Wishing you the happiest Thanksgiving Day! We’ll be back on Sunday, ready and excited to take on December! Thank you to you for all the fun you bring to this little blog! Psalms 136:1-3, 26 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Good Monday morning to you! It’s a big week ahead with cooking and cleaning and hostessing and days off of work and kids home from school (eek!) and enormous amounts of calorie laden food sitting about. Aghhh don’t you just love the holidays? I most emphatically do. This will be a short week on the blog, because I plan to…A.) watch Christmas movies by a crackling fire, and make marshmallow snowman and blanket forts with the girlies and B.) make good use of the mister being off work to knock out some of our long list of home related projects. Fun! So, before I swing off to the hardware store to visit my favorite paint mixing lady…let me share this fabulous little project you can do with an old window. Old windows are very easy to come by at flee markets, salvage yards, Habitat for Humanity Restores, and Craigslist. I paid … Continue reading
You know, there’s this little verse in the Bible that goes something like this, “In everything give thanks.” That’s sound just so nice, doesn’t it? It’s nice to be thankful for my food, and my house, and my health, and my family, and my…. you get the point. But that whole “everything” part…that can get kind of tricky when you really stop to think about it. Thankful for everything? You mean the “everything” that includes toddlers that throw tantrums in the middle of grocery stores…and the dirty foot prints all over the freshly mopped floor…and that extra bill I wasn’t expecting in the mail…and that snooty person who just made me feel really bad….you mean that “everything”??? I’m afraid I don’t much care for that idea myself. Ask me how I feel after I’ve had a day of the sky opening up and raining mud and frogs on my entire … Continue reading
Do you know how to read a measuring tape? Do you know how to draw a straight line? Can you apply mild pressure with you foot? You can make this skirt! If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times…”I wish I could make stuff for myself to wear, you are so lucky.” Wishing never got anybody anything as far as I can tell, but trying certainly has! You can make yourself a really, really easy A-line skirt with some very basic sewing skills…as in, if you can make the machine go, you have plenty of skills to make yourself a skirt. You can make them long, you can make them short, you can make them flowy, you can make them straight…it does not matter. Grab some knit fabric and give one a try! I used some fabulous gold knit, which has a lovely little sparkle that doesn’t … Continue reading
My Christmas mantle decorating has come to a screeching halt. I cannot find my ice skates. I bought a five dollar pair of white ice skates at a thrift store two years ago…last year all our belongings were in storage, and I couldn’t use them to decorate with…this year I can’t find them anywhere. In light of this catastrophic and dramatic turn of events, I have been sewing madly to sooth my troubles. Reversible tote sewing to be exact. What could be better than two bags in one? (Besides if you found my ice skates, naturally.) If you can sew a straight line, you can make these totes. Whip one out for yourself or for a gift, you just can never have too many bags. At least I can’t. Since these are a basic shape, with no pockets, I chose a nice suede fabric for both layers. Either which way … Continue reading
Not everything in life always falls neatly into the land of normal. Mostly, I think “normal” changes by the day. If you have kids for instance, saying things like “Keep your fingers out of sister’s ears” and “Don’t lick the floor” becomes pretty normal. (Really?? Did I ever think that would ever even be something I needed to clarify? No, I did not.) And then there’s the whole matter of curtain rod shopping. Because, obviously, one can’t simply do the easy thing, and run out to Walmart for one. That would be entirely too normal. I prefer stellar looking establishments such as this, where death by a stair parts avalanche is a distinct possibility. If you happen to be so foolish as to bring your overly energetic offspring with you, be prepared to keep a death grip on them, and endure gracefully any odd glances you might receive. Apparently mothers … Continue reading
Oh dear. We are back at it again with a cabinet door project. What is it with old doors, I just can not leave them alone. Solid wood planks with interesting details, pretty old hardware, and price tags cheaper than a salted caramel mocha frappuccina without the salt…sigh…just dreamy. Such possibilities. Perhaps even more possibilities than the amount of leaves currently laying in my yard waiting to be raked. Which is saying a great deal about these doors… …never mind my yard keeping skills. I just figured I had better make sure that all those leaves were completely off the trees before I bothered with them. Because, you know, I hate to waste labor and all that. If my house disappears from view, at least I’ll know it was all worth it to have some decent cabinet door decor going on for Christmas. Know what I mean? Priorities people. it’s … Continue reading
I spend a good deal of my time working on this old house of mine. The reason it needs so much attention is pretty simple…lack of upkeep. I’ve walked through probably a hundred or more houses combining all the times we’ve house shopped…and I have never once walked into a well kept house and thought, “Hmmm, this house could do with a little more neglect. It smells a little too fresh and it’s a tad too tidy.” I’ve walked through plenty that I couldn’t get out of fast enough! Plain and simple, you just don’t get rotted out walls, cockroaches littering the floor, and busted pipes, because you’ve taken good care of things. Most of us see our houses and our cars as things of value…we take care of them, because they cost a lot of money to replace. They are our status symbols, they represent us, and much thought … Continue reading
A rush of air, the beat of wings, a flurry of feathers, the distant raspy calls of the flock winging it’s way into the sky… I can see it, I can hear it in my mind. There’s power in those delicate little feathers. There is inspiration in them. Beat the odds. Defy gravity. Fly. This is the art I chose to make for the little girls’ art corner. This is what I want my little chicks to learn. Ignore the voice that says “I can’t”. Ignore the excuses. Ignore what everyone else is doing. Just fly. Soar high, do the best you can, beat those wings. This piece of wall art is super simple to make. Start with a piece of burlap cut to whatever size you want. Grab some paint, a brush, and a cheap feather you don’t mind ruining. Paint one side of the feather generously. Lay it … Continue reading
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about painting wood paneling lately. I figured it would probably be better to address all the questions in one post. This is a bit of an updated re-run from a post I did on my old blog about this, so sorry if this is old news to you readers who have been around for a while. First off, wood paneling is an entirely different beast than drywall. If you think you are going to knock it out in an afternoon, you are going to be sadly disappointed. Ask me how I know that. Just get it out of your head before you start, and all will be well with the world. Before you begin browsing the paint isle, you’ll have to have some bonding time with a rag and some TSP. Depending on how shellacked and dirty your walls are, you may … Continue reading
A sunny sunroom makeover Question of the day...is "sunroom" supposed to be spelled as ...
Everything you ever wanted to know about painting wood…
I've been getting a lot of questions about painting wood ...