"Fireplace Screen Transformation"

Obviously this fireplace screen serves only as a decorative purpose. I mean, does one really need a cover for a gas fireplace? Um no, probably not! Truth is I just like the look of having a decorative screen in front of a fireplace. I was about jumping for joy when I found this one while out thrifting around...for only $3.99! I looked at the original tag on the back (from the "real" store) and saw it had initially been marked $16.95. I thought, 'no way am I passing this up!' Of course I had to catch a vision and see beyond its current garden theme. (Which I do happen to think is very pretty; just not my decorating style in the living room.)

I measured the frame, then designed an eclectic mix of fabrics to fit together in an interesting pattern and got busy sewing the cover all together. Decided to also add some extra glam with ribbon and beaded trim. I'm pleased with the results. It serves absolutely no function whatsoever but it sure does look good to my eye :)

"Blast-from-the-past-ottoman"

I don't actively go out "garbage picking" - let me say that right off the bat! LOL You know what I'm talking about...those people who drive around in a junky old truck that looks like something right out of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and go searching through neighborhoods for "treasures" :) Uh no, that wouldn't be me, that's for sure...I don't have a truck and I don't drive around neighborhoods LOL However, I have happened upon items sitting on the side of the road practically begging me to take them home to magically transform HA HA HA

Case in point...the very ugly burnt orange, circa 1970s corduroy ottoman. Eeeeeew! Definitely a side-of-the-road special. Not a super busy road, mind you. That's one "rule" I have - or whatever ya wanna say. Nope, I don't ever stop on B-U-S-Y roads, period - only quiet streets. Gotta be able to do a quick grab-and-run LOL OK, well not really run but I sure don't go making a big 'ole spectacle of myself when it comes to - ahem - "curbside shopping" LOL Anyway....

"Plan A" for this dandy little disguise quickly turned to "Plan B" when the stapler just wasn't cooperating and frustration was progressively giving way to anger! (It's always good to have a Plan B LOL) A few measurements, some time at the sewing machine and a lot of pressing ('press, press, press' - my home ec teacher would always say!)....and voila! Here's a little cutie patootie coordinated cover-up for that 1970s ottoman to complement "Old Goldie" :)

"Old Goldie"

Now, I love to go thrifting. I mean, looooooooove it! I absolutely thrive on getting really, really great deals! So when I saw this gold chair at one of the local Goodwill stores priced @ $4.99, I knew it was going home with me. "Old Goldie" had good bones, I could tell that right away. Only problem was it looked like it came from some sweet little grandma's house or something. LOL Ah, but I had a vision.....

At first I thought maybe I'd sew a slipcover. That idea was quickly scrapped after considering how much work it'd be (oh, and not to mention the thought of making a slipcover that will fit well and look nice intimidates me for some odd reason....never mind that I sewed my wedding dress and more than 400 people saw it! he he he)

I knew I couldn't just leave it the way it was. Nope. It was just too ugly. People actually sit in this chair - lots! It's soooo comfortable but I just couldn't get the whole "it-looks-like-Grandma-furniture" thing out of my head. LOL Then the sides of the arms started ripping from teenagers dangling their legs across the sides, accidentally spilling this & that on it - OK, THAT WAS IT...gotta fix "Old Goldie"!!!

I got brave and actually started cutting out pieces to make the silly slipcover! Yup, I was gonna bite the bullet, conquer my fears and just do it! Ooooh, but then I chickened right out :) Thought I'd save myself a whole lot of frustration (definitely a perfectionist seamstress here - not always a good thing!) so I busted out my trusty glue gun to work a little bit of magic.

I guess I'd have to say I prefer a rather eclectic mix 'n match of fabrics in decorating. Nothing extremely outlandish but keep in mind "Old Goldie" was only 5 bucks so I didn't think twice about hot-gluing a variety of fabrics & ribbons to it. Overall, I'm very happy with the end result. It makes me smile to see "Old Goldie" all dolled up! LOL

Living Room....

I sewed the window treatments several years ago from fabric I found on sale at a local upholstery shop. I bought quite a bit of it at the time. If you look around the room, you'll see many touches of this same fabric that pulls everything together. Surprisingly enough, I have never gotten tired of it, even after almost 10 years of decorating with it!

I'll be sharing the "before & after" projects of the room during the rest of this week so be sure to visit again.

Thanks for looking at my living room!

House Tour...

Aw, what a bummer....we can't start the house tour today 'cause I've gotta make an unexpected trip out of town! But, c'mon back tomorrow and we'll begin in the living room :)

(Please disregard the uh, TP way up in that tree! We got tp'd the night before this picture was taken and were able to get everything down except way high up in that one tree. Obviously this is not a current picture of my house LOL As I'm sure you can tell by the cornstalks, it was taken last fall :)

Hope everyone has a great day - and remember....come back and visit tomorrow!

"TGIF"

I haven't been posting too much this week. Just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful, relaxing, fun weekend!

Be sure to come by next week for a visit - we'll go on a tour of my house and I'll show ya some different home projects I've done :)

A Night Out.....

Bobby & I attended a charity ball on Saturday for the local Chamber of Commerce. I had our daughter, Taylor, quickly snap a few pictures before we hurriedly made our exit so we would be on time. (As it turned out, we really could have gotten there later and it would have been fine.)

I need to set the stage of what was going on when this particular picture was taken. Bobby is telling me to hurry up and my annoyed response was, 'I know, I know but first we need to get a few pictures'. Then I reminded him (or was that complaining?!) how it really bugs me there are so few pictures of the two of us together. (Does this ever happen to anyone else?)

THEN I reviewed the photos Taylor had just taken....OH MY WORD! Immediate self-critical mode set in - here were some of my thoughts, 'That dress makes me look like a cow', 'My hair is lopsided', 'Yuk' - oh, those were just a few things I was thinking....

But then I also realized that hey, this is just me - it's fine - let's go enjoy a nice evening out.....and we did!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Wishing each one of you a beautiful day!

He Sang "I Will Be Here" Almost 18 Years Ago..

and he is still here! LOL Yup, I'm talking about my Valentine - the guy who makes me laugh every single day with his extremely vibrant outgoing personality and crazy sense of humor :)

Bobby sang "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman at our wedding going on 18 years ago. I have to tell you that even now when I hear it all these years later, my heart still skips a little beat and my mind goes back to that day. And it makes me smile every single time! (I heard it earlier today.)

We don't have a "perfect" marriage (uh, I'm wondering who does?!) but we love each other very, very much and have a lot of fun together. We've faced some very hard times during our marriage - each of us has lost a parent, there have been job changes, moves, births of 3 children, etc. - all of the things that just come with life - but ya know what? We've faced everything together and I think that's the key word here.

Bobby & I are just about total opposites in personality but we do balance each other well. For example, I struggle with being assertive; he has no problem in that area whatsoever - he's actually one of the most confident people I know! He likes to give me little "pep talks"...ha ha ha I also think I've mentioned this before but Bobby doesn't understand why someone would actually want to sit down and read a book unless you absolutely had to, like for a class or something. That cracks me up 'cause I LOVE reading so much! He might as well be speaking a foreign language if he talks 'sports' with me...vice versa if *I* talk about decorating and sewing! But like I said, we just seem to balance each other out :)

Here are the words to "I Will Be Here"...ooooh, I just LOVE that song!

I WILL BE HERE by Steven Curtis Chapman

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I will be here

If in the dark we lose sight of love
Hold my hand and have no fear
'Cause I will be here

I will be here when you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind, I will listen
And I will be here when the laughter turns to crying
Through the winning, losing, and trying, we'll be together
'Cause I will be here

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here

As sure as seasons are made for change
Our lifetimes are made for years
So I will be here

I will be here, and you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we're older, I will hold you
And I will be here to watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me
I will be here

Some Great Deals At Hobby Lobby!

Take a look at some of the awesome things I found at Hobby Lobby over the weekend! They have some incredible deals on home accents - the clearance prices are now EIGHTY PERCENT off the original price. Now, THAT, my friends, is an incredible deal!!! All of what you see in this picture only cost around $25. I like shopping trips like that...'cause I just can't bring myself to pay full price for too many things (unless I absolutely have to).

If you have a Hobby Lobby store near you, I'd go check out what is on clearance. I'll bet you find some good bargains just like I did :)

Thanks for looking!

A Very Weird Week...

School is closed again today....More snow is on its way....Let me assure that there are no complaining kids around my house :) LOL

Do You Like Snow?

If you like snow, then Michigan is the place for you this week! We're supposed to get even more snow in the next few days. It was really pretty at first and now...well, now I'm over that!!!! I'm dreaming of a laying in a hammock on a sandy beach listening to the ocean's waves somewhere warm. {Sigh} Well, a girl can dream, can't she?!

Snow, snow, snow!

We got almost 12" of snow in a 14 hour period yesterday! Of course all of the schools around here are canceled so my kids are absolutely ecstatic!!! I'll have to share some photos later today....

A Bright Spot In a Snowy World!

Yesterday I faced some challenges that really got me down, not to mention I'm having a bad case of the winter doldrums....so I bought myself a half-dozen of beautiful roses when I was grocery shopping yesterday ~ aren't they pretty? They've definitely brightened up my living room! When I look at them, I'll just have to dream that spring will be here soon......it's SNOWING again today :) C'mon, spring - all of us up north are ready for ya!!!!

5 Quirky Facts About Me...

1. Even though my given name is 'Michelle', mostly everyone calls me by my nickname - which is 'Shelly'. My dad's side of the family calls me 'Shelly' or 'Shell', while most of my mom's side of the family calls me 'Michelle'. (Often people quite close to me call me "Shell Bell".) Kinda funny, huh?!

2. I do not like radio talk shows with all the chatty banter, goofy call-ins, silly contests, annoying commercials - ugh, all of that gets on my last nerve!

3. OK, this one is really strange and quirky, I know.....I prefer to drink beverages out of a 'glass' glass and not a plastic one. Also, gotta have lots of ice. We are big-time ice users around here! What do I do if I'm at a restaurant or someone's house and the only option is a plastic cup? Well, I will drink out of it - but at home I like using a glass one.

4. You will probably find me wearing socks most of the time! I don't really like going barefoot too much. Only if I'm wearing sandals in warm weather or something - that's when I'm not wearing socks. (I even had socks on during each of the births of my 3 children!!! LOL)

5. I have a very difficult time handling raw meat. For instance, when mixing and shaping meatloaf. BLAH, YUK, GROSS, ICK - that sensation of meat through my fingers is just about enough to send me to the bathroom to be sick!!!!! (Needless to say, we don't eat much meatloaf around here....but not because of my "aversion" - no, simply because no one really likes it!)

So, there ya have it - more little-known facts that make me "ME"!

Have a great day!

The Yearlong Christmas Plan, Month 2

Last month I wrote about Kathy Peel's "Yearlong Christmas Plan". I mentioned that I would share about the plan at the beginning of every month. (WOW - can't believe it's February already - what happened to January?!)

FEBRUARY

*Before throwing out holiday issues of your favorite magazines, cut out ideas and recipes you want to keep. Start a file box for holiday ideas - decorations, crafts, gift ideas, foods.

*Begin jotting down family news every month for your Christmas newsletter.

Those Meteorologists Weren't Lying!

We had a winter storm around here last night. I guess all told we got about 3 inches of snow dumped on us. It's still snowing and blowing so who knows what the final tally will be?! I just have to go on record and say that I am tired of snow!!!!!!!! I'm soooo ready for spring to arrive - you just don't even have any idea!!!!!

I'm kind of a freak when it comes to our 16 year old son driving in the snow. Yup, I'm overprotective and worried and remind him to go slow, leave enough room between his car and the one in front of him, pump-pump-pump those brakes - you know, all of those "friendly MOM reminders"! LOL He always says, 'yeah, yeah, Mom - I KNOW! I'm a good driver.' And you know what? He really is! But it's his first winter driving alone with his full driver's license - that's why I'm overly concerned, I suppose.

Oh well, it's a good day to stay indoors (well, for me anyway since I'm not an outdoor winter sports fan!) and get some stuff done that I've been putting off :)