garage sale & burlap madness

we worked this afternoon on getting ready for the 1st of probably 2 garage sales for this summer.

must of the stuff is corrie's. both of my kids inherited the "never can part with anything because everything is useful & i might need it someday & besides, i still really like it" gene. i have absolutely no idea where this gene came from! ha!

we have a 2000++ sq. ft. unfinished basement filled, filled, filled with "useful items" such as: 10 containers of vintage & not vintage table linens, probably 10 unused lamps, at least 20 folding chairs, dining tables & chairs, other misc. furniture, 3 long, long tables from church that were too heavy to be useful there (so, of course, they are now in our basement!), a deep freeze filled with girl scout cookies, every unfinished craft project i've ever started, enough catering equipment to do a large wedding, turquoise & black whatever left over from corrie's wedding, at least 20 containers of seasonal decorating items, too many baskets, candles, frames, & wreaths to count, rugs for every season, lawn furniture "too nice" to get rid of, a zillion toys, a million books, a trillion magazines & my size 3 wedding dress from 1970 (wedding dress #1), my size 6 wedding dress from 1996 (wedding #3), & 3 dresses from justin's, angela's & corrie's weddings (& i'm not telling the sizes, but i'm sure you can guess they get larger with each event!). what else is down there? all the baby clothes, equipment, bedding, swings, whatever that our 4 grandchildren have outgrown. but, hold up! that is probably the best use of our basement. every couple of weeks, one of the kids is down there either "shopping" or "returning".

anyway, the point is, i absolutely cannot fault corrie or justin for their "hard to get rid of anything" ways. and i'm so proud of corrie for making this big step in decluttering. i hope tomorrow & the next day are very successful days for her. and maybe it will inspire me to do the same.

#1 question - where did i get my 3 shower curtains? target. in march or april. they were getting hard to come by according to other bloggers, even then. you might try ebay.

the burlap party has been a blast. yes, it was crazy trying to do all the things i wanted to do. but, at the same time, very therapeutic. i can't believe how many comments i've had here on my blog. i will try my very best to respond to you all in the next day or so. i've read rhoda's blog & admired her for well over a year now, so it was so great to get to participate in her party. of course, in typical randee fashion, i got it messed up & double posted. then i was afraid to try to delete one of the posts because they both might disappear. oh, well.

wow - there were so many great burlap projects. window treatments, table runners & lampshades & lots of other things that all turned out so beautifully. after i make some head scarves for eva maybe i'll return to more fun with burlap.

hope you all have a great weekend -

blessings -

Southern Hospitality: Burlap: What have you done with me lately?#links

Southern Hospitality: Burlap: What have you done with me lately?#links
(edited on 12/30/09: i think these shower curtains were definitely the most favorite shower curtains of 2009 in bloggyland. i'm so happy i found them & was able to join the fun with them! this post started all my fun with burlap, which continues! yeah birdy toile & yeah burlap!)
so it all started when i kept seeing these shower curtains on different blogs.


i was so in love! that would be a perfect choice for the jack & jill bathroom that sits between the grandchildren's room & the guestroom/nursery in our house.

the brown toile & pretty aqua blue birds would look great. i was already using aqua blue towels & rugs in the bathroom & i already had toile(black) in the guestroom/nursery.

the search was on! and i managed to score 3! the salesclerk was marking them down to 4.87 as i approached the clearance rack. corrie couldn't believe i found exactly what i was looking for at the 1st store & at that price!!!!! what a find!


(but - what does that have to do with BURLAP?

well, i always have multiple projects, problems, issues, illnesses, you name it, all happening at the same time. and i've been planning a coffee for the gals in my CBS core group. i wanted to do a "beach" theme for the table, since we live so close to the beach. ha, ha! i live in gahanna, a suburb of columbus, ohio. no beach.
i thought it would be really cool to have a BURLAP runner for my table. so i was going to buy some BURLAP.)

i was now the proud owner of THREE
brown toile shower curtains. i decided to see just how far i could stretch that fabric.


one entire curtain was devoted to (surprise): the shower. how clever of me!

i decided to make a roman shade for the bathroom out of the second one.

that left one more. then i thought "what if, when i bought some BURLAP, i bought enough to make a curtain for the grandkids room & added some of the shower curtain fabric as the bottom?" brilliant idea. oh, by the way, i'm not very good at sewing. no big deal.

i wasn't sure how much to buy - but since it was so inexpensive & i had a 40% off coupon, too, i did the logical thing. i bought a bolt. yep, 20 yds. of burlap.

started unrolling the burlap, started itching. got a headache. got discouraged. walked away. next day - rethought the curtains. i just couldn't let my grandkids nap in a room full of this stuff. i know, i'm a little crazy. came up with another scheme.

went back to joanne & bought several yds of eggshell broadcloth that matches the shower curtain just perfect. i still wanted to use burlap somewhere in the room so check out the burlap trim on the curtains.




and the book basket


and the lampshade



then i took some of the left over fabric & made a couple of pillows for the bed.<


i'm going to make a rocking chair cushion, too, just waiting on the donated cushion to be delivered via ruthie, my sister (who thinks i'm nuts to be working with burlap, by the way)

i still have some other things to do in the room before i reveal all of it. maybe next week. i'd love to paint but..........not right now.

on to the bathroom -

see my roman shade?



& the shelf below? i used BURLAP on the back & stamped some canvas with a toile bird, then hot glued it on.


i'm still working on the bathroom. maybe next week......

more BURLAP -

made some BURLAP gift bags - to put these rocks in - that i found at the freetrade store(10,000 villages) at easton (sounds like an oxymoron to me! - local joke ;) ) aren't the rocks cool? 2.00 does seem like a crazy price to pay for a ROCK but it came all the way from india & someone got paid to scratch those words on them. i bought all they had & i'm going back for more when their next shipment comes in. what a great little gift.





took a black sharpie and did the initial on the front for my friend, "s", as a hostess gift for the coffee i'm going to today at her house.

also - did a little thingy that i framed. needs a black frame, don't ya think?


started to do one more project & decided it would take too long. i'm going to make BURLAP chalkboard tags. i have 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of canvas that i'm going to spray with chalkboard paint & then encase in burlap.

finally - back to my original idea for the burlap. i've been rounding up all my "props" for my coffee tablescape.


& that completes my frantic last few days of scheming, sewing, gluing, itching, etc.
all done to participate in my first "linky" party.

thanks for stopping by. make sure you check out all the others linked up to Rhoda's Burlap Party.

thanks, Rhoda, for hosting & for inspiring us everyday in so many ways. you are a must read every morning!

now back to sorting junk. i'm having a garage sale this friday & saturday with corrie.

oooooooh, and the closing on my "little house" is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. this friday. still praising God for His perfect timing!

blessings -

sneak peek

i've been working on a fun (but itchy) project the last few days. i'll show you a little sneak peek.

but, first - just look at these faces!




now look at this -

and this -

and this -

and this -

and then this -


yes, i agree, the first group of pictures are the best!


come back thursday for the rest of the story - it involves birds & a target bargain & a bolt!

blessings -

sunday at the old folks home

everyone starts arriving


what's on the menu?
grilled chicken & shrimp teriyaki
grilled pineapple
steamed broccoli
tossed salad
brown rice
bread
bing cherries
strawberries
store bought cheesecake




sitting around "catching up"



the "lone griller" (he didn"t ask for the assignment, but did a great job, anyway!)

finally - time to eat!

all good things must come to an end!

til next time - which will be june 7th! we'll do sandwiches, chips, make your own sundaes & ........... SWAP MEET!

a place where failing is rewarded

i have found a blog where i feel very much at home. i relate (in a major way!) to the subject content. in fact, i do believe i could be a regular contributer. if i wasn't so lazy, i'd gather up all of the evidence & take a photo to prove it.


go to craftfail.com & see what i mean.

elephants and kangaroosie, roosies

Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory

i've got this stuck in my head now!

Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord

The Lord said to Noah:
There's gonna be a floody, floody
The Lord said to Noah:
There's gonna be a floody, floody
Get those children out of the muddy, muddy
Children of the Lord

So Noah
He built him, he built him an arky, arky
Noah
He built him, he built him an arky, arky
Built it out of gopher barky, barky
Children of the Lord

The animals, the animals,
They came in by twosie, twosies
The animals, the animals,
They came in by twosie, twosies
Elephants and kangaroosie, roosies
Children of the Lord

It rained and poured
For forty daysie, daysies
It rained and poured
For forty daysie, daysies
Nearly drove those animals crazy, crazies,
Children of the Lord

The sun came out and
dried up the landy landy
The sun came out and
dried up the landy landy
Everything was fine and dandy, dandy
Children of the Lord

Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord

The animals they came off
They came off by three-sies three-sies
Animals they came off
They came off by three-sies three-sies
Grizzly bears and chimpanzee-sies zee-sies
Children of the Lord

Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord.

That is the end of,
The end of my story, story
That is the end of,
The end of my story, story
Everything is hunky dory, dory
Children of the Lord

aren't you glad? (that it's the end of my story, story)

rise and shine and give God the glory, glory

in my mind.........i'm always praising God. thanking him for every blessing, big & small, every challenge, easy & difficult, & every answer to prayer.

with my mouth.........not nearly so much.

how sad is that? i know a lot of people. i have a big family. i have a big mouth. God works mightily in my life every day. you all need to be hearing it from my mouth cuz i know you can't read my mind.

you need to know this -

i believe in God's perfect timing. He has been telling me for 20 yrs. to "wait" for Him, to not go ahead of Him, but to wait for His perfect timing. Everytime I listen, & wait, He comes up with something so much better than i could ever imagine.
when i go ahead on my own, without His blessing, it's gonna be second best, at best, maybe even worse.

listen to what is happening right now in my life -
we originally wanted to sell my "little house" in beechwold 2 yrs. ago. obstacles stood in the way. i could have pushed & pushed those obstacles out of the way, but i tried very hard to listen to God. He wanted me to wait & to extend grace where & when needed. that's hard for a pushy, bossy me. i waited (though i did complain, at times) shelly worked on the house as time & health & other commitments permitted. (he's good at waiting, by the way) "my" deadlines for getting the house listed kept going the wayside. i guess i wasn't supposed to be setting any. guess i wasn't listening close enough.

fast forward to this month. me, myself & i really wanted to get the house listed on monday, the 11th. molly, the realtor was due at the house at 11 am. but it was still in need of a good cleaning & some more paint touchups. so i called her & said we'll have to postpone it. she said she was going on a cruise next week. looked like we'd have to wait 2 more weeks or we could do the listing with her partner while she was away. okay, we'll wait 2 more weeks.

the very next morning, tuesday, molly - she called me. her partner had a young man who had made an offer on a house in clintonville, but for some strange reason, the sellers had never gotten back to him on the offer. so, he wanted to show him my house.

wednesday morning, i signed the paperwork to list it.

wednesday at noon, he saw the house & made an offer. for.the.full.price!

thursday, today, completed deal. waiting (patiently) for inspection. guess we better get it finished, huh?

we might close before molly gets back from her cruise!
{update at 6:33 p.m. - house is officially in contract, inspection scheduled for next thursday & closing to be no later than 6/9 & could be sooner!}

you would have to be blind to not see God's hand was in this. i thank Him & praise Him for who He is & for His patience with me. Thank you, Lord, for all you do in my life. Help me, Lord, to praise you more & more with my mouth (& words) so that others will know who you are & will desire to draw closer to you.

trust God, wait on the Lord. His ways are not our ways, but His timing is perfect.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not upon your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, & He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future. Jeremiah 29:11

how about you? what are you praising Him for today?

i challenge you to rise & shine & give God the glory, glory
children of the Lord

blessings -