Let's talk linens...

Until recently I've never been one to shop Goodwill or Thrift Stores for linens. Ick, right? Wrong! There is very little that some hot water and All won't take care of! If it's stained, I'm probably not going to touch it but otherwise I'll consider it.

After Nester did a series that included fluffing up the Master Bedroom by adding fabric, I realized just how sparse my bedroom was in the fabric area.

I bought some Shabby Chic bedding on clearance at Target long ago but had never really been happy with the look of all of it. So...recently, I found these king size pillow shams at GW for $5. They are in great shape and a name brand (oooooh).



Then I found this bedskirt (also name brand - aren't I special?) at GW for $2.60!


I found this coverlet on the side of the road after someone finished up their yard sale and left the rest for the trash man. The little roses are not my style or colors but I picked it up to use for camping.

I quickly realized how pretty the reverse side was and that I could use it wrong side up to add some interest to my bed.

None of the colors necessarily match which was hard for me at first. I struggle hard against the matchy, matchy bug, however with counseling from Christina I've quickly come to love how all the colors coordinate and blend in a soft way. Now, I just need to find me some cheapo GW curtains and I'll be done!


Stay tuned this week and I'll try to share more pictures of my bedroom. It has just been painted so everything is not back in place yet.

~Victoria~

Favorite Things Friday

My house is TORN UP from some recent remodeling but I wanted to post a couple of my favorite things today.

This little vignette Christina set up for me.


My new library bag, bought for a quarter at a yard sale.

Love the way the color of these books pop.
My Father-in-law started a tradition several years ago of buying my Mother-in-law, my sister-in-law and myself a flower every Easter. We have received baskets of pansies, orchids, Easter lillies, etc. This year he included my Sweet Girl in his tradition and bought her this little pot of daisies. She loves them and insisted on putting them in her bedroom.


Wednesday, Sweet Girl and I had a picnic in the living room floor. We sat down to eat when she said "uh oh, we need a CENTERPIECE!" Really? My 3 year old is telling me we need a centerpiece!!! She ran and brought her daisies to add as our centerpiece.

Christina bought me this little plaque at Ross for $2.99. It was white which didn't make the center stand out. I spray painted it black to give it a little more definition.

My Sweet Girl dressed up to dance to classical music. She LOVES doing this! New Mommies, if you want your children to LOVE classical music, have it playing for them often.


Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my favorite things. Go find a favorite thing in your house that makes you smile and enjoy your Friday!

~Victoria~

Laundry soap and kittens

So, what do laundry soap and kittens have to do with each other???? Nothing at all, but we have some of both today.

So, my dear hubby brought laundry soap home last week and neither of us can stand the pour spout built into the bottle. Btw, we do know that the bottle isn't suppose to sit the way it is in the picture. We had it on a shelf, but it just annoyed us both and still was drippy after we put the cap back on.



So enter this Limeade bottle and some spray paint.



Now, it becomes a bottle for dispensing detergent that we can both live with.



Yes, I'm weird.

Now, for the kitten part. We have a cat and kittens who have taken up residence on our porch.


We are not cat people, (don't panic yet) in fact having a dog is pushing it for my hubby. Until we found the kittens we were going to try to run the girl cat off, but as soon as we found the kittens hiding, we of course are caring and concerned for them and the mommy. So we now have four cats---until they are old enough to leave to good homes. They will have to all go--cats just can't just stay here---no ifs ands or buts. So how do I prepare them for a good home? Do I wet some cat food down for the babies as they get older. One of the kittens is more social. It came out of hiding and playfully licked the food yesterday, but didn't pick any up. The mommy is nursing them and they appear to be relativly healthy. Mommy was very glad to see food though, so she may not have a home elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Any advice??? Please be gentle about us not being cat people. They will be taken care of, but will have to go. I would guess they are about 3 to 4 weeks old. Guessing?????

Thanks girls!!

Christina

Our Hope

I Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not frightened: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

This is one of my son's favorite songs. It seems appropriate on this day. I love the wonderful hymns of Easter, but I wanted to add something different that you don't usually hear on Easter.

• End of the Beginning by David Phelps

Lyrics

I was taking a trip on a plane the other day, just wishin’ that I could get out.
When the man next to me saw the book in my hand and asked me what it was about.
So I settled back in my seat. "A best-seller," I said, "a hist’ry and a myst’ry in one."
Then I opened up the book and began to read from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

"He was born of a virgin one holy night in the little town of Bethlehem.
Angels gathered ‘round Him underneath the star singing praises to the great I AM.

He walked on the water, healed The lame, and made the blind to see again.
And for the first time here on earth we learned that God could be a friend.
And though He never ever did a single thing wrong, the angry crowd chose Him.
And then He walked down the road and died on the cross and
that was the end...of the beginning."

"That’s not a new book, that’s a Bible," he said, "And I’ve heard it all before.
I’ve tried religion, it’s shame and guilt, and I don’t need it anymore.
It’s superstation, made-up tales, just to help the weak to survive."
"Let me read it again," I said, "But listen closely, This is gonna change your life."

"He was born of a virgin one holy night in the little town of Bethlehem.
Angels gathered ‘round Him underneath the star singing praises to the great I AM.

He walked on the water, healed the lame, and made the blind to see again. And for the first time
here on earth we learned that God could be a friend. And though He never ever did a single thing
wrong, the angry crowd chose Him. And then He walked down the road and died on the cross and
that was the end...of the beginning."

"The end of the beginning?" he said with a smile. "What more
could there be? He’s dead. You said they hung Him, put nails in
His hands and a crown of thorns on His head." I said, "I’ll read it
again, but this time there’s more.

And I believe that this is true: His death wasn’t the end but the beginning of life that’s completed in you.
Don’t you see, He did allthis for you..."

"He was born of a virgin one holy night in the little town of
Bethlehem. All the angels singing praises to the great I AM.
He walked on the water, healed the lame, and made the blind to see.
And for the first time here on earth, did you know that God could be a friend?
And thought He never ever did a single thing wrong, He was the one the crowd chose.
And then He walked and He died, but three days later, three days later, three days later...
He rose! Three days later He rose!

You see, He came, He lived, and He died, but that was the end of the beginning.

Have a wonderful Easter!

Christina and Victoria

Hippity Hop

A view of some bunnies around my place...
Little bunny painting bought for a quarter last year at a yard sale, nestled amongst a bed of lace (also bought for a quarter) in my anniversary apothecary jar.

On fear of death from my sister I am posting these pictures of my bunnies. He he. :) Remember these bunnies that I bought at Goodwill last summer? I spray painted them yesterday with one of my new favorite colors - Rustoleum Glacier Blue. They are hard to photograph as they are made of chicken wire. For now they are just holding some Easter eggs but they'd be pretty holding some of the violets that Christina showed yesterday!




Speaking of the glacier blue paint ... see this baby I bought at Goodwill yesterday?

Here it is with a pretty coat of paint with my chickies.

Forgive the lighting in all these pictures. I took them at 8am this morning before I ran out the door to work! :)

Now...if I could just get a picture of the real bunny that ate my tulips!!!!!!

~Victoria~

Using What You Have on Hand for Spring

Spring break around here! I know many of you are also on spring break. Nothing much is going on, including decorating for Spring and Easter. It is just not going to happen to the extent that it does some years. That's ok. We will still have spring baskets with goodies, do the usual egg dying and top it off with an egg hunt on my parents property. Hopefully nice weather will be involved, but you never know around here. My hubby was at lunch today with a friend and they looked out and saw snow flurries.

So, as to not completely miss decorating with a bunny somewhere, I ran out this afternoon and rescued a pollen encrusted bunny from our patio. Sure, a coat of white paint would have been fabulous, but I didn't have any and if I waited to do this, it wouldn't have happened.

Do you have violets in your yard? We do---along with our dandelion collection. So I dug some up---with a pair of old scissors---yes, didn't even go in and get a shovel---again, waiting would have caused it not to happen. Also dug some rose campion (looks like lamb's ear) and some succulent type plants.



Add violets and others plants to a collection of little white containers found here and there in the cabinets. Victoria found the creamer that goes with my dishes at Goodwill for $1.21,

the two gravy dishes were included with the cheap platter (bought for Thanksgiving), the wonderful au gratin dish was given to me by my mother and father in law--a whole set of them. The small white pot came from Ikea for 49 cents. I can't believe I only bought one. Victoria did buy three---much smarter than me.



For my kitchen table I pulled out an interesting gold platter/plate also found at Goodwill. I added a cloche that Victoria found while thrifting for $1.51. She found six of them and generously gave me two. So, what's a girl to do---add two beautiful heads of garlic, of course. Garlic is springy...yes??


I then added a beautiful green apple from the fruit bowl and a fake!! yes, fake plant from Ikea. It looks very real and doesn't need water!! That's a winner in my book.



Added some brown paper bag and twine to hide the ugly pot. My first thought was burlap, but I was too lazy to get it out right then. The brown paper bag gives it a kitchen sorta look. You know, like when the butcher cuts you a piece of meat and wraps it in butcher paper--well that seldom happens here, but it's a nice thought. You can even see laundry in the background. That is what my table was covered with when I took the pictures. Life! Live it! Laundry and all. Oh, and add some garlic to a cloche! ; )

Edited to add: Here are some more pictures of the tray on my kitchen table now that the laundry is gone. It was $3.something at Goodwill. I love the gold with lots of bits coming off. Not sure what it was, but I may eventually add a monogram on it and hang it on the wall. This is one of those favorite finds that though small and inexpensive, I really love.

Here is one of the edges.


Isn't it pretty?





Happy Tuesday!! Off to check some of your blogs.

Christina

It's the Little Things

Happy April 1st! Spring is here in these parts and so is the pollen! Oh so much pollen. With it comes sneezing and itchy eyes, but even so there is beauty abounding. Just add lots of allergy meds and all will be well. ; )

Lots of pictures today of things that inspire me. Very random, but so many little random things make me happy.


My sister-in-law Julie made these fabulous flower cookies and cupcakes for her daughter's 2nd birthday. When her husband's schedule has him working in the evenings she decided to learn how to do color flow icing. I think she did a fabulous job. She told me that it is lots of fun to learn and do. We were able to eat the delicious cupcakes at the party and then take the flower home for a treat later.


I thought you might enjoy another peek at a silhouette from my old book.
Isn't this delightful?

I know several of you will enjoy and appreciate this. Chloe is studying heritage in Girl Scouts and had to take something with family history to show last week. We pulled out this yo-yo quilt that was given to me years ago.

I appreciate the hard work that went into this, though these types of tedious projects are not for me.

Chloe with one of many dandelions from our yard. Yes, I know we are spreading the seeds, but you just gotta do this a few times every year!


We had tons of rain last week and on Sunday we saw these two geese feeding in a large puddle at the school behind our house. The female (or at least I assume) only had one foot. She had the top part of her leg, buy the web part was gone. It was a little sad, but she was doing just fine. The male kept a very close eye on us, but I was able to get some pictures.



Have you seen the new bottles at Bath and Body Works? They are much prettier than before. I tried this new scent. We will see if it gives me a headache. I'm usually just a Warm Vanilla Sugar girl. I refuse to smell like a tangerine, or a grapefruit, but that's just me.

They also had these wonderful butterfly mobiles hanging over the displays for the new scent. They were fabulous. Wish I had taken a picture.

Happy spring. Find the little things in life that inspire you and make you happy!

Christina