Bragging Rights

Have you heard of the "Own Your Look" Prom Dress Contest sponsored by JoAnn Fabrics?  The 2011 contest was open to teens who made their own formal attire.  Requirements included an original dress design and coordinating accessory created with fabric and products from JoAnn Fabrics.  This contest isn't something to sneeze at: the first place winner receives a $50,000 prize--something any college-bound teen can appreciate.  You can view all the entries into the contest here.

I'm excited to announce that one of my sweet nieces, Rachelle, entered her Senior Prom dress into the competition.  I couldn't be more impressed with the beautiful dress and matching headband that she made.

Something Special Saturday - 5/28/11

YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!  SCHOOL IS OUT!

In two more months, I might not say that with quite so much enthusiasm, but it sure is how I feel today!  As much as I appreciate the wonderful opportunities my children enjoy from our excellent local schools, I do a happy little dance at the thought of having them home to stay for a few months.  I love the simpler days of summer and the way it seems to free up our schedule.

That being said....I like to have a little structure to our days.  Flexible structure, but I like having a few ideas of what we're going to do each day.  This year, I have visions of craft projects to go along with the books we'll be reading.  I've been pinning lots of ideas on my Pinterest boards.  I'll be honest, I've selected the crafts before the books.  But hey---I'm an English major.  I'm all about finding layers of meaning in literature, right?  I bet I can find a layer or two in any book that goes along with the following fun art activities.

Painting with wax on rock from 5 Orange Potatoes.

Paint with marbles from The Mother Huddle.

A Pretty Apron

This week I'm republishing a popular post from last spring in honor of The CSI Project's Refashions {Upcycled Clothing} Challenge.  

Once upon a time, I dropped by Goodwill to check out the glass aisle.  I was in the mood for making more apothecary jars--and possibly some cake stands, too--for my sewing room.  On the way to the glass aisle, I passed the Wall of Dresses.  I rarely ever give the Wall of Dresses anything more than a passing glance.  Usually that passing glance lands upon someone's old bridesmaid dress, and I have a quiet giggle.

This time, however, was different.  My passing glance paused upon these two dresses.

 It was the fabric that did it.  The fabric and that ruffle on the brown one.

True Confessions: My Sewing Room

Remember when I told you I was redoing my sewing room?

{crickets chirping}


Really?  You don't?  That could possibly be because I made that declaration over a year ago.  Oh dear.

I told you all of my good intentions for that room here.  I even provided an oh-so-charming "inspiration board" for the so-called Aqua Poppy Sewing Room.

Then I set about giving the room a complete overhaul.  I mean, really, it needed it.  Remember?  Piles of stuff everywhere?

{more crickets chirping, owl hooting}


Oh, you don't remember that?  Well, let me provide you with a link to my before shots of the sewing room...

Something Special Saturday - 5/14/11

I can't believe it is already Saturday.

Mind if I start today's version of SSS with a bit o' bragging?  And shameless advertising?

I think I've mentioned that earlier this year, I was hired by The CSI Project to do some of their writing.

The best things about my job?  I get to know who wins the weekly craft competitions before anyone else AND I get to discover all kinds of amazing home decor and craft blogs as I write up the different posts.  How amazing is it that I'm getting paid to look at other people's blogs?!?!?!  (Trust me, Bionic Man is still scratching his head over this turn of events.)

Something Special Saturday - 5/7/11

Pretty things I've spotted during the last week.

1.  An absolutely over the top Butterfly Garden 1st birthday party was featured at Birthday Girl.  Ignore the fact that it really is over the top, and enjoy the prettiness.  Can't remember how I stumbled across Birthday Girl's blog, but it is a delightful read when you are party planning.

2.  Speaking of over-the-top parties, after I mentioned how much I liked Pippa's bridesmaid dress, one of my readers sent me a link to a sewing pattern for it.  Thank you thank you thank you!  I will lose 40 pounds and find an occasion to wear it, and then I will make good use of this pattern.

3.  I've been finding a lot of great recipes to pin on my cooking board at Pinterest.  I like the ones with pretty pictures best, can you tell?  This recipe for peach cake makes me want to lick my computer screen.  I could really give my tongue a workout with 50+ recipes for homemade popsicles--in fact, these recipes inspired me to pick up some popsicle molds from the dollar bin.  And, you are going to swoon over the simplicity of raspberries stuffed with white and dark chocolate chips.


Enjoy your weekend!

Lemon Trees

Did anyone happen to notice the foliage in the background of my faux sourdough pictures?

That, my friends, is a lemon tree.  We have two of them.  They are the only houseplants I haven't killed off.  In fact, they've survived my care for more than four years, now. 

During the colder months, they live inside as houseplants, one on each side of the dining room window.

Once the danger of frost has passed, we move them out onto our deck, where they thrive during the summer months.  Other than moving them in and out, the only other care we give them is semi-regular watering and the occasional splash of plant fertilizer.  Easy-peasy.

Why yes, those really are lemons growing on my lemon tree.  Meyer lemons, in fact, and they taste sooo much better than the ones from the store.  Have you ever had a fresh lemon?  They are wonderful.

 And yes, those really are blossoms on my lemon tree.

I may have to say that I enjoy the blossoms even more than the lemons.  Words can't do their fresh, spicy fragrance justice.  I'm always so pleased when my lemon trees bloom indoors, because the scent is absolutely heavenly, and works better than any air freshener on the market.

Despite their size, our lemon trees are pretty prolific.  They each bloom about 3 times a year, and produce quite a few lemons.  We don't have lemons available year round, since both trees tend to have lemons on them at the same time.

Those lemons are quite a conversation starter.  Our guests are usually equally astonished and delighted that we have lemon trees.

We got the idea from my parents, who, over the course of many years, have had several varieties of citrus trees in their home.  We ordered the starts for our trees through a seed catalog called Wayside Gardens.  (If you do an online search, you can find many options for ordering your own citrus trees.)  They arrived in two very small boxes, just single sticks with a few feeble blooms.  We stuck those sticks in pots, and within a month or two, there were actual lemons growing on them!  It still blows my mind. 

I'm really excited that, due to all the ripening lemons on the trees right now, it looks like I'll have plenty of homegrown lemons to use with my Thanksgiving dishes!

Endeavor's Endeavor

What to do when your middle school orchestra student is expected to pay a participation fee of $200?

One option is letting your child go door-to-door in the neighborhood, selling the wrapping paper and "gourmet gifts" offered as an orchestra fundraiser. 

That's not the way I like to do things, or the way I like my kids to do things.  When I donate to something, I want to know that 100% of the profits go towards the organization I'm donating to.  And, when my kids participate in fundraisers, I want them to learn that they actually have to put forth more effort than selling wrapping paper to their grandmothers to earn money.

So, here is what I do when faced with an orchestra participation fee:

Endeavor and I have combined our efforts to open a temporary online shop to raise the $200+ she needs to participate in orchestra. 

L is for Lovely

is the name of Endeavor's shop.  She is offering several collections of floral flower pins and barrettes, as well as ruffled tote bags.  

You can visit her webpage by clicking HERE.

The darling accessories that Endeavor has crafted (with some assistance from me) are being offered at really great prices.  (Only $6 for a large pin/barrette, or 2 for $10!)  In addition to the pre-made offerings, Endeavor can customize her accessories just for you.  We're adding colors and additional collections every few days, so be sure to check back often!

Local delivery is free, and we are willing to ship Endeavor's products if necessary.

We would really, really appreciate any business that you send our way!

l4lovely.blogspot.com

First Day of Fall?

Welcome to Fall in the mid-western United States, where on this first official day of autumn, our temperature is going to be a crisp, cool, 95 degrees fahrenheit!?!?!  Yes, it still feels like summer at my house.  While I try to get up the courage to go running in the heat and humidity this morning, I'm going to post a few pictures from our actual summer.  Enjoy!

As you may remember, we drove across the country to see our families in the Rocky Mountains, this summer.  The children and I stay out there for almost a month, and between all the activities we do and climates we pass through along the way, packing for this trip is a nightmare.  I went to say good-night to the children one night during the week we were packing, and found them like this:

 I'm not sure how to explain this.  This is the girls' room, where we were doing most of the packing.  Those bins are where we store off-season clothes, and there are obviously a few laundry baskets around there.  I have no idea why they are all sleeping in the girls' room (slumber party?) and I have even less of an idea why Endeavor is sleeping on a bed of bins.

It's like the Olympic medal ceremony for some new event....sleeping?

 
Anywho....after we were finally packed and on the road, Uncle Newell and Aunt Suzanne were kind enough to let us stay with them when we passed through Missouri.  They took us out for ice cream at this local favorite.

I think it was called Arni's.

The ice cream--which was actually frozen custard--was delicious.

So was the sunset.

Speaking of sunsets, they just got better and better the further west we drove.  Here are some pics of one we saw as we drove across Wyoming.

It wasn't 95 degrees in Wyoming when we were there in July.  I'm just sayin'.

Details on the Goodwill Makeover

As I promised yesterday, here are some of the details on my master bedroom makeover.

This makeover began after a lucky day at Goodwill.

I found all of these lovely things at one of the three Goodwill thrift shops that I like to frequent.  Most of them were new.  Good etiquette would be to not tell you how much I paid for things.  But this is a makeover--a bargain makeover--so I'm going to tell you.

Notice how many new items I discovered at the thrift store?  This is not uncommon.  Many stores will take damaged items from their shelves and donate them to places like Goodwill, so they can get a tax break.  I could find no damage to any of the linens, other than the fact that they weren't in their original packaging.  The lampshade was only slightly damaged, not enough to stop my from loving it and bringing it home.  Here's a handy tip I learned: at Goodwill, items donated by stores are marked with a gray tag. 

Let's talk makeover, now.  I was happy with the parts of my room that would have cost the most time and money to redo: the furniture and walls.  The walls are a custom color of Behr paint.  Custom because we tweaked the original color to make it work for us.  I call it Creamy Tan.  The furniture was our very first furniture purchase that wasn't a)used b)damaged c)unfinished d)particle board.  It's pretty matchy-matchy, and I know some of you are screaming a your screens, "Paint it white!" but Bionic Man loves natural wood, and I love the Bionic Man, so it's not going to get painted white.  I was also happy with the silk coverlet we have on the bed.

After making sure that the new bedding fit my bed, I switched out the curtains.  Um...the fitted sheet actually didn't fit.  I think it was twin sized.  No problem, it actually matches the bedding in my girls' room, and I had a fitted sheet already that matched.

I removed the old Waverly Vintage Rose curtains that had been on this window since the previous homeowners put them up.  The only new thing I purchased for this room went up next: a set of sheers from one of my all-time favorite discount decor stores, The Christmas Tree Shoppes.  They cost me a whopping $4.99/panel.

I shopped my house for the next layer of curtains, and stole these from my dining room:

Amanda from Serenity Now had told me about some similar curtains that she made from canvas drop cloths, too.  I copied her idea in my bedroom....it will be easy to get another set of drop cloths for the dining room!

After decluttering and vacuuming, I shopped my house for a few accessories, and changed up a few of those with a little spray paint.  I also spray painted my brass lamp from Goodwill.  I used Rustoleum's Painter's Touch in Green Apple Satin for all of these projects ($3.49/can).  I especially love the way the lamp turned out.

 

 

I got the idea to paint that old, ugly, brass lamp from Melissa of 320 Sycamore.  Thanks, Melissa!

Then I added a little to this space, with some stars I've had for a while.

Eventually, I'll get the Bionic Man and a tall ladder to switch some of the things on that tall shelf.  the barn stars will go up there, and I'll hang the plates I found above the dresser.  But that's a project for another day!

The armoire in the corner also needed a little TLC.

I'm really, really happy with the way everything turned out!  Admittedly, the Bionic Man was a little skeptical about it, when he came home to a new bedroom.  However, by the time he climbed into bed last night, he had to admit that he liked it.  He especially like that I pulled the whole thing off for under $100.

Here's my cost breakdown:

New Bedding: $53.94

Lamp & Shade: $9.48

Sheers: $9.98

Spray Paint: $3.49

Total: $76.89 for a new room!

It amazes me what a little imagination and a willingness to shop at a thrift store have done for my blah bedroom.  Complete transformation!  My most recent Goodwill shopping trip was inspired by Shelley over at House of Smiths.  Thanks, Shelley!

What's the best thing you've ever found at a thrift store?

I'm linking this post to:

Between Naps on the Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap-Up Party