Tuesday, January 27, 2015

A little cake decorating

I have had this piece that came off of an old china cabinet in the garage.  I loved the lines, carried it everywhere in the house, looking for some place to use it.  It just never hit me, so it's been stored for a few years until the other night.  Hannah and I were the only two home and I was itching to do something.

So this is what I did.


The bottom piece was the cornice I had over a guest room window.  It matched up perfectly to the top piece along the bottom.  I just had to cut the top piece sides down to fit.


Hannah helped me hold it while I cut it with the chop saw.  Then using construction adhesive and some screws, I attached the two together.
 Perfect!


This where my so called cake decorating skills came into play.  I'm still learning, lol.

I really should have done this before hanging the cornice...it would have made it so much easier, rather than standing on a stool playing a balancing act.

I free handed it all the way across....which I am still amazed that I was able to keep it pretty level with the scallops.

Rather than trying to make roses, I used cake flowers found at Michael's in the cake decorating aisle. I had some left over from when I had made faux cupcakes.

See the difference in the colors?  The roses are cream while the spackle is a light grayish white.

I planned on painting all of it once dry from all of the construction adhesive.



See how much prettier it is painted?



With the two cornices attached and then taken to the ceiling, it allows the window to actually look larger than it really is.




Of course, one thing always leads to another.  I made some new pillows and curtains.  The panels I had here for the closet weren't gathered enough, so I put them at the window and then made these.



Hanging the little cabinet on the wall gave some free space on the chest of drawers.




I switched lamps and the mirror over the chest too.



  It's little touches like this that make a big difference to me.



I have had this wall grate for many years.  Very heavy, but beautiful!  It originally served as a headboard until I found this one.



This bedroom used to be Hannah's before we moved down stairs so she could have our room.  So now it is a guest room and where my Mother loves to sleep.  It may be small, but it has everything a person could need...a place to sit, a place to store clothes in two chests along with a closet and a full bed to sleep comfortably.  

One last thing...I found this cute crystal lamp at Home Goods the other day.  It was the perfect height for our office desk.  I bet you all can tell I made the shade cover, can't you?  I have to have my little white ruffles!



So that's it with my cake decorating and sewing.  Have a blessed week!




Saturday, January 24, 2015

Shabby Chic Love

We were greeted by snow this morning which covered every branch so perfectly.  The kind of snow you can still drive in and not worry.  It is absolutely beautiful!


Every window view is so lovely today and the light coming in makes for the perfect showcase for my Shabby Chic love.


I love snow!


Just look at how it makes everything so soft and cozy feeling.  I think today is a perfect day with snuggling and watching movies or even taking a nap.


I know some think that white is cold...but in reality in the Summer, the white keeps the feeling of a cooler home.  While in the Winter, it makes things feel nice and bright when everything is dead and drab outside. It is so versatile with any style.


Just look at how the back room glows from all of the light bouncing off of the snow....gorgeous!


I truly love our home...the things we've done to make it special, really make it wonderful to live in.  But of course, the little family I have makes it perfect!
God has truly blessed me with love and contentment.  Not many have that in life, always struggling to get more, be better, and are never happy with the little things.  My sweetheart and I are coming up on our 24th anniversary.  How blessed am I to have that now a days?!


I made some new slipcovers for the bar chairs in a floral fabric with blues, greens and pinks.  A nice little change for now instead of the white.


I also cut down the flowers in the pitchers which look way better to me.  I love the baby's breath with the white hydrangeas.  I've tried pink ones, but it is just too much for my taste.  


And I'm still loving this little chair slipcovered in the same fabric.  It seems that I am slowly adding touches of blue throughout the house...a color that my Mother adores!


But of course I still have all of my little touches of pink which I could never part with!


So for me today, I am enjoying the snow and our Home Sweet Home!
I hope you all are having a very blessed day.  And remember, no matter our circumstances, God is always there waiting for us to let Him help us.




Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Fabric Roses

I hope you all aren't getting tired of me yet!  I finally finished the cornice and think it turned out better than I ever thought it could.

First, let me say this:  I had the brilliant idea of making fabric roses to add to the curve as trim because I get so impatient.  I just couldn't wait to make a run to the hardware store, the next day,  to buy sandpaper for my sander.  The uneven lines were driving me nuts. 

So here's what I did.  I made over 130 fabric roses and used construction adhesive because I sure wasn't using the hot glue gun and getting burnt like I did last time!


After the adhesive dried, I then Mod Podged them all so they would be hard as a rock and protected.  
Perfect!  


This was a no cost project for me because I had everything on hand, so that was a WIN WIN for me!


I am so happy with how it all turned out.  I made some curtains from voile panels adding ruffles to the bottom and then tying back with a large fabric rose and tulle.  I love how it frames the two spaces and gives division without cutting back on the area space.  Cutting the curves makes it feel like you have more head room even though our ceilings are 8 feet.


Sometimes, it takes me awhile to get it right after thinking a bit, but I finally did it!  When you have that "yes, this is it" moment, you feel at rest then.


From both sides, it looks so pretty!  I love waking up to this view.  So soft on the eyes....


And I just love how the curtains came out!


I worked on the office area too.  Remember those boxes being brown and cream?  I couldn't take it anymore, so I painted them.   
Here's the before:


Here's the after:
Now don't they look better painted?


I found a neat little board at Home Goods too that is perfect for hiding those post in notes that my hubby has everywhere.  Now he can't blame me for losing them when I clean up.   
Tee Hee Hee 


Adding the iron brackets  under the desk was one of those late night "ah ha" moments.  Like why didn't I ever think of that before now? 


 I  also lowered the office sign and moved things around a bit.  For being under the stairs, this little office area really functions perfectly for us!


It was such a sunny day here today so I wanted to take a photo of the circus bed as we are calling it.  Even though we "have" to have the drop ceiling and carpet for our bedroom in the basement, I am quite content and pleased with it all.  It is a dream and I am blessed to have what I have! 
  
If you are noticing that my watermarks are in the middle of my photos, it is a precaution due to blogs stealing my photos, cropping out my name and pretending like it is theirs.
We've worked hard at what we've done to our home and when someone tries to take credit for our hard work, well I could spit nails!
Okay, rant over.


So what do you think about the cornice?  Think those little fabric roses would work on anything of yours?  I know I am going around looking for places to put them now, lol.

I hope this week is going well for all of you and know that I appreciate each of you for following me.  Be blessed and have a great hump day!






Saturday, January 17, 2015

I Just Can't Sit Still

The title says it all...I just cannot sit still without my mind wandering on things that bug me.  So that's when I start to create.  It takes my mind to places that are fun.

My aunt Judy recently has been having pain in her right side which traveled to her left.  Poor Judy, she was miserable!  They took her to the hospital and found out it was her appendix.  After surgery, she is doing much better.  Then a dear blogging friend's mother, whom I love dearly, got the flu and ended up in the hospital and was put on a vent due to being extremely sick.  They think she had a heart attack too.  I just couldn't stand it!

To beat it all off, I had to have a tooth pulled (I had  8 pulled when I had my braces without being put to sleep) so I thought this would be a breeze.  WRONG!   The dentist informed me that my other teeth were healthy which made it easier to extract.  The tooth I had pulled had had a root canal years ago.  A part of my tooth had broken which caused discomfort which made me say the heck with it, pull it!  Boy, did I ever wish I had had a crown put on!  It had to be broken and cracked several times and taken out in pieces.  Oh my aching jaw...never have I ever experienced so much pain, lol.  I never took anything for my other 8 teeth for pain and when asked if I wanted pain meds, I said no like a dummy.  Thank goodness, the DR. made sure I had something for just in case which when the hubby came home, I had him go right away to have filled.  Teeth are so important to me, so losing one isn't any fun.  I'm planning on having an implant after I heal.  I sure hope they don't hurt as bad as this has!

So, now you see why I have to create!  To give my mind a break....


Remember this cornice we made with the old columns?  Well, the top never satisfied me.  So I added some fencing and plates.


Which made it feel too low.


Well, one night I got the jig saw and started cutting.  This was the design, but see how it looked like Dracula teeth?  Definitely not something I wanted to see when I went to sleep!


So I cut them off!  My cuts were not smooth, but I am out of sand paper for my electric sander.  I'll sand it down later, but this gives you the idea.  I added some appliques on either side which I really love.


I want to make some really unique curtains for some drama....but can't make up my mind on what I want.


But all in all, I think this is it!  Our ceilings are eight feet.  Now it feels better without the fencing.


If you remember, I had these curtains in place of the tie backs on the cornice.  I switched them to here which I like so much better.  I hung my hydrangea sign at the top since I had it on the cornice before cutting it and adding the appliques.
 This leads to our closet.  


We have a fridge and a microwave too! We didn't want doors, so the curtains hide the mess perfectly.


I took down all of the stuff I had on top of this old china cabinet and made things a little simpler.  You all should know by now that I adore china, so hanging them makes me smile.  See the little mirror to the right?  I found that on clearance at Home Goods for $12!  Of course I had to paint it white.  It's a candle holder.


I've also played musical chairs and brought this down here for a change.  I love this chair!


A friend of mine wanted me to make her a king tufted headboard for their bed.  The one above to the left is one that I made for her a year ago from an old mantle.  The other one is mine that I made and said I would never do another one because of all of the buttons!


But I did, and thankfully I just had 12 buttons to make this time, lol.  She loved it!

If you all don't mind, please pray for my Aunt Judy and Linda Laity for healing and God's protection.  And for me too with this tooth!
Thanks so much, I appreciate you all dearly!