♥ It's That Time of Year! ♥

It must not take much to get this country girl excited!  Strolling down one of the main aisles at our Walmart today, I saw a big beautiful display of Glade fall room sprays!  I tell you I think my heart skipped a beat!  I LOVE this stuff!  Last year someone (a blogger) got me hooked on it.  Last fall I was crazy about Maple Pumpkin.  I also liked the Nutcracker Crunch for a cozy winter scent.

This year there were four fall scents......and I picked up two of the four......Toasted Marshmallow & Orchard Apple Cinnamon.  I hate making decisions so I must have looked funny standing there in Walmart, "air testing" them trying to make up my mind which ones I would take home today.  :)  Luke helped me out a little!  His favorite was the Roasted Marshmallow.  :)

But you can bet the next time around in Walmart, I'll be bringing home the next two.....Fall Hayride and Pumpkin Spice!

Fall is my very favorite time of year anyway and there's something so cozy about filling up my home with these aromas!  Isn't it funny how a smell can be cozy?

So now go on and get you one, or two, or three, or four.....but be sure and leave me some!  :)

♥ Simple and Rustic ♥

Sometimes I think my brain is in overload.  I have plans, ideas, and just everything else that's there waiting to be addressed or brought to life and it really bugs me when I can't get to them.  One of those things has been getting the bedroom we remodeled decorated.  I've collected a few things but being somewhat of a perfectionist about stuff like that and thinking I'd rather wait and do nothing until I have what I want or need, I tend to procrastinate on getting what I do have up or out.

But......I did go ahead and hang the twiggy star wreath over the bed and I have to say that I just love that simple rustic look!  Things are definitely coming together.  Jason made me a pegboard and that old ladder has been painted and we're going to distress it.  So there will be more to come later, but for now........here's how the wreath looks above the bed.....

And I made another stop by the Antique Gallery the other day and came home with these goodies.  I can't wait for Luke to be able to read that book..........I just love old books!  Not sure yet where the jar with the red lid will go.  I have so much red everywhere that it could fit in so many places, so we'll have to see about that.  The basket is going to go in the bedroom most likely.

Anywhere I just had to share a little bit.  :)  Thanks so much for stopping by!  And if I haven't been by to visit much lately, please don't give up on me......I will!

Have a great day!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥ 

♥ Reclaimed Living Space ♥

Don't you just love the feeling you get from a "reclaimed room"?  You know the room that was stacked up with something or being used to store stuff and then you get it back and get to enjoy it again?

Well that's what happened with our sunporch.  Since March, we have had a BIG stack of laminate flooring out there, along with the other supplies that go along with installing it.  It was all an eyesore to me.....especially since this is the first room I see when I come in from my carport/garage.  I kept telling myself, "this too shall pass" and tried to just not look at it.  But since a big part of that stack is flooring that will be used in the master bedroom (when we get around to remodeling it), it just wasn't going away anytime soon.  We have too many other projects going on....outside projects....that are keeping us from it.

I finally got to the point of enough is enough.  I'm was not going to go through the rest of my summer unable to really enjoy my sunporch.  So with the help of Joy (and Luke a little too),  we moved the flooring into the house and stacked them neatly under beds.  There they will wait until we are able to get to that project, which will most likely be a winter project.

And with that stack gone, I felt like I was looking at a new space.  What a great feeling!  So, I got busy tidying it up and tweaking.....you know moving stuff around.  And just those little changes made all the difference. I feel like I have a new room and I love it!

Already we have enjoyed sunsets, playing the card game, Uno, snacking, and just sitting out there doing absolutely nothing but enjoying it and each other's company.

That's my necessary crate...for all the pool stuff that will end up on the floor here otherwise.

Sometimes reclaimed living spaces are the best because they feel like new and don't cost a thing! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Thrift Shop Finds ♥

My mom, the kids, and I spent the day Tuesday at the antique gallery and thrift shopping.  My niece, Laci, is here with us this week so she went also.  Everyone that came along loves thrift shops and the antique gallery......... except Luke.  He told me he wished they would knock down the antique gallery and make it into a Walmart.  :)  I really think it's because I make him ride in a cart because I'm always afraid he'll bump into something and break it. I'm going to have work on making him a collector of something so he'll enjoy it too.  :)

Between the antique gallery and the thrift shop, here's what I came home with:

The chair was the big find of the day for only $3!  It has an H engraved in it, but I will just pretend it stands for "Home" and I will probably fold a quilt or homespun over it anyway.  This will go in the bedroom that I'm decorating.  Slowly, that bedroom is coming together....at least in my mind's eye it is.  When I have everything I need, I'll get to work on putting it all out and on the walls.

The oversized twig basket excited me too!  I love baskets and twiggy things and this was both.  I'm not sure yet where this will land, but it was definitely coming home with me for $10.  And the faux potted flowers will probably go in the Cedar Loft....not sure on that yet either, but it was only $2, so I couldn't pass it up either.

I might just hit some yard sales in the morning.  :)  I've got thrifting fever this week!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you're having a great summer!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥   

♥ Lovely Porches ♥

I love porches.  To me, porches give a home an instant cozy and welcoming element.

There are memories made on porches.......in days gone by especially.  In those days when times were simpler and folks weren't on the go constantly running their children to extracurricular activities, they would gravitate to the porch in their rockers, swings, or benches, and watch the kids play in the yard during the day or catch fireflies after dark, while they enjoyed simple conversations ,sipping their lemonade or coffee.  Porches were actually just an extension of their living space.  Families LIVED a great deal of their lives on porches.

I love the appeal of porches.  Every house I could or have ever dreamed of living in or imagined in my life has ALWAYS had a porch.  And I admit that I will slow down and take a closer look at porches when I drive by them.....whether they be large meandering wrap-arounds or cozy small ones......they all draw me in!

Wanna take a stroll with me today as I stop by and visit some pretty and inviting porches?  We can imagine who lives there and what it would be like to visit for awhile on these cozy welcoming porches!

Okay, let's go......

I just love that last one!  Whoever lives there would have a hard time getting me to leave!

And mine seems so simple compared to some of these, but I worked with what I have.  :)  Here's our front porch this summer.....

Thanks for taking a stroll with me today.  I hope you enjoyed the porch tour! I bet you had a favorite that you could imagine yourself on right about now!  :)

Take time to grab you a cool glass of lemonade or a cup of coffee in the morning and enjoy YOUR porch.  Enjoy the simple moments!

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Happy 4th of July ♥

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

Psalm 33:12

God bless America!  And God bless our military families that serve our country!  Thank YOU for your sacrifices daily!

From our family to yours.....a Happy 4th of July (Independence Day)!   Next to Christmas, this is my favorite holiday!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥ 

♥ Collecting for Decorating ♥

Oh to be able to just go on a shopping spree to get everything at one time that I need to decorate a room.....what a luxury that would be!  :)  But then I guess part of the fun is the hunt for that special thing..........which also gives me time to afford each one. 

I've been slowly collecting things to decorate the bedroom that we just worked on remodeling in March and April.

Everything I've gotten so far has come from thrift stores and flea markets/antique malls except for the twiggy star, which came from Etsy. 

Found this ladder at the Antique Gallery too.  :)

I've still got a few things in mind that I'm waiting on and something I want Jason to make for me for that room.

I'll be excited to share the decorated room when I'm finished with the collecting (just a little more) and the decorating!

And I'm so behind on my blog visiting...please don't give up on me if you haven't seen me around lately....I'll be by soon! 

Thank YOU so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Giveaway Goodies in the Mail ♥

It's always a pleasant surprise when our mail lady actually pulls in our driveway and honks her horn.  That means there's something that she's got for us that won't fit in the mailbox!  And that's usually a good thing!

I recently was one of the lucky winners of my blogging friend, Allison's giveaway (Sew Many Girls).  Much of it was a surprise to me!  I was thrilled to get this package in the mail.  Thanks, Allison!  :)

I was so anxious to decorate with my giveaway goodies that I forgot to get a picture of them all grouped together before I had them placed around my house.  So I'm going to show you where their new home is now.......

These darling homespun tulips on a rustic twig are now in my dining room in the crock on my hutch.  Love these! 

The adorable pinwheels, also on a rustic twig, I placed in a crock on the wooden crates in the living room. 

The little Americana rag doll is tucked cozily inside an Americana basket on the side table beside the couch.

And last of all, Allison also included a pennies mat kit!  I'm excited to give this a try!

Thanks again, Allison!  :)

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I have another wonderful guest joining me tomorrow for a Sunporch Chat.  I hope you will stop by and join us in the morning!  I'll have cake and coffee waiting on you!  :)

 

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Update on Bedroom Makeover ♥

When we start a new project around here, it seems like something always slows us down, but I guess that's pretty much the normal for everyone.  Also, we should have learned by now to only have one project going at a time.  But it seems we haven't learned that lesson yet!  In the midst of this, we have been doing some projects outside as well, or at least starting on them. 

But........the bedroom is painted.  The floors are down.  The trim is stained and back up.  The furniture has been moved into place.

Now it's time for the fun part......decorating!  The furniture was inherited from Jason's dad.  See the brass hardware?  It's getting a makeover.  I also just purchased bedding yesterday.  It was meant to be.  :)  I'll have to tell you more about that when the bedroom is all put together. 

So there's still work to be done, but this part is the part I really enioy!   :)

Have a great weekend! 

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Bowl of Memories ♥

This month last year, we were going through Jason's dad's things after he passed away.  Making decisions during that time is never easy.  It was tough going through all of his things and letting some things go, especially for Jason and his sister. 

One thing that I spotted and just fell in love with was this simple mixing bowl.  First of all, I loved it because it's red!  And then Jason told me that he remembered his mama making cookies in it for his family!  That made it all the more special.  You can tell it was well used because some of the red is rubbing off in places.   I love that bowl!  I will use it to make cookies for my family and will treasure it always.

And another thing I was excited to bring home from Jason's dad's kitchen........a little pecan crusher!  You see it over on the left corner of my stove on the end.....with the little black handle?  Jason remembers his mama crushing her pecans for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners making pecan pies, candies, and everything else you use pecans for during the holidays especially.  He remembers her letting him help her crush the pecans when he was little.  How special is that?  I just love it too!

 

I know those are little things, but those small items that say family and love are the best!

I didn't get a chance to have a mother-in-law for long, since she passed away when Jason and I were married a little over a year.  But Jason's dad was at our house for dinner or something just about every weekend.

I just thought I'd share a couple of special memories.......Isn't it amazing how such a small thing as a bowl can hold so many memories?  :)

♥ My New Pennies Pillow ♥

You know how sometimes you just picture something somewhere before you ever have it? Well we've had our new Johnston Benchwork furniture for nearly a year now and I've pondered over exactly what type and color pillow I wanted for my fireside chair. My pilosophy is to do nothing, or buy nothing, until I'm sure of what I want.  :)

What I pictured in my mind's eye was a pennies pillow, but I was just trying to decide on colors! When I made my decision, my long time blogging friend and friend from the Country Sampler Forum, Karen of My Colonial Home and owner of KM Primitives made that vision become reality! Karen is one talented lady!  (Thank you, Karen..I love my pillow)!

 

It's amazing how a little pop of color from a pretty pillow made that corner all the more cozy! :)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll come back tomorrow and join my guest and me on the sunporch for a Sunporch Chat!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ A Splash of Red ♥

Remember those red handled vintage cookie cutters and the mini pie tin that I picked up at the thrift store a few weeks ago?

I love what that little splash of red did for my stove. 

Makes me happy.  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ A New Remodeling Project ♥

We can't ever let things rest for too long, can we? 

We have a small makeover project in the works. 

We've talked about redoing Colt's bedroom for a few months.  We had already decided we would do nothing to it for a year, just in case he wanted to come back and find things as he left them.  :)  He's been living out in his own apartment now for over a year and a half.

When Jason's dad passed away last April, we took one of his bedroom's furniture and Jason's sister took the other.  Since then, it's just been stored in that bedroom with the door closed.  I have done absolutely nothing with that room.  I honestly don't even like to go in there. I miss Colt being there. About the only time we ever go in there is when we're playing hide-n-seek with the kids (we like flashlight hide-n-seek) or when I was wrapping Christmas gifts.

The messy room awaits a makeover.....a glimpse of the furniture. 

So we decided it was time.  We finally picked out a color for the walls.  And the yucky carpet has to come out.  So basically this room will get a makeover of a new wall color, a new floor, and new furniture (new to us anyway).  And then of course, the fun part will come.......the decorating part!

Here's the paint color sample:

The photos didn't really capture the true color.  Here's another photo, but still not like seeing it in person:

Jason already took back the sample of the rustic laminate flooring when he ordered it.  It's called Hickory Praline.  I didn't realize he was taking the sample back or I would have gotten a photo of it first.  Oh well, you'll have to wait until the real thing is here.  :)

The plan is to start this weekend.  Not sure how far will get as we have to tear out a custom built entertainment center, take down border, and get the walls ready for painting.  If we could have it all painted by the time the weekend ends, I'll be one happy gal!  The floor will hopefully follow the next weekend or two after that.

I could probably chronicle our lives by the chapters of home remodeling projects!  We've completely redone several rooms, one project at a time!  I always dread the mess, but love the outcome.  Doing it ourselves is always worth the time and mess in the end, and besides doing it ourselves fits our budget much better.

So here we go again.........  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

♥ Goodies for Decorating ♥

It's been awhile since I've been thrift shopping, or at least thrift shopping where I have found something to bring home with me.  However, this past Saturday I was so excited to spy these goodies and bring them home! 

I get really excited when I find one of these brown crocks, especially at a good price, so I knew it was coming home with me, if nothing else did.  I will probably rub some mocha glaze over the lighter spots and chips of the crock to give them an aged patina.

I also have a thing about cookie cutters, especially these red handled ones.  And the price was right on this little mason jar and tin, so I couldn't pass them up either.  Oh, and wooden spoons....I like those too.  I will be grubbying those up a little.

Finding these things is only half the fun.  The second half of the fun comes in decorating with them.  :)  I'll be working on that. 

I had to show you my woolie bunny made by Trace.  I won her contest by guessing how much she paid for a thrifty find and the prize was this little fella.  Isn't he cute?  :)

And just yesterday, I received the penny rug that I ordered from Felicia. It matches my kitchen perfectly!  I love these colors! 

I get a little excited when I get to add a few new goodies to my home.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll come back and join my guest and I on the sunporch tomorrow for a chat.....the more the merrier!  :)

Oh, and if you would like to sign up for The Bible Mini-Series giveaway, you can do so here.  I will announce the winner on my Faithful Friday post on Friday, March 15th. 

Have a great day!

♥ Tammy ♥