Renovation

The other day the kids and I were running errands.

Out of the blue Grace says, I think I want to paint the desk in my room.

"OK." I said.  "Um, what color?"  (Her taste is running a little on the ecclectic side lately.)

Her room right now is aqua.  A very BRIGHT aqua that she picked out, and which came out even brighter than I thought it would.

When we got to Lowes she picked out a pale pink.  I was very hesitant as to what the final outcome of these "accessories" in her room would be.

After chores and strawberry picking and a Church meeting for me Monday night, she and I went out on the porch to start painting.

We started with her desk, which led to her desk chair, and a magazine rack, AND a bookcase.

We let everything dry overnight until the next morning, when I heard it raining hard, and ran out to the porch to move everything in before it got damaged.

While I was busy today, Grace (taking a cue from me I guess...) moved everything back into her room and rearranged it as well.

It doesn't look as bad as I thought it might.

While we were painting, I took pictures for the before and after.  She said to me, "So, this will probably be on the blog, right?"

"Yes.  Probably." I replied.  "Are you ok with that?"

"Sure." she said.

Good, cause here it is.

12 Things on the 12th

Not to be pretentious or anything...but I thought I'd share 12 things about myself...on the 12th.

You may already know these, but you may not.

Stick around and see.

1.  My favorite color (s) are red and turquoise.  Preferably together.

 2.  I try to wear a necklace everyday...and I have alot...because I really like them.   I would add these to my collection if I could.

 

 3.  I love to sew.  I never thought I'd say that after freshman Home Ec when I made a skirt and very fashionable 80's vest! (It was PEACH!)

4.  I would love to have a rotary phone in the kitchen.  This aqua one would do just fine!

 Growing up, we had a harvest gold one in the room between our kitchen and living room.  It had a super long cord that you could move from room to room with.

5.  I got braces in 7th grade and wore them till right after my school pictures in 10th grade.  My 7th grade boyfriend also had braces, and the running joke in our class was that if we kissed, we would get stuck together!  HI-LARIOUS everyone!

6.  I took piano lessons for 6 years while I was young.  I had a really old teacher who I didn't  like very much.  She was the scariest lady.

7.  My favorite subject in school was Math and English.  I had the best teachers.  One of them is Grace's math teacher this year.

8.  I LOVE TO READ.  Enough said.

9.  My favorite place to go is Chicago.  We go up there at least once a year, sometimes more.

10.  If I could do anything as a career, it would be to be a librarian, scrapbook all day long and get paid for it, own my own vintage shop, or host craft weekends every weekend at my house, and get paid!

11.  I never want to camp ever again.  It wasn't bad as a kid, but the thought of doing it as an adult, holds no appeal for me.

And lastly...

12.  I'm glad I started writing this blog...Never thought I would ever do anything like this...my sister was always the writer, but it's been a great experience.

A place for my valuables...

So, since I'm a little slow on the draw, I'm joining a linky party that started YESTERDAY.

I know.

It's alright though.

I got something nice outa the deal.

About 4 or 5 months ago, I picked up this baby at Goodwill for around $3.

It's a jewelry box, even though it looks a little like the old fashioned silverware boxes.

I needed a bigger one than the one I currently have.  NOT that I have a ton of expensive jewelry, but I have alot of costume stuff, and pins and cool rings.

The inside looks like this.

I liked that there were so many different compartments so things wouldn't get all tangled up together.

I also liked the vintage look of it, but knew I could "fix it up" a bit too.

Finally, today, I got around to it.

I pulled out some of my favorite scrapbook paper from October Afternoon.

and some of their embellishments as well.

The old fashioned cards cracked me up.  They were titled, Work at Home, and All the things I've wanted to dye...

I also got out my favorite distressing ink...

and went to town distressing all the papers edges after I had cut them to size.

I just mod podged everything right onto the jewelry box.  It went on like a charm.

I've learned...you can pretty much use mod podge to adhere and seal anything.  Even fabric.

The finished product is great.  I really like it.

So, I'm linking it up to The Vintage Farmhouse's Thursday linky party.

click here to go there.

Come see me and find some other great ideas too.

Happy Weekend.

Change of Scenery

I am a big fan of picture frames.

Just sayin'.

I'm also a big fan of displaying pictures in an extraordinary way.

I've been known to put pictures behind old windows and hang them on the wall.  Many times.  As evidenced here and in many of my other blog posts (under the windows or craft or project tabs on the side.) 

About a month ago, I posted this picture...

source

Since I have alot of aqua jars, and alot of pictures, this looked like a good idea to me. 
Original as a matter of fact.

Now, you could totally embellish these jars to your liking by adding a ribbon around the top, or twine, or raffia.  But I kinda like the plainness of the ones above.

I finally got around to this project this past weekend.  I know, it took me this long...but at least I finally did it.  Party because I had a whole day at home with no where to go, and partly because a couple of weeks ago I found the PERFECT pictures in our safe in the closet.  I honestly forgot I had them.

I rounded up all the aqua jars I had, and some clear ones with a square bottom because I thought they just looked cool.

I put them on top of the bookcase because for one, it's a good place to display them where everyone will see them, and two, one of the pictures was this...

my mom and her two sisters, posed of course, reading a book nonetheless.  One of my favorite pictures.  (mom is in the middle)

I put pictures of my husband as a little boy,

pictures of me as a little girl with my grandpa,

and pictures of my dad with his dad when he was little.

I think they look great.  In all honesty, I probably shoulda cleaned out the jars a little better before I displayed them.  I'll get right on it.  But I think overall, I like the look. 
They are in the perfect place.

I'm drawn like a moth to a flame

Do you have a favorite color?

I'm sure everyone does...

Mine is aqua, if you haven't already guessed it by the numerous posts I've done with that color!I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame. No matter where I see it.

I'm not really sure why it's my favorite color, but it always has been.

My laundry room, kitchen, and now Grace's room, are all different shades of aqua. I have it in bits and pieces around the living room, craft room, and a few places in between. My wardrobe is scattered with pieces of it too.

I found these pictures online in various places and on pinterest.

I want to incorporate some of them into my home.

And doesn't this just sum up what we should really do on a daily basis? I have it in a frame in my kitchen.

What is YOUR favorite color?

P.S. If you are like me, and are having problems commenting on mine or other people's blogs....sometimes it comes up as you being anonymous....try installing a free version of mozilla firefox on your computer or google chrome, and then bringing up my blog through that. It's a blogger bug that hasn't been fixed yet, and is very annoying.