Friday's Finds... #12

Okay, y'all.  We're back to a simple Friday's Finds.  Why?  Because I am a master procrastinator and I never did figure out why my linky list payment never went through.  So no linky party and no Friday Feature.  :(  Sorry.  The week just got away from me.

However...

Today's Friday's Finds is a bit of a two-fer.  Since most of my finds this week have been for my bedroom, you get a little bit of a sneak peek of my progress in my Bedroom Makeover.  Its amazing what a little bit of texture and a few thoughtfully placed items can do.  Although I am far, far, FAR from being done, at least it doesn't look nearly as sterile.

This is also a great testament to what other's peoples cast-offs can do for your home.  For YEARS, I thought I was above going into thrift stores, flea markets, Goodwill, etc.  Now, I love it and to top it off, it is a ton of fun!  I love the hunt even more so than I like the buying.  So, so, soooooo much better than just walking into a store and plucking it off a shelf.  And it also gives your home a feeling that is one of kind and not able to be reproduced.  My bedroom is feeling more welcoming each and every day - and it isn't just me - the kids are beginning to gather in there, as well.  ;)

Okay...  First up:

There are only three things on my vanity that are not either a thrift, GW, or Junque find.  Those are the birdhouse stepping stone (my mother's), the ballet slippers (Eva's first pair), and the hydrangeas (Walmart).  The lamp was $7.50 found at the bottom of a pile, sitting on the floor at my new fave junk store.  The picture frames? $1.50 and $3.00.  The cream one was silver and got a coat of spray paint yesterday.  The jewelry tray?  $1.50.  The silver bud vase?  $2.00.  The silver pitcher was a little pricey at $15.00.  The lace runner?  $1.00.  The vanity itself was my mother's.  My father stripped the black paint off, had new mirrors made, and refinished it himself.  I'm going to have a hard time painting this one.  It might be a while.

This afghan was marked "Pet Scraps" and was only $2.00.  Why?  I have no idea.  It is completely whole and has no tears.  The only thing I can think of is a small rust stain that is smaller than a size of a dime.  Didn't phase me at all.  This is also the vanity bench that I redid yesterday.  If I had known I was going to love how it turned out so much, I would have taken a before pic.  Just picture a wooden bench stained the same color as the vanity, with blue and white striped fabric cushion that had seen A LOT of use.  It was downright nasty.  A little primer, some white paint, distressing, and technique glaze did wonders for the body.  The fabric came from J-A Fabs.  I just reused the original plywood from where my mother had re-done it, put in new batting and we were good to go.  Complete transformation in under 2 hours.  What a nice, easy fix (except for dumping the white paint all over me and the floor and then washing my cell phone that was in the pocket of clothes I was wearing.  LOL!  :P).

This little wall plaque was $1.00.  Not sure exactly where its home will be yet, but for now its on Scott's dresser leaning against a $0.89 cheap-o easel from Wally World.

I got these easels from GW for $3.00 for the set.  Live, Laugh, Love.  I doubt they're going to stay black and they probably won't stay in my bedroom.  But these were a GREAT find.  I love easels.

This is the little wood foyer table that I painted, distressed, and glazed back in September.  I brought it upstairs to go somewhere in our bedroom, just to fill up some wall space.  It will probably not be staying in front of this window, as the room progresses.  I found these two candle holders at GW for $3.00 each. They sure do like to slap $3.00 on stuff.  And why must they do it in permanent marker?  I don't care if its on the bottom or not.  I can't believe they can afford a flat screen TV for their employees to watch, but can't afford price tags.  :P  These were originally a orangy/bronze color.  I slapped a couple of coats of ivory spray paint on them yesterday and then distressed them a little.  Perfect!  The pitcher came from TJ Maxx the summer before last.

Okay...

Now for a sneak peek at our bed.  I am not going to leave just the wreath above the bed.  I have HUGE plans for that wall.  I just haven't started on it yet.  I have the supplies, I just haven't executed the idea yet, but I wanted to show you a few things:  1.  You can find anything if you look long enough.  2. A little paint can do wonders.  3. Stuff that might look "poo-ey" in a thrift or Goodwill (to borrow a word from Landon) can look great in your home.  Some of these things I started collecting as far back as July.

The night stands I redid months ago.  They used to look like this:

And were $10.00 each at GW.

The wreath?  $4.00 at the thrift.  The candle bases?  $7.00 each at GW.  They just haven't gotten their paint job yet.  LOL  The bed was my parents, that I inherited when my Dad passed away.  I adore it.  My parents had it commissioned for them while they were married by Brass Beds of Virginia.  What a wonderful family heirloom to pass on.

The scarf draped over the headboard is a window scarf that I bought at the thrift for $2.00.  Much better than the $15.00 ones I was considering buying from Wally World!

Now, for the linens...  The green/blue paisley sheets are just basic ones from Wally World, but the white pillow cases were ordered off Ebay.  You can't see the delicate lace edging, but they're gorgeous.  I have six in all, but I need more pillows!  LOL! The vintage Bates chenille hobnail bedspread that I also got off of Ebay ran me a little over $40, but I paired it with a JC Penney chenille hobnail bedspread that I found at the thrift for $7.50.  The Bates has a large fleur-de-lis on the center and the other is covered with large cabbage roses.  The duvet cover draped at the foot of the bed, I also found at a thrift for $7.50.  Underneath it all, is a fluffy feather mattress cover that I got at a yard sale this summer for a whopping $5.00.  It had been used on a guest bed, was pristine, and had only been slept on a handful of times.  And it certainly saves my back from the Tempur-Pedic that my husband adores and I despise.  ;)

Here it all is from a different angle:

The cabbage rose throw is from years and years ago when we lived on the coast.  I bought it at this little Greenhouse/Gift Shop place right down from the outlet mall in Smithfield, NC.  For the life of me, I can't find the throw pillow that matches it.

So, it just goes to show that it doesn't take thousands of dollars to create a look that you love, but rather over time finding things here and there that "speak" to you and in turn, you make work in your home.  By giving it a coat of spray paint, or even leaving "as is", a few thoughtfully placed items can begin to transform your room into a look you adore.  As I said, I'm a loooooooong way from being done, but just a few pieces here and there allow me to get a clearer vision for what I want our room to express...  Mainly a relaxing, peaceful environment where we can rest...  among other things.  ;)

Bustin' A Groove in Da Bedroom

Okay, okay...  Mind out of the gutter!  Not THAT kind of groove...  Well, not that that's not happening, even though I am on the otherside of 35 and...  Nevermind.  Not going there.  What I AM talking about it is a redecorating groove...  Which will be sure to improve the...  Not finishing that sentence!  LOL!

Mooooooving on now...

Let's talk about my current project:  My Bedroom Makeover.

Now, we bought this house back in July of 2007, so we've lived here roughly 4 years.  And I still have done nothing with my bedroom.  This is what it looked like when we moved in:

Southwest corner

North Wall

Opposite side - southeast corner.

Over the years, stuff has gotten broken, or donated, or disappeared to God knows where, so I basically have just a shell of a room left. My carpet is badly in need of replacing thanks to a flu marathon of epic proportions that struck everyone in the house, except for me.  I had 7 down (including Scott) at once, for four days of a puke and poop fest.  To deal with it, I literally laid them all out on the floor in sleeping bags with whatever I could find for them to throw up in and made the rounds that way.  Sometimes they hit the target, sometimes they didn't.  It was LOVELY to say the least.  And even though I cleaned it up and hit it with resolve, the carpet never looked the same again.  Yuck.  Needless to say, we're going back to hardwood floors - which I hope are in decent shape beneath it.  On the bright side, the window A/C is out of the window.  LOL!

I have only rearranged our room once, putting the big chest of drawers where the bed was, the vanity over where the tall dresser was, the bed where the vanity was, and the tall dresser where the flower stand was.  Yesterday, I moved it all back.  I must be getting older because by the time I was done pushing and shoving, grunting and groaning (Don't let your mind go there, people!), I felt like I had run a marathon.

Since I've been focusing on other parts of the house since June, I have NADA for this.  And I have NO CLUE where to start.  And do I dare mention that my budget is pretty much ZERO?  I'm pretty sure it can be done with just what I have around the house or stored in the attic, but I'm not sure how to go about doing it.  I have a good idea what I want, but I'm always so terrible about turning a vision into reality.

I've moved the rocker I originally intended the bedroom up there yesterday, along with the end tables that I painted the same color...

Ivory/Cream is my main color with this green as the accent.  I will probably throw some varying shades of blue in there, as well.  But this is about as far as I've gotten.  And this is what I'm going for:

Everyone recognizes this beauty from Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors.

  

Pinterest

Simply Me

Pinterest

Yes, I know that all these rooms are white.  I would LOVE for my room to have white linens, but I'm also a realist.  I want my room to look this beautiful every day.  I'm not going to only pull my linens out to stage for my blog.  And I totally realize that white + kids = disaster waiting to happen.  We still have little ones that climb into bed with us if they're sick (puke happens) and our youngest comes in a lot "just because" and very occasionally he still has accidents at night.  Ivory just seems like a better choice for us at this time.  I'll have white one day, just not today.  :)

So, I'm asking for your help.  I need some super cute, super cheap ideas to make this room a reality.  I also realize that it will probably take months and months of looking at thrifts, GW, or wherever to get the complete look I'm going for.  So, help a girl out and give me some advice for some things I can do now, on the cheap, to get a start on it.  :)

I know y'all will give me some super ideas and I look forward to hearing them.  Ya know why?  Cuz y'all rock!  ;)

Morning Moodiness and The Battle Plan

Okay...  So how many of you moms have experienced a child that is Dr. Jekyll by night and then morphs into Mr. Hyde in the morning?

That would be my Noah...

Greyson and Ian get up in the morning with absolutely zero issues...  A little touch on the shoulder or running my hand over the top of their heads and they're up and getting ready.  Shoot, if I'm honest, Greyson often hears my alarm before I do, and is already up and in the shower before I crawl out of bed.  Who do you think Noah inherits his morning humor from?  Yep.  Uh-huh.  I admit it. You probably don't want to even be around me until after my 2nd cup of coffee.  LOL!  I communicate in grunts.  Just.  Like.  Noah.

Noah has always been a little difficult to get going in the morning, but this year it has morphed from occasional morning mishaps into nearly impossible to get him out of bed.  Every.  Single.  Day.  He's missed the bus countless times and been tardy more than I would like to admit.  I am a firm believer that mornings should be started out on the right foot because it determines how the rest of your day goes.  But lately more often than not, I've looked like this...

and he's looked like that:

and the rest of my kiddos reap the side effects of a chaotic morning.

Not a great way to start the day.  And then I end up feeling bad that I've yelled at him and he goes to school feeling bad.  I feel guilty.  He feels sad.  Ugh.  Parenting...  One of the hardest jobs EVER.

After one particularly bad morning, I called and talked to the school principal.  I am pretty blessed to have a great working relationship with her and the rest of our teachers at our small elementary school.  Of course, it helps that I've had a child at our school for the last 6 years and between 5 of them, we've had pretty much every teacher at least once, sometimes twice...  with the exception of two recent hires.

In complete frustration, I called her and asked for her help.  Never underestimate what reaching out for help can do.  I have come to recognize that any problems I've had with my kids regarding school or even at home (thankfully they've been few and far between), someone else has had too.  It doesn't make you less of a parent to ask for advice, but instead it makes you a better parent to admit that there is a problem and you're at a loss for what to do.  And usually, it helps you get a fresh perspective or maybe think of things from a different angle.

Thankfully, I had already spoken to Noah's teacher about his mornings during conferences, mainly because I wanted to know if he seemed sad at school.  Thank goodness she was surprised to hear that our mornings were so awful and he never gave a hint of what was transpiring nearly every morning.  She said she would continue to keep an eye on him and if she noticed anything amiss, she would give me a call.

Since the problem has only gotten worse the last couple of weeks, we decided to implement a plan of school and home working together to get Noah motivated to get up in the morning.

This is morning #1 of "The Plan".

1.  Lay out his clothes the night before, so he all he has to do is put his clothes on, brush his teeth, wash his face, and walk out the door.  We do this anyway normally, but Noah generally slacks on that.

2.  Be in bed by 9:00 p.m.  For a night owl, this is actually early.  I usually start trying to get him to fall asleep by 9:30, but more often than not he's still going strong by 10:30.  Okay, now how many of you just gasped out loud?  Yeah.  I know.  Not good.  But this is a child that gets wound up the more tired he is (Great for wrestling, not so good at bedtime) and especially after a wrestling practice with his endorphins going, its nearly impossible to get him to sleep at any reasonable hour.  I have literally seen him be bouncing around one minute and then take a minute to lay down and be out in seconds.  Its getting him to lay down and keep still long enough to fall asleep that's the issue.  

Yesterday Noah and I sat down and discussed what would help him be able to get up in the morning.  The first thing out of his mouth was, "Go to bed early."  Okay.  He understands that.  So, last night (Praise the Lord!) he was in bed and asleep by 9:00.

3.  I wake him up in increments.  I go in 30 minutes before he needs to be up to start the process of waking him.  Then, I go in again at 15 minutes before, telling him each time how much time he has left.  Then I go in at 5 minutes.  This morning, he got up at the 5 minutes til mark.  YAY!

4.  Instant gratification.  He earns incentives at school.  His teacher already has a program set up where they earn "money" to "spend" in a treat box. Noah loves working for something, so he really gets into "saving" and then "spending" his money.  The children earn "money" by doing homework, paying attention in class and doing their "job" at school that goes into a "Super Savings Account".  Its an ingenious idea, really.  It teaches the kids to work hard and earn something in return for hard work.  At the end of the week, they have the option to spend their earnings.  Noah will get 3 cents each morning he is on time that goes into his "account".  That's an extra 60 cents a month that he gets just for being on time in the morning.

5.  He earns incentives at home.  Noah will also get a sticker at school on a chart for each day that he is on time.  After three days in a row of being on time, he can then play his XBOX for 30 minutes.  If he is on time for the entire week, he gets an hour of XBOX time each day on the weekend.

This is really a great example of home and school working together to solve a problem.  I am so very blessed to have such wonderful staff at our elementary school that I feel I can call on and then work with for the betterment of my kiddos.  I know there are many out there that aren't so fortunate.

So, this is me hoping that this will work.  The goal is that after a while he will be so in the habit of going to bed at a decent hour and getting up in the morning, that the incentives at home are no longer required and he can have his normal hour of XBOX time back each day.  He will continue getting his 3 cents a day at school until the end of the year.

I tell ya, it was so nice to send him out the door this morning with a smile and a hug, instead of a frown and a hug.  And hopefully each morning, we'll look this this:

Fingers crossed!

Just One Of Those Days

Sorry I was MIA, yesterday.  Just seemed like someone was driving a big old dump truck of poo...  and decided to unload right on little ole unsuspecting me.  Nah...  Its really not that bad.  I have so super much to be thankful for, but little things become big things and you get overwhelmed and just want to scream, "Enough already!"

Sunday wasn't the greatest day.  Noah informed us that he wants to quit wrestling, which in our household is a minor catastrophe.

Instead of looking like this:

Our afternoon looked more like this:

And instead of getting the family harmony back on Monday (Yeah, I know...  Monday and harmony are like the ultimate oxymoron)...

My morning started off right away on the wrong foot.  Noah woke up on the wrong side of the bed, which is pretty much a daily occurrence anyway, but Sunday's issues made it that much worse.  A morning ray of sunshine, he wasn't.  He missed the bus, the hubs had somewhere to be, and I had the pleasure of getting him to school, grumpy butt and all.  Ian woke up with a sore throat and a bad headache, so he stayed home.  I took Noah to school, picked up some Sprite and Coke - the southern cure-all for everything that ails ya and forgot the apples and oranges that Ian had expressly asked for.  Sooooooo...  Back out I went.  You know, because good moms do things like that.

After spending a lengthy amount of time talking to my mother on the phone about some unpleasant family issues to give a further nudge to the migraine that was threatening to erupt, my day was pretty much shot.  I'm not one to get started on something that I know I'm going to have to stop in just a few short hours.  So, I just did a minimal pick up, instead of a thorough cleaning as I had planned.  Then there was Greyson to pick up from basketball practice and groceries to run and buy.  I walked back into the house at 7:00 to pure chaos.  What little I had accomplished was undone.  Dinner still had to be made,  and then the kids started arguing...

So much for the good mood I had picked up along with a few purchases from the thrift, while I was waiting for Greyson's practice to be over.  And then that splitting headache exploded that had been growling under my temples all day.  :P

At that point, I was ready to throw up my hands and go hide somewhere...  Somewhere preferably dark, quiet, and ALONE.

The house was still a wreck from my kiddos plus my niece and nephew being here all weekend, I was still behind on laundry, dishes were piled in the sink (they procreate and multiply, did you know that?), I determined that my cats that I THOUGHT I had finally trained to go to the bathroom outside had another option in mind...  and I had the pleasure of finding.  GROSS!  (This is why I don't like cats - but I like mice even less, so its the lesser of two evils.  I love farm country, don't you?)

Sooooo, portions of my house are beginning to look like something from an episode of hoarders...

NO, THAT IS NOT MY HOUSE!  LOL!  Its just makes me feel really good to look at it and realize that even on its worse day my house is no where near as bad as this (and if it ever does, please feel free to call CPS and then shoot me).

So, there are some times when you stay and deal, and then there are some days where you retreat.  I retreated.  My patience was worn out and Mt. Momma was about to blow sky high.  I fed them, made sure they were bathed, did homework as quickly as possible, and then hid in my bedroom...  Where they followed me.  Every.  Single.  One.  REALLY??????  You would think they were father-less!

By 9:00 p.m. I was in bed, lights out, snoring away.  I can't remember the last time I did that.

And then was wide awake at 3:00 am.

Darn you, internal alarm clock!  Why can't I ever sleep more than 6 hours??!!!

So, it's now 4:43 am.  I'm up (obviously).  I'm dressed (sporting a lovely pair of sweatpant capris, nightgown, sweatshirt, and wool socks pulled up to my knees.  How's that for a visual?  June Cleaver, I ain't.  LOL!)  I've had my cup o' joe, sorted laundry, gotten a load going in the washer and in the dryer, picked up the upstairs hallway and bathroom, hauled more dirty clothes downstairs, put all the clean dishes away, changed all the lightbulbs downstairs, gotten in some internet time, and done my blog.  Whoa.  On a roll Ta-Day!

Not.

On the bright side, I've got three extra hours to get more accomplished.  Perhaps I'll even get my bedroom shoveled out and rearranged like I've been wanting to do for a week.

So, this is just me touching base with what I've been up to.  And about as real as it sometimes (all though thankfully not all the time) gets around our home.

Sooooo...  How's your day going?  LOL!

Friday's Finds #11 and Our Friday Feature

Good morning!  I know, I know...  Technically, it should be Saturday's Scores or something or other because I'm running a day late and a dollar short.  Sorry, y'all!  Eva's 7th birthday was yesterday and I ran, ran, ran all day long and didn't stop until around 10.  Whew!  Forgive me?

So, time to share my finds from the week and my Friday Feature Find from 2 weeks ago since I took last week off for Turkey Day....

Gonna try to keep it short and sweet!  (Yeah, I know I'm wordy!)

First up...

I found this awesome vintage egg basket still in mint condition and my new favorite find it spot.  Totally not giving this one's location away!  Its fantastic and a picker's dream!  Now this sucker was covered in some kind of tar-like goopy substance that had hardened.  I literally had to soak it in warm soapy for two days and keep coming back to it.  Finally, I used steel wool and that seemed to do the trick.  There's still a few places where I just couldn't get it off, but believe me, its much better!

$10.00

I actually stumbled upon the place when I went to pick up this little decorative ladder from our local Facebook For Sale Group:

$5.00

Still working on how to use them both for decorating, but this will do for now until I can figure something else out.

At my new picker's spot, the old man was fantastic!  We talked and shared (okay, I talked and he shared) about where to go for auctions, the best ones in the state, when there are flea malls open, etc.  He was wonderful!  In fact, I think I'm going to drive over and see him today.  I really enjoyed talking to him and listening...  He knows a lot!  In fact, while we were sitting there visiting, I pointed to a couple of rockers he had and said, if I had any idea how to reupholster I would totally take one of them off his hands.  And you know what he does?  He gives me one!  Now, granted this one was in terrible, terrible shape, but it was FREE!  Now I can practice on this one before I re-do the one in my living room.  How nice was that????

FREE!

  Okay...  I know its missing the ENTIRE bottom and the arm is coming off.  That's what wood glue, plywood, foam, and batting are for!  LOL!  ;)  Free is free!

Then, I went to my local thrift the other day and picked up a few things, like this vintage set encyclopedias - five volumes, a complete set including the index.  Copyrighted 1905, its actually called Teacher's and Pupil's Cyclopaedia.  They all are first editions.  I love vintage books.  I love looking through and thinking about the hands that have held them and the eyes that have read them from a time long past.  I love seeing the beautiful flowing script on the inside where names have been written, during a time when handwriting was an art.  And I love reading for the sheer joy of looking through the eyes of one who lived in that time and seeing how time and discoveries have changed opinions or proven wide-held thoughts to be wrong.  I especially adore any volume that has anything regarding American History.  What we were taught and what our children are being taught is quite a bit different from what was being taught back in the day.  I tend to believe that the old books are probably closer to the truth.

$15.00

The two pairs of glasses with a case, I got at my new picker's spot for a mere $10.00.

And then there was the lantern that I've already made over and revealed here.

$7.50

I got the lantern, along with this nativity...

$10.00

and this candle pillar:

$0.75

And this frame:

Add caption

Sooooooo...  That's all for this week.  I bought a few other things, but we'll save them for another time (Read: My camera battery is dead and I'm too lazy to get up and recharge to take pictures.  LOL!)

Now, onto my FRIDAY'S FINDS FAVORITE FEATURE....

Not too many uploads from two weeks ago to share, so since there are only 3, I'm going to feature each one because they are each great in their own way!

Shannon @ Fox Hollow Cottage never ceases to amaze me with how she can do so much with so little.  Stop by and check out tons of vintage Christmas items that she scored HERE.  WAY NEAT!  And I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with them too!

I need to go shopping with Shannon!  LOVE all the vintage goodies!

And there's Kammy from Kammy's Korner.  She uploaded two really awesome finds that she transformed into fantastic home decor.  One of which is probably some kind of salvage piece.  LOVE what she did with it! The story about the spanking paddle is hilarious.  I LOLed at that one.  Great finds, Kammy!  :D  You can read the stories on here finds  HERE and HERE!

How awesome is this????  Fantastic conversation piece too!

Nothing says welcome like a little smack on the boo-tay!  ;)
Joking, Kammy!  Love this!  :D

Please go visit them both!  I'm sure you'll love them!

So....

Now about linky party for this week...  For some reason their showing that my payment for my linky tools subscription didn't go through, so I've got to sit down and figure that out.  G-R-E-A-T!  I have neither the time nor desire to sort it out right this minute, so we'll wait until next week.  ;)

Anyhoo...  I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!  This is the mess we have to look forward to...

We're right under the upper most Rain/Snow icon.  YUCK!

Rotten Potpourri, Meal Worms, and A Blond Moment

If you follow Our Prairie Home on Facebook, yesterday I shared this picture...

and told you I would reveal its transformation from a meal worm infested, rotten potpourri holding vessel to a thing to delight in.  And I will. In a minute.

But first...

If you haven't liked me on Facebook yet, please use the link on the top right of the sidebar to do so OR search pages on FB for "Our Prairie Home".  Today we hit over 200 followers!  Can you believe that?  I am so humbled and honored that so many think that my ideas and decorating are worth "liking".  Truly.  So today in appreciation to all of those fantastic peeps, I'm hosting a giveaway of some of the glass ornaments I've made, so "like" me if you haven't already and leave a comment under the giveaway post!  I will randomly pick a winner and announce it tonight at 9:00 pm CST.  The package will be priority mailed tomorrow to get to you in time for Christmas!  :)

A medium-sized bleached bottle brush tree sits inside a large glass globe filled with poly-glitter and sugar.  Accented with a cream grosgrain ribbon, jingle bell and a hand-stamped tag that proclaims, "Believe".

A small glass ornament tied with white grosgrain ribbon is filled with hand-cut book pages and liberally coated with glitter, while a medium-sized glass globe is filled with a small, bleached bottle brush tree, sugar and poly-glitter.
A hand-stamped tag says, "Joy to the World".

I hope you'll join us for the giveaway!

Okay...  Back to my story...

So, yesterday I decided I was going to jump on the painted branch bandwagon, since I've been at a loss for another way to decorate my dining room with zero budget. (Six kiddos to buy Christmas for, ya know.)  I gazed around my yard and tried to find the perfect tree from which to cut the branches and my eyes landed on these:

  
Aren't they perfect?  Yep.  I thought so too.

So, I happily trotted across our yard and commenced hacking away at the perfectly shaped branches.

What?  You don't use a steak knife to cut branches????  What do you use?  A handsaw?  A hacksaw?  A chainsaw?  Yeah?  Well, some people just don't have stuff like that just laying around.   I mean...  Pfft.  You'd think we own a tree company or something.  (Read:  My husband has all that stuff stashed in his bucket truck for work, while I have to make do with using a kitchen utensil.  :P)

Anyhoo...  I hacked away with my trusty Rada steak knife and amassed a wonderously large pile that I planned to put in some kind of fabric wrapped container... beautifully spray painted white, coated with a liberal amount of Epsom Salt, sealed with clear gloss spray paint, and entwined with twinkling white mini-lights.  Instead, I got sidetracked with my lantern find and left the pile outside to do until today.

While Scott and I made a run to Wal-Mart for some groceries and a few other odds and ends I needed, I mentioned to him I needed some Epsom Salt.  While we were hunting for it, I explained to him what I wanted to do.  Then...

"Where'd you find the limbs?" he asked.

"In the fence row." I replied.

"Where at in the fence row?"

"I don't know.  Just in the fence row."

"But what kind of tree?"

"Well, they're not from a tree.  They're more like a bush."

"Which ones, Laura?"

"I don't know.  They're the ones that you see when you look straight out the bay window to the east."

At this point I'm getting exasperated.  I mean, is it really that big of a deal where they came from?  We kill trees for a living for heaven's sake!

And he bursts out laughing.

"Those aren't bushes."

I say, "Yes, they are."

He says, "No, they're not." (In between shaking his head and laughing at me.)

"Well, whatever.  Trees, bushes, whatever.  That's where they came from."

And he finally gasps out...

"Its poison ivy."

DO WHAT???!!!!

Evidently, when poison ivy is left to grow unchecked, it begins to resemble a small tree or bush.  Yeah.  Who knew?

And I used my nice leather gloves that are now ruined because they've got the oil all over it.  I touched my hands, my face, my eyes...  Pretty much everywhere because I didn't wash my hands until it was time to make Landon lunch.  Yep.  Pretty soon I'll probably be looking like the dude from the Hunchback of Notre Dome - distorted face and all.  Lovely.

And they were the perfect limbs, darn it!

Anyway...  Just had to share that wonderful little blond moment with you.  Er.

Now back to the real story...

So, I found this beautiful lantern at our local thrift on Tuesday for $7.50.

This is a picture after I cleaned it.  The glass vessel was filled with half rotted, partially petrified potpourri and in the bottom of the lantern itself?  Yeah.  Little petrified husks of meal worms.  YUM!  This is what it looked like after scraping out the potpourri, letting the whole kit and caboodle soak overnight in the sink, and windexing it all the next morning.  Yes, in my world windexing is a verb.

I taped all the glass off...

And then I broke out my trusty can of spray primer and  Krylon Brushed Metallic spray paint in Nickel with a satin finish.  Filled the vessel with the Christmas ornaments, I also found at the thrift for $0.75 (entire bag, baby!) and a few I stole off the back of our tree...

Placed on top of the mirror I found at the thrift a few weeks ago with some greenery from a non-poison ivy evergreen tree out in the yard.  I added 100 count mini-lights and a few picks to make it the centerpiece for our table.

Yes, I know it makes the conversation difficult, but I put Noah and Ian on each side and it makes a great barrier to keep them from arguing!  LOL!  Besides, as you saw with our Thanksgiving feast, I usually remove the centerpiece all together and let the turkey/ham have the place of honor at the center of the table, surrounded by all the sides.  :)

So, here's the moral(s) of today's post:

1)  If the bush looks perfect, its probably poison ivy.

2)  Even a rotting potpourri, meal worm infested piece of trash has wonderful potential!

THE END

;)

See you tomorrow for Friday's Finds!