Fall Mantel 2012

Well, here she is...Miss Fall Mantel 2012.  I know what you're thinking...she bears a striking resemblance to last year's winner.  Had I not waited until the last minute I could have done a little shopping and invested in some new pieces, but I think it still looks pretty good.  The mirror is the only new piece (and I have no idea what those criss-cross lines are you see reflecting in it).  I do like the look of this new addition, but I am still just sick over what happened to the print it replaces.

In addition to the mantel, I was finally able this weekend to do a little decorating for Halloween. John-Heath still feels we have much we should add, and he is somewhat disappointed I have not put up our Halloween mice this year, but since he's been sick most of the weekend he hasn't complained too badly. If I have time tomorrow afternoon I may just have to make that little fellow some mice.

 I love this white ceramic owl and orange plumage.  They were bought last year at Chef's Market.  I wish now I had bought another set for the other end.

 And here are, what I like to call, my headstone bookends.  Don't they look like something you'd see on an old tombstone? 

Now this isn't part of our Halloween decor (although it is somewhat of a scary feeling to look at this picture and realize how fast time goes).  This is Ren's senior picture, framed by Melanie's, and it hangs on a small wall to the right of the mantel.  Since I had the camera out I thought I'd snap a picture of it, too.



That's all for tonight.  Have a frightfully wonderful week! 

Carnton Mansion: A Lesson Learned the Hard Way

It should go without saying that light and art do not mix. I know this. If I were to ever take another art test and the question were posed about exposing artwork to natural sunlight I would always mark that it is wrong. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Yet, a little less than five years ago when John and I moved into our home we went right ahead and slapped our favorite print on a wall which receives ooodles of natural light. And somehow, over these last fifty-four months, the consequences of doing such failed to catch my attention - until just the other night.

In 1989, John, my husband the history buff, participated as an extra in the filming of a historical documentary in Franklin, Tennessee. The subject was the Battle of Franklin and his scenes were filmed at the beautiful Carnton Plantation. He played a wounded soldier. Alas, new to the whole acting thing he made the mistake of looking at the camera and his scene found itself on the cutting room floor.

When he returned home, however, he was almost as excited about a limited edition John Black print - Carnton Mansion - he had seen for sale as he was about being in a "movie." But, he said it was way too pricey to even consider purchasing. We were newlyweds. I was in college. He was the only one working (a real job). It cost $100. But I knew I had to get it for him. It would be a Christmas gift.

I had it shipped to my mom's house and later took it to a local frame shop. I picked out the frame and a trio of mats and was told it would cost around 75 bucks. So, I saved the little money I received from a college work-study program and when the time came to pick it up, it took every bit of the seventy-seven dollars I had in my wallet. But I was thrilled. I went directly home, told John to come to the car, and gave it to him on the spot. It was only November but I couldn't wait one minute longer.

Carnton Mansion was the first "grown-up" gift I ever bought my husband and because of that it has always held a dear spot in our hearts and been featured in prominent spots in our homes.

My purchase was also a good investment, as the print is today worth about twelve times what it originally cost. Well, it would be worth that had someone (myself) put a little more thought into its current placement.

Isn't it lovely? This is how Carnton should look.

And this is what we're left with today. Four years of sunlight through the three very large, high windows in our living room has reduced it to this.

Needless to say and too late to matter much I guess, but the print will be coming down within a day or two and placed somewhere else in the house. I know it may sound super trivial but it feels almost as if we've lost a piece of our history and I feel quite sick over it.

Lucille

I thought I would show you a corner of Ren's room. If you'll remember, we're almost finished redecorating it. This shows you her new wall color. We got rid of the Chocolate Mousse and opted for a shade or purple, Ren's favorite color. I can't remember off-hand the exact color, but it's from Lowe's. You can't see it in the picture but her ceiling is also a very, very light shade of the color.

This dress form was one of the first things we purchased to go in her room after we finished building the house. Ren's older cousin/childhood idol had one and you know how that goes. I think I found this one at Home Goods, but as it's been almost five years ago, I can't remember.

I have heard that, especially in Canada, dress forms are nicknamed "Judy". Ren calls hers "Lucille". Can you take a wild guess as to one of her favorite old television series? Here's a hint...if she had a male dress form she would call him Desi.


As you can see, Lucille's main job, other than occupying the the corner between the third and fourth window (yes, that fourth window, the very one), is chief necklace holder. Doesn't she look like she's ready for Mardi Gras?

Linking up to

The Polka Dot Closet's Dress Form Ball.

Ren's Room Redo - Part 1

This project has been/will continue to be a work in progress so Ill have to share it with you in chunks.

Old room. Faux window, as if she doesn't have enough real ones.

Every few years I feel the need to redecorate my daughter's room. As children grow, so do their needs, tastes, & personalities. When we moved into our house Ren was in the 7th grade. The color of her room -Chocolate Mousse- was chosen because it matched an itty-bitty portion of a "Paris" canvas picture I had bought for her the Christmas before. I thought I/we would love it.

The contents of Ren's closet moved to the bonus room while we painted. Yellow arrow indicates the Paris print with itty bitty patches of the soon-to-be-gone chocolate mousse, aka mauve.

Ren's room has four windows. Yes, four…three across the northern wall and a 4th one on the western wall. Believe you me, I still gripe about that fourth one even to this day. I mean, I get codes and all, but it's not like if the house caught on fire she wouldn't have three more to crawl from, not to mention the two other windows in her bath and closet! The most eyebrow-furrowing thing about that fourth window (other than the fact that it killed perfectly good wall space)…it’s all of 12” from the 3rd window. I’m sorry, but I just can’t imagine ANY scenario in which Ren would be forced to exit her room from a window and would have to use that 4th one, instead of the 3rd one. Okay, back to the issue with the wall color.

Because of the amount of light, etc., the color ended up looking too MAUVE. Now, don't get me wrong (especially if it is your favorite color), mauve is a pretty color. I think it's a soothing color. But having had it in our first house in the late 80's/early 90's...carpet, wallpaper, placemats, lacey baskets, you name it...I was done with it. No more mauve. I tried to make it fun and cute but it just never felt like a good fit for Ren, even with all the Paris do-dads.

When I was growing up I had one pair of tennis shoes (Cugas - yuck!) and one pair of Sunday shoes.

So about a year ago we began the process of redoing it. Now, most of the bigger changes were made right away, so it's not like we've been working on it this whole time (I'm not quite that ADD). I'm only a couple steps from being finished/as-good-as-it's-going-to-get. The light at the end of any tunnel is a welcomed sight.

The Beatles and a Barbie Dream house. What more could a girl want?

Media Room Cabinet Redo and Tour

If you have followed along with me long enough you may remember this. It was to be one of my/our first attempts at buying an outdated piece of whatever and turning it into an awesome piece of usefulness! The jury's still out on the quality of our work (it was, afterall, our first time doing something like this) but I can proclaim with 100% satisfaction it has become a useful piece. My favorite part? It's wood. Real wood. I miss real wood.

When we were builidng our house we decided the bonus room was just too big/long for one room so we partitioned off the end of it to create a media room, and since that time some of our poor audio-visual equipment has been on the floor. I have said a thousand times I wish we had thought to build a double-wall in the back of the room (behind the sofa) in which we could add a built-in shelving unit. However, if memory serves me correctly, because of the very lengthy process of building our house we were not thinking clearly about some things during certain stages. I recall at the time saying, "we'll just buy a little cabinet for the stuff." Almost four years later we finally found a little cabinet.

In its day it was a Magnavox stereo cabinet. After a little sprucing up with some black paint, hammered nickel spray paint for the hardware to give it a bit more modern look, and a piece of painted plywood to replace a shelf made of some type of woven fabric on the inside we finally had a home for some of our equipment. I think I heard my blueray player breathe a sigh of relief.

I wish I had some better pics for you. I'm afraid these didn't turn out so swell. The walls in this room are not nearly so gray in person.

And while I am showing off my new little chest I thought I'd go ahead and give you a tour of part of our media room, which John-Heath called the moonie (movie) room when he was smaller. It's not very fancy but we really enjoy using it, especially in the winter and during times we're off from work and can stay up late. Lately, we've been going back and watching episodes from the Band of Brothers mini-series. We're big history buffs around here.

Before we moved in John purchased 8x10s of some of our favorite classic movies to frame for the walls. We have King Kong, Creature from the Black Lagoon (John-Heath called him a "pond monster and he was instrumental in helping us keep our toddler son from getting too near the ponds on our farm), Indiana Jones, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and, of course, Gone with the Wind.

You recognize this one, don't you? You don't? It's Eighty Acres of Hell and that goodlooking rebel on the far right just happens to belong to me. Yep, it's John. This was for a documentary about a Civil War prison which aired a few years ago on the History Channel.

Any requests for an 8x10 autographed glossy should be emailed to me. ;)

Linking up with Kim over at Savvy Southern Style and Maryann at Domestically Speaking. Check out these blogs for some really great projects and ideas.

Fall Mantel

You may want to sit down for this, but I have actually posted pictures of my fall mantel within the time frame I said I would. Who would have thunk it? And just in case the English teachers from my school are reading...I do know the correct word is thought. Thunk is just a funner word :)

Well, here she is. Miss Fall Mantel 2011.

If you'd like to see what it looked like last year go here. Not a huge change.

I don't know what I like the most. I think it's a toss-up between the white owl and orange plumes which I bought at a nifty little cafe or...

...these cherub bookends, which I think I got at Home Goods last year (but can't swear on it). Don't they look just like something you'd see on a gravestone? They're perfect for Halloween. Sadly, they've been on my mantel since January. Hmmm. I wonder what that says about me?

A few of the books in our Halloween collection here in the Tire Swings household. Ghosts Along the Cumberland is an old favorite introduced to me by my husband when he was still just a really cool boyfriend. If you suffer from ADD like a certain blogger I know, then this is the book for you, as it is a collection of tales from folklore and most are very short.

Do you have a favorite book you like to pull out each Halloween?

One Step Closer Thanks to Sonya Hamilton

You may or may not remember that I have been planning to redo John-Heath's room. Actually, I decided to redo it many moons ago. However, in usual Tyla fashion I have procrastinated. That's a shocker, right?

Soon after posting THIS, I began to pick up a few pieces to go in his new room, but I forbade myself from going ahead and painting until I was able to find the correct fabric for the drapes. You see, I have a bad habit of changing my mind. A lot. If I decided at some point I couldn't find the exact fabric I wanted it would be easy enough to return a lamp or pillow to a store or sell them in a yard sale, but fresh paint in an unusual color/pattern would be a complete waste. Therefore, his room stayed the same while the search for the fabric ensued.

Well, folks, a giant piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. After browsing online stores and some Nashville fabric houses (one of which is staffed with some people who couldn't have acted any colder had they been strapped to the top of a polar ice cap) I decided to just go to the source. So, I emailed Sonya Hamilton of Sonya Hamilton Interiors and she was able to secure for me the fabric I needed. Go here to check out her blog, full of all kinds of ideas on home decor.

The inspiration room.

Best of all, not only did she find the fabric, she personally delivered it to me...all the way from Oklahamo! Talk about great service! Actually, during our correspondence she realized I only lived a short distance from an interstate exit she would be passing on her way to a North Carolina vacation, so we met up yesterday outside an O'Charley's. Let me tell you, she is the nicest person. I could have talked with her for much longer and felt completely comfortable. In fact, so relaxed was our little 10 - 15 minute parking lot visit, I believe as we parted ways I said, "See ya later."

To see it in person the color is a little darker than it appears here - not quite so Volunteer orange. The top of the panels will be in a small brown/cream houndstooth. I think I am in love.

Now, off to pick out some paint. In a day or two.

Look Away, Ms. Wilma.

It is very possible that I will face persecution for what I am about to reveal and that all three of my former librarians - Ms. Wilma, Ms. Gail, and Ms. Akins (who, incidentally, is still going strong after 47 years in the public school system) - will forever blot my name from their memory.

I, Tyla, a lifelong lover of the written word, yea, a librarian these past eight years, have succumbed to temptation. Envious of mantels and vignettes on blogs near and far, I have ripped the covers off books for decorative purposes. In my effort to fit in, be a part of the group, go along with the gang, and keep up with the Joneses, I have defiled the very thing I have sworn to defend. Okay, so maybe defile is too harsh a word.

What I actually did was take a few old books that had seen better days and were recently weeded from my library’s collection and gently remove the pieces of tape which had long ago been added to hold together their covers. Of course, before doing this, I did check just to make sure none of the books were first editions. You never know. Many schools have some very dated collections.

Good news, though. Apparently, Pottery Barn endorses this type of bibliotherapy. So, now I have my very own set of coverless books held together with a nice piece of twine to adorn my winter mantel. And the best part is I didn't have to shell out $39.

P.S. My day at home ended up not being as productive in some areas as I had hoped but I was able to get Ren in to see her eye doctor for an annual eye exam. This means she won't have to miss any school to have this done later. Sadly (but expected), each eye was just a bit worse and required stronger contacts and it seems her left eye is the weaker of the two. Her doctor is soooo nice and when Ren expressed an interest in her career she offered to let her come back one day and shadow her to see what a typical day is like.

A Room Makeover Begins

John-Heath's Bedroom/Playroom

When we began building our house in the very early summer of 2006 it was our initial plan that this room would be a guest bedroom. I even had visions that it would also serve as a comfy reading room/office for me - a mom cave, so to speak. My mom and dad have been holding our rice-carved bedroom suite for us at their home for the past umpteen years (it was too tall to fit in the house we were living while we built). I thought once we moved we would reclaim it.

When we finally moved in we thought it might be best for a while, as John-Heath was just a little over two, to let him sleep on a toddler bed in our room and use the spare room as his play room...but just until he was old enough to be moved upstairs to his "official" bedroom across the hall from Ren.

Well, here we are a little more than three years later and we have yet to make the move upward, though the guest room downstairs (his playroom) has become his full-fledged bedroom. He still gets up from time to time in the middle of the night and comes to our room and I don't want a sleepy him to take a tumble down the stairs. So, until I feel secure that he will stay put each night we'll just leave him where he is.

Other than painting some pieces of furniture and hanging some airplanes from his ceiling I never decorated this room very much. It was just a blue room with a bunch of toys in it. And, frankly, blue is not a favorite of mine. Here it is with everything off the floor (so that I could vacuum) and a couple things off the wall (unintentional).

We used this time to get rid of some toys, too. Some went into permanent storage to keep, some went into temporary storage until the next yard sale, and others went in the trash. Shhh.

I was really hoping John-Heath's little t.v. would fit into that top opening on the shelf but, alas, no such luck. The picture on top of the shelf is of Ren and John-Heath on a creek bank in Kentucky and was taken just a couple months before we moved in to the house. Our friend Nikki Wolf took it. She does an awesome job and is very reasonably priced.

There sits John-Heath in the hall having one last hurrah with some of his toys.

So, where am I headed with a makeover? Well, take a look below. I found the perfect inspiration room for a boy who loves his little army men. My two favorite parts of this room would be the painted camo below the chair rail and the curtains. There was a time I did not like drapes made from two different materials but I have since changed my mind and I love these. The colors in this room are more my style, too. You can see more pics of this fabulous room at the link below the picture.

Beyond the Screen Door Designs

Isn't that the cutest little table? Some people are so clever in their creativity!

Well, I'm hoping to get started on this pretty soon and I'll be sure to do a big "reveal post" when it's all done.

Linking up to some of these great sites.

In Hopes of Some Snow...

To bide my time this evening as I anxiously awaited the ten o'clock newscast in hopes that the Snow Bird report would bring some good news, i.e. a snow day for tomorrow (which, by the way, has yet to materialize), I thought I would create something snowy to decorate a kitchen counter. I don't know about you but since I've taken down all my Christmas items things have been looking a bit drab.

Since I only just decided to do this a mere couple hours ago I had to use what I had on hand...no running to Wal-mart, JoAnn's, Michaels, or the Hob. Lob.

First, I just painted the inside of this glass candleholder-thingy with some watered down white paint. For the face I had three options...

1. Cut out some stickers using my Cricut.

2. Cut the facial pieces out of some type of paper and glue it to the glass using a little Modge Podge or Gorilla Glue (the latter may have been overkill because that stuff is AWESOME!).

-OR-

3. Use some of my craft paint to create a face.

I decided to paint on the face. All it took was a few squirts of my Americana craft paint and I had a cute as a bug snow votive.

Finally, a little Epsom Salt was added to the inside on which the candle would rest...

...and little more salt was added to the tray to give it all a snowy look.

I know what he's missing...a scarf! I'll have to add a little material around his neck tomorrow.

This is the same candleholder as it looked this past fall, with a wonderful smelling candle set inside a bunch of coffee beans.

The two little snowball candles were a gift from a teaching buddy (thanks, Angie) who said they were to remind me of "my own two little snowballs". I have been holding off lighting them until I had something to go along with them.

The counter as it currently looks. It doesn't show up very clear here but the cup and saucer candle (another gift from a teaching buddy - thanks, Kim) is lovely when lit. The picture in the black frame was a gift from John's brother-n-law. It is an aerial view of our house and part of the farm that he took one day as he flew over. And, of course, my baby boy's handprint. Although, he has started telling me he is "not a baby boy anymore".

It is now a few minutes after eleven in the p.m. and I still see no snow falling outside my window. I really think I'm about to cry. :<(

I'm linking to...

Carrie @ Dittle Dattle for Amaze Me Monday

Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch

Cheri @ It's So Very Cheri

The CSI Project

Roeshell @ The DIY Showoff

The Cottage Chick @ Cottage Instincts

Kaysi @ Crafts Keep Me Sane

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style

Tutorial Tuesday @ Hope Studios

Becca @ Blue Cricket Design

Whatever Goes Wednesdays @ Someday Crafts

Vanessa @ Southern In My Heart

DIY Club's DIY Project Party