Monday, July 23, 2012

Jack's Summer Photos

Just had to post Jack's summer photo shoot. Brittany Toomey did a great job with these. So cute! Especially the garden ones... and the creek ones...and the ones in the old chair.... and the......

I bought this old upholstered children's chair at a thrift store for 15 dollars.

Playing in the creek at the Parkison's

"Eastanallee Valley" beautiful area 

Running thru the Parkison's green beans!

...and running and running...

takin' it easy by the creek bank...

is this over yet???

Playing with his dad's hot wheels








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Friday, July 20, 2012

Beautiful Quilt.

My sister Sharon is very talented. She made this quilt for Jack last year. Her inspiration for color was a box of crayons and she wanted it to resemble children's blocks.

Today I entered it in the Living Heritage Museum's quilt contest. We are not sure if will be accepted for display but I really think it should. It's just beautiful.

I will be sure to keep you "posted"!

Sharon loves the Southwestern look. The quilt really captures her style.

All those little pieces are exactly the same size. Great work.

Just look at those stitches!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Movin' some Brick

Greg bought these handmade brick about 30 years ago. They came from an old building and of course we've never really used them for anything.

We moved them to Madisonville at my parents house about 25 years ago.  The neighbor up there offered to clean out the old fence row,which would make our mowing a little easier. Now I need to move these brick. There are roots growing around them, not to mention all the spiders and bugs that are making their home around.

Finally, I've decided to move all these brick, even if it's a few every day or so. I'm using a wagon since the old wheelbarrow had a flat tire. Would go a little faster if I had a "wagon train".


Glad Tanner mows cause I don't even know how to start it.
He rides, I push.

Tanner kind of reminds me of Forest Gump when he mows.
Watching him makes me smile, he takes it very seriously.

The neighbor offered to clean this up, Tanner will love that!

Yes, I am using a wagon to move these brick, For now anyway.
It doesn't look like a big job, but there's 100's of these heavy things!


Some of the Brick are stacked, my dad must have done this :)

So many brick underneath all these vines and roots.

Some of the brick is broken, but I'm picking it up and moving it anyway.







Tuesday, July 17, 2012

phone blogging?

Trying to find out how SMART my new phone is. Pic of my little reupholstered chair and an owl pillow that jes picked up for me.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.6

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Summer Time-Family Reunion Time

Second summer family reunion today. This one in Tellico Plains. My Aunt and Uncle have a wonderful cabin and lot on Turkey Creek and we've been going there since the 1960's. Fun times but miss all the family members who are no longer with us. Good times and hopefully us cousins can get together more often! 
My sister Marna

My Great Niece Bella

Bella's sister-Chelsea

Brianna-My cousin's daughter

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

While we're waiting for Mallie...

For halloween this year, maybe Jack will be dressed as a Big Brother. But it won't be a costume! It will be for real! Mallie is due to arrive sometime before the end of October. I am so excited to have a Grand # 2 and feeling blessed to have them nearby. Life is sweet.

Jessie already has a closet full of clothes for her. These kids have so many cute clothes, and Jess too, I told her she could start a fashion blog! I am looking forward to adding to that wardrobe with some handmade things from her Granna!

We love finding bargains and that's how the nursery is evolving...with bargains. First Jessie found a quilt and bumper pad at what we call the "baby junk store". Really it's a store that sells Target returns. At great prices!

This is the quilt she chose and the knitted afghan I found at Goodwill. They both have the chevron pattern so she is gonna be one styling baby.

Half price at the "Baby Junk Store"!

Found this afghan at Goodwill for only 4 dollars. I thought it would look great with the quilt.

Going to be sweet when Jessie get's it ready! Probably about 1 day before she arrives!

This Pea in a Pod tray I painted yesterday is going to be just a little added touch from Granna.


Don't you love those tiny sunglasses in the tray. They belonged to my aunt, Mallie's great, great aunt who is 90. It's a little hair clasp. Got to be sure to take a pic of her wearing it! 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Peas in a Pod Tray

I found this "peas in a pod" tray at Goodwill and it was only 25 cents! I also knew it would be perfect to paint for baby "Mallie's" nursery. Hope Jessie agrees! I'll post a few pics to let you see exactly how this project went.

Can't believe this was only a quarter! It does have a few scratches but that just add character :)



I chose the color "Watermelon", YUM

I spray painted the tray, let it dry, and then sanded it with a sanding block.
Quick and easy project!

Doesn't every little girl need a special place for her pearls?

 Wish you could see how cute it is.
I will certainly be on the lookout for more Pea Pod Trays!
What great gifts and in any color!


If you check out the Bower Power Blog,  there's a couple of Goodwill shoppers who found the same tray!
Goodwill and Peas in a Pod go hand in hand, no matter what city you're in!




Monday, July 9, 2012

"Dyeing" to have a pair of RED shorts!

Ok, I was not really wanting a pair of red shorts, but since I got paint on my favorite pair, I decided red  would be ok.  They were comfortable and a good fit, I wore them almost everyday.! And getting them at an outlet for 3.99 wasn't bad either. So I decided it was worth trying to dye them.


Which color to choose? Wine or scarlet? I went with the scarlet!


Be sure to check out the Rit Dye website!  You can find it here.
They will give you different methods of dyeing. I chose the old sink and bucket method.

Red paint on my favorite shorts :(
This is the tub I wanted to use for the dye .
 It took me a little more time to find other buckets for these shells. 

Be prepared, the red dye is looks really gross. 

Rinse until the water runs clear.

After being in the rinse for several minutes, I threw them in the washing machine and added a tiny bit of detergent.
And this is how they turned out. Yes you can still see the red paint on the shorts but...think they turned out OK, I actually kind of like them. Can't wait to try something else!

You can still see the paint, but only if you really look for it.


I am liking them more and more!


What I learned from this project:

1. If the directions say use gloves....then use them.
2. Concrete will absorb the dye :)
3. Keep your project in the dye for the recommended amount of time. ( I took them out after 10 min. or so)
4. There lot's of liquid so have several things you can dye, just for the fun of it.
5. The thread and the zippers didn't absorb the dye.
6. If I can do it...so can you! 




Friday, July 6, 2012

Wicker Headboard

I have been looking for a king size headboard for 25 dollars or less. Something I can paint a bright color, and I only needed the headboard, nothing else.
Finally found something that will do. It's in good shape and will look really cute painted. Well, I didn't measure it, but was told it was a king size. At only 20 dollars I couldn't go wrong! Thanks Habitat Store!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Spray Paint a Wicker Chair

I saw these bright outdoor wicker chairs at Pier 1 and loved them! But didn't like the price tag so much.



Then I remembered two chairs I had bought (very cheaply) at Big Lots or somewhere...several years ago.  The paint on my chair legs had turned a weird pink color and also was chipping off.  I had asked Greg to put them in the woods near the pond. And now, I wanted them back! So he and Jack rode the 4 wheeler up there and hauled them back down.  Now I 'll just add the pictures of my little project and see what you think. Used plastic paint for less then 10 dollars and I think they will stand in well for these more expensive ones! What do you think?!

These chairs were looking a little sad

Not only was the paint chipping, but had turned a pink color!

First coat of RED!

The chairs are some type of outdoor plastic so I thought this paint would be best.

Painted half to see what a difference a little paint can make!

The worse part was getting the red paint on my favorite shorts (very sad face here)
I will dye the shorts red and let you know what happens.
Why did I not change out of them!!!

I used this paint for the chair legs in the same color.
Wasn't sure how the plastic paint would do.

Drying the chairs and hadn't painted the legs yet either. I was still in mourning about the paint on my shorts.

I set them out to take a pic but still letting them have a lot of drying time.
But I think they are gonna look great!