JOY

Joy

J- Jesus First

Y- You Last

O- Others In-Between

A Bowl Full of JOY

I have seen so many wonderful handmade

ornaments on blog land this year!

I decided to make some of my own

using odd and ends I had here at home.

I cut small wooden blocks out of scrap board.

My board was once part of my daughters

picket fence headboard and was already painted white.

 I printed off the word JOY

and decoupaged it onto the board.

I then drilled holes in the corners,

some received one hole

(I'm attending a Pretty In Pink themed

Christmas brunch this Saturday.)

and some received two!

Using recycled and scrap ribbon

I tied on bows and hangers!

These I hope to pass out to new neighbors,

friends, family and teachers!

I put them all in a bowl for an easy display.

The feather tree is one I made years ago!

I added some vintage ornaments to the bowl

to finish out my display!

(sneak peek of my dining room!)

I am linking to Table Top Tuesday

over at A Stroll Thru Life!

May the JOY of the season be with you!

The Provision- After- Master Bath

Part 1 -  The Master Bath

Before

To be honest,

 this was not only the master bath & hall bath,

 but the only working bathroom in the house!

The photo does not due it justice... it was wayyyy scary!

The tub was rusted out,

the tile on the floor was popping up,

the vanity was water damaged beyond repair

and everything was very, very dirty!

 We made the decision to take the two bedrooms

and this "beautiful" bathroom

on the first floor and combine them

to make a master suite and powder room.

It was fun to find this old stud

behind the bathroom drywall.

For the record, we removed this stud

and added it back into the new wall.

Of course, we added our remodel

to this "list"!

Did I mention...

we gutted the place?!

:-)

This view is looking from the new master bedroom

into the new master bathroom!

Same view... During Reno

Stepping inside the door,

on the immediate right is the extra large shower-

During Reno

We designed the bathroom

to be light, bright and white!

We tiled the shower walls with traditional subway tile.

Wayne even built in a bench, which was topped

with the same granite we used on the vanity!

We searched high and long for the perfect vanity.

We found ours at Lowe's,

however it only came in brown....

no problem.. we just painted it the same white

as our trim color!

(I wish I could have taped us

getting it into the opening...

think--- leg press workout!)

I changed out the original knobs

for these sweet little glass ones!

I

On the left side of the bathroom

is my antique claw foot tub

and behind that the toilet.

The toilet is the only thing from the original

bathroom still in the exact same place!

The finished view from our Master Bedroom.

The door on the right of the tub is the

entrance to our closet.

We used a white limestone tile for the floor.

The Vanity- All Done

The view back towards the bedroom.

(The lighting in some of the photos is causing a pink glow.

The color on the walls in both the

 bedroom and bath is China White (Benjamin Moore)

and does not contain any pink.)

There was enough room in the shower for

two shower heads.  We decided on a standard head

and a rain shower!  Each shower head operates

using an individual handle!  We LOVE our shower!

-----bath time-----

I was so excited to find that my thrift store

cart fit perfectly in the corner!

The branch from a "money tree"

adds the texture and color I wanted

for that corner!

My newest find for the bath was a caddy for the claw foot tub.

I had found many I loved but at $50- $100 didn't fit my 

thrifty ways...

I found mine at a local thrift store for

$1.53!

God is so Good!

I am linking up to Metamorphosis Monday

over at Between Naps on the Porch.

coming next...

Part 2- The Master Bedroom

Silver and Gold

The hardware in our new house is

all done in a brushed nickle finish.

All except for the hinges on the front and side door,

which we purchased prehung

 at a discount from our local

Pease Warehouse.

The side door came with bright gold hinges.

Wanting them to match the rest of the hardware,

I pulled out my trusty tube of...

Rub 'n Buff.

I am using a silver leaf color,

but this product comes in 16 different metallic colors.

The possibilities and applications are endless!

To do my hinges,

I simply put tape on either side of the hinge.

Rubbed on the color with my finger.

Buffed it with a clean cloth.

Removed the tape...

And received the satisfaction that I now

have matching hardware!

I am linking this mini metamorphosis

to Metamorphosis Monday

over at Between Naps on the Porch.

Wishes

Wishing you and your family

a very

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you count your blessings,

may your heart be filled with joy!

Home

Welcome to our new Home,

The Provision!

I've been going round and round trying to figure

out how to photo and post the first floor. 

 At last I decided to take it step by step,

starting with the front of the house!

Winter

This is what we started with just a little over a year ago!

Come spring,

 we cleaned up the landscaping.

The new windows went in at the beginning of summer!

We chose a top four square to give the house a cottage style look! 

Next step... 

out with the old

 (new front door and thanks to my contractors, the hedges too)

and in went the new front door!

To add character to the flat front

we removed the siding above the bay window

(this removed siding was reused in the back of the house)

and replaced it with a vinyl shingle style!

The house received new gutters at this time too!

Fall

This is the front today!

We still are planning to add a window box on the 2nd floor window

and possibly one under the large bay window.

What are your thoughts?

We are also looking for the perfect mailbox

and new house numbers.

Landscaping is slotted for spring!

I have really enjoyed watching all the leaves change

color this fall, especially this beautiful maple

just outside our front door!

Have a wonderful day!

We've Moved!

That's it in a nutshell.....

why I haven't blogged in so long!

It has taken all our energy to finish things up here at The Provision!

And to be honest with you we still have a punch list of things

still to be done, but we are here!

On October 31st we passed our final inspection

and received our Certificate Of Occupancy!

And on Saturday morning of 11/5/11 at 8:00am

the moving truck drove up to the door and

loaded 95% of the apartment and

unloaded it here at the house!

Since then Wayne and I have been busy doing all

the things you do during a move....

Unload boxes

Find new "homes" for everything we own

Hang drapes

Hang blinds

Moving the things from the shed to the house.

Etc.... !!!!

As soon as I find my cord to transfer photos

from the camera to the computer

I'll post some photos!

We can already say...

We Love It Here!

We are Blessed beyond measure!

So far, simple joys have come from

watching the kids play and climb trees just outside the windows!

The dogs love the freedom to run again.

Our backyard is like a park and right in the middle is

a beautiful tree that has turned the most stunning shade

of red.  Yesterday it was warm enough for Wayne and I to sit

in the morning sun drinking our coffee

 and simply enjoy the land and colors

all around us.

Yes,  we are going to love it here!

On another note.... we now have normal (fast)  Internet again!

We have been suffering with slow (think slowwwww dial-up speeds)

for almost a year now.  The internet installer finally diagnosed

the problem as a bad router (who knew?)

and was able to install a new one.

All this to say.....

I can blog again!

It's like Christmas!

I've missed each one of you and can't wait to jump back to blogging!