See My Upcycled Shower Curtain!

I needed a new shower curtain as the one we had was very dark and not our style.  It's a postage stamp bathroom to light colors are much better.

I had a summer bedspread made of unbleached muslin and embroidered in a variety of bright colors.  It was almost a perfect fit, just had to cut off 10" from the bottom.

Then I added button holes to the top to slip over the hangers.

Quick & easy stitching project!

We love it!  And yes, there is a liner on the inside.

Economizing Measures ~ Re-Decorate with Little or No Money

Use what you already have in new places and in new ways.  Instead of having a collection of kitchen utensils hanging on the wall, I put them inside a large glass jar that had belonged to my grandmother.  Another plus was that I only had to clean the outside of the jar and not each utensil!  My walls looked much less cluttered and I was still able to enjoy my collection.

Move curtains, pillows, rugs, art, etc. from one room to another.

Not sure you know how?  Ask a friend who likes to decorate to come re-arrange your rooms and move your stuff around for you, and then cook them a really nice dinner as a thank you.

Sometimes just putting some things away in a closet for a few months makes a nice change.

Shop at thrift stores and yard sales instead of department stores. 

Check online first for coupons if going to a regular store, especially Michael's & Hobby Lobby.

Changing paint color is the biggest impact on the looks of your home and usually one of the cheapest if you do it yourself.  Think paint is too expensive?  Check your local thrift stores & yard sales, see what neutrals might be mixed together to make enough.  Check Habitat for Humanity stores, discount & dollar stores, the oops section of anywhere that sells paint.

The library or the internet will show you creative ways to use paint.

We Made a Big Change in Christmas Traditions

Yes, we made a big change in our plans and traditions for Christmas, one that will probably stay.

We are not exchanging gifts.

Nope, no shopping, no wrapping, no stressing.  We are all adults aged 58 and older.  We don't need anything.  We don't have much money to be able to spend.  It's too hard for Mom to go shopping anyway.

So we are just getting together for a nice dinner at our house, relaxing conversation and maybe a nap for those inclined.

I have to say that it feels really weird to not be shopping or making presents.  But I sure enjoy the no stress part of it.

The only one in our small family getting a gift is my nephew in the Air Force.  His mom and I have been giving him photo collages of the military people in the family.  This year is my last person, my mom's father who served in WWI.

The oval photo and the buttons and pin on the left are from WWI, the 2 photos and buttons on the right are from WWII when he served on the fire and police force at Oak Ridge, TN where they made parts of the Atom Bomb, as well as his service in the TN State Guard.

The flag belonged to Papa and is literally shredding so I felt preserving it in this collage was appropriate.  One item not in this photo is his WWI compass which will hang on the tiny map pin next to the AEF (American Expeditionary Forces) ring.

How I Spruced Up a Pillow

I have a set of two of these gorgeous pillows with beading and a matching throw, beads & all that I found at a thrift shop years back.  They are really nice but the backs are plain and sometimes you just don't want matchy matchy sets.

About a year ago I found this piece at a thrift shop for 75¢.  It was a small wallhanging and in a 10 x 12 room I have no walls left.  But I had to have it, it has peacocks on it!  I have a thing for peacocks, always have.  Anyway, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it and I finally thought about my pillows. 

So I removed the backing pieces and hanging rod.  Then I put Fraycheck along the edges because it is that kind of fabric, probably rayon with a metallic silver weave.

You can see from the back where the red & blue were woven just how much this would probably fray.  I pinned it in place and stitched it down by hand.

I think with the hawks, peacocks and elephants it was most likely made in India as a tourist souvenir.  I'm thinking it might need some trim but I will have to see if I find anything when I go into Abilene sometime in the next couple of months.  

And except for a handful of wool pennies, that was my stitching for the week.  I've been a bit preoccupied doing Ebay listings while I had some free ones and learning to cook meals for my newly diabetic father.  It's a learning curve for this meat and potatoes/pasta/noodles/bread family.  But I'm sure we'll all be healthier for it!

DIY Lamp

I needed a small lamp that I could plug into a timer so it comes on in the morning to simulate a sunrise.  Have I mentioned that my new room has no windows?  And that it is inside a large shop/garage?  That makes it hard for someone who is not a morning person to get up before 10am.

So I went off to the Family Dollar store a friend recommended to see what they had.

I found a lamp that looks like this but has a different shade, just 12" tall - perfect for $6!

Then I visited a local resale shop and picked up a plain glass dessert plate for 50¢.  The bottom of the lamp was open and I wanted to fill it with something.

I collect vintage sewing things and have a lot of old thread spools so this is what I came up with.

The plate is glued on upside down with little dots of silicone glue around the bottom of the lamp base.

I picked up a timer from Walmart for around $5.

Now my instant sunrise will wake me up earlier without having to listen to an annoying alarm!

My New Favorite Thing

This is my new favorite thing in my new room.  This old craftsman style cabinet has been in the family for many years, made of oak and one of the few pieces of furniture I was able to keep.  Inside is the family collection of quilts.  

There are a few odd things on the top shelf and 3 vintage rag rugs just below.  Next is the quilt my grandmother made for me in the early 1970's.  Then 2 quilts made in in the 30's or 40's, one is a double wedding ring.  The dark purple is one Mom made some years back for me.

The orange one is a flower garden made by my Mom and Nana in the late 1930's and into the 1940's.  It's quilted inside each hexagon.  The applique butterfly quilt is one Grandma made for Dad when he was born, made of feed sack material.

The light purple one with a star pattern and the pinkish one were probably made in the 30's as well.  All are well used and most will not be used on the bed again as the fabrics are fragile.  The bottom stripe is one of those thick felted blankets from Mexico, very warm.

I've seen cupboards filled with quilts like this before and really liked them.  Most of these quilts have been in the closet for years so it's nice to see them every day.  

Downsizing

I'm moving and because of the circumstances I have to downsize.  I mean a major downsize, from a 3 bedroom house to one room.

If you have never had to downsize like this before, let me tell you it puts a whole new spin on the moving process.

Before you ever get to the packing stage you have to look at each thing and ask yourself if you really NEED it and how much do you really LOVE it.

Will you kick yourself later for deciding not to keep it?

Do you think you might be able to replace it one day should you have more space?

These are very hard questions to ask and answer honestly without your emotions getting in the way.

All my things are vintage, bought at a resale or thrift shops or given to me by friends.

Each piece is special in its own way.

Only a couple of furniture pieces are family items and I will be keeping them.  

But the rest have to find new homes, someone else to love them.

The money I receive is helpful, no doubt about it, but knowing the item is going to someone who will care for it helps to make this process a lot easier.

Some would wonder why some old furniture with nicks and  scratches is so hard to get rid of when a shiny new piece is ... well, shiny & new.

But new pieces have no stories to tell.  They have no character.  And they won't last nearly so long.

And don't let these photos fool you, its not just the furniture you have to go through and ask questions of.

Oh no, its every little things down to how many headbands do I need to take and where will I be able to store those pictures.

Craft supplies, tools, boxes of screws, cleaning supplies, extra towels, pillows and the books ... loads of books .... they all have to be thought about seriously, knowing there is very little storage space. 

Things are slowly finding their new homes but it takes an inordinate amount of time.  It really needs to go faster because I don't want to still be packing on the very last day as the guys are loading the trailer.

So if you ever need to downsize and move my advice is to give yourself lots of time to get it all done.  I had 26 days and 5 of those are already gone.  I have taken 6 loads to my favorite charity shop knowing it will do good there.  3 neighbors have chosen things and that makes me feel better too.

Now I have multiple trips to Half-Price Books to make even though they don't pay as well as they used to.  It used to be 1/4 of the retail price on a newish book.  I don't know how they figure it now but it seems like pennies.  Ah well, someone who needs that book will buy it and it will keep someone else employed to sell it so its all good.

I have more things to sort through now and I'm cleaning as I go.  I can almost see the living room floor again.

St Nicholas Joins His Fellow Bishops

Here's St Nicholas framed and hanging out with his fellow bishops.  If you see any dust just remember it is a protective covering.

I found the frame after looking at & measuring about 50 at the thrift store that has a large selection.  Most that looked right were 11 x 14 inches and I needed it narrower than that.  I finally found this one I thought would be too plain, but I really like how it lets the colors in the embroidery stand out.  It's vintage too which I always like.

I'm taking the rest of this week off from stitching while my shoulder continues to heal.  Not sure what I did but I am thinking it may be a pinched nerve.  Ice bags and aspirin and not reaching forward help a lot, but hard to do at work.  At least it's my left shoulder.

My next UFO project is likely the St John needlepainting.

Linking up at Mockingbird Hill Cottage - A Favorite Thing #40.

New To Me Cabinet

I had a new little project recently and I thought I would share it with you.  I should have taken before photos but if I had it would only have scared you.

I found a small wood cabinet at the thrift store that someone had lovingly painted.  The green was already there but the door had been painted over some kind of stencil or decal, I could see the raised edges in the light.  The painting was .... let's just say it was not pretty.  Burnt barn red background with yellow, cream and black flowers that I think were supposed to be sunflowers and a huge bee as big as the flowers.

My bathroom is watery colors of green with plum and lavender accents.

 This is a photo of one of the pair of Moroccan lights I put up but you can see the colors.  The light color is a marbled pale peachy pink, minty green and lavender. 

For the new door and the inside I pasted  down some scrapbook paper I had in various shades of purple and with some metallic gold stampings on it.

I think it turned out quite well and gives me a place to store the hairpins and hair sticks that get too easily lost and the creams I don't want sitting out.

I was going for a Roman Bath look in there but I could not find a Roman Bath themed picture in the right colors or size.  If I do I can easily change this out.

Colored Bottles

I've been searching the thrift shops for canning jars nearly every weekend and not finding much, just one or 2 here or there.  However I have found some great bottles.

click photo to enlarge

A nice green gallon jug, a Watkins vanilla bottle, several blue gin bottles in various sizes, 2 bottles with caps, a square green bottle, a clear round one and then an antique green bottle, the larger one on the right. 

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I'm a sucker for glass bottles and jars, the light just looks so pretty through them.  I remember Mom having glass bottles with colored water in them when I was a small child, maybe that's where my love of them comes from.

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Most of these were $1 or less, the capped ones were $5 each and I can use them for some herbal vinegars.  I do wish they had left the caps on the gin bottles but I can always use them as vases or use a cork.

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Do you like colored glass bottles too?

A Favorite Thing

This is one of my favorite things and has always had a place in my living room where I can see it every day.  This is a large 30" x 40" watercolor, the first original art I ever purchased and it was almost a week's wages at that time over 30 years ago.  

I love all things medieval and renaissance and my decorating style is fairly eclectic but with a huge Pre-Raphaelite influence.  This painting fits in perfectly. 

I imagine this lady to be quite the independent sort that usually gets her own way and serenely glides through life with her peacocks to protect her.  The only thing better would be if she also had a cat but perhaps he is napping under the voluminous skirt of her gown.

The eternal green of the woods in the background makes me think it is always summer where ever she is.

And who wouldn't want that thick mane of hair that you know a lady in waiting brushes and arranges for her everyday.  Heavenly.

Porch or Veranda?

Is this a gorgeous porch or what?  Or is it really a veranda?

I found this photo on Pinterest, followed it to this blog, which led to here to see more of the house it's attached to.

The house s a bit too minimalist for me but I adore the porch with its cool shade and billowing curtains, not to mention the beautiful lanterns.

DIY Before & After Projects

If you are like me then you love DIY projects.  And you must therefore love looking at the before & after photos of said projects.  Especially if they are other people's handiwork that give you plenty of inspiration for your own needs.  

I have found a blog today that has me enthralled.  Post after post of before & after shots of all sorts of projects.  From a 20 minute spray paint a lamp to full room rip outs and redos.  I think I'm tired now and I only caught up with all of 2011's posts!

I am pretty open minded about this kind of thing and I have to say I believe that 98% of the afters are much better than the befores.  I can overlooks colors & fabrics that I personally would not use and see the improvement over the crappy old thing it used to be.  I really do like painted furniture too, just sometimes there is nothing wrong with the wood.  One piece in particular almost made me cry.  The furniture was gorgeous and only needed a good cleaning and polish.  The after was nicely done but it was painted....a very garish bright yellow.   Not my favorite color but I would not have liked it in any color as the wood was so beautiful to begin with.  

Ah, well, in another 75 years someone will be stripping back down to the wood.

So if you want lots of ideas and eye candy then visit here: Better After and enjoy.  Be warned, visit the potty and grab your iced tea first, you'll be there a while.  It's addicting.

What To Do With A Fridge

I found this adorable idea on this blog: http://craftingmytalents.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-snowman-fridge.html

I guess if you have a black fridge he could be covered in coal dust, and if you have a stainless steel fridge...maybe a robot snowman?

I covered my fridge in wood grain contact paper so I don't think this will work for mine...maybe mine is a Yule log on end!

Decorating Again...The Living Room Floor

The living room floor is just about finished after a week and a half.  A couple of years ago I ripped out the nasty carpet and used some cheapo flat paint on the plywood floor, after I got through pulling out all the staples where they tacked down the padding.  I had bought the nice glossy porch paint last summer but with starting a new job last August I never got to painting.  

As you can see, not everything is back in place yet.  The thrift shop rug is in the wrong place due to needing a few a touch ups after moving furniture yesterday.  Since I have no where else to put the furniture, we have had to shift it around in the room while painting part of the floor.  And since we have to walk thru the living room to get anywhere else, we have to leave a path unpainted as the oil base paint takes about 2 days to dry well.

While I had everything away from the walls I removed the cheap 24 inch paneling that was put up as wainscot.  My walls already look taller.  I will be texturing the walls and painting them a creamy color...hopefully soon.

You might notice I only have the lace panels at the windows.  I had intended to make new side panels of a lovely watercolor fabric I purchased on sale, but have yet to make them.  I have enjoyed the lighter look for summer.  I will most likely work on those soon as Autumn and winter approach.

Another project is to wallpaper the back wall of the china cupboard with a light silk wallpaper I picked up at a thrift shop some time ago.  It will lighten it enough inside that you can actually see all the pretties I keep in it.

I am very happy with my newly painted floor and it is a breeze to keep clean now, as I can actually tell when it needs sweeping.  With a cat I think that is every day, but you know that won't happen.

You can see the Resident Poet's new prize in this picture, a vintage Domestic sewing machine from the 1940's in a very nice wood cabinet.  Yes, its his, given to him by a friend he helped with emptying boxes and moving stuff around after she had moved.  I had to move a bookshelf to the hall in order for it to fit in the living room.

Now to find a place for all the odd stuff that needs to go for sale on ebay and etsy, it doesn't need to stay piled on the sofa.  I picked up some lovely aqua & white pyrex bowls at the thrift shop yesterday.  They should do quite well on ebay or etsy.  That color is so good right now.  

I'll post more pictures when we're done and all is back in place.  Redecorating a mobile home is sometimes not very easy.  Things are just slightly smaller than in a regular house and some things you cannot do like put in real wood floors or tile.

Remembrance & Thankfulness

"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war." 

- Douglas MacArthur

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln

(This pillow has been in my family since WWI in which both my grandfathers served.)

O Little Town of Bethlehem

As promised, here are photos of my nativity scene.  I usually put it on the shelves of a bookcase, but opted to set it up with the tree on top of my split level desk which separates the living and dining areas.

I just love the wise men and all their camels.  The are conferring to make sure they are on the right road to find the baby King.

The pieces are from all different places.  I started out with a ceramic set I made and added to it with pieces from Walmart, back when you could just buy the pieces you wanted.  Several years running I bought pieces at the Hallmark shop but they have gotten way too pricey now.

The goats and a ram I got at our local Farmer's Supply, they were part of the farm animal collectible figurines.

I just love the happy innkeeper on the right, his pockets are full because the inn is full and he even rented out the stables!

Watch out, there's a Roman guard reading proclamations again.  But the angels are watching over our babe.

Bethlehem may be small but it sure is busy!

The angels are making music and the shepherd boy is looking at the star in the sky.

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I grew up with the nativity scene being placed under the tree, it's a bit hard with my small tree and all the nativity pieces I have, but the desk works fairly well.

O' Christmas Tree & Good St. Nick

So many blogs I visit are showing off all their Christmas decorations around the house so I thought I would share mine.  I used to decorate every room, even the bathroom in my old apartment, but the time and energy for that is past and I have whittled my decorations down to just those I really love and freecycled the rest to a family who had lost all theirs in a move.

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I used to buy a 6 foot real tree every year but when it got so you couldn't get one for less than $40 and it was spray painted because they cut them so early and truck them down to Texas, I decided a fake tree would do just fine.  It was a very economical $20 at Big Lots about 9 years ago.  It is pre-lit and I added an extra string of red lights.  Most of my ornaments are angels and most were gifts so as I hang each one on the tree I am reminded of someone special.  The angel on top is a lovely paper mache angel but unfortunately she is not lit up, so here's a photo with a flash so you can see her.

I grew up with a fake tree each year so it doesn't really bother me, the real ones here have no scent anyway as they are pretty much dead by the time they sell them.  I also grew up with the shiny foil icicles to hang on the branches but with cats...well, sometimes they like to eat them...not a good thing.  So I have collected glass and plastic icicles to hang and I think it looks quite festive.  The red velvet tree skirt has bead and jingle bell dangles of which 1/2 are missing because of the cat, but he needs his fun too.

 

The one thing I collect at Christmas is Bishop Nicholas figurines.  Not Santas, although there are some gorgeous ones out there, but the harder to find St. Nicholas in his bishop's robe and miter.  The only one that is not is the birch bark looking Santa in white to the left.  He was my exception just because he's so darned cute with the squirrel climbing on him.  Anyway, I got these in many various places, even the Texas Renaissance Festival-that was the litle pewter one.  I have seen a couple more online, but sadly there was no budget for one this year.  I did get a cross-stitch chart of Nicholas which I am going to stitch up this next year in time for the next St. Nicholas day which is Dec. 6th.  The Orthodox children set their shoes out on the night of the 5th and he either leaves candy or coal depending on how good the child was during the year.  Very similar to the stockings we all put out every year.

 

This year is slightly different as we are attending a Russian Orthodox Church and they follow the old calendar which makes Christmas on Jan. 6th according to the calendar we all use everyday.  I guess I get 2 Christmases!   I put out the Nicholases right after Thanksgiving, the tree went up a week later, tomorrow I will probably put out the nativity figurines and post more pictures for you.

Better Late Than Never......TUSAL

Well here I am almost a week late.  Seems like everyday there was something that did not let me get my pictures taken nor let me get to the computer to make a post.  So here is my November TUSAL photo.  My ort jar is almost full...except if I squash it down there will be more room.  Mostly there are cotton yarn pieces since the last photo and I can't show you anything as they are Christmas presents.

But I can show you the little table the ort jar sits on.  It was a recent project.  Originally it was a lovely stained wooden table that opened up to store silverware.  According to the metal label is is 'British Made'.  Along the way someone spray painted it with glossy white enamel.  Then it got beat up looking and the enamel was chipped and scratched.  I don't mind the shabby chic look, but this was a long way from chic.

So I spray painted it with a bronze paint and used left over pieces of uphostelry fabric for the sides and top insets.  Edged it all with uphostelry gimp and now I have a piece that fits right in.  I tried using a wallpaper border adhesive to attach the fabric but it would peel right off, so I ended up using hot glue for both the fabric and the gimp.  Success!!!

And since my good silver lives in a box that came with it, I use this table to store my boxes of embroidery thread.  There's a little drawer there at the bottom and I store my scissors and such in that. 

Now it matches the antique buffet that I also used the fabric on.  I'll take some pictures of that for later.

Linking to Tweak it Tuesday!