The best of February

Today I am sharing my top 5 viewed posts of February.

 Let's start the countdown with #5 Spring bunny tablescape
I love the way my leaf placemats turned out.

#4 is Changes in kitchen are complete
I still need to revamp above the cabinets.

#3 is Spring decor past
My front porch will look a bit similar this year.  I am going to be adding a few new items.

#2 is Spring dreaming
 I am so ready for Spring.

And at # 1 is My funny Valentine. 
This is the first Valentine tablescape I have done and I was very happy with the way it turned out.

Updated living room mantel

Since it has been snowing since Saturday I thought I would finally get the living room mantel done.  It has been bare since I took down the Christmas decorations.  I decided to go with lanterns, pottery and greenery.  This is how it turned out.

Here is the full view of the wall.

My little dog Kolby is laying on the chair watching me decorate today.

One of my projects this year is to replace the tile on the fireplace.  I have never liked it.  I also want to beef up the mantel and add some panels to the sides.  I will probably do it this summer when we take our vacation. I am even thinking of adding a hearth.  I might even repaint the inside walls of the house with a little bit darker color like I used in our master bathroom. 

Linking with

Between Naps on the Porch 

DIY leaf placemats

I saw these in the Grandin Road catalog. They had a set of four for $69.00.  So I am thinking "That is an awful lot of money for those" and my next thought was "I can do that".

So here is how I did mine.  First I bought some green square placemats from Party City for $1.99 each.  You could use rectangle ones but I thought the square would work better for my table since it isn't very large.

Next was to hot glue leaves onto the placemats.  I found some greenery bushes at Hobby Lobby of course they were half off.  The leave had different sizes and shades so I used one size for the first row.

The second row I used a different shade and smaller size.

I put a few smaller ones in the corners to give it a more round shape.  You could stop at this point since a dinner plate would cover the middle of the placemat.  This is what I did.

Here is what they would look like with all the leaves in the middle.

These placemats cost me under $25 to make for the set of four.  That is less than half the cost of the original ones that I found in the catalog.   It only took me a couple of hours to complete them.

Linking with

I Should be Mopping the Floor, Dwellings The Heart of Your Home, Huckleberry Love, Between Naps on the Porch, Elizabeth Joan Designs, Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, A Stroll Thru Life, Cozy Little House, StoneGable, Our Home Away From Home, The Winthrop Chronicles, Elizabeth and Co, Home Remedies, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Ivy and Elephants, The Style Sisters, The Bajan Texan, The Happy Housie, The Dedicated House, Oh My Heartsie Girl, A Delightsome Life, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours, Posed Perfection, Katherines Corner, Anderson & Grant, All Things With Purpose, Embracing Change, Imparting Grace, Rooted In Thyme, Shabby Art Boutique, French Country Cottage, The Charm of Home, My Romantic Home, Nancherrow, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Craftberry Bush, DIY Vintage Chic, Serenity Now, Just Us Four, The Shabby Nest, Simple Nature Decor, Scrapality, Pieced Pastimes, 3 Little Greenwoods, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When, DIY Show Off, Finding Silver Pennies, Tabler Party of Two, It's Overflowing, Rustic & Refined, By Stephanie Lynn

Spring bunny tablescape

Since it was cold and snowy today  I decided to tweak my kitchen table a little bit.   I sure could use some Spring right now.  It will be a long time before we see Spring here in Colorado.  This will do for now.

I changed out the yellow plates with a different color of yellow, changed the centerpiece, added some placemats and revamped the napkins.

 I had a tablecloth on here first but I think it looks better without it.  I made the placemats today and will be sharing that on another post.  Now I need to get the kitchen island decorated but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Linking with
I Should be Mopping the Floor, Dwellings The Heart of Your Home, Huckleberry Love, Elizabeth Joan Designs, The Dedicated House, Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, A Stroll Thru Life, Cozy Little House, StoneGable, Our Home Away From Home, The Winthrop Chronicles, Elizabeth and Co, Home Remedies, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Beyond the Picket Fence,Ivy and Elephants , The Style Sisters, The Bajan Texan, The Happy Housie, Oh My Heartsie Girl, A Delightsome Life, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours, Posed Perfection, Katherines Corner, Anderson & Grant, All Things With Purpose, Embracing Change, Imparting Grace, Between Naps on the Porch, Rooted In Thyme, Shabby Art Boutique, French Country Cottage, The Charm of Home, My Romantic Home, Nancherrow, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Craftberry Bush, DIY Vintage Chic, Just Us Four, The Shabby Nest, Simple Nature Decor, Scrapality, Pieced Pastimes, 3 Little Greenwoods, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When, DIY Show Off, Finding Silver Pennies, Tabler Party of Two, It's Overflowing, Rustic & Refined, By Stephanie Lynn, 2 Bees in a Pod

Living room mantel

I am still trying to figure out how to decorate my mantel in the living room.  Since we got the new furniture I have been toying around with different ideas.  Either I will make it symmetrical like in the picture below that I found on Google images.

Or maybe I should use some lanterns as in this picture that I also found on Google.

Here is what my mantle looks like right now.   The clock and sconces will stay.  I hung the sconces away from the mantel so they wouldn't be in the way if I put tall items there.

I think that I am leaning towards putting some lanterns, pottery and greenery on there so I can incorporate some Spring decorations easily.  With some luck I might even get it done this weekend.

Spring dreaming

With today being gloomy and snow in the forecast tonight and tomorrow I thought it would be fun to add some Spring color on the kitchen table.  I wanted to start with my new bunny plates and a palette of blue, green, yellow and  white.  I decided to do a simple tablescape.  I have a more elaborate one planned for Easter.

I probably won't get anymore Spring decorating done today as I need to get my craft room organized.  I have to get all the Christmas put away so I can get the rest of my Spring decor out. 

Linking with
I Should be Mopping the Floor, Dwellings The Heart of Your Home, It's Overflowing, Huckleberry Love, Elizabeth Joan Designs, Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Cozy Little House
A Stroll Thru Life, StoneGable, Oh My Heartsie Girl, The Winthrop Chronicles, Elizabeth and Co
Our Home Away From Home, Homestories A to Z, Home Remedies,2 Bees in a Pod, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Green Willow Pond, The Bajan Texan, The Style Sisters, The Happy Housie
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, A Delightsome Life, From My Front Porch To Yours, Common Ground, Ivy and Elephants, Posed Perfection, All Things With Purpose, Katherines Corner, Embracing Change, Anderson & Grant, Between Naps on the Porch, Rooted in Thyme, Imparting Grace, Shabby Art Boutique, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring

My Romantic Home, The Shabby Nest, Life With Lorelai, Nancherrow, Serenity Now, DIY Vintage Chic, Just Us Four, Pieced Pastimes, Scrapality, 3 Little Greenwoods, Pink When, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Thoughts From Alice, Finding Silver Pennies, DIY Show Off, Tabler Party of Two, It's Overflowing, Rustic and Refined, By Stephanie Lynn

Getting ready for Valentine's fondue

This morning I decided to go ahead and get the table setting done before we get home from work this afternoon. I know this table doesn't look like my romantic Valentine's Day table that I posted earlier but it would not work for the fondue.   I know it is nothing fancy and the place settings don't match and  I still need to get my mantel decorated.  I am waiting to decorate it for Spring.

 
I got these plates at Goodwill last week.  They were $1.99 each and were also 50% off.  I know they are not the prettiest things but they work great for fondue.  You put all of your sauces in the small section and your meat/vegetables in the large section. They look like The Melting Pot's plates before they changed them except theirs were stainless.  The new chairs work out great with the table.  They are more comfortable then the dining room chairs. 

I needed to leave room for the veggies and meat so I call this my no frills tablescape.  I just wish the plates were a different color like white maybe.

Now all I have to do is get all the fixings ready and pick out the movies.  I am glad Valentine's Day fell on Saturday this year since we are open today until 2 pm.  It gives me plenty of time to get everything cut up when I get home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter beauty

Just when I was enjoying the Spring like weather the snow returns.  I was just starting to see half of my backyard.  We have been having a mild winter here in the Denver metro area this season.  I love to look at snow but hate driving on icy roads.   The good news is it won't be here long as we will be getting back up in the 60's by tomorrow.  I checked the weather for ahead and we are going to be in the 60's until Monday which they are saying will be a high of 31 with snow.  Here are some pictures from my deck that I took this morning at least the roads are clear.

The foothills looks beautiful when they have some snow on them. We can only see them from the edge of our deck.

Spring decor past

I am ready for Spring decorating and then I am not.  I feel like I want to decorate but I am not coming up with any new ideas yet.  Maybe it is because my house is a disaster area right now with getting the new furniture and not totally organized yet.  I can't even step into my craft room without hitting obstacles.  It is full of Christmas decor that I haven't organized and put away.  That needs to be done before I can get out the Spring decor.  So for now I am going back and looking at my past Spring decorating to inspire me.

I always seem to use this little dog and the galvanized boots on the front porch.  Maybe I need to try something different.

With all this warm weather we have been having I feel like getting out and decorating the porch a little bit but snow is in the forecast for tomorrow.  It shouldn't stick around too long since we will be getting back up in the 60's for the weekend.  We have had one mild winter here in Colorado this season.  I am even starting to see my backyard again (which normally doesn't happen until around April).

Linking with
Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, The Style Sisters, Ivy and Elephants, The Happy Housie
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, From My Front Porch To Yours, Katherines Corner, Posed Perfection, All Things With Purpose, Anderson & Grant, Between Naps on the Porch, Rooted in Thyme, Imparting Grace, A Delightsome Life, The Charm of Home, Shabby Art Boutique, French Country Cottage, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Nancherrow, Serenity Now, DIY Vintage Chic, Just us Four
The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Life With Lorelai, Chic on a Shoestring, Scrapality
3 Little Greenwoods, How Sweet the Sound, Pieced Pastimes, Thoughts From Alice, Life on Lakeshore Drive, DIY Show Off, Finding Silver Pennies, Rustic & Refined, By Stephanie Lynn
Ms Moozy

New living room furniture has arrived

We finally had our new living room furniture delivered yesterday.  The minute I got home from work I starting arranging the furniture.  It only took me six times of furniture moving and two hours to end of with arrangement.  It's not the best but it works for the space.  We have a strange living room set up.  You have to have a walking path around the whole living room.  You can't put any furniture along the wall of windows as you need to be able to get the master bedroom.

Now I haven't done any decorating yet so this is basically bare bones.  I had to got out and buy new end tables as the old ones were too big and didn't go with the new furniture.  I am still keeping the old tables since they have a rustic country look.  We put them in the basement storage room for now.

Of course there is still the matter of the elephant in the room.  The red floral curtains have to go.

I ended of buying one of the round and two of the rectangular tables.  I think that I might get one more of the rectangular tables.  The coffee table that goes with the set is round and about 48 inches in diameter so it will not fit in front of the loveseat.   I might have to dig out one of our rugs so it doesn't look so bare. I love the details on the round end table.  The tops of the tables are wood and the legs are metal.

I probably won't work on the living room anymore today as I need to get the rest of the house in order.   The hubby wants to try and sell the old furniture on Craigslist.  I hope this doesn't take too long since it is sitting in the dining room.  We had to move the table to the other end to get it all to fit.

I need it out of here soon as Spring decorating is nearing. and it feels like we just moved in.  I will be sharing the finished living room once I get all the decorating done.  Right now I need to straighten up the sitting room as we removed the loveseat and I put one of the chairs and ottomans in there.  It looks like a bomb went off in there.  That is one picture I do not want to share.


Linking with
Dwellings The Heart of Your Home, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Huckleberry Love, The Dedicated House, Elizabeth Joan Designs, Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, Cozy Little House, A Stroll Thru Life, Stone Gable, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Our Home Away From Home, Elizabeth and Co, The Winthrop Chronicles, Home Remedies