Now that's a crate idea!

I love the creativity that goes into re-purposing things like the crates in this kitchen.

They make really interesting bookshelves too.

If only I were this organized.

This is probably a little more my speed.

This is my crate. 

I got it from my grandparents who've had it for years.  (Anheuser-Bush?  Grandpa!  Or should I say, grandma???)

I'm currently using it to hold magazines, and while that keeps the magazines neat and orderly, I'm thinking I need to do something a little more creative with it.

Lazy days of winter.

Do you know what this is?

Yep, it's a chess set.

My eleven year old daughter took these pictures with my junky, on the fritz camera (which will hopefully be replaced with a big girl camera soon. I hope!!!)  Not bad, huh?  It was her first time too.

We've all been playing a LOT of chess lately...in between naps.

These two always have this effect on eachother.

Look at those little feet all kicked out.

I'd say she's pretty relaxed.

I've been working on making curtains for my bedroom.

It's a white on cream damask.

One of these days I'll get them finished and show you the final product.

The kids and I are getting anxious for spring since we started a bunch of vegetables and, hopefully, deer resistant flowers.  Is there such a thing?

And speaking of spring...everyone here in the Midwest knows that spring is tornado season so Jeff and I will be building a tornado shelter in the next couple of weeks. (I hope, I hope I hope!)  I don't want to risk being tornadoed off to Oz and have to spend the rest of my days living with flying monkeys!

Fireplace

"Fireplace makeover make do."

This picture was taken the night we moved in.  It hurts to look at it doesn't it?  The fireplace isn't "hooked up" yet.  It still needs a flue so we didn't bother to finish that wall.  We bought the fireplace off of Craigslist for $320 which was a steal of a deal.  It's huge and never been used.  It does have a big ding in it but it's nothing a little bondo can't fix.  Anyway, after having to look at it like it is for the past few weeks, I decided to try to disguise it.

The first thing we did was don our acorn hats and head out into the woods to hunt down some wild grape vines to make a wreath.

Then I took a big, brassed colored, plastic framed mirror that I've had since I was seventeen that I painted white a couple of years ago and I smudged some teal paint into its nooks and crannies.

Then I sanded off a little of the white paint to expose the faux brass.  Then decided it needed a little more brass color so I lightly topped off the high spots with a little gold paint.

I hung some of my old curtains on a few nails, as well as the wreath and mirror and threw up some cute pictures of my babies and an ugly clock that I've also had since I was seventeen and here it is...

Quick, go back and look at the before picture.  I promise it makes this one look better.

Hopefully this will tide me over until we get around to finishing it.  A few of the materials included in my plans for it include rusted sheet metal, painted pressed tin, wood and my hot and handy husband.

Here's a little bit of my inspiration:

Country Living

Please visit Between Naps on the Porch for another Metamorphasis Monday,

Twice Remembered for Make Your Monday and

Reinvented: Trash to Treasure Tuesday!

I won these nesting crates!

Look what just arrived in the mail. 

Do you recognize these?

That's right, there the same nesting crates that Kevin and Layla Palmer have in their super cute Lettered Cottage kitchen!

A week or so ago, they hosted a giveaway for Sarah who has an etsy shop called Whitewash Sundries and I won!!!

Sarah has a lot of pretty goods in her shop.  I hope you take a look.

And take a look here if you'd like to see how Layla has used these crates in her beautiful kitchen.

Pretty huh? 

They even smell like herbs.  Seriously!

I can't wait to hang them.  I think I'll start by hanging them in the bathroom since that's the first room we're trying to finish.

Thank you Sarah and The Lettered Cottage!  Thank you!