Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Niche reveal

Is anything ever finished?  I don't think so but I'm going to show you my niche makeover anyway.  Let's remember the before:
Remember, it was yellow (suppose to be pale but was more like sunshine), had a shelf we had installed and had stuff put in it just so it wasn't empty.  Although I like the old scale sitting in it, I have another place for that.





Here's the after:

We repainted the entire entry a soft neutral color.  I added an old pulley that I found junkin at my own house.  There's the little chair Jennie found for me.  I added pops of red and a few other things.  I like the simpler look of it but it still seems as if something's missing.  So, I may add a couple of more things to it in the future but for right now, I like it.  Total cost: just the cost of the chair.  Everything else I already had.

What do you think?  Like it better?
I've made a lot of progress on the rest of the entry and I'm almost finished with part A which is where this niche is located.  Hopefully, I'll be sharing that with you before the end of the weekend or early next week.

Monday, June 28, 2010

How not to measure

Most of the time when my pal, Jennie and I find things that interest either one of us, we are together.  Sometimes we're not.  If we are not together and see something that we know the other has been looking for, we will let the other know. We might even buy it for the other one (the other one will of course reimburse!)  For instance, after I found my french laundry basket, Jennie began looking for one.  I was at an antique mall with my husband when I spotted one for her.  I called to let her know about it even though she was home recovering from back surgery.  She returned my call and was excited about it so I went back to the antique mall the next day after work to get it for her.  I delivered it to her house and it was exactly what she wanted.  

Well as some of you know, I've been redoing my entry, parts A & B.  In the entry part A, there is a niche.


Do you see it there on the left?

I'm not a fan of niches really.  I never know what to do with them.  I'm not a huge beautiful silk flower arrangements kind of girl because that will collect dust that's hard to dust and I'm not a thorough dusting kind of girl either.  I had put a shelf in the middle of this niche to break it up and had put a few things in it but just never loved it.  So, it's getting a little makeover as part of the entry makeover.  I originally wanted to put this little display into the niche but it wouldn't fit (too big.)  So I began the hunt for something else which brings me back to the starting point of this little post. 

Jennie was out stuff hunting with out me and found a chair she thought would work.  She called and tried to describe it to me and it sounded great.  However, I had difficulty grasping the size of it (because after all it is a chair...what people sit in so it can't be that small) and I don't need another thing that's too big or doesn't work.  No problem because 99% of the time Jennie carries one of these in her purse:

Of course this was the one day she didn't have it but she did have that trusty iPhone, so she said she could take a picture and email it to me right then.  I said "don't forget a reference marker so I can judge the size".  She sent the picture with this reference marker:

Now, if that is a normal sized hand (and I know her son whose thumb that belongs to and he is a normal sized kid), then that chair must be itsy bitsy. Jennie said it is appears to be a child's or doll's chair but it is a bit bigger than it appears in this picture.  So, she decided to take another picture with a better reference point:

Yep, that would be Jennie's leg and foot.  We both were thinking that a foot is about a foot long.  So, the seat of the chair is about a foot wide which gives me better perspective.  Then I realized Jennie's foot is not a foot long, not 12 inches!  She's only like 5'8 or something and I think she wears about an 8 or 8 and a half shoe.  (I must admit here that although Jennie and I both have a couple of degrees, neither one of us are good at math.)  You know what, Jennie?  Just go ahead and get it.  The chair is so cute and I'm sure it will fit.
So she got it and dropped it off.  Guess what?  It fit! 
Here's a sneak peak:
I'll post the rest of the niche makeover later in the week.  This part just needed a post of it's own.  The moral of the story?  Always carry around one of those little tape measures or always keep at least one leg shaved with a good tan and cute shoes because you just never know.
(I did get Jennie's permission before showing off her leg. It's a good leg though.  If it were my leg, this post would have never happened...NEVER)

Friday, June 25, 2010

It's the little touches

We have lived in our house for 8 1/2 years and I have hated our outdoor light fixture since day one.  It hangs by the garage door on the front of the house and since there are no trees to hide it, it is easily seen and sticks out like sore thumb.  It's brassy and cheap and just not my style (I'm sorry if anyone has one like this and loves it.  It's just not me.)
I've been wanting a new fixture and have been looking all over. 
I want something that fits the style of the house, my style, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I wanted something like this:

I love this place and will make purchases there in the future but I couldn't see spending a couple of hundred dollars or more on a small outdoor light.  It is an awesome light though!

So, while picking up some paint at Lowe's, I spotted my new light fixture
$19.98!  That's it!  I love it. 


Before:
After:
Who knew a $20 light fixture could bring so much joy and completely change the look of our house?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Beating the heat





We are in our first heat wave of the summer down here in Texas. For days, we have had temperatures around 100 and just hot sun (no clouds, no rain, little breeze).  Texans have three favorite ways to cool off...go to the lake or pool, drink iced tea or make lemonade. (okay, we have other ways too...crank up the AC, turn up the ceiling fans to hurricane force winds, run through the sprinklers, go shopping at indoor places, crunch on a cup of ice, eat snowcones, I could go on and on...).   My son loves lemonade so I made some in my favorite vintage pitcher. 
I remember as a little girl seeing this pitcher in my grandmother's fridge.  She always kept it full of ice water. 
I love the top and haven't seen one of these anywhere else (or I would have bought it!) It has a little galvanized metal top.  The thin little lid is loose so it allows liquid to come out but not the lemons or whatever else you might put in that is chunky.

Lemonade with strawberries.  Yum!
When we recently cleaned out my mother-in-law's home we found a stash of these old jelly jars.  They make the perfect juice glasses or glasses for small drinks.
The only problem...I don't want anyone to touch it.  I'm afraid of it being dropped and broken.  Not very practical, huh?  I guess I'll be pouring all of the lemonade around here. 


I may be linking this little treasure up to a couple of my favorite link parties listed above in the party list or below on the right.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my very first giveaway celebrating my little milestone of achieving 200 followers.  Since everyone had up to 3 ways to enter, we had a total of 72 entries!  That's amazing! 
 I would love to send a little something to each of you but sadly, that's not how it works.
  I tried to think of some fun ways to pick a winner but just couldn't come up with anything that was both really creative and fair. So, I did it the old-fashioned way.  I wrote out all the entries on strips of paper and drew one out of a hat.
The winner of 3 Ring Cottage's very first giveaway is:

Rondell, if you will please email me your contact info, I will package the little lamps up and send them your way!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

What I Love About My House

Grace at Sense and Simplicity put an all call out for everyone to do a post about what they love about their home.  She is posting a round up of all those posts this Thursday.  Since I like Grace and her blog and it sounded like fun, I thought I would participate.  I've posted pictures of my house before but let's review.
Here is my house. It was completed in Dec. 2001.  I like a lot about my house (which is good since we'll live here forever).  Here are my top 5 things I love about my house:

1.  I love that my house is a cottage style and looks older, yet was new construction.  We wanted an old house but didn't think we could afford the upkeep and possible renovations.  We found new construction that looks older.  It manages to pack a punch with 4 nice sized bedrooms, 3 baths and 3 living areas tucked away in that cottage.  I like that it looks cute and cozy on the outside but it's 2500 square feet on the inside.  Love that.

2. I love the front porch.  LOVE it.  It comes complete with a ceiling fan.

2.  I love all of the windows.  It has walls of windows in the den/kitchen area and a sunroom.  It has big windows in every room. It faces west so the dining room at the front of the house is the only room that gets the evening sun which can be down right HOT during the summer months.  However, the rest of the house stays pretty cool for Texas. 
This room is just to show windows. Disregard the mess. It's my next big project after the entry areas are finished.

3.  I love the beadboard throughout the dining room and master bedroom. It came with the house.


4.  I love that I can add older/vintage things to the house to give it character and it really could pass for an older home.


5. and I love that it is next door to these people!  We have the greatest neighbors.  All of our neighbors are good (on every side of us) but these neighbors are awesome.  I love that my house is next door to theirs.



Monday, June 14, 2010

3 Ring Cottage's First Giveaway

Well, shortly after I posted this, my 200th follower joined in.  Now, I have 204!  That is 199 more than I ever thought I would have.  Thanks to anyone who has hosted a link party or who has mentioned this little blog on their blog.  With out you, nobody but my five trusty peeps (my husband, son, neighbor Kim, pal Jennie and her mom, Kay) would ever know about this blog.  It boggles my mind that 199 strangers find something interesting enough here that they want to keep checking in.  I don't have the most beautiful pictures like this blog or the humor of this blog (yet also has some awesome projects) or the wit of this blog or the sweetness of this blog or the inspiration of this blog and this blog  or the creativity of this blog or the freshness of this blog.  So, I don't know how I got this many followers in just 6 months of blogging but I really appreciate it.

So, as promised, here is my first giveaway.  Yep, I said it..."GIVEAWAY".  I never thought I would have a giveaway but this 200th follower thing is huge to me and a giveaway seems like the right way to celebrate it. First up: What is the Giveaway you ask?

The giveaway prize is this pair of vintage depression glass lamps.  They are old but have been rewired because the old cloth covered cords were frayed and unsafe. They have little silver metal accents some of which have the perfect of touch of rust on them.  They have a couple of little chips that are hard to see but are there.  That adds to the character of them.  They are small, about 10 inches high or so.  They are cute.  I have a couple of pairs similar to these and have used them on bedside tables, in the kitchen, in the dining room, on a desk...it's endless.
Heck, I'll even throw in the bandana for a Texas touch.

Next:  How do you get these?  Let's think of 3 ways to enter.

1:  Leave a comment, hopefully nice.
2:  Let me know if you are one of those 204 followers or you can become one.
3:  Grab the giveaway button and place on your blog OR just post about it.  Let me know.

The giveaway will be open until midnight Sunday, June 20.  I'll announce the winner on Monday.  That gives me a week to figure out random generator thing or some other creative fair way to pick a winner. 

Did I cover everything?  Did I miss any details?  Okay, let's play!
 
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