunch of tiny small touches that when you put them all together, you feel the magic of the season.

Before this week is over, I wanted to share many of the tiny things I treasure each Christmas.  Many I have cared for with love over the years to use again and again.

My cherished white nativity set, purchased with Christmas money from my son.

My tree, with all the special ornaments I have collected over the years.

It is sprinkled with snow, pine cones and berries.

My beautiful paper mache angel, handmade, always sitting at the very top, love her so!

This wall hanging was my new addition this year.  I love that it is the first thing you see as you look into my home from the front door, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”.

A snowflake pillow, a wreath on the mirror, lots of sparkle, with gold and silver ribbons.

Garland on my dining hutch, and entry clock, decorated with beautiful ribbons, lights, and snow covered pine cones.

A bit of red in my kitchen, small dishes, tin canisters, and a small tree.

A Hallmark Santa, so old, nestled under a tree on my kitchen counter.  Love him!

This salt dough nativity set I have carefully packed up each year, purchased at a church craft fair, 42 years ago. The faces are amazing.  Big smiles, rosy cheeks, just so sweet.

A Santa tray, purchased on a Thanksgiving visit, with my precious mother, to see my brother in New York City, so many years ago.

When I bring it out each year, I remember our trip together and how I struggled with spending $35 on this hand painted, paper mache tray.  So glad I did, the memory it brings to mind each year is priceless.

The best saved for last, this Baby Jesus made of paper over 40 years ago by my son.

I love the smile Jimmy placed on his face.

Oh my, precious, cherished, now a family tradition each year, finding the perfect place on our tree to place our Baby Jesus.

Thank you all for allowing me to share all these treasures.

I truly hope every one of you have collected special Christmas treasures, those items that when the season arrives you find such overwhelming joy in displaying in your home as I do.

Sad a bit that the holidays are over and my treasures must once again be packed up with loving care.

Love to all of you, also precious treasures to me.

Blessings and love.

 


Jan
2018

My Wonderful Incomplete Christmas

categories: Celebrate, Christmas, My Simple Home

Made lists, and more lists, planned for weeks, shopped early, wrapped early, but with all of this, my Christmas planning was incomplete.

Most of my decorating in my living and dining area, and my tree was completed, but all my extra little Christmas touches, those I wanted to do here and there, never happened.

Cookies, I so wanted to make, didn’t happen.  Bakery Christmas cookies had to do.

Making ornaments, and creative gift tags, was limited.

So much undone.

In the end, the fact that my family made it to my home on Christmas Eve, despite slippery dangerous snow covered roads, was all that was important.  We all just wanted to be together, and with God’s help and protection we were.

Cookies can still be made, ornaments made and saved for next year.

My husband gets upset with me because I fuss so much when folks are coming to our home.  He always tells me, “it’s just family”.

I have different thoughts on all this fussing, I fuss because I want all to be special for them!

A gift to them.

Thanking them for coming and sharing this special time of the year with me and my family in our home.

I pray you all had a Merry Christmas with family and those you so love.

I also pray and ask God that we all will have a blessed and wonderful new year ahead.

Be safe, be happy, and always love each other.

Fussing for those you love is OK!

Until next time!

 

 


Oct
2017

Simple Fall Gatherings

categories: Autumn, My Simple Home

My kitchen window faces the front of my house. I can see folks coming and going when I am working at my sink.

A few days ago, I noticed the Amazon driver pulling into my driveway.

A younger woman walked up to my porch with one of my many orders.

I really love Amazon Prime!

After she placed the box near the front door, as she was walking away, she turned, smiling, she took several photos of my fall gatherings on the porch.  So cute, putting a smile on my face too!

I thought I would share what she was smiling about.

Pumpkins, colorful mums, my rusty, gas can jack-o-lantern, and the sweet sign I purchased at the Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio.  A simple fall gathering welcoming all coming up to my small front porch.

A beautiful fall wreath, which I have had for years, just added more fall color to my porch.

The back porch was changed for the season too!

Again, simple changes, all inexpensive.

New flannel pillows, in navy, with a bit of turquoise.

Painted a $4.00 wood tray from Hobby Lobby the same shade of turquoise, and filled it with bittersweet.

An orange throw added, for chilly fall afternoons, and some small pumpkins.

Love the navy and orange together.

The simple, bittersweet twig wreath, I had made a few weeks ago, found its way to the brick wall on the back porch.

Just a few simple items that added a smile to a stranger’s face, and in turn, one to mine!

Love you all!

Hope you are enjoying this colorful time of the year.