Project!

A while back I posted about recovering the chairs in our dining room. Grant helped me pick out a fabric from a local fabric outlet store and we went to town. I ended up having one yard of fabric left over...and that evening I also saw this post by Jenny of the Little Green Notebook for a pelmet tutorial so I started scheming. After Grant got home from work that next evening, we ventured to Michael's and purchased foam core boards. They were on sale so we only spent about $3.00 that evening!

I did take pictures along the way as I worked on the pelmet boxes for each window. Please let me know if you want to see those and know of all the steps involved! I give my husband all the credit for helping me hang those things...light (because I used foam core) but still tricky to adhere.



Please excuse the Droid picture...I was too excited to wait for Grant to snap a clear shot.

The pelmets add more character to our dining room; I'm in love! We had guests here for the weekend and they couldn't believe I made them. Me either!

Summer Reading...

I've got a few titles for you! Since I have more free time now, I have been reading for at least an hour before bed or in the afternoons.

I read Water for Elephants last week and thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction novel. There are parts that are slightly "racy" and I've been more apprehensive about recommending it to others for that reason. The writer makes the 1930s setting quite realistic; sometimes I think that I was born in the wrong era. I LOVE the flashiness of the 20s and 30s! The main character in this story is an elderly man who is full of humor and even flaws, which makes him easy to relate to. I certainly enjoyed the circus train setting and the descriptive plot, as the performers, menagerie, and roustabouts become so vivid!

I'm about half way through reading Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls. I read her older novel The Glass Castle back in 2005. I was very excited to begin this new story about her true life account of her grandmother, Lily Casey. This book has already brought me to tears and it makes me want to travel out west!

What are you reading this summer?

Next on the list is The Paris Wife.

Monday Musings

1. Recovering the dining room chairs tonight! Will post pictures of the before and after, have no fear. I wanted to do something like this:


(image from styleathome.com)

But was vetoed by Grant...and he has always been very supportive in my interior choices so I knew I better compromise. Haha!
We ended up going with a floral piece that has fun colors and is slightly less bold!

2. I've loved having more time free to experiment with recipes and I found two new ones that I tried last week. They were a huge hit with the family!

Pulled Pork



Found this recipe from a college friend:
Chocolate Chip Cake Cookies
They were AH-mazing!

3. Missing my students but I received a letter from one little gal yesterday! It absolutely made my day.