Inspired....

I found this image via Pinterest....a slight addiction for me....

I know a few others that suffer from this addition too...

My SIL accused me of causing hers...

she knew nothing of Pinterest just a few months ago...

now...well...you know

source

Anyway...I love bags

handbags, shopping bags, small shopping purses....

and I like to make them.

This one inspired me...

so....I came up with my own version today....

I think it is cute...

picture to come....

I have been working with burlap bags...

coffee and rice bags...

and I like the look...but

I would LOVE to find some really good linen grain sacks...

by good I mean affordable...

The ones I have seen are pretty pricey and....

I guess I am pretty cheap...

Anyone have any ideas???

I welcome them!!!

:))))))

Pretty please!!!

Handmade....

I hope to offer something a little different in my booth at LaBahia during Antiques Week in Round Top this fall...

Here is some fabric I had in my stash from years ago when I was making purses...

it was quite expensive at Hobby Lobby so I could only buy it when I had my 40% off coupon...

and then ....it was still expensive...so I have  just a little bit of it.

I am using it for 

something. really. cute.

I'll show you when it is all done and I can get a cool pic.

And...here is another little project...

You see that little red dot at the end of my finger?

(excuse the boy looking fingers....never had long beautiful fingernails...I'm ok with that)

anyway...

You know...

sometimes...

you are just concentrating so hard....

you just want that seam you are sewing to be perfect....

and the fabric gets thick....

and you try to keep it straight....

then...

you feel a sharp pain...

and you know you better not jerk your hand back too fast because....

because you have done that before....

and it is not pretty....

so you raise the needle...

and pull your hand back quickly...

so that your mosquito loving blood will not drip on your beautiful creation....

yep....

that's what happened....

And....

what's worse...

tomorrow I have to go to the job outside my home...

that I have done for 28 years now...

and it involves using these same fingers....

which one is already sore....

and this.....

is just keeping it real....

because we do real around here

real good!!!

It's "O" fficial....

 

 Yep...it is official....

 For a while now...

about 2 1/2 years.....

after I left The Old Oak Cottage...

I knew that I was not finished with this part of my life.

 I enjoy the hunt, the fixin up, the redoin, way too much to not do it anymore.

 

 So I waited...I cannot wrap my mind around all that I waited for or why...but it was several things...

teenagers to graduate...start college....me to realize that they will survive without me telling them how to do everything...

they knew that long  before I figured that out.
 

 

 And while I waited...

I hunted, gathered, stored and became a full blown hoarder of treasures needing love and attention.
 

 

 So, here I am....several months down the road...officially back in the game...
 

 On September 27, in the lovely rolling hills around Round Top, Texas at Texas Antique Week...in a cute little venue call LaBahia...
I will have a small booth selling cute little and big treasures.

 

 

I am excited and scared to death...excited to be involved in what I love to do and scared enough to pee my pants...

you know the old feelings...

what if people don't like what I have...

what if they walk by and don't walk in my booth...

what if they say..."hmmm, and why did you paint that?"

 

So, I am planning on going, scared, excited and all of the above, in order to do what makes me happy...

All of the above pics are a peek at what has been happening around here...

so stayed tuned to this blog for more previews and updates at September comes rushing at me even faster than I care to think about!!!


Mandy

He let me in his room.....

I have two sons, wonderful, kind, and fun...The oldest is in college and my youngest is a senior in high school....those of you that have sons, big or small, know that there comes a time when decorating their room just becomes....

 

....not important to them....

 

Corey played basketball through high school and has enjoyed his senior year.

We are still planning his next move...as with a lot of us, me included, growing up is just hard to do sometimes.

 

 

But we do....eventually

 

Last summer I mentioned that I would love to "update" his room

his answer was, "um, no"

Thank you Pinterest!!! I was able to show him some of my ideas and promised him that it would be "cool"

 

The first thing I found were these really cool lockers at Canton Trade Days

They were in pretty good shape but I knew the blue would not work.

It was nothing a little spray paint wouldn't fix.

I taped off the numbers at the top of the doors and the handles.

Easy peasy...

 

I have a nice supply of pallets that I have collected and I wanted to make something for his tv, etc

 

I told him that I did not want any help, mainly because I was winging this...I had no plans and I was making things up as I cut, hammered, beat, screwed and cussed....maybe just twice

 

 

When I finished and went to get him...

he was pleasantly surprised...

Sometimes it is hard to tell on an 18 yr olds face but he seemed to really like it....

 

I have had some REALLY old casters that I have moved with us for a while knowing that someday...someday...I would use them for something really cool!!!

 

 

The next project was his headboard. He was totally on board with this because he picked this out from my pinterest board.

Ana White is a rockstar.

She offers the absolute coolest projects..with the plans for anyone to build, even us!!!

Headboard plans

 

 

I will be honest, I cannot remember how much the lumber cost for this, I actually altered the plans to make it taller...

 

note to self...measure the height that you want with the height of your interior doors

duh!!! hello!!!

A little sweat dripped from my brow when we went to move it into his room, but it cleared by  millimeters...seriously

 

 

He was a huge help with this and this is something that he can easily take with him when he moves out, he will move out, won't he, some day?

 I love the look of this headboard....Because I altered the plans and made it ginormous, we ended up using "L" brackets to attach it to the wall so that it would not tilt forward.

 

This was a piece of fencing we dug out of someones trash knowing it would be perfect for a sign. I asked Corey if he had a favorite bible verse and he quoted this, without hesitation...

Sometimes they surprise you, huh?

 

 

A little peak at the lockers, pallet stand, and sign all together....The tv needed to be lifted slightly...a vintage suitcase fit right in. There is so much more I could have and would have done in here but I felt sooo pleased just to get to do this much, and to do it with him....

 

Blessed to have my boys :)

 

Mandy

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday
 

 



So Inspiring...

Love, love, love....this dining room...that hutch and long farm table....planked ceiling, the white....

 

Source

 

There has been some discussion about a plank ceiling in my home....so inspiring!!!


Mandy

Slipcover vs Upholstery

Some times people will ask me....would you reupholster this or just slipcover?

Here is a great example for both cases....

I have shared this chair already, and I looovve it.

Ms Linda has this chair in a guest bedroom. It belonged to her MIL and her husband did not want to alter it. The upholstery is in perfect condition but it did not match when she redecorated the bedroom.

 

 

 

 

She wanted to go with burlap and linen and something that could easily be taken off.

She gave me a little direction but mostly said, "just go with it, I trust you".

You gotta love that :)

And...here it is in her lovely vintage guest bedroom.

Just perfect!

 

Then, Ms Kathye's rocker. I had it almost stripped down before I remembered to get a before pic. It had an extremely dated green nubby fabric on it and needed a good makeover...so outdated, dirty fabric with a frame that needs a little updating....we went with upholstering...

 

She gave me the fabric, asked me to paint the chair frame and once again said, "whatever you think will look best"

 

I decided on black mostly because of her wonderful fabric.

 

It turned out so cute and Kathye loved it. This cutie sits in her "Paris Room" which is just adorable.

 

Happy Easter!

 

So thankful for my Risen Saviour!!!

today and everyday!

 

Mandy

The ADHD DIYer

When it comes to decorating, sewing, general crafting I tend to be a little ADHD....I hate waiting on paint to dry, not having all the supplies for the sewing job, finding the right glue for the crafting project....makes me run from one thing to the next... 

so as blog post go...this will show that side of me

Number 1...

 

 

My friend, and fellow craft supplies hoarder, had a bin of fabric and some ideas for pillows. She had this needlepoint for years and was never quite sure what to do with it. She saw some cool pillows in an antique store and thought, hmmm.

I started by "blocking" the needlepoint to get it square.

Then starting playing with the fabrics..I should have taken a pic of the back, it is an embossed leather....soooo cool!

 



I had previously made some small pillows for some of Traci's chairs, so she thought one more would be great...I have always thought leopard was a neutral...



She has some floor pillow that the fabric was just plain worn out so we covered those in the neutral leopard...

 

Number 2...

 

I also had a job for some bedroom curtains....This client had finally decided to start doing her bedroom after about 8 years...my kind of girl....decorating takes time...you can't rush these things...

anyway, she bought the headboard, which is covered in a fabulous linen and tufted, just awesome, and then brought me some samples. She has a pretty contemporary home but she was a little afraid of this very bold, graphic fabric that had a black background. I told her that I thought she would love how it pops with the color.

 

 We decided to make the panels with grommets and some working roman shades.

Let me just tell you....working roman shades, inside mount are not my favorite window treatment to make. You work with about 1/8 of an inch margin...that stresses me out.

These turned out nice...they are silk and are lined and interlined. I found a wonderful mechanism to raise and lower them...they did turn out nice....

 

Number 3...

Then, I worked on a little something for me

 

insert smiley face :))))

Pictures of this coming soon

 

 

 

Mandy