Bird Nest Cottage

Kitchen tour...

I don't think I have ever posted any pictures of my kitchen.  This tour won't take long because, like most of the rooms in my house, it is small.

Yes, I know I still haven't painted the little island I bought.  It may stay like this till Labor Day weekend because I just don't know how I'll get it done before that. Sanding, priming and painting just can't happen in an evening.

My kitchen may be small but we can cook and entertain easily from here.  Two years ago we had 35 people for dinner and a pool party.  Fortunately for me, Mr. Bird Nest is a terrific cook and between the two of us we can make just about anything.

When our youngest son Chris got married to Elizabeth, we had the rehearsal dinner at our house for seventy-five people.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful May evening, we had little tables set up in the yard and the caterer did fabulous appetizers, a delicious meal and a grooms cake shaped like a fish (The grooms cake is a Southern tradition that we incorporated into the planning).  The caterer also had huge fresh strawberries that she dipped in chocolate.  They were just to die for!    

Most of my cooking is done on the weekends.  Fortunately for me, Mr. Bird Nest gets done with work about 3:00 each day, so he cooks dinner during the week.

The counter-tops are laminate but I do like the color.  We want to tear this all out sometime and start over, but that's a few years away.  I also know that I'm lucky to have a kitchen as nice as this and I try to be thankful for it. 

We really like the stainless steel appliances we have.  The best part of the stove is that it has a top that is easy to clean, a regular oven, a convection oven and a warming drawer. 

I don't know how people keep their counters cleaned off all the time but mine never are.  That may be because I'm a collector.  I have a big pantry (about 4 x 9) and it's full too.  It could be my addiction to buying more and more stuff but let's not get into all that at the end of this nice tour. 

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

   

Shell Cross...

I arrived home from work today to find a package waiting for me with this beautiful cross and a lovely note from Dawn.  I ordered it from Dawn of the  http://gahangirls.blogspot.com/ .  Isn't it incredible?  I have a very special place I'm planning to hang it and when it's on the wall, I will post a picture. 

Thanks Dawn for all the time you spent making this.  I will always treasure it.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Remember the urn...

I posted this urn on the right a few weeks ago and at that time I hadn't decided how to paint it or what to do with it.

I finally settled on painting it white and then rubbed on some black stain.

Yesterday, as I was going thru HL looking for something else, I had a brainstorm.  OK in the floral department they had something like this already made up and I copied it.

The perfect fall arrangement for my house.  I didn't glue it to the urn and that way I can continue to use the urn the rest of the year.

Now, I wonder what I could do with it for Christmas????

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

The candy corn saga...

If you read my blog last week, you know that my plan was to make paper mache candy corn for fall.  Well, the process has begun.

My daughter-in-law Elizabeth (the first grade teacher) came over, with grandson Carson, to get started making the candy corn.

I bought this sheet of styrofoam to use as the form.  We made a pattern of smaller and larger candy corn, traced them and then cut them out.  I found a recipe for the paste on the internet, cooked it and then we got started.

About 5 minutes into the process, Carson decided it was too sticky and messy, so Elizabeth and I continued on alone.  We tore strips of paper, put them in the paste and then wrapped them around the cut-outs.

Mr. Bird Nest made himself scarce during this whole process.  I think he thought if we wanted candy corn it would have been a lot easier to buy it.

Since Mr. Bird Nest was at his desk, Carson took over Papa's chair to watch the Olympics and enjoy some pretzels.

Carson's favorite TV show is "How's It Made".  Oh yeah, he's four and smart as can be!  I see a Power Ranger too so that must have been for the commercial breaks.

This is what our final candy corn looked like.  It's now drying on a tray on the screened porch and we'll complete the painting this next weekend. 

I'll prime them this week and give them one coat of paint before they come back to finish these up. 

I think Elizabeth and I had more fun than Carson!

Thanks to all of you who sent me such kind notes after my post on Friday.  I must have been having a bad day because I usually keep most of my feelings to myself.  I guess I want people to know that life isn't always perfect but if we trudge on, it will get better.  So many people have lives more difficult than mine and I know what a good life I have.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Kreativ Blogger...

Brenda of http://thebrendablog.typepad.com/ has given me a Kreativ Blogger award.  I'm an unworthy (it's the middle child in me) but certainly appreciate her confidence in me.  Please go check out Brenda's blog.  She is funny, creative, a great writer and photographer and an exceptional gardener.  And if that isn't enough, she's currently waist deep in a home remodel.  Best of all for me...she is my friend.      

Now I have to share six (6) things that make me happy.

1. My wonderful grandchildren.  (Nicholas, Carson, Chloe and Lauren)
2. Brownies with pecans.  (You had to know chocolate would be here somewhere on this list)
3. Books (Mysteries, decorating)
4. Spending time with my family.
5. Decorating my house.
6. Being at home with Mr. Bird Nest.

OK, I'm not much giving out awards.  You all seem very worthy to me and consider yourselves awarded.

Well Mr. Bird Nest bought me a new tripod this morning at Best Buy so...no more shaky pictures. 

I got these two books yesterday and it made for a perfect Friday night.  You know Friday nights are my favorite time to go through books, clippings, etc. and figure out what I want to accomplish over the weekend.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Decorating Idea Files...

I'm not sure how all of you keep track of decorating ideas you have, but this is my system.  Believe it or not, I've actually gone from three file boxes to one and here's how it works.  Again, I don't have a real craft room but I'm hoping to rectify some of that problem this fall. 

When I see an idea I like in a magazine, on the internet, a picture or whatever, I put a copy in one of these files.  I've got a file for each season, craft ideas, specific rooms in the house, gardening and Mary Emmerling (my personal decorating guru) has her own special file.

I started this file back in the 70's and cleaned it out as styles changed along the way.  I guess you could call it my inspiration file.   

 

As you can see, I've pulled out the Halloween/Fall file to get ideas for autumn decorating.  If I see something in a catalog that I think I can make, like the ghost below, I pull it out.  Especially if I think the grandkids will love it! 

My family hates to let me go into any store that has magazines to pick up one item.  They know by now that I'll peruse the magazine section at least once before I leave that store.  Mr. Bird Nest just glares at me at Home Depot and Lowe's when I throw a magazine in with his manly nails, wood, etc.  Hey, that's the only reason I go with him to those places sometimes. 

The only magazine I save are my copies of English Home.  It's one of my favorites.

These are a few items I purchased this week.

Yesterday I went to Wally World to look for a plaque and a letter to do Joys $5.00 project from http://joysofhome.blogspot.com/. They didn't have any plaques or letters but I did find these big pears for $.98 each.  I've placed them on a Waterford Crystal cake plate on my table.  My last boss gave me this plate when I went to another department.  I loved him.  He was without any doubt my best boss ever.  He and his wife gave me great presents for everything occasion. 

These two little pumpkins I got at the Dollar Tree for.......... $1.00 each.  I already have some larger ones and these will look really cute with them.

The plate underneath I bought at Michael's for $3.50 on sale.  I think I may need to go back and get the larger one too.  They just say fall to me.

This weekend I want to try to make candy corn.  No, not to eat.  I want to make it to add to our Autumn decor.  I don't know if I've ever done paper mache  (sp) but there's no time like the present.  Wouldn't that be cute? I'm thinking I'll use some kind of styrofoam to get the body started and then cover it with strips of paper.  When it's all dry, I'll paint it and post it on here.  This is my inspiration:

Well, I hope I've inspired you at least a little bit this week and given you some ideas for the weekend.  Make it a great one and please know that I really appreciate everyone who reads my blog and comments. 

The last few years have been rather tough ones for me.  I had some very serious jaw surgery and now have a titanium jaw.  I lost my best friend in SC 7 years ago this December when she died after having an asthma attack.  She and I were the same age and did everything together.  I miss her every day.  The next day my daughter-in-law went into labor and gave us Nicholas.  What a blessing he is and was!  I lost my youngest brother to melanoma three years ago, then a year ago I found out that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I had pretty much cut people from my life because I just didn't think I could take a chance on losing someone again.

I really think blogging is the best thing I could have done.  You wonderful girls and women have welcomed me and helped me and I may even venture out to meet some of you someday.  That's just how much you all mean to me.      

  Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Urn..

Both of these urns came from Michael's.  The one on the left I paid $7.00 for and the one on the right was $5.00. 

I used black stain on both of the urns.  The larger one I'm using to hold utensils.  Love it!  It's heavy so I don't need to worry about it tipping over and it's really deep which works for the long stuff.

You are probably wondering what happened to the urn on the right.  I used the same stain on it but it wouldn't cover the green paint, so.....this weekend I may try priming and painting it white.  What do you think I should do?

I'm having trouble keeping up with all my projects I've planned for my blog.  My pantry is now filled with all the fall decorations I've been gathering and the stuff I've bought to do projects with.  I just told Mr. Bird Nest last night that he has to haul down the fall tubs of decorations from the garage this weekend, so I can look them over.  He reminded me that he isn't even close to closing the pool yet and summer is going to be around for quite a while.  He doesn't understand the female mind at all.  We work in seasons, not days or months with decorating.       

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

$1.00 and a quote...

This is a $1.00 frame from Michael's that is 3.5 in. x 3.5 in.  A little paint, a little sanding and an heirloom.  Okay, maybe not an heirloom but cute!

Don't look too closely at my sanding marks.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen