Superwoman Over and Out

So.....here's the deal.

As much as I wish I could have shared our fall decor with you all, and as much as I would like to share the Christmas decor with you once I get it up, the reality is....I just can't.  I can't do it all.  I have to face the fact that I am indeed NOT Superwoman.  I only have 6 weeks left until this baby is due and we don't even have a crib or a changing table set up.  Life has been so busy and I feel SO unprepared for this one.  

I also feel like this at this point.

(source)

Our other two kiddos are in soccer this year and they're in different age groups so they haven't different game times or sometimes the same game time on different ends of the park so Hubby and I have to do a halftime switcheroo-swap in order to watch both kids play.  I'm sure it's quite a site to see me speed waddling back and forth!   I've been finishing out my waiting list for the feedsack shower curtains (almost done!) plus packaging up other Etsy sales and getting them shipped out.  Combine all of that with the amount of time I've spent running to the bathroom every time baby moves and I've been one busy lady. Homeschooling has been hit or miss during all of this, and the housework has just gone down the tubes and it makes me crazy.  I don't function well or happily when the house is constantly in a state of needing to be cleaned.

So....all of that being said, I feel like I need to take a break from blogging for awhile and keep my priorities in line.  The Christmas season is almost upon us and I am bound and determined to make it as stress free and fun as possible.  Last year was nutso and I felt like I never got to do anything carefree and fun with my kiddos.  Not this year though.  I've turned down opportunities that would have become obligations, and I'm scaling back on things that just aren't a priority.  And as much as I love you guys, you're not more important than time spent with my family or time spent on my duties at home.  (I'll be closing down my Etsy shop too.)  So I plan to be scarce around these parts for a couple of months.

I might pop in here and there because I do have a couple of projects that if they turn out like I'm hoping I would love to share if I can.  But don't expect any sort of regular posts or even that I'll share my seasonal decor.  I just don't have the time (or the energy at this point...remember the fat gorilla?) to do it all.

If you don't already follow me on the Facebook page, be sure to do that if you can.  It's much quicker and easier to share a cellphone photo and post over there than it is to take a whole series of pictures and then spend the time editing them all, water marking them, and then writing a whole post with it.  If you're not a Facebook follower then you've already missed one of my dreams come true.  Hubby bought me a Hoosier cabinet for my birthday and I am SO excited about it!  I absolutely love it, and it looks amazing in our kitchen.

So anyways, I just wanted to give you a heads up and let you know what's going on and the reason I've been scarce lately and will continue to be scarce in the next couple of months.  Baby #3 is due January 9th and we're all getting very excited for her arrival.  She will be the ultimate project reveal.  :D  

But please be patient with me in the meantime.  

I feel the need to retire my cape for awhile.

                                                               

We have a Winner!!

In my last post I tucked in a little surprise giveaway for my faithful readers for this cute little fall themed pillow cover.

I gave it a week and a half  for everyone to get caught up and get entered if they wanted. Today I put everyone's names in a bowl and had my 8 year old daughter randomly draw out a name.

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And the winner is.........

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Congratulations Melissa!!

 I couldn't find an email address for you so please comment again on this post so I know it's you and give me your email address so we can get the details worked out for getting this sent to you.

Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment and entered the giveaway!!  I so enjoyed reading each and every one.  It's good to know I still have some faithful readers out there.  :)

                 
                                                                   

A Secret Sewing Project

A couple of weeks ago I shared this photo over on the Facebook page and hinted at a sewing project I was going to be working on.

Some of you guessed that maybe it was going to be a fall quilt.  I sure wish I knew how to quilt!

Then a few days later I shared this photo and told you that I had the next step of the project completed, but that it would be a couple of weeks before I could share the whole thing.

Well, now I can share.

I was working on making fall themed pillow covers!  I made 13 in all and the reason I couldn't share them yet was because they were going to be gifts.  In my last post I told you that I'm on a little vacation in Tennessee with my mom and her sisters this week, and 8 of these covers were coming with me to be given out to my aunts, my mom, and two of my cousins.  Whenever they get together like this they have what they call Scarecrow parties and gifts are given out all around (the scarecrow brings the gifts instead of Santa).  : )

I decided the cheapest most cost effective thing I could give would be something I had made.  And since I have TONS of scraps leftover from my shower curtain business I decided to use some of them up and make pillow covers.  I made 2 more that won't be pictured here because they were Christmas ones and I'll share them another time.  I also made one for myself and one for my sister.  The total cost of 13 pillow covers was a whoppin' $8...and I still have plenty of fall fabric left over to make even more if I feel so inclined!

I was a busy bee trying to get these all completed before my trip, plus keeping up with making my shower curtain orders.  We pretty much didn't see the top of the dining room table for about 2 weeks, lol!

Let's take a look at what I worked so hard on.

Some of the covers have a pumpkin shape on them and some have a fall leaf.  I used a variety of fabric styles since I don't know the decorating tastes of my extended family members.  The pumpkin up there at the top though, I made that one with my mom in mind.  She wants to change her living room decor over to a lighter color palette of greens and blues and do a coastal theme.  So I made that one to coordinate with her upcoming decor change.  I love the combination of the 3 different patterns, but yet they all coordinate.  I don't know if you can see it well enough or not, but the aqua one has little white polka dots on it.  So sweet.  :)

The other ones I made were more traditional fall colors and patterns.  After I cut the patterns out of the fabric, I then used a spray adhesive on the backs of them and followed the directions for a temporary bond.  That allowed me to move them around and get them centered just right, but yet it held them in place strong enough to allow me to get them stitched all around.  I purposely left the very edges unstitched so that when they got washed they would rough up in a cute rustic sort of way.

I love the paisley and flannel pumpkin!  I made two of those, one for me and one to give away.  I already had two pillow covers that were two different style fall leaves that were done in the paisley fabric, so then I made the pumpkin to go with them.  I wanted it to coordinate, but not be completely matchy matchy.  I think the addition of the flannel pattern helped achieve that.  It's a warm olive green color that matches the green in the paisley fabric.

So....13 covers in all.  Eight were made to give away as gifts, 1 I made for myself, 2 were Christmas ones to be shared later, I doubled up on one of these patterns and made one for my sister....that accounts for 12.  So what about the 13th one?

Well, remember in my last post I told you to be sure not to miss this post?  

That's because.......

SURPRISE!!!

I'm doing an unannounced giveaway of the last pillow cover!!

I made two of these sweet little pumpkin designs and I decided to give one away to one of my faithful readers.  I appreciate you guys so much and I'm so thankful you've stuck with me even though I haven't been a very regular blogger these past few months.

I didn't announce it anywhere and I don't plan to because I want only my faithful readers to be on this.  I don't want any freeloaders hopping over here just because they think they can get something for free and then I never hear from them again.  This time its just for you guys.

All you have to do is leave me a comment at the end of this post and you'll be entered!  Be sure I have an email address to contact you at in case you're the winner.

This giveaway is for the pillow cover only, you'll have to supply your own 14" pillow insert.  It's an envelope style closure, and its made out of drop cloth.  They're easily removed and very washable.  

I apologize for all the wrinkles.  I was running out of time and light to get these pictures done so that I could schedule this post before I left and I didn't take the time to iron them, but you get the idea.

There's just one thing we gotta get straight......I don't claim to be much of a seamstress at all, I can accomplish basic things, but I'm certainly not a professional.  SO....if you happen to be the winner you have to promise me that you won't make fun of my lack of skills....mmmmm-kay?  Just remember, it's the thought that counts and I made this with love for my faithful readers.  : )

So just leave me a comment below and include your email address and in a week or so I'll do a random drawing and let you all know who won!  

Happy Fall Y'all!

 *This giveaway has now ended*

                                                               

A Vintage Farmhouse Fall Vignette

I'm so excited y'all!!  Tomorrow I'll be taking off for a few days of R&R in beautiful Pigeon Forge, TN!  I can't wait!  My mom and her sisters get together every year for a few days for a Sister's Retreat, and this year they rented a snug little cabin for 3.5 days.  I invited myself along.  : )  The kiddos are spending the week with my husband's parents, Hubby is fending for himself, and I am SO looking forward to a few days without responsibilities.  And nice chilly weather.  And hopefully some beautiful fall foliage.  And maybe even some hot chocolate.

But....I didn't want to leave you hanging for the whole week without something from me, SO....to make your life feel complete I'm treating you to some fall decor pics while I'm away.  : )

Today we'll be focusing on this little corner of the living room in between the two couches.

I've created a cozy little vignette on top of my crate I rescued from the curb.

I replaced the cheery and colorful red and yellow lamp with a black one.  Black pairs so nicely with fall colors and helps tone them down a bit so your eye doesn't get overwhelmed.  It gives your eye a place to rest so to speak.

Typically with vignettes you always want to work with odd numbers.  Things always look better grouped in 3's or 5's and so on.  Evenly paired groups never look quite right.  When I first started putting this little grouping together I didn't have the old mirror underneath and it didn't look right because the lamp made the 4th item.  I liked the grouping though, and didn't want to get rid of anything.  So, by placing the mirror underneath the other items it gives them their own boundary and the lamp is no longer part of the grouping.  The eye sees it as a separate thing.

I love how the mirror takes the place of a tray that you would usually see used in this sort of a display.

For the other items in the group, I placed some faux bittersweet in a thrifted pitcher that's sitting on top of a an old book with its cover removed.  I also added a vintage Bingo card under there for added interest.  Even though technically the book and the pitcher are two items, because they're stacked together they become one in the vignette. 

There's also a little chicken wire basket I found in the craft section at Walmart.  I added a candle and some hickory nuts to it.  I love using real gourds in my decorating and this little splotchy one with its curvy stem was just perfect here.  They make for an added expense each year, this is true, BUT at the end of the season they're ready to be pitched and I don't have to take up valuable storage space finding a place to keep them.

Tucked in the back there is my old orange grove ladder that I've had for 13 years now.  I love changing out the quilt on it from season to season.  During the summer months you might remember I had the red and white penny square quilt here.  Now I've replaced that with one that has a more warmer and more subdued color palette.  

I absolutely love this little corner and am really happy with how it turned out.

As you can see, I'm not one who loves the all neutral fall style.  I still love the warmth and coziness of the reds and yellows and orange.

Even though I'll be away from the computer for a few days, I have a post scheduled for later in the week, on Thursday, so check back for that.  If you follow me over on Facebook then you know I've been hinting at a sewing project I've been working on.  I'll finally be sharing what that was all about.  

Sharing over at:

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays #245

A Little Lamp Makeover

Today I'm bringing you another little makeover project I completed recently.  

My 8 year old daughter had been wanting a desk in her room for quite awhile.  She had pretty well outgrown the kitchen play set that was in there, so we moved it out and began looking for a desk for her.  It worked out perfectly that my sister was getting rid of this "double decker" desk and she let us have first dibs on it.  We got rid of the bedside table/small bookcase that was there previously and the desk slid in that spot just perfectly.

The only problem was that her cute little lamp that I made over years ago was too tall and wouldn't slide in under the shelf. 

 Because it stuck out so far it took up a lot of useable surface area.

*Side note* - Here's what the too-tall lamp makeover looked like.  This was about 4 years ago, before I ever had this blog.  The lamp had been in me and Hubby's room and I was going to sell it in a yard sale, but then realized it would fit her Shabby Chic room style perfectly with a little makeover.

We kept an eye out at thrift stores and yard sales for a smaller lamp, but we just never found one.  One day at Hobby Lobby she spied this little one and even though she didn't care for the black color of it, she loved the frilly shade.  I assured her we could change the color of the lamp itself and since lamps were 50% off that day we purchased it for $12.  She also really wanted the shade to have dangly "crystals" hanging from it, but the ones they had in the lamp department would have cost us another $16!  We visited the fabric department instead and bought 1/2 yard of trim for $1.75.  :)

We brought it home and gave it a makeover to make it more her style.  I dry brushed it with two coats of aqua craft paint, painted the button in the middle pink, and used some craft glue to attach the dangly trim to the shade.

She was SO happy with its new look!

Much more her style.

And it fit the space under the shelf just perfectly.

Another thing we had already changed about the desk was the knobs.  Originally it had these very basic silver and white ones.

We replaced them with pink and aqua ones instead.  

So much more character now, and again, much more her style.  

(Notice the chippy stool tucked in there?  We couldn't use a regular desk chair because they're all too wide to slide underneath and we couldn't have it sticking out because her closet door is directly to the right and she needed to have room to get it open. We discovered that this little stool, which normally resides in the master bathroom to hold a stack of towels, slid under there just perfectly tucked out of the way.)

We found the pink knobs at Walmart.  They're made to look like glass, but they're actually acrylic.  We found the center aqua knob at Hobby Lobby.

She is loving having this desk in her room.  She loves to sit and "work" at her little laptop/game computer, and take pretend calls on her pink phone.  :D  She also enjoys doing her school work here as well.

I love being able to find thrifty solutions to problems that come along.  :)

                                                                 

A Thrifted Chalkboard Sign Makeover

I found this chalkboard sign at the thrift store for $3 a couple of months ago.  It sure was ugly, but I liked the idea of a freestanding sign and the size was perfect to go on top of a section of my kitchen cabinets that have thus far been bare because I didn't know what to put up there.  

I didn't want to do anything drastic to it, just update it.  The tole style vine painting and green chalkboard were out of date and it was just dirty and grimy looking.  

Had someone attempted to glaze it to make it appear aged?  Or was it coated in layers of nicotine?  I wasn't quite sure, but either way it looked gross.

I started the process by cleaning it and then swiping on some brown craft paint here and there that I wanted to peek through in the final product for a chippy look.

I've read about using Vaseline for aging a piece, but had never tried it before so I decided this would be the perfect thing to experiment on.

I (and my 5 year old son) dabbed a bit of it on the spots of brown.  Well...I dabbed, he smeared, lol!

Apparently I forgot to take any pictures of the next steps, but here's what I did.  I taped off the wood parts leaving just the chalkboard exposed and gave it a couple of coats of black chalkboard paint.  Once that was completely dry I covered the chalkboard area with newspaper and started spray painting the wood parts white.

For some reason, the spray paint was not covering up the leaves and dark brown spots well at all, so I switched to white craft paint and a foam brush.  It covered much better.

Once the white paint was dry, I went back and wiped/scraped off the areas of Vaseline.  I could easily tell where it was at because the paint had sort of bubbled and cracked in those areas and had never dried...thus the whole point of using the Vaseline.  The brown paint peeked through in the areas I wiped away giving it a nice chippy look.

In hind sight, I shouldn't have let the 5 year old help quite so much.  I had better results in the areas where it was thickly dabbed on than in the areas where he had smeared it all over.  Oh well....nothing hurt.

The neat thing about this sign is that it's double sided.  Both sides look identical and each has a chalkboard area.  

Let's compare the before and after.

I thought it turned out pretty well, and since I already had all of the supplies I needed, this little sign only cost me the initial $3.

So what did I end up doing with it?

I put it right where I had envisioned it from the beginning, up on top of the kitchen cabinets.  

I love that I'll be able to change out the words on it as the seasons change or as the mood strikes.  And since it's double sided, I also think it would be really neat used down the center of a table as part of a tablescape some time.

In other news, the weather is finally starting to cool off a smidgen here in northern Florida and I'm enjoying the cooler mornings and milder days.  

I hope you're enjoying fall as well.

Have a blessed day!