Straightline Laser Level-Not Just For Hanging Pictures!

This week I'm working on some draperies for some dear friends who have just finished building their dream home (literally...they built most of it themselves!).  I wanted to share a little trick I use for cutting wide drapery fabric straight across.  I used to measure from the cut end of the fabric about 5 or 6 times across the width and sort-of just eyeball a cutting line, but that was time consuming and didn't always give the straightest results.  Then, a light bulb went off in my head one day.  Don't you just love it when that happens? First, I measure the length I want down one edge and make a small cut. Then, I do the same on the other edge.  I grab my handy laser level  (affiliate link) and adjust the beam so that it starts at one cut and shines across to the other cut.  I don't use the bubbles at all, just the line up the laser beam. Sometimes I need a little obstacle to stop the beam so I can tell where it's hitting the cut on the oth...

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{Old} Magazine Inspiration

First of all, thanks for your input and thoughts on what I should do with my  chairs .  I'm still trying to decide for sure and would welcome more input if I haven't heard from you! So how was your weekend?  Ours was relaxing and productive-the perfect mix!  Ray & I enjoyed a date night Friday evening while the kid's spend the night at their grandparents' house and yesterday we had Ray's parents over for lunch.  I made  this  cake and it was delish!  There was none left by the time the day was over.   My big accomplishment for the weekend was that I checked  #7 off of my list of goals  for the year.  My closet is clean, hallelujah!  I could not stand it one more day so I tackled it while the kids were gone.  It feels 3 times bigger now!  No pictures...the before was way too embarrassing and there's nothing special about the after...it's just clean! Anyway, as I was cleaning out I came across a stack of old magazines that I flipped thro...

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Decisions, Decisions {Help Me-Vote!}

I'm planning a project in the near future.  I have these- I'm planning to use these at the ends of the table in my dining room redo.  I'm 99% sure that I'm going to paint the frame black, and I probably won't put any tufting in the cushions.  I've been thinking all along about using a canvas drop cloth to do the upholstery, but lately I've been drawn to the idea of doing  something fun that will really make a statement.   My table will be a dark stain and I'm not sure what I'm doing for the side chairs.  I've been searching on CL for months but haven't found anything yet.   Soooooo, here are some fun fabrics that I found while browsing the web.  I'm really loving my black and white drapery so I thought I might pull that into the dining room (it's all open together with the living room). Larger scale zebra- Geometric prints-   These 2 chevron prints are large scale- Gre...

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Painted Built-Ins

You've already seen glimpses of these built-ins, but I'd like to go back periodically and  show you some before and afters of a few projects that I've done  prior to starting this blog.   See the tall section completely covered by doors?  When we bought the house the section in the middle was just a big opening for the television.  I can't stand trying to make it look "pretty" around a tv, so we had some doors made to match the ones that were already there to conceal the tv.  It's such a cleaner look and looks a bit more like a built-in piece of furniture to me. We've slowly jumped on the painted cabinets bandwagon and it's amazing the difference it's made in the look of our home.  I've always loved stained cabinets, but sometimes it's just time for a change!  These are very nice, well made shelves but the time had come where they needed some attention to the finish.  After a few years of debate  (in my own head), I...

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I Heart Houndstooth

Last year my sister found a fabulous large scale houndstooth fabric and  recovered an ottoman with it.  I loved it so much I finally bought  my own fabric and made some new pillows.  Heart. I even wore it to church last Sunday! Houndstooth: Do you love it or hate it? ...

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Life's A Trip! {Church and Stage Decorating Ideas}

Our annual Women's Retreat took place over the weekend and I was responsible for coordinating the decorations.  The theme was "Life's A Trip!"  I was thankful for lots of help to pull everything together and here are some photos of how everything turned out.   We met in the Fellowship Hall for our meals (yum!) and we had 32 (!) round tables set with centerpieces of maps, globes, and travel cases stuffed with travel brochures.   A friend was responsible for the dessert bar we had on Friday evening, and I wanted to show you how cute it turned out. Gracia Burnham  was our speaker.  You may remember her in the news about 10 years ago.  She and her husband, Martin, were American missionaries in the Philippines.  While celebrating their 18th anniversary at a resort, they were captured and taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Group, who were a militant group of Muslims.  They were constantly on the move, endured many gun battles, and after a ...

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1 Down, 3 To Go

I have TONS of storage in this house, and every bit of it is bulging.  It's ridiculous!  I'm on a mission to clean up and clean out-starting with this closet: I can't believe I'm showing you this.  Once at a party a guest opened this door by mistake thinking it was the powder room.  Horror of horrors! It's the dumping ground...the place everything gets shoved when I don't have a spot for it.  I usually have to clean it out twice a year just to remember what's in there.   And...after working only a little over an hour.  The anticipation and dread with these kinds of jobs is always so much worse than just doing it! It's not a perfectly staged beauty shot with matching storage baskets labeled with chalkboard tags, but it's clean. And organized. For now.  Here's hoping it will stay that way for a while.   These tubs work beautifully for deep shelving.  They are easy to slide in and out so I'm not having to dig aroun...

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