All Things Jewelry

Good day lovelies!  Hope your enjoying the beautiful weather that has been gracing your neck-of-the-woods.  Life has been awfully crazy this past week, that my love affair with all things DIY have been put on the back burner.  I've been spending my days mothering and gardening, which has been nothing but lovely and enjoyable.  Life is good.

Since the inside of my home seems to be my last priority, since the yard needs lots of TLC these days, I thought that I would spend my free time yesterday (Hazels nap time) to orgainze my jewelry area in my bedroom.  Yikes, it was looking pretty scary......

    I took everything off and divided into piles of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, ect....

 It went from piles to this........

I started by spray painting tree branches from my yard a metallic gold color.  Let dry and added them to a   vase of my choice.  From there I start hanging my earrings and necklaces!  

I used all things from around my house.  A tea cup to hold my rings, a box I had lying around to hold jewelry that I don't use frequently, a silver tin to hold hooped earrings,two glass bottles that I had saved to stack my bracelets, a small sushi sauce dish to hold post earrings and pendents.  Of course I added a picture of the wonderful lady that gave me an appreciation of all things beautiful and all things jewelry!  

I'm pretty in love with how it turned out!  It's more like a piece of art than a organized area of jewelry!  It's amazing how wonderful I feel now that it's all organized....now what should I organize today?  Hope you enjoyed!  XOXOXO
~Maggie

B-A-N-A-N-A-S For Bread

Good Morning All!  Hope that your week is flying by....so we get to that long weekend.  Hopefully you can enjoy a weekend of family, friends and good food!  Speaking about food, I have a confession to make....although I enjoy cooking I'm by no means a lover of baking.  Yikes, the thought actually scares me right out of the kitchen!  I think the process is often too complicated and time-consuming and most of the time my end result is nothing like I had thought or wanted.

I say this with all honesty, baking is "just not my thing!"......But.....there is one recipe that I can depend on to turn out ok pretty yummy!  I love me some banana bread!  I was given this recipe by my step-mother-in-law (it was given to her by her mother Mrs. Orpha Winter) and it's wonderful easy and oh-so-good bread.  

Banana Bread

~1 cup sugar

~1/2 cup butter or margarine

~2 eggs

~2 cup flour (extra 1/4 cup flour for high altitude baking)

~1 teaspoon baking soda

~1 teaspoon of vanilla

~1/2 cup chopped nuts (your choice)

~3 small banana mashed

~1 cup of chocolate chips (this is my added twist)

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs.  Alternately add flour to the mixture.  Add the additional ingredients.  Mix well and add bananas last.  Bake 350 degrees fro 1 hour.  Gives 4 small round cans.  This bread freezes nicely.

The best thing about this recipe is, you can bake the bread in round cans....yes, that right, save your left over cans to bake in!  Plus, your bread comes out round and I absolutely love that!  *note make sure to stray the can with a non-stick cooking/baking spray.

Of course this bread never last very long in this household!  Hope you get a chance to try!  XOXOXO

~Maggie

Cooling Off

Before my life was totally changed by the wonderful invention of central air conditioning for those hot summer days and nights, my hubby and I bought and lived in the cutest 1920's bungalow that was not updated with the luxury of central air.  So, the need for a fan was super important and mandatory to survive those hot Montana summers.  Although fans come in all shapes and sizes, I'm very much in love with the vintage style fans.  The nice thing about this is today you can find vintage inspired fans, just about any where, but if you are lucky enough to come across an actual vintage fan they never lack in character!

I though that I would share a picture of our home in Montana, I have a very special connection and love to this place!  It makes me smile and happy.  

I actually pick up my very own vintage fan several years ago at a garage sale for $3.00, of course I used my ultra barging skills to score $2.00 off the original  $5.00 price tag!  It was very dirty and dingy, but it cleaned up very nicely.  I have seen many of these awesomely-cute fans in many antique stores, but the price tags are always a little scary, after my bargain find, ranging from $30.00-$60.00.  Yes, my fan does work perfectly well, but since the life of fans in our new home is non-exsistant, I use it now for decor!

I couldn't help myself in finding more fan eye-candy on Pinterest.  Love, love, love!

 Since summer is upon us, it's now that we start thinking about how to cool off in those dog-days of summer.  Other than air conditioning and fans how do you cool off in the summer?  You can often find me drinking iced sun-tea and soaking in a pool.  Summer is here!!!!  XOXOXO

~Maggie

Cutie Pie Frame

Happy Friday ya'll!  Hope that you have something fabulous planned for the weekend.  My mom has been here the last few days, which is always a good time of running round town, poking our heads into fun little shops we have never been too and spending some time doing projects.  Yesterday we able to fit in some DIY time, despite everything else that was going on.

My mom had purchased 2 frames for the thrift store in Leadville for .50 each, they were plain ol' pine frames with a little logo engraved at the bottom.

So we used this~

and they turned out this this~

You can slightly see the engraving on the bottom of the frames....don't worry we fixed that problem by~

We added these fun, little wood decals from Hobby Lobby at .99 each, this covered the orginal engraving that we didn't want to be seen!

Kinda a cute project!  These frames could be the perfect gift for a birthday, Mother's day or Grandparents day.  I like that you can write on the frame, change the name, even put the year on it or even draw a boarder around!  I can't reveal the two lucky ladies that will be getting these, but they will soon find out!  Hope your weekend is oh' so fabulous!  XOXOXO
~Maggie

Au Revoir Coffee

Hello Lovelies!  Okay, okay, I have to admit I've been nothing but unproductive in the last few weeks....I have actually been feeling a little"under the weather" and trying to kick my undying love of caffeinated beverages-mostely cafe au lait. Oh how I love coffee and everything that coffee stand for---Starbucks, coffee dates with girlfriends or my hubby, a good cup of Joe after crawling out of bed in the morning or sitting in my favorite cafe in Paris reading a Danelle Steel novel.....backup... I've never been to Paris, but thats what I would imagine I would do if I ever went!

Needless to say kicking a everyday habit hasn't had me in the best of moods, but today I saw the light or came out of my 14 year coffee coma.  The withdrawals are over, no more headaches, no more agitation and no more coffee for me!

Awwwwh....

 
Thanks for letting me vent!  XO
~Maggie

Cheerful Dish Towels

Good Morning!  Hope that your week is going well and is full of sunny days!  We have been having such lovely weather, it's hard to not spend the majority of your time outside---soaking up the rays.  Speaking of sun, the other day I felt the overwhelming need to add a little color to my kitchen and decided to make some awfully cute dish towels.  Who doesn't love some added cheer to your kitchen?  Plus, they were super-duper easy and fun to make!

I picked out a fun quote to add to one of the dish towels and wrote it out on paper before I transferred it to the towel; this way you know word placement and writing style you want to use.

Aren't they so cheery?  What have ya'll been working on at home?  Outdoor project or indoor projects?  Can't wait to hear about your DIY adventures!  See you soon!  XOXO
~Maggie

Guess Who's Back.....

Long time no see, let's just say.... that life has gotten the best of me and I've been pre-occupided being mother, wife, daughter and friend.  I'm officially back and ready to start a new chapter of Maggie's Ways---New projects, new recipes and of course fun ol' post on life!  


I hope that all of the mother's out there had a wonderful and blessed Mother's Day.  What a wonderful day to reflect on what makes mom unique and great.  It's the toughest job in the world....but the most rewarding!

My day was nothing but fabulous. In the morning I dragged Jarod and Hazel to a few antique shops, indulged in some yummy-homemade banana bread (recipe to come later this week) and cowgirl chocolates (a gift from my in-laws), did a little project while watching my ultimate fav chick flick Pride & Prejudice, dinner out with my two favorite people, dessert at our dear friends house where we celebrate both mother's day and a birthday and to finish the day up, I enjoy a glass of champange and some french music.  It was a beautiful day well spent!

Can't wait to show you the projects that I've been working on!  Stay tuned for some great great things to come!  Thanks for coming by.  XOXO

~Maggie