a sentimental PB knock-off

It's summer - well, almost; fair to say that we all have summer fever at least. so with that, it means new pillow covers in the Smith household - or its a good excuse for fulfilling that need to  make yet another round of pillow covers. A store called Tall Mouse carries fabulous quilting fabric and had a 50% off sale of their usual $9.99  a yard fabrics. So I stocked up a bit for pillows in our front room, pillows on the girls' beds and for a few dresses for the baby. I tackled the pillows first, using the purchased fabric and a few sentimental things I picked up from both my grandmother and great grandmother.

the blue and gold prints are fabric I bought; the pink "blanket" is a vintage tablecloth that I found in my grandma's linen closet. I love the whimsical and girly look of it. No one knows that it's a tablecloth unless I tell them, right?

the brown and orange on the left and right sides are bought fabrics, and the middle pillow was one of a pair I picked up at a garage sale for 25 cents each.

Although I have yet to actually sew these into throw pillow covers, I just love the yellow and white pillow cases that, again, were in my Grandma's closet. I remember choosing these pillowcases for my pillows when I stayed all night with my grandparents when I was a child. All the more reason to bring them home with me! And the fun flower one? Another half off fabric - the choices were endless at the sale!

Now on to my favorite pillow of the selection presently in my home:  Here are the ones shown in Pottery Barn - the vintage flower pillows:

...and here are mine that I made using vintage fabric that I acquired after my great grandmother died in 2002.

I've held on to it and finally found it justified to cut it up and create pillow throws - after all, if it's in Pottery Barn, it's justified, right? Who doesn't love their look? And I think I like "free" quite a lot better than PB's overprices. Now as I look at these photos of the pillows, I think I will break out the iron for a few obvious reasons...

Happy Day!

Soon to be treasures...

With the passing of my grandma comes the clearing out of my grandparents' house. This process brings my mom to tears - literally, every time we enter the house - not for the sadness of it she claims but the feeling of being so overwhelmed with all the stuff and what to do with it. I am trying to be of some help while I am here but I will admit, I am sorting through things right now finding what keepsakes I would like to keep and ship back to California. I happen to be the sentimental one of the four of us females (my mom, aunt and sister). Right now I can't get past the basement where a lot of the older keepsakes have been sitting. My grandpa's work bench kept my attention for at least 2 hours yesterday afternoon. What I'd really like to take back is this...

I know, I know, most of youy probably just see junk. I see a handmade workbench/table that my Grandpa made and transferred from one house to another. I see a redone craft table and blue spray paint or maybe white with some glaze to age it a bit - or maybe keeping it the light bluish green color that it is with the paint splatters and all.

However, sadly, with a big frown, I might as well stop "seeing" anything because I live too far away and can't have it. Any Illinois friends want to come and take this apart and make wonders out of it...

or how about this...

Story is when my Grandpa opened his flooring business back in the 40's, this was in the building and he brought it home for the basement. Again, craft storage, paint, keep the glass knobs...remove the doors for open storage....

hmmmmmmmmmmm...wishful thinking.

Any Illinois takers?

I just love it!

Am I the only one who sees potential in these pieces?

My mom just looks at me like I have reached insanity.

I see functional. potential. sentimental keepsake.

surely these have some craftin' value for some unknown project in my future...

 and these flowers were in a paper bag with only 4 in the bag - I convinced myself that Grandpa just left those there waiting for me to find them.

there's a coat hanger shelf thingamagig in the making with all of these hooks...

my favorite simple little find of the day...how cute is this?

and oh how I wonder the story behind this.

and this tall treasure is coming home with me somehow -- weather I ship it or saw it down to fit in my suitcase, I can see some type of picture holder with ribbon or wire in this piece...

So there's my rescued trash waiting to be treasured!

(Annie, I think you need these workbenches out at your house!)

Happy Day Everyone!

goodbye birdies...

I love change. I've never been too afraid of change. I always say the anticipation of change is worse than the actual process of change. make sense? i get teased often by anyone who enters my house because change is evident pretty much on a weekly basis in my house. I suffer from some type of obsessive redecorating syndrome. It's constant. The couches move places, the tables are in different corners, something might be blue one week and painted yellow the next - and don't even get me started on pillow covers. BUT I tell my husband that it keeps me from shopping in stores, because yes, if he told me I could go to Pottery Barn to redecorate the house,

I'd be there waiting for the doors to open!

So next on the change list is the twins' bedroom. We've put away the linens for Izzy to use next and the girls  have "grown up" a bit and claim they are too big for the birds on their wall. Ok, so I like most change, but when it has to do with the girls growing up and growing out of things, that tugs at my heart a bit.

When we return to California from Illinois, the birdy wall that we painted to match their Pottery Barn kids linens and quilt is getting a makeover.

I had lots of help from Carol, an artistic family friend, in painting the tree on the wall and thank goodness for several sentimental pictures that I have to save for memory sake. Prego pictures and Izzy's newborn pictures.

I have been focused on this idea (from Spearmint Baby) for several months now

I've been collecting the letters from stores, garage sales and thrift stores. I've found cloth letters at tjmaxx for 50 cents and paintable new ones from crafts stores for $1. It's been fun putting together the hodge podge collection. I intend to add a few extras - such as butterflies by the B and a big vintage pink cat that I found at a thrift store next to the letter C - extras that just add to the whimsical look of it all.

Blue paint and the ABC's are really all we will need -- and time, kid-free time to get the painting completed.

Here are two cheapo gems that I found at tjmaxx...

always the best part! what a sale!

I turned those above into these below...

I can't wait to finish this project and better do so soon while the girls are still focusing on learning the alphabet and not algebra!

Linking to...

one fab rehab!

I think i've committed a blogger's sin - I am a straight-up COPYCAT on this project and I can't for the life of me find the talented girl's blog that I "borrowed" (ok, stole) this idea from for this FAB makeover. She had a beautiful blog, and a step by step tutorial for a table that she stained and painted. I copied the steps down on a piece of paper knowing that "someday" (wow do I love that word) I wanted to put this to use. She was only 26 years old and had an incredible eye for decorating and I commented that I think at 26 I was still concerned as to what rock poster to hang up in my Chicago apartment and had no clue what rehabbing furniture was, let alone, HOW to do it! So I admire you mystery blogger, enough to copy your work -- so with admiration and apology both, here is my fab rehab....

Some are addicted to Nordstrom's Rack, and some are addicted to Goodwill. I fall in the 2nd category. If I am in that area of the GW, my car just somehow turns into the parking lot, just "to look" "just in case..." So on my last "just in case there might be a trash to treasure jewel" in there, I found this table for $30. SCORE! I've always loved the rustic look of this type of furniture.

Following the mystery blogger's method, I sanded, then stained the top of the of the table with espresso colored dark stain -- and with this being my first staining project, it took me quite some time to get it as dark as I wanted. I then spray painted the legs with a creamy white paint, sanded them a bit, and then added black glaze to age them a tad more. it turned out just as i had hoped! i replaced our kitchen table with this "new" table and love the look. and it all happened so quick which is a shocker for me - i tend to store my projects for awhile until i actually get a free moment or a free hand or kid-free moment to get to work on it -- but this was purchased on Thursday, redone on Friday evening, and ready to eat on in the kitchen on Saturday morning. Record timing for me!

(well aware of two seat covers and two missing seat covers -- quickly learned that cloth seat covers and small children do not match well together)

WAIT a minute - i forgot to mention the best step of the whole process. Distressing the table with a chain - again, an idea I borrowed from mystery blogger. It made such a neat rippled effect of dents on the top of the table - and had it not been the loudest noise I've ever heard and if the neighbors wouldn't have come out to see what all the racket was, I would have continued the distressing step way beyond what was needed because it was effective cheap therapy!

 

our little get-away

this is a little area, our little "get-away,"  that we have in our back patio that we make great use of when the weather treats us well - which here in California, is almost daily. the chairs and loveseat i purchased a few years ago at the end of the summer when Target likes to mark down their summer stuff at a desirable price. the canopy we added just last fall after my husband won/earned it in a work-incentive goal type program at state farm (good thing i don't have to go into further detail about that program because as you can tell, i am not really sure what i am talking about!) it was just the touch we needed to make it more comfortable out there and to shield us from the daytime sun that can be rather blinding. and the final touch - the pair of tables i scored at a garage sale that i held with my friend. her husband had them in his bachelor pad and had purchased them from Room & Board, a furniture store where, let's just say, you aren't really going to find those Target prices that i just mentioned a few sentences back. she graciously parted with the pair for $50. i added some of that -- um, shiny stuff that allows it to be weather-resistant and hold up to the moisture -if i didn't have a sick baby in my hands while typing this, i'd go into the garage and read the correct name of that shiny weather stuff, but the baby takes priority - those of you who are queens of rehabbing furniture, you know what i am talking about, right? Fifty bucks and a small can of shiny stuff for another $5 - a great deal and a fabulous find!

and i think izzy found her own purpose for the table...

linking up to fun furniture blog parties...

Finding Fabulous & Mustard Seed Creations

  

T G I F friends -

and those attending Blog Sugar, sure can't wait to meet you all!

my someday garage...

why is it that California homes do not have basements? i am sure my answer is just a google-search away, but unless researching that answer is going to miraculously create a basement underneath  my house, i don't care to take the time to answer my question. i've come to the conclusion that the midwest basement is a California garage. my garage is a DEEZAAAAASTER!!! it deserves it's own spelling of the word disaster because it is THAT bad! ok, not AS BAD as the random picture i found online, but bad enough to lead me to find a random online picture to post rather than fess up to my own mess and show you a real picture of my garage. AND bad enough that when my mom visits from Illinois, she in the most polite way mentions that i should seriously apply for one of those cleaning shows like "clean house" or whatever those de-cluttering home shows are. if i'd qualify, come on over, believe me, but the messy garage is somewhat of a sensitive topic with me. I defend myself to whoever comments (the "good" friends and neighbors have learned to bite their tongue) that my husband moved me here from the midwest and that i had a basement that ran the width of my house - HUGE - tv room, extra bedroom with full bath, storage beyond storage, -even storage areas that i didn't even have to use -- anyone seeing my garage right now would think i was a bit fat liar on that one! but yes, the basement comes in quite handy for things you just might want to hang on to.


i have managed to keep a carpeted toy area for the girls, ever since moving in 4 years ago, and they have toys galore, but for "some reason" they still migrate to my next door neighbor's who has the spotless, well-organized, no distractions, allows-you-to-spread-out-and-play, everything labeled, educational garage. No, i  am not jealous, can you tell? so it is my goal, yet for another year, to get that garage in a functional state. and by that i don't mean a car will ever be parked in the garage - that's a rarity in California it seems, but funtional for the toy room and my piles of craft supplies.


i took izzy a walk in her stroller the other day and while walking away from my own deesaaaasterous garage, i decided to be the nosey neighbor and take inventory of every garage that i passed that was opened. here is what i discovered for the purposes of California garages:

- a storage unit for 6 motorcycles

-a home for a woman's wedding floral business on the weekends

- an office complete with a computer, desk, tv and bookshelves (accompained by a very old broken down car adjacent to the office)

- a storage unit for boxes and more boxes and what must be even her neighbor's boxes because no one should own that many boxes.

-a workout area with a spotless checkered tile floor with a treadmill and tv hanging from the ceiling - that's it, just a treadmill and nice shiny floor. once again, not jealous.

-a storage unit for strollers - from what i could see, there were 6 strollers in this garage.

- a storage unit for furniture - couch, 2 chairs, dining room hutch, various dining room chairs, a bed frame - basically, enough furniture to house a 2nd home.

-another home for a floral business (who has a floral shop nearby our home but needs the garage for even more storage)

I am happy to report that i returned from my walk a little relieved that i am not suffering alone in this messy garage-missing-my-midwest-basement syndrome. (well, possibly i am alone in missing the basement part as some haven't had the luxury of a basement.) i do have a pile the size of my sequoia waiting for this weekend's garage sale, and i did tackle my many teaching crates from my previous years of teaching and weeded out quite a bit of supplies for the sale this weekend - so see, it's all good! i am not going to qualify for the decluttering shows, and my girls are going to love their someday organized toy room ..again, someday. until then, dreaming of this...

dreaming and dreaming...

but still smiling!