Fireplace re-do..

I would like to start off by saying whoever invented Spring Cleaning needs to be smacked!!
with that said...now i can continue.

I got up at 6am with ONE thing on my mind.....My Mantel!  As much as I love fires in the Winter time i am really ready for warm weather..which means time for cleaning out months of ash and suet.  :(
I had seen a show on HGTV where a gal had painted the inside of her fireplace, I was thinking..hmmm, can't be THAT hard??  Well.......3 pots of coffee and 10hrs later I did it!  Granted the "actual" cleaning and painting of the fireplace only took about an hour..My ability to NOT stop until I am 100% satisfied took 8hrs!
When you see something on TV they just always make it seem so easy to do...Well you know, I am sure they have "handymen" to bring them all the supplies they will need..Me on the other hand....my "handyman" was fishing! (smart choice)   



Yep, that's QVC in the background

Yes I know its a mess...and I am aware of the Shop Vac in the middle of my living room!

While I was vacuuming all the ashes out I couldn't help but sing "its a dirty job but someone has to do it"  You know from the show Dirty Jobs? 

I had seen a show with Paula Deen (yes, her mouth is too loud) but anyway...she had a Fern in the middle of her fireplace and I LOVED how it looked.  My fireplace isn't that deep so I knew a Fern would be way too big and too much trouble to water daily (Leah- ferns must be watered daily)...

I decided to try a Vine instead....pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I could kick myself for not taking a before pic of this...the bricks were a gray'ish color and very dirty looking.. Found me some Black Spray Paint for high heat and went to town!

I did manage to take a picture of the Mantel before.....(keep in mind it has been through THREE winters so thats a lot of fires!!



(This was half way through it)



 Well I guess my point to this was to show you my Spring Mantel....here you go.





This stool is at least 25yrs old, I can remember me and sissy fighting over who got to sit on it!





Before you say anything..I know I HATE fake flowers but this didn't scream FAKE to me, I thought it looked VINTAGE!



(James thinks this is a DINO egg)

Most folks would probably put Eggs in an Easter Basket but that's a little too boring for me...

Hope Everyone has a
Easter!!

 And........

Happy Birthday Month to me!

My Mom bought me this when I was a kid..probably around 25 years ago (man, that makes me feel old)
If your wondering what's on her neck....well, her head has been broke off more than once!  She has had a ruff life.

Oh, are you wondering who is that pretty gal beside her??




She is AWESOME!  You know how I love old umbrellas, oh...you don't?   well, here's a few....

But that's a Blog for Another day....