Giving New Life to a Basket

I so enjoy the satisfaction I get from taking something on it's last leg and giving it a new life. That is my favorite way to satisfy my need to be creative. 

I have been searching Goodwill for a couple weeks for a large lidded basket. I wanted one as a way to "hide" supplies for my disabled son Gage. I am always looking for ways to make the house look as pretty as possible, yet still be functional for our family.

I was so pleased when I found this one.

It is nice and big and though it had some broken spots and had seen better days I thought it was still in good enough shape to give it new life.

A little paint, fabric, a glass knob, and lace and it is beautiful once again!

Well, in my opinion maybe prettier than it has been before.

I used some of the same Rachel Ashwell curtain that I used when making my Ikea inspired lampshade to make a ruffle around the basket. Along with another canvas type material.

 

 Peeking out from under the ruffle is a vintage lace given to me by one of my Mother's friends.

It looks so pretty with the different shades of white and coordinates beautifully with the lampshade.

One of these days I want to put a French graphic or something on the top.

Everytime I finish a project I feel like the house is a little more pretty and a little more happy.

We are having rain storms and Gage, Janae and I all have bad colds. But you know I love the rain--the harder it falls the better I like it. That is why Oregon is green.  I am cozy in my house with my family. I wish we weren't sick--but this too shall pass. :) I will enjoy the rain while it is here.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Thanks for visiting!

Ikea Inspired Lampshade

For about a year I have had a "naked" floor lamp in my living room. From the time I bought that lampshade at Goodwill I knew what I wanted to do with it. On one of our trips to Ikea I was very inspired by some lampshades I just loved--but I told myself, "I could make that".

Well last night I decided the procrastination had gone on for long enough. I do this sometimes when I want something to look just so and am not sure I can get the look I want. Finally I told myself--Just do it!

So the naked floor lamp finally got new life...

So much better! I am pleased with how it turned out. The below picture is from the Ikea website and shows my inspiration.

The Ikea ones are really a good price and everything--I just get more pleasure out of things I have made myself.

I used a Rachel Ashwell Simply Shabby Chic window covering for the fabric. I always buy them when I can find them at Goodwill. I paid $4.99 for the window covering, and $9.99 for the floor lamp. Pretty good deal I am thinking :)

The fabric is really thin, and very soft. It feels like really old fabric. I love it. I ended up just making a pocket at the top and putting elastic in it to gather it. Then I hand sewed the fabric to the lampshade.

I had some vintage buttons my Mother gave me that I used on the bottom to pull up the bottom.

The softness of the fabric made it lay really pretty..and it has a soft glow at night.

It makes that corner look so much softer now.

You can see my frames by the lamp--I change that photo out every month or so. I recently changed it to that cute picture of newborn Willow in the teacup....

though I have to say I think she is even cuter now! I never knew I would get so much enjoyment out of the Guinea pigs :).

 

Now that I have got the lampshade finished I am inspired to do my next project for the living room.

Another great Goodwill find...I was so tickled when I found this chair for $4.99!

 

 

I have very definite ideas on how I want this to look...Rachel Ashwell inspired...and once again I have to tell myself, "Just do it!"

Wishing everyone a relaxing day...

 

 if only I could relax the way Fez does!

Thanks for visiting!

Pink Roses and Grandpa

I so love pink roses...and I am missing my 3 prolific pink rose bushes this time of year. On my budget I do not usually buy grocery store flowers, as pretty as they can be. But the other day I saw these 5 roses for $5 and I couldn't help myself.

They are so pretty and are satisfied my yearning...for now.

They make me happy! Today we had such beautiful weather it made me excited to think how soon spring will be here. I even bought a couple flowers for my pots. My potted flowers on the front porch always make me smile.

On Saturday afternoon our Grandpa passed away. It was his time, but it is hard to think I will never see his smiling face in this world again.

He was a wonderful man...and always fun to be with. My kids were very close to their Great Grandpa as he only lived a few blocks away from us. So this is hard on all of us. He was suffering at the end of his life, and we are happy he is now resting in paradise. 

The night Grandpa passed we had such a beautiful sunset...

I am sure it is even more beautiful where Grandpa is :)

I hope this finds everyone enjoying whatever season you are experiencing right now...

Thanks for visiting!

Living room changes--Ikea slipcover

For Christmas this year Janae bought me an floral Ikea slipcover that I had been wanting. It costs 3x what the regular white one cost so I couldn't justify getting it for myself. Janae always spoils me!

It is so fun for a change! Now that we have lived in this house for 3 years I find myself ready to change some of the decorating. Notice I re-painted the coffee table to coordinate with the new slipcover.

I am loving the new look!

I still have 2 white chairs in the living room. I am planning to make some pillows for the chairs in the taupe color.

I so need to make a lamp shade for my floor lamp!

This chair is so comfy--Duke thinks so too!

I have never seen this slipcover on any other blog--which surprises me because I think it is so pretty!

So here is how it looked before...

and here it is now...

Honestly--I like both looks. Change is fun. I think the way it looks now is a little more homey looking. I like that I still have my white chairs...and the pattern now too...makes me happy!

Several bloggers have posted about the Waterlogue app you can get for the iPhone. I'm hooked! I love the look of a watercolor painting. I don't have an iPhone so I have to borrow my daughters...and she thinks she can't be without her phone for 2 seconds. (so I have to borrow it quickly)  Here is a couple I have done so far...

I think it is so fun!

In other news at our house...Gage is doing well. He is really sick with the RSV but he is being sweet and sleeping a lot. No more seizure activity--thank goodness.

I forgot to mention on my last post...Chantel got her drivers permit!

She is a mature, responsible kid. So why am I so terrified when she is driving? I can't believe my kids are all growing up so fast.

Speaking of growing up fast...the Guinea pig babies are almost 5 weeks old. We have decided they are both girls--their names are Penny and Willow.

They are so adorable!

Thanks for visiting!

Imperfect Angel, Gage, and Snow!

It certainly has been quite a week...I will get to that later. First I wanted to share my imperfect angel. I think this little angel could be a symbol of my life. My life is far from perfect...but I love it anyway!

I got this little angel at Goodwill for .99 cents. She had a little chip but I knew I was going to paint her so no big deal.

Then I hear Chantel say as we walked in the door coming home from Goodwill, "Sorry Mom--I dropped your angel--but she'll be fine"

Now she has more than 1 little chip. So I glued her and painted her with spray paint. I used gloss paint (which I never like) so I sprayed it a second time with flat. Well, the paint started cracking and doing weird things...but oh well, she looks cute anyway! Imperfect angel, imperfect life, and I love it anyway :)

A few days ago my son Gage had another huge seizure. It is always so scary. We have all been sick around here and my grown daughter Janae was really sick so I had made dinner and drove plates for her and her boyfriend over to their house. As soon as I got there I get a call from my son Wyatt..."Mom, Gage is having a seizure" I hear my husband in the background saying it is a really bad one. He was still breathing thank God. I rushed home and we called 911. I told the paramedics we usually got o the Tuality hospital so off in the ambulance Gage went and I followed behind in my car.  My husband stayed home with Wyatt and Chantel. After a couple hours at Tuality they still couldn't stop his seizures and so they called a critical care ambulance to take him to Dornbeckers Children's hospital.

We were put in the intensive care unit at Dornebeckers and they finally got his seizures stopped. They once again had to pump him full of so much medication that they were afraid his heart would stop or he would stop breathing--but he didn't. My Gage is a tough kid. Thank God. They wanted to keep him for a couple days...but the snow was coming. So after we spent the night I started begging for them to let us go home. All his testing was coming out fine but he was out like a light. They told me there was no way the neurologist was going to let me take him home. I was not looking forward to spending like a week there if we got snowed in (the hospital is at the top of a hill--you have a beautiful view of all of Portland but it is a bear getting up there at times). Well thank goodness the neurologist on duty was Gage's regular neurologist so he knows us. He told the nurses, " If Sandy feels comfortable taking him home let her." He told the nurses he trusted my opinion and this is not my first rodeo, and I know what I am doing. The nurses were shocked. They had told me there was no way he would let us go so I guess my persistance in saying "Please just ask him!"got us out of there. As the nurse and I wheeled him out to my car he couldn't even hold his head up. I prayed I had made the right decision. By the time we pulled into our town the snow had began to fall. Just at that time my son Wyatt called me from school saying he was very sick and he didn't know what to do. I told him I had just pulled into town and I would come and get him. He was relieved. I felt assured Gage and I were suppose to come home.

Gage slept all of Thursday and Friday. As you can see here I could get him to give me a grin but he didn't want to open those eyes. The intensive care unit doctor called me and said that they had tested him for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and it had come out positive. They said there is nothing we can do but let him sleep and it takes 10-14 days to get thru it. It is highly contagious so our family is just huddling up together in our house and keeping our germs to ourselves.

Wyatt has been waiting for snow for a couple years now so as soon as he felt a little better out he went...

The snow is not very packable--very dry and blowing--but he did his best to build a snowman.

Don't you just love the Cheeto eyebrows?!

I was really wanting snow this year--but I am feeling like I am over it now.

As you can see my car isn't going anywhere anytime soon so thankfully Papa (my Father-in-law) drove Wyatt and I to Walmart in his 4 wheel drive Jeep so we could get milk, eggs, bread, and kitty litter---all the things we can't live without! They say the freezing rain is coming tonight and to be ready for the electricity to go out. I have my candles ready to light.

Most business' are closed--including the shop my husband works at--so though the bills continue to come in the mail, there is no income coming in this week. We are hoping he can use some vacation days--but it will be a tougher than usual month for us.

Life isn't perfect...but it is wonderful!

I hope this finds everyone staying warm--

thanks for visiting!