A Take Home With A Story

Last week I posted about our day at Lucketts.
Today I'll show you what we took home.
You already saw the beautiful mirror that my daughter purchased. It's new green paint looks fabulous in her living room.
She also got a few old bullseyes. We hung the set above her kitchen window to give it a little architectural interest.What did I take home?

I fell in love with these
two good-sized pieces of vintage architecture.
An old corbel and what I think is the base or the top to a column. The nice thing was that they both fit inside my carry-on bag.

The not-so-nice thing was that when my bag went through the x-ray machine I heard the TSA agent call for a "bag check."
Then another TSA agent picked up my bag and tested it for explosive matter.
She asked if she would be hurt by anything when she opened my bag.
I explained that it was just filled with a couple of old architectural pieces.
When she opened it she told me she had to call her supervisor.
The supervisor came over to examine my bag.
After I told the two about the wonderful store where I purchased the pieces they decided that I appeared to be a reasonably sane woman and I likely wouldn't be using the blocks of wood to knock anyone over the head in order to hi-jack the plane.

Don't you just love it when the items in your home can lead to
a great story?!?!Don't forget to enter the HouseHold Words Giveaway

Delayed by Delivery

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged! But I have a perfectly wonderful excuse. My only daughter, who up until a couple of weeks ago looked like this, delivered a beautiful baby girl. I was thrilled to spend time many hours of "girl time" with the two of them (thanks to my sharing son-in-law). It was so hard to leave this gorgeous bundle of happiness. But my boys were at home and apparently I'm the only one who knows how to buy fruits and vegetables. They would still be eating hotdogs and bacon if I didn't return.
Now that I'm home and there are healthy snacks to be had, I'll be back to blogging and sharing some of the photos I took of our girl time.

The Girl Has Taste

Last week I took my three-and-a-half year old granddaughter to the thrift store to shop for a gift for her momma. Why the thrift store? Well, the thrift store and the dollar store are two of the smallest stores around which makes it much easier to keep track of a very active three year old. And out of the two choices the thrift store definitely has a wider variety of pretty junk. First we visited the toy aisle to get that distraction out of the way so we could better focus on our gift finding mission. Taking a child to the toy aisle of the thrift store can keep them entertained for quite a while. Three year olds don't seem to be bothered with the fact that most of the toys are broken or have dead or missing batteries. Once she had experienced broken toy overload we went on our journey to find the perfect gift. After searching high and low (me-high shelves, her-low) we were both ready to throw in the towel and resort to the traditional gift of a handmade card. It was then that she picked up this vintage darling off of the bottom shelf. I'm sure she didn't base her choice on the age of the item, it's color, or classic style. Her choice was likely based on how fun and easy it was the flip the lid up and down. Nonetheless she made a great choice. All that was needed to make it a perfect gift was the addition of some fresh color coordinating tulips, a tag and bow. . . along with a wish for a Happy Mother's Day and a hug and kiss. Her momma was very happy. And I, her nonnie, was pretty proud of her great taste and superb thrifting skills!

Designer Plastic

Every Sunday we gather as a family to eat in our dining room. It has been a tradition since we moved into this home. We set out "Sunday" dishes, glasses and even unique-to-Sunday salt and pepper shakers. We light a candle or two and enjoy having a delicious dinner, usually cooked by my hubby. And we always have a tablecloth. . .well, not a reeeal tableCLOTH. We can be a sloppy bunch and I don't want to spend my week soaking and removing stains from a real tablecloth so I resort to the plastic variety. But it can be difficult to find a faux tablecloth that doesn't look too country or too grandma-y. So imagine my delight when I found these beautiful covers at Big Lots the other day. Look! Lovely colors and designer patterns. I had to stock up on all they had in my difficult to find table size. I couldn't pass up such pretty, practical, and priced-to-please plastic!

Reminiscing The Past With The Present

When we were first married my husband and I always had a real tree for Christmas. The tree selection process would take nearly the entire day as we would visit several lots trying to find the biggest and cheapest tree (almost always under $10). There were a couple of years that we were lucky enough to find a tree with a double trunk which meant that it would fill up the entire six foot window of our first home. When our children were young we took them to a wooded lot to select and cut down the Christmas tree.
As the years progressed and the prices of Christmas trees increased we began to celebrate the holiday with artificial trees.This year I tried to put up the old artificial tree in the family room. . .several times in fact, yet every time it just looked too pitiful to trim. My frustration mounted as the sad, unadorned tree leaned against the wall day after day.
Last Saturday, just a week before Christmas, we shopped at a freight damage store. That morning before we left I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if the store was selling real trees for a big discount." True enough, an announcement was made that Christmas trees were being cleared out for $10. I was smiling from ear to ear as I ran through the store to find the exit where the trees were, my husband trailing behind trying his best to keep up with his giddy wife.Once home the real tree was placed in an old bucket filled with water hidden inside a garden urn. Not only was the tree a bargain so were the decorations---most were purchased at dollar stores over the past few years.

It's our bargain tree that looks like a million!

Uncreative Break

I've been missing in action for a few days. Not because I have been up to anything wonderfully creative. Simply because I've needed to do the mundane things of life.

A little weeding

and turning my junk drawers into junque drawers.

Best Fool

Today is a wonderful holiday, the first of April---April Fools Day. A day for playing fun practical jokes. And being the joker that I am, I wanted to play one on you. But my mind is blank, empty, containing nothing of humor. Me! The person who loves to laugh. The one who has people walk up to her in a crowded room and say, "I knew you were here because I heard your laugh." (to which I often reply, "Please tell me I don't sound like a cackling witch.")
I'm always up for a good laugh and a great joke.

But today I have nothing.

So I'll share my most memorable April Fools Day joke. It was played on me by son #1 years ago in our previous home. The boy sneaked into our master bathroom and very carefully placed those little snappers (the small twisted white paper packages that make a loud POP when they're thrown to the ground) under the toilet seat, one snapper on each of the pods of the seat. When I went into the room to sit, those little packages EXPLODED causing me to scream so loudly the neighbors would wonder. Of course immediately following the scream was the sound of laughter both inside and outside the bathroom door!My sons have tried to repeat the infamous prank, but to no avail. This momma catches on pretty quick!

What is your most memorable
April Fool's Day joke?

Finally

I did promise a post yesterday, but we had a doctor appointment to remove stitches from the surgery on #3's femur (he had a titanium rod placed in his leg). We received news that he won't be leaving for a few weeks---for his own safety. We were disappointed, but we know it's for the best. And then, with all the chaos that has been our life, I misplaced my camera cord. It's been found. Now, finally, I think I'm able to get back to you. Thanks again for being so patient.

One of the delights of the season for me is to walk into each room in the early hours of dawn and flick the switch to
light up the Christmas tree.
There is something so magical about bringing
the light of Christmas into a room, especially at that time of day.
I go from room to room lighting each tree.

The Living Room Tree

The Computer Room Tree

The Family Room Tree

The Tree in our Master Bedroom
I have a supply of these little helpers.
( Found in most stores where extension cords are sold).You simply plug them into the outlet and then plug the Christmas lights into the switched plug. It's so handy to simply use a switch instead of plugging and unplugging every morning and night.
It really is fun to control the lighting magic with
just the flick of a switch.

It's Personal

Two weeks ago last night we sat in a hospital anxiously awaiting news of Son #3 's surgery. He had two broken legs and the surgeon was concerned that there could also be some internal bleeding. It was a very emotional evening.

Last night we sat in a theater happily laughing as we watched Son #3, along with Son #2, perform in their improv. group. #3 was able to perform with only the aid of a cane. It too was a very emotional evening.

We were witnesses of a miracle.

As you know, I rarely share details of my personal and family life here. But tonight I feel inclined. You may have noticed that I am a member of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In November, Son #3 was called to serve a church mission in New Zealand, teaching the gospel in Mandarin Chinese. His leave date is December 16th. Yes, this young man broke both of his legs a mere two and a half weeks before he is due to leave to serve the Lord full-time.

I know with assurance that he was healed because of faith, priesthood blessings, and many, many prayers. And because the Lord needs this wonderful, faithful, strong, big-hearted son to serve the people of New Zealand for the next two years.

Several of you wrote to tell me that you would add your prayers to ours. THANK YOU! I appreciate your love, concern, thoughts and prayers in our behalf. It is so heartwarming to know that even though you really don't "know" my family, you still prayed for us. We are indebted to you and are very grateful for your faith.

You are a part of our miracle!

Son #3 is back on his own two feet,
a little wobbly, but he is back.

Thank you for being so understanding and patient with me while I was tending to my family's needs. I will be back sometime Monday with lots of goodies to share.

In Progress

It often seems that, because of the wonders of blogland, everyone gets projects done in a timely way and those projects magically look fantastic. I can sometimes feel a little low, wondering why that same magic doesn't happen at my house. Why can't I completely redecorate a room in a day, or a week, or even a month?
Take my guest room for example (a.k.a. daughter's abandoned room that she and her hubby come to stay in when they're in town). I started that project last December, added to it in February, and completely ignored it until this week. Why did I start working on it again? The changing of the weather of course! I've wanted to paint the headboard and footboard. I had to spray paint it before the weather gets any colder. I gave you a sneak peek of it earlier. It was only a peek because it wasn't the overall look that I had in mind.
The bed was originally our master bed. It came from the PB outlet. I loved the style, more than the color. But (***pay attention to this next line***) changing the color intimidated me. Yes, you read that correctly! I liked the finish but not the color. I was afraid if I changed the color that I couldn't achieve the same aged look. But I finally I got brave enough, reminded myself that "it's just paint" and took the plunge!I sprayed it a beautiful Aqua. It will look so pretty against the grayish walls and topped with the chocolate brown comforter. Yes, aqua was a bold, but beautiful color choice.Now on to the part that I feared. Aging and distressing has proved to be challenging. I started the usual way, a little sanding and a little scraping. But the primer white was coming through. No problem. A little staining will fix that, right? As well as add to the age.The stain went on a little blotchy and didn't cover the primer white spots.
What was the solution? Well, I remembered from my days of refinishing furniture that a rub of very fine steel wool helps to even out almost any stained finish. And, fortunately it worked marvelously!As to the primer white age spots, I took a clue from the original PB finish. I took out my brown acrylic craft paint and my teeny tipped paint brush and painted on those little worn marks! Yep! If it's good enough for the PB people, it's good enough for me!As for the final reveal of it's new make-over, you'll have to wait patiently along with me for it to dry completely. I wouldn't want to have to start this process all over again. It might take another ten months!

New York, New York

My daughter treated me to a bus ride up to New York city for a weekend visit. We stayed with a really cute and gracious couple who live there, which was nice because they knew the area and could help us find great ways to spend our time. We spent much of Saturday shopping flea markets.
We had so much fun! It was part of a perfect day in the big city.
We went to one market that's housed in an old parking garage. Oh there were so many things that I would have loved to take home, but I resisted.We also shopped at the Hell's Kitchen flea market. I did find a little something there that I couldn't resist. This cute little suitcase.Isn't it the perfect topper for my stack?