Update & Randomness

Since my Mother In Law asked me on Sunday

how I have been doing (fibromyalgia), I

thought that I would give an update.

 

It is a strange disease for sure, and unpredictable.

 

On Sunday, I was having a good day and that was

my response to the question.

Not all Fibro days are good ones.

I had to up the dosage of my meds about

4 weeks ago and have had better days

with the higher dosage. I am grateful for what

the Doctors can help with.

Today (Tuesday) is not a good day. It has

been a high pain day. BUT...I am still

up and going, I painted the second coat

of turquoise paint on all 4 chairs and am

really grateful that I have those abilities!

 

I try very hard to not sit in my discomfort, and

especially to allow it to be an excuse for not doing

the things that I should or want to do.

I am determined that I will be my best,

not whine (that is a hard one, I confess) and

to keep doing those things that help my body

and not hinder it.

I may not get it done the way others do or even

think I should, but I DO get it done and that is

a reason to sigh in contentment.

 

I am currently working on our Thanksgiving Dinner

menu and invitations!

I am hoping to get those in the mail by this weekend and have everything in order (on paper at least)

so that over the next three + weeks all I have to do is shopping and cleaning.

Nothing major to do to the house and NO CHANGES TO THE MENU!

That is my goal anyway!

Free Printable For Thanksgivng or Fall

Since I posted on Friday about the

table labels, I thought that this link

would be a great one for you!

Free printable Thanksgiving / Fall

table signs!

http://www.studiodiy.com/2011/11/14/rustic-thanksgiving-free-printables/

 

My thanks to Studio DIY for these lovely printables!

 



Getting Started.....

On the four chairs that will soon be turquoise!

Here is a bit of a sneak peek.

Before:

Being repaired:

In progress:

Food Table Labels

A very wonderful woman, who reads my blog,

noticed that whenever I put pictures of

parties that I have I always have little

signs in front of my desserts and foods.

They are too let my guests know what they will be eating,

 

whether things are sugar free or not,

spicy or not.

 

She asked me for the instructions on how I did this.

 

I never miss an opportunity to share the things

that I use to make my life easier!

 

First I had my husband cut 1x2's into squares.

  

 Only because we happened to have that laying around the basement left from something else that we built. You can use what ever size you want, although I would try to stay as small as possible to keep from taking up too much table space.

Next he drilled a small hole in the center of the block

to the size of the picture hanging wire that I purchased at the local hardware store.

 

I also purchased alligator clips that attached to the wire by simply pinching it tightly with a pair of pliers after the length of wire was placed in it.

 

I made differing heights because I thought it would be the most useful, and it has proven to be.

I painted all of them white so they will go with any table I set!

I simply go to free printable web sites (I will leave a couple of links at the end of this post) and print out on my computer the blank label sized printables and write in the food, or if I am able to, put text from my computer in the boxes of the printables and print them out with the information already on it.

 

It really was an easy process and cost us about $2 for all of the holders.

P.S. The beautiful doily I use here is one that my Grandmother Myatt hand made and was handed down to me!

http://blog.worldlabel.com/2011/round-labels-in-a-vintage-style-design.html

http://www.i-do-it-yourself.com/2009/08/free-lemonade-printables-by-farouche/

And What Do You Think I Will Use

These for????

Pretty they are.

And Yes, I know what I will use them for.

Do You?

Yes, I made them.

Yes, I know what I will use them for.

Yes, I am excited!

What Is Your Guess? 



Making Pillow Covers

I promised my youngest daughter some cute pillows

for her couch. For her birthday.

Which was October 13th.

I did them October 20th

So sue me.

Ok, really don't.

She knew about them.

She knows that the party is much more important

than the gift.

Really. YES. REALLY!!

I mean, what fun is a gift without a party?

YES. REALLY!

 

OK, OK, I get it, I think differently than others.

But I am a child of NO birthday parties. None.

A December 22nd birthday leaves one with

"an extra gift under the tree"

and no birthday parties.

So now you know.

This is why I party with abandon

when it comes to my families birthdays!

 

And back to the real deal. The Pillows.

This is how I did it.

First, fun material....because every one

should have something fun to look at!!

True story.

So, I choose a material that would look great against a dark brown sofa and bring some color to a really pretty yet neutral living room.

 

I choose 16x16 pillow centers.

Cutting the material 17x17 to allow for 1/2 inch seams,

I then cut the backing 17x21 to allow for the "over flap" (yes, my technical word for it) that the back needs to be able to easily insert the pillow inserts. (redundant I know)

We and our Daughter and Son-In-Law have dogs.

It is important for us to be able to launder the pillow covers, therefore I make pillows to allow for ease of laundering.

Next, I cut the 21 inches into 2 pieces, 8x17 and 13x17. Hemmed the 8 inch length and 13 inch length with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Easy Peasy....laid the backs overlapping to become 17x17 to match the front of the pillows.

Sewed 1/2 inch seams in a square and turned them right sides out.

Insert the pillow inserts (once again, redundant)

and voila'! We have fun, pretty pillows

that will look amazing on our Daughter and Son-in-Laws sofa! 

Happy Birthday to You!!!

 

5 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I am addicted to HGTV.

Yes, I admit it. I am an addict.

And I am ok with it. "sigh".

 

2. I LOVE the Hallmark Channel!

Yep, that makes me a geek.

Yep, that makes me old fashioned.

Yep, I am ok with it.

 

3. I HATE having my picture taken.

I admit, that is a huge irony considering

that one of my greatest joys is

TAKING photos! But you know the old saying:

"when you can't be in pictures,

you take pictures".

Well, maybe it is not really that saying

but close enough.

 

4. I am a total bath person.

I HATE showers.

Yes, it is true.

I find nothing more relaxing than a tub

filled with water so hot that it turns

my skin beat red.

It is my true sauna.

 

5. I love peanuts....but hate peanut butter.

Yep. True.

Texture issues. This is a real phenomenon.

Many people have this "disease".

I wish I could overcome it.

I have tried. I cannot.

Soft, mushy things make me gag, throw up,

"hork". Wish it were not so.

But it is.

So, for me, no mashed potatoes,

no mushy veggies,

no peanut butter.

Crunchy is good, mushy is very, very bad.

Productive Saturday!

I had a rather productive Saturday.

Are you just so impressed?

Well, maybe you should be!!!

 

Actually, I completed a couple of projects

that were long over due. ahem.

We will not dwell on that.

 

OK, back to the important stuff,

Curtains!!!

These are my current living room curtains.

Nothing wrong with them, just not dreamy,

light and bright, as I want.

 

I found some amazing extra wide stripe

curtains once on the Pottery Barn web site.

They were $250. Waayyyyy out of

our budget, but I could not forget them.

There had to be a way to have them,

or at least somthing close.....aannndddd,

You know me.....why buy when I can make!

(well, PB does not sell them any longer,

so I really have no choice)

 

On to the "find a way"

 

I found one site that told me to buy white

linen curtains and paint the stripes on.

Makes sense, other than I cannot find off the shelf

curtains long enough for my windows.

 

This was my fix.

I found curtains in "sail cloth" at a major

discount store. And again, they were too short

for my windows, so it took 2 sets of curtains

for each of my windows. But at $10 per pair,

I still came in at $20 per window.

 

I measured my window length and divided by 6

because I decided that 6 stripes were perfect for me.

 

I marked where it was to be cut with a simple pen and then made the straight cuts.

Next, I cut the curtains per my measurements

starting with the khaki color for the top and

ending in the white.

Being sure to cut the white from the bottom

to save the hem and cutting from the top of the khaki color to keep the rod pocket in place.

 

Next, I simply made 5 straight seems on each

of the panels and that was that!

I had no hemming to do, no rod pocket to make

as it was all there for me...just simple straight

seems!!

I know, right!!!!!

It almost seems wrong to have custom made

curtains with so little work!

It took about 2 hours, but there was alot

of ironing to do, as the curtains needed to be ironed

right out of the package to ensure an accurate

measurement and the seems had to be pressed

after the sewing.

 

TaaaaaDaaaaaa!!!!

I really like the brightness that the new curtains

bring to the living room.

 

I also love that we live on the water and this

style of curtain lends itself to a kind of

"sea cottage" feel.

Yes, I am a happy girl, and it was a very

simple fix! 

 

 

P.S. I did make two windows worth of curtains,

so please dont fret that I am living in a room with split personality!



Randomness and Simple Joy

I love random picture taking.

I giggle with excitement in finding the unexpected

 and capturing it in its simplistic beauty.

 

Like the cluster of brass bells under this arch

almost hidden by the leaves, or the ornate

door knob that this simple door displays.

And if you look very closely, there is

a wonderful wooden bench in which to rest upon

while getting out of the hot summer sun.

 

 The bright royal blue found against the very

old brick of this building in the very center of

the French Quarter of New Orleans.

And this stunning lamp almost not to be seen by

passer byers due to the growth of these ancient

trees reaching quietly up to the sky

in a remote area of the zoo.

If we keep our eyes open and seeking

there is so much to be seen and so many

simple joys to be found in the randomness of

the busy lives that we lead.

A "New" Table

We bought a new table back in April.

Our old dinning table was given to our Daughter

and Son-In-Law since their dinning room is

quite a bit smaller than ours.

And, of course, we have about 20 people around

our table many times a year.

 

However, we knew from the time that we bought

it, that the color was all wrong but the size

and the ease for which it extended was perfect.

 

Well, my husband took the top off,
 

put it in the garage and went to work on that,

sanding, staining and sealing it.
 

 

I took the bottom of the table,

sanding...inside oh boy what a mess!

and painting, then antiquing it.

 

As you can see, the VERY blond color of

the original table was not pleasant to us.

 

But the dark provincial stain for the top and the

fun granny smith apple green for the base is just plain fun!
 

I like the outcome alot, and know that it looks

amazing in the dinning room......
 

now, for some turquoise chairs!!!
 

Yes, I Am!!



Birthday Desserts

A few pictures of the dessert table

at the birthday party we gave on Sunday.

Yummmmmmmmm!