Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

Clean Sheet Monday...again.

Well, if it all goes south on me, I've got clean sheets to crawl between tonight. I finally put away the flannel sheets and got out the cotton ones. We have a California King bed, and you don't just find these size sheets anywhere. Bob is 6 ft. 4 and needs the extra length of the bed. Anybody have a good source for pretty sheets in this size where I wouldn't have to auction off my first born to purchase them? I bought the below set new at Canton, Texas. They have a gigantic huge flea market the first Monday weekend of every month. The sheet dealers said once we slept on these sheets we would never want to sleep on anything else. I wouldn't go THAT far, but they are fine, and fit our bed.  

 

Remember, it's Clean Sheet Monday...not UNwrinkled Sheet Monday!

Buying clothes on the cheap for a big, tall guy is also a challenge. I've decided I would rather spend the money on a nice XLTall shirt and not have belly showing. Not an attractive look on a man or a woman. This man works hard and deserves to have shirts that fit even if he's tall. I found a new source for Tall Guy Shirts...western stores! I have also discovered that the George Strait brand runs tall so cowboys can tuck in their shirts and if they're bullriding...their shirt won't slip out at an embarrassing moment! If you are a local blog reader and this is of any interest to you...Baskins is cheaper than Cavenders.

 

The Gladewater Rodeo has a Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night for Breast Cancer Research and so I got Bob a pink shirt and decided I would get one too. He gets pink plaid and I will sport pink roses. In the same shopping center I discovered a new thrift store, Hope's Closet, and found another shirt with lavender flowers for 3.99. That is my kind of price and I'm almost positive I've seen this brand in Dillard's and Macy's.

Now on to the continued tour of my sister's Jill's house. I will move into her dining area. She has a fireplace across from the table where they eat family meals. I love the colors of the vintage print in the middle of her mantle. Beautiful rich pink, yellows, blues, and purples. She paid $3.00 for it at a thrift store called Helping Hands. I cannot visit her without running in there and trying to help my hands to some treasure. 

Next to the mantle is a little wicker sitting area. Jill used lots of vintage fabric with my favorite being the little quilt hung over the back of the settee' in an old-fashioned green with pinky flowers. The quilt on the wall is one she made herself. Don't you think my sister has a good way of blending old and new fabrics for a very cheerful look?  

I mentioned Jill and I both decorate with a sentimental touch, as I'm sure many of you do too. In the next picture you will see a sign she painted "Count Your Blessings". Each summer we would get to spend time with our grandparents in Arkansas. They lived in a tiny little rock house that looked right off the page of an old story book. We spent lots of hours listening to stories and singing together. We have sweet memories of our Paw-Paw singing this old hymn in his rich baritone voice..."Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done..." He would always assure us he counted us as blessings. I like how she incorporated these words into the dining area as a sweet reminder of her blessings, and I can't see these words without thinkin of my Paw-Paw!

 

The tour of my sister Jill's house is not finished, so please come back and join me as I show you a few more cozy little spots in her home.

 

Jill and her blessings...her husband (Robbie), Mallory, Grant, and Preston!

CLICK RIGHT HERE to help save children's lives through Love Without Boundaries Annual Ebay Auction. 100% of every penny spent in this auction goes directly to save the lives of orphans. There is less than 24 hours left to go!  

Happy Pink Saturday!

Thursday I had a lovely visit with two special dear-to-my-heart women...my sister, Jill, and my grandmother, Maw-Maw. Maw-Maw is 93 and has been such an inspiration in my life. My grandmother sparked our interest in creating by providing my sisters and me little projects to do when we had the thrill of getting to spend the night with her and Paw-Paw. I remember decorating a coffee can. I had great fun making a trash can by rolling magazine pages tightly on a dowel rod, and then gluing them to a Baskin Robbins ice cream container. She taught us how to embroidery and how to crochet. There was always some little crafty something to do at Maw-Maw's house. The food was good too. We crafted and ate. Ate and crafted. Played Scrabble. Watched Lawrence Welk. Ate.

For Pink Saturday I would like to show you a picture of my Maw-Maw and my sister. Maw-Maw is still a colorful character inside and out, and I love the way she spices up her outfits with a colorful headband or on our day together...hot PINK beads!  

 

Before Jill and I went to get Maw-Maw for our outing, I told Jill I wanted to blog some pictures of little creative spots in her home. She was totally unprepared, and said there was too much dust and she needed to put the finishing touch on some areas, but I told her it didn't matter. My blog visitors are nice folks and will just ignore the dust and enjoy the visit. Right?

Jill is like me in that she likes to decorate on the cheap, re-work found objects, make it herself, and incorporate sentimental objects into her home decor. Unlike me, she is a quilter, and I think she has a great eye for fabric combinations. Here is a little tour of her home. 

My sister is turning a corner of her bedroom into a sewing nook.

 

She was protesting it was far from finished, but most of us creative types like to see things in the midst of its transformation. She is using lots of aqua, pinks, and has some cute ideas for storage. I will have to post again when she gets it all finished. I am enjoying all the yummy colors before it's even finished.

   

Jill's eyes are closed, but I think it's still a cute picture. She was tickled about something and explaining how she had covered an old popcorn can with felt, added ribbon and was going to label whatever she decided to store. Hmmmmm....sounds sort of like Maw-Maw's coffee can project from years ago.

 

Here is one more little area at Jill's house which sports pink. I made this for Jill out of a standard screen I bought new (using a coupon of course) and vintage handkerchiefs and linens. Some are sewn completely on, and others are left sewn only on three sides so they are like pockets and things can be stored in them.

 

 

Will you come back and visit later this week? I'll continue the tour around my sister's cozy home. Happy Pink Saturday! Please visit Beverly's for all the other Pink Saturday participants.  

Yes, it's Monday...but...

 It is....

No matter what happens on Monday I enjoy knowing I have clean, sweet-smelling sheets to crawl into at the end of the day. The debate today was making the decision to keep out the cozy flannel sheets or get out the crisp summery cotton ones. I just couldn't put the flannels away just yet, so on went the polka dot flannels for tonight. East Texas weather can fool you. We could have a cool spell, or high winds, rain, or drought. One never knows.

 (NOTE: Clean Sheet Monday is NOT written on our wall.)

For those of you new to my blog...Do you wonder how in the world I ended up with this gigantic abstract painting in a black lacquered frame in my vintagey-cottagey old farmhouse? I promised my husband, when we married, I would not fill the bedroom or his office with my treasures and we could use his (cough, cough) art work for those rooms. My Bob LOVES this piece of art and finds it so soothing. I think it looks...disturbed and confused. But, I LOVE Bob and so I've grown adjusted to the painting as he has had to adjust to my (cough, cough) treasures. 

Plus, Bob didn't put up a fuss over polka-dot sheets. I'm sure he would rather be snoring on a basic, plain (boring) blue. He also accepted my homemade pillow even though I added one pink (heaven forbid) snowflake for embellishment. Marriage. Compromise. Give. Take.  

These petunias volunteered to come up again for me this year. So beautiful. I want to introduce you to a dear sweet friend of mine who is an amazing mama and now an award winning volunteer! Amy and I met each other online in 1999 as we were preparing to adopt. We became fast friends and our families were thrilled to travel to China together to meet our daughters. Oh, my. I can't even begin to tell you what an adventurous time in our lives that was. 

Amy grieved with me after my husband Kent died, and last year when I remarried, she was there to celebrate with me. She is a lovely dear person inside and out.

 

I want to celebrate with her, as she is in New York City tonight receiving an amazing award from Cookie Magazine ...along with Debra Messing, Salma Hayek, Uma Thurman, and others.   Amy came home with her daughter, Anna, but also a huge heart full of love for the children left behind in China's orphanages. She didn't just fret or wish or wonder...my friend got to work! She has poured so much of her life into helping the orphans of China. You can read her story on the link above.

Friends Forever... Anna (Amy's daughter) and Daisy at my wedding last year.

So, here is a big huge thank you to Cookie Magazine for honoring my very humble and much deserving friend. $35,000 will go to the foundation Amy began: Love Without Boundaries. Please read about this unusual charity that is operated entirely by volunteers because they want every donated penny to go to the children. 

 

Here is Amy's picture in the upcoming issue of Cookie, which hits news stands on April 22nd! Isn't it wonderful what God can do through one mama with a willing heart? Amy is so happy. Not that she is being recognized. Oh no. She is not a limelight kind of girl. She is so excited to know how many children's lives will be changed with the money she will receive.

I am so proud of you, Amy!!!

Happy Pink Saturday!

If you are sweet on pink, you will enjoy Pink Saturday at Beverly's! Click on the link and get ready to see lots of pink...old and new.

When my late husband and I moved into this old farmhouse nine years ago, it took every dime we had just to get the place. Fixing it up was totally out of the question, and my decorating was done on a shredded shoe string. Today, as I was taking some pictures of pink, it was funny to remember the creative thinking that had to be done to accomplish some of the things I wanted to. I'll throw a few of those details in as I show my pink stuff today.

First up, is this old Napco lamb planter found recently for the perfect price of $4.00. I have decided I will decorate with lambs for Easter instead of chickens and bunnies. Lambs really connect me with this special day. Lambs make me think of the "lamb of God", and how Jesus loves every lost sheep (of which I once was) and how He gave His life for me.  What I loved about this little lamb is he looked so sweet from a distance and then, when I saw the expression on his face, I had to laugh. This is a lamb with att-i-TUDE! Look at that smirk on his face!

 

He is sitting on a shelf I painted during the "hungry" years. I had totally ran out of enough paint to do any kind of project and still had built in shelves to paint. I squeezed every drop of paint out of some used-up buckets, and came up with this minty green. Honestly, it is not my favorite color, and I only had enough paint to thinly coat 3 out of the 5 shelves.  BUT...it is the perfect backdrop for my little knick-knacks that are pastely and pink.

Next up, is the stairway. I had dreams of beautiful old wallpaper or something...(I forget), but, once again, combining some leftover paint, I added my own "wainscotting" with free-hand flowers. Doesn't everyone need hot pink on the stairway?

 

We took off the doors and cut off ONE of the legs of a perfectly good already-owned pie safe. We needed it to fit somewhere, and the stair nook seemed to be the only place. It also houses my old pink radio. I picture my radio as once appearing on the set of an old Doris Day movie. Music drifts out of the pink speaker, as it sits next to her aqua colored phone. James Garner should be calling any moment...

 

I had some other pink things to show, but I think my blog posts are too long. I should keep them short and sweet, so I'll save more pink stuff for next Pink Saturday. Now, I will go check out the other pink posts at Beverly's!

 

Aprons, Dancing Roofers, and other assorted topics...

Whew! Spring sprung and has left me out of breath. Things around here are buzzing. I'm excited to have my craft room delivered. It needs to be finished out, painted, and everything moved into it, but it has arrived...thanks to my sweet husband, Bob. Stay tuned for lots of before and after pictures as we get it together and ready for crafting fun. I am SOOOOO excited.

My Sunday School class hosted a block party, and some of us girls put on our aprons and posed for pictures. I was surprised at how many of my friends didn't own an apron, and how many wouldn't be caught dead or nekked wearing one! 

 

I'm thinking when my craft room gets going I shall have to change that situation...one apron at a time...one friend at a time. EVERYBODY should have one apron. Here is my poysonal favorite! 

 

Below is the roof of a  tacky-from-the-outside-little-shop, we have fixed up on the inside. Our goal is to have a guest house, or perhaps a place for missionaries to stay when they are on leave, or if a child got in a jam, there would be a little cottage available for TEMPORARY (hahahaha) residence. We were in the process of installing central heat and air when we discovered major roof problems. So, the roofing team paid a visit this past weekend.

 

I don't know how I convinced these manly men to pose like this...perhaps it was the promise of pizza I dangled before them. Anyway, husband, three sons, brother-in-law, and even a sister-in-law participated in the roofing extravaganza. It was done, and you can stay tuned to this blog for updates on the guest cottage redo too. 

I am always fascinated by the past and how women worked so hard and took such care to make things that were part of every day chores...aprons, tea towels, and here is a clothespin bag. I've had it hanging on my pantry door and enjoy the green color, the pattern, and am amazed at the workwomanship that went into this useful household tool.

I'll be crafting before tooo long, and will show you all the steps along the way to make it happen.