The Big Reveal!!

Remember the before picture??


Well, here is the after shot!


Shabby plant stand from my Dad with potted Impatiens and a Waldorf broom from my broom collection.


This is the reason I am blogging so late in the day. I just had to go back to my favorite antique store~ "The Lamb's Tail" and buy this shabby chic chandelier that holds votive candles in punch cups!! I dreamed about this chandelier for two weeks and finally caved in and broke the shoestring budget idea and paid $42.00. It was well worth it!


This is the final look. I am very pleased with how it turned out and it was so much fun! I can't wait to have my coffee out there in the A.M.!!

Front Porch Makeover Part 2

My sweetie always seems to get dragged into helping with my projects! He scraped, sanded, and tightened up the seat straps~ Thanks Tom!!



I gave it two coats of creamy vanilla.


Added two pillows from the Salvation Army at $2.99 each and sewed on a doily scrap as an embellishment. I think it turned out very shabby! The hooked rug was done by my brother in law's mother and he sold it to me for $5.00 at his garage sale! I was in the right place at the right time for that one!



Fixed up the glider a friend's mom gave me, to look more inviting. Martha Stewart quilt and shams that I bought so long ago on sale I thought looked comfy. The crochet throw was from a yard sale for $2.00 and the random toss pillows were $1.00 each from separate garage sales.



The old desk was given two coats of creamy vanilla also and I pulled a lamp from the house to add light for evening reading!
Final reveal will be posted tomorrow! (I know, it sounds way too dramatic!)

Front Porch Makeover! Part 1

This my front porch. I noticed the other day when I walked out to get the mail that it is in serious need of a makeover! It was calling out, "Pay attention to me! I have no curb appeal!" How did I not notice this before??



This glider is supposed to invite people to sit down for awhile, read a book, and drink lemonade. I sit here almost every morning, drink my coffee and make lists or read. I got so used to it that I didn't realize a redo was in order! Well I'm on top of it now!



This rocker is not in the first pictures because I had already whisked it off to the back yard to be painted. It looks like an antique but it is not. It is a reproduction that I purchased on the Garage Sale Trail two summers ago for $25.



I challenged myself to do this makeover on a shoestring because I want to go on a vacation to the East Coast! So.... NO frivolous spending for me!! I had this creamy vanilla color leftover from painting our front shutters.



The final touches to give it a Shabby Chic look! Crossed stitched pillow is from a garage sale for .50 and the crochet throw is from our "over the top awesome" Salvation Army for $2.99. I grabbed both from other areas of the house.
It's coming along!

Stayed tuned for part 2 tomorrow or today if I am ambitious enough!

A Keepsake

Unfortunately,this summer I have to say goodbye to an awesome co worker and friend who has decided to move out of state to be closer to her family. When she told me she was moving, I panicked! Not because I will miss her (which I will, very much!) or because she was the first person that I worked with when I stated over six years ago and I love working with her, or because she brings a fabulous energy to a room like no one else can or even because she has a magical way of calming me down when I am freaking out about a program or time frames and I need that! (that is another post for another day!!). No, my adrenalin rush was because I remembered that several years ago when her father passed away, she gave me a few articles of his favorite clothing to make some sort of keepsake for her to treasure! Oh My! I recall when she gave them to me. I really wanted to do this wonderful thing for her, but I had just taught myself how to sew and my skills were shaky at best! How could I be trusted with such preciousness? I tucked the clothing away in my fabric box and worried for awhile about what I would make and then time just slipped away into years! Her announcement of the move sent me straight to my fabric box to retrieve the clothes to give back to her. I got them out and decided to refold them and put them in a fresh bag and then something happened. I started to look at them with new eyes! As soon as I took the pressure off of myself, I could see the possibilities!


I began at once. I cut squares about 9"x9" from the fabric using a square book that I had as a template. After I cut as many squares as I could get out of each article of clothing, I used graph paper to get a feel for the design possibilities and I chose the one that I thought was most pleasing to the eye. I then laid the fabric squares out side by side in the chosen arrangement and began sewing squares together into rows and then connected the rows together. I always brought the sewn pieces back to the laid out arrangement to eliminate any confusion. I saved all the parts that I thought were important~ stains, paint splatters, pockets, trims, frayed edges, buttons etc. I embellished all the squares before connecting the squares together. Finally I just put a flannel back on it and tied off each corner of the squares with embroidery thread ( all six strands) to hold the back and front together!

Years of procrastination lead to four days of joyful sewing from beginning to end!


The x represents a kiss and is made from the T-shirt trim and the frayed blue jean hem.


I used the back pocket from the jeans and more trim from the t-shirt.

I used the buttons from all the shirts and arranged them into a heart shape.


The finished quilt.


Love and gratitude given and received! My friend Heather with my daughter Mollie.

Sweet Summertime!

My summer has officially begun with the beginning of August and thanks to a very good friend's help, I am finally a blogger! (thanks Kath!) Working with kids for six weeks in the summer really reminds me of how much fun summer should be. Remember when summer days seemed to never end and the memories attached to them are forever tucked away in our hearts? My summers as a child held moments for me that are so strong that they seem to make up my entire childhood! Sure, I had wonderful times the rest of the year, but when I think of childhood memories, my mind immediately takes me back to summertime and the feeling of possibility, unpredictability, and freedom! After working with the children and some AMAZING young adult leaders this summer, I feel positive, free and inspired to seek out the possibilities!