My mom has been looking for some tall lamps for a specific table in her sweet little gem box of a home for many months now. You KNOW how that goes. When you’re not in the market for something, there are dozens that you love. The DAY you start shopping, the well runs dry and you can’t find a single thing that tickles your fancy.Â
As I’ve mentioned, Hobby Lobby is having a big sale. Hobby Lobby is always having some sort of a sale, but this one is really good. All of their lamps are 50% off. SO, we bought two lamps for her for $25 each. They are cute. She doesn’t love them, but she likes them. They’re tall and have a crystal-ish base and will work very nicely. The problem is, they have black shades. Very black. Holly Golightly’s dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s -black.
See…..
It’s actually quite lovely, but NOT my mom’s thing. She’s single for the first time in her life and her home is very feminine and pink. She’s playing with color and pattern and having a ball. So anyhoo…We decided that the shape of the shade was really very beautiful. She sent them home with me and told me to do what I could to make them work. She seemed a bit frustrated and discouraged. So, I decided to surprise her. I have a stash of fabric pieces and scraps that I’ve picked up here and there. I don’t know why I have this stash since I barely sew and my machine has been broken for about 2 years. But, I digress.
I decided to donate my one piece of this lovely Rachel Ashwell fabric to the cause of the shade! I think it turned out lovely, don’t you?
I don’t even know the name of the pattern. I bought it as a sample from a store that was closing out their Shabby Chic line of fabric and I had just enough to do her two shades.
Now, I am not an upholsterer nor a shade maker. I have never recovered a shade, actually. Which is why I was so happy to have bought this lovely velvet ribbon, also at Hobby Lobby. Let me tell ya, it covers a multitude of sins!
Mom was SO thrilled to see them. Now she doesn’t just tolerate the lamps, she loves them. Funny what a change a shade can make. It’s inspired me to do some shades for myself. I especially love some of the House Inc. fabrics. Now, to find some sad old shades in need of a little redo!
In SUCH a good way. I found the best blog yesterday. Bethy at homedaisy writes a sweet blog and has what I would consider the perfect kitchen.  Check out her fridge. I love this fridge. If I had this fridge, I think I would feel skinnier, smarter, taller, richer, and be a better person. Well, maybe not, but it sure would make me smile while I made my coffee in the morning!
 Bethy’s whole blog is quite lovely. I think I could come live in her house and feel right at home. I’ve added her to my faves cause I just gotta see what this little chickadee will do next!
I’m off to Micheals today as I got a hot tip that they have those cardboard pencil boxes. I’m hot on their trail! Still working on those ballerina boxes too, I’ve got two almost done. I’ll let you know when I put them on my website.
Run, don’t walk to your nearest Hobby Lobby! They are having a 50% off sale on all their decorative glass. I’m talking huge apothocary jars, cake plates, vases, you name it. I bought myself a set of the CUTEST tall trio of covered cake stands I’ve ever seen! Well, in all honesty, they may be the only tall trio of covered cake stands I’ve ever seen, so they haven’t a lot of competition for the title of “cutest”. ANYHOO…. I love em! I love that they are tiny in diameter, perfect for cupcakes or petit fours (i’m pretty sure i’m misspelling that) or little cucumber sandwiches at a tea, whatever.Â
 I actually think they’re perfect to display my little foil egg boxes I got from my many-times-before-mentioned gal pal, Miss Duffy. I picked up a set for her too. Sad to say, we got the last two full sets, but many-a-straggler remained. They still had the tall and medium sizes. They originally were $29.99, $25.99, and 19.99, but I got them for HALF OFF! Yay! I just love this stuff. These would be perfect to display some of the faux cupcakes my friend Natasha makes as well. Hmmmm….maybe I need more.
By the way, these pictures were taken at night, so they’re not the best. Yes. That’s right. These are even cuter in real life, if that’s possible! I was so excited I just had to show you tonight. Couldn’t wait till morning like a normal person. That just wouldn’t be me. *sigh*
Do you remember these? They are old pencil boxes. I’ve had them for about 15 years. I’ve always loved them for their sturdiness and convenience. Plus, I know this is funny, but I just love the ingenuity of them. So, today while I should have been working on other things, I decided they needed a little makeover. Here is what they looked like before:
And…..drumroll, please……the after!
here’s a shot of the inside:
These were super fun, super easy, and sort-of quick, once I got the hang of it. I used some vintage wallpaper scraps for the outside and some new paper scraps for most of the inside. The pink one has a toile pattern inside. I usually am not a huge toile-girl. I like it, but don’t LOVE it most of the time. But, this one I L-O-V-E for two reasons, it’s pink and it has the sweetest little cherubian fat babies on it that remind me of my babies! I’m ridiculously sentimental, so it’s perfect for moi.
I haven’t seen these in years, but I’m going to try to find some more. I paid 69 cents for these! The sticker was still on the back.
Do something beautiful this week, even if it’s small and frivolous!
I’ve really got the fever lately. I’m just itchin to go a-fleamarketing. I used to be an antiques dealer and yesterday I ran across pictures of my booth. Isn’t it lovely?
I’d buy stuff from me, wouldn’t you?
I still have a few of the things pictured here, but most of it has been sold through the years. I could boo-hoo looking at the picture! So much of it I sold for so little. I would love to have it back now! It’s getting harder and harder to find the good stuff, don’t you think?
It was a lot of fun, but with one, and now two, little ones it became too much for our family, so I gave it up. Sold most of my stuff to a fabulous boutique, some to friends, gave some away and kept a little.
I’m ready to get out on the flea market shopping trail again! We really only have one decent market here, it’s held once per month, on a Saturday. If you’re ever in the Oklahoma City metro area, you might want to visit. Show dates and info is available on their website. We do have another market held twice yearly that is HUGE. It’s an art and antiques show. Info about that one is here, on their website.
We don’t have a flea market scheduled again until April 15. So, I may have to hit a couple of antique malls in the interim, to get my fix!
Sorry for my absence the last couple of days. Both of my kids have that awful stomache virus stuff that keeps me elbow deep in yuckiness coming out of both ends of both boys! But, I digress! I am sneakin in to chat a bit.
Even though I’ve been covered in slime the last couple of days, I have been thinking lately about how very blessed I am. Yesterday, while making an emergency 10:00 pm diaper run to Wal-mart, I found myself missing my kids! What? What is THAT about?! I realized I had forgotten the cell phone, so had to turn around right after leaving to grab it (ridiculous how much we think we “need” cell phones. I’m embarrassed.) and when hubby answered the door, he had our little baby on his shoulder, stripped down from another accident and sort of sadly cooing. My heart clenched in my chest. I wanted to just stay and comfort him! Instead I made my way to Wal-mart, which is about a 15-20 minute drive.
Now, if you’re a mom, you know how rare it is to have 15-20 minutes without “mo-oooom, he’s touching meeeeee” or “Mom, I gotta pee” or “Mom, did I tell you about what level me and Dad got to on Lego Starwars last night?”. So, I should have been relishing my few moments to myself. But no. Instead, I was thinking of my poor little sick babies and how I wish I was holding and rocking them. I’m sick. I’m insane. I’m a mom.
This is how insane I am. As I’m thinking of them, it dawns on me that I have a wonderful, beautiful, perfect in many ways life. I am blessed beyond measure! My cup runeth over! I begin to cry as I’m driving down the road. I picture my children as grown-up men, married and in love, young and fresh in the world. He will smile and laugh a nervous laugh when his young wife tells him they are expecting a child. He gets a little scared, the weight of the world suddenly placed squarely on his broad shoulders….how will he take care of a family, he thinks to himself. Though a little shakey and unsure, he prays a prayer of thanks and keeps on truckin. He will stare with awe and amazment at his wife after she gives birth to his new son or daughter, falling even more in love with the woman who made him a father. When he looks at the face of his precious child, he will be overcome with love and realize at that moment that THIS is why he was born. Then, the fairy dust fades from the picture a bit and gives way to the daily grind. I was thinking that someday, someday much too soon, my boys will be tending to their own sick children. I wonder if they will understand how blessed they are at the time, or will they just go through the motions of daily life, not fully aware of the miracle and divine beauty of their family. Then it occurs to me that most days I go through the motions without pausing to think of the amazing beauty of my family. I know that my grown-up boys will go about living their daily lives, then sometime, in some random moment, they’ll pause, their throats will tighten, and they will realize they are living the most glorious days of their lives at that very moment. This is it. This is the good stuff.
Ok. Yes. I know it’s ridiculous. Three posts in one day. Well, at least no one can say I let my blog get stale! I couldn’t help myself. I’m in the middle of pulling out all my fave goodies to use on my ballerina boxes, and it’s all piled up on my kitchen island. Some of it you’ve seen before, but you haven’t seen my stash of vintage flocked tulle! It looked so beautiful, I had to show you!
Some of it is pink with hearts, some is pink with dots, and some is white with hearts.
I came across all this booty at an OLD formal fabric store in an old part of OKC one day. This was about 10 years ago. I did NOT have a use for this stuff. But, when has that ever stopped any of us? It was so lovely, so sugary sweet. I just bought all they had. I love that it’s FLOCKED!
OK. Enough eye candy. No more dilly-dallying. No more dawdling. I’ve got some tulle to tend to! I’m jumpin in. XO
This Vintage Kitchen Swap that Jenny is hosting has got me a-dreamin. For years, I’ve pined for one of these amazing numbers made by Big Chill. Is this the MOST amazing fridge you’ve ever seen?
It looks like a fabulous vintage restoration, but it’s WAY better than that! This awesome company makes these BRAND NEW refrigerators, complete with all the modern amenities such as ice makers and water dispensers, and minus all the trouble of an old fridge. I want one! I find myself daydreaming of the day when my old fridge bites the dust, so I can justify one of these babies! They come in a rainbow of candy like colors, plus now they do custom colors. I could get one to match my stove (see previous posts for pics of my fab vintage Chambers stove).
Also, now they even have matching Stoves! So, if you live in a house with a kitchen that was made for today’s sizes in stoves and would not have room for the extra wide vintage numbers, these are for you, my friend.
 Aren’t they just too cute? Both of these photos are from the Big Chill site, at www.bigchillfridge.com . Hmmm…hope they don’t mind me putting them on here, surely not since I’m saying such nice things about ‘em.
I love the colors and the feeling of nostalgia and FUN they create.
There were many comments on how CLEAN my kitchen looked in previous posts…LOL LOL LOL HAHAHAHAHA….My kitchen is not usually that clean! I just cleared all the junk out before I snapped a picture! You don’t want to see the random mess, you want the good stuff, right? But, it did get me thinking that it looked a little bare. I need some art and fun in there, and more vintage-y stuff. So, this swap couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m excited.
The kids are next door at my in-laws (yes. I live next door to my inlaws. just call me deborah), so I’m gonna take advantage of the time and go work on those ballerina boxes I keep dreaming about. XO
It’s funny. You know that saying about the shoemaker’s kids have no shoes….. We’ve lived in this house almost 2 years now, and I’m JUST NOW getting around to putting any artwork on the walls! What’s up with that? My husband recently begged me to get some art on the walls. OK. You KNOW it’s bad if the hubby is requesting artwork. bad. very bad. He was so desperate that he began to make me frames for non-existent paintings! LOL…. Isn’t this frame beautiful?! He made this out of 9 inch wide old baseboard moulding pulled from an old dilapidated Victorian home in Kansas. Is this shiney old blue paint the best paint you’ve ever seen or WHAT? I’ve had a stash of moulding for some time now, and when he asks me what I want for valentine’s day or Christmas or whatever, I always say “make me a frame out of this moulding or that trim” and he kind of grimaces because it’s all wonky and warped and hard to work with. So, one day I was out at the flea market and I came home to discover this HUMUNGUS frame! He had spent all morning building it. (these are the things that make a girl’s heart go pitter patter. This gets me in the mood WAY better than diamonds, but I digress )
The thing could survive a nuclear war, I think. He used a special pocket screw like cabinet makers use. It’s HEAVY and STRONG. SO, I got the hint. I was inspired by some vintage Catherine Klein postcards, she did so many with birds and roses, etc. Also inspired by a painting Christie Repasy did, which I’m pretty sure was inspired by the very same postcards! LOL! I just painted it for fun, for me, but want to give credit for the idea to those much more talented artists than I that I was studying! hahaha….. Anyway, I think it came out really cute and it’s hung over my sofa. It’s about three feet long.
Thought I’d also show the 3 postcards of C Klein’s that were the start of my inspiration:
Don’t you just love her work? The birds are so fat and fluffy and sweet. I thought about just framing the post cards, but they’re so tiny. So, once hubby built that frame, I had no excuses and just painted me up a 12×16 canvas for that sucker! By the way, around the same time, I did the bluebirds and lilacs painting for my sister, see my second February blogpost for a picture of that one.
Here is another sort of make-due art thing I put together. My friend Kasse of Miss Duffy’s loves this one and keeps bugging me to post it here, so here it is.
This is a little old child size garden gate! Is that the CUTEST?! I just (and when I say “I” of course I mean my husband. “I” was in a supervisory role) hung it on the wall, then took this fabulous old barbola picture frame with a favorite photo of my oldest son when he was only 5 months old and hung it on the gate.
Sidenote: I won’t be posting any current pics of my kiddos here. Too many lunatics in the world. But, this one is 4 years old so I thought it would be OK.
Detail of the corner of my vintage frame.
Since my husband’s pleas, I’ve only painted the one painting for myself. I have however hung mirrors, and a clock over our mantle (see my earlier posts). I need to do some more. Perhaps if he builds me another FABULOSO frame. Hmmm….maybe I can do a little sweet talkin’!
Don’t be like me! Make something for yourself and put it out and enjoy it. Don’t tear it apart looking for flaws, just enjoy that God gave you the gift to make something beautiful. All good and perfect gifts are from the Lord, and if he gave you a good and perfect gift, it’s a bit insulting to pick your work to pieces with analysis! just have fun.
I’ve been in such a springy mood. I’m itching to be more creative. There just aren’t enough hours in the day when you have 2 little ones! Birds, eggs, and roses have been my passion in painting for quite some time now. I just love ‘em! I just added 2 new paintings to my website for sale. Here’s a sneak peek!
Sweet Bird Family in a Rose Garland….2 feet long! Best real estate in town.
and another one…
sweet pink roses laying 16×8
Sold
If you’re interested in owning any of my paintings, please click on over to my site and choose “products” and then “art for grownups”!
Enjoy this beautiful March day, sweet bloggy friends.
 
 
 
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