leftover vases & baby frame

A couple of months ago, I was watching Trash to Treasure on HGTV. They said something about leftover florist vases and it caught my attention because I have a LOT of them. They spraypainted the vases, and turned them over to make them into candle holders. So I decided to do my version of the project, plus a little lamb figurine I've had, that didn't have a home:

-------------------------------

The other day I was at Storkland looking for a baby gift for my friend & neighbor, Tara. I saw these cute baby frames, but they were priced a lot higher than I was willing to pay. Then it occurred to me...hey - I can make one of those! So I did:

I learned to sew!

My mom taught me how to sew on a machine last week. I need a LOT more practice, but I think I did pretty good for my first project! I made covers for the pillows on our sofa. The back has a flap where you put the pillow in. {yeah I'm sure there's an official name for that...} The back is a striped fabric that coordinates with the floral on the front. Wonder what I'll tackle next...

mom's day gifts

Yesterday I had plans to shop for my mom & Baron's mom in downtown Prattville for Mother's Day gifts. It was nearing 2:oo and we were still at some friends' {Mark & Michelle Thompson} house after eating lunch with them, their kids, and Baron's mom. At some point during the lunch conversation, Jane {Baron's mom} noticed a decorative tile that Michelle had on her counter. It was about 12x12 and it had a large cursive "T" painted on it. Jane really liked it, and I immediately thought about getting a tile for her & for my mom for Mother's Day. Then I thought, "I could so make one of those myself. And it would be cheaper. Hmmm." I told Baron about my idea, and when we left their house at about 3:00, I started working on the tiles. The tiles are so cheap that I got an extra to hopefully make one for us someday. :-) {P.S. Easels super cheap from Wal-Mart! Thanks, Better Homes & Gardens.} Here are the finished products:

home deco updates

So I finally finished this project!! Here are some pics. And I also realized that many of you haven't seen our house since we redecorated after the tornado, so I'm posting a couple of other pics too.

{after the tornado, we had to replace our rug & throw pillows. and I bought a coffee table as a bonus. :-)}

{we recently inherited Baron's mom's old bedroom furniture, and we didn't need the mirrors in our room so I put them on the mantle}

{I did this painting a couple of months ago & I'm still not sure if I like it. obviously it doesn't bother me too much since it's still hanging in the kitchen. :-)}

finally completed a project!

Baron was in Miami last week on a mission trip with the teenagers, and that left me with a lot of alone time. So, I decided to work on a project that was thought up about 2 months ago & was put on the back burner by a procrastinator known as yours truly.

When the tornado hit our house, it took with it the vinyl cover to our firepit that sits on the deck. We still had the mesh lid, but because the cover was gone, rain was collecting in the pit and causing rust. So, I decided it would be nice to make a table top that would a) keep the rain out of the pit, and b) provide a coffee table when we aren't using the firepit. A friend of ours, Patrick Reed, built the wooden table top, and we planned to install tiles left over from our kitchen flooring. I worked on this all week, and here are some pics of the finished product. I also bought some chairs to (finally) have something to sit on outside. Nothing fancy, but they were cheap. :-)

please ignore my almost-dead hibiscus tree in the background :-(