Happy Halloween Y'all

My girls have always loved to play dress up, so Halloween is a fun time for us.  No spooky stuff for us though.  We have always had a "Fall Festival" at church to make it a fun time.

Tonight is the big night for Sara at work and a party afterwards.  I sure hope she wins best costume because she is all natural (when it comes to that red hair of hers, lol).    She is an excellent make up artist though!

Trying on her costume and getting the hair right the night before.  That bow was a challenge to make since the fabric is polyester.  I had to line it with a stiff material then make it into a bow.  Bobby pins are a God send.

Just her normal make up here and no curled hair...but I was so smitten with her!  My little Ariel!

Here she is all dolled up and ready for the evening.  I smile just looking at this!  She has always loved Little Mermaid...now she is her!

Just perfect!

Now....look at Hannah!  She's following in her sister's footsteps with make up.  They are both so talented!

She wanted to go as a scary doll...love those eyebrows and those piercing eyes!

Patent leather Mary Janes and the socks I had to make since you can't find them anymore.  Remember in the 80's, these were the rage with jelly shoes?  I had lots of them!

I am amazed at the originality they both have when it comes to their imagination.  I am all about not spending money on costumes....we like to make them.  Hannah had everything except the socks, bow and lace.  Good ole MOM made those. They definitely do not follow the crowd.  My girls are awesome!

Hannah and her friends went to the local Mall and my hubby told me that she was a hit.  Everyone loved her costume and even those long legs of hers, lol.  

So I hope everyone is enjoying this Halloween and eating lots of candy.  I know I am relaxing and trying to stay warm.  They are calling for snow tonight!

Creating is Good for the Soul

I absolutely love to sew....things that I love, that is.  I do not like sewing clothes like altering or hemming.  But I do however love to make anything for the home.  

So, Christmas will be here shortly and last year I made smowmen ornaments and stockings.  This year, I am loving angel wings!  Of course I am making stockings and ornaments, but the wings are so pretty and can be kept out all year long.

Aren't they pretty?  They add such a sweet, soft touch.

Here are some stockings I've made so far.

They are all lined.  Of course I am partial to white...

The fabric roses add a nice touch, don't you think?

I love this one!  Made with an old doily as the backdrop for the fabric rose.

Do you save the bags that the "Shabby Chic" sheet sets come in?  I do...the pretty purple floral is from that line.

I made a pocket that buttons.  I thought that would be nice for little treasures.

And who doesn't love chenille?

Some from Sara's old quilt when she was little...

I am loving the lavender this year!

I have so much fun making the stockings too, coming up with fabric combinations from scraps that I've hoarded is like Christmas!

I had to make costumes for Sara and Mike.  I will post Sara's when she is all gussied up...she is tickled with her corset that I made.  Not too bad for $17 for everything, right?  Mike's costume was made from a shower curtain that was free, even better!  

He went as Moses to our Fall Festival for church. 

Mike said he was going to name himself
 "the Shabby Sheik", though, with this beard, lol.  He's pretty clever isn't he?



Can you guess who Sara is going to be?  Note: the red hair.  I can't wait to see her all dolled up for work.  She's wanting to win first prize....I sure hope she does!
I'll be updating in the next few days, so make sure you check back in to see her and if she won.

A Little Simple Door

You know how it goes....one thing leads to another, right?  After painting the door, taking off and putting on new moulding....I just had one more thing on my list to do.

See the little CPU cabinet to the bottom left with the stars that we made years ago?  Well, it was bugging me when it came to the door.  See, I used to be smitten with stars.  Now, not so much.

It just wasn't cohesive with everything else.  Plus I didn't like the fact that I could see some of the components that went with the computer.  If you haven't guessed it by now, I HATE seeing cords, wires and electrical things.  I try my best to hide those things....just like my Mother.  She taught me well!

So, I took off the star door and made a new door and attached it to the wall.  I made a frame with scrap lumber, screwing it in at the joints tightly and then attaching fabric so the CPU will get lots of air.  I left the cabinet because you aren't supposed to have a unit directly on the floor due to static electricity.  Mom's husband, Carl, has taught me so much about computers....

I had some scraps of fabric left that matched the slipcover and lamp cover.  I love how it turned out,  I even had a glass knob!

Now doesn't that look better?

A simple thing like this can make such a huge difference in my little world!  Now it looks better with everything, doesn't it?!

I think I will rest well tonight.  I finished off my evening with reading some of Revelations from the Bible.  It is amazing just how It predicts so many things and people still don't believe.....my prayers to them.  May God bless everyone of you with everlasting life with Him.

Sweet Dreams and God Bless

Sometimes White Is Better

When we first moved our bedroom to the basement, I wanted things to be as bright as I could get them since we only had one window.  In years past, I had decorated with reds and yellows only to find it maddening.  Then I went with the colors of pale greens, creams, and peach tones.   It was so much better, softer on the eyes and soothing...but still not my dream.  I painted all of the beadboard cream which did an amazing transformation!  I had a vision in my head of all blues and whites...it has taken me many years to "tweek" everything, but I thnk I finally have it!

I painted the door blue, trying to break up all of the white back then.  But what I didn't realize is how dark it would make the corner that is blocked from light.  I've lived with it for all of these years until today!  I couldn't stand it any longer!

Our ceilings are 7 and 1/2 feet tall with the drop ceiling that we have to have.  I have wanted to make this door more of a focal point but the blue wasn't doing it.

Much better in white...my opinion of course.  And that's all that matters, lol.

It's amazing just how much brighter this little nook is after painting!

I think later, I will rip off the moulding and do something more detailed.  Heck, I may just do it tonight!

I want an older look with a straight piece at the top instead of the mitered corners.

But just look at the difference on being brighter...and this is with no overhead lights on.

Well, I did it with the moulding!  After looking at how unfinished it looked, I just had to do it!

I still wanted the arched piece hung, but now I have an option of not "having" to have something hung there.  It looks so much better doesn't it?
I took off the detailed moulding and replaced it with 1x2"s cut level with the top of the door.  Then added a plank along the top with some wood to look like crown moulding.  
Didn't cost me a cent!

I'm a hoarder when it comes to not throwing away wood....

I took the stuff off the top of the old gun cabinet and added some plates. I love to decorate with them!  

I have had my time decorating with colors, but now I am in love with white.  I love touches of color thrown in like with my fabrics, but as for most everything else, sometimes white is just better!

A Little Rearranging

Yesterday, I woke up feeling quite good and had the desire to rearrange our master.  Something I haven't felt good enough to do in a long time.  I originally thought that I wouldn't be able to do it all by myself (always concerned with a fast heart rate) so I had asked my sweet husband when he got home if he'd help.  His response was usual, he always says yes but I could hear unhappiness in his voice, lol.  He's been so good to me since all of these health issues started.

I will share a bit of my progress.  I had had enough of not feeling good so I had been researching vitamin deficiencies and their symptoms.  I went in to my Dr and asked for blood work checking for whatever might be causing the problems.   Not to my surprise, I was very low with Vitamin D and borderline with my B-12.  Ordered to take 50,000 units a week of the D, I began 2 weeks ago.  Again, I did some more research and found that everyone of my symptoms were all linked up with low vitamin D.  Can you believe it?  Not once had my vitamin levels been checked other than calcium from another DR over a year ago.  Let me name what my symptoms were and still are but subsiding each day.  Heart palpitations, fast heart rate, high blood pressure, ocular migraines (eye problems), tingling in my left leg and arm, severe leg pain, headaches, pain in my right side (I've had so many testes checking for gall bladder, appendix, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and bladder problems), insomnia ( I would wake up after an hour of sleep and couldn't go back to sleep), nightmares (even went to a sleep clinic), hair falling out(that goes with my thyroid issues so I didn't think too much about that), indigestion, beau's lines on my fingernails, kidney stones, and issues with what I thought was menopause.   I've had so much testing and everything always came back fine other than having sinus tachycardia and was medicated for that. I've been on a low sodium diet for one year trying to lower my BP and lost weight too!  But I still felt horrible almost everyday.  I think it's awful funny that vitamin D is actually linked up to everyone of these symptoms!  Not just 2 or 3...but all of them!  I am hoping that this has been the problem and by taking a replacement for it will make me feel lot's better.  So far, so good!  I even had to take xanax to just make it through the day because my heart would speed up and then panic would set in on top of that making it worse.  Now, I take nothing for that because I don't have that problem anymore.  I will say this....I have prayed and prayed for God to give me an answer, to lead me to what is the problem.  I know He has been with me all this time, helping me to get through each day.  It's by His grace and love that I've made it this far!  I thank Him for loving me and protecting me every step of this long road I've been on.  He knows I HATE taking anything, including Advil!   So there is my progress...please keep me in your prayers.  I just want to be able to enjoy my time with my family,  my home and I want to be able to go to church without feeling bad.  I am hoping that this is the answer!

Now, as for yesterday....I did all of the rearranging by myself!  I even moved the big armoire on my own, and Louis was even underneath it batting at my feet as I pushed!  Now, that was an accomplishment!  The hubby was so pleased to be able to come home and relax, lol.  God knows I love him dearly!

Here's a glimpse of what it used to look like before we made the canopy and added the columns.

After...

Before...

After...

I moved the sofa to the long wall and then put the chaise to the right of the sofa.

Now, I'll be all nice and warm with the fire this Winter.

This sucker is heavy!  But I got it moved with sliders (best things invented) to this corner.  And thankfully, I had room for all of my furniture!

I even moved the things on the wall around.  However, I had lots of patching holes.

I love this grouping...perfect for this long wall where the armoire used to be.

We only have one window, but as you can see, it let's plenty of light in especially on a cloudy day like today.

I love our space!

I even did some sewing.  I made a table cover for the round end table.

And I thought I would put some curtains up to cozy it up a bit for Winter.  I had these shower curtains that i wasn't using but were too short to hang here.  So...I added some fabric to the top and a ruffle.  I love them!

Keeping them open mostly, but having an option to close them is really nice!  Like when the office area is a mess....

 I've used lot's of fabric to divide sections off in the open floor plan.  It's a lot cheaper and easier than trying to build walls or doors.

I moved the settee back to the foot of the bed.  I have to say...the cozy factor is coming along nicely. 

 I love spending time down here and so does Louis!

I hope you all are having a blessed week....and thank you for letting me share my life with yours!