Welcome Nicholas!

I know I told you yesterday that I was throwing a baby shower for our cousins. This is what all the fuss was about. Little Nicholas, born 4 weeks early but doing fine! We needed to wait until he was a little bigger to pass him around one of our family gatherings:>) A precious little miracle and the first boy born in this family in about 22 years! We seem to make girls around here.

Not that there's anything wrong with that! This is Ava, born last year on the first day of hunting season, Daddy will never hunt again, although the rest of the guys were asking if she was coming up to the cabin for her birthday parties. It's a very rustic cabin, outhouse kind of rustic, so I'm thinking that won't be happening:>) We got to see dear little Ava and it was a special bonus since Mom & Dad live in Ohio and we don't get to see her very much.

What would a party be without food? Egg Salad and Chicken salad on homemade bread and croissants made by my dear sis, Karen. Karen made the cutest burp cloths for the baby. You can see them here. The whole family pitched in and brought something delectable which made things so much easier for me. I have been having back spasms all week and everything hurt. I could not have done this without the family. Thanks everyone!

My sweet daughter helped me make these little bluebird cupcakes instead of a cake. I found the idea on the Martha Stewart website. They were pretty easy and so cute!

Now all we have to do is get dear daughter packed for college and on her way. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. The weather looks like it is going to co-operate here by being sunny and warm. Ahhh summer, I just want to hang on to it a little longer....

Just a quick update on progress, the light is still pretty dim this morning, it's overcast outside but I wanted to get this posted before my day really begins. You can see I have the curtains finished. I am waiting on an order for some lacey sheers to add. They were clearanced out so for all the windows it will cost less than $25....if I like them, if not, the search will continue. The desk you see has been brown for years. I have meant to paint it, and until this last week it just never got done. It wont be staying forever, but it sure looks better with a coat of paint on it! I sprayed the hardware silver and then sponged white over that to tone it down and make it blend into the background more. If I keep it too long, I would love to find some crystal knobs and pulls, but right now they arent in my budget. I will wait until the sun shines for more pictures. It's just too dim for good ones. Now off I go, a busy day ahead as I am having 27 of my favorite people (relatives) over tonight for a baby shower I am throwing for a very special cousin who has waited a long time for a special blessing:>) I'll post about the party tomorrow, but right now, I have a shower to prepare! I hope all of you have a wonderful last weekend of summer fling! Go swimming, camp, lay around and do nothing. As for me, we will be packing up the youngest daughter, my sweet Victoria Grace, to take her to her college Monday. Bittersweet, let me tell you! I know it will be good for her, but her father and I will miss her so much! My eldest daughter, Lauren Kathleen, will continue to attend a University right here in town and will no doubt be completely smothered with all our affection. I'll see you all soon, have a great weekend!

Hi everyone, no pictures, no updates on the bedroom, it is a dark and rainy day and photos are just impossible. I have made progress and I will update as soon as the sun shows up again (maybe later today if the clouds go away!) I went back to work today to get things ready for the start of school next week. I am not ready for that. Standing in the school kitchen made me realize that this summer feels like it was all a dream. Everything is the same and it is like I just left yesterday. Is this the opposite of deja' vu? Or deja' vu itself? I don't know. The rain is coaxing me into a nap now. I think that is one of the best things about rain, so relaxing:>) So until later....have a great Labor day weekend.

Good Monday morning! The sun is shining and the air has a touch of coolness this morning. A sparkling day has begun, my last Monday before the school year starts (not counting Labor Day of course!) I just wanted to show you the tray I got while out garage saleing with my Aunt who is visiting from Florida. We had a great time and I picked up a little bit of vintage jewelry for projects and this beautiful needlework tray.
It has some chips around the edges but I just sanded them down and spray painted the frame black. Then I remembered the can of gold glaze I had picked up off the dollar paint pile at Meijer a couple years ago. I knew it would come in handy! So I put a layer of glaze on and wiped it off. I think I may add another coat (or two) of the glaze, but I am pretty happy with it. It looks very autumnal on my old $2 coffee table that I just painted red to go in the living room. It was white but I wasn't happy with it. Couldn't decide whether to paint it black or red but went with the red and I like it. Do you find that your color choices are influenced by the season you are in when you decorate? I do. I guess that is the good thing about decorating with "junque" you can always paint it again if you tire of it. And now you know why I am so slow in my bedroom redecorating project too. I have a lot of irons in the fire. I am throwing a baby shower this friday for my dear cousin who finally has her baby boy after many years of trying for a child. Shopping with the college bound kiddo, meetings and putting the kitchen back together at work this week:>( and everything else that gets done day to day. A busy week ahead but I always make time to visit my blog friends. I'm so addicted! So, I hope each of you have a wonderful week. Oh, and some of you did guess right, the button covered ball in the post below is a finial for the curtain holdbacks in the bedroom. I am expecting a delivery today and hopefully will finish the last finial today too. Update (hopefully) Wednesday.
P.S. I wanted to say thank you to Thru Pink Curtains for giving me the Kreative Blogger award. How sweet is that!?

Books & Buttons

I ran to Kroger today for a few things and noticed a 75% off table of books. Well, you know I can't pass up looking over a sale like that! Turns out these books were already marked 75% off the regular price and when I used my Kroger card it took another 75% off! Sweet! One was $1.00 the other was $1.25. You can't beat that when you have an addiction to decorating books, that is less than most magazines!
Can you guess what this is? It has to do with the bedroom make-over. These buttons have been sitting in someones jar for 50 years or more. I debated whether to use them, and it was a tough decision because I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to these little beauties, but in the end they deserve their day in the sun and to be seen don't you think? Why leave them in a jar for another 50 years? So, do you know what this is? All will be revealed soon, I promise:>)

Button swap!

Today I came home from shoe shopping with my soon to be college kid and look what was inthe mail:>) My Button swap! Abbie over at Button Floozies was hosting a vintage button card swap for those of us who can't seem to get enough buttons. Mine came from Linda at Grace Filled Moments. These beautful mother of pearl buttons on a gorgeous Mermaid pearls card! I love it! The other beautiful card came from Abbie who hosted the swap and she added the most gorgeous white shaped buttons, thank you to both of you! It is funny, Earl and I went to a church flea market a couple weekends ago, right after our anniversary and I found the most charming button lady there. She had two tables full of the most fantastic buttons you have ever seen in your life! She told me that buttons are the 3rd most popular collectible after coins and stamps. She lives nearby and said she would look through my buttons and tell me if I had any that were worth anything, I'll let you know when I go! This lady goes to button conventions and told me her biggest sale of buttons to one person was $13,000 worth. Wow!

She held up some button cards for me to photograph and this was the only picture I got before my batteries went dead, Aarrrgh! I so wanted to show you some of the fabulous colors and shapes, she even had buttons made of gemstones. Maybe when I visit her I can get some more pics. These are Onyx and mother of pearl. Gorgeous!

I also wanted to update you on the bedroom re-do. It is coming right along, I am painting furniture, and I bought some curtain holdbacks that I am spray painting (because I got them on clearance don't you know and clearance isn't always the right color, although it is the right price:>) And a lampshade that I want to cover. It came to a whopping $12.55. Total so far,$17.55, sweet! Photos of the progress soon, I promise!

The dog days of summer. I have been MIA around here lately, trapped in the doldrums. So much to do, so little time to get it done. Trying to organize,decorate, trying to get my baby ready for the move to the University (Sept. 1) Looking forward (not) to going back to work (Sept. 2). The summer has flown and I look back and wonder what I did with it. In a way it will be good to get back to my work routine, too much time on my hands seems to make me lazy and unproductive. I need the pressure of a faster paced day to light a fire under me. But I am not looking forward to it. So for the next two weeks I will try to get things buttoned up for the summer and hopefully enjoy the time I have left. Time flies doesn't it? And the summer flies fastest of all.

I'm going to be a total tease about this and not give you the full picture of things until they are farther along. I don't know about you, but when I have a new sewing project like this I am so afraid to make that first cut into new fabric. I think the whole thing to death. So this time, I just did it, I cut and sewed the first set of curtains, and so far, I kind of like them.
But then, I am hedging my bets by telling myself that even if I don't love them when they are done, I can redo them into something else, like just valences over sheers. I'm going to feel free to play with this make-over. So far, amount spent is a whopping $5.00 for the bolt of fabric. I tore the lining out of the old drapes (a mistreatment worthy of the Nester) and sewed them into these. No extra cost there! I'm going to keep a tally on my sidebar of the money spent on this project. I hope to make a great bedroom out of thin air and not much more. Stay with me on this, I think the challenge is one I'm up to:>)

Taking a little break from sewing curtains for the bedroom:>) to weed in the garden. :>( One of those chores I absolutley detest. Probably because I spent so many years slaveing away in my parents 2 1/2 acre garden as a child. I love the flowers, I even love the produce, but the weeding, not so much.
The rain has stopped, and it is a beautiful day in the 70's, no more excuses not to get out there.

I will enjoy the end result though, and at least I have the flowers to keep me company.

*sigh* out I go.

Home from our little anniversary getaway. Just a day trip really and I am sorry to say that the big 200 mile garage trail wasn't the thrill I expected. I broke my own cardinal rule of garage saleing...don't go where there is an annual sale. You know the best goods are found when someone who doesn't clean out the attic every year finally has a sale. There were more antique dealers and flea market junkers along the trail than anything, Lots of depression glass on tables, lots of high prices as they anticipated hordes of gullible shoppers. Blech, not what I was looking for so we came away mostly empty handed. I ended up with a few pieces of vintage jewelry for my creations and that's it. Of course, the real reason we went was just to have some time together alone to celebrate. So the walks along the pier, the picnics in the park by the water and the time alone to talk means we did not really come away empty handed. We had a good time and it was over all too soon. This next week I plan to start on the curtains for the bedroom. I'll be keeping everyone updated on my progress and I think just for fun I'll keep a running tally of just how little this decorating project is costing. When I say I want to do it for as close to free as possible I mean it. It's a fun challenge. Only 3 more weeks of summer left for me, a daughter to get ready to move to college and my schedule is already filling up with church projects, etsy projects and, darn it all, I swear I'm going to get the flowers weeded too! How about you? Lots of projects to get done before the summer is over?

A little junking expedition...

I'm off for a couple days to have a little date time with the husband. This weekend is our 28th year of complete wedded bliss and we are heading north to the annual "Yard Sale Trail" for a little R&R. You know junking is one of our favorite hobbies and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. We will be staying in a little Inn for the night and hitting the trail Friday morning. Maybe I'll find a deal for the bedroom make-over:>) Tonight we plan on watching the sailboats on Lake Huron (there is a big sailboat race this weekend too and our B&B is right on the water!) A picnic dinner on the beach and walking around town. Be back in a couple days. Oh, and thanks for all the great advice on the bedroom. My head is spinning with all the wonderful input I have gotten. I knew you would all be a great inspiration!

The Bedroom.....

A few of you have asked what direction I am going with the bedroom. It gives me a great idea, you all have great taste, you're decorating divas! So, I am going to ask you to be a part of this whole thing. Give me advice. Let me know what you think. Remember, my budget is nonexistent! Here is the first element and the first challenge of the bedroom make-over. While out junking with a friend I came across 12 3/4 yards of this..... Polished, scotch guarded cotton covered in roses, primroses and ivy. My first choice in a color scheme? Not necessarily, but for $5, yes $5! I can adapt. I'm ready for a change and the way I see it, for $5 when times get better I wont feel like I wasted a lot of money when I redo the whole thing again. (I am the Queen of bargains!)Another section of the fabric. I want you to get an idea of all the colors...ignore the purple, I am going to pretend it isn't there... I am thinking that this calls for a garden theme. I know that the best way to decorate is to choose your fabrics first and get your colors from the fabric, and since I already painted yeah, I am going about this backwards, but the walls are a soft cream color and all the furniture is paintable and replaceable. What have I got to lose? Now for the dilemma. I have two very large windows that face south, so I get plenty of light. The problem is that flanking the bed are two smaller windows, about half the size of the south windows. Now I am just keeping it real here ladies, these are the before photos and they are supposed to look bad! I just threw the bed together this morning and took the picture, no staging, no fluffing. You have to love the crooked pillows and the old curtain thrown on the bed. Someday we will laugh about how bad this looks! We will right? Now,how do you dress the windows when they are different sizes? I need privacy and light control. I am thinking of valances above all the windows with the rose fabric, and full lace curtains below, but those small windows have me stumped. I love full, floor length panels at the large windows but I am afraid that would look dorky at the small windows. Any suggestions?

I Did It!

I did a couple things actually. First, more birds and a heart for etsy. Below is my sweet cat, Solace, investigating as I shoot some photos of my latest bird for etsy. She is such a cutie I had to share the picture:>)
But the most important thing... I finally got the last corner in my bedroom painted! As you may remember, I began painting this room in January. I usually do a room in a day but this time I just couldn't seem to get motivated. Here is a little secret, the master bedroom is the least decorated room in the house. Not forgotten, just uninspired and since it is a private space, the last to be thought of. I didn't have closet doors up for, well, I wont tell you how many years. We finally got some doors on the closet last week and I feel so much better about the room. No matter what I did before the gaping hole of messy clothes drew my eye and I lost all interest in making things better. The closet stopped me in my tracks. Now I can move on. So here you have it. A blank slate. I haven't put the pictures back on the walls, except for the one above the bed, and that is temporary. This is where the computer is and I think the fact that this is not just a bedroom but a work area has also contributed to the problem.

So the whole place needs an overhaul. Now here's the rub, I have two kids in college now and my dear husband is still partially laid off in this crummy Michigan economy. No decorating budget. Zip, nada, zero. So whatever I do in here is going to be a combination of working with what I already have stashed around the house and basement, or what I can pick up for cheap or free. Am I daunted? No. I am so used to turning a sows ear into a silk purse, I know I can do it. It may take some time but I know from seeing your own projects that it can be done. So keep an eye open, I'll share what happens to this bare bones room as I get things changed around.

I can't decide whether to paint the headboard or if I like the contrast of the dark wood and white wall. The lamp has GOT to go, yech. The art will change.....stay tuned. I want this room to look like a B&B when I'm done:>)