Gone to the Birds

The Michael's craft stores in our area have their Signature Accents and Garden Decor collections on sale for 50% off.  Lots of cute bird cages and apothecary jars I've got my eye on.  But I'm waiting (not so patiently) for a bigger discount on those.  I did pick up these cute birds for home and my office.  With the half off discount, they ranged in price from .99 to $1.49. 

Trash to Treasure - Night Stands

One man's trash can certainly become another man's treasure.  As is the case with my husband's lastest trash to treasure finds - these two night stands.  They both are in need of a little rehab, but I'm in love with their curves and vintage looks.

This open night stand now resides in our family room.  I'm still trying to figure out what color I should paint this stand.  It is currently spray painted a yellowish-green, which is cute in and of itself.  But it doesn't quite fit with our Caribbean Sunset walls and mossy green carpet (bleh!  the carpet will be replaced, eventually - not soon enough!).  I've thought about Heirloom White, the Atlantic Gray I used for my office console table, or maybe some shade of green.  Any ideas?

The other night stand is in our living/reading/used to be the family room - room.  It is sitting next to an oversized white slip covered chair.  I think I'm going to keep this one white, but still maintain the distressing around the edges.  We're planning on painting the dark paneling in this room a relaxing Eucalyptus Leaf color.  Should go well with the white accents.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing these trashy treasures at:

Coastal Charm

 

First Day of Preschool

Holding onto my baby just a little bit longer

Our 5 year old has entered a new season in his young life, preschool.  Based on the recommendations from the parent-child observation group we participated in last month, we enrolled Clayton in the part-time (2-day a week) program at the preschool Ashleigh attended.  The teachers and counselors from the observation group felt Clay would benefit from having classroom experience before starting kindergarten in the Fall (he's been at home since birth).  And socially, it would help him gain some confidence.  Since outside of familiar people/situations, Clay tends to be very introverted.  

So far, things are going well.  He doesn't push us out the door as eagerly as some of the other kids do their parents.  However, the teachers say he settles in nicely during the day.  He most enjoys going outside and playing basketball and of course the snacks! 

Our biggest preschool challenge maybe coming up this week though - the Easter Bunny!  Clayton does not like mascots of any variety - Red Robin, the Chick-Fil-A Cow, the Monkey at Monkey Joe's.  So I'm not sure how we're going to handle the Easter Bunny's appearance at the Easter egg hunt. I certainly don't want Clayton associating preschool with mascots or he'll probably never want to go back!

       

Simple Pleasure - Bluegrass

Market Day - Local Milk & Butter

Local milk, butter and chocolate milk (yum!)

I recently discovered a local diary farm - Homeland Creamery out of Julian, NC - that sells to stores in our area.  While their milk is not organic and is pasteurized (it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption in NC), their cows are not given any artificial growth hormones and are pasture raised on hay, grains and feed grown directly on the farm.  I picked up a gallon of whole milk (part of which will go towards crockpot yogurt), a half gallon of chocolate milk (a yummy treat!) and 1lb of butter. 

Stop focusing on what you can't do, and start focusing on what God can do.

- Joel Osteen from Your Best Life Now

Spring!

Hope you're enjoying the first day of Spring!

Blessings,

Star Breath

"STAR Breath" - Stop, Take a break, And Relax

Don't mind me, I've been taking a "star breath" from blogging.  The last few weeks have been full - finishing up the parent-child observation group, touring preschools, speech evaluations, fractions, paper work, appointments and more paper work.

Although I haven't been posting, I found some wonderful reading out in the blogosphere.  Hope you enjoy and are inspired!

Moore Minutes - The Homemaker who isn't HOME

   We Are That Family - Compassion International trip to Africa

       Coffee Tea Books And Me - The Underground Economy

Blessings,

Fix for Chipped Bowl

On a recent stop by our local "antiques to zippers" thrift shop, I spotted this cute initialed, painted bowl.  I loved the polka dot pattern and bright spring colors.  But, there was a chip on the side.  So I put the bowl down.  Stood there and looked at it, then picked it up again.  At 50 cents, I figured it wouldn't be too much of a wasted investment.  I could always take it in to work and use it to hold paper clips or something. 

Once I got home, an idea came to mind to cleverly hide the bowl's small imperfection.  I made a bow using wired gingham ribbon from Dollar General.  Once I got my bow fashioned the way I wanted it, I hot glued it to the edge of the bowl, so it covered the chipped area.
 

Now this bowl is ready to stand front and center in a Spring display!

Linked at:

A Soft Place to Land

Another Breakthrough!

Before the year began, God challenged me to believe in Him for the "big things" - to stop limiting Him based on my own doubts.  To believe He would show up not like a trickle, or a stream, but like a flood.  Our first flood came back in January when my husband was offered a job after six months of unemployment.  Not just any job, but a job like the one we had been praying for, with great benefits, great work hours and a less stressful environment. 

Last week, I was flooded with a blessing again.  I had been praying for a family member that had broken off ties with us for quite some time.  It's a complicated situation and one I just didn't see any resolution to.  So how surprised was I, when I returned to work from a day off last week to find a voice mail from that person!  After having very minimal contact for almost 6-7 years, it felt so good to hear their voice and catch up, if only briefly.  I was filled with joy and praise and hope that old wounds can be further healed. 

What an amazing God we serve!