monday morning...

i'm busy with this...

 and this!

more later!

...blessedness!

ox

bench makeover

many moons ago, sis-ta M gave me this small bench for my birthday -

'twas back in the good old days when country decor was at its height!
i loved that she cared enough about my love of gardening to choose a gardening theme!

and it fit well with my decor then and it's very useful here,

but i wanted something pretty as well functional. 

this bench is in the laundry room and gets used everyday as we sit on it to put our shoes on.

 i think about her a lot!

last week,

i found a French-English and English-French dictionary at a local thrift shop -

i was delighted because i wanted an old dictionary to use to decoupage.

then to find one with French words?! ooh-la!

any-hoo...

off with old - on with the new! 

here she is...

all gussied up in her new look!

oh, just pat me on the back! do i love decoupage or what?!

close up of the fine print...

 this dictionary is two inches thick!

lotsa paper to make lotsa stuff...

  and so many projects are racing through my mind!

...blessedness!

ox

Saltbox Treasures is doing a lovely Winter Christmas giveaway!
linking up to Frugal Friday
Time Travel Thursday

S-t-r-e-t-c-h Your Christmas Greens

I've had these four foot greens five or six years and really like them

but they're a tad unhandy for what I use them for...

so decided that what is put together, can come apart again. :)

Shur-r-r enough!

Taking apart my greens allows me to spread them around in more places.

Love...

- my lovely greens -

 - snip away the flower tape that circles the entire stem -

 - straighten the stem and pull the flower tape off of the rest of the stem -

 - take any wire off that ties all the strands together and it's apart -

 - using a pen/pencil, curl the wire around it -

 - slide the wire off and you'll have a decorative end!

 I have five clusters of these and taking them apart has given me more greens.

  I'm using the different sizes in different places and it looks just as lovely.

The next four pictures are a sneak peek for the Christmas House Tour Dec. 4.

Love my new-looking bench...
but that's for another post!
I know it's scroogie-like, but there it is...
I'll post it tomorrow! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

give-away winner!

thank you all for the lovely responses to this give-away...

they were fun and encouraging to read!

and a special welcome to my new followers -

i love meeting you!

the winner is...
Sharon!
Sharon, contact me at my email address and this can be on your table for Christmas!

...blessedness!

ox

OH! MY! WORD!

a local thrift shop, Re-Uzit, move from a small building into a huge empty, former furniture store

and re-opened today...oh! my! goodness! and was. it. ever. fun!

 i had to breeze through quickly as i had a later appointment and breeze through quickly i did!

and bought!

here goes!

entrance

dishes galore! 

baskets 

 christmas rooms with lots of glitz

doilies,tablecloths, napkins 

aprons 

clothes - lots!

lights

industrial (NFS!)

and then there's the second story 

i'll be back at a more leisure time!

***************

this is Thanksgiving week...

aren't we a blessed, blessed people?!

- from the pulpit -

gratitude is an attitude...

it's a choice,

we can make life easier by choosing the first one listed!

thankfulness and humility go hand in hand...

it shows we are indebted to someone for something.

bless everyone around you by being grateful...

out loud! speak it! claim it!

...blessedness!

ox

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!

picture of the week

Peacefulness

Lancaster County, Pa

...blessedness!

ox

a table with a tale

we inherited a side table from D's mother; it had wonderful lines and was one i always admired.

MIL's tastes were stain and varnish everything but she sure could re-upholster like a pro!

several years later, i came to  love the shabby chic look and decided to paint it -

in fact, it was one of my firsts and it really was an experiment.

 i was hooked!

it's also my first piece in decoupaging sheet music - something i have never done before.

after reading up on decoupage, i finally took the plunge.

as i write this, it seems laughable now -

but my first two tries were a disaster!

i started by cutting the music sheets to fit.

soaked the paper in coffee water for several hours, 

letting it dry overnight. 

after ironing it on a low temperature setting, i was ready to begin.

so far, so good!

i applied the decoupage, butting the edges together, 

but, alas, it bubbled...

 in lots of places!

so i scrapped it off with these results...

yep - it needed another primmer coat. 

by this time, i had talked to a friend who tears the edges of the paper,

and...found a recipe for decoupage, 

using a quarter cup water to a three quarter cup of  Elmer's Glue.

score...it was perfect!

but i wanted to stain it a teeny, tiny bit to darken it...

- AND -

it looked like this! 

DISASTROUS!

so i started over again, minus the coffee soak and another paint job,

with success this time! 

LOVE!

i wasn't sure what hubs would say about this new project,

and was shocked out of my socks when he said he LIKED it!

i grabbed his arm and said,

'you do...you like it?!'

which is huge, considering he tends to think some of my ideas are a little dorky my taste is...

well...definitely different!

(remember...he's from the era of stain and varnish EVERYTHING!)

God bless him...i felt TEN FEET TALL! :) 

here she is!

now let me tell you...

she doesn't look like this ANYTIME unless i'm dusting her or she's posing for pictures!

she sure has lovely legs!
this is what she looks like most of the time...

real life stuff! :)

and i was sorry to waste the lovely sheet music -

but i do feel like a pro now!

i was delighted to find a fat french/english dictionary at the local thrift shop

and i'll be using that in project soon.

check out my give-away!
it's open until Monday midnight, Nov 22.

...be blessed!

ox

a give-away!

After my twilight garden tour this summer, a friend gifted me with three candles that she sells at her shop. She added her own touch to these candles by a secret coating that turns it from a 'plain plastic' to a unique look that is eye-catching. They come in three sizes and four colors...

 stained and creamy,

burgandy,

 copper,

and a plain plastic.

The batteries last a year, have a switch located on the bottom that has a steady or flicker flame and best of all, have an automatic turn on/off for six hours of your choice. To change the timer merely reset the switch at the desired time.

(photos at King's Homestead)

They're lovely used outdoor as well but need protection from wet weather.

 I used mine in de-electrified lights.

(photos from Fleur Cottage)

LOVE!

Her shop is full of lovely items!

If you come to Lancaster County, Pa, please stop in at Kings - it's a real 'wish shop!'

To celebrate my 200th post, I'm having my first

GIVE-AWAY!

 The 9x22" lantern and 6" candle is from her store with a berry ring added.

Close-up of the top... 

 and bottom.

There are four chances to win...

- leave a comment -

-become a follower or be a follower -

- post about it either on facebook or your own blog -

Be sure to leave individual comments for any of the above!

This will close Monday midnight, Nov.22, 2010

...blessedness!

ox