Happy Sunday!

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

I hope you all had a blessed Sunday!

Winner of the Giveaway!!!!

Congratulations to Jeni, from At Home In Georgia,

for leaving the winning comment #26!!!

Jeni said...

I have not been by to see you in a long time...sure looks like I came by at a good time...a giveaway. Gooseberry Patch books are one of my favorite things.

September 19, 2010 7:50 PM

(post note. this is southern belle helping my sister out, who sadly, has no internet connection.)

{in spirit}

Giveaway at Nest to Keep

Hi there, you all! I have not been such a frequent blogger lately here at Nest to Keep, have I?

I do have something for you, though! Do you remember how quite a while back, I mentioned having a giveaway? I wanted to have a "Kitchen" themed giveaway, to celebrate (almost) finishing the kitchen!

So tonight begins the giveaway! And here are the items you can enter to win:

A Gooseberry Patch bookazine


and their Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook. I have the bookazine, and it is wonderful! I have made so many recipes from it, and they are so good! Here are a couple of pages from it~

Also up for grabs is this white metal colander~

and this:

which has these inside:


(I just hung the giveaway ones up for the picture, where mine usually are, for you to see them! But now they are back down, safely tucked away!)


Also, I wanted to give some of these cute faux eggs. They are the most authentic looking ones I have ever found! Four of these are part of the giveaway. They are already bubble-wrapped, but here are what mine look like so you know what they look like:



(The wrapped eggs.)

Here are two little things I added to the giveaway. I couldn't help but add the little salt and pepper shakers, because they look just like the vintage ones I have in my kitchen:

(The new ones)

(My old ones)

See what I mean? They really do look alike! :)

And how about a few pieces of vintage silverware? I was going to tie them up with twine, all pretty like...but I couldn't find my twine!




(* I somehow forgot to add the silverware in my post last night. I remembered at the last minute that they were part of the giveaway, so they aren't pictured in the picture at the bottom of this post!)

SO...to enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment! You absolutely do not have to have a blog to enter! Just please be sure to leave an email address where I can contact you if you win! :)

Now IF you would like more chances to win, you can:

Become a follower of this blog for one extra entry
and/or
Post about this on your blog for yet another entry!

This giveaway will run until Monday, September 24, at 11:59 PST.

Now if you want to join in on another giveaway, head on over to Beautiful Nest, where my sister and I are hosting an "Autumn" giveaway, also starting tonight! :)

Well, thank you so much for stopping by! And have a good night! :)

Blessings,

A giveaway!

Hi you all! I know, it has been WAY too long since I posted! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last of summer. :)

I can't believe it's already the first day of school tomorrow for my kids! Where did the summer go? It just flew!

I will be back to post again this week, but wanted to share something with you tonight:

Some of you might know that my sister and I started a blog together this summer. Well, we are having our first giveaway over at Beautiful Nest, and it runs until next Monday! Be sure to check it out, if you would like! :)

I hope you have a great night!

BLESSINGS,

Kitchen floor reveal

Hi you all! I hope you are had a fantastic weekend!

Now it's been a while, but do you remember how I painted our kitchen vinyl floor in May? And I told you I would show you pictures, as soon as we put the molding in?
Uh, well, I am running a little late here!

But better late than never, right? ;)

Well now, a promise is a promise, so...




...here is a shot of most of the kitchen floor, facing toward the living room.




And another...


Now this is the thing...I posted on my floor in it's entirety on Beautiful Nest, the blog my sister and I started, and explained the process from the beginning. There are many more pictures! So instead of completely replicating it here, I thought I would just direct you to our other blog! If you are interested in seeing more pictures of the floor, make sure you head on over there and check it out! Just click here! :)

Thank you for visiting! And have a wonderful night!

Blessings to you,

Italian soda meets vanilla ice cream

There are countless things about summer that I love...the kids splashing in the pool, our family vacation, the longer evenings, pitchers of iced tea at the ready...I could go on and on...So in the spirit of enjoying summer, some evenings this week our family has been having fun making Italian sodas for dessert.

It is addicting, let me tell you! There were three really disappointed kids the couple of nights we didn't do it! :)




One night, I had two requests for coconut flavored Italian sodas. I didn't think it would taste good, but I was wrong!

I sampled a bit of one, and was amazed. Not only was it very, very good, it gave me an idea!

Did you know that if you add crushed pineapple and ice cream to a normal Italian soda, the result is absolute perfection? I didn't either! ;)

So, do you want to make one? Okay then, here is how you do it:

"Island Delight" Italian Soda




Fill a glass 3/4 full of ice (I used crushed, because I think it works better, but that is optional!)

For the standard sized glass, measure in about 3 Tbsp. of syrup flavoring (usually found in the coffee/tea aisle at the grocery store) on top of the ice.

Next add 2-3 Tbsp. of half and half, and then two regular spoonfuls of crushed pineapple. Pour Sprite (or seltzer water) over it, leaving a little room at the top for...vanilla iced cream! Yes, add a large spoonful or two of it to the very top, and there you have it!

I hope you all had a fantastic week! Tomorrow our little chickadees will be off to spend a week with their Nana and Papa. Every year, David and I celebrate our anniversary by going away for a few days...then for the last part of the week, I am home while he goes to work. What will I do with all this time alone, you ask? Well, the list is being made of all I hope to accomplish! We'll see what gets done!

I hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Blessings,

Dressing up the kitchen a little

But don't let this fool you! I am still plugging away at parts of the kitchen I thought would be finished weeks ago! I was planning on taking a break before starting on the island, but changed my mind on that. I could really use the extra working space in our kitchen!

It has been a really long time since we started this main phase of our kitchen overhaul, fifteen months ago! And I am feeling it. The need to be done with it is strong, at least until we do the wood flooring. (Hopefully next spring.)

But... aren't these little pot holders so sweet? I found them at a sweet little fabric store, and couldn't resist!




They aren't old, but they look like they could be!
Now, promise you won't laugh, but they were my Mother's Day gift to myself this year! (Does anyone else do this?) I have been waiting to hang them up because, well~ another slightly embarrassing admission~ here I am, repainting the color of the bead board in the backs of the upper cabinets.


The previous color




(although bright and cheerful)
didn't match the greenish gray I painted the floor, see below:





The color clash was driving me crazy! If you know me, you know color is a very, very serious matter indeed. It cannot be just any green, you see. It has to be the right shade of green. So despite the magnetic repulsion I am developing toward paint brushes, I did the only thing to be done, and began painting them the same mellow green used on our floor. I went back and forth on this color, because what looks perfect on our floor sometimes looked a little too blue inside the cabinets.




But then I remember that perhaps this is a choice that doesn't need to be taken quite so seriously! When we put down wood flooring, I can change the color simply enough if I want! It will only be on the back of three cabinets, and on our island. I also covered over that same first green the was on the half walls in the dining room and part of the kitchen. It is a really pretty white now, and I think it is going to fit just right.


Now regarding the island (are you getting tired of these updates?) it is getting closer to me showing it to you! I am putting bead board on the sides, and need to paint it, but am waiting for it to cool down! It has been hot this week, at least for our little corner of the world! Hardly any homes have air conditioning here, because it is so rarely hot! SO, when it is...you bring out all the fans you own to keep cool! :)

I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend!

Blessings to you,

A Beautiful Nest

I am very excited to tell you this: my sister Christine and I have launched a new blog, A Beautiful Nest. Although we each have our own blogs (and intend to keep them) we felt it would be so fun to do one together! We have countless ideas and plans for this blog, and hope you will join us on this new adventure!

If you would like to visit A Beautiful Nest, just click on the button at the top of this post! And if you have the time, please let us know what you think of it so far! :)

As always, blessings to you all!

Back from summer vacation...

...And getting back into the swing of things here at home. It was such a wonderful vacation!




We had fun, seeing the sights...




Kicking back, relaxing...




Eating good food...




And even enjoying a little crafting and coffee...




Now it's back to the daily grind, but that's okay~







We have wonderful memories and pictures to remind us, should we forget...







I hope you all had a truly blessed Fourth of July! I love this holiday, and always get a little lump in my throat when I hear the old, patriotic songs! I love this country, and am so proud and thankful to be an American!

I hope you are enjoying the summer as well, and staying cool! :)


Blessings,

Working on our island...

...And now we're one step closer.

You may remember my "island dreaming" a few posts back...Well, we finally bought the solid oak butcher block and I can't wait to cut it to the exact dimensions and install it on our island! (Well actually, although I am not shy of power tools, this is something I'm happy to leave to my husband. I'm too afraid of making a wrong cut!)


Now when I say island, you are probably picturing a cabinet of some sort, smack dab in the middle of the room. Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, we had to get a little creative! We are in the midst of something that I think is going to be just right for our kitchen!

Here is an up close shot of the butcher block...I just love the wood! It was a darker shade than I had first thought, and I don't want to stain it any darker, SO...I am just going to oil it to seal the wood.

Well, I just wanted to give you a little update on this! I hope you all are having a wonderful week, and enjoying the summer! Thank you so much for stopping by! :)

Blessings,

A lamp makeover

Hi you all! I hope you are having a wonderful week! :)

I just wanted to show you a little something I finished...yes, I actually finished something! ;)

A few months ago, I bought two sweet gray lamp shades, but didn't have the right lamp bases to go with them. I knew I wanted a buffet lamp style, but all the ones I was seeing were so expensive! Then I saw this, and for only ten dollars, I could afford two of them! My plan was to spray paint the lamp bases white, to match our bedroom decor.




The only problem was, when I pulled it out of the package, I realized it was not one solid piece. I had never tried painting a lamp in screw-on sections before, but I was curious to see if it would work, so I started with just one of them...





Here it is put together~ it's not an ugly color or anything, it just wouldn't work in our room or with the gray shade I had for it...




I pulled most of the cord out of the end piece, and taped up the cord between the three sections (everything I didn't want painted!) and primed and painted it. I let it dry overnight... And it worked! Here it is now:







As for the shade that went with it, it was not in my color scheme either, and too dark of fabric to recover, so I am reconstructing it...




(I have something in mind...we'll see how it comes out!) And now that I know you can indeed spray paint a lamp like this, it's on to the next one...

Have a blessed night! :)