There is Nothing New under the Sun

One nice day in March, I was headed out on some errands and saw that wonderful sight - Yard Sale! I immediately braked and followed the signs! And here's what I found:

two child-size Pottery Barn chairs - perfect shape - $10.00 each. I happened to have a $20.00 bill in my purse, so I snatched them up and took them home. That is usually more than I spend - even on big people chairs, but I had been looking for sturdy, little wooden chairs for some time and these needed NO WORK!

Immediately my head started seeing a cute little table to go with those chairs - painted white with a chalkboard top. Of course, I'd never seen a chalkboard top and was quite proud of myself for thinking up something "new". So I started the search - and it was not until about 5 weeks later that I found the table. I promptly brought it home (Salvation Army store - $12.50) and set it aside knowing I wouldn't have time to work on it for several weeks.

The little cuties I was making it for were coming to stay for 6 days! This Grandma would get no painting done!

When I was cruising some blogs that evening, what should I see, but Centsational Girl's table and chair set with CHALKBOARD top! Hmmm, I guess I didn't think of something "new".
Anyway, mine is now done and here she is in all her glory!

Of course, I forgot to take before pictures, and during pictures, but it was just a cute little brown table (boys are sitting at it in picture above) and I did the usual sand, prime, paint, add chalkboard paint to top). I even sanded down the legs a bit so they'd show some wear and "match" the Pottery Barn chairs.

Now I can't wait for the little cuties to come back and stay for awhile so they can draw me some pictures!!

I'm linking up to SNS at Donna's And Met Monday at BTNOP

Porch Chairs

I love these chairs that I found at Goodwill this weekend!
Old fashioned charm, but sturdy!
Let's hope the neighborhood cats don't like them!!
Now, should I leave them as is, stain the wood darker, paint the wood?

So comfie!

Storage, storage . . .

We have a "grandkid" room in our house. It's the room where the grandkids have always slept when they come to visit. But I have decided that I need to have more room in there for play/exercise, etc, so I got rid of the two twin beds and am going to a daybed with a trundle. I have always stored several suitcases full of pictures, art, frames, etc. under the beds and I have now lost that storage. So here is the new plan.

Suitcases are stacked under the window seat in the owl window on the stair landing. I want to make some cute luggage tags so each suitcase will be labeled as to what is in it. (Instead of the little red dot).

I need to get one more black suitcase (18"-24") and make new handles for some of my suitcases. I will be looking for narrow belts on my next "trash to treasure" shopping expedition.

In the grandkids' room, this stack of suitcases will become an end table beside the daybed. I'd like to get one more suitcase to put on top of this stack too so the stack reaches the bottom of the window.

Can't wait to get shopping - and get this room finished up!

$8.77 chair

I found this chair this weekend at one of my favorite haunts. It was $1.00 - that's right - $1.00. It was a good sturdy chair on casters. The upholstery was dirty and the seat cushion a little flat, but those are easy fixes.

Close up of the dirty seat.

So I went to work - took the seat and back off (they unscrew easily), tightened up a couple joints with wood glue and bungie cords to hold them tight while they dried and then stained the whole thing dark. This was my first staining project and I have to say, I'm more of a painting kind of gal. Staining is hard - I couldn't get it to cover evenly, etc. But in the end, I liked it. I had also picked up one of those mattress toppers for $5.00, and I used just a little chunk of it to fluff up the seat a bit.

Polly helped me with that part.

Then it was just a matter of wrapping the seat and back with my new material ($3.77 a yard at Walmart) and staple gunning it onto the seat and back. Again, not as easy as some I've done. It had curves, etc. I ended up taking it all apart, rearranging the foam and starting over. But it is comfortable and looks much better than it did! The fabric is a velvety type with stamped patterns in it. I can't get good pictures of it because it's night and I have to use flash, but it looks quite nice in it's proper place (our bedroom). Maybe during the day I can get a picture of it where it belongs instead of on the landing.

So it was $1.00 for the chair, $2.00 for the stain, $3.77 for the material and I'm figuring about $2.00 for the chunk of foam I cut off of my topper. $8.77 for a nice sturdy chair - not bad!!

Oops, excuse the stain on the carpet - I spilled some dye. I will be cutting that out and replacing it with a piece of carpet soon.
Esther

Linking up to Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!88 years ago today my mother was born. Almost 8 years ago, she went home to be with her Savior. I still miss her!

She was an example of what a Godly wife and mother should be. She loved us unconditionally and was patient and kind.



She taught me to make do with what I had and to LOVE it!! She was creative and content!

She was full of fun and could laugh at herself!

There are so many things I wish I could share with her - my daughters' weddings, the birth of the twins, our "new" old home, my son's marriage, the growth of the two grandchildren she did meet - not to mention all that has happened in my siblings' families!!

I picture her in heaven, looking down and smiling at us. I hope she is pleased with all of us!

I love you and miss you, Mom!

When I started this blog so long ago, it was a "decorating" blog. It was helpful to me - gave me motivation to not only start the projects that were in my head, but to finish them as well. It worked well for that. But as time went on, I found that trying to take all those pictures from start to finish, etc. was hard for me. I would get going on a project and just forget to take them!

Anyway, I have decided to change this blog to more of a "decorating/family" blog. I love to do projects - take something old and re-make it into what I want. I love to paint and change the look of things, so that will always be a big part of my blog. But there may not be as many pictures of each step! And there will be more "family" things, because that seems to be how we stay connected these days and then I will have a "diary" to look back on and remember what happened (you know, for when I get old).

So, hopefully, a little later, I will get some pictures posted of our Georgia trip - after all, it is inspiring to visit Georgia! (As the picture at the top shows)

Plants and a sweet potato casserole at Knottliten Cottage

The plants that I chose for the back yard (greens, yellows, reds, tropical ish) -

The plants that I chose for the front yard (blues, purples, pinks, whites) -The mature plants already in the front yard (pink azalea and purple lilac tree) -Proof that I do sometimes make dinner (sweet potato omelette casserole) -

Sorry for the photo quality; it was hailing when I took these pics :)