Tag Archive | spring

These are a few of my Favorite Things

I absolutely, positively, without a doubt, LOVE SUNFLOWERS! I have a dear teaching friend that helps feed my obsession by driving all over the Texas countryside with me to take pictures of the fields when they are in full bloom. This year, due to the rains we had in early spring, the blooms were exquisite! sunflower 1

Each one is beautifully unique!

_______________________________________________________________

This past weekend, I was able to go on a brief getaway to the coast. It was a great escape from the everyday ‘stuff’ and I couldn’t help but feel a wave of sadness wash over me when driving back home yesterday.

When packing for a beach vacation, it takes a lot of planning. Of course, the no-brainer is to throw in a couple of bathing suits, cover-ups, and flip-flops; but strategically packing the unfinished craft projects that you want to complete can be a bit tricky. On this particular getaway, I had decided that I wanted to sew some canvas bags. I had been buying coordinating fabric for this particular project and was super excited about trying out a pattern I had found online.

I did tweak the pattern a bit, but for a great step-by-step tutorial on sewing tote bags Amanda from www.crazylittleprojects.com is your gal. I can’t wait to try her messenger bag pattern next.

Just think of all of the possibilities! Beach Breaks – they’re not just for sand and sun anymore!

beach

With love,

—praying for JWR—

The Days that Time Worked in my Favor

Jun18

At the beginning of any extended vacation time from work, there is a spring in my step, an unrealistic to-do list of Pinterest projects to try, and a feeling that the world is at my feet because time is on my side. I can easily organize the responsibilities of laundry, cooking, and cleaning with a lighthearted attitude. I am so sorry for those that have not been able to feel that luxury of ‘time’ every once in a while because the opportunity to refresh is so important for one’s health. FullSizeRender (3)

This weekend, my husband surprised me with a road-trip for my birthday and our anniversary. Our definition of road-trip is: get in the car and drive to some undetermined destination.

FullSizeRender (1)

We spent two days driving to small towns, roaming around, talking, and laughing. Letting go is good and we both know that we have got to take these mini-vacations more often. We have decided however, that Siri will always travel with us in case we need assistance with gas station locations, hotel choices, and restaurant recommendations (that is a whole other story and one that we will laugh about together for years to come).

FullSizeRender (2)

With Love,

Penny

On the First Day of Vacation, My True Love Said to Me….

Jun14

“I really need you to come down and help me with a food drive that we are having at work from 10:00-2:00” Grrr! Those were the words that my husband said to me on the morning of my first official vacation day. He is such a romantic….literally, my heart just fluttered at his request. So…. in 97 degree heat, we trudged downtown, bagged canned goods, loaded them into vehicles, and delivered them to the local food pantry.

Honestly, it was a great experience, and I enjoyed working alongside with the people that he works with day in and day out. They all gave up their Saturday to participate in this gift of service, which says a lot about their sense of community and loyalty to their employer. I was especially impressed by two high school students that were working at the food pantry . They brought shopping carts out to us and helped us load and unload all of our bagged items. Both of them were so willing to help and truly shared their sense of service with us. In a world where the media portrays the negatives of our society as ‘the norm’, it was so refreshing to see ‘norm’al teenagers working for a cause.

With Love,

sunflower

Storms and Showers

May11

Creatively Blue

‘Tis the season for showers – showers other than rain showers. I am talking about baby and bridal showers. If you happen to decorate cakes as another source of income like me, shower season is a busy, busy time.

When there is busyness, no time can be wasted on the inconveniences of Mother Nature. So, what’s a gal living in central Texas to do when there are cakes in the oven baking and it is storming outside, but she desperately wants to re-paint some much neglected wooden frames? Just sitting around waiting for the oven timer to go off is not an efficient use of time; therefore, it makes perfect sense to set up a painting station right on the living room floor. It would be ridiculous to do it at the kitchen table because of all of the cake items in the way. Besides, it is easier to watch episodes of Fixer Upper in the living room.

cupcakes

Life is about seizing the moments, not waiting for storms to subside and oven timers to ding!

sunflower

A Lesson in German

Apr13

Happy, happy Palm Sunday! Here in Texas, spring is in full bloom and Mother Nature is really working overtime as we are expecting some severe weather – yet again.

We have this beautiful piece of dark walnut furniture from Germany that my mother-in-law gave to us. It is actually called a Kuchenschrank, or Schrank (pronounced Shrunk). It simply means cabinet, but there is nothing simple about it. It is fairly ornate and it takes up my entire dining room wall. I won’t even repeat the words that my husband used when we were moving that thing into the house twelve years ago. We both agreed that we would never move again, just because of the inconvenience of dealing with that one piece of furniture.

It is so dark and overpowering that it really has been in need of some updating. I knew that I didn’t want to paint it, but I have been putting a lot of thought into sprucing it up with some pops of color. Everything else around me is so springy-looking and splashed with shades of blues and greens.

My idea – find a light, spring colored fabric to work with and use it as a canvas for my dishes and keepsakes!

I found this fabric at Walmart and purchased four yards of it.

This thing can also be quite a dust collector! I did feel a huge sense of accomplishment after I dusted it all and washed all of the glassware….

I used quilt basting spray to adhere the fabric to the wood. That is some great stuff! It is not permanent at all so if I get tired of the fabric or want to go back to the original wood, it is noooo problemo!

I really like the way that it turned out. My husband usually just rolls his eyes at me when I start a new project, but that man of many words actually said, “Wow”!

I even had enough fabric left over to make a couple of pillows! Whooo-hoooo!

With Love,

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L Day!

Mar29

Yesterday’s storm has passed, but it certainly managed to leave its mark! Amazingly, today the weather was absolutely beautiful. Fortunately, it was Saturday because it would have unbearable to work inside all day. When I went outside to assess any damage, this is what I found!

My Iris are Blooming!

Spring is finally here! I did spend the day mowing, raking, and trimming some hedges. Despite feeling sore from using muscles that have been hibernating since last summer, it feels so good to be able to look across a freshly manicured front yard. I love watching the new growth on the trees that have been dormant for what seems like forever!

I would like to share another new project with you. My husband brought home two, old dressers. They are unusually small and narrow; so initially, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with them.

See what I mean – they are short, narrow……oh, and I forgot to mention, FILTHY!

After a bit of planning, I scrubbed them down and painted them with the leftover black onyx paint that I had…..I just love that color! It is like the little, black dress that you can accessorize with ANY COLOR YOU WANT!

Ooh, Lah, Lah!

I love the way that they turned out! I got the new drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby at 50% off. So the total cost of this project was $20.00! How cool is that? Plus, the drawers are not spacious, but they do provide a bit of extra storage space and one can never have enough storage space!

There you go – a beautiful Saturday and a money saving project all in one!

With Love,

“In Like a Lion…..Out Like a Lamb”

Mar28

March is almost over!! WH-A-T, surely not! I am very concerned that at 48 years of age, I have become like an adolescent child on summer vacation – the days between the beginning and the end have all become a blur! Actually, I realized today, that while everyone else is transitioning into the month of April I am still transitioning into the year 2014! Okay, okay, so lately I guess that I have not been too quick on my feet. Jeepers! Where does the time go? I would really love to say that I have been super productive this month and therefore I have lost track of time (mmmmmhmmm. that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it), but really, it all boils down to that famous quote:

The road that is covered with huge boulders or obstacles was truly paved with good intentions!

(I may have done a bit of altering to the wording above to fit my own experiences and age)

The month did come in like a lion…. but, if you live in central Texas, it is not going out like a lamb. We are expecting severe weather throughout the remainder of the week. In years past, at this point, I had already planted my garden, pulled weeds, and replaced mulch by now! I had even sanded pieces of furniture that were in desperate need of a seasonal makeover. I had refinished the deck so that we could do most of our evening meals outside. ALAS……this year- dad.gum.it, No Such Luck!!! In other words, this weather is not in alliance with my Obsessive Compulsive Personality.

♥Gracie has been waiting patiently to dig in the garden!♥

(by the way, she loves relaxing on my drop cloth pillows –

and, I love the fact that she thinks that they were made just for her)

I want to share a project that I did! Actually, other than the cost of paint, this project was FREE! I just love it when all of the stars are aligned in my favor and I find a real treasure sitting out by someone’s trash dumpster. This table had really been through the ringer, but it had soooooo much potential!

After sanding it down, I painted the base with Valspar’s Black Onyx (paint and primer in one) I couldn’t bring myself to paint the top because the wood grain looked so pretty after the years of wear and tear had been sanded away. So I stained it with Minwax’ Dark Walnut. Before sealing it with Polycrylic, I mixed up just a bit of the black paint with some antiquing gel and rubbed it across the top! I am very happy with the way that it turned out. Also, did I mention that it was FREE??

I made a burlap runner to go across the top – throw on a white pitcher with some flowers and it is enough to make a person stand back, admire it, and feel pretty proud! I wish that my pictures had turned out a bit better. I was so pleased with how this one turned out that I made another one for my son and his wife (one of my favorite couples I might add.)

Aren’t they precious?

With Love,

Each one is beautifully unique!

Share this:

Like this:

With Love,

Penny

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: