New Furniture for Dylan

My 14 yr. old, Dylan, has an amazing talent in art. He loves drawing and really has a gift. He also loves working with his hands and has won an award in shop class for best in district. Then we found out our high school offers classes in architecture, we knew this would be a great fit for him. He loves this class and is excelling in it. He has already brought home a blue print for his first house he designed in Auto Cad. We are so proud of him. It's not very often that you know your career path at 13 or 14. He says he wants to pursue this in college...that is if he doesn't make it for the pro's in baseball! :)

My mom is very proud of him as well and recently was at a friends house and telling them about his blue prints for his house. Well, the husband said he had something for Dylan and all he wanted in return was a thank you card. I've never even met this man and have only met his wife a couple of times. They must think highly of my mom, because he had an antique drafting table that is dated from probably the 30's that he gave to my son! It's beautiful and I absolutely love it!! I don't know if Dylan really appreciates it just yet, but he wrote a very sweet thank you card and says he wants to put it in his room. The top has seen better days, but it really is a neat piece of furniture. Can't wait to work it into his room.

What do you think?




My older son, Justin, is moving back home at the end of March after living out on his own for the last year and being self sufficient. He wants to be able to work less and focus more on school and be done with community college. He lost his room to his brother when he moved and now will have to share with him when he moves in. So there is going to be lots of changes going on in that room in the next month. Good time to organize and do some decorating, don't ya think???

My two boys! They are growing up on me way too fast!

(yes, that is a mohawk, drumming skeleton in a tank top he is holding. Scott and I had to get it for him when we saw it in New Orleans. See, he also plays drums, loves old rock 'n roll, and over the summer he wore these white tank tops while sporting his summer cut...a mohawk!!)

Pantry Gets a Make-Over

Since I've discovered decor blogs, I have really enjoyed being inspired and seeing all the creativity that is out there. One of the blogs that I love is http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/. I especially love going on Monday. She has basically a before and after party and you can link from her blog to yours. Which I LOVE LOVE LOVE before and afters!! So I could spend hours on her site every Monday. Here is the link to Susan's Metamorphosis Monday. Enjoy!!!

I showed the following picture yesterday of my kitchen pantry.


Yes, that is my pantry (embarrassing). It's huge, I love it, but it becomes a catch all for everything. There has never been any organization to it in the 6 years we have been here and because of all you inspiring ladies out there, I decided I wanted my pantry to look different. Not just another junk closet that stores my food.



I know this isn't a decor make-over. But I have plans for my pantry and how could I ever do anything about making it look "pretty" if I didn't get it organized. One of my ideas is to remove the door and put in an old screen door. I've looked already, but am having problems because my pantry door is smaller than normal...any ideas?? Also want to incorporate nice jars and baskets for storing food and even hang something nice on the walls. I mean it is almost as big a room, so why not decorate it?!?!

Here are more pics:

Kitchen during the process.


Building ClosetMaid cabinets for the pantry.

And FINALLY, the semi-finished project:

Isn't she pretty?



Inside each cabinet, I have containers that I got at Wal-Mart and they hold all our junk, school supplies, craft stuff, Daisy Scout stuff, etc. I just need to label them next.


In a perfect world, my pantry would have never gotten this way. But all who know me, know I'm far from being perfect and I'm definitely not organized. So thanks ladies for motivating me!!! Can't wait to have something more fun to show on Metamorphosis Monday.



Blessings, Angie

A Date Filled Weekend

My husband and I started off the weekend right. We had a date night on Friday. Our church was hosting FNL (Friday Night Live) with a comedian for kids. This meant 3 hours of free time. While hubby was dropping off Cassie and a friend at church, I was lighting candles around the house and ordering Chinese food. We ate by candlelight, had some wine and watched a movie. It was fun, inexpensive and much needed!

The next night we had a different kind of date. One that involved Cassie. We stopped at Blockbuster and rented a movie then went to one of her favorite restaurants, Jason's Deli. She loves their tortilla soup and kids pizza. Then back to the house for popcorn with M&M's and the movie!





Tonight, I have a date with my other daughter, Marissa, to finish up a school project that is due tomorrow. Somehow, I don't see that one being near as fun...it's for science class. YUCK!!!

We should have more dates in our families. With hubby and with the kids. Everyone enjoys them so much. It's nice to spend quality time with them. And, besides, I think I deserved 2 dates in a row after working on this all week:



As embarrassing as it is, it had to be revealed in order to appreciate the after. Stay tuned and tomorrow you will see the results of this area! These blogs were my inspiration, http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/ and http://thedavisfamilynwa.blogspot.com/. If you like home decor, you'll love their sites.

Blessings, Angie

Must do more blogging...less stalking!

It's been how long since I posted??? I was so pumped about creating a design blog, posted twice and then deserted it. What I have not deserted is checking out every ones blog on a regular basis. It's almost intimidating how many creative and wonderfully talented women that are out there in the blogworld. I have stalked many of your beautiful sights and feel like I know some of you....kind of scary when you think about it, huh? But don't worry, I'm harmless!! :)

I said I would post some pictures of my home and I guess I should start out by doing that first, so you can get to know me and my style a little. I have noticed something since seeing your homes and taking photos of mine....I'm way country in my style. I grew up with a mother who loved "old" things. She used to be into antiquing and setting up at flea markets and even dumpster diving after having a couple of glasses of wine with her bff. But I do love other styles as well and I have learned that about myself by seeing so many of your different styles. I think I've been a little intimidated to really let myself mix and match different styles. Trying to be too matchy, matchy! But I've learned that I can totally mix and match styles and colors. It's all about what you love that makes it beautiful and makes it home.

As I take pictures and post, I realize how many things I want to do and how many ideas I have in my head but haven't done yet. Someone once told me that you can be such a perfectionist that you don't get anything done. Simply because you want it done so perfect and in such a way, that it's almost unachievable....I think that is me. Somehow, I've got to figure out how to let that go and just do it!


This is the wall above our front door. My husband hung all my crosses for me this past Saturday for Valentine's Day. He knows my love language is acts of service.


This is the same room to the left of the front door. We call it the front room - it's main purpose is computer area for the kids. It was originally supposed to be a dining room but I wasn't too fond of that. The walls in here are about 18' - 20' high, so it's intimidated me a bit. I have so many ideas....(I know I must get rid of that $30 brass light fixture - I've got my eye on one at Lowes).


Same room as you are walking into my kitchen. The antique stained glass was a gift from my mom and I thought it would look good in this entry that was very tall. I hung the curtain over it, but am not too crazy about it and will replace it when I find another or some material that I love.




This is in my kitchen. Hubby bought me this cabinet when we moved in our current house 6 yrs. ago. I love it and it has matchy matchy bar stools to go with it! :)

Well, that's enough for one night. I've got to be sure and keep this up and also start "doing" and not let my perfectionism get in the way. It's probably what has kept me from blogging as well!

Blessings - Angie

Busy, Busy, Busy

It has been so busy around here, as I'm sure it's been busy for you as well. The holidays are upon us and it is that time of year...time for cheer, time for tinsel, and time for little rest. Especially this year for me. As I said in my previous post, I started back to school for interior design and this is not only the time for decorating fun and shopping, it's time for hitting the books and cramming! I have finished my creative writing class and am 1 test away from completing art history. It's so weird being in school again, but I'm loving it! It's time to get signed up for the next semester and I'm going to try and take 3 classes. I'm easing my way back into it. It feels amazing to have almost completed this semester. When I was young, I was a bit rebellious and I started college a couple of times. But lacked the commitment to complete. I have prayed that this time will be much different. Third time is a charm, isn't it??

I have several pictures that I want to post...some goodies I bought in Canton, TX (if you don't know about this place, it's in East TX and is about 40 acres or more of just stuff...old, new, junk, crafts, and anything else you could think of), some changes that we have made to our house recently (still so much to be done), and some others. I'm going to try and post some tonight or tomorrow so you can get to know me a little more. I have SOOO loved this new discovery of mine...finding all of these wonderful design/decor/craft blogs. I'm sure my family won't mind if they skip dinner again so I can catch up on all of your wonderful posts!!! ;)

Thanks for checking mine out and I hope you'll return again and again. I will leave you with a few pictures of some pretty interesting Christmas trees to put you in the spirit of the season, as if you ladies need ANY help!

Angie







And my favorite of all because it reminds me of the tree my grandparents had every year!

Simple & Southern

That would be me. Born and raised in the south and being brought up very simply, I learned to appreciate the small things in life...

the smell of rain or freshly mowed grass
riding on the tractor at the farm
cutting out paper dolls from the Sears catalogue
angel food cake - plain, simple & delicious
the warmth of granddaddy's old stove after putting wood in it
the pan of biscuits he made with every meal
picking watermelons and cantaloupe from the garden
eating pickles with my best friend at the fair
sitting on grandma's front porch swing

These are a few fond memories in a very memorable childhood. Something else I remember is how often I used to change my bedroom. It didn't matter where we lived, what my room was like or what kind of furnishes I had. I loved to re-arrange and re-do as often as I could. Thankfully, I had a mom who didn't mind this little habit. I guess that would be the beginning of my obsession with decorating. And it hasn't gone away yet.

Several years ago, I was able to stop working and stay home with my children. It was such a blessing and I love being able to do this. But my kids are all in school now (one is actually grown and living on his own) and I would love to do something I'm passionate about and possibly make a new beginning for myself. I've started back to college with plans of earning an Interior Design degree.

In the mean time, I want to learn as much as I possibly can from the Blogging World about design and decor. I've found many wonderful websites that inspired me to create my own. Not sure where this is taking me, but I hope it's on a wonderful & blessed journey. I can't wait to meet more of you out there who love what I love, who inspire and want to be inspired and who simply want to make the world a more beautiful place to live.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll have some posts and pictures of things I've done around my home.

Angie