I tried to do the chandelier last week while my mother-in-law and husband were there. Both of them were watching me while I worked, which is fine with me, but the deafening silence was telling me that they did not like it. To be honest, neither did I! I took it all down and did not touch it again until Tuesday morning at 2:30 am. I couldn’t sleep and decided to decorate the chandelier. It was quiet, and I was by myself. A perfect time to do it. I know, I know, this seems like a repeat of last week! I actually enjoyed the solitude. I was tired the rest of the day, but it was done, and my mother-in-law and spouse gave it a thumbs up! The chandelier The picks I used were long and drapey. I used floral wire to attach them to the chandelier. I wrapped greenery ties around the wire to hide them. Because the greenery was long it was easy to cover each arm. I used only four picks to cover all five arms of the chandelier. I had these beautiful pinecone swags that sparkled and thought they would look great. After adding the pinecones, I wound ribbon all around the arms of the chandelier. Finally adding berries to the top for color. The finished product! I love the simplicity of it! If you enjoyed the post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts.

This week, I started working on an antique dresser. My plan was to decoupage the front of the dresser and paint the rest with chalk paint. Two things happened to put a kibosh on my plans. The dresser needed more work than I initially thought, and being my first time decoupaging on furniture, I wanted to take my time and not rush it. What I am trying to say is there will not be a reveal this week.   So, with that, I will share what I have done so far!         I purchased this dresser on Facebook Marketplace a few weeks ago. It is a solid piece with great lines. It just needed a little love. After removing the hardware, I cleaned the dresser with an all-purpose cleaner (all products used will be listed at the end of post). It was so dirty I had to change the water three times before I was finished. It was while I was cleaning that I began to notice just how much “love” it actually going to need.    Since the top of the dresser was beyond repair, I sanded it down to prepare it for painting. There were areas where the veneer was peeling and some where it had completely come off. To address this, I carefully applied glue underneath the lifting veneer using a kabob stick and then placed books on top to hold it in place while it dried.   For the sections where the veneer was missing entirely, I filled them in with spackle. Additionally, there were pieces of molding that also required regluing I told you it needed a lot of work. With all the prep work done, it was ready for primer not only to give it a good base coat but also to prevent bleed-through.      It took longer than I expected, but it is ready for the next step. Decoupage!      Here is a sneak peek of the decoupage design I chose. I love this paper! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as they are created. Be on the lookout for: Decoupage Dresser Makeover Part Two: The reveal!    I removed all the hardware. They are gorgeous!      My husband sanded the top for me since my allergies were acting up.      There were a few pieces of molding that needed to be glued back into place.      On the top of the dresser some of the veneer was pulling up. I used a cabob stick to push the glue underneath. Then placed some books on top to keep it in place while it dried.      In other areas the veneer was completely off. I filled those spots with spackle.   The first thing I did was clean it thoroughly. I had to empty my bucket three times until the water ran clear. After it dried, I reattach loose trim pieces then attempted to secure the peeling veneer on top with glue, but it was unsuccessful. I had to remove the veneer pieces and fill them in with spackle. Next, I sanded everything to achieve a smooth finish. Following that, I applied odor-blocking primer to the entire piece, including the top, which was not in good enough shape for staining. I applied three coats of primer to reduce any odors and prevent bleeding through the paint. I love this Decoupage paper and was really excited (albeit nervous) to try it!   To prepare, I watched dozens of YouTube videos demonstrating different techniques for decoupaging furniture. I decided to go with wallpaper paste because it gives you more placement time, which would definitely benefit me. I gathered all my tools: a paintbrush and roller for applying paste, chip brushes to help smooth, an X-Acto knife to remove excess paper and cut seams, and an awl to punch out drawer holes. I was ready to begin. I positioned the decoupage paper with the rose in the center, secured it with painter's tape, and proceeded to apply wallpaper paste before laying down the paper. Realizing I had made a mistake by trying to apply the decoupage paper while the dresser was upright it was impossible to manage and the paper tore. I called my husband (I may have screamed) to help me lay the piece down. We laid it down; I thanked him, and I went back to work. I can be intense when something is going wrong. He is the best husband! After we brought the dresser down, it was much easier to handle. Moving forward, I made some other changes: cutting the decoupage paper, working on each drawer separately, and using the chip brush instead of my hands. Making these changes made the application much better. There were still tears and frustration when trying to get the paper into all the intricate places on the piece. However, I was able to repair the rips using extra paper by placing it and pasting over it, and you could not even tell. If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as they are created. Keep a lookout for "Decoupage Dresser Part Two: The Reveal!

In my last post my intent was to I start a makeover an antique dresser using decoupage " Furniture Makeover Using Decoupage: Part One! " The plan however was derailed when the furniture piece had more repair work than originally anticipated. So decoupaging was put on hold while I repaired the piece. Let's get see what happened next: A quick recap of the last post: I purchased a dresser that needed more work than I originally thought. To remedy this, I cleaned, repaired, sanded, and finally gave it three coats of primer. All of this took longer than expected, which is why there is a part two. As this was my first attempt at decoupaging a piece of furniture, I watched dozens of YouTube videos in preparation. There were many techniques to choose from, but I went with the one that uses wallpaper paste to attach the paper. It allows more time to move the paper, which I know I will need. With the piece ready to go, I placed the decoupage paper so the rose would be centered on the dresser and assembled all my tools in preparation. A paintbrush and roller for applying wallpaper paste, two chip brushes to smooth out wrinkles, an X-Acto Knife for cutting seams and excess paper, and an awl to punch drawer holes out. I was ready, albeit a little nervous, to begin.    Everything was ready to go. I applied the wallpaper paste and started to lay the paper.   Right off the bat, I knew I made a mistake trying to put the paper on with the dresser standing up. It was impossible to control, and the paper started to rip. I called for my husband (if I am honest, screamed for him) to come and   help me lay the piece down. We laid it down, I thanked him and went back to work. And he was only too happy to go back to what he was doing . I can be intense when something is going wrong. He is the best husband! Once the dresser was lying flat, it was much easier to manage. The ripped areas were repaired using extra paper, wallpaper paste, and a toothpick. I really thought the molding would be difficult to maneuver around, but the chip brush was able to get into the crevices and smooth out any wrinkles. I did change my approach with the drawers by cutting the paper and working on one drawer at a time instead of keeping the paper whole. It worked much better, and the excess paper was easily smoothed out around the drawer area. I took a risk attempting to decoupage a piece that had intricate workings for my first try. But I am so glad I did the detailing adds another level of beauty to the paper itself. I am really proud of the way it came out (I am patting myself on the back right now). I let the decoupage dry overnight and the next day I put three coats of a water-based polyurethane to seal and protect.      The next step was painting the dresser base.   I chose cocoa color (all products used in this post will be listed at the end) chalk paint. Using a round brush, I went every which way to add some texture.   For detail work, I used a small brush, moistening the brush to help the chalk paint go on smoothly.   I was extra careful not to get chalk paint on the decoupage around the drawers.   To add depth, I used a ragging technique with more cocoa chalk paint, along with green and grey colors. I liked the results, but after it dried, I felt it was too gray for the decoupage paper design. I mixed the darker green color with white chalk paint and water to create a wash. I brushed it on and wiped it off, leaving a pale green glaze that now perfectly complemented the design.    I let it dry overnight and added clear and dark wax to seal and age it.   Lastly, I added the original hardware that I touched up with antique wax.       The finished piece! I can see this piece in a bedroom, foyer, office, garden room, really anywhere.         I was able to keep original hardware. I just added a little Rub N Buff.   I would call that quite the transformation! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as they are created. Products used: Roman Wallpaper and Border Adhesive Sandrina Rice Paper Decoupage, by Decoupage Queen Annie Sloan Chalk Paints Chateau Grey, and Coco Waverly Chalk Paint in Celery.

During our trip to New York, my husband and I explored architectural salvage locations. While we visited several places, two particularly caught our attention: Amighini Architectural in Jersey City, NJ, and Old Iron in Brooklyn, NY. Despite their contrasting aesthetics, both places were equally impressive in their own right. Due to the abundance of captivating content from each location, I divided our experience into two separate posts. The first post highlighted our visit to Amighini Architectural -- Architectural Salvage Finds In New York And New Jersey, Part One , while today's post showcases Old Iron in Brooklyn, New York. Salvaging part two: Siegel style The second place we visited was the total opposite of the first. Here we would have to dig for our finds there were no vignettes anywhere to be found. But that was okay because we like to dig! My rules of salvaging: take your time, lift and sift through everything, go through more than once, and think outside the box.   Also be realistic about how much work you are willing to put in. A perfect example are these iron newel posts. Refinishing them would take a lot of work. But if you can commit, the end result would be amazing!   When I first looked in this area, I saw old sinks but look past the sinks against the wall.   Look at this gate! There was no way of getting it home or anywhere to put it at my house, but like the other place, a girl can dream!   This looks like trash but there is some good stuff in here. Next to the dresser is a table, on the small rectangular table is a small trunk for storage and in the back is wood and hopefully some decorative trim pieces.   I found this antique bed behind some other items. I loved it and purchased it for our guestroom.   Here is another diamond in the rough. The table has beautiful details it just needs a glass top. I have been looking for a plant stand for our patio. I love the shape and the rust.   I am happy to report that we were able to find architectural trim pieces for the door I am transforming into an antique French mirror. It will take some work to clean up but it all cost $40 instead of $1, 200. It was such a fun trip. I hope we get to do it again soon!   If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as thy are created.

If you haven't seen the first blog you might want to check that out first. The piece had more damage than I expected, and it was time consuming to repair. But it is completed and is now ready for the next steps. Let's get to it shall we: This is the piece after all the repair work. It is prepped and ready for paint! I settled on a brighter purple-blue paint that will be accented by dry brushing with a softer blue shade (all products used will be listed at the end of the post). I really like the color, and the single knobs are perfect. Next up: dry brushing. I am excited to try this technique; hopefully, it will be as easy as the people on YouTube make it out to be. I ended up putting too much of the lighter blue on initially and panicked, but once I realized I could go back and touch it up with darker blue paint, I felt more at ease. As I was working on the piece, I felt the medallion spoke for itself and only needed to be lightly dry brushed. The technique worked better when I started highlighting the actual shape of the piece. I am pleased with my first try at dry brushing. I opted for a more cautious approach, as I had put a lot of work getting to this point and didn't want to risk having to start all over again. I plan to be more daring in the future. Just when you think the end was near... I had been going back and forth about keeping the inner shelf unit. In the end, I removed it, but it left that behind. Not so pretty. I had some decoupage paper in my stash that I thought would not only cover the back area but also add an unexpected touch. To adhere, I spread wallpaper paste on an area, then placed the decoupage paper using my hands and a brush to smooth it out. Once the paper was dry, I took a sanding brick and removed the edges. To finish, I added dark wax to age it. The final reveal. It really came out great. I tell myself I will never purchase a piece that needed so much work again, but then I see the finished product and think I probably will. If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as they are created. Products used: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Napoleonic Blue Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Louie Blue Annie Sloan Clear Wax Annie Sloan Dark Wax Roman Wallpaper Paste Blue Flight Decoupage Paper: Etsy

Along with attending to my original gardens: Front Garden, Garden Island, and bushes flanking the front door, I am also starting two more gardens: A Cottage Garden and my Mother-in-Law's Garden. All of this has taken several weeks to complete. I kept pushing myself beyond even my expectations. I would get up around 4:30 in the morning and work for a couple of hours before going to work. Then, when I came home, I would do more, eat dinner, and drag myself to bed, just to repeat it the next day. During these past couple of months, I put my back out several times, pulled muscles in my foot, and every part of my body was sore for weeks! Why push so hard? There are actually two reasons. One is my mother-in-law Audrey is turning 90, and we are having a party for her here. The other reason is I am having surgery and will be out of commission for several weeks and want everything done beforehand. The latter was a must for me. Not having things done and me not being able to do them would have driven me up the wall! Now I don’t have to worry about it, and I will be able to concentrate on healing faster! I am going to start by showing you what I began with and finally revealing the results. This post is about my Front Garden let's see what I did:   My front garden was not torn up from the addition/renovation but with all the machinery and work being done, I was not able to tend to them and became severely overgrown. Even the forsythia bush was out of control! I started with the forsythia bush making it easier to get to the actual garden. After weeks of pulling out weeds and taming back the out-of-control groundcover, I asked myself was it worth it? The answer is emphatically. Yes!! I love the way it looks now, and I don’t cringe anymore when I pull into the driveway. M y sister-in-law gave me a beautiful wooden piece of wall art with iron work detailing a few years ago. I absolutely adored it but was never able to find the perfect place. As the garden was taking shape, I knew I would need something to deal with the large utility box. I tried a few things but liked the wall art the best. It needed some more height, so I attached a sign I purchased last year from Michaels. Voila, a one-of-a-kind garden ornament! Since I had to dig up a lot of plants to remove the intertwined ground cover, I took a chance and pulled out the large spirea bush and transplanted it on the other side of the garden. As you can see in this picture it is thriving! A friend of mine gave me this crate a while ago. Even though it had a broken side I thought it was cool and took it hoping I would find a place for it. That day is here ! I needed something behind the sign and immediately an image of the box with flowers in it came to mind. Perfect! After removing the groundcover, I found plants I didn’t even know I had. If you look closely at the lower half of the wrought iron tower there is a climbing vine with purple flowers. I planted that a couple years ago and it is finally showing! If you recognize this perennial, can you leave the name in the comments? I would appreciate it! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as they are created.

Often, when you live in an area, you do not take advantage of the wonderful things available. You take it for granted that you will eventually do them, but you never make time for it. A perfect example was when I started dating my husband. He was originally from Brooklyn, NY, so I assumed he had seen the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, etc. Not only had he not visited any of the sites, but neither had his family. On our next trip to Brooklyn, I initiated a tour of all the sites, and we had a blast! Unfortunately for me, I have become one of those people. Rochester has a plethora of activities, and I have decided to take part in a few this holiday season. My first adventure was to the George Eastman House Museum for their annual Gingerbread house display. This is the historic mansion of the late George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, and one of the greatest philanthropists the world has ever known. The Rochester community has benefited so much from his generosity. The University of Rochester wouldn’t be a top 30 research university in the country, and MIT would have gone out of business if it weren’t for George Eastman’s legacy. You can learn more about him and the holiday gingerbread house display they have every year at: https://www.eastman.org/sweet-creations-gingerbread-display .                                       The Eastman House looks so pretty at night! The entrance fee was $15, which covered all exhibits in the museum. This is the first Gingerbread Creation on display as you enter. This sets the tone that they will not all be houses. The detail is amazing!                               Look at the water feature in this creation. It is so cool!                                             Try and guess what children’s book this is?                                               Here come Mama, Papa, and Baby bears. Watch out, Goldilocks! "My favorite! I think the shutters and door are made with sticks of gum. Who would have thought!"                                                                                                         The Peanuts Gang, I love it! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new blog posts as they are created.

I had my holiday tablescape all set in my head. I would use my white dishes, greenery, ornaments, and candles. Those plans went right out the window when my mother-in-law asked if I would like her China. She is in the midst of downsizing and has not used the set in years. When I saw the dishes, I immediately fell in love with them! My answer was YES, YES, YES! I obviously wanted to use them this holiday, so I switched gears and started to look for items to work with the dishes. This is the China set she gave me. I love the color and beautiful delicate flower pattern on the plates. It is a set for twelve, which also includes serving bowls, platters, and salt and pepper shakers. I am one lucky girl. After seeing the silver rim on the plates, my first thought was winter. I already had a white linen tablecloth and napkins, but I needed silvery sparkly decorations. At Pottery Barn, I came across mini mercury glass ornaments and beautiful silver-plated pinecones that would work perfectly. I also found a shimmering flocked garland to use as a table runner. With white ribbon, I tied the mini silver ornaments around the napkins to add shine. After laying the garland on the table, I placed the pinecone ornaments and intertwined them with a wired-silver ribbon. The finishing touch were crystal candlesticks with white tapered candles. This is the finished table! I could not be happier with the results! The best thing was my mother-in-law's reaction seeing her dishes used again! As a blogger, you want people to enjoy what you write and maybe even get inspired by it. A reader recently told me that my post did just that for her. She lost her mom in March and was looking for a special way to remember her on Christmas Eve. After reading my blog, she got the idea she was looking for. She decided to set up a beautiful table to celebrate the holidays and honor her mom's memory. What a beautiful tribute to her mother. The colors are so rich, and the gold accents throughout the room tie in beautifully with the tablescape. I love all the candles. It makes the room glow. The layering starting with the placemat all the way up to the napkin ring makes your eye travel, appreciating the detail as you go along. If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to get new posts as they are created.

A few years ago, our neighbors put up a six-foot stockade fence between our yards that could not be ignored. There was no real issue with it on our part. Our neighbors had two dogs and a toddler and needed the fence for them. The issue was how do I would make it look intentional and blend with my design plan for our backyard. I finally settled on solar lanterns that I purchased from a Joann Fabrics store. They had been the perfect solution until they stopped working this year. I cleaned them and put them in direct sunlight hoping this would recharge them. When this did not work, I decided to open them up. I was very surprised and creeped out at what I found! The lanterns I purchased. I pried off the top . When the top came off hundreds of ants and larvae fell out . I screamed and threw the lantern across the lawn (not my proudest moment) . Luckily for me the bulb inside is plastic not glass. After getting over the shock, I took the hose and started cleaning it out. Just typing this is giving me goose bumps and feel like I need a shower!! The inside of the lanterns had been damaged and would need to be repaired or replaced. Neither of these ideas appealed to me. I was determined to find another solution. I purchased these solar powered cork lights with the intention of using them in Saratoga sparkling water bottles to light my patio. Instead, I tried them in the lanterns. I fed the wire into the bulb through the top. The lights fit perfectly inside. To hold the top in place I used Gorilla Glue placed holding it in place until it set. The sightline of the lanterns going down the fence is stunning. I also wanted to add some kind of plant along the fence. I had a very overgrown Hosta that I split into fifteen pieces. I placed thirteen along the fence and gave two to my neighbor. Even though the Hosta isn’t fully grown it still looks good! I like the way these lights have a twinkle effect. I may even like these better than the original! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a "like" and subscribe to receive new posts as they are created.

You know the days when everything seems to be aligned in your favor. Well, that happened to me on one of my visits to Goodwill. It seemed like everywhere I looked, there was something I could not pass up. Best of all, I did not have to fix, paint, or tweak any of the pieces. They were great just the way they were! Wait until you see what I found! Can you believe it! I was going to pass these vases up at first glance. They were beautifully hand painted, but I was not a fan of the content on the front.   But then I turned them around just beautiful! This is how I styled them they are perfect with the colors in my house. I simply placed the pear plate on a gold wire frame and placed it on the mantel, but it could also go on a side table or be hung on the wall, etc. So, the bookends I thought I purchased are actually decorative shelves. What do you see when you look at these? I saw bookends. A woman was carrying this tray around and I was bummed that I did not get to it first. Then I saw her a few minutes later minus the tray and backtracked until I found it. Yeah! To style it the tray I placed on a stand it makes more of an impact than laying on the buffet. If you enjoyed the post, please give it a "like" and if you want to get my posts as soon as they come out "subscribe"