growing a sweet potato vine.

My grandma is always teaching me old-timey tricks and recently she showed how easy it is to grow a sweet potato vine. My grandma's mother used to do this on the farm many years ago.  All you need to do is put a generous amount of water in a pot, set a large sweet potato in the pot and place the pot in a sunny window in your home.  Keep the water replenished and in a few weeks time it will be about the same size as the one pictured above.  Enjoy growing this old time vine in your kitchen!

springtime home decor.

It is such a refreshing time when the cold weather lifts and the opportunity to decorate for spring arrives.  My decorating style is obviously for a lighter and brighter color scheme and spring really gives me the opportunity to decorate with light colors and give my home a fresh facelift.  I used flowers, bunnies, light colored eggs, birdhouses, and wreaths to brighten my home and ring in Spring.  Above are a few pictures of some of the main areas of my home this year. 

bathroom makeover.

 before:

 after:

As you can tell from the above pictures, our bathroom was quite charming and green when we originally bought our home.  It looked as if some sweet, old lady really took her time coordinating the carpet, avocado tub and pink floral wallpaper.  While this was sweet, it is a far cry from our style so we gave our bathroom a clean, airy facelift to go with the rest of our home.  We took down the wallpaper, painted all the trim, hardware, cupboards and vanity and hung new mirrors. Redid or bought all the light fixtures, made new window treatments, took down shower doors and installed a shower curtain, got rid of the green toilet seat and put in brand new flooring.  A special thanks to my handy, dedicated husband-he did all the work himself. 

antique laundry drying rack.

I was lucky enough to find this antique drying rack in a neighbor's trash late last summer.  I took the piece down into the laundry room and tried to think of  way to hang and utilize this unique piece.  Turns out I had the perfect spot for it upstairs in my living room the whole time and about a month ago, this piece found its new home in our old home.  I love being able to display linens and doilies simultaneously with shelved items.  The primitive paint and texture add to the antique charm and the piece is perfect in our home. 

doorbell cover.

Since we moved into our home, our old doorbell mechanism has been exposed. I have kept it covered with pretty wreaths for the Fall and Winter season so this Spring I was itching for a new idea. I did not want to buy a generic, plastic cover-I wanted something unique. I found this old frame at Goodwill, put a wallpaper remnant in for a printed background and pressed these vellum letters on top to say "there is no place like home." I am pretty excited about my new doorbell cover that I spent $1.99 on and a little elbow grease.

primitive chair in entry.

I am loving how this has turned out. This summer I bought this primitive, turquoise chair with no seat for a dollar at an estate sale. I bought the "World Book" to substitute as a "seat" for a dollar at the same sale. The antique mirror was my husband's grandparents and the new plant I found at a adorable shop in downtown Bay City last week. I love the simplicity of this display and everything about it is an example of my style: inexpensive, collected, unique and light/bright colors.

living room desk.

We rearranged our living room furniture to accommodate our Christmas tree and preferred the new setup to the old (which left us with a considerable blank space from the tree). This worked out well because a table a friend and I repainted last year (view table makeover) had been in our kid's playroom and I had missed working at it in our new home. It is now arranged in our living room under a large window looking out at the street. I have gone back to using this table everyday. I find this to be a very peaceful place to read my morning devotional, play or do a craft project with the kids, journal, clip coupons, etc. It works out well because I can have the space quietly to myself in the mornings but throughout the day it keeps me closer to where the kids are playing or my husband is watching TV while I fold laundry or serve a snack here. It has worked out so well, the color scheme goes well in my living room and this new useable space makes me smile!