We have a fence!

I'm beside myself with excitement about our new fence. It was a huge transformation moment because it only took the guys 2 days to put it in and it completely changed the look of our backyard. It's SO NICE to let Willow out without worrying about her. We still need to pick a color and stain it but that will be a while so I'm going to share pics with you now...

Remember before? It does look a bit greener here but that's just because of the time of day this was taken.

Here it is! Will loves it too :)

The guys also put our wedding birdhouse in the ground for me...

I just feel more settled once it's in.

A few more views....

We did a different type of fence along our neighbor's hedge row because we didn't want to hide it (plus it was cheaper)!

(Note - I know there is a big tree stump in this pic but that's a story and project for another day.)

Here is a sneak peek inside from the yard.

xo!

Ice Cream!

I've mentioned before that my grandpa is the social director of our little community at the lake. It is a position that he has held for a long time so he really has it down pat. He recently decided that he was going to turn over one of the social events to my cousin and myself. We were given the "Ice Cream Social" and this was our first year flying solo! He equipped us with a detailed list (2 pages) of supplies needed and assisted with set-up, but left everything else up to us.

I'm proud to say we passed the test :)

Here are some pics from the day....

Setting up!

The co-chairs...eating on the job.

Eating...again.

A captive audience :)

Vermont Scenes

Every time I drive to the lake I pass this row of trees and barn. I love them so I finally decided to stop and take a picture!

Hope you had a happy weekend!

xoxo

DIY Light Fixture

Remember when I visited Meg in February? I bought this before I even had a house to use it in.

My mom did the same thing before she bought their lake house and now she has a really cool chandelier hanging above the dining room table. It must be good luck to purchase something for your new house before it's even yours.

Well - I told you I had grand plans for it and I did.

Remember this guy?

Not Matt - what's hanging above him. We have a super tall entry ceiling that is highly visible from the main part of the house and that baby had to go. I had dreams of my antique chicken coop becoming a new light fixture. I wasn't sure how it was going to work but a girl can dream right?

I was inspired by things like this found via Pinterest...

First up, I had to line the basket somehow.

My mom had some burlap that we decided to use as the lining. First we tried making a pattern. It didn't work AT ALL.

My mom finally figured out we should cut the fabric on the bias (whatever that means - I'm not an expert at sewing or crafts) and use a glue gun to attach it.

We started and it looked good!

Woo hoo! Now for the light part. HM. I searched around online for light kits, old chandeliers, etc for weeks and came up with nothing. Then I remembered our old friend.

We tore him apart.

I saved his inner workings...

I had ideas for the glass part but Matt made me throw it away :(

Next I had to figure out how to actually attach it to the basket. The hole at the top was too large for it to stay inside as it was. I went to the hardware store and bought some plywood and my grandpa (it was a family project for sure) helped me cut a circle to attach to the light so it would stay inside. Please excuse my outfit - this is what I look like at the lake.

It required an assortment of tools.

Hooray!

I used screws to attach it to the original fixture and then spray painted the whole shebang.

I then used rope to wind around the chain.

Isn't she purty?

Then I had to wait a month until they were done with construction for the big reveal. What do you think?

I love it!

xo

Double Rainbow Love

I took these a few months ago on my way home from work and forgot to post them. I always love a double rainbow.

Taken with my iphone...

I'm working away on getting the house together. I'll post more pics when I'm a bit farther along.

xo

Updated Post-Construction Pics!

Hello friends! You've been very patient with my lack of house update pics. We are almost done with construction!

We had two things that held us up....

Floors - They finished yesterday. When they did the final coat last week, it turned out bubbled and gritty. Not a clue what happened but they fixed it.

Wood Countertops - After months of searching for IKEA butcherblock I finally decided that the ones I wanted weren't going to be in stock anytime soon (Beech Numerar). My mom and I searched around and came across some maple ones at Lumber Liquidators for almost as cheap that received great reviews. When they came in my builder told me the quality was so poor he wouldn't put them in. To make a long story short - we took them back and he's in the process of making some for us.

OK here we are as of yesterday :) I'm not going to do before and afters yet because we obviously have no furniture or decorations in at this point. I'll do it after we're more moved into the new rooms. I'll do some more detailed pics then too with better explanation.

Let's start outside - our window box!

Power washing is coming up this weekend....

Walking in the front door you see this view.

Our new den! We painted the fireplace the wall color and painted the inside black. If you're going to paint the inside then make sure you use heat safe paint (our painter sprayed on BBQ grill paint). More on what else is in there later :)

We haven't put in the shelves yet...

Kitchen! The only appliance we had to buy was a range. We bought a Frigidaire so it would match the other appliances that came with the house.

This is a very dark pic of our backsplash. It's really quite a bit lighter than this. It is a tumbled marble - almond beige I think.

A few other views...

Our temporary countertops :)

I will take pics of the bathroom and foyer to show you later. I need to work on a DIY post for each of those first before revealing the final product!

xoxo