Junkin Find!

I want to thank you all for the sweet comments on the blog award. I truly can't tell you how much it means to me!! Blogging has been a blessing in disguise for me and I am blessed for all the friends that I have met and I look forward to making more!

O.K.

I went junkin on Sunday, all by my lonesome,

(sad face)

Hubby decided that he was too sore from raking on Saturday that he didn't want to walk around all day.

No problem.

It was the last market of the season and there were also less vendors than last month. I saw a few things that I LOVED, I needed to had won the lottery for some of them though!

As I was making my way out, still empty handed, I spotted these little beauties!

$15!!

Not each, TOGETHER!!!!

They were perfect in every way!! I love shutters and the brown stain matched the Pet Milk Co. box that I have as well as the Nantucket Sign that I made!

WOO HOO!!!

I didn't have to do anything to them!

Well, I did wipe them up, they were pretty dirty!

I knew eactly where I wanted to put them...

I love them there!!

They warm up the window and just makes the little corner feel cozy!

The right side hits the shelf and I can't really move the shelf any farther over.

I don't mind it though.

I also wanted to share this picture with you,

not really sure what goes through my pets minds sometimes...

Really??

Passing The Love

It has been one of those weeks, bad thing is it is only Tuesday! I came home from work tonight feeling pretty down and I looked at my email and saw this sweet little note from from my beautiful friend Deborah from With all my Heart...Deborah saying that she gave me this wonderful award!!

I can't tell you how much she has warmed my heart and made me smile!!

This is my first award and I am so touched!

You have to visit her and her blog! She is such a wonderful friend and she is beautiful inside and out!!

These awards are a great way to show others that you are interested in what they have to contribute to the blogosphere, and showcase some of the people you follow.



The rules for winning this award are as follows:


* Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

* Share 7 things about yourself.

* Pass the award along to 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous.

* Contact the bloggers you chose and let them know about the award.

7 things that about me:

1. I am shy when I am around a group of people. People have commented in the past that I come off as, well, you know......So, I try to be outgoing but then it backfires because I can't stop talking and just wind up digging myself in a hole.

2. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!

3. I love my family more than I know! I know that sounds odd but there are days that they just amaze me and the love just grows deeper with time.

4. I am a complete daddy's girl!! My dad is my hero, my rock and my friend. My mom is my best friend and has taught me so much in life, love and faith.

5. I had open heart surgery when I was 32 and by the love and grace of God I was given a second chance at life.

6. I started blogging to try and sell my jewelry, but what I received is friendship, inspiration and true kindness! I am amazed at all of you and how true and genuine you are!

7. Last and most important, I love God, my family and my friends with all my heart and I am so blessed to have lived, loved, and lost.

I am passing this award on to these bloggy friends. I love all the blogs and friends that I follow and if I could give out more than 15, I truly would! I hope that you accept this award knowing that you have inspired me and make me smile on a daily basis!!

Please forgive me if you don't participate in these.

Cottage and Vine

The Frosted Gardener

Low Tide High Style

Harper and Henny

Bella Before and After

Southern in my Heart

Completely Coastal

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures

Green Willow Pond

Heaven's Walk

Pink Postcards

Simple Daisy

Air Kiss

Modern Country Style

CSN Winner and Teaser Part 2

I just wanted to thank everyone who has been a friend, became my new friends and left wonderful comments last week during the giveaway. I hope that you all feel welcome here and that I can inspire you and get to know you!

Now, the winner of the CSN Store $35 gift certificate is:

#7 Caron from Everything Coastal

Congratulations!!!!

Please contact me, if I have not contacted you and I will let you know how to claim your wonderful prize!!

Happy shopping!!!

NOW,

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! It finally turned cold here Friday night and we were able to get a nice warm fire in the fireplace last night along with one of my favorites, white chicken chili!!!!

Ahhhhhh!

mmmmmmmm........

Also, I told you that I would reveal my little tease that I left you with last Thursday.

Well, I lied,

a little.

I haven't finished it completely yet and wasn't able to do what I wanted this weekend but I will give you another little tease!

See, I am a nice girl!

I wanted to show you my drift wood curtain rod!

I found this great piece in Glen Lake this summer and haven't been able to find the right spot for it until now!

I simply mounted the drift wood on the trim above the window,

screwed in little hooks and cut small slits in the cheese cloth that I had left over and hung it on the hooks!!

Simple and it makes me smile from memories of this summer!

Hopefully I will be able to finish up this week, but we will see how the week unfolds!

Tomorrow I will show you my find from Sundays flea market trip!

(I will be linking up to the parties in my 'Linky Parties' tab on the top of the blog!)

CSN Store Giveaway Reminder!!

Just a little reminder that there is still some time left to enter the giveaway for a $35 gift certificate to CSN stores!!!

Just go here and find out how you can enter!!!

I will be announcing the winner on Monday, September 27!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Mine will be filled with work, cleaning and hopefully junking on Sunday for some great finds for my new project that I teased about yesterday!!!

(By the way, loving your answers!! You guys make me smile!!)

I am really excited!!

I am feeling a little nostalgic today and since it is now officially fall I will leave you with this beautiful image of The Albony Covered Bridge surrounded by the beautiful colors of autumn.

I love covered bridges, not sure why, maybe because my grandpa liked them so much, but there is just something so beautiful and interesting about them. Is it because you can enter as one person and may leave as another? Or is the image of crossing over to a place unknown but you know as you make your way you are sheltered?

Image: William Carroll

I found a poem that kind of explains how I feel.

"What stories could these bridges tell
If they could only talk?
They'd tell us of the ones who rode
And those who had to walk,
The rich, the poor....those in-between
Who used their planks to cross,
The soldiers, farmers, businessmen
In buggies, sleighs, by "hoss",
Like sentinels these bridges stand
In spite of flood and fire,
Their rugged, stalwart strength remains
Our future to inspire.

-Author Unknown

Guess What I am doing Today!!??

Here is a hint.........

It's not laundry!

(although I am doing laundry as well)

Stay tuned!!!

Starting on My Halloween Decorating

This year I have been so inspired by all of you to decorate for Halloween. I love Halloween and I always intend each year to put up some decorations but usually fail.

Well, I started a little earlier this year and this is what I have come up with so far!

I absolutely love these little stick trees!

This one is from Martha Stewart.

I decided to make one of my own and since I live in the woods, sticks were pretty abundant to choose from!

So while the kids went out to look for the perfect sticks, and to give them something to do,

I drug these beauties in from outside,

cleaned them up,

(not really sure what that is, ICK)

Found a scaarrryyyyy font and printed out some numbers that the boy chose, cut them and stenciled them on the metal containers

I then spray painted the sticks that they found black and put them in the container with some green foam that I had laying around and then covered that with spanish moss.

I then took Martha Stewart's spider silhouettes, my hole punch, (all I could find was a heart-shaped one, Valentines meets Halloween) some yarn that was included and hung them on the tree!

I also saw these silhouette mice that were on sale, they were so cute and I had seen them

here

I wish I had great stairs like that!

So, I just placed them around the baseboards, not that scary but they are so darn cute!!

Going to work on some wreaths tomorrow as well as look for some spiderweb to place around the kitchen!

cccrrrreeeeepppppyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

I am linking up to the parties on my sidebar!

Guest Blogger From Harper and Henny!

**Just a quick reminder about the CSN giveaway - don't forget to enter here for a chance to win a $35 gift certificate on anything in their enormous online stores!!**

I am really excited to introduce to you today my wonderful friend and guest blogger, Deanna from dedetsyshop and Harper and Henny!

She makes AMAZING pillows that I instantly fell in love with the first time I laid eyes on them! They are anywhere from elegant to whimsical and just

beautiful!!

This is Deanna...

Hello from Harper and Henny! Michelle was gracious enough to ask me to do a

guest post on her blog and so here I am!

I met Michelle through my Etsy shop

and one day when I was overwhelmed with customers, she made me feel much better

by being (still!!!) very patient in recieving her item! What a great gal!

Anyways, she asked me to write something for you all and she recommended maybe

something on my little old shop!

So, I will do just that!

Let's see... How did I get started in the wonderful land we all know as Etsy?

Actually I first heard of Etsy from a magazine in 2008...I checked it

out and thought "Hey, that sounds interesting."

So, what did I do?

I knitted some scarves and stuff to put in there!

It didn't all start with pillows!

I sold a few scarves and then slowly made some pillows and low and behold, they

sold!

Soon after, I went from 10 pillows in my shop to over 100!

My little online store started growing very fast and was even published in Family Circle

magazine and recently on Good Morning America!

I think of it as the little shop that could! :)

I really just started it as a little side hobby while I was

going to school...and it now it has taken off to a full (and more than) time

job! I wouldn't change it for the world though!

It still boggles my mind that

I have MY pillows in other peoples houses!

Craziness I tell you!

Well, thanks for listening! And be sure to check out

http://www.dedeetsyshop.etsy.com/ and my little boys shop

http://www.connorsfunshop.etsy.com/ He loves to see who "hearts" his shop !!

Thank you SO much Deanna!

She is such a sweetheart and so talented. They even did a spotlight on her on Esty called Quit Your Day Job! Check it out for her inspiring story and pictures of where she creates!

I love the fact that her son has an Etsy shop as well!

Also, stop in at her Harper and Henny blog and say hi!!

This is what I ordered, isn't it cute!

And, she recycles!!!

HAPPY DANCING!!!!

We figured it out!!

After 6 hours in front of this computer and emailing back and forth with my friend Deborah at With all my Heart...Deborah and walking through it with the hubby, we figured it out!!!

I had a link messed up and crossed on my end and I just deleted the old linky thing from feedburner on the site thingy and put in the correct one.

(see how knowledgeable I am!)

NOT!

Then, Deborah was so gracious enough to look on her list, take me off of her blog list, then put me back in and there I was!!!!

AND you can now click it and it goes to my blog!!

I love it when you visit me!

SO,

Now to be a pain in the you-know-what.

If you have me on your blog list and were having trouble with me, go ahead and delete me from you blog list and then put me back on (only if you want, you do not have to) and I should show up, hopefully.

Thank you Thank you Deborah, Deborah Lynn for checking in on me and hubby for calming me down (the wine didn't hurt either) and walking me through it!!

As I have said before, blogger friends are the best!

Oh, and you too honey!

I Need Your Help!

I am very sad and frustrated at the moment!

I have been contacted by some of you beautiful, helpful blogger friends telling me that when you put my blog on your blogroll (which I appreciate so very much), my blog goes down to the bottom of your list and then when you click on it, it gives you this:

Email Subscription Confirmed!

A message will be delivered to michelle.gerig@gmail.com if the publisher has produced new content on that day. No new content, no email for you.

I must have something crossed and I have spent the last 4 hours and last night trying to figure it out and I can't. I put a question into Blogger but they have not responded to my desperate cry for help!! :(

And, I don't want to keep messing with things and mess them up even more.

If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know. I am not computer savvy and I am clueless on this one!!

THANK YOU BUNCHES!!!!!!

Measure of Kindness

I want to show you my new scale that Tracy over at Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures sent me out of the kindness of her heart!

See here for the wonderful story.

It was so beautiful with the green color but it didn't fit in my kitchen anymore.

So, I painted it black!

I wrapped the face and other parts that I did not want to get paint on.

Spray painted using a flat paint.

and hung it in its new home!

I filled it with some paper mache pumpkins that I had (of course painted them white) as well as some fall florals that I got at Michaels at 60% off!

Woo Hoo, gotta love a sale!

I love it SO much!!

It is perfect in the little corner over the kitchen bench and each season I can put my little accessories in it!!

Even Bosco loves his little spot and the adorable little pillow that Tracy made for me!

Thank you again Tracy from the bottom of my heart!!

I love having things in my house that conjure up good memories and feelings and this is definitely one of them!!

(thank you Julia for the clever idea for the title, it was so perfect!)

I've Been Featured!

I was so excited when I got an email from Jenny and Karla over at Envy My Cooking saying that they would like to feature my renewed kitchen on a segment they called Envy My Kitchen, which they post about every Friday!

They have such an amazing blog filled with recipes, decorating tips, redos and renews not only from themselves but they love to feature other creative bloggers!

They also have another feature on Wednesdays called Envy My Find that spotlights great finds and they were renewed!

You have to check out their blog, you will be there for a while just with all the great recipes that they share!!!

Double check that your printer has ink!!

Thank you so much Jenny and Karla!!

CSN Store Giveaway!!!

Imagine yourself relaxing in your living room, cup of tea on your new coffee table (coaster under it of course :) ) and clicking your way through endless possibilities for your home at CSN!!

I was very excited when CSN contacted me to give one of my readers a chance at a $35 gift certificate to any one of there fabulous online stores!

I was so amazed at their selection of coffee tables, take a look of some of my favorites..

Contemporary

Shabby chic shadow box table

Leather ottoman coffee table

(imagine a cute little tray with some hot tea for those cold winter nights by the fire)

and SO many more wonderful designs!

What do you have to do to have a chance at a $35 gift certificate?

Weeelllll,

it's easy!

You can go check out more of the coffee tables here,

or

go to the CSN main page and browse around there!

THEN,

come back and tell me what it is that you would spend your $35 on!

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

Become a follower and let me know or let me that you already follow.

Blog about it and come back and tell me that you did.

SO there you have it, 3 ways to enter!!

Giveaway will run until Monday, September 27 when I will announce the winner through random number generator!

So please come back then to see if you are a winner!

Don't forget to leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

(I am sorry but if you do not claim your prize with in 48 hours I will have to choose a new winner)

Thank you and GOOD LUCK!!