Family Message Board With Cork And Chicken Wire

See this handsome kid?

Well......he is mine.  Would you believe this darned kid grew up, and we moved him to college about 2 weeks ago?  Honestly, this is the first I've been able to say anything about it because I've been kind of sad.  No......I really, truly have.  But, I'm adjusting.  Since he is living in a campus apartment and left his bedroom completely empty, we have been switching rooms around.  The silver lining - I now have 

a studio of my own to put all my machines and messes in!  Woot!  Woot! 

   

I'll show you pics of it when I get finished, but for today - I told you all of that so that I could get to this:  I stole our big message board for my new studio - so now we need another for the family.  LOL!  Here is what I came up with:

I took a frame, cut an old piece of white marker board to fit, turned it around, spray painted the back, glued a cork tile on the top, added chicken wire (for hooks and magnets), and..........voila!

I also added scrapbook paper painted with a chalk board medium (see my post here to learn more) to the cork tile.  It is only tacked on so I can change it with the seasons.

Since it is smaller than the one I stole, I can put it in a more convenient place.  I think everyone will see it here.  It works! 

Family Heirloom Vintage Scale

I bet everyone has a thing or two in their home that has been hanging around for a while that they don't even realize how cool a treasure it is.  For me one of those treasures is this old scale.

Edward brought this to our marriage from his grandpa's shop.  His grandfather used to sell his excess tomatoes and other vegetables to town folk, and he would use this scale to weigh them.  Edward grew up playing with this scale all the time.

We have always enjoyed its nostalgia, but I think we both thought Edward would refinish and paint it before it found a place in the house instead of the garage.

But things change and one day you realize, 

It is completely perfect as it is!

Just look at some of its interesting details:

It has had a special place by our back door for a couple of years now.  I keep a wire basket on it, and it holds the things we need to remember as we leave the house.

Love.It!

My Percolator Coffee Egg Find

I have a wonderful recipe for coffee punch that is always requested when I hostess a party.  I've shared it on  

The Lavender Tub before - if you'd like the recipe, you can find it here.

 I don't drink pots of coffee (oh, how I wish I could), instead I just do my little Keurig pod everyday and try to be happy with one cup.  However, that one-cup-at-a-time setup is not very convenient when I need to make a large quantity for the punch.

Imagine how excited I was when I came across this very cool percolator at Goodwill for $2.99!  Lucky me, people don't know how to use percolators anymore (including me), so it was a steal.  However, I looked up the instructions, and Let me 

tell you - it is so convenient being able to make 35 cups of coffee at one time.  (Lol, on a side note - I didn't realize just how reflective this percolator was when I snapped this picture.  Yep, me in my jammies!  Sorry.)

I have no idea how old this pot is, but I recently found the above picture in a current magazine.  Mine looks as if it has never been used, so I'm wondering if it is a new style. 

Anyone know?

PS - the knob was missing off of mine, but I found a cabinet knob that fit perfectly.  Blingy is better anyway!

I Laughed So Hard - 5 x 7 Printable

I don't really know what to say about this printable except - it really needs no explanation.  Either it makes a lot of sense to you, or it makes no sense at all.

I have a couple people in my life that this will make a lot of sense to - and that's all I can say on the subject!

Love Gives Us A Fairytale - 8 x 10 Printable

I saw this quote on a stamp at Hobby Lobby last week and decided I wanted to frame it.  If you would like to frame this also, just click on the picture and save it to your computer.  Then you can go into Word, insert a picture into your document, enlarge it - and print.  

 You can also go to www.picmonkey.com and pull it up to edit it.  If you click on the magic wand icon on the left and then select TINT - you can actually change its color to fit your decor.

Or perhaps you might like to select OMBRE and have a sign that looks more like this.  Just be sure to save it back to your computer with a new name.

Enjoy!

Sugar Moon Tea Roses - Divine!

I'd like to share a lovely breed of rose with you today 

- the Sugar Moon Tea Rose.

 To me, it is the most angelic of roses.  

The petals are such a pure pearly white, 

enhanced even more by their blush pink edges.

Even more delightful is their smell.  

When you bury you nose in, 

this rose does not disappoint.

My favorite!  

They are so pretty, I just had to share.

Junk In The Garden

Junk is hot.....or have you noticed?

I've always been a person who decorated with 2nd-hand, possibly broken, overlooked, outdated treasures.  It's so nice that it is actually in vogue now, because you can make a fun friends' outing by going to Junk shows.

But what do you do with that junk once you find 

something really interesting and fabulous?

I especially love junk in the garden - so today I thought I would share some of the gems tucked in my garden areas in my backyard.  Almost everything featured was either picked up for free, or was less than $3.

 

Lest you think my entire backyard is really cluttered and junky - here are a couple of views to show that is it fairly contained.  Edward, my neat CPA hubby, does need some visually clean spaces.  I could go crazier, but I do try to keep him happy, too.

Oklahoma Skies

I think many people think of wind when they think of Oklahoma, and it is absolutely TRUE!  They didn't just write "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain"  for the sake of a good rhyme.  You couldn't live in a windier place.

But I don't think many realize just how gorgeous our Oklahoma skies are.  We are blessed with them so much that we honestly take them for granted.  It is not until we travel to other places that we stop and think, "Where is the beautiful sunset I'm so fond of?"

Last week, a summer storm came and went rather quickly, but WOW what it created as it went.  In this picture you can see a rainbow on the left as the rain was leaving, the Asperatus clouds that followed the rain, and the blue sky edging its way in on the right.  It was truly a magnificent sight.

Thanks for letting me brag a little about our lovely state.

Y'all need to come visit! 

Doing What I Love Most In The World

Today was such a wonderful day for a DIY blogger

I painted.....

Worked on plumbing.....

(you have to be fast when working on this little guy)

Shopped at Hobby Lobby.......

Plugged a hole......

Was on the laptop.....

(Actually, the laptop was on my leg and my grand daughter 

was in my lap watching it on her head)

Decorated for my favorite team.......

Planted.......

(lots of kisses)

It was a very productive day, if I do say so.

Playing with my two grand babies is the best job there is!

They are the decorations of my world.