A little mistreatin' going on...

Before, tab tops that didn't quite reach the floor...

After mistreating with nice fabric and trim...

A little something for the door too

Nice new rod (clearance of course)

Wait, you say it doesn't look mistreated to you?

OK I confess I did sew them but wait, check out the next picture...

Now THAT looks like a mistreatment!
I sewed right over the tab tops!

*grin*

I've had these Kmart special Martha Stewart panels for awhile, they were my bedroom curtains when we were in corporate housing and I had the rusty red bedding and taupe walls. When we moved back into our home I decided they suited the living room more. But after reading all the do's and don'ts about window treatments, well I realized that they were far to short. I didn't have enough fabric in my stash to raise the rods up higher but with the addition they now bend onto the floor. I had so little of the fabric that I had to scrounge around and use some muslin scraps for the rod casing but all in all I think it's a definite improvement.

I pimped my 'dex! (what?)

I made this project awhile back but thought I'd share... I know it's been all over the blogs and scrapping/stamping websites, I'm not claiming credit *smiles*

This is my roladex that I prettified with some Basic Grey paper and embellies. I started by making a template of the roladex itself so I'd have pattern to cut the scrapbook paper. I just simply laid it on it's side and traced around it, cut it out and checked for fit then used that to trace around onto my scrapbook paper. Oh the wonders of Modge Podge...

Here's the individual divider cards, did the same thing with them as I did the body, just traced around a card to make a template. The colors went well with my gold and red living room. Imagine all the possible applications for this project... perhaps a mini recipe holder for the kitchen? birthday and important date keeper? business card holder? favorite website bookmarker? lol I'm sure someone could morph this into something clever.

It's such an honor

My first blog award, given to me by Darlene of Darlene's Days Darlene has a super cute blog highlighting her yard sale finds, her creative use of spray paints, and her lovely home that she has been updating with great finds and clever furniture arrangement. Give her a visit and be sure to leave a comment as let's face it, it's all about the comments people! I live for comments, don't you?

For this award I'm supposed to list six things that make me happy...

1. My family and friends (including bloggy land friends)
2. My pets
3. Creating
4. Daydreaming about creating
5. Shopping for creating
6. Working at the Lobby where I can do #3, #4, and #5
7. Honorable mention: Starbucks! I don't one very often, watching my calories *smiles* but it's a real treat when I do allow myself to enjoy one!

OK now I'm supposed to pass this award along to five more people and they are supposed to post it on their blog including who it came from and 6 things that make them happy.

1. Miz Susie of Bienvenue Susie is a very inspiring, uplifting, creative lady. Her tassels are to die for and she has such a lovely home. Not only is she loaded with creativity but she's a real sweetheart. Be sure to scroll back thru and check out her home tour!



2. Bella of a day in the life of bella Bella is another one of those inspiring, positive thinking ladies, who loves a good yard sale! She has been updating her home with lots of creative touches and occassional recipe. Be sure to give her a visit!



3. Shannon of Bless Our Nest this little girl is wise beyond her years in decorating style. Her post on bedding makes you want to dive right into one of her comfy, lovely looking guest rooms to snuggle up and never leave! Lots of inspiration can be found there, be sure to visit her please.



4. Blanca of For the love of my home is another one of those creative girls who can whip up a fabulous project after midnight when the kiddo's are sleeping! So many ideas from her blog and so little time to try them out *sigh* You must visit her!



5. Nikki of Project: Domestic Bliss another young creative hip chick who has so much going on in a creative sense. Great ideas, lots of style, sweet lady. Be prepared to spend some time scrolling thru her projects *sigh* so much creativity, I'm jealous!

Many thanks to Darlene for my first ever blog award, I'm so excited! And there were probably like 50 more blogs I could easily award this to, so many talented bloggers out there!

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A little weekend update...

I've been hating my bedroom, no secret there. Been making do with my old bedding back from our corporate housing days when my bedroom was taupe. The despised bedding is rusty red and gold, lovely but it so doesn't go with Lowe's Leaf Green walls, this is the same green on the bottom half of my bathroom walls. Now I came up with some great alternatives, like black and white damask bedding which I think would be gorgeous in my bedroom and I'm sure to be very happy with it but it's pricey and I refuse to spend any $$$. So my next alterative was to shop my attic! I'll have to blog my attic one day, Oh My Word, that's a scary thought *smiles* Then one of my awarded bloggers, Shannon, of Bless Our Nest totally inspired me with her guest rooms. She blended her bedding for a mix matched look that totally rocks and looks so divinely snuggable. How can I get that look without spending? After some thought and a look around my calico wall at the Lobby, this is what I came up with. I present my $4 Master Bedroom makeover...

This quilt was given to us by my step MIL about 22 years ago. I'm sure she had it atleast 5 or 10 years before that, so it would be about 30 years old. It's a geniune Amish quilt. Step MIL gave it to us because of an ugly ink stain along the pie shaped scalloped border... *sigh* Well let me tell you, a good dousing with Grandma's Secret Spot Remover and soaking in the washing machine lifted the old, old ink spot out completely! I dried this lovely quilt draped over my porch railing on top of sheet. Our front porch either looked totally like redneck white trash or an antique shop, depending on how generous you viewed the sight (my big honkin furniture rehab is living on the porch right now). But the ink spot is gone, the quilt is no longer yellowed, and smells divine from being hung out of doors to dry.

Yes I know that white cord from the bedside lamp just jumps right out at you! I hate it. My table square is just a piece of fabric from my stash that I added some pom pom fringe all around to. The D. Morgan tapestry was a Charleston YS find that cost me $2, I spray painted the dowel rod black. The candle and candle holder were $1 each from the Lobby clearance aisle. The black wicker bowl on the bedside table was $2 (shopping on the clock, priceless). The crocheted pillow shams I've had for years. The vase on the pedestal is from Okinawa Japan and was given to me on my first Valentine's Day with my husband who wasn't my husband quite yet back then, we were married a month later, but I've kept it all these years and proudly display it.

I need to hang some black fabric behind this mantel too. It's an oldy though, I ripped it out of an old house years ago with a crow bar all by myself. The mirror was stamped with the year 1920. I spent one winter stripping and refinishing it, a labour of love. My finish of choice is tung oil. The antique dome topped trunk in front of the mantel is from the 1880's and had the original tray inside. I left the refinishing of this to a retired Air Force Colonel who had a refinishing shop outside Goldsboro NC. For two months I drove from La Juene every pay day to make a payment on the cost of the refinishing. Well worth it. On top is my baby blanket which is pretty remarkable considering our home burned when I was 11 and we lost pretty much everything. It had been used on my older brother and sister. Sadly I didn't have it when my son was born but someday my future grandbabies will be wrapped in it *smiles* Ooops you see that hanger?

And coffee mug? *smiles*

Shannon suggested I incorporate some brown into my bedding in order to help transition my lighter color quilt and bedding to the winter months. Still looking for some brown fabric to make Euro Shams out of but atleast I know my sheet is brown, does that count?

This is where I spent the money this weekend on my bedroom makeover, I bought 2.5 yards of homespun calico, $2.99/yard, discounted 30% to $2.09/yard then minus my 15% employee discount, $4 and change... Not bad. I have always loved this one. The lace I sewed to the bottom of the skirt was given to me from a work friend.

For the decking portion of the bedskirt I used an old twin sheet that I cut down to fit.

And that's it, my bedroom makeover. I still have some things to add, like the Euro pillows, some more throw pillows, but all in all it's pretty much done for now. My husband is happy we're back to using the quilt as he appreciates handcraftedness and has always loved this quilt. He said he thought my bedskirt looked really pretty with the quilt and how pretty he thought our room looked. Next will be an updated window treatment as well as something new for the canopy area. Still daydreaming on my options there... Maybe another trip to the attic will produce the eyelet panels I know that are somewhere up there *smiles* Thanks for looking! And thanks to Shannon for the inspiration!

YS Find

*Edited to add: All the trees have been fluffed & I didn't know I was going to be doing it until I got there so sadly no camera! When it's time to get our trees out of storage I will show the very simple, very easy tree fluffing method we used at work. Unless of course I am chosen to be on the set team for the new store in September and I can get pictures of the tree fluffing there. You're probably already doing it and not realizing you're a professional tree fluffer-upper! *smiles*

I've been looking for lamps quite awhile without much luck. Remember the ys trip I made to Charleston awhile back to pick up my big honkin' furniture rehab? Well I scored on some great finds, one was a pair of very heavy lamps for $5 each. I offered $8 and the owner agreed *smiles*

They seem to be unglazed ceramic ? I totally hate the green bands on them and the white jumps out too much for my decor. I wonder what color I should paint them? Or if I could rub on something to knock that white back to a more antiquey golden color? And what about that green? Could I repaint that first and if so what color? My home is mostly golds, reds and touches of black, only my bathroom and master bedroom is green.

The shades are unfortunate *sigh* I so have to find new ones. I was thinking maybe some that are sort of retangle shaped, something I could recover in a gorgeous fabric...

Oh and this is my wicker stand I got a few weeks ago off the clearance aisle at work. My boss gave me a chance to shop on the clock again and let things go for next to nothing because he needed to get the Christmas trees out and leftovers were in the way!

Wanna guess how much?

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?

*smiles*

Yesterday was tree fluffy duty for me. I got to watch the official Lobby DVD on how to properly fluff a Christmas tree! Then I spent the morning doing exactly that. My arms are scratched up but let me tell you girls it was fun! I had a great time and I got to hear some of the latest news from the corporate lady sent around to help train people on tree fluffing! Look out Statesboro Georgia and Charleston SC area, you both have Hobby Lobby's coming soon!

And fingers crossed I'll be on the set team *pray for me please to get this assignment*

Please leave me some advice on how to make these bargain's into beauties!

Mini Makeover

I was off Friday so decided to update my bath a little with some deeply discounted items from my favorite store *smiles* I heart the colors in these pictures and think they blend nicely with what I have going on so far

A closer view...

I had a chrome over the door towel rack which was fine when we lived in corp housing and my bathroom was decorated in white, ice blue, and black but it just didn't go with the warmer colors of our home. Plus I love me so wrought iron. I hung this about 4 times in various locations in the room before deciding on this spot. I even got out the spackle and filled the holes so my darling Mr Darcy wouldn't notice.

See under the sink there? I popped my chrome finish trashcan into this wicker basket. You seriously don't want to know what my boss sold that to me for *smiles*

This chest was my husband's from childhood, it's not antique, but it is his so love it all the same. It seriously needs some love though, I have this idea of painting it and doing the antiquey finish with some new knobs. Any suggestions on color? I have some left over upper wall paint and I will have some black paint soon for my big honkin' furniture rehab to end all rehabs...

The Poo Poo Palace now has a hidey hole, I hated it sitting out in the room! Oh and I learned that while silk is gorgeous and makes a lovely shower curtain it also watermarks... *sigh*

The metal kitty was last year's clearance at work and the blue bottle came from husband's grandmother's barn! Love that bottle. I had our extra rolls in a chrome basket but I think this one looks better. What do you think? Improvement?

Thanks for looking at my mini bathroom makeover/update!

Not yet...

Sunflowers remind me of home. My childhood home. Back in Kansas. All those years ago. The garden my Daddy planted every year, including several rows of sunflowers. How I loved those sunflowers... Now my home is very far removed from the home of my youth. My people are all gone now, the old homeplace long since sold to another and barely recognizable the last time I saw it but still the memory remains upon my heart, each time I see sunflowers I see the little girl in braids running across the field to hug her Daddy after the school bus dropped her off. Or I see sister and Daddy sitting on the porch spitting shells from eating sunflower seeds. Or Momma sitting on the porch swing in her apron snapping beans from the garden with our dogs at her feet. I cherish these memories for they reside within me and no other. If I should forget them does that mean they never were? I shall not think of that, no, not yet, for I do still remember after all these years.

Weekend

***Edited to add***

We're home safe and sound!

Many thanks to our friends, Dave and Tammy, for a wonderful weekend!

I'm headed to Charleston this afternoon after work with my darling Mr. D for the weekend!

We're going to pick up my major rehab project...

I'm so excited!

(this is us on vacation in Charleston last year at the Tall Ship Festival)