Gifts Galore!

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How nice is this! Debbie ~ My Vintage Daydreams sent me a big box of gifts! Included was this adorable old plate in a pattern I've never seen before! The yellow and blue book above is an address book and card holder. And look at those adorable blue and white little kitchen towels!
She also sent this beautiful Victoriana calendar which came with some postcards, a stand up cardboard calendar and a small daily calendar. Awhile back she had sent me the cherub soaps and the cute little stone cherub.
A couple weeks ago, Angela ~ Cottage Magpie sent me this basketful of pink! It has bath products, candles and chocolate!
Thank you so much Debbie K. and Angela, you are both so sweet!

7 More Weird or Random Facts About Me!

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I have been tagged by Ruth at Whispering Oaks Cottage with the 7 weird or random facts about me. I think this is about the 7th time I've been tagged with this!

Here are the rules:

1 Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

If you've been reading my blog a long time then you may already know these things about me. Some of you may not and wonder how and why I'm a single mom. So here's some very personal information about me.

1. I married my high school sweetheart, waited about 7 years to have my son and then we divorced when he was two years old. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through in my life. I did not want the divorce at all!

2. I was a stay at home mom with my son until his dad and I divorced and then I had to go back to work. I loved staying home and I would still choose that over working full time!

3. I married my second husband about 3 years after my divorce. I had my daughter the first year we were married and we separated when she was 6. This was a not-so good marriage. I won't say it was bad because there were some good times but there were some really bad times. Still, I was devastated when I found out he was cheating on me.

4. My separations were exactly 10 years apart. Both left me to move in with the other woman.

5. This December will be 10 years since my last separation and 20 years since the first. The good thing is I haven't remarried so I can't go through it again!

6. As you can tell, I'm unlucky in love and I'm a bad judge of character when it comes to finding good men. I've never cheated while in any relationship but I sure seem to attract the men who do!

7. I don't date anyone now because I have my daughter full time and I have no desire to leave her at home while I go out on dates. When she's 18 I'll consider dating again but I'm not sure if I'll ever get married again. I've become very independent...probably too much so! Although if I ever met a truly wonderful man and fell in love, nothing else would matter!

Updated: After I posted this and reread it, it sounds so depressing. I just feel like I should say that I'm very happy with my life now. I'm actually happier now than ever!

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you would like to join in, please feel free to!

After the rain

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Don't you just love the smell of the sunshine after a good rain! Ahhhh that sun feels so good!
The air is so crisp and clean. The sky is so blue.
Let me just sit here and breathe it all in!

Hydrangeas

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Thank you all for the sweet comments...I'm feeling better, thank you! Saturday afternoon I decided that I needed some fresh hydrangeas in the house so I went on a hunt. I first went to the grocery store and their floral department had some beautiful pink hydrangeas but they were $29.00 ...too much money! I drove by Trader Joe's...they keep all the florals outside so I didn't even have to get out of my car but no luck~ I didn't see any hydrangeas. Then I went by Longs Drug store, they also keep their flowers outside but I didn't see any there either. Finally I went to Orchard Supply Hardware and I had to go inside but lucky me, I found these beautiful hydrangeas to keep on my dining room table.
It's amazing how fresh flowers in the house make you feel so much better. (see that dark wood in the corner in the photo above...that's my next project, it's a free amoire from my landlord) I love fresh cut flowers in my home but potted flowers last so much longer...better for the budget!

Not feeling so great today

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Sorry no post today. I've had a cold all week and now I have a fever and I feel horrible! I've been sleeping all day. I can't wait to be back to myself! Being sick really makes you appreciate your health, doesn't it?

More thrifting luck!

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Last weekend I stopped by the Goodwill which is right around the corner from me and I found this adorable little glass house for only $4.00! I love it! I also found the candle holder below for $7.00.
I couldn't resist those two adorable little birds! I brought it home and realized I don't have any place to put it! This may be one of the things I sell once I get my online store going...someday! I haven't done anything further with that because there's just not enought time!
When I came home from work yesterday my daughter was at her friend's house. I was a little angry because she forgot to unload the dishwasher like she was supposed to. I turned around and saw this on the chalkboard:
Hmmm...you think she did that so I wouldn't get mad at her for not doing what she was supposed to do? It's funny~ when your kids are young and leave you cute little notes like this it's so heart-warming. When your teenager leaves notes like this, you start wondering what's up! I'm trying hard to think positively and not question her motive!

Kitchen Chalkboard

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Ginger at Enchanting Cottage asked to see some better pictures of my kitchen chalkboard. I found the frame for this at the flea market, it was either $5 or $10...I can't remember. I asked my dad if he would cut a piece of wood for the back so I could make a chalkboard out of it. When he gave it back to me, I was shocked! He not only put the wood on the back he took it all apart and added a tray for the chalk and eraser, and painted it in my favorite shabby chic way!
It looks small in these pictures but it's huge! Look at the eraser on the tray to get an idea of the scale of this! It's perfect for this wall in my kitchen!

A new kitchen faucet

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Remember when I painted my kitchen and I said I wish I could put in a new faucet(click here)? Well, since I'm just renting this place I really didn't want to spend over $100 for a nice faucet but shortly after I painted my kitchen I received a $50 gift certificate from my company and it was from GiftCertificates.com. I chose to take an Overstock.com certificate and I found this faucet for only $59.99! It's solid brass construction and after I read the reviews on overstock I knew I had to have it! It only cost me $13 out of my pocket after I applied the gift certificate and it was money well spent because it makes a huge difference over the cheap apartment faucet I had before! Not only does it look better but it's so practical to have a high faucet to wash big items like the huge glass jar just to the right of the sink.

I have to say that everything I've bought at Overstock.com has been of the best quality! No, they aren't paying me to say that I just like to pass along good vendors when I find them!

Another project done!

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Is it a dollhouse, a birdhouse? No, it's actually a mailbox but I'm going to use it to hold my small garden tools out on my patio. I painted it, put on a new roof and added some wallpaper inside (sorry I forgot to take a picture of the wallpaper). I even hung some lace curtains in the window.

I'm so ready for the 3-day weekend! I hope you all have a good one!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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I had planned to make Valentine cookies like the ones I made last year (click here) but those take so much time and time is something I don't seem to have enough of lately. So I decided to make cupcakes and the plan was to make pink roses and hearts out of fondant to sit on top but I didn't even have time for that! So, I just made cupcakes with sprinkles on top to take to work.
I bought the cute little cupcake stand at Target yesterday. The white platter was a gift a coworker gave me earlier this week...it's sooo me! I love it!
Grab a cupcake before you leave and have a great Valentine's Day! Now go visit Angela at Cottage Magpie, she's rounding up a bunch of bloggers with pink in their homes.

The old door

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I've shown you my old screen door before that I have in my bedroom but it's been awhile and I'm not sure if I had the lace behind it last time I posted pictures of it. The lace, which is a tablecloth, was crocheted by my mom when she was 15 years old.

I made the heart above out of an old linen tablecloth that was damaged. I made the heart below with some of my old buttons. I sewed every single one of those on!
The screen is a bit shabby but I love how it gives the room the feel of an old summer cottage.

The Painted Table

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Here is the painted table. Ignore the big brown marks on the left, I still need to touch those up. I was using the power sander and I took off a little too much paint. I wanted this table to be a little more shabby chic than some of my other pieces and I'm happy with the way it turned out. I had to move my plate collection around a little so it would be centered over this table. The table I had here previously was smaller.

I know some people prefer natural wood but I just love painted furniture!


Below is the before picture. Since I always get questions I'm going to put a link to how I turn a piece of furniture shabby chic. Click here if you would like to the directions.

My linen and lace addiction

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I think I've mentioned here that I LOVE old linen and lace. This is just some of my collection. (Click on the photo so you can see them better.) Funny thing is that I don't even mind ironing these. It's sort of my bonding time with them. The smell of the lavender water and the feel of the linen...it's heaven! I have table clothes, table runners, table squares, napkins, and tea towels. I really need to add some bed linens though...ya know just to round out my collection. How's that for justify buying things...it's needed to round out my collection. I find them at the flea markets, thrift stores and eBay. Sometimes I go on eBay and just do a search for "vintage white linen lace" just to look at all the beautiful items.

See my ironing board cover above...I love it. I just bought it at TJ Maxx. I also got some faux robin's eggs there this weekend.

I added some of the robin's egg to my tiered dish.

Mom and Dad

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I feel so fortunate to have two wonderful parents. I always felt so loved when I was growing up. The photo in the frame above is my parents on their wedding day. World War II had just ended and my dad came home to marry my mom. The other photo is my dad as a young boy. I wish they had color photographs back then. My dad had red hair but I don't ever remember him being a redhead because it had already started turning brown and then gray when I was very young.

I just love looking at old photographs of families and seeing the family resemblances.

A New Blog on the Block

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I would like to introduce you to a brand new blog called Whispering Oaks Cottage. I first saw her beautiful home on Flickr and then I recognized it on HGTV Rate My Space. Now she has a blog of her own and I'm sure it's going to be fantastic because she is soooo talented! You can click on her blog name above or on my side bar under my favorite blogs.

A new project!

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Seriously, I think I have a furniture addiction! I saw this table at the Salvation Army and I couldn't just walk away. I HAD to buy it! $59 seemed like a good price, I wouldnt' say it was a great price but it was good. Guess what I'm going to do to it...yep...paint it white! Actually I've already painted it white. Now I need to do the fun part, shabby chic it up! I'll be using the glazing technique I told you about on Monday. The plan is to finish this up this weekend!
It's not an antique, it has a Bombay Company sticker underneath.

I don't know how all this furniture is fitting in my 900+ square foot apartment but it is!

Spell check is not working on blogger lately so please ignore any typos!

Nesting & A Blessing

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Remember the little nest and bird I bought a couple weeks ago? I put them together with some others I had in my favorite tiered stand. First I added some sheet moss and rested everything on top. I just love decorating for Spring! Yes, I know it's only the first week of February! These photo borders can be done in Snapfish (http://www.snapfish.com/).

Look at the china hutch I found on craigslist. Now I need to find $495 to buy it! Haha! How come when I have the money I can't find something good like this? I already imaged myself painting it all white or maybe just painting the back wood a light blue color. Dang....I WANT THIS! Look at all that storage underneath!

And I was given a blessing by Suzy~ New Life at Wild Rose Cottage. Suzy is all the way over in Serbia! I just love how blogging has brought us all together. Go visit her and see the beautiful cottage in her header...I want to live in it!

Okay on with this tag:

The idea…it’s a game of tag with a difference, rather than looking inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for 3 blog friends. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to.

Okay, I choose to bless every one who reads this. How could I pick just three!

My painting technique

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I'm posting again today since a couple of you asked about my painting technique for this.

I spray painted it with just regular flat white spray paint. The brand I used is called Krylon. Spray it and let it dry. I recommend using flat paint because the glaze will adhere better. To make the glaze I dilute brown acrylic craft paint with water, about 50/50 ratio. The paint is the type that comes in the little plastic squirt bottles that you can buy at Michaels or any hobby shop. Brush on the glaze and rub off the excess with a paper towel or rag. Leave a lot of the glaze in the crevices. On this one I brushed on a little white paint over some of the high raised areas after the glaze dried. That's it! If your piece is going outside I would put some type of clear coat on it to protect the paint from washing off.

Sweet Cherub

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I found this sweet cherub at The Salvation Army for $6.99. I was so excited when I found him so I could give him the shabby chic look. With some white paint and glazing he now looks at home in my home. I put him below a mirror on my stairway. I moved the smaller cherub planter I had there further up the staircase. Mirrors and cherubs...I just love how they look together!

Below is the before picture. It was raining when I was painting him under my carport yesterday and I'm sure my neighbors were thinking "there she goes again with that white spray paint!"