Secret Santa Swap Open for One More Week......and finished for friday sneak peak

I have been so busy.....super busy! I finished a quilt I have been working on all summer long last night and packaged it ready to send off. I have made many quilts and given all away accept for one and with each one, you feel a since of sadness to give it away but joy at the same time. 

This quilt I finished was not exception. The idea came about over a year and a half ago, then finally developed from an image in my mind to the real thing. It is my all time favorite one yet and I mean that with all my heart. It is truly my most proud accomplishment in my quilting. I hope I can show you full views next week, but here is a sneak peak.

This is the last week to sign up for the secret santa soiree swap. Please help me get the word out so no one is left out. It happens each and every year, the swap closes and I get emails with folks wanting to join. I hate to turn anyone away.

You will find the swap link HERE to sign up and if you can grab a button from this post, help me get the word out. If you have not filled out your questionnaire, please do so and forward it back to me, they have all been sent out so check your emails and spam folder.

Have a great weekend! Mine is packed......as usual! Today, I am linking in with Crazy Mom Quilts for finished for Friday.

Finished For Friday: Black, White and Red All Over Quilt

I am linking in with Lit and Laundry for a Finished for Friday post. I wanted to share my finished project with you this week as it involved a quilt I made for my niece for graduation.

My niece graduated from my old High School in May of this year. I knew I wanted to make her a quilt, but I wanted to first find out where she was going off to college and try to incorporate her new school colors with her High School colors.

It just so happens that her college colors were the same as her high school colors, red, black and white. So that made it really easy. This quilt has over 30 different fabrics in it. The reds alone were over 20, most were all from the local quilt shop, one was a vintage fabric. I think they all worked so well together.

The blacks were about 11 different fabrics. The new school mascot is a Bulldog, and I was lucky enough to find fabric with tiny dog prints in the fabric. I really like how it turned out.

The back was a small stripe with all the colors in the front and I added a pieced strip to the center of the quilt.

Here is a close up of the fabric.... and the stippling quilting.

I never realized how hard it is to photograph red fabric, I had to really move this around in the light for the colors to come out close to being correct.

The small outer border is the same fabric I used in my daughters graduation quilt from college. I really liked that print and was glad I had enough left over to add to this quilt.

I had her name and year she graduated monogrammed  in the corner of the quilt border in red.

Here is the quilt label. I used one of her graduation photos to add to the label. For the binding, I used a very small black dotted print. I like how it turned out.

Here it is all wrapped up and ready to go. I met my niece for lunch to present her with this gift. I could have given her a gift of money, but wanted to give her something more personal that would far outlast money. I hope one day she will look back on this and have fond memories of this time in her life and her Aunt who made this for her.

Here is my niece, Kinzie with her quilt. She is such a cutie!! I told her that this will be the happiest time in her life, to make the most of it. It only comes once in a lifetime. I am not sure she really understands what that means, but one day she will look back and know exactly what I meant by those words. Good Luck Kinzie as you start this new journey...work hard, play hard and enjoy this time in your life! I love you sweet girl!!!

Finished For Friday: Repurposed Wall Art - Cheap!

I am linking in with Lit and Laundry for a Finished for Friday post. I actually have a small project I completed this week and thought I'd link in today and show what I have been up to.

This past week, I decided to pop into our local Goodwill to see what they might have. I was actually looking for a bar stool, but instead of finding that, I found a little package of two prints from Ikea and they cost me .65 cents. They were new, never opened. I found them on the Ikea website for $4.00 for the set, of course when I went back to link them to this post, I could not find them.


Now, I needed frames. At a different Goodwill, I found two children prints and they were very similar to this one, and they were perfectly square frames....just what I needed. That day, it was half price day at Goodwill, so I paid $2.55 for BOTH of the framed prints. Ikea had the perfect frames for this project, but the price was over my budget. Click Here to see what I was wanting in a frame for these prints.

These are my finished for Friday prints. And may I add, a very thrifty project at that. The prints had white mattes originally. I took left over flat black spray paint from another project and painted the mattes black. Once re-framed, no one would ever know they were once another color.

Prints: .65 cents - brand new
Frames: $2.55 - for both frames
Black spray paint: free

Total for 2 framed prints measuring 26 X 26 : $3.21

The greatest money saving tip when you are looking to update or change a look inside your home is look at other peoples cast-offs, and see if you can figure out a way to re-purpose them into something to fits your needs. All it takes is a little creativity and a little time and you can make something fantastic for very little money. I love how these turned out and I know they will look wonderful in my daughters apartment. Have a great weekend.....and don't be afraid to step into your local Goodwill or thrift store....I swear, there are treasures there waiting to be discovered.

Finished For Friday: A Stash Reorganization

I have a confession to make today. When my kids were in Elementary school, they had to be at school by 8:20am and picked up at 3:00pm. I can not tell you how many times I would drop them off at school, rush to Sherman Williams for either paint, wallpaper or both, then rush home to begin a project on one of my childrens rooms. I am not kidding when I say by the time I picked them up from school...I'd have whatever project I decided to do, done and it would be like magic in their eyes, a whole room transformation in a course of a school day.

Now with that in mind, would someone explain to me why a simple task of cleaning out a closet, reorganizing and putting away everything again and changing simple things in a sewing room should take 2 1/2 days to complete. I am scratching my head at that one....I don't get it. I guess back then, we did not have computers to suck up a lot of time....I am going to blame it on the computer..... not age!

This week, I want to show you my fabric stash that has been pulled out of all sorts of bins, stacked and folded on the side shelves of the closet. Now, I can at least see what I have. ~I did not paint these shelves bright pink and lime green....well, I did paint them, but years ago....that was my daughters choice, not mine and well, as time is of the essence, I have not repainted them.

I even gathered up all my vintage sheets I have been purchasing, and stored them in one place.

Just look at all this vintage goodness....I hope to get around to making a couple of vintage sheet quilts soon. I am looking for some vintage sheets with a more brown, green, or orange coloring in stripes or anything other than florals. My son, is like me, and likes to sleep under covers even in the summer. Problem is, he is so hot natured, and is always burning up. I think a light weight quilt made from a more manly vintage sheets would be perfect.....I know I want one for myself....in pink florals!

You can even see the bolts of backing fabrics and upholstery fabrics on top.....by the look of all this, you'd think all I ever did these days was sew...and it is quiet the opposite...I can hardly find time! Maybe I need to stay out of the quilt shops.......just sayin'

I purchased this great storage unit, it holds lots of goodies! Do you see those red boxes??? I found two of these, brand new for $3.99 at goodwill. They are stemware storage units, but I had another idea.

These are perfect for storing craft supplies and vintage lace and trims. Remember, when thrifting, think outside of the box and come up with new storage solutions for the things you find. As in this case, perfect-o!

Here is my scrap bin, finally with all the scraps gathered up and in one place. Before they were in several bins and they were all over the place.

Top shelf holds my buttons, thread and other goodies!!!

And on the far right, I have bins of vintage hankies, linens, tablecloths and quilts. Some are cutters to be used in projects, while others are just stored in this space.

I am so glad I have something to share for finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry! In case you are wondering why there are no before pictures, well lets just say....you would not have wanted to see them....Trust me!!!!

Believe me, for a time this week, I did not think I'd even see the hallway as I was so covered up with stuff, much less finish to have a blog post up. Man I wish I knew what sped things up about 16 years ago....I needed a HUGE dose of whatever that might have been!!

Finished For Friday: Cabin Master Bedroom Remodel

I am glad I have something to post this week for Finished For Friday hosted by Lit and Laundry. Be sure to check out all the projects that were finished this week, I assure you, that you will be inspired.

This week, I am going to show you the completed remodel of our master bedroom at our place in Colorado. But like all good reveals, first, are the before pictures. They were not too bad, but it was needing an update.

Basically, here is the same ole' 70's paneling that used to be throughout the cabin.

Another look. With all the windows in this room, it was not too dark...just looked dated.

Remember the wall I told you where we found the alcohol bottle ? Well, this would be said wall. We took out a closet because it added a little more space to the room, behind all of this outdoors siding and multiple layers of wall....was that little bottle. Oh, and this would be Steve as he is telling me for the 100th time that we have way too much work to do to finish in a weeks time. I just smile and say....get busy then!

Once everything was taken down, it was time to build it back up. This was no easy task to say the least. It took several hours to demolish the old walls.

I sorta just stood around with my camera....at least that is what the guys would say....I was really monitoring breaks....as in NO BREAKS...too much work!!

We were lucky, and had wonderful weather the entire week.

I had purchased two wall sconces last fall at the church bazaar. They were used, but I purchased them anyway not knowing if they worked or not.I only paid $20.00 for the two, and felt like maybe someone remodeled and donated their old lights to the church. This is Matt....getting ready to install the lights.


We also installed new ceiling lights. I love this light. I purchased two of these, one for each bedroom. They were on clearance at Cabella's.....and were a steal!


Here is the finished bedroom.....notice the lights? What do you think?? I think they look like they were made for this room.

Remember the tutorial I showed you a couple of weeks ago on making this mirror? Well, here is the finished mirror hanging in the master bedroom. I love this wall decor.

Here is another view........


And this is the view looking the other direction. Do yo see that picture hanging on the wall closest to the door? You will never guess what this is......

This room originally had this stove pipe cover on the ceiling. I showed this quiet a while ago in THIS post back in 2008. I could not bring myself to throw it out. The back still had the original price of .29 cents. I took part of the ceiling paneling, and attached this pipe cover and framed it as a wall hanging. I really love this, and what a great way to save an original part of the room.

Remember I said this was a Finished For Friday post, and well, Steve was pretty much finished, Matt most likely was too, he just tried not to show it. Remember, I was the drill sergeant and allowed no breaks......that's why they both pretty much look finished.........worn out....finished! Steve said he needed a vacation from his vacation!

Finished For Friday: A Rustic Mirror

I am excited to have a Finished for Friday post this week and able to link to Lit and Laundry for this one. If you care to take a look at what projects bloggers have finished this week, stop by and check out the finished projects. Get inspired!!


A couple months ago, my dear sweet friend sent me a magazine clipping in the mail. She thought of me when she saw this mirror and felt sure I could make one. The amazing thing is that it takes ordinary items you can pick up at the local home improvement store to make this.

Here is the photo from the clipping she sent me.....loved it instantly. I'll explain the process.....if you have a rustic corner in your world, this is great and a fairly simple project. The level of skill involved according to the clipping was beginner.....hum....I sorta question that actually, because I am not a beginner and well.....it went off with a hitch here and there!

The wood for this mirror is none other than landscape cedar edging you find at your local home improvement store. My mirror base was 24X24 so I needed three of these landscape edging.

The directions did not call for any sanding, but I sanded the rough spots on the wood.

I used my palm sander to smooth the edges and sides. I liked the look, sorta like a freshly split log edging once sanded.

Next, take a flat head screwdriver and I used a pair of pliers and separate the edging cedar from the plastic backing. This was a little harder than I anticipated, it takes a little force. Be careful of the long brads that are in the edging...once this is removed from the planks, it is almost like a weapon....and I am not joking!

Here is the mirror backing and the cedar all sanded and ready to be put together.

I went to a local glass shop and had a plain mirror cut. My mirror was about 2 inches smaller than the plywood backing. If I was to make this again, I think leaving a 3 inch rim on the ply wood would work better. Lay out on a flat surface and using liquid nails, adhere to the wood.

One by one I used the liquid nails and attached the cedar planks.......only one small problem.....this is the part I questioned the beginner aspect of this task.......evidently, I did not really know how to use the liquid nails. I put it on the wood edging, put it in place and held it down...only problem was........

This is what I ended up with......what the heck was wrong with the liquid nails??? I thought that stuff was mega strong! I had to round up cans of food, anything heavy I could find to weight the edges down....they wanted to pop back up.......what the heck??? Well, my smart friend who does a lot of handy work explained I did not use the liquid nails correctly. Apparently, you have to do exactly what I had done but I missed a step. Once you adhere this to the plywood, you need to raise the edges back up and allow air to get between the plywood, cedar and goop....that activates the strong hold products in the liquid nails. That is why it took 3 days for mine to set up, when only a couple of hours should have done it....beginner project.....you tell me!

Once everything was set, I myself used a satin polyurethane sealer and put two coats on the wood. The directions did not call for that step, but I liked the finished look on the wood. Lastly, purchase a picture hanging kit at your local home improvement store for hanging. Let me say this, I really thought this finished mirror would weight a ton, but that is not the case. It is really light weight compared to what I thought it would be. I am looking forward to putting this at our cabin in the mountains....I'll show you once it is in its new home.

This really was a perfect project for me, and a learning experience too. I am so thankful and blessed to have friends who see something and think of me, take the time to send it to me, and know it is something I would love. True friendship is such a gift that should not be taken lightly. Thanks so much Sandra....I wish you were going with me to hang this in the cabin! There will never be a time I see this that I will not think of you and your gift of friendship. ~good stuff!