Inspiration House #2

The newly constructed house I'm sharing today is adorably decorated. The house plans were custom created by the homeowner who is a new friend of mine. A quick visit to her house and I knew it would be the next one I photographed to share with you. The natural light and the open area of the downstairs living space were probably my favorite things about it, other than the soft turquoise piano.

She redid the piano in one afternoon with a sander and chalk paint that she made herself. The paint recipe includes plaster of Paris, water, and latex paint. (I might have to try that out for myself and make a project post out of it!) The piano sits between the fire place and two corner windows, so its beauty is always highlighted.

My friend describes her style as farmhouse country, a little rustic, but mature. I just call it pretty. You can't refer to it as farmhouse country unless there are some farm animals in the mix. This is how she incorporated a few.

The next few shots are dining and kitchen area.
She's a really good cook and cooks often.
Her open floor plan allows her to be in the kitchen without being alone!

These last few were just too pretty to leave out.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them. A BIG thank you to my new friend Michele (with one L) for welcoming me into her home. Hopefully, some of her ideas have given you an idea or two. How do you feel about the rustic, country farmhouse style? What would you call your style? I would love to hear from you! Comment below if you have a minute.

Kathryn

A Sunday thought ... Live Thankfully

I know. It's spring. You're wondering why there are no perfectly posed, colorful flowers in the picture. I'm sure by now there are some in the Publix or Winn Dixie floral departments, but not around here yet. Only the cold and the leaves, lots of leaves in my yard. As much as we hate blowing, raking, and cleaning them up, the leaves can serve as a reminder of the things we have to be thankful for. We have our health which gives us the ability to clean up those leaves and allows us to have jobs. Those jobs allow us to have a home. Our home gives us a place to raise a family. All simple things, but things I tend to take for granted when I drive over the gazillion leaves that flood our yard each fall. I hope I don't miss an opportunity even in the little, everyday things, to be thankful. I want to live thankfully.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

Kathryn

Hannah @ Splinters...

I'd like to tell you about a local college girl who graduated from high school with my daughter. Her name is Hannah Rhodes. From her family's kitchen table, Hannah has started a small business called Splinters. She saw a pin on Pinterest for making things out of pallet wood. With a little help from her dad using the saw, she gave it a try. Originally it was going to be a hobby, something to do when she had a minute of leisure time. You know, in between her classes, when she wasn't subbing in her local school system, or working in the extended day program at the neighborhood primary school. Are you kidding me? How do you have time to say free time-much less have some-with all that on your plate? Then she gave one of her creations as a gift and put a picture of it on Instagram. That was it! The requests started coming in. Then another. Then another. It has continued to grow from there! She makes all of her designs by hand. Hannah now even cuts the wood herself and each letter or picture is hand painted.

I was recently at a bridal tea and one of her creations showed up as a gift.

Handmade cross by Hannah

Hannah Rhodes

The kitchen table

Here are a few of Hannah's custom made items.

To see more of Hannah's work and to shop her designs, look her up on Facebook by clicking here. You can also follow Splinters on Instagram @splinterswoodcreations. Contact her by email at Hannahfaith22@yahoo.com. Hannah will have a booth set up at Tannehill April 18-19. Make sure to stop by to see her creations in person!

This is the one that came "home" with me.

Thanks to all of you who have been so encouraging and supportive during the launch of my blog!


Happy Saturday to you!

Kathryn

8 Lessons...

In honor of cheerleading tryouts to be held at my high school next week, and probably lots of middle schools and high schools all over the place, I'm sharing the latest article by Kari Kampakis. I introduced you to her in an earlier post about her book called 10 Ultimate Truths Girl Should Know. You can read my post here. She is the mother of four girls. Yes, I said four! One of them just recently tried out for a cheer squad, and she made it! Her latest article is entitled "8 Lessons I Learned from My Daughter's Cheer Tryouts." If you are a parent of a child who will be trying out for a spot on a team, you'll appreciate her insight. Take a minute and read her article here.

TGIF!!

Kathryn

Cream Cheese Breakfast Danish

Today I'm sharing a breakfast treat, but you'll want to eat it all day. I just recently found this one. It's a cream cheese danish, and it's good!

Ingredients:

2 - 8 count cans of crescent rolls

2 - 8 oz packages of cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg white

Glaze:

1/2 cup of powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of milk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Open one can of crescent rolls and spread the rolls to cover the bottom of the dish.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and one egg together. Mix for about two minutes. It won't be completely smooth but pretty close! Next, spread the cream cheese mixture over the crescent rolls. 

Then place the final can of crescent rolls on top of the cream cheese mixture. Brush the egg white all over the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown (check it at the 30 minute mark).  Let it cool for about 20 minutes. Then add the glaze to the top.

It's delicious warm, but just as good room temperature or straight out of the refrigerator.

Hope you enjoy it! Let me know how yours turns out.

Kathryn

Inspiration House #1

One of the things I'd like to do here every now and then is show you some homes full of great ideas, color, life, and love. These posts will be called Inspiration House.

The first one is special to me because the homeowner is the first "decorator", other than my mom, I saw in action. She and my mom rearranged furniture, exchanged furniture, and spray painted furniture, had my dad and her husband put wall paper up, and take wall paper down for what seems like my entire life! I often call her house and ask for Martha, as in Stewart. I want to show you a few pretty, romantic things in her house and in a later post a few vintage and unique things in her daughter's house. And of course there will be some lamps in the mix as well. You can revisit my "lamp love" here and here.

This is one of her prettiest bedrooms, bright and airy, and southern in style. A bold frame, an antique, a sentimental accessory, and a bed with layers. Southern in every way.

Southern bedroom

A bold frame

An antique

In 1928 Gay's grandparents were walking on a beach. They picked up this treasure. This conch shell is a tangible memory of that day long ago. 

1928 find

Sentimental accessory

A layered bed

Pretty table toppings

I hope you've enjoyed this first look into an Inspiration House. I think the pictures turned out well, considering it was the first house I've photographed! Remember, I just read the directions for my five year old camera. The story of reading the directions is here. What's your favorite thing about this space? Comment below if you have a minute...

It's the week after spring break in my world. Need I say more!? 
Have a good day.

Kathryn

A Sunday thought... Self Worth

Image Source: Pinterest

 A sense of self worth is sometimes hard to come by, for many reasons. It could be due to a lost friendship, the betrayal of a spouse, the loss of a job, a rough childhood. But I think as much as anything it has to do with those around us. We tend to see ourselves the way we THINK others must see us. It feels like our failures are viewed by thousands and our successes are seen by ten people or so. If only we would remember how Christ sees us: valuable, worthy, loved, and thankfully, forgiven. Don't let the views or actions of a few make you question your value. And hopefully, our actions and words will not make others question theirs. They'll remember how we make them feel. Maya Angelou knew exactly what she was talking about. 

Have a great week!
Kathryn  

The Taco Ring

The Pampered Chef Taco Ring is a favorite at our house. My friend Staci introduced me to it. It's fast and easy! Perfect for a week night or the weekend. And only four ingredients, five if you count the water.

Ingredients:

2 - 8 count cans of crescent rolls

1 package powdered taco mix

1 - 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 lb ground beef

2 tablespoons of water

Ingredients

Start by browning the ground beef. Drain it. Then return it to the skillet. I usually let mine cool for about five minutes, that way the cheese doesn't melt immediately when it is added. Sprinkle in the taco seasoning, cheese, and two tablespoons of water. 

Beef, cheese, taco mix, and water

While you're browning the beef, or I bet shredded chicken would work, too, lay out your crescent rolls to form a sun. All of the larger ends should face the same way. Leave an opening of about five inches where the toppings will rest. I use a pizza stone most of the time, but a cookie sheet works well, too. Just make a rectangle instead of a circle.  Preheat the oven to 375.

16 crescent rolls 

With a large spoon, add the meat mixture to the largest area where the rolls overlap. This is messy. Beware!

Next, take the ends of the crescent rolls, pull them over the meat, and tuck them under the center of the ring. 

For toppings, we like lettuce, salsa, and sour cream. But you can use anything you want.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Cook more if you like things crunchy. Fill in the opening with your toppings. Chips and salsa or Spanish rice make great side choices.

Pampered Chef Taco Ring

Then take a picture and put it on Instagram! It always makes a post-worthy picture.
Let me know how it turns out. And, by the way, I wouldn't count on having left overs!

Kathryn

Smallwoods...

I wanted to tell you about a new company I came across.  It's called Smallwoods. My youngest son out grew his twin beds in what seems like overnight. I sold the beds, and he now has a new bed that finally allows him enough room to keep his feet on the mattress! That's about all I've changed in the room. I'm beginning to get my thoughts together for "growing up the space" (more on that in a later post), and one of the things I will be using is this picture of the United States. I saw it in the Smallwoods ad on Facebook. 

Smallwoods

Compared to some similar items I have seen on the Internet and in retail stores, this is a great price for a nice, substantial item. It's 23X29, not small, and only $35. The picture of the United States is painted on the wood. It's not a sticker. I'm really pleased with the quality. It looks just as it did in the ad. You can see it (or order it!) for yourself here. Enjoy looking at all their other items at smallwoodhome.com. 

What do you think about this piece?

Hope your Thursday is going well! Only two more days of spring break...

Kathryn