Homemade No-Sew Teepee

This is amazing. I didn't make it, but I think I could after reading the directions on this blog, The Handmade Home here: http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2013/02/a-no-sew-teepee/. Isn't it delightful for children and grandchildren, maybe kids of all ages?! She used all her fabric scraps, wrapped them around the flat "poles", and used her glue gun to keep it all together. Christmas lights are attached to the top of the poles inside. It can be folded up and stuck in a closet or under the bed for storage. Total cost: $7.

 A perfectly inspired reading room for small people. I love this gal's ingenuity and wanted to pass it on.

Winter Mantel

Exercise helps. So do fireplaces. And sunshine in a vase. Powerful medicine for the winter blahs. 

Winter blue mantel. 

Up close. 

I also have freshly painted walls. They look just like the old paint, but oh so clean and fresh. 

Hoping you all are finding ways to keep the winter blahs far, far away. 

Barn Before and After

The Black Barn after paint...

BEFORES: This 60 year old white barn  formerly housed animals,  and then became a hot sauce factory. We turned it into a party barn and today I am getting it ready for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. I thought it was a good time to show its evolution from serviceable to sociable!

This is how the barn looked when we bought it. The well in front of it was an eyesore also.

But nothing compared to the backside. Wow. Sanford and Son's junk pile!

 The barn's structure was also deteriorating, as you can see from the broken joists. The roof leaked, and water seeped in from the bottom of the walls.

Oh, and this too. It was full of junk from the previous owner. 

AFTERS:

Apparently this is the only picture I have of the side of the barn, with three of our fishermen in front of it. 

First, we painted the barn black and added white trim. Big decision. I hadn't seen any black barns near us, but the color went so well with the house, that I began to research.  I googled it and found lots of beautiful black barns. They became my inspiration. Then I saw one in a Pottery Barn book, all decorated for a fall picnic, and that cinched it for me. Huge improvement. More presence than the original white. 

It looked beautiful in the snow, too. During the winter months, husband fixed the interior. He repaired the joists, plugged the holes, insulated, painted, remodeled the bathroom and made it very cozy.  More about that later. 

The doors looked very barn-ish with the white Xes on them. Another inspiration from the Pottery Barn book.

Then we added covered storage to the hidden side of the barn. It made it much more useful.

And on the house side, we added a deck, and topped it with this spacious screen porch. More about that later.

Someone had dumped this old Coke machine in our forest. Joe dragged it out and we repurposed it. 

Here it is repurposed into a planter. This is before we added flowers or the screen porch on the side of the building. 

This is after we turned the Coke machine into a planter, full of spring tulips.  This is the front of the barn after adding the circle vent and the screen porch.

Spring delight. The round galvanized planter is another piece of junk we found in the forest.

Love. My. Tulips.

This is the back of the barn showing the screen porch, the deck, the antique signs and the barn doors. 

It's a nice entertaining space and has become our party barn. We use it all the time for all kinds of social events. In this view, you can see the house beyond. 

This is on the other side of the doors, with my antique signs and my antique bike. 

That bike was born the same year as me, so I am attached. 

We will eat our Thanksgiving Dinner in the barn on Thursday. We have a lot for which to give thanks. I love that we Americans have a specific day dedicated to honoring the bounty we have received from the hand of God. 

Blessings on you all. 

Cheap Fixes

 The house had been in foreclosure for a year. We made a short sell deal with the bank and that took another year to close. So after two years, it was in great disrepair and very overgrown. It was begging for some love. The house needed many "unseen" and expensive repairs to the electrical, water, and heating systems, so that is money that can't be seen. But there are two cheap fixes that transform the look of a house.

The first thing my husband did was the obvious. He mowed. We have 3 acres of grass, so this is the only way to do the job. He actually loves this, so not a problem. 

BEFORE

 The next project was tackling the exterior of the house. The trim had never been painted, and the wood was dry and hungry for paint. There was also nothing covering the crawl space.  

Here my mother sits on the porch at the time we took possession of the sad house.  Thankfully my mother's smile cheers the whole scene. 

BEFORE

 The driveway went right up to the front door. No welcoming entry zone. That was not a quick or cheap fix, so that had to wait. This is how it looked with all the cars packed by the entrance. 

BEFORE

 More dry wood. BTW, country houses always have rockers, and we wasted no time purchasing four of them from the Cracker Barrel restaurant.

BEFORE

 The back of the house isn't looking good, either. The original farm house is on the right side. It is 120 years old and has the original pine floors. It was once a two bedroom house, but has been gutted and is now just the living room.  The addition with the new bedrooms is on the left side of the house.

BEFORE

BEFORE

Without the white paint, the house looks small and dull. There's nothing to show off it's good bones. 

AFTER

With the paint, the rockers, and the lattice covering the crawl space...and a birdhouse that says "this is a charming and friendly little place". 

AFTER

 Showing the back of the house and the side with the rockers. 

AFTER

The newly painted entrance. The original front doors were white. We painted them black to match the existing light fixtures. The deck and steps are Behr black stain. Flower pots help with the awkward driveway transition.  With it's fresh paint, the house is already making a bigger statement.

 Paint is the best and cheapest fix ever.