Cold windows, putting up winter shades & toppers

I can't wait until we get new windows, these are original from '65 and very cold in winter, I have resealed and caulked around them but you can almost feel the cold when you walk past any of the windows so during the winter cold months I put up roman shades and throw some little toppers over them, makes it warmer inside for sure

 dining room

my new pretty topper for the bathroom and you can see the lovely cardinal painting, that was given to me by my bestest friends mother ~ Mom 2, isn't it gorgeous, she is a very talented artist and I could have walls full of her gorgeous paintings, she really does an awesome job!

Sealing basement walls with Drylok paint

Good golly, we had so many outdoor projects we worked on that I finally get time to do inside projects because its cold and winter out now  HA HA

remember the old dungeon of a basement when we moved in here?

I posted pics on another blog post about the basement back in May 2009

but to recap, here are a few of the before pics

since we have the water issue corrected from the outside with the new drainage I think its now safe to take care of the basement

 I bought a few gallons of that basement sealer, drylok, we washed down the walls, scrubbed with a wire brush to remove any yuck and after it was dry we started painting it on

 didn't realize how discolored that back wall was until started painting

have some cement floor/porch paint that I think is really going to brighten it up down here

 next to move the freezers off the other wall

 you can really see where we have 2 coats of paint

yup, steps will need a good sanding and painting too

hardest part is getting down into the cracks and joints

(happy birthday to me)

wow, what a difference, still need another coat up the walls and on the floor but it's much MUCH better than when we started, later we want to put up drywall on the ceiling, hubby has some cabinets already that we will eventually get on that wall to the left of the freezers

Crackle Painting a shelf unit

You all might remember when I painted my kitchen cabinets, I had wanted to use the crackle glaze on it to have the old green showing through the cracks and the off white on top, to make them look old and cool?

Remember it didn't work because I did not have a wide enough roller and it had to be applied in one swipe, no overlapping or it turned all kooky looking . . 

so I decided to do a shelf instead

here i am just starting to paint the olive green first coat on the wall or shelf unit

then when it dries completely you brush or roll on the crackle glaze, let sit for a bit

then apply your top coat of paint

 added the little birdie my son bought me eons ago, I think he was like 5 maybe

 oh don't worry, I will fill that shelf right up

pretty awesome! I love the crackled look, not bad for a shelf

and since it's almost Christmas, I decided to bring in my herb planted hubby built and decorate around the house a bit, think I will add a string of clear lights in with the flowers!

 throw some pretty lace and glass ornaments in mason jars and you have some instant decorations

I even dolled up my pretty candle warmer sitting on counter with my recipe book I made

SMILE it looks like my peppers and berries are smiling at me, this lovely old wooden floor grate was given to me by the farmer, remember those treasures he always shares with me :)