A MOMENT OF REST IN A BUSY, BUSY DAY...

Dear Hubby and I have been busting our tushies for the past several hours.  Yes, I know it is early, but we have a ton of stuff to finish before work begins in our master bedroom tomorrow AND all of the family is coming over at 6:00 PM tonight to celebrate Dear Hubby's birthday last week!  So, we have been in non-stop motion since 6:30 AM and I am ready to collapse!!

We get this wonderful break in activity because Dear Hubby needed to get gas in his car (he hates to stop on the way to work) and he volunteered to bring me back an iced coffee to "energize" me.  Sigh...  Love him to bits!

The painter is arriving at 8:00 AM tomorrow to convert our bedroom from Cottage Chic to a new sleeker, minimalist haven.  Fortunately, they will move the furniture to get to the walls and will remove any last minute wall adornments before they begin. 

The "cottage" wallpaper and border are going to be replaced by the same gray paint as is in the master bath.  I should have taken pictures when our bedroom was still "together" so you could see the floral curtains and matching comforter and pillows.  The bed linens have never been slept on and the curtains, which are in great condition, have been washed...everything is all ready for listing on ebay.  

The gazebo that hung between the two windows  and the rose picture  that hung above my cedar chest are going as well.   In a way I would REALLY love to replace our bedroom furniture.  But, as Dear Hubby points out, it is all solid oak and constructed much better than anything we could buy today.  Plus, we really don't have the money for a whole new bedroom set.

Now that my master bath is "spa-like", the bedroom was much too "fru-fru".  I am hoping that neutral walls, sleek cordless blinds at the windows and a geometric comforter with less ornate shams and throw pillows will camouflage the 1980's oak furniture so it doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.   Maybe I will even reupholster the cedar chest!

This room redo is just another step in the remodeling of our almost 26 year old home. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures!

Toodles...

FAVORS FOR THE HOLIDAY TABLE...

This year is the first year in a long time that we may be having more than just our immediate family here for Christmas Day.  My son really wants "an old fashioned Christmas" like when he was young.  Unfortunately, I have downsized almost all of my Christmas decorations!  My ultimate goal was to replace bulky holiday decorations with hand made, "easier to store", decor.

Although we will be having a buffet dinner, it would be nice if each visitor had a "little something"  special at the table.  I began to think about what I could put at each place setting that would give our guests a little something sweet to take home with them.

As is my habit, I started walking through my sewing rooms, opening doors and drawers, hoping something would jump up and bite me, declaring itself as the perfect solution!  When I got to my button storage cubbies I stopped dead in my tracks.

I had forgotten my suggestion, "way back when", that these cute little containers would be perfect to hold after dinner mints, nuts, etc. at parties and weddings! 

 Eureka!

Grabbing a handful of free mints from local restaurants, I dumped out the green buttons and filled the container to the brim with peppermint sweetness.  By Jove I think I've got it!

Although my green, red and white holiday theme will be perfect for Christmas...this idea would work equally well in fall colors for Thanksgiving or blue for Hanukkah!  I may even wrap each favor up in a bit of cellophane and tie on a bright Christmas ribbon!

Now if I can just find some green "Christmas" fabric in my stash and the time to complete construction before December 25th!

MAKING A LITTLE PROGRESS...

I have made some progress on the "little guy's" quilt.  Although I have a "general" idea in my head of how I would like it to look...a lot is being dictated by the size of the shirts that I have to work with.  The supply of clothing I was given runs the gamut from newborn to 2T.  I still have quite a bit of clothing to go through.  In addition to utilizing the "cute" part on the front of the shirts, I am cutting out plain squares of the back of the shirt to place between the 4.5" squares.  The charm packs at the bottom will be used to make pinwheels to fill out the quilt to a double size.  I think I am going to use dark blue as the color for the sashing and the background of the pinwheels.

This quilt has been a LOT of fun so far! 

Hmmm...I just realized that the photo above is backwards!  Don't quite know how I did that.  Talented, I guess!

Stay tuned as I make more progress in the coming weeks.  Fortunately, there is absolutely NO time frame on this project so I can work on it at my leisure.

Toodles...

IT'LL GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER!

My sewing room is a MESS! 

Sorry I have been away for so long.  Things have been CRAZY in the cottage for MONTHS with multiple members of the family having health issues involving hospital stays, ambulance rides, outpatient procedures, doctor visits and UGH...too much!  The health issues have definitely caused more than a little stress for this girl!  But, Dear Hubby and I have just returned from two weeks of heavenly vacation in a warm southern climate; and the change has done us good!

So, I am now back to the mess that is my sewing room.  How did it get this way?  Simple.  I have begun purging through our almost 26 year old home in earnest.  It needs it!  Over the past 30+ years of marriage and 25+ years in this house we have accumulated way too much STUFF!  As our health has been declining, dealing with all of the things "in" the house have made life much more difficult.  And, if we were to need to sell this house and downsize, I don't want to have to deal with "the purge" when our health may be even more precarious.  If we were independently wealthy I could just pitch anything we didn't want to keep.  But we are not wealthy and the idea of throwing away perfectly good items goes against the grain.  So I have begun the purge through the house and subsequent listing on eBay or relegation to the garage sale pile.  In addition, following the creation of our new "spa" master bath, we are beginning the redo of our master bedroom this week...necessitating pulling everything off of the walls and off of the furniture surfaces.  Our wonderful son moved many of the things that we could not handle while we were away.  Thankfully the painters will move the furniture to access the walls.  The items that really can't be salvaged or reused in our bedroom redo have been tossed in the trash and the remainder is making its way into my sewing room for listing on eBay. 

And seeing as the above mentioned nutsy-ness isn't enough...I have finally decided that I AM going to sell off all of the living room furniture and move my sewing room and some items from my expanded sewing room down to our never used formal living room.  Having my sewing room on the main floor will save me SO much running up and down stairs.  I've grown past wanting the "picture perfect" house and am ready to make our house a "home" that works best for our lives as they are now.  Wish I had realized that little nugget of truth years ago! 

Moving my sewing room means...you guessed it...purging through my sewing "stuff".  As I come across items that I no longer feel the need to keep, I will be posting them for sale here on my website.  Stay tuned for more "good" nutsy-ness to come!