Flower "Toot"

Howdy gals. Welcome to the mansion. Wanted to take a moment to "toot" my horn today.

Lots of folks are doing the same over at Silly Little Sparrow.

I LOVE flowers. All flowers. A couple of times a month I pick up a pack of blooms at Wally World to spruce up my entrance table. Just seeing the pretty stems makes me happy every time I walk in the door.

Well...I decided this year to buy only yellow roses and to dry them and keep them for a Christmas project. I wanted to make little rose bundles to place on the Christmas tree. Nothing elaborate, just five dried roses, a pretty pick (from Hobby Lobby) and tie it all together with some ribbon. I ended up having enough dried flowers to do 12 bundles and have a few for the star as well....I didn't think to take pics of the "putting together" but here are a few of the finished product....

I like the way they turned out.

Here are a few of my helpers this year...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

This will also be posted at DIY Tuesday over at A Soft Place to Land.

Dollar Store Wreaths!

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Sunday. A few days ago I posted some wreaths and asked which you all like the best. (Check that out here.) You all chose the bell wreath. It was indeed gorgeous. See?
Well...I decided to try the bell wreath. I trotted myself down to the dollar store and loaded up on some wreath items.... I got some floral wire, a roll of gold ribbon, and 4 boxes of bells. My friend Judi ( Hi Judi!) also gave me some silver bells she had leftover from a project. I used the items to make two wreaths. So...that averages out ot 3 bucks per bell wreath.


I made a circle out of the floral wire and started loading the bells on the wire. I put one big bell and then five small bells and repeated this until I was done. Then I had a solid circle of bells. Next I tied a big gold bow and attached it to the wreath. At first, I hung the wreaths from the door knobs like "Martha." But, upon further thinking I decided that my kiddos would be too tempted to yank them off...over and over again. So, I attached them to the tops of the doors...

I really like the way they turned out. The gold and silver go well with our Christmas decor theme this year.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion to take a peek. I will be posting more wreaths and holiday decor in the days ahead. Have a great week.

For other crafty ideas hop on over to Its So Very Cheri.
And to see some super metamorphosis projects try Met Monday at Between Naps On The Porch.

Cottage Instincts is also hosting Make it Monday.

Monochrome Weekly: Missouri Sky

Hello ladies and gents. It is Monochrom Weekly Monday....yeah. This is my entry this week. It is a photo of the Missouri sky.

Hop on over to Monochrome Weekly to see all the great black and white photos.

Three Blind Mice: Monochrome Weekly

Monochrome Weekly: Black and Whites from around the world.

I am submitting my "three blind mice."

DeRidder, Louisiana

Super Simple Stockings

Hello and welcome to the mansion. I am 'tooting my own horn' today at Silly Little Sparrow.

As I have mentioned before, (here) I am one of those folks who can't commit to a constant Christmas decor theme. It is a sickness. Because money does not grow on trees here in the great state of Louisiana, I must find fun and frugal ways to satisfy my constant desire for CHANGE!

Each year stockings are a big issue. They must match the tree and the wreath, etc. What to do? I saw these beauties at pottery barn...

Love them. I like the simple white with the name. However, I don't like the 30.00 price tag. So, I went to Wally World and got some white felt. I think I paid 5 dollars for it. I drew a simple stocking and cut it out. I loaded the sewing machine with some black thread and started making some monograms. I also added some fancy stitching.
I sewed the stocking all the way around, and it was done. The ended up costing about one dollar a piece. Not quite a stunning as the pottery barn version, but I like them a lot. Here is one more pic... Thanks for stopping by to see my super simple stockings. Have a great day.

I am also posting at The DIY Show Off .

And, scoot on over to A Soft Place To Land for more DIY goodies.

The Porch Bathroom

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. It's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch. I am joining in.

Have you ever had a room in your home that is just WEIRD? We do. When we bought our house several months ago we did the purchase via computer. Although we had 60 or so pics of the property, there were a few things that could not be fully appreciated from a photo. One of these things was our porch, turned sunroom, turned office, BATHROOM. Yep. Several owners before us had enclosed the back porch to make a sunroom. The next owner used the space as an office. The owner following that decided that our 1923 farmhouse needed a second bathroom... So...they removed the desk and "threw" in a toilet, tub, and sink. I am not kidding. It kinda looked like they threw the toilet, tub, and sink up in the air and where they landed, they stayed.

OK...so we got over the placement of the stuff, but we just couldn't get over the 10 windows with ill fitting mini-blinds. You couldn't do any sort of "business" without flashing anyone outside.

Here are some before photos.

The bathroom had no storage, a mirror that was too large for the vanity, and a dark green color paint. And....those awful mini-blinds.

Our first thought was to take most of the windows out and wall the bathroom in a bit...too expensive. Our next thought was to have shutters made for the windows...too expensive. After much debate we decided to purchase ten sets of outdoor shutters, paint them, and hang them ourselves. We added some new paint, a new mirror, and some furniture for storage.

This is what we ended up with...

Yeah....no more gaps to see through. We can still open the shutters when we want sunshine. The furniture helped to balance the room with the small vanity. The color change warmed everything up a bit. Still a few things to do, but we are loving the updates.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion. Come back soon.

Also posted at Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage , Get R Done Friday at Expressly Corgi , and Room a Month at TheShades of Pink.

Posting for the first time at It's So Very Cheri for It's So Very Creative .

Monochrome Weekly Theme...

I am joining in at Monochrome Weekly Theme today. Here is my entry...

I took this picture at a retreat in Missouri this past weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Who Ate My Armadillo?

Howdy ladies. It is Ruby Tuesday at Work of the Poet. So, I am joining in for the first time.

Last month I had the opportunity to visit Natchitoches, LA, for a tour of homes. One of those houses happened to be the home featured in the movie, Steel Magnolias. If you have not seen this flick, leave now and rent it....If you have seen the movie, you will remember the Red Velvet Armadillo Cake. This was the groom's cake created by "Weezer" for "Shelby's" wedding. Well....the fabulous owners of the Steel Magnolia house offered all of us on the tour a bit of nostalgia in the form of....you guessed it....Red Velvet Armadillo Cake. It was served in the garage right where it was served in the movie. It was delicious and comical all at the same time.

Thanks for stopping in to the mansion.

Blue Kitchen Angels

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion on this fine Monday. Blue Monday! It is Blue Monday over at Smiling Sally's. Stop on by and see all the fine blue stuff.

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to Missouri with some lovely ladies from my bible study group. As the trip was twelve hours long, one wonderful woman offered up her inlaw's home for a half way stay spot. Well.....little did I know that this great home would be full of fabulous treasures to share with you all.

One of the beauties in abundance was this....
BLUE KITCHEN ANGELS! I had no idea there was such a thing. Mrs. Shrepfer (the nice lady who let us take over her home) had oodles of them. All sizes....

I know this is Blue Monday, but there were lots of pretty pink ones as well...

Did I mention there were OODELS of them?????

Well, there you have it. Kitchen angels in blue and pink. I had never seen the likes of them before. I love it when a new treasure is brought to my attention. Now I will have to search for one of my very own. Have you ever seen these gals before?

Thanks for dropping in.

Laura