Quick Ottoman Tray

Our game room is Red, White and Black in honor of the Detroit Red Wings Hockey Team.  We used our black couch from our VA sunroom, along with our black storage ottomans.  I needed a tray for the ottomans and decided to paint a bare wood tray I had in my sewing room closet.

I used a simple idea that was easy to make.  I painted the tray with several coats of "Red Wings Red". Next I used a large stencil and painted a white letter N in the middle, and outlined it with a black sharpie.  Because it is impossible to get everything to look perfect doing it freehand, no matter how hard you try, I decided to rough it up a bit to make it look old and worn. This way the imperfections look perfect.

Cue the sand paper. I scuffed it up a bit and it looks worn and old. I sprayed it with a top coat and it was done.

Easy Peasy!

Decorating My Kitchen Island

Our new house has a huge Kitchen island and needed a decoration to break it up a bit. I started with a square flat dish with black beans on the bottom, and candles sitting in them. It looked OK, but needed to be bigger.

Simple and boring

Time to go shopping! I never get time anymore to shop during the week, so I took advantage of not babysitting on Good Friday and did some shopping therapy.

First stop was JoAnn Fabric. I was there to look for fabric to cover a chair, but saw they had a 50% off sale on all their garden items. I found three bird cages that were in the perfect green for my kitchen, and got them for less than $15 each. My mind was going into overdrive trying to think what to put in them. My first thought was I would just put the black beans in the bottom and put one candle in each.  Then I saw the cutest glass white birds that light up. Now, I was thinking one small bird in two of them and a larger bird in the middle cage.

Cute little birds, and they light up.

Next Stop Stein Mart. This trip was to look for a quilt, and instead I found the cutest green and brown glass birds. Now, I am rethinking the cages and how to set them up. I have two round and one rectangle cage and I am definitely putting the dry black beans in the bottom. What to put in next is the question, candles, birds or a mixture?

Love these birds. Does that make them Lovebirds?

I chose the birds. The small white birds in the round cages and the taller green and brown birds in the rectangle cage. They turned out cute and cover just the right amount of space. Success!

I told you they lit up!

Yoga Instructor, Ballerina or Hockey Goalie?

My granddaughter has started to crawl and the process is fascinating. My kids started with the commando move using feet, knees and elbows. Next, they would get in the crawling position, hands and knees, and rock forward and back, then dive a little forward. Finally, they would move their hands forward and then knees in the traditional crawl. This was followed by the turn and sit, and turn back to a crawl. It has been so much fun each day watching this sweet baby go through this process in her own very unique way.

Pillow Bed

About a year ago I was at my sister Debi's house in Ohio and she brought out a pillow bed she had made for her Granddaughter.  I fell in love with it and had to make one for my Grandson. We went shopping and I bought some fleece, and took it home with me to Virginia to make the beds. There was a long delay in starting this project because we moved, and the material got packed away until we moved into our house in Texas almost a year later. I did not take pictures while I was making this pillow bed, so you may have to use your imagination a bit looking at the pictures I took after the the bed was finished.

I want my Mom!

What is it about Moms and their magic powers to make you feel better? My Grandson fell in his house a few days ago and through his tears and crying he just kept saying, "I want Mommy". His dad was doing everything his mom would have done, but it was just not the same. He wanted his Mom. The same thing happened not long ago when I was at my daughter's house to pick up my granddaughter. My grandson bumped his head while I was standing near him. I went to comfort him, and all he could say was, "I want Mommy".

Pillowcases

My bedroom has been decorated in light blue and brown for several years. The bedding has changed, but the colors have always stayed the same. When we moved to Virginia I added gold to the color scheme.  I was in Florida with my sisters and I bought some new pictures to hang over the bed, and that introduced gold into the mix. I found some decorative throw pillows, but could not find printed sheets or pillowcases in gold anywhere.

The 1st and 33rd

When I went to bed last night I wondered what feelings and emotions tomorrow morning would bring. When I awoke this morning I found there were tears both of sadness and joy for a loss and a love so profound. I am starting this day of contradictions with a prayer on the first anniversary of my Mom's death, for God to bless and keep her, and a prayer of thanks for the 33 years of marriage to the love of my life.

My thoughts on this day will be filled with fond memories of the past and great hope for the future. And, as always, my heart is filled with so much love.