Freezing is an Understatement!

Just have to have a sense of humor when you live in Chicago during the winter months!!!!!!!!


This was the wind chills for yesterday and today.  Hoping to come above freezing before the week end.  Wooo Hooo! Even us Northern Seasoned Winter People are having a hard time with these sub zero temps.

My daughter's little Penny can totally relate to the situation here in Chicago!  She is wondering where her grassy area is???

Yep captures it!!!!!!

Yep!


Hope you are staying nice and warm where you are.  Just trying to keep my sanity and hope for the temps to come above freezing soon!!!!!

Stay Warm
Kris
:)

What do you do when you have Cabin Fever?

With this happening outside I need some inside projects to get me through these next few months.

I am such a summer girl and just hate the snow and cold after Christmas.  So I decided to do some inside projects to keep me sane.  I going to stick to my new year project challenge to do these changes spending very little money and using what I have.

I am starting with my kitchen.


Just to show you how much snow we got in the past couple of days.  We had to shovel a path for Libby our basset hound to get off the deck to the backyard.  Her little legs and short to the ground body would have been buried.

This is the driveway.  We got 13 inches and then another 6 inches after I took these pictures.  Today the high is only going to be 17 below and wind chill of 40 below. Ughhh!   So indoor projects it will be.  Just to think a few short months ago I was watering pretty flowers out here! 

I started to take everything down off the walls.  I will have the hubby take the shelves down when he gets home tonight.  He has them pretty secure in the studs.  Then I can spackle and prep the walls for paint.




Got everything down and just need to spackle and get the walls ready for paint.





My husband had some crown and an old closet door in his scraps of wood so he is going to finish the top of the refrigerator cabinet and the pantry cabinet to the left of the stove.  I am excited he has enough scrap material to finish those cabinets and give them some bling.  I get on him about not getting rid of old pieces of woods left from projects but not anymore since he is going to create some magic on these cabinets with scrap pieces.  Love repurposing.


I will be making a new skirt for the farmhouse sink.

In case you were wondering where all the decor from the kitchen went well it was moved into the dining room for now!!!!







I will be playing and rearranging things that will go back into the new kitchen.  Going for a different look other than farmhouse so a lot of this stuff will not be going back up.








I keep gravitating towards the color picket fence.  Looks grey in this picture but it really is white with a hint of cream/ivory.



These are the colors I picked for my 
walls and cabinets.  The one on the bottom in the middle is picket fence and I think the color I will go with.  You can see in this picture it is really a creamy ivory.  Almost all of these colors of white have a tint of cream in them.  I am down to picket fence and white on white.   I think I will probably stay with white cabinets and fairly light walls. I am going for a cottage/nordic look.

Well stay tuned for the transformation.  Only money that might be spent will be on a can of paint.  Two of the colors I have picked out I already have the paint from other rooms in my house so if I pick those colors I won't spend a dime.  If not then the only money spent on this transformation will be the paint color.  I have some big pieces of architectural elements in the shed and  Terry has a lot of old wood and crown molding scrapes so we are going to see what we can come up with. I am excited to get this transformation going.  Stay tuned and Stay Warm!
:)
Kris


Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger


Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.
There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Saturday January 4th
Michelle from "Petite Michelle Louise"




It is my great pleasure to start the New Spotlight for 2014 with the lovely Michelle from Petite Michelle Louise blog spot.  Sit back and enjoy learning more about Michelle.  I have gotten to know Michelle this past year with our shared loved of vintage, white and all things french.  You will love getting to know her on a more personal level.  Enjoy.








Bonjour....my name is Michelle, better known as “Petite Michelle Louise”. I am so very honored that Kris invited me to be her first “Saturday Spotlight” of 2014! I started my blog & opened my ETSY shop, both called “Petite Michelle Louise”, just about 4 years ago after our only child left for college. It was at that same time that I lost one of my most lucrative contracts as an Educational Audiology Consultant and, with a husband who traveled frequently, I was facing a completely “empty nest.” It was my mother who said to me: “You need to go back to doing what you love...you need to pursue your artistic passion once again.” And so....with no direction or vision to follow but with the unwavering support and encouragement of my loving husband...I listened for that whisper in my heart to guide me on the path that would lead me back to my heart’s true passion...my “art.” 
Never could I have imagined that in doing so..... my life would change in so many ways. 






“Moi” with my husband, Mark & our son, Tim
Summer 2013

I found  ETSY while perusing a creative magazine. I went to their website and was amazed at the “caliber” of artists who owned shops on the site. I would describe it as a community of artists, creators, collectors, thinkers and doers. It’s a wonderfully-supportive community that allows artists to own a small (and sometimes larger) creative business and helps them to introduce their products to a world-wide audience. 

Opening my ETSY shop led me to the world of blogging and now, I can't imagine it not being a part of my life. I must admit, I was hesitant at first. I wasn’t sure if I would have anything  of “value” to share or that there would be anyone out there interested in reading about it. Slowly but surely, I started to share my creative passions and then, without intending to.....a very big part of my heart & soul as well. In doing so, I have had the great blessing of meeting incredibly wonderful women whom I know will be lifelong friends.  Each and every one of them has added their unique beauty to my life and I consider myself blessed beyond measure because of them.

I hope you will consider stopping in at “Petite Michelle Louise”. I look forward to getting to know the unique beauty that lies within “YOU.”

“The desire to create is one of
the deepest yearnings of
the human soul. No matter our
talents, education,
backgrounds, or abilities, we
each have an inherent
wish to create something that
did not exist before.
Everyone can create. You don’t
need money, position,
or influence in order to create
something of substance. Creation brings
satisfaction and fulfillment.
We develop ourselves and
others when we take organized
matter into our hands and mold it into something of
beauty.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf


“Merci” Kris for sharing your beauty and inspiration with us all and allowing me this opportunity to share a little bit of “me” with all of your lovely readers.

Thank you Michelle for sharing your lovely family and life with us.  Now after getting to know Michelle better head over to Susan's blog and learn more about another sweet blogger Kathy from Creative Home Expressions.
Have a wonderful start to the new year.
Kris
:)

Can you Say Let It Snow!

Happy New Year Everyone.  Ours is starting out with a bang here in the Chicagoland suburbs.  Mother Nature is packing a punch for all of us.

The snow fall started on New Year's Eve and has not stopped.  We are suppose to get around 11 to 15 inches before it is done tomorrow.






Look at the size of these icicles hanging from the house!  Baby it's cold and snowy outside so I am staying inside.
Hope you are staying warm and cozy where you are.
Might have to go outside later and make a snowman or stay inside with hot cocoa and pinterest! Yep, Hot Cocoa and Pinterest wins!!!!!
Stay warm and cozy.
Kris

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