Well we have locked in the 4 web sites that will be hosting the apron give away. I will post links later so that you can go check them out before hand. We have less than 2 weeks to go. It’s going to be great!!

Stay tuned for sign up information.

Hurry while supplies last. This fabric is just about gone and we won’t be able to get any more. Our Blue regency apron is going fast. Marked down for a 15% closeout special. Get yours today!!

Click on Image to go straight to the store information page. Don’t delay these won’t last long.

Amelia’s aprons will be hosting their first ever apron give away. Set to begin in September. We are hoping to find 2 other web sites to host our give away, so if you are interested in information about being a host site please contact us through the web site.

below are the items that will be up for grabs:

1st place

2nd place

Stay tuned to find out where to register to win these great prizes.

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Go here Click Here!to read more about this huge sale! Hurry, though, the price goes up tomorrow–get this money-saving ebook package at a ridiculously low price while you can!

Now for the really fun stuff.

We have already discussed how I have tried to stay with in a country theme and use the resources available with the house instead of just ripping everything out and making it modern. In my opinion modern is not always better. Imagine this little house with brand new cabinets and marble counter tops with the latest appliances. It just would not fit. If I were to do that to my kitchen then I would have to do that to the entire house. And, the finished result would still, in my opinion, look out of place.

So I stayed with a country theme, took my modern style and created a perfectly delightful living space. As frugal homemakers we should always look for areas to save money for our household. To do this I opted to make my own curtains. By making my own curtains, I not only save money, but I can design and create exactly what I want. Because face it, there are only a few styles of curtains and items of this type available out there. We are confined to the styles which the manufacturers give us. Unless you can create your own. So this is what I did. I took a few days to look in MANY magazines at many curtain styles. I took note of what I liked and didn’t like and what fabrics that I liked and which fabrics that I thought would go well in this home environment. Then I spent the day browsing the fabric store looking for just the right fabrics. I knew that I wanted my kitchen/breakfast and laundry areas to all go together, but not all be exactly the same. So I picked a few corresponding fabrics and incorporated into the design small things that would connect them all together. Below is the finished product in which I am very pleased.

I used a red toile print with a deep red corduroy fabric for the dinning room and kitchen windows. I originally made these curtains with just the four center panels that you see here. But I felt like it was too stiff and straight which made the room feel more formal. So I added an extra panel to each end which brought fullness and softness that I like.

When making our own curtains we can decide just how many pleats and bows that we want or don’t want. The small kitchen window did not need all the folds and pleats so I created it simple with just the one in the middle.

For the laundry area including both the doors. I used a green and cream gingham. I used the same red corduroy fabric for the straps of these curtains to add continuity between them and the curtains in the kitchen area. If you notice we painted the wood paneling the same rich green and painted our blue wooden shelf in a two tone of white and green. This shelf is destined to be my herb shelf. Very soon I plan to have it adorned with bright red pots full of fabulous herbs that I am sure you will get to hear all about in another post.

And last but not least here is our side view of the kitchen once again. No curtains here. but you can see where I took just wooden place mates of matching colors to add a touch of texture to the walls. I have thought about attaching them permanently but like the idea that they can be used as a trivet if the need arises.

That is it. We hope that you have enjoyed walking through this process with us. We are currently working on the bathroom and hope to have this project finished soon. So stayed tuned, and let us know what you think.

Now for the fun stuff. In this post you will see what a difference just a little bit of paint makes. Painting is one way of totally changing a room. A gallon of paint doesn’t cost much and just about anybody can do it. I know many who are intimidated by the idea of painting their home, but it is a very frugal thing if you can do it yourself.

I am not the kind of person who uses drop clothes and painters tape, but it is very handy to have a wet soapy rag handy. It I happen to drip, and I do, then just a quick swipe while the paint is wet is all you need for clean up. I do recommend using a water base paint. Clean up is easier and spill clean up is too.

As you can see the original curtains are still up. But just adding this rich color brings out the green tones of the paneling. The color I chose here is a deep olive green. Very popular right now but still fits into a country house with out looking out of place.

This is a different view of my kitchen. It was not pictured earlier but is just to the left of the sink area. You may notice the vintage counter tops. I wanted to leave these in the house and work my style into their classic touch. Red (counters tops) is not a color that a generally use in decorating. Lucky for me I have a mother with a flare for decorating. She helped me greatly in finding my “modern” style and incorporating it into the “vintage” house that I have to work with.

These are the only “paint” only pictures that I got. So stay tuned for the next post to see the finished projects.

Well, I finally found my camera cable so I thought I would share a few pictures of our house before the remodeling began. The house we bought is a small country home build about 50 years ago by the older couple that lived here. Their family is still on property adjoining ours which I think is a great opportunity to learn about the history of our new area.

Here in the first two pictures you see our little dinning/breakfast area. Complete with the old time cafe curtains that had been hand stenciled. This picture was taken after the wall paper was stripped off, but if you check out the picture in the strawberry post you can see that it was your typical country print with border.

This is the sink area of our little kitchen. This door leads to a laundry room that was an addition to the houses original structure. So it is like having two exits to our home. I have incorporated this space more into our daily living and keep this door open most of the time.

This is the main view from the kitchen door leading into the laundry room, this door actually opens to the outside.

Second view of laundry. As you can tell we are still in the unpacking and finding a place for everything mode. But this is life and this house is lived in. So feel privileged that I did not clean it special to put on heirs that I live in a perfect world.

Ok well that is it for the kitchen/dinning area of our tour. Stay tuned for the next post that will begin to unfold the work that we are doing.

A very dear friend of mine has started visiting our local Amish produce auction about every other week. She doesn’t usually know what will be at the auction each week, we get just what ever items happen to be in season. Now that I have moved into the local community I get to enjoy the benefits of her shopping spree.

About 2 weeks ago I ended up with about 8 quarts of strawberries. and 6 heads of broccoli. Since I do not have a large family this will last us quite a while. I decided to freeze both of the items as I didn’t have time to can them this week. Freezing provides fresher veggies when dinner time comes and the process is quite simple. Just wash and store. Some vegetables require a quick blanching before going into the freezer, but Broccoli does not.

Strawberries are a perfect way to consume some of the antioxidants that our bodies need, and in the hot summer weather frozen strawberries are the perfect ingredient for smoothies.

Here is how I make my smoothies, which I have to say are simply the best in the world. At least to me, that is why I make them.:)

• 1 cup orange juice
• 10 frozen strawberries
• 1/2 slice frozen fresh pineapple
• 1 frozen banana
• a hand full of frozen cherries

I like to use a not from concentrate OJ. Finding affordable good fresh oranges to squeeze my own is a bit of a challenge. But if you are a Florida or California resident then you should have no problem. I usually buy banana’s when they are marked down on clearance because they are really ripe. There is no way we could bring them home and eat them, so we just bring them home and freeze them. I do recommend peeling them first and putting them in zip lock bags. You can throw the banana in the freezer peel and all, but when you thaw them out it gets quite messy. The pineapple is also fresh we peel and slice it and bag it for freezing. We first discovered the idea of freezing pineapple by accident. My daughter put the bag of fruit in the freezer instead of the fridge. It turned out to be a tasty mistake. And, that is it. stick with as much fresh produce as you can. If fruits are out of season then I recommend buying frozen. or stocking up and freezing while the harvest is plentiful. Some people like to add yogurt to their smoothies. I do not have a recipe for that but if you would like to share your recipe then I would love to try it.

Well, I had hoped to announce the new blog catagories with a couple of great post for each. But for the moment I am having trouble finding my usb cable to download pictures from my camera to list in the post. So I guess you will just have to hear about what is coming soon for today.

Before I deleted my blog, by accident, I started a new catagory called in the kitchen. My hopes are to post here all the wonderful goodies that my daughter and I make in our new kitchen. I have pictures of us putting up strawberries along with squash and zuccini. So pictures and info to come on that soon.

I also just added, Around the House. I have been working on some projects to make our new house a home and will be posting before and after pitures of the remodeling that we have done so far. Pictures to come will show painting that took place alone with curtains and decorations that were all made by hand. Around the house will also include other changes that we make or projects that we do to help others see a finished work to gain inspiration that may be needed for your own homes.

And last we are adding In the garden Where I hope to show bounty from our garden, when we get it planted, and to share wonderful recipes from farm fresh veggies.

So we have great plans to bring more information to the site for you that will not only be encouraging but will also bring ideas and helpful information as well.

I just wanted to post a reminder about our made to order aprons. If you have an event that you would like to special order an apron for, then we are the ones to see. Through either e-mail or phone correspondence we are able to design an apron to suit your specific needs.

Here are a couple aprons that were created for special events to give you an idea of what we can do.

Wedding shower:

Regency Apron

(first created for the lexington school of ballet-for a cinderella recital)