The Office Light

When we moved into our house we turned the little loft space into my husbands office.  Since our house was built in the 1970's and apparently ceiling lights were out-lawed then (I'd love any architectural insight into this), our house mostly has sconces.

Such was the case in my husbands office.  not only was it a sconce, but it was a very dim & not very attractive sconce.  Two bad qualities for a light to posses.

For a long time now we've wanted to make a permanent light fixture out of an old latern.  We saw it in one of our rustic decor books.  We took our our bad office lighting as an opportunity to make the light fixture we'd always wanted to try.  So I sold that ol' sconce & three others that matched it our our bedroom on Craiglist & my hubby got to work creating his masterpiece.

It really was quite easy.  He took the bottom out of the lantern & installed a lamp socket.  Then just attached some wire to the socket & hooked er' all up.  (I'm keeping details kind of vague because I'm not a professional electrician.  So if you have no idea what I'm talking about then get someone who knows the business to help you.)

Then he built a base out of barn wood & we screwed it into the wall & it was done.  I love how it looks & how we've taken something forgotten about in our bunkhouse & revived it into a light we use everyday.  It looks so cool at night shining through the old sixteen pain window we reclaimed.  It gives our house personality & cost way less than a new light fixture.  Kuddos to my hubby for getting this done.

Table Fixin's

A few nights ago I hosted my first dinner party in our new home.  Of course the guests had to sit next to a pile of pictures I've yet to hang.  And if they used the main floor bathroom they had to come into the kitchen to wash their hands.  But nonetheless, we gathered, we conversed, & we ate... fried chicken, tons & tons of chicken that I fried in my new pan.  It's a good thing that the dinner only encompassed my immediate family & only two new people were exposed to our half finished house.  We were celebrating my little brothers engagement & I loved using my kitchen & having plenty of room for everyone to hang out in.  Naturally my table needed a little embellishing to make it dinner party worthy.  I usually leave it bare like this because my kiddos will quickly destroy any decoration I may leave on there for an extended period of time.

This is what I came up with.  My twins needed something to do, so I sent them out in the yard with a bucket & told them to collect pretty Fall leaves & pine cones to decorate the table with.  They liked being part of the project & told all the guests how they helped.  Best part about this decor is that it's mostly free.  I already had the decorative balls, candle holders & antique insulators.  We just laid it all out in a line & it looked lovely.  It even was aesthetically pleasing when the leaves started to dry up the next day, a perfect Fall table.

I used electric candles instead of the real deal.  It's just safer with my brood that way.  My friend Jami had given me the idea of putting an electric candle under antique insulators a while back.  I had been dying to try it & I think it looks great.  I have a ton of these insulators & never quite know how  to use them, this was a perfect solution.  The table looked great & it was so easy, plus its laid back enough that little ones can help.  If you have any good Fall table decorating ideas let me know!

Bathroom Decor

We all do it, take the little free soaps from the hotel.  What the heck, they're free, might as well nab them!  While you and I will bring home just the soaps provided in the bathroom my my Dad will bring home a bag full.  He's addictive to hotel toiletries.  He even will track down the maid in the hallway & ask here for a bunch of shampoos & soaps.  He doesn't need it, or even really use it, but he likes free stuff.

Therefore, here at the ranch we have bucket fulls (I'm not exaggerating) of hotel toiletries from around the U.S.A.  Being the resourceful gal I am I put these free soaps to use.

All you need to perk up your bathroom is a bunch of free soaps & a glass jar.  I like the pure look of this one.  It's so clean & country.  I used an old pickle jar for this one, 100% free decor.

Just changing the hue of the soap changes the feel.  This one is much stronger & earthy.

And this one has a great spa like feel.  I love spa like bathrooms, makes me feel clean & luxurious.

So grab all those little extra soaps you've got piled up & stick them into a glass jar.  You'll perk up your bathroom & put those freebies to work.