MY BIRTHDAY SURPRISE

My birthday is coming up next week and husband has been asking what I would like for a birthday gift.

Mostly I want to forget my birthday and I usually answer “I’ve got everything I want”.

Husband must have remembered that I really wanted 2 Adirondack chairs to sit in by the pond, here’s what I found when I walked to the pond this morning.

He’s a sweetheart!

CHANDELIER MAKEOVER

I'm hooked on this easy makeover... just finished it yesterday and every time I walk by it I smile!

This was a long over due project. Instead of buying a new one....

I ordered these for $50 from Cristalier

a little paint and a few hours of stringing and hanging

a whole new look!

Check out Julia' s Hooked on Fridays party!

WHITE LINEN RUFFLED SLIP COVER

I am no expert in sewing, for sure. Most of the time I learn from my dumb mistakes, sometimes not too happy with results. If you can sew, then you sure can do some fun things for your home. I even made window treatments for a number of years. It was a great way to make extra cash, stay at home, and work at my own leisure.

Preppy 101 asked for some pictures/instructions while making this slip. I wish I had taken pictures all along.

Here’s my feeble attempt to explain how I made this.

I used large wrapping paper (just some cheap stuff), laid it out, then traced outline of the chair back, no picture but I sure you can visualize that.

Cut material using paper pattern and sew together front and back pieces of chair. I constantly put back on chair to see how much adjustments to make.

You don’t want it to be too tight as would be difficult to take off and on.

This material is perfect for slipcovers and easier sewing. It is a tissue linen. A flax linen or heavier weight material would be very difficult to make ruffles with.

PICTURE 1

Again using craft/wrapping paper, cut pattern for seat, then cut material. Turn top piece inside out, slip over chair. then pin bottom seat to front of the top slip.

sew to front.

PICTURE 2

I didn’t take picture of next step, the skirt. Lots of options for a skirt. I wanted the multiple ruffles, but still needed a plain skirt attached to sew the ruffles on to.

Below you can see the bottom skirt already sewn on as I attaching ruffles.

PICTURE 3

Making the ruffles was time consuming. I wanted the ruffles to be full so I used 3 X the diameter around the chair

PICTURE 4

Sew the three strips together.

PICTURE 5

Hemmed one edge with a 1/4 inch hem. Then using a long stitch, MAKE SURE TO BACKSTITCH at start. Use a long baste stitch on machine, stitch thru entire length of material, but don’t backstitch at the end. Pull the top thread, keep pulling and pulling, easing the ruffles all the way down to opposite end.

PICTURE 6

Pin ruffle on bottom skirt making adjustments as you work around chair. I put the bottom ruffle on first, then worked up. See PICTURE 3

I put 4 layers of ruffles on.

Here she is finished, back in daughter’s room. Sooo not perfect, but I’m happy with my efforts.

Now I need to finished the slips for dinning room chairs. These will be different, not so fluffy!

Daughter’s room/Guest room makeover, Part II

Finished my bed skirt. It’s full, fluffy, and ethereal. When the Pine Cone Hill dotted Swiss bed skirt comes, I may not like it. If it is not as Gathered and Full as the one I made, it will look funny. I will wait and see. I'm working on the little slip for this ladder-back chair. 2 more ruffle layers to go….ruffles are so time consuming and messy!!! But isn’t she lovely?

A GLOURIOUS EASTER

Thank you God for this wonderful day. We are all blessed and humbled by your love.

It is so fitting that on this day, You, as well as our armed forces and Commander-in-Chief, answered not only my prayers but those of everyone in our country.

Capt. Richard Phillips is free and safe today.

Daughter’s/Guest room makeover, Part I

I’ve been working on this redo for a couple weeks, yes, I’m slow.

I fell in love with Pine Cone Hill’s Louisa white duvet cover below. It is full of pin tucks and ruffles.

I bought the duvet and a small pillow.

 

I wanted to mix and match, like so much of Pine Cone Hill’s lovely bedding does. I bought the white dotted Swiss bed skirt and pillow shams. It is voile which is so pretty.

 

 

The bed skirt is an 18” drop, I needed 2-3 more inches from floor to bottom mattress.

I found white voile at Wal-Mart, super cheap and am making a bed skirt using a white fitted sheet. You might be able to see the purple magic marker line I drew on the sheet. That’s my sewing line

I’ll have a 21” drop bed skirt, then I'll layer the Pine Cone Hill one over it.

 

Do I dare paint the bed? I’m really thinking I’d like to.

I’ve painted 2 other pieces of furniture in this room.

Countdown to finishing projects

I have so many unfinished projects and new projects that need to be taken care of. My motivator to do all these things is…..I committed to hosting a SURPRISE 80TH birthday 3 day celebration here for my MIL. Lots of relatives coming for many states, as well as the KICK-OFF Cocktail party with all her local friends. MIL is a social butterfly.

So, my challenge is set in stone…time frame…first week of June. These next few weeks, I’ll be updating all these projects.

Ya’ll know I’ve been RE-PAINTING my home since last summer and Katrina. My living room, with 16 foot ceilings, 9 cased openings or doorway trim, and 18 cut-off, mitered chair rail ends is beyond my scope of painting.

I broke down and hired a “meticulous painter” to redo this room for the 3rd time since Katrina.

He was here yesterday, it’s done, all but putting the room back together. That’s my job for today. I’m still cleaning up all the sanding dust off the wood floor….this takes forever. Here some pictures from yesterday:

7:00 AM I take room apart, painter has to move this too big piece. I did empty shelves, great time to clean dust off stuff

Painter has plenty of room to get around….

See the chair rail that stops and it's mitered cap? The sheetrock above and near each of these ends were all globed with sheetrock mud. Painter # 1 and painter # 2 couldn’t seem to smooth it off after Katrina new sheet rock. There are 18 of these spots around room, that’s a lot of sheet rock dust ready to be airborne.

His work in progress…. He is also fixing the lines where the new paint meets the white trim around the 9 cased openings or doorways….

He refloated, dried, and sanded each of the 18 ends of chair rail….

See the difference between the new and old color?

New color is much lighter and brighter….

You can really see new color below….Painter was a little camera shy. He could not understand why I was taking pictures.

So today I’m putting it all back and I’m a happy lady!

The third time did the trick! I love this man so much, he’s calling me back with so more estimates!

Prayers needed for a friend

I just found out from daughter that her hubby's good buddy....

Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va. was killed on April 4 in Afghanistan. Please read about Philip and his family here....he was the first publicly viewed soldier coming home in 18 years. This is so sad. I just can't begin to express my grief. Please pray for the family of Phillip Meyers. I don't know them yet I'm so connected to them.
Phillip and my SIL served together in Iraq in 2007. In 2009 they were in Afghanistan together, until NOW. They are forever bonded by their unique expertise and knowledge of their unusual jobs. They are EOD and that pretty much says it all.

To Phillip's widow and family....I'm so truly sorry. I will pray for you daily. I will thank you for the rest of my life for your sacrifices and for Phillip's ultimate sacrifice to our country and our people. Phillip will not be forgotten.

Son’s Upcoming Graduation

Yay!!! Son is graduating. Strangely enough, he has to take 2 additional classes in June to complete his degree but he is still walking in cap and gown on May 9.

I rented this lovely condo at Provence Park in Oxford for 4 days of son’s graduation festivities. 3 bedrooms, 3 .5 baths, Viking appliances ….so I’ll be hosting a party there on graduation night. Daughter will meet us there and we are bringin MIL with us. The condo complex has it's own shuttle bus that will take us to campus and back. A major PLUS since parking is always an issue for big events.

Got lots of planning to do for this event, I’ll need to prepare and freeze some things to bring.

I need to get busy.

Excuses, excuses

Poor Miller....I can't blame him totally for my lack of blogging.

Back last summer, I had to turn in my super fast laptop (hubby's company had a loaner program for spouses, as economy worsened, they tightened up and took it back). So I had to resort to a preKatrina desktop that was given to us. So slow, so old, and so UNRESPONSIVE. It made going online a miserable experience, trying to log on to many of your blogs was an hour long chore. I knew I needed a new fix, but just put it off trying to get through Christmas, son's senior year of college, and the horrible hit we took on the stock market.

But yea...I broke down after hubby's constant badgering me to get a new laptop. We shopped, researched, and studied...found a Dell with some awesome free upgrades. Super FAST!

It just arrived this morning!

Now I'm styling with a extra bright, glossy wide screen and Vista. I know, I'm late to the party as usual. Vista will be replaced this Fall with the newest Microsoft application. But for the moment, I'm loving what I'm seeing.

Ya'll look so shiny, bright, and clear!
I even bought the same new Dell for daughter's b.day last week, since this was such a good deal.

Happy computing, may life always look this shiny and bright!






So now I have no more excuses!

Miller is back with his Mommie

Miller is back in Shreveport, my daughter finally got her cast off after 2 months. I am back home after spending 5 days with daughter. She is so happy to have Miller home. But hubby and I miss him. A LOT!

We loved (spoiled) him for 6 weeks...golf cart rides multiple times a day, lots of walks, lots of toys, even took him to a Paws on Parade fundraiser. He was dressed as a PARROT HEAD.

In fact, I spent some much time with Miller, that I accomplished very little these past weeks.

Can you imagine what I'll be like if and when I get a human grandchild?