Sunday-morning design hangover...

On Saturday afternoons, I feel the excitement start to build in anticipation of the big party.

I don't get dressed up, mind you. There's no booze. No dinner. No dancing. My big night of fun is watching Design Time Saturday Night on HGTV... with my dogs... in my pjs... under the electric blanket... with a big glass of milk.

Scooter

The first show I watch is Divine Design with Candace Olson. She does amazing rooms and she's funny. But her design style seems out-of-reach to me. (I'd love to have a Candace room, don't get me wrong.)

Check out more of this divine bedroom, designed by Candace Olson, on HGTV.com

I also enjoy a new show, the Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie. Jamie's super talented but I admit my favorite thing about the show is... well... he's... smokin' hot. Okay, I said it. (Click here to see for yourself.) He may be a little on the short side but love that Aussie accent.

Check out more of this outdoor room, designed by Jamie Durie, on HGTV.com

Then there's Curb Appeal the Block where they do a $20,000 makeover. The finished product is usually pretty special. Even if I'm not a big John Gidding fan, I like the carpenter, Chip Wade.

Check out more photos from Curb Appeal the Block on HGTV.com

But what I really, really, really look forward to is Sarah's House. Designer Sarah Richardson bought a fixer-upper and, each week, she designs a different room with her assistant, Tommy. It's so good! Love, love, love it!

Check out the kitchen from Sarah's House and decorating tips and advice on Sarah's blog on HGTV Cananda

I became a fan of Sarah Richardson's by watching her show, Design, Inc.

Check out more of Danny's bathroom on Design, Inc.

When I grow up, I want to be just like Sarah. She rocks, okay! There's nothing about her I don't like. She's cute. She's funny. She's fashionable. She's skinny. She's smart. She's talented. She's real. Her rooms are beautiful, not to mention totally doable for the average person. I mean, what's not to love?

Check out Sarah Richardson on HGTV Canada

So, now I've come to the sad realization that Sarah's nearly finished with her house. How am I'm going to get my party on when that happens?

But I found this teaser on HGTV Canada's Web site for "Sarah's Cottage."

A room from Sarah's Cottage from HGTV Canada

Fingers crossed it comes to the U.S.

Saturday nights just won't be the same without Sarah.

Pretty shades of pink in a Saturday-morning sunrise...

One of my favorite things about living on the ranch is that our sunrises and sunsets fill the entire sky. We have some real beauties. This morning, I thought the pale shade of pink was really pretty so I stepped out the back door to take a few photos. This is looking toward the northwest at the Weston Hills, the corrals, barn and haystack. It's hard to believe that all this hay will be gone in a couple of months... but I'm getting off track... This is about the sunrise.

This is looking southwest. The trees line the banks of the Little Powder River. What a blessing it is to live on a ranch with trees. Some ranches don't have any. Since I grew up in the Big Thicket, I just love trees!

It's supposed to be in the 50s and sunny today... a rare gift in February for Wyoming. Thank you, God, for this beautiful sunrise, trees on the river, these sweet readers and a glorious day.

Hope you enjoyed your sunrise too. Happy Saturday, ya'll...

This post is linked to Pink Saturday on How Sweet the Sound and Outdoor Wednesday at Southern Daydreamer

White Flower Farmhouse...

Okay, it's probably hard to tell just how excited I am right now, but can you say "love"? I haven't been this enamored by a site in a long time.

It's farmhouse, white, cottage-style bliss. I want it. I need it. I love, love, love, it!

Visit White Flower Farmhouse to see what all the fuss is about.

One of my roosters....

This little rooster sits on a shelf in my kitchen. (I had to dust before I took the picture.)

Even though he's not my favorite rooster, I'm fond of him just the same. I like the ear of corn between his feet and they way he looks against the red wall.

New old farmhouse pottery at Farmhouse Wares...

You know shopping gets me so excited, right? Well, I just discovered a new site that has so many cute, farmhouse-type things at reasonable prices, I had to share.

These adorable antique-reproduction pitchers are $52 each. (It appears the only one in stock is the blue-banded one, which is my favorite anyway.)

A set of three mixing bowls is $100.

Check out Farmhouse Wares. (Get your purse now. You'll want to have your credit card handy.)

I can't wait to wear this...

As soon as I laid eyes on this adorable polka-dot top, I knew I had to have it. One little problem. And I do mean "little." It was in the childrens' department. Luckily, it came in an XL and, other than being a little tight in the arms, it fits great. Now all I need is a hot, summer day so I can wear it. Come on June...! Did I mention it was only $5.98? At Kmart. Cute as pie and a bargain to boot. Love that.

No kitchen should be without them...

One thing I can't wait to purchase for the Old House is flour sack dish towels. I've been seeing them around, here and there, but have been hesitant to buy any because white does not fare well in our well water (no matter how much bleach I use). I just love their simplicity. Plus, they're super absorbent, fast drying and on sale. You can get a set of 3 for $6.99 from Real Goods.

I mean, if you've gotta' dry the dishes anyway, why not use something that makes you smile, right? Happy shopping!

Linked to White Wednesday on Faded Charm

How to paint vinyl floors...

When we moved into our 1980's house 9 years ago, the vinyl floors were hideous and in terrible shape.

Apparently, the former ranch hand chopped kindling with a hatchet on the kitchen floor. (We found the kindling but not the hatchet.)

Since we don't own the house, we didn't want to spend the money to replace them. So, I decided to paint them. The project cost $80 and it took me 11 days to complete the kitchen, laundry room, entry and bathroom. As you will see in a minute, they turned out great.

I found a paint that worked on floors and on vinyl siding so I thought it would be a good choice for vinyl floors. (The paint was McCloskey's All-in-One and I can't find it anymore.) I was right. Nearly 9 years after painting them, they are still in decent shape. And, let me tell you, our floors are used and abused.

Here's what I did...

Step 1) I gave the floors a very thorough cleaning by first sweeping, then vacuuming, then scrubbing them clean on my hands and knees with warm water.

Step 2) I rolled on three coats of off-white, letting the coats dry in between.


Step 3) Because there was already a square pattern stamped into the old vinyl, this step was much easier than if I'd had to measure. I taped off the inside of every other square with blue painter's tape then painted each with two coats of taupe, letting the coats dry in between.


Step 4) I carefully removed the tape.

Step 5) I applied five coats of water-based, satin Minwax Polycrylic with a brush, letting the coats dry in between.

POST UPDATE: I don't think the paint I used on my floors is available anymore. However, I saw a show on HGTV where they painted a vinyl bathroom floor. They used a high-adhesion primer first, followed by floor paint. I think a really important step with my floor was the Minwax Polycrylic on top, however, the paint I used was a matte finish. If you used a glossy floor paint, maybe you wouldn't need the shiny top coat.

When the homeowner saw my painted floors, he gasped because he thought I was going to hand him a bill for new vinyl. He was happy to reimburse me the $80 I spent on the project.

Here's the bathroom floor, 9 years later. This is the lowest-traffic area of all the areas I painted. I would have posted the kitchen but it's covered in muddy paw prints because we took a walk in the melting snow.

We're going for another walk tomorrow and the snow will be melting for awhile so I see no reason to clean it any time soon.

Linked to Make it for Monday, Metamorphosis Monday, Make Your Monday,
Motivate Me Monday, Transformation Thursday, Show and Share Day

Saturday-morning tea in a favorite cup...

It was always a such special treat when Grandmother would let me drink out of one of these darling, little cups. Of course, she'd let me choose the color. (I usually went for pink... just like I did this morning.)

I've never been able to find them anywhere in this pattern but I'd love to buy some more if you run across them. Here's how they're labeled.

I think I'll pour another cup.

Happy Saturday morning!

Linked to Tea Party Tuesday

Show-and-Tell Friday at Romantic Home...

One of my favorite blogs hosts Show-and-Tell Friday each week. Visit Romantic Home to participate. It's a lot of fun and the blog is fabulous.

Happy Friday to you and yours!

Yellow Roses...

I just adore this little print that hangs in my master bathroom. I think the colors are beautiful. It's titled "Yellow Roses" but I can't quite make out the artist's name. I probably could if I took it out of the frame but I'm afraid I'll tear it up because it's very old. I don't remember this picture hanging anywhere when I was a child so I'm not sure who it belonged to but I'm sure they probably enjoyed it just as much as I do.

Perfect for the Old House porch...

Sooooo.... I was in Kmart last week buying a 12-pack of diet Coke when I spotted this adorable, red bistro set. Yes, I actually gasped! I have fought off the urge to go back and get the chairs every day since. Then there's the matching bench...

Wouldn't this look so cute on the Old House porch? Unfortunately, I don't have room for them in Wyoming. Should I really consider buying them for a vacant house?

In case you don't have a Kmart, they are also available at Sears.

Linking to Rednesday

A thousand shiny buttons (& one lens cap)....

When I was a little girl, this big jar of buttons sat on a tiny table in the hallway of my grandmother's house in Houston. I loved it when she would carry it to the living room for me and dump them out on the rug. Back then, my two favorite buttons were these tiny red ones. Now I can't decide. I can't recall who started the button jar, probably my great-grandmother... but I'm not sure which one. Maybe my brother remembers. (He remembers everything!)

Yesterday, I emptied the button jar so I could wash it. I had a heck of a time getting them all back in there. It took me three tries. I put a few in... shook the jar... added a few more... shook the jar... you get the picture... until they all fit.

After I finished taking pictures, I couldn't seem to find the lens cap for my camera. I searched everywhere and finally found it. Can you guess where? Look carefully and you will see it... amidst the buttons.

Now, I get to dump them out again.

But that's okay.

I love the buttons!

Linked to Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World

It all started with a dog trot...

Kathy's Cottage Home, photo from Cherry Hill Cottage

This whole blog thing started when my sister sent me a link to Kathy's dog trot which was posted on her sister, Tina's, Cherry Hill Cottage blog.

Let me tell you, it was love at first sight. In fact, I was so enamored by Kathy's entire house and decorating style that I wrote to her to let her know how excited I was to have discovered it. OMG... Every time I look at it, I think... This has got to be the cutest house on the planet... and... I wonder how long it takes her to dust all that adorable stuff?

By the way, Tina's Cherry Hill Cottage is nothing to shake a stick at... Awesomeness surely runs in the family!

It soon dawned on me that there must be more than just one blog out there that might interest me and, you guessed it, now I am totally hooked on blogs. So...

Because of Tina's lovely blog and Kathy's gorgeous home, I have gone off-the-deep-end and started my own blog. I have invited Tina and Kathy to be my first followers and I sure hope they take me up on it. They are, after all, responsible for this new chapter in my life. Thanks for the divine inspiration, ladies.

I can't thank Tina enough for sharing her home and her life but most of all for sharing her sister. For so long, I've felt like I live a million miles away from anyone who shares any of my interests. I feel like I have friends again even if I don't know them (or any of the other bloggers I'm having the pleasure of following. And I hope you don't think I'm a crazy stalker.)