Mailbox Post Makeover

I was in the middle of painting the back porch, 

and I looked at the mailbox and decided it needed to have a face lift.

It has look basically the same since we have moved in 10 years ago.  

The wood was looking a little faded and weathered. 

I couldn't keep just driving past it pretending I didn't notice.....

Here was my mailbox,

until I got a hold of it ☺

Before

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After 

It may seem only slightly different but compared to the other faded mailboxes down the road it looks FANTASTIC!!!!!

I LOVE my new mailbox post!!!

I LOVE that it doesn't look like a brand new post, 

I might would feel the need to replace the mailbox also, 

but it works...

...it has charm ♥

And THIS is the reason I haven't been able to finish THIS yet!!!

If you look in the background you will get a sneak peek of it almost completed ☺

WHAT?!

Back Porch Painting

Since we moved into our home 10 years ago, our back porch has always been this red stained unattractive porch. But it was a porch and we loved it!!!!!

 There was even some stain splattered up onto the house, that was painted over about 5 years ago.

A month or so ago I finally found the PERFECT paint at Lowes' in the oops section for $5.00!!!!! It was a steal!!!

I slowly started painting and I have now completed the first coat...

tomorrow I will start on the second and final coat and it will be complete!! 

I am so excited to enjoy my "new" porch...

along with our new pet and family member, Sunday, 

she is a white German Shepherd/yellow lab mix, 

she is a handful ♥

I will post after pictures when it is complete.

Enjoy the weather, it has been quite lovely here, I love the Fall ♥

Beach Sail

Last year when my family and I went on a trip to West Palm Beach Florida.  We purchased a screened in room that we "thought" would be perfect for the beach to keep out the bugs and the sun. 

The beach had other ideas,  it bent and folded under the pressure of the wind and we were constantly trying to stand it back up and fix it...it was quite an ordeal.

THEN, along came a man and his son with this AWESOME beach sail that he put together in like two minutes!! 

I NEEDED one of those!!!

When I researched the sail online I found they were charging $170 for one...THAT'S CRAZY!!!

So, of course I said to my husband, "I am making one!!!"

I conveniently had enough fabric and just enough thread that the only thing I had to purchase were the PVC pipes and the Sand Anchor. 

This year when we headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with family I had my new sails!!!

I also made bags for all of the pieces to fit in, 

along with a new beach bag that is big enough to hold my 9 year old son!!

I decided to make two sails, one for my husband and I

 and one for the kids ♥

The Sand Anchor, 
found at any Ace hardware store, or online for about $15.

I LOVED IT!!!!!

Each sail has a "foot sock" that you fill with sand to hold it in place.

I was so happy that I made two,  

the kids had so much fun being buried underneath it without getting sunburned or too hot!!!

Shading the Children

I started working out at a new place this summer.  I feel very blessed to be a part of such a fabulous group of women making their lives better by taking care of their bodies, minds and spirits ♥

There were only a few curtains in the children's area,
where they so graciously watch them while we sweat away.
  

I was recently given a HUGE bolt of fabric and I had no idea what I was going to do with it,  until now!!!  

Check out the before and after of the playroom!  

When I arrived in the room there were about 10 little ones or so and they ALL had questions and wanted to "help"...

it was the first time I have worked under such "pressure" ☺

When I finally pulled up the new curtains,

 the OOOOO's and aaaaahhhhh's were PRICELESS ♥

One little girl even proclaimed I want curtains in my room!!! 

SO worth it!!! 

After they were hung the owner requested that we have the door exposed for safety reasons.  

It looks better too!!!

What do you think?!

Bathroom Cabinet Redo

We have lived in our home for 10 years now and we have always wanted to do something different with our bathroom cabinets. 

Needless to say it was at the bottom of the list...
and as we all know the list is long when owning a home.

I FINALLY got around to seeing how a dark stain would take on one of the pieces of wood,

 it looked AWFUL,  as you can see pictured below ☺

  

 

My husband and I decided we would go with a color called Dark Granite, from Lowes,

It was dark, not quite black,  PERFECT!!!

Here is the first coat on the backs of the doors...

AND here are the completed cabinets,  I LOVE how it turned out!!!!!

New hinges to match the handles we had recycled from an old dresser long ago discarded...

I LOVE my new bathroom!!!!!

I hope I have inspired you to paint something that you have been putting off for too long.....happy painting ☺

Pip in the Smith-Gilbert Gardens

I grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia and like most kids, played all over the neighborhood all day until the sun went down.  

I knew every inch of the land in my neighborhood and even the creeks :)

  

Behind our house, in the woods, there was a mansion on a lot of land.  

We used to sneak over to it and get as close as we could 
to see if we could see anything cool. 

There were many huge art sculptures 
and lots of neat trees and plants. 
We found ourselves always wanting to venture over and sneak a peak.

I think especially because we were not supposed to...

just the curiosity of what could be there and what was going on is what intrigued us. 

This past weekend I was finally, after all these years, invited to visit.

My cousin Pip had a fundraising concert, 

it was so nice to walk through the gardens hearing his beautiful voice fill the air.

The gardens, known as the Smith-Gilbert Gardens are absolutely beautiful!!!!!

Here are some of the amazing sculptures featured in the gardens,  

I highly recommend that you go if you live in the Atlanta area, it is beautiful!!!

We could see this colorful one from our backyard and always wondered what it was!

I have soooo many memories of this tree.

This is the view of my childhood home through the woods.

The children's garden. 

Waterfall

Bird Bath

Then I had the pleasure of going into the house!!! 

Looking out the window into the gardens. 

The walls in the hallway were painted so pretty,

 I love how they took the time to make it original. 

View from the porch looking out into the gardens.