Happy Mother's Day

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Happy Mother's Day Mom ..... love you! ..... and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!  Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Happy Birthday Mom!

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You've helped me enrich my life

with your love, care, guidance

and support!

You are not just my 

MOM

but my best friend too!

Thank you for everything .....

and a very Happy Birthday to you!

I love you!!!

photo credit

Basket Work

Pin It My Mom picked up this cute basket at a yard sale last weekend. She doesn't know what she wants to use it for yet but I am sure it will hold some type of craft she will be working on.

Since the basket must have held some messy items at one time, I suggested a cute fabric liner to hide the messiness and add some cuteness factor to it.

Measuring from the bottom of the basket up to the top, I then added 2 inches for the top (to add an elastic) and 1/2 inch to the bottom for seam allowance.  I then cut a circle 1/2 inch bigger in diameter for the bottom.    Does that make sense?  I just kind of winged it.

Sewing the long piece of fabric into a tube, I then sewed the tube to the bottom circle.  Now the top was a tad bit tricky.  See the handle?  On each side, it is attached of course to the basket.......so in order to have the elastic all around the top to hold the liner in place I needed to do some fudging.

I was planning on detaching the handle but that didn't work so instead I sewed ties to the sides of the liner.  It was an easy fix and turned out pretty good too!  I never did use the elastic...it wasn't needed.

She now has a cute basket that can hold some of the projects she is working on.  

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Handmade Coasters

Pin It I love Etsy.  The talent on that site amazes me.  I introduced the site to my Mom as she had never heard of it.  Well, she was blown away as well ... and the ideas that can be drawn from the shops on there are endless.

Having all the supplies on hand, my Mom decided to let her creative juices start flowing and she has come up with these....

I LOVE them!  She made me a set with pictures from Lucas' toddler years.  I will treasure them.  She has made her sister sets of all her grandchildren, her neighbor a set of their pets and the list continues to grow.

She has been busy making a variety for me to take home and sell them at our fall and Christmas craft shows that I enter.  I think they will sell well!

Now I just need to figure out what my crafts will be....Mom has me beat already.

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

The News I Have Been Waiting To Hear Has Arrived!

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I can't go into too many details but the news I have been waiting to hear has arrived!  I am so excited and will hopefully be going back home at the end of August.

My dear hubby has been holding down the old homestead without me for quite a while and I cannot wait to dig my toes in my own dirt once again.

My Mom has been an angel helping me.  I have felt like a young child again, being wrapped in her embrace and she has spoiled me rotten with cooked breakfasts and doing my laundry.  I appreciate all she has done for me.

Too much to do today but had to share my joy.  Have a great day everyone!

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Revamped Storage

Pin It Since you all know that my Mom and I LOVE cruising yard sales and garage sales, you can just imagine the items we grab but also pass up due to space limitations!

If only I had a place to store and put everything that I see at sales that I would love to bring home....but I don't have that amount of space.....AND trying to live more simply should mean living with less stuff!

I try to be extremely selective in my yard sale buys these days.  I scour them looking for only those items that are on my list.....my Mom does the same thing....so....

not needing a little shelving unit (because she had one in her kitchen close to the side door) I spotted a cute little table that I thought would be perfect in that spot.  Now the shelving unit she was using had seen better days so we grabbed it up for $3.00.

The previous owners were quite creative in their paint selection!

My Mom's kitchen is a soft yellow on the top half and wainscoting on the bottom half.  Having some of the soft yellow paint left, we decided to give the little shelving unit a quick sanding and apply a couple of layers of yellow.

We both think it turned out quite cute and the side 'pockets' (which I think were originally used for magazines) nicely holds her wooden cutting board on one side and her umbrella (since it is close to the door) on the other side.

Now as mentioned earlier, she didn't need this little unit but it nicely replaced the one she had, it is solid wood whereas the other one was pressboard/chipboard so I think it was a smart buy.

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Did You Guess Right?

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Well, it is Monday...did you guess right on Friday?  One person did!  I showed you this picture....

Okay, so yes, I am still plucking away at my Mom's back patio.  It keeps me busy and I am enjoying fiddling around with such a small property.  

Last week we decided to add ambiance.  Lit ambiance that is.  

She has no outdoor lighting at the back so when enjoying the cool breeze after the sun sets and the humidity has been at 100 all day, it is the perfect spot to sit except we have no light.  

Do you know how difficult it is to sit in the pitch black and try and carry on a conversation with someone who is sitting right across the table from you but you can't see them?

So wanting to keep costs down, as I always like to do, I came across this idea from Diane at In My Own Style.  I thought a few of these lanterns would be perfect.  I have had my eye out for broom handles/shovel handles and glass hurricanes or vases that would work for this project when we have been out to yard sales and rummage sales.  

There never has been a shortage of old wooden broom handles that I know of except when you need them!  I do remember where I have some stashed at home and will definitely be making these once I am back on the old homestead.

First you need to gather the supplies.  An old broom handle, a cleaned out tuna can (I used a cleaned out cat food tin can...there is no shortage of those around here with my Mom's two cats!), a hurricane style glass vase/bowl, spray paint in a color of your choice ( I used the cheapest I could find), a screw and a connector.  Diane used a copper connector but I found a cheaper alternative...a plastic one!  I hope it works just as well.

I needed to pre-drill a hole at the top of the broom handle but unfortunately my Mom's battery powered drill was not charged so I did it the old fashioned way....just screwed the screw in once I had punched a hole through the bottom of the tin can with a nail...Diane used an awl but I wasn't that fancy.  

Screwing the adapter onto the male part of the broom handle, I then screwed the tin can to the top of the broom handle.  The plastic adapter worked well!  Woo hoo ... that is a difference of about $3.50 for a copper adapter compared to $1.50 for a plastic one.

Do you see how it is coming together now?

Next came the spray paint......I stuck with trusty old black....it matches my Mom's bistro set anyway.  You could use any color you wished or you could even make the broom handle a different color from the vase/bowl holder....that would be a neat idea too.

Once dried, carefully place the hurricane vase/bowl in the cat food tin can, add a lit candle and we have instant light!

Now off to make 5 more.  

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Just a Peek

Pin It I have been so busy lately that my creating/crafting/sewing has gone by the wayside a little but here is a sneak peek of something I want to work on this Saturday when I finally have a day off!

What do you think it could be?  I don't think you will be able to figure it out but one never knows!  Take a guess and see if you are right when I post the final product on Monday.  

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!

Outdoor Cushions

Pin It My Mom has a cute little bistro set that sits upon her patio.  We have been enjoying the sunshine out there in the morning while we drink our coffee and tea but the seats are a little hard on the old tushie.


The bistro set is made from wrought iron and I decided to whip up a set of seat cushions that will make our morning ritual a little more comfy.


Digging through the stash that I have here, I found the perfect fabric.  It is a heavy cotton that will withstand being sat upon and it matches her garden shed!!!! 

Now that was something I didn't think I could do ..... here is a picture of the garden shed .... 

colorful isn't it?  She wanted something that would stand out and not be 'ordinary' and well it certainly does that .... but on the other hand ... it grows on you after a while.

The seats are 12 inches in diameter so I used an old flower pot that was the same measurement, traced it onto the fabric and cut it out.

First though I made an extra 'cushion' that will slide into the outer cushion fabric.  I don't know why I decided to do that but I thought it might 'hold' the cushion together a bit better.  So I just used scrap fabric to make the inside 'cushion'.  

I lightly stuffed it with cotton batting...I didn't want the cushion to be too 'hard' so I didn't need that much....I wanted more of just a thin layer.

Once the inside cushion was made, I sewed the outer cushion, stuffed them and finished them off with a seam around the outside.  

Placing them on the chairs, I was a little disappointed that I hadn't made them a tad bigger.  Once sitting on them however, they seem to be just find and very comfortable......BUT then my Mom got another idea.....

"How about a tablecloth?" she asked, "Do you have enough leftover fabric?"  

Well, I had enough.....for the center. I quickly added a coordinating border and hemmed it.  Just as I was finishing up, the clouds cleared from the early afternoon showers and we were able to sit out and enjoy a glass of wine.  Cheers!

Remember to give your loved ones a hug!