My journey through life on South Dakota Ranch
It is no secret that I LOVE Crate & Barrel. Of course they have no idea who I am, but that’s neither here nor there. I had to put together this summertime, outdoor entertaining ensemble! I love the hand-blown rita glasses and votive holders, the colorful, festive chairs, and the dishes. Oh the serving dishes. I could be a collector of dishes (among other things!). I think this would look awesome on my deck! What do you think?
Oh Christmas Tree!
This year our tree is Black Hills Spruce tree. I’ve never had one of these before and I must say, I love it! It’s so full and such a pretty shape!
I picked up quite a few turquoise ornaments as that’s been added as an accent in the house and it goes without saying that this was a GREAT idea!
So without further ado here’s this year,s tree done South Dakota Cowgirl Style! And pardon the photos. I took them all with my iPhone.
First up is how it looks in the room at night:
We had a light debacle- as in two strings only decided to work halfway so it isn’t lit up like I’d prefer.
Here’s how it looks in the light of day:
I love this new star ornament! I bought two in Vegas!
How did you decorate your tree this year? Show it off on my new Flickr Group! http://www.flickr.com/groups/southdakotacowgirl/
You can share photos of your tree/house there!
Happy Trails, and Happy Sharing!
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It’s no secret I love art, crafts and anything that’s outside the realm of usual. So this summer, when I ordered some photos from a barrel race, I knew that your ordinary, run of the mill frame wouldn’t work. I’m sure you’re all shocked. I’m actually quite a fan of barn wood frames, but short of ordering them custom made, there’s no place the get them around here, as the nearest Hobby Lobby is something like 2 1/2 hours away, and the selection, is, shall we say, sparse. So I went a completely different direction and pulled out a file pad, and some paint and here’s what happened.
What you’ll need:
Craft paint/acrylic paint
Sandpaper or a sanding pad (one with medium grain for acrylic nails works fantastic for this project, just an FYI)
Paper Towels or a rag
Paint brush or sponge brush
Step 1.
Start with a plain frame. I bought this one at Walmart for $14.99 I think. Did you know that to best protect your photographs, a mat isn’t just something to make the photo prettier? On the contrary, the mat is there to protect your photo from becoming stuck to the frame or glass, etc.
Step 2.
Remove the glass and the mat and set them aside.
Step 3.
Begin sanding where you want to remove the black paint to expose the wood below. The more paint you remove the darker the color you paint on top will become.
I generally start in one place, and work my way around the frame until I’ve been around the whole thing once.
Details of what it looks like once it’s been sanded:
Step 4.
Paint on whatever color paint you want in the sections where you’ve sanded. It doesn’t have to be perfect because any extra, you’ll just wipe off with a paper towel or rag anyway. Perfect is not the name of the game with this project. More like used up, and shabby is what we’re going for.
If you desire more color, or want to do two colors, you could repeat Step 3. I was really only interested in pink.
Step 5.
Once the paint is dry- and really it dries quickly, you can put the glass and the mat back into the frame. Place your photograph in the frame where you want it, and always, no exceptions here folks, attach it to the mat with painter’s tape or masking tape. Other tapes can ruin your photograph.
Here’s the finished product:
This project is simple, and it’s something you could have the kids help you with if you were so inclined! If you try it, I’d love to see your finished results!
Happy Trails!
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I know I have really slacked this week in updating y’all about my trip to San Antonio, and I promise I’ll work on that this weekend. After all, we’re expecting 6-12 inches of snow, and 20-30mph NW winds tomorrow, so I should have every excuse to stay inside. The weather this week was spring like, and while I did spend some time outside, it wasn’t as much as I’d have liked because I worked on the book quite a bit. I’m about to announce a date that it will be available, and start taking pre-orders, so stay tuned for that.
In other news, your South Dakota Cowgirl, got to make a couple fabulous new purchases this week.
1. A new camera! For those techies wanting to know all about it click here. For the rest of you, I procured a brand new, Canon 7D and a new 28-135mm lens. I am in love. It arrived yesterday and I pretty much smiled like a kid in a candy store. It was all I could do to wait for the battery to charge.
2. The coolest camera bag ever. There’s a lovely Texas-based company that makes camera bags for women. They’re highly practical as you can hold a laptop, the camera, 3 lenses, and there’s still room for you checkbook and keys. I mean how can you go wrong with that? You can find them at Epiphanie Bags. I purchased the Clover Bag.
As for the point of this post- I have been wanting to take a photo of this favorite spot of mine in the house- and I finally did that yesterday, as by the time my camera batteries charged it was dark outside, and while we had a beautiful full moon, there was no way I was going to go outside at 10 degrees and stand there in the cold to take photos. I’m a lazy photographer, I know.
So without further ado- here’s my favorite spot to curl up and read a book, or watch tv or take a nap. I love the chaise that I was given as a Christmas Gift!
My favorite nook
Do you have a favorite spot in your house?
Happy Saturday and Happy Trails!
Sometimes change is good.
And that is especially true when it comes to changing something in your house. Recycling is a superb way to revive something that you find otherwise boring.
In my case, I do tire of things- and I often change my mind about the look I want in a room. And furthermore I have searched high and low and in between to find a bed skirt that I thought would look good with my duvet cover. I have a couple major pet peeves about bedding.
1. Rarely are queen comforters and their duvet covers made actually large enough to cover today’s oversized mattresses and;
2. most duvet covers come with pillow shams but rarely come with a bedskirt.
And there isn’t much that makes a bed look more finished than a bang-up bed skirt.
So, I’m here to show you how I recycled some drapes into a bed skirt for about $28. Now these weren’t super fancy drapes to begin with, but you could do this same thing with any type of drape. And I’ll give you a secret- a lot of home stores will borrow drapes from the window treatment section to create amazing bed skirts when a set doesn’t include a skirt, or if the current bed skirt just doesn’t make a statement.
First we’ll start with four drapes- two that are 40×84 in and two that are 40×54 in (this was for a queen sized bed. You’d need larger drapes for a king).
You’ll also need either some straight pins or some bed skirt pins. I used straight pins because y’all know by now that I’m in the middle of nowhere and improvising is something I’m at which I’ve become quite adept.
Next you’ll want to lay out the two long drapes on the side of the bed, like such:
Adjust them so that the top of the curtain is at the head of the bed, as most people won’t notice that it’s double hemmed that way due to side tables, etc. You’ll also want to make sure that they just barely graze the floor. We’re not needing pools of fabric for this. Though it is a great idea to pool fabric when you’re doing window treatments. But I’m digressing.
You’re going to want to pin the curtain in place on both sides and ends:
Once both pieces are pinned in place, get one of your two smaller drapes, and fold it in half and then over. You do want a slight overlap in the center so you can have a pretty crease.
Pin it in place so that it will stay folded over correctly and do make sure that you hide the double hemmed side under what would be the bottom of the curtain.
You are also going to want to fold the corner of the side piece up and around and pin it in place.
Do the same thing with the remaining drapery.
Pin it in place.
Finished!
Here’s the room put back together:
And that, my friends, is how I got a cute bed skirt, used something I already had on hand, and it cost me half what an actual bed skirt would have.
As an aside, if you have a pre-made bedskirt that won’t stay put, bed-skirt pins, or straight pins is a super way to keep it in place and make it less annoying. I’d love to know what you’ve recently recycled in your home!
XO
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with boughs of holly- or in our case pheasant tail-feathers.
I thought I’d spread some Christmas cheer and show you the decorations in our house this year. How’d you decorate your home for the Holidays?
This garland I made, sits atop the piano.
The finished product:
Jake- trying to look cute so he can stay inside and be warm! Was he successful?
One of my favorite ornaments:
The topper I created-
I hope you enjoyed the tour! Merry Christmas!
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My Billings antique store finds:
German Dishes by Selfman Weidman. I got 10 plates for $10.95!
An adorable deviled egg plate that can function as art when not in use!
A really great planter or fruit bowl. It’s ceramic and could be whatever I wanted, really!
I also found some ceramic corn on the cob dishes- you know those that are the perfect size for corn on the cob, where you can thoroughly coat your corn in butter? Yes. Those. But I didn’t get those photographed.
And now, last, but not least- the new. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I got myself something exciting. Well, this is it.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls- this is a dishwasher! In my kitchen. In the cabinet that was designed to have a dishwasher but formerly did not house one! This has made my life so much better, and cleared up so much room in my kitchen because there is no longer dishes and towels on my counter constantly.
Happy Tuesday!
xo
On the same day that I made my wine-barrel planters, which have now been beat to death by a week’s worth of wind at 45 mph and now snow (yes, it’s snowing as I type this), I planted some geraniums and another “planter” with some petunias. The whole entrance still seems unfinished, and that’s where y’all come in. I’d really love to hear your ideas and suggestions for this area. One thing I’ve considered doing is using some antique milk containers as planters- though finding antiques here might be challenging. I know I can buy new ones, but where’s the fun in that? The landscape is in serious need of some height (and more visual interest) and that is one way I’ve considered addressing what I see to be an *issue*.
Here is the bucket planter:
I’m definitely thinking it needs some spiky, ornamental grass added to it, and maybe some zinnas or something else. I realize that the petunia flowers will get larger, but more plants would add additional interest.
Here’s the view of the steps as they currently are. Please don’t judge me. I know the toe-kick for the screen door is muddy. And that the trim around the screen door is in need of a fresh coat of paint. In fact, I need a new screen door too. But we’re not focusing on that right now, mkay?
I definitely think this area needs *something*. Be it antique milk containers turned into planers, or some plant stands and more pots, I’m simply at a loss.
Next, is the project that I started last year. It’s still not done. The weather is flatly refusing to cooperate with me but I will show you what I’ve done so far, and what I plan to do. It’s going to be a perennial garden. One Saturday last year, I decided to border these three (already existing) juniper shrubs with big river rock. So I moved rocks by hand- all day! I wanted to fill in the bed with good soil and more river rock to make a rock and perennial flower garden. Since I’m such a fan of desert, rustic, rocky landscapes, and because I like low maintenance gardening, I figured this was the perfect way to do just that. Zach helped me fill-in with the river rock- well, he drove the skid-steer and moved the rock we already had here- it was leftover from the initial building of this house.
You can see, above, where I left some empty space. In those dirt spaces I plan to plant delphiniums, echinacia, black-eyed-susans and some forget-me-nots.
And in the empty rock places, I’m going to transplant some yucca. So it will look something like this:
Okay. So those are really only stickers I added to the photo, but you get the general idea!
I’m also going to plant some super tough buffalo grass in front of that bed, and maybe in my whole yard. It doesn’t ever get very green, but it also chokes out weeds, dandelions and doesn’t get tall enough to ever need mowed! It can live on very little water. Since I have the chickens out free-ranging, I don’t dare put a weed-spray or weed killer down, and the dandelions are pretty much taking over this yard. I love yard-work, but not mowing the lawn, and I have at least an acre to mow. So NOT mowing would be just super!
Thanks for humoring me. I can’t wait to read your thoughts and ideas and comments on my landscaping!
XO
Tuesday.
A project.
Several Projects.
In case y’all didn’t know, I have more projects and things that I need to do than I can shake a stick at.
Back to the projects.
Let’s take them one at a time.
Last year I purchased two half whiskey barrels. I had every intention of planting blueberry bushes in them. The plants I wanted were back-ordered. I’ve since decided that they wouldn’t have made the winter in those barrels, because they wouldn’t have stayed warm enough. So, long story short, those barrels sat dormant all last year. They were however in their current locations. I need some height in my landscape, which is one of the reasons I chose the barrels- but not being able to put a perennial or some sort of evergreen in it due to my fear of the roots freezing off in these brutal winters had me confounded until last week when I had a moment of inspiration.
Zach filled them with compost out of an old manure pile.
I have a couple cool pieces of driftwood. Must find more. Stat. Luckily I live near a river.
Messy. Gardening is messy. Very messy.
My solution to the problem: Purple Fountain Grass. It’s one of my favorite ornamental grasses. I love ornamental grasses! This grass turns really dark in the fall and grows to about 36 inches in height.
Part two: Petunias. One of my summer favorites. I opted for white and purple flowers.
These flowers were big and healthy so I opted to separate them.
And then placed them on opposite sides of the grass
I alternated the white and purple flowers, watered well and then mulched with some Western Red Cedar.
Here’s the finished product. Both barrels.
And my second piece of really cool driftwood:
I might have gone crazy with the after pictures. I’d say I’m sorry. But I’m not really. I think it took me about an hour total to do both barrels, in case any of you were wondering. I didn’t take the after photos until a couple hours after I’d planted the flowers- because I wanted to get a good watering in on the new plantings and have the flower get all bright and perky again, so it was easier to mulch. Do any of you have garden plans this year?
