Sentimental Treasures and an FOF!

We visited my great aunt this week, and she had this autograph book on her coffee table. It belonged to my great great grandmother back in the 1800's. So neat!! I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through the delicate pages and reading all the messages inside. 

 I was absolutely in awe at the beautiful handwriting! It is definitely a lost art. I just snapped a few random pics with my iPhone, but every single page was written beautifully. I suppose everybody wrote like that back then, even the men. I don't know anybody that writes like that now - what was so common then would seem to be a great talent today.

Another thing I noticed was the messages themselves, they were so much more meaningful than the things we write or text to each other these days. So beautiful!

It seems that our generation has lost much of the depth of our ancestors - we would no doubt seem very shallow to them. It's kinda sad how time marches on and things change so much.  Sure, lots of changes have been good ones, but some are sad. It was pretty neat to get a little glimpse into our history. That book is definitely a treasure! And it's in pretty great shape to be over 140 years old. 

 I haven't done any personal projects lately - I've been spending my "extra" time working on the shop. I did get a new style of tote bag finished. I had some requests for a ruffled denim tote, so this is what I came up with. I just listed it in the shop! 

I'm linking up with Chari's Finished Object Friday.

Instagram Update

So...I'm just sitting here wondering, WHERE DID OUR SUMMER GO??? Hardly seems possible that the little guys are already back in school... 

I guess it was flying by so fast, I forgot to do any blogging - oops! 

I'll do a quickie instagram update of our summer for ya, how's that?!

My littlest man is just growing up so fast - he can be a real booger, but he can also be the sweetest thing, and he knows just how to melt this mama's heart. Every time. He has to give me a big ole hug every 15 minutes or so - but I don't mind a bit. 

 We had a Thomas Birthday party for him on the 4th of July - it was *supposed* to be a backyard party, but wouldn't ya know, it rained bucket loads all. day. long. But it's all good - cake tastes just as good inside as it does outside. (I know you can't tell from the piccy, but Weston really did enjoy his Birthday - he just has a thing against cameras...)

 We also had a great time at camp this summer...

Yes, there was lots of chatting and shopping going on. And eating. And laughing. And then some more chatting and some more shopping... Fun Times!

 It was so nice to visit with friends - and it was so fun to get a quick surprise visit from Heather!

 It has rained SO MUCH this summer that the boys about went crazy - every time the sun would peek out from behind the clouds, they'd make a mad dash for the pool and stay till it started raining again :) 

Weston wasn't satisfied with his little kiddie pool - he enjoyed it for a few minutes, then he was ready to dive in the big pool with the big boys. So we put him in a toddler floatie thing and he was happy happy happy - I think he could have floated around in there for days - he was so content. 

The weekend before school started, we treated the guys to a day at the zoo. Weston absolutely LOVES animals, and is quite talented in making all the animal sounds, I might add  ;) I got a kick out of watching him having such a good time - he was just amazed with every animal, things he's seen in books or videos, but not for real! 

 Carson is still my biggest ham! 

First Day of School!!! 

They were both so excited, they were up, completely dressed, and had eaten their breakfast by 6 am. They didn't get that from me. Or their dad...  But I'm glad they were excited about it, and they're still enjoying it.  I did, however, make a new rule - NOBODY gets up before the alarm goes off. So now they lay there and just wait for it to go off so they can jump out of bed... 

I still don't understand that.

We did manage to get a few "normal" shots - but this one is much more real.

I've been enjoying our daily drive through town to pick them up from school - there are hanging baskets like this on every corner, and they're all absolutely amazing. And they're all different. So pretty!

 My much better half celebrated his 35th Birthday this week. And I must say, 35 looks pretty good on him.

 Now that the guys are back in school, and we're all trying (desperately) to get back into a routine, I've started to restock the etsy shop! I took off for most of the summer, and didn't do very much sewing. I've listed a few new things, and I'm working on some other new ones as well. 

(You may or may not have noticed that I'm totally in love with the new Rhonna Designs Ap! If you haven't tried it, you simply MUST. It takes instagram photos to a whole new level, with fun fonts, quotes, and designs to add to your photos - such a fun and creative ap!)

Now you've officially been updated on life here at the parsonage for the past few months - I hope all of you had a great summer too! Here's to an awesome school year =)

The Coffee Table Gets a Makeover

So my original plan was to find a large square upholstered ottoman to replace our dark and very scratched up coffee table. But....the more I looked at them, the less I wanted to spend the money. Yeah, I'm kind of a tightwad like that. I figured the least I could do was to paint the old one until I decide what to do about getting something new. 

 Here's what she looked like before I attacked her with spray paint...

Funny how changing just a few little things changes the whole look of a place! The whole room feels brighter.  I  like it so much, I may just keep it. 

 

(Honestly, I never saw the toys under the sofa till I posted these pics. Now it's BUGGING me to pieces! Just some extra random decor, compliments of Weston...)

 We recently found a chunkier white cabinet to replace the dark, small table that we had in there. It fits the space much better, and matches my "new" coffee table perfectly. I was also craving some more punchy color, so I threw together some coral pillow covers, and that was just the punch I was looking for!

Now if I could just find a smallish table for the other lamp - so far I haven't had any luck. It would have to be pretty small to fit in that space, but I'd like for it to kinda match the other table. Oh, and it has to be cheap, too. ;)  The search goes on...

I found the summer chalkboard printable on pinterest - I just love it! Ya can't beat free decor! 

In other news, this little guy turned 2 years old this past week.

Where has the time gone???  It doesn't seem like my BABY should be 2 already.

There's a Thomas the Train party in the plans for this weekend. Wish me luck as I try to make a Thomas cake... I may wish I had just ordered one!

Just a little family update...

I just realized it's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I'll give y'all a quick update on our summer so far. And boy, it's been a busy one!

The little guys have enjoyed lots of pool time. The 2 bigger boys are doing great, swimming like little fish!

 We had a HUGE yardsale, which was lots of work and prep time, but a big success! It felt so good to get rid of a bunch of stuff, free up some room, and make some extra cash. My man even got in on it and cleared out tons of his techy stash - Yay! I helped the little guys set up a lemonade stand the day of the sale - they made lots of money too. As it turns out, LOTS of folks around here love lemonade and homemade brownies :) 

I had a lovely Mother's Day with all my favorite guys. My sweetie cooked the entire dinner and cleaned it all up, too! And I might add, it was all absolutely delicious - grilled steak, baked sweet potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and cake for dessert. I'm thinkin' I got myself a keeper :)

My Mother's Day roses were so beautiful, I just had to share a piccy of those, too.

And here's my sweetheart with all his little guys on Father's Day - he's a great Daddy!

It's been quite a summer for Carson. He lost his 2 front teeth...

And then got glasses, too!

And this little guy has kept us hopping. He's chock full of life and personality and is, as they say, 100% boy. Here, he was *supposed* to be sleeping, but every time I would tippy toe past his door he would make a silly face at me. You just can't help but love him  to pieces! 

We've been doing lots of little projects here and there, so I'll be sharing some more with y'all later. But right now, I need to drag some soaking wet little guys out of the pool and feed them some supper.

 We're LOVING summertime!!

Vintage Cupboard Redo

A dear friend of ours recently gave me the sweetest little china cabinet! It had been in her family for years, it belonged to her grandmother. I pretty much did a happy dance when I saw it and realized it is very similar to the one my own granny had. (I've always loved granny's cabinet and wished I could have gotten it!) 

 Forgive me, but the only before pic I took was from my iPhone, so it's not real stellar. At least you can get an idea...

Somebody put some country decals on it - I'm guessing in the 80's, when country blue and ducks were all the rage. And they didn't get them all exactly straight...  This pic was taken after we'd already scraped some decals off the glass. 

 I had a grand ole time painting her up in a pretty aqua blue! 

I just love it! 

Happy happy happy =) 

The paint color is "Watery" from Sherwin Williams. After I painted it, I distressed it a touch and rubbed some coffee colored glaze all over it. 

It was during the glazing process that I had to explain to my 7 year old, just exactly why I *wanted* it to look old and dirty. And that I only liked certain things to look slightly worn and dirty, and that no, his room was not one of those things... He still doesn't get it. He wandered off shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Huh. And I thought you wanted to make our house look *nice*." Bless his little heart...

I knew as soon as I brought it home that I wanted to paint it blue and fill it with white dishes - I think they're just perfect for each other ;)  I put them in there pretty quick and willy nilly, so they may get rearranged a few times before it's all said and done. 

It's such a bright spot in the dining room!

The little guys have finished their last day of school, so we're only too happy to get our summer started!
Linking up with Chari's Finished Object Friday!

I just stocked up the etsy shop - lots of pretty new spring colors! 

Living Room Refresh

So it's not *totally* there yet, but it's veeery close. 

I'll show you what we've done so far on the living room project.

Here is the before...

And this is where we are now!

The only 2 things we would like to do is swap out the (very abused and scratched up) coffee table for a large comfy square ottoman. Still looking for a deal...

And replace the carpet.  I'm SOOO wanting to rip it out and refinish the hardwoods that are under it, but we're a little nervous about what we might find under there - it may be too far gone. It will probably be a while before we get to that part of the project!

I sold my old living room suit on craigslist (Good ole Craig!) and then we found this neutral sectional here at a local furniture shop. I recovered all of the hideous throw pillows that came with the sofa in fun bright colors. (The floral one on the left was from Hobby Lobby.)

So much brighter! I really like the cottage/coastal feel. 

The white curtain panels I made from plain white flat sheets from Walmart ($4.88 apiece!), and the yellow ottoman was a clearance purchase from Target - well worth the $24 I paid for it!

The mantel looks all bright and springy, too. Love those free printables!

I got this sweet little recliner for Christmas last year, as well as the cable knit throw. It's cozy!

We also moved Weston's nursery rocker to the living room - it matches the sofa perfectly! 

The yellow chevron throw was a gift from my sis in law - I call it my happy blanket! It's so cheery. 

So that's it - our living room refresh, on a shoestring budget! It's much more family friendly and casual now - the gang hangs out in here all the time. And now we have more seating for our church get-togethers that we have here, so everybody's happy!

I'm linking up with Chari's Finished Object Friday! Ok, so it's not exactly Friday. Lets' just say I've been very busy  =)