Make the Scene Monday #33 {$50 Amazon Voucher}

It's 

Make the Scene Monday

time again!

Today is our 12th
Wedding Anniversary!
We spent a hot & lazy day, lying in the sun.
And then we took the kids for a walk downtown,
a nice and relaxing way to spend the day!


ON TO MAKE THE SCENE MONDAY


This week’s Make the Scene Monday is

sponsored by Appliances Online… and that

means… you have a chance to win a 


$50 Amazon voucher!!!


How awesome is that!

To enter you just need to copy and paste the following tagline and put it in your post that you’re entering into this week’s Party, then link up & follow Alderberry Hill. Then leave me a comment and let me know what entry number you are so if you win, I can verify your post tagline!

Here’s the tagline that MUST be in the post you link up.

My entry into Make the Scene Monday #33  is sponsored by Appliances Online & Bosch Washing Machines.

This giveaway will close on Sat, Aug 4th, when this week’s party closes.

If you haven't already, be sure to 
"linky" follow - let me know and I'll 
follow you back!

Follow My Blog!

Click here to follow this blog and view my other followers...

Lets get this party started!

I would love for you to follow me via GFC, FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ or RSS but it's not a rule :) But if you decide to follow me, leave a comment and I'll follow you right back!

I just have a couple of incey weencey rules and they are that you keep it family-friendly, and that you not link directly to your shop. I would love to host a giveaway if you want to promote your business!

Happy Monday everyone!

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Show me what you all are up to!

Sweet Slumbers {Dreaming of a flower garden}

I love bedding, I wish I had numerous 

duvets and comforters so that

I could  change up the look of my bedroom in 

an instant. The Master Bedroom in my 

home is one of those rooms on the list 

for a makeover...at some point.

I love floral prints, I find them so calming 

and dreamy, like pastel icecream.

I picture a room with a bed dressed in 

floral linens with an open window

 and soft sheers blowing in the warm breeze.

Oldrids & Downtown

has some of the nicest floral quilts, comforters

and duvet covers that I have ever seen.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Sanderson Summer Tree Bedlinen

Sanderson Adele Raspberry Bedlinen

Cath Kidston Roses Bedlinen

Cath Kidston Antique Rose Bouquet Duckegg Bedlinen

Kirstie Allsopp Matilda Coral Bedlinen

Harlequin Tembok Bedlinen

Stop by to see all the pretty 

bed linens they carry!

Scrumptious Homemade Mac & Cheese

Comfort food in July?

Why, yes!

It's a hit with the kids and just simply

a great meal. We love it in our house.

And the best part is it's so easy to make.

And your house smells oh so good when it's baking,

makes you want to curl up on the couch and read a great book.

It's a rainy day here in Torbay today, so I may do just that!

Ingredients

·         8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni

·         2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

·         1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

·         3 cups milk

·         1/4 cup butter

·         2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         1/2 cup bread crumbs

·         1 pinch paprika

          

Directions

1.     Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.

2.     In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.

3.     Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.

4.     Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

This recipe is from Allrecipes.com

you can find it here.

I did make a couple of changes.

Although I do use breadcrumbs this time I substituted with

Toppables crackers.

I omitted the paprika but added fresh pepper instead.

I have been known to link to these fantastic parties:  
Kampen Lane Designs Motivate Me Monday The Cure for the Common Monday A Diamond in the Stuff Just Something I Whipped Up Polly Want a Crafter Sew Can Do Boogieboard Cottage DIY Home Sweet Home Brassy Apple Polish the Stars Serendipity and Spice Destination Craft Mrs Happy Homemaker Made for You Monday Make it Yourself Monday Ask Anna C.R.A.F.T. The Southern Institute The DIY Showoff Craftomaniac  Raising 4 Princesses BetweenNaps on the Porch Bedazzle Me Monday The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife Make Something Monday Stringtown Home Organizing Home Life Tuesday Tutorials Giggles Glitz and Glam Be Inspired Tuesday Time Out A to Zebra Celebrations My Favorite Finds Eye Heart Our Delightful Home The Inspiration Board Frugal Treasures Tuesday Too Cute Tuesday Sugar and Dots Topsy Turvy Tuesdays Trick or Treat Tuesday Chef in Training Sugar Bee Crafts Hope Studios Tell it to me Tuesday Your Cozy Home Party Turquoise Lovin’ Tuesday To Do Party Cherished Bliss Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays Type A Adventures of a DIY Mom Show Me What Ya Got Get Your Craft On Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Tuesday Confessional Teagan Travels How to Nest for Less A Bowl Full of Lemons Tuesday Trade Off Tip Junkie T2T Tuesday Tuesday Treasures Ladybug Blessings Creative Itch Toot your Horn Tuesday Jillify It Tutorial Tuesday Pin Cushion Creations Embracing Change Junk in their Trunk Polkadots on Parade Laugh Love and Craft Rock N Share Clean & Scentsible Uncommonly Yours The Trendy Treehouse Beyond the Picket Fence School House Scraps The Thrifty Home Sew Woodsy Savvy Southern Style Your Whims Wednesday Wow me Wednesday A Little Tipsy Women Living Well Primp your Stuff Wednesday Show and Share Mrs. Fox’s Sweet Party Whatever goes Wednesday 36th Avenue Live.Laugh.Rowe Adventures in Dinner Easy Digital Scrapbooking Mom on Timeout The CSI Project Share Your Cup Thursday All About a Bloom   Fabulously Flawed It’s Sew Stinking Cute The Shabby Creek Cottage The Crafty Blog Stalker Christina’s Adventures Crafty Scrappy Happy 52 Mantels Bear Rabbit Bear The Vintage Farmhouse Bloom Designs A Turtles Life for Me  The Taylor House Rhinestone Beagle Schoolhouse Scraps The Brambleberry Cottage The Shabby Nest Tidy Mom Joyful Stamper My Simple Home Life Remodelaholic Delicate Construction Happy Hour Projects Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 504 Main Hating Martha The Creative Paige Here Comes the Sun Cookie Nut Creations Bacon Time Joy in the Jumble The Grant Life Dotted Line Crafts Love Notes by Lauren Raising Oranges Making Lemonade Redoux Interiors Sassy Sites Whipperberry Tidy Mom One Artsy Momma My Romantic Home Petals to Picots Pandoras Craft Box My Repurposed Life French Country Cottage At the Picket Fence Just Us Four Mommas Kinda Crafty Craftionary Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons Sweet Tooth Friday 30 Handmade Days Lovely Crafty Home Mama Mias Heart to Heart Homemaker in Heels Family Ever After Lolly Jane Lady Bird Lane Serenity You The Gingerbread Blog Cherished Treasures Re-made Just Right Under the Table & Dreaming The Sweet talk Shop Sassafrass Salvation Simple as That My 1929 Charmer Heatherly Loves The Sasse Life Joy 2 Journey The Foley Fam Petite Hermine Flamingo Toes The Sweet Detail Sew Many Ways

Features from Make the Scene Monday # 29, 30 & 31

Thanks to all of you for a great link party on Monday....

....and now I have another
massive feature list for you! 
I'm so busy in the summer, so I think this is how I'll 
do the features until the fall rolls around.

Here are the great features
from
Make the Scene Monday
#29, 30 & 31!!!

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I hope your week is going fan-tabulous!


Where Blogging Happens
from Must Love Junk

Vanity Makeover
from The Concrete Cottage

Beachy Living Room Reveal

from Meeha Meeha

My Summer Yard

from Creatively Living

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

from Susie Homemaker

DIY Pallet Serving Tray

from Live Laugh Rowe

Ruby Anniversary Party

from Vixen Made

Drab to Fab Bench

from The Stonybrook House

Lemon Blueberry Squares 

from The D.I.Y. Dreamer

Vintage Mirror Makeover

from Live Laugh Rowe

And there you have it!

Awesome projects - give 

yourselves a pat on the back!

Like Me on Facebook Linky Party

Everyone wants more facebook likes right?

Sure you do. 

It can't hurt, and perhaps we'll get more readers on our blogs too!

So many of us have co-ordinating facebook pages for our blogs and it would be nice
 to get a little social networking going on.

So let's give this a whirl and see how it goes!

Here are the guidelines:

LINK up your Facebook URL..

and add your facebook fan page name as the title.

Like Alderberry Hill

It would be great if you can squeeze in as many
likes as possible, but the 2 before and after you
is a great start!

 ENJOY & HAVE FUN!!!

Choosing The Right Stain For Your Deck

This year we had to stain our deck.

We didn't bother last summer and once spring rolled around it was evident that our deck was in much need of some TLC in the form of stain & paint.

We had stain left over, a whole gallon. But when my husband went to the hardware store to 
pick upmore stain they told him that oil based stains will no longer be sold in Canada starting in September.

So home he came without any stain.

And we wondered what we were going to do. Should we buy oil based stain anyways and deal with it next year (or the year after)? How would water based stain adhere to the remaining stain on our deck? How can we get the remaining stain off of the deck?

A couple of weeks went by and finally we both went back to the hardware store and purchased deck stain stripper and a pressure washer...and we were dreading all the pre-stain work ahead of us.

Then the in-laws visited and my Father in-law, 
who happens to work at a  hardware store told us about

Sico Exterior Stains.

It's a water based stain that can go right over your existing stained surface. So your wondering why I didn't think to ask him since he works at a hardware store?

Well, that's just it - It never crossed my mind to ask him.

So anyways we returned the stain stripper & pressure washer and bought the Sico stain.

But wait...I had a brilliant idea! I thought that it would 
be a great time to change the color of 
our deck, I was thinking of going with something
in the blue color family.

But as it turns out, it was a horrible idea. 
An epic fail.

So all that work for nothing.

Back to the all to familiar brown.

A safe color but lovely just the same.

We choose Polar Night.

The railings are painted with a color match, 

we brought in a piece of our cream trim to the 

hardware store so they could color match it for us.

Pretty darn close!

I love how clean and fresh it looks now.

See the yellow bench on the right?

My hubs and I made it out of a headboard and footboard.

Check it out here

Here are couple of night time shots.

Take your time when choosing stain.

Make sure the color you choose will coordinate

with existing colors you have and your

outdoor furniture & flower pots.

Here's a Chip It of one of the pics.

I have been known to link to these fantastic parties:  

Kampen Lane Designs Motivate Me Monday The Cure for the Common Monday A Diamond in the Stuff Just Something I Whipped Up Polly Want a Crafter Sew Can Do Boogieboard Cottage DIY Home Sweet Home Brassy Apple Polish the Stars Serendipity and Spice Destination Craft Mrs Happy Homemaker Made for You Monday Make it Yourself Monday Ask Anna C.R.A.F.T. The Southern Institute The DIY Showoff Craftomaniac  Raising 4 Princesses BetweenNaps on the Porch Bedazzle Me Monday The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife Make Something Monday Stringtown Home Organizing Home Life Tuesday Tutorials Giggles Glitz and Glam Be Inspired Tuesday Time Out A to Zebra Celebrations My Favorite Finds Eye Heart Our Delightful Home The Inspiration Board Frugal Treasures Tuesday Too Cute Tuesday Sugar and Dots Topsy Turvy Tuesdays Trick or Treat Tuesday Chef in Training Sugar Bee Crafts Hope Studios Tell it to me Tuesday Your Cozy Home Party Turquoise Lovin’ Tuesday To Do Party Cherished Bliss Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays Type A Adventures of a DIY Mom Show Me What Ya Got Get Your Craft On Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Tuesday Confessional Teagan Travels How to Nest for Less A Bowl Full of Lemons Tuesday Trade Off Tip Junkie T2T Tuesday Tuesday Treasures Ladybug Blessings Creative Itch Toot your Horn Tuesday Jillify It Tutorial Tuesday Pin Cushion Creations Embracing Change Junk in their Trunk Polkadots on Parade Laugh Love and Craft Rock N Share Clean & Scentsible Uncommonly Yours The Trendy Treehouse Beyond the Picket Fence School House Scraps The Thrifty Home Sew Woodsy Savvy Southern Style Your Whims Wednesday Wow me Wednesday A Little Tipsy Women Living Well Primp your Stuff Wednesday Show and Share Mrs. Fox’s Sweet Party Whatever goes Wednesday 36th Avenue Live.Laugh.Rowe Adventures in Dinner Easy Digital Scrapbooking Mom on Timeout The CSI Project Share Your Cup Thursday All About a Bloom   Fabulously Flawed It’s Sew Stinking Cute The Shabby Creek Cottage The Crafty Blog Stalker Christina’s Adventures Crafty Scrappy Happy 52 Mantels Bear Rabbit Bear The Vintage Farmhouse Bloom Designs A Turtles Life for Me  The Taylor House Rhinestone Beagle Schoolhouse Scraps The Brambleberry Cottage The Shabby Nest Tidy Mom Joyful Stamper My Simple Home Life Remodelaholic Delicate Construction Happy Hour Projects Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 504 Main Hating Martha The Creative Paige Here Comes the Sun Cookie Nut Creations Bacon Time Joy in the Jumble The Grant Life Dotted Line Crafts Love Notes by Lauren Raising Oranges Making Lemonade Redoux Interiors Sassy Sites Whipperberry Tidy Mom One Artsy Momma My Romantic Home Petals to Picots Pandoras Craft Box My Repurposed Life French Country Cottage At the Picket Fence Just Us Four Mommas Kinda Crafty Craftionary Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons Sweet Tooth Friday 30 Handmade Days Lovely Crafty Home Mama Mias Heart to Heart Homemaker in Heels Family Ever After Lolly Jane Lady Bird Lane Serenity You The Gingerbread Blog Cherished Treasures Re-made Just Right Under the Table & Dreaming The Sweet talk Shop Sassafrass Salvation Simple as That My 1929 Charmer Heatherly Loves The Sasse Life Joy 2 Journey The Foley Fam Petite Hermine Flamingo Toes The Sweet Detail Sew Many Ways