Hi Friends! Hope you are all having a good week. I've not been too ambitious around the house. I've been studying for a big test I will have soon. More about that later. Thought I would show you a few pictures of our Family Room. This is our upright piano. When we had the house built, we designed a nitch for it to fit in and it worked out well. Then I found this really pretty mirror at Kirklands, that was perfect to go over it.
See how the mirror above the couch goes so well with the topiary prints I found at Kirkland's? I really like the way this turned out. The wall cone is a floral piece I made. Our coffee table is a garage sale find. It had broken and bubbled veneer on it. I just poured boiling water on it and we scraped it all off to reveal beautiful rustic oak. It really holds up to rought treatment and our little granddaughters love to play and eat around it.
Our mantel was a find at a building supply store that was being discontinued. It was really marked down and fit our dimensions perfectly. We stuffed it in our van and hauled it home from Bentonville, Ark. The only problem was that I had wanted a white mantel, but everything else about it was perfect. My husband said he wouldn't mind it I painted it, but so far that has not happened. Not sure what to do. I like the way it looks this way too. I love the little lamps that I found years ago at K-mart and I change out the florals seasonally.
I was recently given the Kreative Blogger award by Pamela at Lady Pamela's Cottage!! She has a wonderfully beautiful blog and you should visit her!Thank you Pamela for this honor!! The award is supposed to carry with it the response of "7 ways I love to be creative". I had to think about this a little bit, but here is what I came up with:
1. I love to decorate!! One of my passions has always been to make my home a sanctuary for myself and my family. Having raised three sons, this was not always an easy task, but I like to think that I had an influence in them in making their homes warm and inviting also. I have never had a big budget to work with when decorating, so I learned to shop at garage sales and thrift stores early on in my life. (Now, it is my very favorite way to shop! The thrill of the hunt!! I have no trouble visualizing how things will look and can usually find a way to create the "look" without the "label". I like things that have a history to them-- Not all of our antiques are "family pieces" but they still have a history to me. You know, where you were when you found it, how it looked, what you did to it and how much you paid for it! Ha.
2. I love to work with my granddaughters on creative projects,--scrapbooking, miniatures, cooking, Fairy gardens, and art. Each one of them has a creative gift inside them and I want to encourage and nuture those gifts, so they can be developed and enjoyed by them and those around them. I love encouraging them in music, dance and all of the arts. I also love to encourage my daughters-in-love to find their creative gifts also.
3.I enjoy creating one-of-a-kind "Old World Santas". I started making these several years ago and they are so much fun. First the face, the armature, the costume, the hair and all the embellishments, toys, etc. I love to create custom heirloom Santas for families, incoporating their personal history, hobbies, pets, children, etc.
4. I have always loved flowers and growing them in my garden. This started a love of making arrangements with silk florals several years ago. I enjoy putting together the colors and textures and using one-of-a-kind unusual containers for the arrangements. After working at this in a furniture store for a few years, I began a business out of my home and enjoy this medium very much.
5. Miniatures are near to my heart. I first started in miniatures in the 70's, making small items for type tray displays, and this hobby grew into dollhouses and room boxes. It's fun to make a room in miniature, because it doesn't cost nearly the same amount and it stimulates my mind to see, how can I duplicate that in 1/12th scale? Tiny things have always intrigued me.
6. I love to sing!! My spirit soars when I sing about the Lord of my Life! Music is a powerfully creative thing in our world and I'm thankful for the gift of music I was given.
7. I'm a JUNKER!!! Yes, I'm one of those people whose heart starts pumping when they see a garage sale, a thrift store, or something put out by the curb! I love taking something that someone else has cast aside and giving it new LIFE!! I look at trash the same way that God looks at me, not what I am, but what I WILL and CAN become. I have found there are few lost causes, and it really gives me joy to recreate something into something else. One of the perks of turning 50 was that I now get 25% off on Tuesdays at the Goodwill!! Ha.
Well, that's probably more about me than you ever wanted to know! But I'm sure many, many of you in the land of Blog can relate. I remember when I first found a decorating blog, and then another and another! I was SO happy!! I said to my husband that evening, Guess what happened today? I FOUND MY PEOPLE!!! He looked at me sooo strangely and said what do you mean? I said," I found people who like to save old buttons, trim, fabrics, bump chenille, and millinery flowers, junky furniture and such, just like me!!! What a happy day that was!! So now, I know that I am not the only one who _____________. ( You fill in the blank!! ) Thank you my friends for inspiring me every day, I hope once in a while I can do the same for you!
Blessings, Linda
1. I love to decorate!! One of my passions has always been to make my home a sanctuary for myself and my family. Having raised three sons, this was not always an easy task, but I like to think that I had an influence in them in making their homes warm and inviting also. I have never had a big budget to work with when decorating, so I learned to shop at garage sales and thrift stores early on in my life. (Now, it is my very favorite way to shop! The thrill of the hunt!! I have no trouble visualizing how things will look and can usually find a way to create the "look" without the "label". I like things that have a history to them-- Not all of our antiques are "family pieces" but they still have a history to me. You know, where you were when you found it, how it looked, what you did to it and how much you paid for it! Ha.
2. I love to work with my granddaughters on creative projects,--scrapbooking, miniatures, cooking, Fairy gardens, and art. Each one of them has a creative gift inside them and I want to encourage and nuture those gifts, so they can be developed and enjoyed by them and those around them. I love encouraging them in music, dance and all of the arts. I also love to encourage my daughters-in-love to find their creative gifts also.
3.I enjoy creating one-of-a-kind "Old World Santas". I started making these several years ago and they are so much fun. First the face, the armature, the costume, the hair and all the embellishments, toys, etc. I love to create custom heirloom Santas for families, incoporating their personal history, hobbies, pets, children, etc.
4. I have always loved flowers and growing them in my garden. This started a love of making arrangements with silk florals several years ago. I enjoy putting together the colors and textures and using one-of-a-kind unusual containers for the arrangements. After working at this in a furniture store for a few years, I began a business out of my home and enjoy this medium very much.
5. Miniatures are near to my heart. I first started in miniatures in the 70's, making small items for type tray displays, and this hobby grew into dollhouses and room boxes. It's fun to make a room in miniature, because it doesn't cost nearly the same amount and it stimulates my mind to see, how can I duplicate that in 1/12th scale? Tiny things have always intrigued me.
6. I love to sing!! My spirit soars when I sing about the Lord of my Life! Music is a powerfully creative thing in our world and I'm thankful for the gift of music I was given.
7. I'm a JUNKER!!! Yes, I'm one of those people whose heart starts pumping when they see a garage sale, a thrift store, or something put out by the curb! I love taking something that someone else has cast aside and giving it new LIFE!! I look at trash the same way that God looks at me, not what I am, but what I WILL and CAN become. I have found there are few lost causes, and it really gives me joy to recreate something into something else. One of the perks of turning 50 was that I now get 25% off on Tuesdays at the Goodwill!! Ha.
Well, that's probably more about me than you ever wanted to know! But I'm sure many, many of you in the land of Blog can relate. I remember when I first found a decorating blog, and then another and another! I was SO happy!! I said to my husband that evening, Guess what happened today? I FOUND MY PEOPLE!!! He looked at me sooo strangely and said what do you mean? I said," I found people who like to save old buttons, trim, fabrics, bump chenille, and millinery flowers, junky furniture and such, just like me!!! What a happy day that was!! So now, I know that I am not the only one who _____________. ( You fill in the blank!! ) Thank you my friends for inspiring me every day, I hope once in a while I can do the same for you!
Blessings, Linda
Found your blog through Dawn's - I love it! We have so much in common - Good to meet another fellow junker! Blessings to you.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely home you have! I love your finds. It looks like such a peaceful haven.
Thank you for your visit and for your sweet words of encouragement. Have a wonderful week!