Tattered Treasures

2010-04-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Wishing the most joyous of seasons to you and yours!

Sweet Goodness Summer Swap

2008-06-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

This is for you, Shawnee!
Let's Get to Know Each Other And Play 20 Questions.
.1. What is your favorite Summer Drink(s)? I love iced tea...not sweetened....and margaritas on the rocks, not blended.
2. What is your favorite Summer Activity? Hanging out with my family, especially the college kidlet who is home for the summer.
3. If you could spend a lazy afternoon reading, what would be in your hands? Any culinary mystery, New Moon or Eclipse (am on the 7 week waiting list at the library!!!!)
4. What is your favorite type of craft/art medium? hmmm...just one? Well, I guess altering things.
5. What is one art/craft supply you absolutely have been dying to have or try? Tinted glazes on paper.
6. What are your favorite colors in our 'rainbow sherbet' theme? Pink, lime green, yellow, orange, aqua (or blue)...pink and lime green are my favorites!
7. What is your favorite sweet treat? hmm..sugar free something!
8. Are there any craft or art supplies you would NOT be interested in receiving? Fibers. I have drawers and drawers full and am challenging myself to use them up!
9. What is your favorite song today? Anything Leona Lewis sings.
10. How do you 'pamper' yourself during the hot summer days? With an iced tea on the arbor with the misting fan going...watching the kidlets enjoying the heat!
11. Do you have any kidlets or pets? Yes to both....I have a 23 year old son, and an almost 19 year old son living away from home and a 10 year old bundle of energy son, still at home. Going into 5th grade......he keeps us ALL on our toes! :0)
12. What is your best potluck dish for summer get togethers? Hmmm..I LOVE to cook, so I try new things every time. Last night, I grilled steak and made Pioneer Woman's crash potatoes...huge hit!
13. If you could take a summer vacation anywhere, where would it be? The Oregon Coast. Newberg.
14. Describe your decorating style. Does that say anything about your personality? Shabby cottage style. I guess it says I like.....cottage style........and I am .......shabby!???
15. What are your initials? kPe
16. Why do you like to join swaps? Oh, definately the bonding with another person. I live in a small rural town and not much happens here. Hard to find people interested in the same things I am. I also LOVE the hunt for treasures to send my partner. And, of course, the fun of seeing what they found for me! (side note: I also LOVE to keep the mail person guessing. Lots of exotic and mysterious packages arriving often. He just laughs!)
17. You have 25 dollars to spend just on you for a little treat. What do you buy? ((you can list more than one thing) hmmm.....a bouquet of fresh flowers...candles...new shoes.
18. What's one craft supply or art supply you absolutely can not live without? My Cutterbee scissors. And glue sticks.
19. Who's the last person you hugged? My home for the summer son.
20. What's your favorite number and why? 7....don't even know why!

Sugar*Sugar is having a button challenge!

2008-03-31T12:19:00.001-07:00

The challenge is to show your buttons....I love buttons! Just scored a huge tin of them at the thrift store (must be 10 pounds of buttons....HUGE tin!) for $5.00. I'm separating them by color now, and plan to sell some of them on etsy for people to use in their art projects. As I sort, I keep finding new favorites. Just when I think I've found the most beautiful button, and set it aside in my "special" collection, I find another one even more beautiful!

If you love buttons, go to http://leesiebella.typepad.com/leesiebella/2008/03/more-button-fun.html and flicker group and take a look at all the wonderful collections people have photographed.

Birdhouse Bling!

2008-03-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

This is my bling-ed up birdhouse for Karla and Beth's big event! The birdhouse is "rescued" from a thrift store and papered,beaded, crystalled (don't you love the crystal ornament on top?)

and flowered. Whew! Not sure what more this little birdie could want, are you?

Happy Spring!

2008-03-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

The spring solstice is here! (Or will be a little later tonight.) It's almost official! In honor of the season, I went thrift shopping. What? You don't celebrate that way? I think ANY occasion is an excuse for thrift shopping! This bouquet of great quality flowers in beautiful springy colors and the vintagey metal container they are in were my find of the day. $1.00 . Way to celebrate spring!

It is spring break for the kids, and I am taking the next two days off work to play. I hope to be back to post for Easter. Hoping you have a great couple of days!

Good morning!

2008-03-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is the first place I head in the morning. Gotta have that coffee! I love my "coffee station!" The lamp will be painted in a rubbed bronze color as soon as the weather allows.
I found the Waverly curtain panel at the thrift store, brand new in the package for $4.00. That one made my day! I use it to screen my laundry room from the kitchen. No matter how hard I try, my laundry room just doesn't stay neat. I am having cabinets built floor to ceiling opposite the washer and dryer. When they are done and painted, maybe I will be able to open the curtain and "let you all in!"

Tagged!

2008-03-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

Kristin of http://www.mypolka-dottedworld.blogspot.com/ tagged me to list for you 7 of my flaws...er, ahem...I mean quirks. Yes, that's it. Quirks. Here they are in no particular order:

1. I cannot stand to drink from a plastic cup or glass. It MUST be real glass and preferably that vintage kind that's really thick and heavy. (Sorry, Tupperware!)
2. My toenails must be painted at all times. Old woman, yellow- toenails- showing just will not do!
3. I don't drink soda pop. It feels yucky on my teeth.
4. I hate socks and closed shoes! (Yay, Kristin! Another one of us!) Flip flops, sandals, barefoot are all good. It can get tricky in the winter. Snow and flipflops do not go together. But clogs (yes, with socks! grrr......) do work fine. Oh, and the toenails? Polished, thank-you-very-much!
5. I always carry a couple of magazines on the passenger seat of my car. That way, I'm ready to be entertained wherever/whenever I have to wait.
6. I cannot get into an unmade bed. I rarely leave it unmade in the morning, but sometimes Mr. Lazy Pants is the last one out and he doesn't make it. (Yes, ladies, I am still training him!) I have to make the bed before I get in. (and plump the pillows, in case you were wondering!)
7. I cannot stand for my food to touch each other on my plate. Yes, I know it all ends up in the same place. But. Still.

There they are. The 7 I would dare to write and publish online. There are oh so many more. The deeper, darker secrets that you will never know. Consider yourselves lucky!

Old suitcase love

2008-03-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Thrifting was good! I found these suitcases to cover an empty corner and provide storage for old photos waiting to be scrapbooked. I especially love the top one. It is leather and has that patina that only genuinely worn old leather gets. So sad that I need them all to store photos we've taken and not done anything with ~yet.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2008-03-12T16:52:00.001-07:00

Today is a very special day....my mommy's birthday! My mom is wonderful~creative, intelligent,very, very nice....and I love her! Of all the Moms in this world, I got the BEST one for my very own. (as David Letterman says, "don't write in, folks!") Happy Birthday, Mom, and thanks for everything you've done for me and taught me. Most of all, thanks for always being there and loving me.

A pretty thrifting find

2008-03-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

So lucky, so lucky! I found these four beautiful, softly colored dessert plates at the thrift store for $1.00. NOT $1.00 each, but all four for $1.00! It's almost silly how happy a thrift find can make me....I do hope someone out there can relate to that! In the meantime...(sung to the tune of "we're in the money...") I'm so very lucky! I'm so very lucky! I'm so very......

Easter artwork

2008-03-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

I saw a similar version of this on someone's blog...so sorry I don't remember whose...but it was beautiful! [edited to add: the original is at "Under a Blue Moon"Thanks for the inspiration!] I thought I'd try my hand at making this with materials I had on hand. The egg/nest image is from a vintage holiday image cd I bought a while ago on ebay. The frame was thrifted for 50 cents. The faux chocolate bunny next to the frame is adorable and so realistic I just want to take a hunk out of his ear!I found him on ebay, too, and just received him today. Oh, the Easter cuteness!

s.p.r.i.n.g.

2008-03-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

We've had such nice weather that I couldn't resist getting out the spring decorations. This banner is one I bought on ebay. Too bad the photos don't show the dripping, diamond-like glitteryness of it! I really need to work on my photography skills! This mirror is one of my favorite pieces...it was, in its sad former life, a gold color. Priming, painting 2 coats of white and adding a little antiquing helped it to look light, happy and joyful. I love it!

A day off work

2008-03-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today, thanks to my fourth grader, B, 9, I had the day off work. It was parent teacher conference day and my usual sitter had plans with her kids and couldn't watch him. Sooooooo I used the (welcome) excuse and planned a vacation day.

We stayed up late last night, got up late this morning and ate bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. We usually try to eat more healthy at breakfast, but it was a special day, you see!

We played video games--yes, we--as one way to celebrate. We went to parent teacher conference (where the darling boy got glowing remarks!!!! yay!!!) and then to lunch. Then B went to play at a friends' house.

Well, well, well. Me with a couple of hours on my hands. What to do? Laundry? Change the bed linens? Vacuum the living room? NO. I baked. Delicious little treats that I tried when I discovered Silver Bell Cottage's blog. (I'm having linking trouble, but you can find Alexandra's wonderful blog at http://silverbellcottage.blogspot.com/) They are yummy and very easy to make. Now....for a cup of tea and one of these little yummies while they're still warm and the house is still quiet!

Blessing Candle

2008-02-26T15:49:00.001-08:00

I received this "blessing candle" from a blogging friend....and I'd like to share it with all of you. It will bring you the blessings you need, and can be passed around to others who might have need of it. I especially send it to my friend Kerrie, who is having a difficult time in life just now.

2008-02-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks for stopping by...hope your holiday was wonderful. I got the "spring" bug today, as the skies were blue and sunny and there was NO SNOW! The sunshine even managed to melt away most of what we had on the ground, even though the temperature was still c.o.l.d.

The boys skateboarded, the dogs and cats ran around and the birds even made an appearance!

There is hope for spring to arrive!

In honor of the season, I changed table displays. I love eggs, and have gathered quite a few together. I made the "pedestal" plates this weekend from thrift store finds. They turned out really cute, and I had to use them in this display. My son B, 9, asks me why I change things around so much. Simple. I love variety, and I love to "play" with accessories.

I finally decided...

2008-02-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

To post on this blog. I have been trying to decide which direction the blog should go, and so have talked myself into not posting until I'm clear about that. In the meantime, I read many blogs every day and most of them aren't tightly focused anyway. So this will incorporate art projects, decorating, cooking and gardening, my list of "passions." Oh, and the kids will make appearances, too! hee hee
NGW, son, 18 is leaving to go back to school for the week. His departures are so difficult for all of us that it stretches out from 10 in the morning until 3 or so in the afternoon! We say goodbye, and goodbye again, and goodbye some more. It's the hardest time of the week for me.
Little BWP, son, 9, is off playing with a friend. They are both skateboard fanatics and enjoy trying new tricks. For right now, he wants to be a pro skateboarder. When the weather is warmer, and he can ride his dirtbike, he will want to be a pro dirtbiker. Etc. Etc. Etc. It's never dull around here!
I am working on a nest swap sponsored by speckled-egg. It's so much fun to "meet" a new swap partner and make them a project. I have a ton of ideas for my partners' nest, and just have to begin to edit the ideas so the project makes sense and weighs under 10 pounds!
Well, off to get ready for another week. Family dinner tonight, making valentines with BWP and making teriyaki chicken bowls to put in the freezer for this weeks lunch. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
Until next time~

Monday yawn...sleepy Monday

2007-07-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

It's been so hot and muggy here that sleeping is nearly impossible. So what to do while awake in the middle of the night? Hmmm....nothing noisy. B will never go back to sleep if he's wakened. Hubs is snoring away, so I'll have to leave my cozy bed. I know! I'll rearrange "things" in the living room! Hubs teases me that I'm never happy with the way things look. I'll arrange...and rearrange.....and re-rearrange until it's just right. Then I'll find a new treasure and rearrange all over again to incorporate it. I know I can't be the ONLY one who does this, but hubs swears it's totally abnormal. He swears things would still look the way they did when we moved in 10 years ago if it were up to him. (Thank heaven it isn't!) Well, I think it's perfectly normal, amusing and satisfying to look at old things in a new way. So there!

We have a state holiday tomorrow, July 24, celebrating the day the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake valley after a trying trip west. Everything is closed, there is a parade and fireworks....just like another July 4. Lucky us! I get to use my patriotic decorations all month, and I love it! Weather is supposed to be overcast and rainy. That's a tough one. We "need" the rain because: 1. We're in the middle of a drought. 2. We have wild fires raging all around us. I just hope (selfishly) that the rain waits until after the parade tomorrow morning. B, age 9, is riding his dirt bike in the parade with his little gang of friends also on dirt bikes and atv's. Yes, folks, it's a rural parade! There's always a goat pulling a cart, big horses pulling a wagon, fire trucks, diesel trucks from the local sand and gravel yard, and kids on anything with wheels! It's a really fun time. Wish you could join us!

Thrifty goodies

2007-07-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

I scored big time at the thrift store...2 lamps were $2.00 each(imagine them painted with an oil rubbed bronze paint) and the hen was $1.00. The tall cut glass vase was $20.00, and I'm not so sure it was a great bargain, but it's at least 12 or 13" tall and so beautiful and I'm happy it lives here with us. I am imagining it full of branches with dripping pearls and icicles during the holidays......mmmm...the holidays.................I love to dream about holiday decorating! Any of you thinking of it already?

I did it!

2007-07-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

I finally joined "blogworld!" EVERYBODY'S got a blog and I love them all! Why not create one of my own?

Hubs and I, two sons, two cats, four kittens, four hens and a roaming rooster call our little cottage home. (Well, technically, the hens call the chicken coop home, and the rooster goes wherever he wants. Don't know who he really belongs to, but we feed him and give him water when he comes by.)
Oldest son, J, 21, lives about 2 1/2 hours away in Salt Lake City. Son N, almost 18, is getting ready to leave for college and will soon call a dorm "home." Son B, 9, will be in fourth grade when school starts in August.
Hubs is a remodeling contractor and I am a full time director of a non profit working with children in foster care. Life is busy, full, and satisfying. *sips tea*
I love to find vintage treasures at flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales. My little cottage was built in the 1940's by hubs' grandmama. She lived here with 5 children in 2 bedrooms, a living room,kitchen and small bathroom. Life then was definately different. There's not a closet in the home, although we are remodeling the bedrooms to include them. Grandpa tells us that having 2 or 3 changes of clothes was normal then. Wow! My kids change their clothes 2 or 3 times a day. Playing army, or firefighter, or policeman or great white hunter always requires the right outfit! Thank goodness Grandmama added a laundry room to the house. Even though it's only 6'x8', it's the most used area of our house! *sips more tea*

Thank you for joining me here. It's been fun! Come back soon!