Can't find the sun ~

We're headed out of town for the Memorial Day weekend.  A few days in Sunriver will be a nice break, although there's not much sign of sunshine.   Here in the NW we're craving sunshine and warm weather.  The high today is 54 degrees.

It would, however, be a treat to see the wildlife that seems to be so comfortable with humans here. 

Wouldn't it be awesome to see this out of your back door while having your morning coffee?

Hope everyone has a safe Memorial weekend with some unexpected visitors!

(photo courtesy of google images)

Magazine Artwork

My husband attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL.  To say he's a "huge fan" would be putting it mildly!  His love and loyalty to the university has rubbed off on my son over the years, so it seemed only fitting to work in some Alabama memorabilia in my sons bedroom decor.

This framed series of prints are all covers from Sports Illustrated magazines in 2010.  Alabama was undefeated that year and won the National Championship so they were popular with SI.

I carefully cut the covers off the magazines and framed them in some inexpensive frames.  Here they are hanging in his room.

This is our most recent edition of Sports Illustrated.  This cover shows some of the devastation in Tuscaloosa and all around the University.  It seems only fitting that the Alabama athletes will play a part in re-building the community, as they are loved and supported by so many in the area.

 Our thoughts and prayers are with those families and students

who are suffering and have lost so much.

I'm linking to the following parties:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm 

Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife 

Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home

Makeover for a sweet table ~

I've said it many times, I love Marshall's, TJ Maxx and Home Goods!  

Did you know that a gift card from one of these stores is good at all three?  Love that!

*  I'm planning to have a GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY from these stores once 

I reach 200 followers, so stay tuned *

Back to my post...

 I purchased this table at Marshall's a couple of weeks ago. It was originally a taupe color with a wooden top.  I immediately saw it's potential to be a great side table/night stand for my daughter's room. All of her furniture is white so the taupe color had to be changed.  Easy fix!  Next, what could be done with that wooden top to dress it up?  Get a piece of mirror cut to fit it!  I was excited. 

Here's the original after a few coats of spray paint.

I really like the fretwork pattern of the iron base.

 I think this will be a very versatile piece when my daughter outgrows it.

 Now, to spruce it up....the mirror.  I had the mirror cut at a local glass store.  

The wooden top can be unscrewed from underneath so I took it to

the glass store in order to get exact measurements.

 I used Gorilla Glue to attach the mirror.  I think this stuff will hold anything together!

Voila!

 Here it is in my daughter's room.

I love it!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to teach my daughter how to clean glass...can you say fingerprints? 

(I think it was worth it though)

Can't wait for her to see it after school.

I'm linking to the following parties:

Flaunt It Friday at Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest

Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence
Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Thanks, ladies!

Living Room Tour

 I'm joining Melissa at HOUSEography for a living room tour party.

 I recently posted here about making these curtains.  I still want to find 

some blue pieces to incorporate in the room to pick up on the blue in the curtains.

   This is the view from the stairs.

Thanks for hosting, Melissa!

Girl Scout love ~

My daughter is going on her Girl Scout spring camping trip this weekend.  Her troop will join several other troops for a fun filled weekend.  One of the special things the girls do is share "swaps" with other troops; little handmade mementos that are a nice memory of the weekend and all the new girls they met.

The girls troop leader came up with a flower vase idea for the 'swap'. 

The vase is a piece of penne pasta wrapped in tinfoil and stuffed with a packing 'peanut'.  

The peanut is needed to hold the toothpick flower stems in place.

Toothpicks are spray painted green and we attached a glue dot to the tip to add the decorative flower.

 Once the vases are filled we hot glued a pin on the back in order for the girls to 

be able to attach it to something.

I think these could also be cute pinned to some fabric and framed.

These hats are what our troop uses to hold 'swaps'.

These are some 'swaps' from last year.  The plastic egg with the ribbon 

is supposed to represent an octopus (cute idea).

This mermaid was made from plastic beads that you iron together.

Our troop did the foam smore' last year.  See the graham cracker, chocolate and marshmellow?

I'm linking to the following parties:

Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings 

Get Your Craft on Tuesday at Today's Creative Blog

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

~Petie

Spring has finally sprung in the NW

Today we reached 70 here in the NW, so I took a walk around the yard to see what was popping up.  

This is what I found.

Japanese maple about to spread it's wings.

 Hostas, thank you for returning!

 Newly planted rhododendron.

 Can't wait to see how many hydrangea's we get this year.

 This pansy was nice enough to return.  I thought they were annuals?

 Sunset maple tree just starting to fill out.

 Black-eyed Susan's that I hope will spread to cover about a 3' section in the front garden.

 More hosta's working hard to come up.

 Dogwood bushes that were so big last summer they had to be cut back quite a bit.

 And, the plant with the most success so far....a potted azalea.   

Beautiful color!

 

This picture below is from the fall (see all the leaves). 

We recently had these two large topiaries at the front entrance removed. These have been

here since we moved in over 10 yrs ago.  I really liked them, but they were becoming too

top heavy and were hard to prune.

This is how our front entrance looks now.

 I like being able to see more of the house.  

Now I just need to get busy planting some color!

Happy Spring!