A new LOOK

For some time, the cabinets above our refrigerator drove me insane.  Not being able to access them because they were too far back making storage a big fat "not"  just made me irritated, lol.  I dreamed of having an enclosure, but it was always on the last part of the to do list.

With them being wider than the actual fridge, it was a true eyesore.  I seemed to always be trying to hide the big gap at the top too.  

So, you all have to know the rest....I searched Pinterest and online for inspiration!  I found numerous kitchens that I fell in love with but my budget was under $100.  My original plan was to use ash wood, but it was $50 for a 4x8 sheet.  I needed two, so that was marked out quickly.  On to the next plan, using paneling and turning it backside out for a smooth finish.   The hubby just loves me when I come up with a "plan".  He says, "when are your plans going to stop?"  But we didn't argue or bicker on this project and I am still in shock!   Between paneling, paint, screws, and lumber, we spent $85 on this little upgrade.  Yes, I shopped at Lowes and used scraps too. 

He does such a good job with making things square, measuring correctly and cutting nice straight lines.  That's why he's my handy man.(smiling from ear to ear with love)

Once he does his magic, then it's my turn.  Painting, adding trim, adding a shelf and hanging the cabinet doors.  I used the doors from below the sink.  I had been wanting to add a curtain for a long time but always chickened out.  Now I had a good excuse to follow through.  But the squareness of it all didn't sit well with me.

So I added appliques that I made, to mimic the curve on the top cabinets.  It did the trick!

I love how it turned out!  Now I just need to paint the rest of my cabinets white and we'll be good to go.

But that's another story.  We have some students coming Sunday to film and I can't be in the middle of painting, now can I?

It actually makes the kitchen feel bigger.

More wall space was a nice added bonus.  Sadly I didn't have enough room for Mammaw's little desk.  I'll find another spot for it though. See the skirt under the sink?  I love it! 

Little feet were added to the kick plate along with the corner brackets above the skirting to make my dream kitchen a reality.  I just so need to PAINT!  I see so many scuff marks, and the distressed look isn't my cup of tea anymore with these cabinets.  One day at a time Sweet Melanie...Rome wasn't built in a day.

Tweaking takes time so until then, have a blessed week.

Don't call me NUTS

Christmas is coming a little sooner this year.  I blame the new Christmas tree!  

Even Louis knew something was going on. 

So here's the story....

The tree we've had for a few years just wasn't making me happy like it had.  My heart had been yearning for a flocked tree for some time.  Plus, with the addition of the window wall, this tree just was too tall.  I had to put it by the window last year when I wanted so badly to put it in front of our new creation.

So, if you all know me by now, I began searching online starting with photos of what I liked.  Of course we don't have hundreds of dollars to throw away during the Holidays, much less any other time of the year.  

Hannah and I went to Kmart first...nothing!  Then we decided to go to Walmart.

This is what we found:

It is a 6 and 1/2 foot tree...perfect for by the window wall!  We have 8 foot ceilings upstairs and down, so a tall tree has always been a must in the past.  But I am finding that I love the smaller trees now.

We could afford this tree for only $89.  Isn't it pretty?!

We had a little snag on the way home.  We smelled some serious burning and thought that it was a car in front of us.  Sadly, when we arrived home, we noticed that it was actually us.  A back driver side tire, maybe the brakes or a ball joint going bad.  The hubby has been working so much that we haven't had the time to figure it out and fix it.  I'm just so glad that we made it home safely.  God was watching out for us, I know.

Anyways, back to the tree.  It sat in the box on our living room floor for a few days.  It drove me nuts, so I opened it and then the next thing I know, I was decorating for Christmas.

Even Louis got in on the fun.

  He had such a fun time hiding in all of the pine.

So far, he hasn't messed with anything.

He seemed to enjoy the tree....I caught him checking it out then he caught me snapping his photo, lol.  I simply love this cat!

The next day, I pulled out the new camera and experimented.  Oh how my heart pitter pattered when I saw how I could get the back ground to be blurry with the long distance lens.  

I lay in bed at night thinking of how I can take photos.  Always thinking....

You see those beautiful photos of the lights in the background, all aglow with the focus on something else?  Well, now I can create those myself!

What fun I am having!  

I'm still decorating a little throughout our home and am quite content decorating this early.  I love having our tree up during Thanksgiving, I always have.  I have never been a fan of Fall colors inside the home, so I have never really decorated for Halloween or Thanksgiving too much.  Always ready to decorate for Christmas since that is my most favorite holiday ever.  It stands for something that is miraculous!  Baby Jesus was born and God blessed us all with a miracle!  I'm thankful for the Pilgrims, but who can top Baby Jesus?  No one, not even Santa!

Now I can sit back, relax, bake, shop and spend time with my family.  What a peaceful feeling it all is.

And of course have crazy ideas at 7 pm in the evening and be able to do them!  

A little project that I've wanted to do for years...add feet under our cabinets.  Well, it's done and we love them!  So there you all have it...a few peeks at our Christmas decorations.  I want to enjoy the holidays and this is how I do it in our home.  Thanks for visiting and I hope y'all have a blessed weekend!

A Little of Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Boy, what a past few weeks we've had.  First, I would like to say thank you to the kind hearts for praying for Bruno.  Sadly, he passed away a day later after requesting prayers for him.  We have no clue what took him so quickly.  Such a sad day for me...I cried when I should have been celebrating.  It was our oldest daughter's  birthday.  It just put a funk on the whole day. 

This photo was taken the day he had a little upset tummy and the next day, he was at deaths door.  

~I will definitely miss him~

We were all able to scrounge up a few smiles as we watched Sara open her gifts on her birthday.  We had two birthdays in the same week...her's and Mike's.

Where does the time go?  I am getting older by the minute!

Hannah giving her big sis a birthday hug...

sniff sniff

And the birthday boy.  He's growing so fast, lol.

I am so very blessed to have this little family of mine. And to be able to celebrate special moments like these along with every day living.

God has truly been good to me.

Just look at where I live....the beauty is all around me and I see God in it.  His beautiful and talented artistry just amazes me every day!

Now, I want to talk a little about some make up.  I have a red face that is getting redder as I get older.  It drives me insane!  Especially after going blonde.  A red face and gold hair do not go well together.  Thank goodness for photo editing but Lord, help those that see me in person, lol.  I have good moments and bad with the red.  

After seeing a photo of my gold hair and red face, I decided it was high time to do something about it.  I do not have rosacea, acne trouble, dry skin or oily skin.  I do not know why my face is red, but I do know that my Dad's face is red just like mine.  It must be hereditary.

I googled what I could do with make up and this is what I found.   Bye Bye Redness correcting creme. I was amazed at the videos and reviews, so I knew I had to get my hands on some.  I found that our Ulta store sold it and was off the next day to buy it!

Fair warning...I look like a beet farmer!  These photos are not edited at all.  They were taken with my cell phone, so the colors are a bit off anyways.  But you'll see the difference!  Just look at how the red disappeared!  This is with no other make up on my face other than the Bye Bye Redness Correcting Creme by It cosmetics.  Let me add that I absolutely hate thick make up, that caked on look and feel.  I will not wear foundation.  This stuff is amazing!  I barely used any because it is thick.  A little goes a very long way and that's good with it being $32 for .37 ounces.  But it works and is definitely worth the price.

 The left photo is with a green primer, a loose powder, blush, some eye shadow, lip gloss and of course mascara.  I always wear mascara since my lashes are blonde.  The right photo is just with the Bye Bye Redness correcting creme.  Still no editing in either photo.    Now, I can have my photo taken inside without looking like a red faced goofball!  

And as for my hair, well, I used an ash blonde to tone down the gold and I love it!  The hubby said to me that if I had never colored my hair, then this would be my natural hair color.  I'm sure glad he remembers what it looked like way back when...because I almost forgot, lol!

Now, on to what I've been doing around the house.  I bought some beautiful antique china and finally had the time to rearrange my china cabinet.  I absolutely adore old china, especially with pale pink and blue flowers.

I also love to mix patterns!  See how everything looks so pretty together?   3 patterns are in there....

For the larger pieces that wouldn't fit in the china cabinet, I set them around the kitchen.  Some candy will look great here for Christmas!  I can't wait to start decorating!

Can you believe I changed up the photos here?  The girls have been begging me to do away with their old photos.  I can't wait to decorate this for Christmas!

And I changed this photo as well.  It's pretty nice to be able to do your own photography!

One last thing...Look what I was finally able to buy?!  These gorgeous Poinsettias are a pale pink covered in sparkly snow.   They were 40% off too! I will say again, I cannot wait to start decorating for Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by....

I pray that all of you have a very blessed week to come and that it's full of joy, love and peace!

Bruno

Our sweet Bruno isn't feeling well and I would like to ask for prayers for him.  

  The Bible says that in Mathew 18:19 

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall

agree on earth as touching any thing that 

  

they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my 

Father which is in heaven.

Thank you so much!

Playing Hairdresser Again

I needed a little change, so I decided instead of cutting off all of my hair, that I would go lighter.  So glad I did!

Here is a photo of the last time I colored my hair which was about 4 months ago.

I had an ombre' that had faded, so I just added the dark color to the top half.  

But of course, we all know that color fades as time goes by.  My original hair color is blonde.  As I got older, it became a little darker in spots except around my face.  So when I color my hair dark, my blonde always shows it's color around my temples along with a few grey hairs (cough cough) making it a pain to have dark hair when I pull it back.

See, I was born a blonde.

This was my hair color when Mike and I were dating before I started highlighting it.  I've always had red and gold undertones when I lightened my hair so I gave up when I was younger.  I have horror stories about carrot orange hair on a Sunday night before school and no stores being open, lol.  Oh, it was awful!

But it taught me that any hair catastrophe wasn't the end of the world.

So, I bought some Color OOps to take out the dark color.  If you have fake color in your hair and want to go lighter, you have to do this or the bleach will not lighten.

This is what it looked like after...

Orange!

Then my sweet Sara did my hair with these two colors.  Ion High Lift ash blonde and pale ash blonde.

I think she owes me from all of the hours spent on her hair, don't you?  lol  She did a great job!

I then used the Wella T18 toner. It didn't do the trick, so then I used the Wella 12A Ash blonde the next day to take out the brassiness.  It did the trick!

It turned out to be a strawberry blonde which was perfect.  See how my hair takes to the red and gold undertones even though I used "ash" everything?  At least my eyebrows match now!  I always had to dye them before with the dark hair.

I recommend using this shampoo for all blondes if you tend to have brassiness.  It truly works!  The girls use it on their platinum hair and it keeps it looking white.

Oh, and I cut my own hair too...not too shabby, huh?  I should have been a hair dresser...but then I would be dead from all of the fumes!  That stuff is dangerous, lol!

So, for the pick me up, it did the trick.  Between all that's going on in the world, our health, and daily life choices, a new hair color can add a little change to your life.  But without God, nothing would ever help.  He's the answer to everything and I am thankful I was able to do my own hair and save a few dollars.

I hope all of you have a very blessed coming week.  

~Are You Ready~

I'm going to do a little something a bit different today.  Rather than share photos of our home, I want to share some thoughts with you.

My heart is heavy....the things I am seeing in this world are a little concerning to me.  With what's going on with Russia, the shooting at an Oregon College pertaining to whether one was a Christian or not, our country's president and what he's not doing, the Pope's visit and what he said, Israel's leader explaining with a speech at the UN about how no one is helping or defending them....I mean, can you see it?  There is so much more that has happened, but you get the picture.  

Are we really all ready for what is about to come?  Are you ready to stand for what is right when faced with life or death on this earth?  Christian faith is being attacked.  I'm not talking about those that say they are Christian, but never act it or live it.  I'm talking about those who truly love God and make it their life, live by peace and love and hurt no one.

Are you ready to pronounce your belief when faced with a choice of living or dying on this earth or are you going to choose to live eternally?

God is and always has been the only true answer to everything. 

My prayer is for all to be ready.