Ah.... the joy of repurposing.... AGAIN

Recently while visiting my cousin Patty in Alexandria, VA, I was introduced to the cutest publication entitled Flea Market Style - 2011. Living in a small town, I don't always have the opportunity to grab this cute magazine due to quantities available and I jumped at the chance to obtain another copy. What cute complimentary ideas to any home.... I am on a serious hunt for nice shirts or blouses that will allow this idea to be embraced. A way-too-tight blouse proved to be a good choice as I made a cute collar for an old glass jar. Look around your house; you probably have some of these. I like to keep almonds in easy reach and this looks so cute. Try it - Thanks Jane (for posting photo of magazine).

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello - Excuse the brief absence; we've all been quite busy with holiday fun, removal of Christmas and all the other exciting chores we are involved in. I wanted to "get the jump" on Valentine's Day by showing off this cute heart. I love to recycle and reuse and was thrilled to find a much too small gorgeous RED sweater that needed a new look, so I did the usual - After shrinking it in hot water and drying same, I drew different sizes of hearts, cut them out, using a couple of buttons for embellishments and after two hours of looking for a tip in some book to show "how to do a blanket stitch", I thought of Google. Silly me - should have looked there first. I love the simplicity of this little number and it will find it's new home hanging on a door knob or perhaps hanging on a suction cup in a window. Hope you like it. Again - Happy Valentine's Day.

Snow covered clear jars (amost snow like)

Just had to give a sneak preview of a few of the items featured on our recent Open House tour. What a great time we had. My son assisted in moving this cute project to another level by using a product on the glass BEFORE adding glue and snow. This makes for easier cleaning. I drew the tree and he taped it - did his magic and waited hours for the snow to dry completely. They are so pretty with just a hint of glow at the bottom of the tree - Hope you like it. Look for more posts - perhaps tomorrow.

Making a definite impact - small or LARGE?

Each of us has probably purchased one of the black wrought iron wreath stands - I have a couple and use them a lot. While rummaging in the basement for something different for my Christmas Tree theme this year, I came across an old floor lamp - you know the type that has a swing arm or it can be stationary but think of re purposing it into a BIG wreath stand. I removed the electrical parts of this one about fifteen years ago with good intentions to rewire the thing, but it never was placed on any one's list of things to do. I've used it a couple of times to display an item and even a wreath - years ago, but only this week - realized how neat it would be to bring it out again. Dusting the cobwebs off was all it needed. My bathroom is very small, but what an impact this makes? This gem won't be cast aside any longer. Enjoy - oh - please check back in for some photos of our Christmas 2010 Open House. Merry Christmas.

From tablecloth to a "needed bed skirt"

I switch tables out like you would not believe. I must have owned about nine or ten during my lifetime. My current house is the only place I have lived that offered a separate room off the kitchen as a dining room. I used it as such for years, but always gravitated to the small table in the kitchen, or perhaps the small bistro table on the screened porch (off the kitchen). Our dining room was used mostly as a "pass through" to get to the short hall and bathroom, so a few years ago,Carl and I decided late one night to do some rearranging and get rid of the dining room atmosphere all together. It has worked quite well, for now I have a small TV room that tends to be our favorite spot. The windows face west and even on severely COLD days, the room receives plenty of sunshine to warm you. So, after all this explaining, I arrive at the reason for today's post. I was rummaging through my huge collection of tablecloths and found this really pretty, white with small blue scallops and cut-out work. Needing another fresh cottage look in our guest room, I removed about twelve inches from the center and still have the CENTER of the tablecloth to make a nice pillow sham. I had sufficient length to do several pleats which compliment the bed skirt. Careful planning and cutting is my only expense to this recent project. One of the photos shows a small view of my recent slipcovered rocker.

A cast-away chair gets new life

This old rocker has been around my sister's place for years; we traded a chair a few years ago and in the swap, I acquired this one. It was painted white a couple of years ago and nothing else done to it. It has sat outside in the elements for over a year and you can see from the BEFORE PHOTO - painting was done without any taping, so I decided yesterday to start a slipcover from a nice piece of Waverly fabric. I'm so.............glad I remembered to wash FIRST in hot water and dry because it shrank quite a bit. This little gem will come upstairs now and enjoy a corner in my guest bedroom. You gotta love this fabric in ANY color.

Autumn greetings from my front porch to yours

Sorry I've been out of touch for a while - too much going on and just couldn't get in the groove to blog. But I'm back today - Happy Friday also. My son just completed a makeover of my front porch. Removing a "not so good brick job from years ago", marks and scuffs from deck boards to original concrete substance was quite a feat, but it looks great. Our small 8x12 porch took 25 bags of concrete mix - I could not believe it. I look forward to this new smooth finish for many years. Enjoy the pillows from a previous post - I thought they would look great on the two chairs, flanking the small round table displaying an antique crochet piece. I made the large fall arrangement from my stash of stuff in the basement. Not a penny was spent on this autumn look. You gotta love any project that doesn't cost money.