Tolentreasures

Let me start this by saying "MY TAXES ARE AT THE ACCOUNTANT'S!!! WOOHOO! I finally finished up everything and took it last night. I was not leaving work until they were ready! Tomorrow is Hysterectomy Day and almost everything on my BH (Before Hysterectomy) list is done. I have to finish the list at work today and then pack some things tonight and drag all my Recovery projects downstairs to the family room so that everything will be ready for my return home. Yesterday morning, in the insomniac mode that I am in...I started this project and thought that I would document the process. I have had this frame hanging around for awhile and finally painted and crackled it. The wool came from the Dirtiest Yard Sale EVER (at least the dirtiest one I was ever at) but they had lots of wool blankets and I washed and washed and finally my daughter suggested washing them in white vinegar and sure enough that took the smell out. Several people have suggested that I was not in my right...

I promise that it will be coming to an end shortly...you see we have an old two story house with a two story addition on it and when we built on we did not connect the two upstairs so in order for me to get to the attic I have to go down the stairs from my bedroom, across the house and up all the stairs to the attic on the other side and as of Wednesday, steps are going to be out of the question for a week or so. I painted this over the weekend and wanted to get it hung this morning and when I looked at the pic, I realized that I still did not hang those little crystal drops back in the candleholders and candles need to be on my shopping list for that room. Found these when going through that attic and I am not sure where they came from but I like them for this room. I painted this many years ago and have never really had a place for it. This is the wall above the stairway...not quite the right colors but enough out of the room that I think it is ok.

Late yesterday afternoon I opened my front door and there was this package on my porch. It had arrived in the mail earlier in the day and I had not checked the mail yet. Char at the Pickled Pepper Patch was my swap partner and I love it all! I entered this swap for my daughter who actually has a laundry room and I will be giving these items to her and I know that she will love them. She has been so good to help me out the last two Saturdays on my attic project. Thank-you Char! Found these plates in a stack in the kitchen and thought that they would be perfect on this shelf in my attic. Not exactly bedroom decor, but I like it! I also found this quilt that I had made a zillion years ago, probably the only quilt I ever made start to finish. I still am not sure that I want it for a bedspread, but I think it has found a home in this room. This little cutie stayed with me last Saturday night. She is such a little ham and when she sees the camera she is ready to pose, even to the point of ...

Just a quick post before I have to run and get ready for the boys....wash the paint out of my hair and run to the store and get the treats/necessities for the evening's entertainment. I have a big list of stuff to do yet for this room, but the biggest part of it is done...it is painted! Not sure what I want for a bedspread...I was going to use this sheet and sew the dinner napkins on it for a quilt, but now am not sure if that is going to look righ. I have throw pillows to make, a stitchery for the wall, another painting that I started...some type of headboard, the windows need washed, curtains need made, but I feel better now that it is this far. My daughter showed up early this morning and helped and my other daughter and son-in-law brought the bed up for me. Les, You Have a Room! Cathy

About a week ago I posted pics of my attic that I am reclaiming as a bedroom, well today is the day for painting. And now for a little commercial break....if you have never used this paint before, try it, you will love it's coverage...I painted the inside of our business in January, all cement block and it had never been painted and two coats covered perfect. I am really hoping for one coat to do the trick here.....hoping...hoping.....hoping! I bought mine at Walmart, but I am sure that it has to be available elsewhere also. This is the stairway to the attic and landing. I can picture it finished and decorated... A dresser that is there from when this was my daughter's room. I have started to peel all the stickers off the mirror, kind of sad to do that, but now she has a daughter of her own to stick stickers to everything for the next 18+ years, what goes around, comes around? Assorted items that were salvaged during the cleaning for decorating purposes. The "org...

Finished up this stack of coasters. They were actually easy and fun to make. I am still working through the BH list as it has become known. Finishing things and prepping for the Recovery Time.

The huge stack of blue jeans is now becoming more manageable. I started cutting this morning and so far these photos are the by-products. Flat felled seams for coasters. (check out the Polka Dot Pineapple) The buttons from the waists and some cute little change pockets. A stack of back pockets... The hems, I don't know for what but could not throw them away. and the rest of the stack that still needs cut, but for now I have a blister from the scissors. And I could not finish without trying one coaster. I have been collecting these jeans because I have an idea to make I SPY quilts for my grandchildren for Christmas. More on that later. I think I am close to having enough, now I just have to gather the spying items. I can see them in my mind...hope that I can create them. I found out yesterday that I have to have a hysterectomy on April 1st. That gives me about 11 days to get things in order and have lots of sitting projects ready to be finished, books gathered to be read...

If anyone remembers, the last load of finished pottery qualified as ranch dip/ketchup containers and toothpick holders. I was really struggling with the whole process. Well I have moved up a little to almost cereal bowls. Ok, well we are going to call them DIET cereal bowls. I am finished with classes and last night I trimmed the last few pots and glazed others. I can't wait for them to be done now. They are actually larger and more straight than these. Oh and the bowl on the left was made by my husband at a one-day event last fall that we sort of "tricked" the guys into attending. They actually had a good time and loved throwing clay but were afraid to let anyone know....I was actually sworn to silence that he enjoyed pottery, but I am pretty sure that none of his buddies are reading my blog, so I am safe!

And this is what I got! A rug for the new bedroom! I remember being somewhere and someone saying that they were going to throw away this stack of tablecloths and in horror of throwing away something so useful, I grabbed them! At least that is the foggy memory that I have of the incident. I had this stack of white tablecloths anyway, found a sheet and an old curtain that matched, cut it into yarn using the tube method, (the link is in the post on the t-shirt rug that I made...or see the Polka Dot Pineapple in the sidebar) and voila! (three days later) have this rug! The floors in the attic are wood and this will be the perfect thing beside the bed to warm toes in the morning. From a canvas in the stash, I painted this...I think that the words need to stand out more now that I see it photographed. The colors are a lot more in the greens than the pic also. Off to the painting table! John has deliveries in a town with a Goodwill so I am loading stuff up this morning for drop of...

Well. the list disappeared! I did not quite make it but I did make a good try at it. No excuses...well maybe one, I did have another cold that really zapped me..the fifth one of the winter, but who's whining? My daughter has a wedding shower that she is helping with and I finished the favors for the shower over the weekend. I left them for her to varnish. These are a few more finished items for a space in my house that I am reclaiming. (there are these cute crystal drops that go in the candleholders as soon as I varnish them. AND........this is the space! Now Lesley, if you are reading this, this will be your bedroom at the end of April....don't be 'fraid, I can do it! Well, with a little help from the daughter that enjoys a good challenge as much as I do. We are tackling this project this weekend. This was my youngest daughter's bedroom when all four girls lived with us. That was a mere 5 years ago, how did this happen so fast? Goodwill, here I come! Fo...

Ok, so I know that I made this list of things that I needed to finish and I am not going to completely trash the list, but I think that the list might be stifling the creativity so I am going to "adjust" the list. Still finishing things up, but some of them are things that I just might have STARTED in the last month! I LOVE to start projects...even more than I LOVE to finish projects. Sometimes the in between process slows me down. When I get an idea, OR I see something that I just have to try, I have to do it NOW! That was the case with this t-shirt yarn. Check out this blog for more info http://mousechirpy-polkadotpineapple.blogspot.com/ A friend of mine sent this blog to me on Monday and when I saw the t-shirt yarn I HAD to start this project. You see we are in the screenprinting business and t-shirts are plentiful around our house. Misprints are a by-product of our business and we either donate or wear them or throw them away. Somewhere in Haiti there is an ent...

A second post in one day! But I was so happy to finish this item. The picture makes it look a lot brighter than the colors actually are. This is my own pattern that I thought up. I realized that I like to sew in circles much more than straight lines so I struggled with this!

My very first SOCK! When I started to try to learn to knit at the first of the year, I never would have thought I would have made it to socks this fast. I am racing on to the match for it now! When I was in the Dominican in January we had to go to Santo Domingo one day and made a brief stop in the Colonial Zone. It is a fun place of gift shops and so much history. I found these amber bead/drops in a little gift shop and brought them home with the idea of making gifts with them. This is the first one that I have finished. This scarf was found in the attic partially finished, finished it up yesterday and it is going in the donation bin. Sure hope that I find a home for these before next winter. This was an experiment in penny rugs. I wondered how ovals would work instead of circles. It is my mug rug now. Not a hard project to finish, this had been painted and in the stash for over a year. I finally just dug it out and put the wire on it and put it on the front door of my new...