Monday, October 31, 2011
Pumpkin Picking
I love the colors at the farmer's market this time of year!
After a delicious breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, we headed out to the State Farmer's Market on Sunday to pick out pumpkins for carving.
Lots of gorgeous pumpkins!
Colorful cobs of Indian corn
The search for just the right pumpkin begins
Reed found just the right one for him!
Back home, the kids get busy scraping the insides of their pumpkins
Kiss-Kiss wanted to help as well
Jack-o-lanterns are complete (with a little help from Daddy & Momma!)
Reed's pumpkin is Mario, Ashleigh's is a cat and Clayton's is an Angry Bird
Later we dug into some warm, hearty bowls of Hamburger Vegetable soup. Perfect for a fall dinner!
Mary Ellen
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Garden Art Using Recycled Lamps
Recycled garden art by Mary Jo Stephenson
During our morning at the NC State Fair, we took in the beautiful garden exhibits. One colorful display that caught my eye was by local artist Mary Jo Stephenson. She used recycled lamps to create garden art. I thought it was not only beautiful but wonderfully creative! Old lamps and chandeliers are easily found at thrift stores and yard sales. This would be a great way to give them new life!
Colorful tree with hanging lamps
Teapots & lamps
This garden display had an outdoor shower. But my eye was immediately drawn to the green vanity in the corner. The top portion had both mirror panes and plants. This would be a great way to incorporate a trash to treasure dresser into an outside space!
Mary Ellen
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Vocalpoint - $4 OFF Vicks Nature Fusion
Time to stock up for cold and flu season!
Head over to Vocalpoint and reserve your coupon for $4 off Vicks Nature Fusion.
Mary Ellen
Homemade Air Freshener & Carpet Deodorizer
Homemade Lavender Carpet Deodorizer
Though the furry population of our household has grown, I want to make sure our home still smells pleasing and inviting. To create wonderful scents for your home, you have to look no further than your pantry. To keep our carpets smelling fresh, I turn to the tried and true deodorizing power of baking soda. Pour a cup of baking soda into a bowl. Add 30 - 40 drops of essential oil (I used lavender). Mix to incorporate the scent and transfer into a container. I store my homemade carper deodorizer in a parmesan shaker from the Dollar Tree. Makes it easier to spread over the carpet!
Homemade Air Freshener
To add a pleasing scent to the air, make a homemade air freshener by mixing water and rubbing alcohol with drops of essential oil. You can find the quantities of each listed here. I tripled the recipe.
A note regarding the use of essential oils and cats - From reading various articles on-line, it appears using essential oils around cats is okay as long as its not being ingested or placed directly on their skin. But if you have any concerns, please consult your veterinarian!
Mary Ellen
Monday, October 24, 2011
NC State Fair 2011
For our family, October means Fall, my birthday and the NC State Fair!
We played hooky from school and work (teacher and boss approved of course!) one day last week and spent a beautiful, crisp fall morning at the fair. The grist mill near the entrance of the fair. We were too early for the hot hushpuppies.
But we were able to grab cups of warm apple cider!
Along with rides and food, the fair also highlights our state's rich agricultural traditions
Junior!
#88 National Guard show car
The Great Clips show car hauler - no Kasey Kahne though!
#38 Great Clips NASCAR Nationwide show car
The rides!
The carousel - always my favorite!
"Reedy, look at Mommy!" Or not!
Riding with Daddy
Mary Ellen
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Meet the New Girls!
The Duchess
The furry population of our household has grown! Recently we made a visit to our county animal shelter and came away with two new additions. It was my first time visiting an animal shelter, so I didn't quite know what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised to find the shelter staffed with friendly and caring volunteers, who were very much interested in finding safe and fitting homes for their animals.
Dave fell in love with the bundle of long-hair pictured above. That's Duchess Purrtricia Meowington or "Duchy" for short :) She's a 2 year old tortoiseshell Persian or some mix. She's a very quiet girl. I've only heard her meow twice since we've bought her home. She loves to lie around in sunny or out of the way spots. She's also very low weight. We're not sure of the circumstances which brought her to the shelter. But we're working to get her up to a healthy weight again.
Kiss-Kiss
And this is Ashleigh's kitten, Kiss-Kiss. Ashleigh saved up her allowance and paid for the $45 adoption and spay/neuter fee for Kiss-Kiss all by herself. Kiss-Kiss is a grey tabby with somewhat cross-eyes. In fact, the shelter staff named her "Googly Eyed Gloria"! The shelter also listed her age as 8 months, but I'm thinking she's much younger. She's a bundle of energy and enjoys jumping onto things like the older cats. And she loves to hide. So much so, we bought her a collar with bells so we could keep up with her whereabouts.
This was our first experience with adopting from our local animal shelter. And I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a new furry addition to their family. As part of the adoption, we received a complementary vet visit, cat toys, Hill Science cat food and information on helping our cats transition to their new home. The only sad part of the experience for me, was that I couldn't take all the kitties at the shelter home! My eyes teared up a number of times while we were walking through the shelter. All those sweet little faces looking at you. But I'm confident, the staff will find good homes for all the animals!
Mary Ellen
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Fall Decorating - Metallic Craft Pumpkins
Last week, I shared our dining room's black and white fall decorative touches. For our entryway and foyer, I went with metallic. The bronze polka dot pumpkin, large gray pumpkin and small bronze pumpkins were painted by me. The silver and gold metallic pumpkins were bought half off at Michael's. Tis the season to stock up on discounted craft pumpkins!
Mary Ellen
Monday, October 17, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Clayton's Habitat Project
Clayton with his frog habitat project
(Reed stuck his hand and froggy into the picture LOL!)
We've got our first project of the new school year out of the way! Clayton had to prepare a habitat project and present it to his class. He chose frogs after observing a small toad swimming in the backyard sandbox after a heavy rain. And ever the thrifty spender, Clayton found the frogs we used in the project while out with Daddy at yard sales!
Have a good weekend!
Mary Ellen
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Fall Decorating - Black & White Craft Pumpkins
It's Fall and the black and white craft pumpkins have returned to the dining room. I'm thinking about adding black and white check ribbon to the tops of the white craft pumpkins. But I probably should finish up the rest of the fall decorating before I jump to another project! After all Dave was kind enough to fetch my pumpkins from the attic. I should at least put them out instead of letting them sit in the storage bin :)
Mary Ellen
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Thrift Store Dresser - TV Media Stand
From thrift store dresser to TV stand
This is a story of love - a thrifty kind of love between a man and his wife. And a pretty cool robin's egg blue TV stand! One Saturday afternoon, Dave and I were browsing a local thrift store with the kids. We both spotted this solid, wood dresser with nice details on the drawers. The dresser was in pretty good shape, just a few scratches and missing some drawer pulls. It was priced at $25. I liked it, but thought there was no way Dave would agree to paying for a dresser when we've come across so many in the past on the curbside.
A few days go by and while talking with Dave, we discover that we're both still thinking about the dresser LOL! So the next day, while I was at work, Dave and Reedy go back to the thrift store. The dresser is still there and Dave haggles the price down to $20. Since Dave had Reed with him (my Momma was out of town), he couldn't take the back seats out of the van. So he had to strap the dresser to the top of the van and drive back across town with it on the roof.
Drawer details
I came home to find the dresser under our garage, with Dave already busy priming it! Since it would be the focal point of the family room, I chose one of my favorite blue-gray/robin's egg blue paint colors (Valspar Atlantic Gray). Once Dave finished painting the dresser, I added black glaze to bring out the details on the drawer fronts.
I love it! And think fondly of my husband's sweet gesture every time I look at it :)
Mary Ellen