Saturday Sightings - Uncovered Romance And a Bullish Encounter...

Imagine my delight when I came upon an unadvertised yard sale sign 

pointing the way to a country home in an older development.  

Turns out the home owner had died unexpectedly -  the house was sold quickly - 

and the contents needed to be unloaded.  Thus - a last minute yard sale... 

where everything was going cheap.  We were told to look in cabinets, 

drawers and everywhere.  It felt very strange and invasive - gave me 

mixed feelings for sure.  There wasn't a lot left when I arrived - 

but these are some of my favorite finds that others overlooked...

Shoes available here and cake topper available here

Apparently 'Barbara' lived in this house - judging from the 

sentiments on the senior photos she saved.  

And Barbara was well-liked...

In fact - she had a special admirer!  

"To the Most beautiful girl of the senior class"...

"When are we going on our date?"...

Did she marry "Ken" I wonder?  

In the box of recipes - I found a little handmade recipe booklet from the 70s.  

It contained cookie recipes - put together from a neighborhood exchange.  

I love that idea!  My neighborhood is not that 'close'. Maybe I need to work on that!

To round out my pleasant morning... I came upon this guy -

 standing right up at the roadside fence.  When I got close to take 

a picture - he started to get a little ornery, 'huffed' at me and I saw

 his front hoof begin to do motions... I got out of there!

I'll leave you with a cookie recipe as a last nod to 'Christmas in July'...

Now I need to get some cleaning done.

How did you spend your Saturday morning?  ~Joyce

Budget Chair Cushion DIY with Easy Removeable Cover (No Zipper!)...

Someone gave me a white wicker chair (love!) - with no cushion.

Wicker cushions are not cheap.  And this one needed to be fairly large.   

But if you scout out thrift stores long enough - you can usually 

find what you need.  I think I looked just a couple of weeks.   

 Today - I covered it - in under an hour - for our updated family room.  

My fabric?  Why my thrifted shower curtain of course (right from my bathroom!)  

But it was just the right soft green and I had another 

shower curtain in my stash that could replace it - so no worries.

This other blogger's tutorial may be easier to follow - but here's what I did.  

(After I washed that shower curtain.)

1.  Measure that pillow - then add approx. 1 - 1 1/4" on each side.  

This will allow for the puffiness of the pillow if you make your seam allowance about 1/2".  

Cut one long strip the width you need (about 25" in my case) to

 wrap around that pillow to cover both sides plus 6-7" extra to overlap.  

This will allow an 'envelope style' so you can slip your pillow 

inside with no zipper or closure needed.

2.  Fold under a small seam on the short ends and stitch them 

(like a hem) so there are no loose or unstitched edges.

  

3.  Fold your fabric just how the finished case will be (right sides together) - 

making that overlap.  Carefully line everything up and pin the edges 

making sure you have it the same width all across. (It's all about the measuring!)

4.  Simply stitch the 2 sides closed.  

I rounded my corners a bit so the pillow won't have pointy corners. 

5.  Flip right side out and stuff that pillow inside. 

 (My pillow was large and pretty stiff - but I got it in there.)

Happiness is a 'new' chair that cost almost nothing. 
Have I convinced you to shop at thrift shops yet?  ~Joyce 

Linking to the Home Sweet Home party

Budget Electronic Decor...

I realize I still have a kitchen reveal to show you... soon!

  

In the meantime - the room next door (we call it the Family Room)

 has been seeing changes too.   For starters, we did not have a good place 

for our electronics.  So we made a purchase from a local

  used furniture store. 

(Bonus:  the drawer handles match our kitchen hardware!)

Our TV works great - as does the rest of our sound system.  

And since we don't have cable or watch much TV

(give me a good clean movie any day!) - our budget-

friendly solution was to just keep what we had - speakers and all.

  (Am I the only blogger alive without a flat screen?) 

 To give the corner a little charm - I did a little snipping in my flower beds...

...and plopped them right on top of said speakers.  

(Yes - that's a doily on there.)

I also revised a grapevine wreath with a few faux greenery sprigs...

And our electronic corner now has a bit of cottage charm.

I'm loving my white achillea and hope it will dry and stay a bit white.  
We'll see...

Keeping up with the Jones' is not always budget friendly.  

If it ain't broke - you don't have to fix it!

Do what works for you and your lifestyle. 

Can't wait to watch My Fair Lady in this room. 

Just picked up the video (yes video) for 25 cents!

(And no wonder since nobody has a VHS player anymore.  Oh yeah - we do!) 

Come on weekend!  ~Joyce

Sweet Annie - A Garden to Window Story...

 Due to remodeling projects - our little vegetable garden went

 unplanted and uncared for this year.  So - it had some weeds... just a few...

 But to my delight - voluntary Sweet Annie plants also sprang up - huge ones.  

My Love mentioned that the garden was quite an eye sore for passers-by - 

but I assured him that the Sweet Annie growing in there made up for it.  

And as soon as it reached 'ball' stage I would harvest it to create

 aromatic bundles for here, there and everywhere.

But yesterday was a whole new day and while mowing the lawn,

 My Love felt the urge to remedy the 'eyesore' garden situation.  

No 'sweet annie' conversation even remotely entered his mind.

  While I was happily painting a little cupboard - inside the garage... 

he was happily improving our curbside appeal  - outside the garage. 

Imagine my shock and dismay when I walked out of my happy place - 

glanced in the direction of the garden -  and found My Love putting

 the finishing touches on his 'project'.  Every 'weed' - including a new 

flower I had quickly planted there till I had time to figure out where I 

wanted it - was cut down and mowed over.  Every. One.  

Nothing left to reseed... nothing. 

It wasn't my finest hour... the garden project was quickly abandoned 

and well... we each had some things to work through and forgive.

Today I decided those felled branches (little 'ball' stage or not)

 would be part of my window decor for the 'gray paint' room. 

It now has it's 2nd coat of paint (no more gray), some new lace curtains ...

... and now some Sweet Annie (with a bit of faux ivy mixed in)...

And if you look close - you can see my new paint color called Lamplight.

 

The garden?   I guess we'll work on our communication skills and

 revisit that at another time. 

(Please tell me this sounds familiar!)

Hello windows!  What stories you have to tell...

How To Pick a Wrong Wall Paint Color...

Our family room - which adjoins our 'almost finished' remodeled kitchen - 

needed an overhaul.  I was tired of white.  Although it worked - 

I was just tired of it.   And the border needed to 'go'!

 

 'Do gray' many said.  Now I know that's a current popular color -

 but I wasn't sure it was in the right tones for me and all the 

honey colored wood we have going on in this room.

(And for some reason - I want to keep that wood - in style or not!) 

But I listened to the voices & went out and found 2 samples and

 slapped them up there for a week or so and then picked one.  

(The one on the right).  And I tho't - 'ya know? This can work!'

And I don't like it!  Not sure I 'hate' it - but I don't like it.  

It's just not quite the direction I want to go.  

Feels too 80's country or primitive or something...

 And next to the kitchen (you're getting a sneak peek here again...) -

 it just doesn't feel right (and looks really 'blue').

I had my own gut feeling at the beginning of this paint choosing process.  

But I didn't listen to it. 

I feel a bit like Eve who was fine with what she knew to do 

('You may eat of any tree in the garden except this one...') - 

until someone suggested something 'else'.  I realize my paint

 choices are not right or wrong in the sight of  God.  But still - I was swayed 

by popular opinion... which in this case was not wrong - but also

 wasn't right - for me.  Thankfully - it's not the end of the world.

  And today I picked out another color.   I'll share about that process shortly.

May all your decisions today be God honoring and make your heart smile!  ~Joyce