Welcome back Darlins' it has been a busy weekend. Today you are going to love, love, love this post. It is very inexpensive, covers two seasons and is darling. If I do say so myself? First, you resource(Dumpster Dive) or are given a pallet. I am a lucky lady because I have a friend who will give me pallets. Yippee! Remove the board from your pallet. You could make several dual pallet signs out of one pallet. I used a 5 Foot 2X4 for a stake or post for my sign. The cuts are included later for you to pin this project to your Pinterest board.

Fall Mod Podge Pumpkins

   A recent Fall trip to our lake home was not providing the desirable effect. Cold, wind, and rain were dampening my mood. Do you remember my Mod Podge Miracle post?
 My Prince Charming had to drive to the store. Normally I would skip the grocery store to stay lakeside but, not today. He offered to go to our local +Michaels Stores with me, then I could find a creative outlet to brighten my gloomy day. Now a trip to a craft store with my guy, may not be every girls cup of tea but, I was happy to get to spend time with my busy man.

  I spotted an affordable, easy Fall craft project, on sale in the first aisle. This display of sale items led to Fall Mod Podge Pumpkins. We bought two items on our shopping trip paper pumpkins, and cocktail napkins for this craft. We all know I could never walk out of a craft store with two items. Two carts were full! Those items are for future posts. Hey! It was a Clearance Sale.  I already had the paint brush, and Mod Podge from previous projects. 

Fall Lovin October Silhouette Challenge

     This month the theme for the October Silhouette Challenge is Fall! I chose
 5 different shades of +Bazzill Basics Paper card stock: on sale for 59 cents at  +Michaels Stores
 One group of leaf shapes from the +Silhouette America Store:  99 cents.
 One wreath Stand from +Decor Steals:  (previous purchase)
 The leaves I wanted to cut out from my Silhouette library

Pretty Painted Mirror

         Today is the Beginning of The First Giveaway I have participated in with 19 other Bloggers.

     The Silhouette Gift Basket filled with over $200.00 in prizes.

Summer Patio Deal

    Whether it is in Michigan or Illinois, you bet I will be out looking for Summer patio deals. After all for us this is furniture that is only getting used part of the year. Now having two homes there are plenty of opportunities to add a bit of seating, tables for beverages, and cushions with pretty fabric too.

   Today, I definitely added to the patio pizazz, with a stop at +Pier 1 Imports, while my Prince Charming stopped at +Lowe's Home Improvement. He is doing a cool storage project in the garage. I  will write about his dazzling project when he completes it. I will also have an upcoming post on my +Pier 1 Imports shopping trip soon.

   Today I want to share a quick project with you that required no tools, is a great budget saver, and looks like an expensive piece of furniture.

   I was shopping at +Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores in Countryside, IL. Before the 4th of July during their Summer Clearance. Yes of course a 20% of all my purchase coupon was at the ready in my cellphone. I came across a plastic wicker planter for $19.99 reduce from $69.99. I was fast at grabbing that black brown weave, because a simple idea was brewing. As I walked up and down the aisles, trying to remember my list of "needed" items, I came to a tin serving tray with rope handles for $9.99. The plan was hatched, that tin tray practically leapt into my cart. All it needed was a ride to the lake for completion.  

  When you read my read my post "Favorite" Silhouette Challenge, you already saw the table. If you missed it click on the title to read about the topiary project I made.

   This is what the basket looked like when, 

I bought my steal of a deal

 

4th of July Round-Up

 I am honored to be a part of this 4th of July Round-Up 

with so many other talented artists.

 I designed and crafted my banner to decorate my fireplace on 4th of July.

My father served in the Army, Air Force and National Guard.

  I have family members who have served, or are serving the USA as of right now. Service  is a part of my family heritage. I am a proud American girl, who is grateful to each person and their families that has served our country, for our freedom.

  I dedicate my , "Made in America Banner"  as a tribute

 to all who have stood strong, beside the Good Old USA!

Celebrate the Birth of our Country Proud and Free!

Thank you for inviting me to your 4th of July Round-up.

I'm excited to have joined up, with some wonderful bloggers to present to you the perfect patriotic projects. Get those creative juices flowing just in time to celebrate our day of Independence!

Sweet Love Bridal Shower

           

Sweet Love Bridal Shower 

     This shower was the first of the three I attended recently. I did not make the shower decor but, did take all the photographs. I thought you would enjoy the beautiful touches of simple elegance, added to this special event, by my sister-in-law and a few of her dear friends. 

   The Wreath of Flowers and ribbon banners were made by the mother and father of the groom, curling each petal of the flowers, with scissors.

Gathering Memories

      One of my favorite spots is the Chicago Antique Randolph Street Market. I started going several years ago in the Summer with my husband, it is our date the last weekend of the month. You are probably wondering what we would do at the market, but once you go on a Saturday or Sunday, you will never ask that question again.

Fall at The Randolph Street Market

 You will be hooked! As you wind through each booth, meeting vendors, shopping, listening to the music, and enjoy the food & beverages, you too will begin to be woven into the Markets Huge Family Quilt.

Me enjoying a refreshment in my new hat

 Today is about a finding a piece of a childhood memory. Did you ever have milk and dairy products delivered to your house? My family home was within a block of Willow Farm Dairy. When I was young the milkman delivered milk, daily to our house in a milk box. It had a flip up lid, was dull gray insulated metal, with Willow Farm Products embossed on the front. It sat outside right next to the backdoor. Which to me seemed like a place of honor, because the kitchen was just inside, and we all know the kitchen is the, "Heart of a Home". Of course back then the whole neighborhood came to that door because, "Back Door Friends are Best."
  One of my favorite memories involving the old milk box was when we would go swimming in the back yard. No one was a loud in the house until, we dried off. So my Mom would tell us to sit on the milk box, or back step, to dry off after swimming. As I remember two of us could fit on that milk box, and the rest of us would overflow to the back step.
  One Summer we were sitting out on the milk box and the back step drying off when  I noticed that the ice cream truck would come at sit at the end of our driveway each day. when my mom would call us for dinner. We never bought ice cream because, we hadn't had dinner, plus it was expensive. It was then that I realized the ice cream man was just hanging out while we, dried off before dinner in our bathing suits.  
 As many things in life the milk box lost its usefulness, no more milk man, our moms bought milk at the grocery store. Eventually the Willow Farm Dairy Closed. The milk box I would guess was thrown away since it had no purpose.
 As an adult I started searching for items from the dairy but they were hard to find. After a few years I was able to collect 2 milk bottles, a cracked butter crock, and a wooden milk crate stamped with the year I was born. This past Summer at the Randolph Street Market, there it was right in the middle of the vendor booths, The Willow Farm Milk Box was in my sight again. My husband bought it for me which made me feel so happy.
 This will be used at parties as a cooler holding ice, with drinks chilling inside. I use the milk bottles as vases, and the butter crock as a candy dish.

Willow Farm Products Milk Box

The next weekend we had a big family celebration, at which I proudly showed my whole family what we had found. My Dad smiled and said that is just like the one we has at our house. 

  I truly love gathering memories, but sharing them is even better! 

Let's stay connected here are links to my blog & social media.

http://www.dragonflyandlilypads.com/

http://www.pinterest.com/kmkrere/

https://www.facebook.com/dragonflyandlilypads

https://twitter.com/KMKedzuch

http://instagram.com/karenrere

Until next time,
~ Let your Creative Spirit Dance~

Karen Marie

Daybeds inspired by Ana White

     I have to thank +Ana White for her terrific free plans for the beds my husband built. Each Winter we plan projects for inside our lake house. My husband wanted to build beds for our lake home. I searched everywhere I could think of  to find solid economical beds with storage, when I found Ana White's plans for a twin size daybed with storage. It has six storage cubes in each bed which gave me room to store linens on one side and a space for each guest to store their belongings while they visit. The design was perfect for our guestroom at night and a game room during the day. Please follow this link to get her plans, check out her site, and while you are there she has plenty of plans for many projects.
http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plan-stratton-daybed-as-request-by-you.html
 First we studied her list, changed the wood to oak sanded plywood, because we planned on staining it with Minwax Stain and Sealer(Ebony), and Ana painted the bed White. Then we added up what wood we needed for two beds, which was easy because instructions included a detailed cut pattern. We purchased the oak sanded plywood from Home depot for the body of the bed, and the facing was oak as well.
  I was concerned about keeping the cost to a down. After giving the design a bit of thought I realized we could save even more money if we bought the cheaper pine sanded plywood for the inside of the cubes. The pieces that we cut out of sanded pine plywood included: Three bottom cuts, 4 sides of boxes, and 3 center cuts for each

Look at the cube in the background and top of bed on table.

Original Design complete

  My husband followed Ana White cuts, supplies lists, and directions exactly on the first bed. We changed the cut pattern on the second bed to the make cutting, staining and painting easier. We tried making the top on this bed one piece of wood instead of three separate pieces. This way my husband was able to paint the bottom or inside of the cubes Oatmeal on the inside and stain Ebony on the top, ends and facing.

Close-up of bed 

The beds made but the room is not yet complete.

You can see the daybeds in our guest /game room.
I added pillows that  I made to ones I purchased. I also bought Colonial Mills round baskets to add colorful  storage. I am still working on the bedding and decor of this room. I post more pictures later when I finish the guest/game room. I think Ana White will be proud my husband made these beautiful daybeds using her plans. We already had some guest stay over they gave the beds rave reviews. Please Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the beds or about Dragonfly & Lily Pads. Thank you again to Ana White for the wonderful plans hop on over and check out her site too.

That's Entertainment

   We had been searching for a entertainment center for our great room at the lake house. I found the perfect one, except for the $$$$. It had white framing with the top, drawer, cabinet fronts, and legs in different stains of wood, with mismatched hardware. I scoured the Internet to find a deal or a substitute, but it wasn't comparable in structure or materials even though I met one goal of lowering the price.

  At a local antique store I scored this marked down buffet. It  was the answer to my entertainment center quest within my budget. It had a few blemishes but seeing past the issues was my vision of our entertainment center.

Before

After checking my supplies, I made a list of items I didn't have in my stash from other projects. I drove to our nearby Lowe's, which is a good resource for gaining knowledge, and bought my supplies. I began the process of  removing the knobs and hinges, taking  care to mark them because the wrong one may not fit properly. 

Next I sanded the top, doors, and center drawer front until all the paint was removed, and then the remainder of the buffet enough to rough up the surface to paint . We measured the opening for each shelf. My husband cut two shelves from oak plywood with his table saw, then drilled a hole through the back of the buffet between the two shelves for the cords. I used my new iron for the first time to iron on the oak facing to the shelves. Then I used Ebony stain(top), walnut stain(doors)and drawer front. Tape off the edges to insure clean lines to paint the frame, shelves, interior and legs with Linen paint.

After
  I was able to use this piece of furniture to blend the colors of wood
in my other furnishing throughout the space and
compliment the white painted trim in our home.  
Now That's Beautiful Entertainment!

Supplies                                                         @ Home Stash

Veneer facing Roll                                          Paint brushes

Black & Decker Orbital Sander                      Minwax Stain and Sealer

Sandpaper 80, 120 & 220                               Oak Veneer Plywood

Sanding Sponge Blocks fine grade                  Painters Tape

Latex gloves 

1 Quart Linen Paint                                                                                                                                                                          

These purchases proved to be such a mess, I switched to the sander

disposing of all these products;

Chip Paint Brushes, Rubber Gloves, Scrapper, Metal Bucket,

 Natural Paint Stripper

I look forward to your comments, please share your ideas too.