The Breezeway that went to the Dogs.

Make that Dog. One dog. 

One dog who when feels somewhat bored....

Will destroy the drywall.

Michael Finnegan is that dog.

Guilty as charged.

Mind you, this is a dog that sleeps on the couch.

This is a dog that will stare you down until you get up-

 So he can take your place as soon as you move off of said couch.

However, if we leave him out too long or we are not home soon enough,

We pay with 1/2 eaten walls. 

  

The room has potential. 

It's bright.  It was our first try with tin ceilings. 

We've got the wood to line the walls with wainscoting.

The wallpaper has to go.

Of course Mike has already begun helping us with that.

There's must be a method to his madness.

Perhaps he is telling us the wallpaper is hideous.

 

Never mind that Mike has the whole back yard as his playground.

Why run around when you can chew drywall at your leisure?

  

I give him an A+ for effort!

So you see, much is left to be done at my house.

This is the room the mirror I put on the curb was stored in.

I have too many projects to redo and repurpose everything.

I pick my battles. 

Clearly, this room is a battle to be fought.

I'm up for it.

And, I'll have to buy Mike a few bones while I'm at it.

xo jeanne.

Yo! Curb Alert!

Occasionally, 

When I am in the middle of a room clean out spree-

 And I don't want to haul something to Goodwill,

 I put it out on the curb with a 'free' sign on it. 

When I'm in clear out mode, few things survive the mania.

This week it was an antique dresser mirror.

Call me crazy.

I still have the dresser and have painted it white. 

But the mirror I've had stored in my breezeway for far too long.

(notice the cobwebs of shame.)

On went the 'free' sign and out to the curb she flew.

Buh bye.  Farewell.  Long Gone.

About a month ago I put out a little tykes playhouse. 

That sucker only lasted minutes. 

Pictures of the horrible terrible breezeway coming soon.

(I've never showed it!)

xo jeanne.

Photo Editing with Picasa. (the secret to fabulous photos)

The Subject: 

Photogenic family member.

The Props:

Two vintage suitcases.

The Mother Bribe:

 "Please put a clip in your hair,  let me take your picture with these old suitcases,

 And I will grant your ultimate wish:

 Permission to download a new app (kids game) onto my iPhone."

The Result:

Pure photo magic.

The Truth: Picasa.

Picasa is free photo editing and organizing software.

• I may have had a good poser and cool props.
• The photographer, aka bribing mother, knew the dusk light would do. 
• I have a simple Canon PowerShot SX150, nothing fancy.

But with Picasa, I can do this:

I can even make myself fab.
It's a freakin' miracle.    

 Editing my photos:

I usually lighten them, over correcting, then add shadows back in.

Picasa has features like "Cross Process" and "Cinema Scope," among others.

I crop, and play with these features the most.

They are newly added and I am thrilled.

This is "Cinema Scope" which widens, lightens and auto-crops.

It doesn't have to be cropped tight.  

This is without the 'letterbox' crop: 

You can see the difference above with the pesky door cropped out.

You can tweak, add lettering, borders, etc.

It's quick and you don't need to have super-techy skills.  

And best of all, it's free.

I like Free.

My intent was to get pics of the suitcases.

(Eh hem... notice the 'new' brown one, $8.99 at Goodwill)

But the light was good and the subject was willing, so outside we flew.

I may now have to share my iPhone a bit more.. but it was worth it!!

http://www.picasa.com/

xo jeanne.

You sweet little book. Can I take you home?

At a weekend antique show, 
I spotted this charming vintage child's book.

My heart went pitter patter.  It was aqua and it was old.
I became quite smitten.

But, I couldn't find the price. 

Sometimes at shows, items that seem quite ordinary are priced quite high.

I figured this was the case with this delightful find.

 I picked it up anyway.  I didn't want to go back and find it gone.

The illustrations were just so sweet.

   

     

 I took it up the check out counter and asked it's price.

And it turns out that the surprise was twice as nice. 

{five dollars.}

 Sold!  To the lady who loves old stuff.

It's a collection of stories from Child Life magazine.

How darling will this be in a mantel motif?

Or tucked into a vintage baby gift basket?

Or scrapbooking.

(the teacher with the bat cracks me up.)

xo jeanne.

The Sale That Finally Measured Up.

Pro:   It was a gorgeous Saturday morning & my first garage sailing of the year.
Con:   The finds were nowhere to be found.

Time was up so I dropped Decorating co-captain off at home.

I was running to McDonald's to get my mix of Coke and Diet Coke.

I call it 'the confused."

There was one last sale on the right.

The tents in the yard and the 'estate sale' sign had me.

Pro: The sale had great signage and was easy to find.

Con:  It was absolutely unorganized,  the stuff was old - and not the good kind.

Though it was immediately apparent that this was a 'wash your hands immediately' sale -

Every last thing was priced. Cheap. Super Cheap. As in  $1.00 or less.

I sifted through the carnage. I spotted the two folding measuring sticks for .50 each.

The clocks were $1.00 each.

The blue and the Wards measuring tapes were a quarter each.

When I  went to pay, the dude said "every thing is buy one, get one free."

He told me the measuring sticks were his dad's - who died in 1958. 

My total was $1.75

I'm thinking the measuring tapes will be fab for scrapbooking.


Pro: I like my little stash.
Con: I went home and pulled weeds the rest of the afternoon.


xo jeanne.

Lawn Vacuuming - It's all the rage.

"Kenneth takes lawn maintenence to a whole new level."

True Story.

Untouched Photo.

This is Decorating co-captain Linda's neighbor.

Yes, he is vacuuming his lawn.

On his knees. With an attachment.

The black pole is a bird feeder.

He is vacuuming up the birdseed that may have fallen.

Wayward sprouting up of weeds have no chance of survival.

They may as well forget it.

If you think you've got nieghbors who fuss over their lawn,

Think again, you've got nothing to worry about.

Weeds-Schmeeds. Ken is on to you. Beware of the vacuum.

xo jeanne.

** big thanks to nnK who snapped this shot!**

What's Old, Metallic, Made of Wood & Full of Bullets?

A few months back, 

My Decorating co-captain Linda gave me an old barn door to use as a table top.

It's probably over 100 years old and HEAVY.  

At one time in it's poor life,

Someone used it as target practice because it's riddled with bullet holes.

 One bullet is still there as proof. 

Oh, and it was painted metallic silver.  

The table top didn't work. But I have another idea. 

My front door isn't center.

 I'm thinking to repurpose Old Bullet Barn Door into a faux door on my porch,

setting it up with hinges next to my front door.

The mosaic house numbers will come down.

House numbers redone.

So like any normal person would do...

I hauled the door inside and laid in on my kitchen island to paint.

And now it's white.

 

My family is immune to this hauling in of doors business.

If I didn't have to make school lunches, it damn well may have stayed there.

Phase two: new house numbers.

Stay tuned. I have a plan for that too.

Also, shouting out a big thanks to pocketchange.com for featuring

bees knees bungalow in their Be@Home 

 Best of the Web series!

xo jeanne.

Bachman's 2012 Spring Ideas House, Pt III

The finale of the Spring Ideas House...
A media room to cozy up to.

Above, the barn door is good and a fine way to camo the TV.

I love the lamp shade, even with the not-so-old keys.  

Below, the cart-to-coffee table upcycle is a winner.

I also like the magazine/dvd storage. The wire racks are very fun.

Can be easily duplicated.  Keep your eyes peeled for wire baskets....

Idea board, a window repurpose and some globe ideas.... all good.

Check out the Masking Tape..why make it difficult!?

 

 

Finally the wall of books as shelves as a back drop... cozy.

Until Summer..... we wait.

xo jeanne.

** As a reminder, please be aware that I was merely a spectator with my camera

 in the Bachman's Ideas House.**

I had no part in the ideas or designs.

www. bachmans.com

Bachman's 2012 Spring Ideas House, Pt II

Have a seat, won't you?

This is the Spring 2012 edition of the Bachman's livingroom.

The couch was turned this time around, opening up the space.

It was a bit more artsy.  (giant metal flowers on the fireplace.)

I like the coffee tables.

The sun room was sunny.

It had some wicker goin' on. 

The light fixture was good.

There are lots of tables in full display.

Here's the dining room.

The bowls were a new twist, but I wasn't bowled over.

 The kitchen has a fun vintage vibe.

Old newspaper print lining cabinets doors and walls.

 

 

Here's a peak at the potty. lol.

I did like the grate as a valance.

Next, were heading back upstairs.

Stay tuned.

xo jeanne.

**Please take note that I was merely a spectator in the Bachman's Ideas House.**

I had no part in the ideas or designs.

www.bachmans.com