Projects

Are you like me? Do you want to make everything that you see? I always think, "I can do that!" (I am secretly happy that I can do most things involving sewing and crafting!) Problem is, I need to be more organized. My Diana had a lovely post yesterday about this very subject. She amazes me!

Here is one thing I have started in recent months that I have actually finished. I made it my goal to use some of my Farmer's Market earnings from the summer to find a nice bedside table on Craigslist or KSLclassifieds. The KSL sight has tons more on it that Craigslist around here. I could not believe my good fortune when I saw this little beauty one Sunday evening. "Pecan nightstand. Salt Lake City. $15" Wha-at? I told the Master we were driving to SLC. Look at the darling curvy legs and the carved details on this sweet thing. It was literally in downtown Salt Lake in an old apartment building. Dee remarked that he was sure he had tracted this building as a missionary in SLC back in 1976! (He says that about every building in that city because it is true!) I asked the young lady if she was sure she only wanted $15 and she said yes. It had belonged to her grandma but she was needing more room. Master Dee lugged that thing down three flights of stairs. It is solid and heavy. I was so thrilled! Then it sat in the garage all covered up for a few months as we took care of Diana and new baby Lucas. I got to it late in the fall.

 Here it is after I had begun to remove the handles to get it ready for cleaning. It didn't need much. Just a cleaning with some T.S.P. and a little liquid sander and it was ready for paint. I chose a creamy white, satin Behr paint with primer added in, and a glossy black Krylon spray paint for the handles

 

The result? I was quite pleased!

I wanted to protect the surface so I made a simple table runner and edged it with black grosgrain ribbon.

I love having a drawer for all of my bedside needs, you know...nail files, foot creme, chapstick, prescriptions, tons of books and magazines, the occasional hidden chocolate...

I am glad I got something done, finally! Hopefully I can share a few more finished projects in the weeks to come as I become more organized (slightly smirking here!).

I'm linking to a fabulous spring party at: Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. So many cute ideas!

I am having issues with the link showing up properly. Click in the blue box!

Time Travel Tuesdays~In the Pink!

Not much goes on around here outside of normal daily life. I suppose that's good! No ER trips lately, no auto crashes, no anything! Well, we do get up each day and live our lives! Rachel has completed one term of online courses from the Savannah College of Art & Design or SCAD. She is working hard to save money to be able to move to Georgia and attend in person this fall. Richard is working to graduate from high school in May. Bless him. He has a lot of challenges that make it difficult for him to focus in class and complete tasks on time. We have a bit of credit recovery we are working on as well as a couple of Electronic High School classes he needs to finish. I love this boy so much! He is so kind and thoughtful. He has a powerful testimony of the Gospel and has expressed a desire to serve a mission for our church. I hope he can. We have a year to go on his braces before he could leave. He wants to find a job and work hard to save money for his mission and for school. He is looking at a few applied technology schools in the area. Dee continues to coach for BYU. He has traveled a bit for recruiting and for some meets. He hopes I can go with him in May to Orlando, Florida for a college swim coaching clinic. That would be a first for me to have traveled that far east. Britt has moved back in with us temporarily. Her roommates both wanted to try new areas to live in so she came back home until she decides what to do next. We love having her around! I am sewing new aprons and will share them online soon.

In the meantime, I am nearly done scanning and repairing my mother's photos. I am working on the 1980's and 90's now. Nearly there! A few months ago I was enjoying looking back at our 1970's lives. It was such an interesting time to grow up in. In 1967 my parents made the decision to move from our little white frame house on the dairy into a new home "in town" as Mom used to say. It was at 323 North Hunt Drive in Mesa. I loved this house! It was only a year old when we moved in, had four bedrooms and 1 & 3/4 baths. The bathrooms were tiled in white and pink or blue & had magical showers. For me, any shower was a magical thing because in my memory we had never lived in a house with one. The floors were covered in white-ish linoleum flecked with chunks of gray, and in the bathrooms there were chunks of pink or blue glitter depending on which one you were in. My closet doors had little white china door knobs with pink roses. The family who built the house had a Mom who loved pink. Hence, our pink kitchen!

 There are a few things I love about this kitchen. It is very vintage now. See the vents routed into the wood under the sink?  The bathrooms had these vents too.The pink Formica counter top and back-splash that rose up to cover the walls under the cabinets kept the walls safe. You can just barely see the int of the white scallops on the front of the vent hood there, and the silver knobs. No electronic touch-panels yet. We had two new and amazing things to me in my ten year old life, a dishwasher and a garbage disposal! Such miracles of modern invention!  This picture of my Mom, Helen is so fun! I see my Dad's pith helmet in the corner of the counter. He surely picked those oranges right off of the trees at the dairy and brought them home in his hat! Mom saved jars for all kinds of reasons. You can see three right on the counter. On the far right side there is a bottle of this oily hand lotion she used. It wasn't my favorite. I can still recall the scent. Tupperware was big in our house. There's a blue tumbler and a white pitcher,  Also, see my mother's broach? It is from Avon. The center of it opened up on tiny hinges and there was perfumed sachet inside. She had quite a few pieces like this. Also, we cannot ignore her hair. It's a classic bubble-do. My sis-in-law Renda frosted Mom's brown hair into it's blond state and carefully fixed her hair every week. Renda was very talented at this look!

Surprise Mom! I'm not sure who took this one but I love the look on her face! This one is actually from a years or so sooner than the last one, before she went totally blond. I think she is wearing the same red pantsuit. Here we see Dad's milk bucket. Even though we lived "in town" we still got our milk fresh from the ladies at the dairy. In the window sill I see mementos from my Granny Ellsworth. There are her Three Little Pigs and her green teapot, both of which I now have. I love that Mom is wearing her apron in this photo. She always has an apron around her waist and a dish towel over her shoulder. Everyone in the family knows if they need to wipe their hands they can turn to Grandma and she won't disappoint the need for a towel!

Pink was the color of the day in that house. We had a pink freezer in the laundry room and it went beautifully with the pink washer and dryer. They were just out of this photo to the right in the laundry room. I love the pink pom poms on the curtains too!

What do you recall from your childhood that would be so vintage now? (Or are you that old?)

Seven Days and Counting

Seven days from today I will become a Grandmother for the very first time! Ten years ago I was not ready to hear that word but ask me today and I will tell you that I am very excited! I have not talked much about what has been happening with Diana's pregnancy because it is really hers and Nick's business. She has been very sensitive about her condition and her personal business being broadcast. But now, after three baby showers, one for Nick's family here in Utah, and two this last week, everyone in Utah County knows that business!

Diana developed preeclampsia in July. Her blood pressure was sky high and her poor little ankles were so swollen. She was ordered to take it easy and work from home on her laptop which she did until the "higher-ups" at work decided it wasn't a work-from-home job. She was very hurt at first. I can tell you she was working hard and doing every bit as much here at home as she would have at the office. However, from a Mom's point of view, it was a good change. She has become so totally relaxed that she has had virtually no troubles since. She rests all day long and we hang out together. It has been fun! Because of the preeclampsia, which is the current day term for toxemia, the baby is scheduled to be delivered three weeks early for both his safety and the health of his Mommy. That date is September 4th.

Every once-in-awhile Diana and I look at each other and say something like, "Wow! In less than two weeks there will be a baby in the house! Are we ready?" The baby clothes and blankets are washed. The little bed is set up. Brittany bought the most adorable "preemie" diapers and with the last two showers there are enough supplies to get us going. I refer to "us" because Nick is no longer living here. Before you panic, he has simply moved to the San Diego area to begin his graduate studies at USC San Diego. He found a nice place for his little family to live when the time comes, and he is working hard at getting started on his 2 year program. He will fly back to Utah this weekend for the birth on Tuesday. He only gets to stay a week while Diana and "Baby Mowes" will stay here for the recovery period. It's not the ideal way to welcome your first child into the world, but we are doing our best to help!

The first Baby Shower last week was given by the ladies in our ward who served in the Young Women's group while Diana was that age. They are some of the dearest, most sincere women I know and I love them all!

 It was a cute teddy bear/paper airplane themed party.

 Above is Margaret Rodee and below is Karie Miller. They were two of Diana's YW Presidents.

(If you send your missionary to the MTC in Provo, chances are, Margaret will be the one handing him or her that black and white name tag! Karie is now our Bishop's wife!)

 L-R: Julie Merrill, Lonnie Bowers, Dana Fong, Cheryl Bellarosa, and Janet Oles.

 L-R: Cathleen Barney, Becky Browning, Diane Riddle, Joanie Rich, and Julie Merrill.

 Cathleen, Sheryl DeLeeuw, Diana, Diane, and Julie. Fun Girl's Camp memories!!

Julie, Becky (who graciously hosted us at her home and was another of Diana's YW Presidents), Diana, and Dana.

Here we are, my sweet girlie and me. Yes, I had my hair cut even shorter than it was in Denver.

The second shower came two days later on Saturday for Diana's college and work friends. Brittany and Diana's dear friend Whitney put the party together in our backyard.

 It was a Safari theme because that is how Diana is going to decorate Baby Mowes' nursery.

There was cucumber salad with feta cheese and pita chips, cupcakes, and fresh fruit with yummy honey/cream cheese dip.

 Diana and Rachel decorated the cuppy-cakes with fondant. Cute, huh?!

 For this little family it really all did begin on safari. Nick proposed to Diana at the butterfly pavillion in Denver!

 These darling ladies gave us such a fun afternoon! They are L-R: Diana, Raelynn, Halen,Chassie with daughter Knowley, Emily, and Chelsea. Whitney and her Mom Sherrie had to leave before we could get this photo, and another friend Emily, came a bit later.

I love that Halen grabbed up Diana's belly cast and wore it proudly! Yes, Brittany casted her sister's belly. It was actually kind of fun! Rachel painted it a cool giraffe print.

Even Miss Roxie had a great time and was very well-behaved!

It took us all weekend to recover. We had better rest up because in SEVEN DAYS there won't be a lot of sleep going on! I'll keep you posted!

Girl's Day Out * Old Stuff, New Stuff, & Hand Made Too!

Main Street in American Fork is old and quaint. There has been an effort in the last few years to keep it alive with unique businesses springing up. When we knew Gena, Allison, & Emily were coming we decided to show them some of our favorite spots.

First up was Tammi's Finders Keepers close to Main St. and 100 East. They sell many hand made items like clothing and quilts, along with refurbished furniture. I love to see how they can take an ugly old thing and give it a new life!

I think this bed set-up was my favorite.

Gena admiring (and figuring out how to make it herself) a pretty watch band!

The silver birdie was calling to me..."Take me home! You love me!"

The next stop was right next door at a consignment shop...Mona Lisa's.

Here's Diana communing with some of her favorite things...handbags!

Anybody want some colorful shoes??
There are plenty here!

Allison & Emily discuss the price of a vintage lacy dress.

I fell in love with this mirror but the tag said "Not for Sale".
How rude to put it out and play with my emotions!
I wonder if they negotiate?

Now Gena has been pulled into the handbag vortex!

Our last shop was Real Deals on Center St. just south of Main.
It is a fun-tastic little place full of amazing prices!

At their sidewalk sale I met a beautiful half-moon table that was half off. I hope it will be around for awhile because I may just invite it to my birthday party! I didn't think to snap a photo of it. Can't imagine why not...I took enough of everything else!

We wrapped up our day with Sonic drinks and an afternoon of visiting on my couch. That's just what I'd like to do with Gena all of the time...if only Denver weren't so far away!