DIY Beautify - Creating Beauty at Home

It's that time of year when we are enjoying the last harvest of tomatoes from our garden.  We didn't have a great harvest this year, but we did get to enjoy several yummy tomatoes.  There is nothing quite like a sweet, ripe tomato fresh off the vine, is there? Mr. Diy is known as the Tomato-King in our family. For some strange reason, he is passionate about growing tomatoes. No matter where we have lived, he is like a little boy in a candy shop when it's time to go shopping for tomato plants for the garden.  He has grown some really cool varieties too - purple ones, little yellow pear-shaped ones. His favorite variety is called Sunburst; they're orange cherry tomatoes. I have a couple of very funny tomato stories but I'll share just one with you today.  Very early in our marriage, like maybe the second year, back when Mr. Diy was first getting into gardening (and I knew nothing about it), he planted several tomato bushes.  They were just small and g...

There are a lot of perks to being married to a Pastor. Like being invited along when he married a couple on the beach in SW Florida.  Yup, right  on  the beach. With the beautiful, glorious Gulf of Mexico a few feet away. Walking the beach with my inquisitive, precocious daughter, bare toes in the warm sand. Laughing as she pointed out everything in sight...a plane, the never-ending pelicans flying overhead, the pretty shells...

I have a very eclectic style. I love farmhouse, shabby, beach, cottage, French, and rustic with the odd industrial thrown in for good measure! Sounds like an identity crisis, right? I just like what I like, and I have no qualms about mixing styles. Luckily, that is very trendy thinking in decorating today, so I'm not weird, I fit right in (smiley).

I don't think it will come as a surprise when I say I like a good bargain. Even better when it's free...or almost free. One of my favorite places to shop for good bargains is a Church Tag Sale.

I'm sharing tips and ideas for creating and painting your own personalized subway sign

Are you ready for one of the easiest tutorials in the world??  When I shared my  black velvet wreath  earlier this week I promised a tutorial on the gathered flowers. Aren't these flowers sublime? They come together so easy, it's almost like magic!

I got a little wordy in my last post. So I'm keeping this one brief and to the point, except for the title.  I splurged on that, did you notice, lol. This wreath was created with scraps leftover from my  black velvet pumpkins . I used it all. I mean nothing went to waste. Ruffle from the hem....check. Ties from the waist....check.

I love bragging about  sharing my bargains and deals with others. It used to drive my mom crazy. "Cindy," she'd say, "You don't need to tell everyone that you only paid $5 for those jeans." I think it embarrassed her a little bit that I was so vocal about being a thrifty shopper. I learned my thriftiness, after all, from her. But that didn't mean I had to tell the neighbors and everyone else!

How to turn old sweaters into fluffy pumpkins that are a budget friendly way to add Fall decor to your home! Read on for the tutorial. Many of you have asked for a tutorial for my  Sweater Pumpkins . They are oh-so-cute and soft and fun to make!

In our home I call these gingerbread muffins so that my kids (and Mr DIY) will eat them! But they're really just pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips added! Do you cook this way too? I'm talking about sneaking veggies and healthy stuff into our children's food any chance we get! Like shredded zucchini in the spaghetti sauce, oat flour and wheat germ in the chocolate chip cookies, almond milk in smoothies....even kale! You know...sneaky mom stuff! They are so good with dark chocolate chips; it adds such a depth of flavor to each bite! I'll share the recipe with you if you promise not to spill the beans.

I love burlap! It's cheap, comes in a variety of patterns/colors and just looks great however you use it.

The Little Green Wagon That Could... I found this cute red wagon at Goodwill recently. It was only $5.99. Do you see the yarn handle? Yeah, I wasn't digging that too much but when I flipped the wagon over, there was the original black handle taped to the bottom!!! I brought it home, knowing it would be the perfect size to hold pumpkins on my front step or small gifts under the Christmas tree or any number of other cute things.

I adore antique ironstone. I blame it all on Miss Mustard Seed :) I've followed her blog for several years and she has done several posts on this beautiful, creamy white English pottery, like  how to identify it ,  how to clean it  and  the beauty in the crazing .

I'm sharing a garage sale frame transformation that I almost didn't buy, but am so glad that I said Yes to!

I'm sharing a shabby fall wreath made with thrifted sweater pumpkins.

Adorable and cozy pumpkins made from thrifted sweaters.