Eclectic Red Barn: 2014

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas to All!

As friends and family arrive, we are having a wonderful time reconnecting and laughing. We are off to church in a few hours and then more Christmas celebrations.

I am taking time off to spend with family and friends so I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to All

and to all

a Good Night!

May the joy of the holidays be with you and your family.

See you in the new year.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Dressed Up Dollar Tree Bells

Only 4 more days until Christmas. I hope you have all of your shopping done. Mine is finished and wrapped and under the tree. Yeah! We arrived at our other house last night and finished up some last minute decorations. I am sharing another Christmas decoration on the cheap. You saw a sneak peak of it hanging from my wire baskets.

Eclectic Red Barn: Dollar Tree Bell - dressed up

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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Cheering up the light

I am continuing my Christmas decorating on the cheap at our other home. I made the JOY banner, the book page banners for the windows and now for the dining room light.

This was very easy and rather cheap. I saw this light decorated on Pinterest for Christmas and for some reason it stayed with me. So when I had finished my banners, the light looked so plain. I still had some berries left and the light called to me.

Eclectic Red Barn: Decorating the dining room light

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Monday, December 15, 2014

Decorating on the Cheap!

I told you last week about trying to decorate our other home for Christmas on the cheap with my JOY banner made from vintage doilies. I am here today to show you another idea for Christmas decor - my book page banners. These book page banners are not new since you can find them all over Pinterest. However, when you are trying not to spend too much money on decorations and have old books - they are a perfect fit.

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Friday, December 12, 2014

Adding the holidays to wire baskets

In many parts of the country, the hanging baskets have been put away. However, here in Florida, mine stay up all year. Usually this time of year, I don't have potted plants in my baskets since the selection is minimal with holiday flowers in demand. So what to do with those wire baskets?

Decorate them of course. Many of you have pine trees where you can get fresh pine, but here not so much or at least not the good kind. I went to Home Depot and they had two carts filled with pine branches that they trimmed off the trees and said I could have all I wanted. Yeah!!

Free pine branches are added to wire hanging baskets.

Eclectic Red Barn: Pine wire baskets with birds and ribbons

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Monday, December 8, 2014

December Chain Linky CLIMB

Is it my imagination or is December flying by. I guess it is all the excitement of the holidays. So much to do so little time!

Let's take a little time out today to join this weeks Chain "Linky" CLIMB. I am so excited to be a co-host this week and see all of the fabulous ideas you have been working on. Check out the great prizes below and don't forget to add your family friendly blog posts. Please take a little time to check in with other bloggers to help each other grow their blog. See you in the Climb!

Tweet #ChainLinkyCLIMB

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WELCOME! It's the month long Networking Blog Hop With our 14th CLIMB GIVEAWAY! Networking means helping each other grow!! If you want to promote a CLIMB link, then use #ChainLinkyCLIMB on Twitter or Google+ so that we can all help each other grow! Here's how the Giveaway & Co-hosting works - the co-hosts from the previous month's CLIMB will have the opportunity to participate in a Giveaway during the next CLIMB - that gives co-hosts 2 months in a row of blog growing fun!! (If you would like to co-host please sign up at the end of this post using the last "Linky") Please enter below -one person will win:

- $25 Paypal Cash from Sew Crafty Angel & from Cuddlebug Cuties

- 1 Ad Space on A Peek Into My Paradise for 30 days - $30 value

- Turbo Sponsor Spot on 100lb Countdown - $10 value
- $20 Gift Certificate to Helen's Etsy Shop - HFernsOriginals

- 1 Medium Ad Space on The Myrabev Life - $10 value
- 1 Medium Ad Space on A July Dreamer - $10 value

- 1 Monthly Ad Space on God's Growing Garden - $15 value
- A beautiful Red Seaglass & Rhinestone Cherry Necklace by ShorelineDesigned - $20 value
- "My Cookie Creation Countdown" ebook - $3 value
- "Making Your Own Cedar Roping or Pine Garland" ebook - $2 value
- "G.K.C.C. Gourdon Kringle Christmas Company" Children's Picture ebook - $4 value
- a beautiful handmade "Coffee Cozy"($5 value) by Kaitlyn from Three Sisters & Us

photo CoffeeCozyphotoWEQS6WVS_zps729d5009.jpg

Coffee Cozy by Kaitlyn from "Three Sisters & Us"

PICKED SWEET CHERRIES NECKLACE
Rare Red Seaglass from Lake Michigan and Sparkly Rhinestone High Quality Cherry Charm on Silver Bail and Chain Necklace
Red seaglass/beachglass is a rare find - and I found this one in Lake Michigan near Traverse City which is the Cherry Capital of the World! I have carefully drilled the red beach glass into a bead to daintily dangle along with a sparkly sweet cherry rhinestone charm from silver and red jumprings from a silver slide-bail onto a silver chain. Even the lobster clasp is large for ease of use and is quality stainless steel connected to a cute tiny tag steel connector. The chain undone end to end is 21 inches, and as worn including seaglass/cherry charm will hang 12 inches.
by ShorelineDesigned

Photo by Helen Fern

Gift Certificate to "H Fern Originals": (shop description) "My goal is to provide you with quality greeting cards and photographs at an affordable price. I have experienced each image you see and tried to capture the feeling in the photograph. Please look around, send me comments - both praise and suggestions - and feel free to ask me any questions. ."

All 3 of these ebooks by Angie Ouellette-Tower

Total prize value is $154!!

CLIMB Giveaway Rules & Conditions: - this is open worldwide (void where prohibited) - You must be 18 years or older to enter - You MUST have a blog to win the Ad spaces (otherwise these will become a second place prizes)

- You must live in the lower 48 of the United States to win the Necklace & the Cozy (otherwise these will become second place prizes)
- Any tax or shipping costs going above the amount of any gift certificate will be the winner's responsibility
- You MUST have a valid PayPal account to win the Paypal Cash (otherwise these will become a second place prizes)

- This Giveaway is open from December 1st, 2014 until December 21st, 2014

- Winner must respond to email within 48 hours or a different winner will be chosen

- Giveaway Hosts & Co-hosts can NOT enter this Giveaway!, however - DECEMBER 2014 CLIMB blog hop co-hosts ARE allowed to enter this Giveaway (provided they are not also part of the Giveaway)

- correspondence is done through email and the winner's email addresses will only be used to deliver or set-up e-prizes. Email addresses will NEVER be sold or shared.

- All prizes will be delivered by the contributing Bloggers/Shop Owners.

- if you have any questions or concerns about this Giveaway please email one of the hosts:

Angie: angeliquetower@gmail.com

Angel: sewcraftyangel@gmail.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now onto the CLIMB (blog hop): We have changed it up a bit - instead of linking your homepage you may now link up to 4 of your family friendly blog posts per month!!

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By participating in this blog hop your understand that your link might be promoted on social media. Also, by participating in this blog hop your email address will be added to our CLIMB list & you will be sent an email reminder next month.

Remember - If you co-host you will receive a free Weekly Sidebar Ad and your blog button will appear on both Angie's blog & Angel's blog!!
(The Ad will run live a few weeks after you have co-hosted)

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Vintage Doilies Make JOY Banner

We all know that Christmas is a joyous time. The music, shopping, baking, decorating and wrapping presents. Not to mention parties and quests. I love this time of year. However, a slight twist was added. Instead of having Christmas here in Davie, we decided to have it at our home north of Orlando. No problem, until my daughter who is flying in from California said, "are you decorating the house"? Yikes! Both houses?

Usually, we just put up outside lights. Now I have to do the inside. I went through some of my decorations to see what I could use up there, since I had already decorated the house here, not much. I decided to make as many decorations as I could. I did not want to buy enough stuff for two homes.

So this JOY banner was my first creation.

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Thursday, December 4, 2014

Finding our Forever Home

We see ads on TV for Christmas presents for our furry friends and I have to admit that I am guilty of spoiling my pets. You know you have it bad when your husband calls from Italy and asks, "How are the kids?" I hope I am not alone here and that some of you feel the same way about your pets.

Although my pets have a special home, many dogs and cats don't. They are abused, stuck in crates in shelters hopeful that they will find their forever home.

Eclectic Red Barn: Three puppies being fostered

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Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Green Enchilada Pork Chili

How do you decide if you want to make a particular recipe? Is it the name - decadent chocolate brownies would call my name. Or maybe a picture of a luscious prime rib. I do a little of both.

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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Thanksgiving prayer

Send wanted to send out a Happy Thanksgiving prayer to all of you and your loved ones. Here is my prayer for you.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Quick and Easy Fall Centerpiece

I love to have something small on my kitchen table for the holidays. After Halloween, I knew it would not be long before I put something for Christmas there so it had to be quick and easy. This little pumpkin base was perfect for my boy and girl scarecrows.

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Saturday, November 15, 2014

22 Bathroom Cleaning Tips

As the holidays approach, we all spend a great deal of time preparing for them, including time performing cleaning chores. I pay particular attention to keeping my bathrooms clean since guests are always using them. I have put together 22 quick and easy tips to get and keep those bathrooms sparkling.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Surprised by Tiny Pink Wild Flowers

Coming home from our house north of Orlando on Sunday, we stopped at a gas station to fill up and let the dogs out. Near the gas station was a rather large area of grass and there were these lovely tiny pink flowers all over the ground.

Eclectic Red Barn: Tiny pink wild flower

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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Bottle Garland

A couple of months ago, I saw three little bottles wrapped in wire to make a garland on Antique Farm House. Sorry I don't have a picture of the original one, but I liked it and wanted to recreate one for my deck. I think it was around $15.

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Sunday, November 2, 2014

Glazed Lemon Coconut Bars

I wanted to make a dessert the other night and everything I wanted to make I didn't have this ingredient or that ingredient. So I reached for something with lemons since I had many of them. I found these Lemon Coconut Bars from Betty Crocker so that was going to be the dessert.

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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

30th Annual Mt Dora Craft Fair

This past weekend we attended the 30th Annual Mt. Dora, FL Craft Fair. The weather was cool and the day was just right. "Throughout this historic community, the streets come alive with more than 400 talented crafters & artists from all over the country displaying and offering for sale their finest works to the more than 250,000 visitors who are expected to attend this two-day event."

We arrived around 10:00 in the morning, thinking we would beat the crowds. Not so. We had to walk about a mile to get to the center of town where the fair is held. They block off all the streets so the vendors and set up. The next thing I knew, we were wall to wall with people.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Spice rack goes to school

While visiting my daughter in LA, we stopped by her school (she teaches 5th grade). I was checking out her classroom and noticed a spice rack. She had purchased it at a garage sale, but her house had a built in spice rack. What to do with it?

Eclectic Red Barn: Heather's Spice rack holds school supplies

She decided to use it for school supplies for the kids.

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Sunday, October 12, 2014

California style breakfast

Not really sure if this egg dish is "California style" or not, but that is what my husband called it. I am here in LA visiting my daughter and she spots an egg dish on Pinterest that looks good. We all agreed, but since the only ingredient we had that was in the recipe was eggs, I had to make substitutions for the rest. Funny how adding a few other ingredients and voila a new creation.

Eclectic Red Barn: Breakfast eggs with tofu, kale, Gruyere, and avocadocado

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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Fixing messed up paint jobs

Did you ever spray paint something and you got it on something else? Well, I have. It is amazing how far spray paint can fan out. So you try picking at it or use steel wool or your own method to lean it off.

Eclectic Red Barn: Use Krud Kutter to clean up unwanted paint

Look at all the black spray paint that landed on my lamp.

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Saturday, September 27, 2014

Seeking advice

Short post-seeking some advice. I have had these two green chairs for quite some time. They were painted when I found them and are in great shape.

Eclectic Red Barn: Chippy green children's chairs

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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Giving new life to a freebie!

When we were in Vermont last month, I found this pot in a pile at a garage sale that was to be thrown out. I don't think it was used as a watering can, because there is no hole on the inside where the spout is. Maybe just some decorative piece.

Eclectic Red Barn: Wrapped in twine watering can

It was very rusty. Some how I managed to delete some pictures including the picture of what the original pot looked like. I have never stained a piece of metal, this was my first. I only did the spout and the top. It turned out great. I can't find that picture either. It is a shame, since the staining made a big difference.

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Monday, September 22, 2014

Chain " Linky" Climb

Welcome to this month's Chain "Linky" CLIMB. I am so excited to be a co-host this week. Check out the great prizes below. Don't forget to add your family friendly blog posts and then check in with other bloggers to help each other grow your blog. See you in the Climb!

Tweet #ChainLinkyCLIMB

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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Carrot cake on the healthier side

I love carrot cake, but I don't make it too often because of all the calories. I was so excited when I found this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens that cut the calories off the traditional recipe. Instead of all the oil, you can use mango juice.

As some of you my know, I have mango trees and we had so many mangoes this year. I am always looking for mango recipes, so I am giving this a try.

Eclectic Red Barn: Healthier Mango Carrot Cake - save calories by using mango juice instead of oil

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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Old mirror holds surprise!

Last month I found this mirror at a barn sale in Vermont with several other goodies. You can see that post here.

Eclectic Red Barn: Old mirror gets cleaned up and fix Mirror is dated March 21, 1919..

The mirror was so dirty you could not tell what kind of wood it was. The people who had the barn sale, said the mirror was in the house when they bought the farm. Not sure how old the house was. In addition to being dirty, it needed some work.

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Saturday, September 6, 2014

Wild life in my driveway?

We are up at our house in Eustis, FL and when I opened the door to go into the garage, I was surprised to see these Sandhill cranes outside the door. We see them often as we are driving, but never in our yard.

Eclectic Red Barn: Sandhill cranes as seen through the garage

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Thursday, September 4, 2014

Mexican Hot Dish

We love Mexican food and when it is easy, that makes it even better. This is a one pan meal. Dump everything into your pan and bake. I also like recipes that are versatile - add ingredients that you like. It is not spicy however.

This is not your "I need a quick 30 minute meal", but make it on a night when you have more time or the weekend since it takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to bake. Every time I serve this, they ask for the recipe.

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Monday, September 1, 2014

Trashy Children's Cabinets

How I love bulk pick up week. Do you have something like that where you live? Once a month, people put out "trash" for bulk pick up. Now it is not really a week, only a day, but people can start putting out "trash" a week ahead. The hard part is competing with the "truckers". These are individuals that ride through the neighbors looking for stuff. Mostly they want items that they can scrap. They can get money for scrap metal - usually by the pound. Most of the time, they beat me to any metal items.

Most of my collecting is done within my neighborhood. Last month my neighbor put out these children's cabinets.

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Vermont Treasures

Our vacation has ended, but we have so many memories, some good and some not so good, and some treasures as reminders. Once we arrived home, my husband began laying all of our treasures on the ground.

Many items that I collected where from my sons farm. The big iron wheel and the small ones were down by an old lean-to. That's were I also got some barn boards.

Eclectic Red Barn: Vermont boards and wheels

I found several Gulf Live Stock containers in the woods, but this was in the best shape. While we were having fun hiking in the woods, we found tons of rocks. I just love these Vermont blue stone. I just had to bring some home. My husband just rolled his eyes as I put things in a pile to take home.

My son and my husband were cutting down trees and one very large maple had barbed wire wrapped on it so I decided to gather it up. Turned out there was quite a lot of it there. Still so much left. My son is going to save it for me.

The vintage sled and old mirror came from a barn sale. The lady who had the sled told me it was hers when she was little and then pushed her kids in it when they lived in town. Now that they live in the country, there is no place to push the grand kids. I loved the sled and because she told me her story, it made it even more special.

The mirror was in the old house when the people who had the barn sale moved it. I also bought the planter, ice skates and Christmas lights from her. I got a few other odds and ends.

While we were at our cabin in the mountains, we stopped at an antique store. I found the post card printing set. I fell in love with it. It is so heavy that I can hardly lift it. I hope I can get it to work. If not, I can do lots of stamping.