Pantry Shelves

These shelves are what I requested for my birthday gift.

My handy husband made them, aren't they nice?!!

Before we just had this little awkward space in the corner leading from the kitchen to the laundry room.

Now I have a place for my cookbooks and some pantry items.

I need to collect some more large glass jars, I like how they look.

The only before picture I could find. 

And we are almost ready to hang our old door. My husband ended up taking it apart and re-gluing it, he's almost done, I'm hoping to get a coat of primer on it this weekend!

Who would have thought an old door would require so much work?!

The shelves were tricky to build because our walls weren't level in this corner. I think he did an amazing job. Best birthday present ever!!

My Dressed-Up Chair

I bought her at my Goodwill Store for fifteen dollars while I was deep in the antique sofa project.

She wasn't old enough to be pretty on her own, sort of a french wanna-be, but I thought there was potential. So I guess you could say that I rescued her, gave her a much needed facelift!

I told my husband that I absolutely would not touch the chair until my sofa was done, but one day, I found myself tearing off old fabric. Then he reminded me, and I decided I'd better be good. :)

Now, after being ripped a part for a very long time, her she is!

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White, followed by clear, and then a mixture of clear and dark wax.

The fabric and gimp are from U-Fab, I love that store!

Here are the "befores"

And "after" 

I'm very happy to be done!!

Winter Morning

It's snowing again but will probably stop soon. So far we've had no accumulation, just some very pretty snow showers.

I'm trying to savor every day that we have the children home from school. We are even getting on a late schedule, sleeping in till 8o'clock some mornings.

Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Creating Cozy

I was inspired by the hot chocolate stations that I've seen here and there online, especially this one from Lemonade Makin' Momma, so I made one myself. It's really fun and my kids love something sweet and hot when they come home from school.

The paper cups came from The Dollar Tree and the hot cocoa I got at Trader Joe's. 

My husband was asking about my wreaths on the dining room windows, and made the comment that, "some things are just better if you make them yourself".  (I had bought them)

So yesterday I decided to make a wreath for our front gate.

I found this great tutorial at one hundred dollars a month . This seems like a neat blog, I haven't had time to fully check it out.

I didn't have a wreath form and was impatient to get started so I made a form with some wild grapevines that I had. Now the weight of the greens is pulling it down into an oblong shape.

I guess I should have bought a proper wreath.

These clippings came from our Leyland Cypress trees.

I didn't have floral wire, just used some twine that I had. It was actually pretty easy.

I just noticed that my gate is stained rather badly, oops!

I must get busy, I have a messy house to whip into shape, then shopping and baking!

Hope each of you have an amazing week with whatever is planned!

Enjoy God's gift of family and friends!

Thoughts

On this blog I try to record the best parts of our lives, to celebrate the excellent, beautiful things of life and family. I take pictures of eggshells, for example! I think they're so pretty! If this is odd to you then I'm sorry. :)

Friday afternoon I heard the news just before picking up my own two children at their elementary school. My first thought was, it would never happen here, we have such a nice school. But it did happen at a similar, nice school.

I spent the afternoon trying not to let my mind go there, and grieving for those families. It is an honor to weep with those who weep, to remember them in prayer.

This is one more thing in life that makes no sense to me. I used to have perfect little answers to life.

I guess that's part of being young, thinking I know everything. But, you know what, I'm okay with not having all the answers now. I realize that it's not my job to have it all figured out. I'm letting go of some of that and really focusing on what is put in front of me. 

Cherishing my family. Finding beauty in the small things. Loving God without understanding everything. 

"if you have love in your heart, let it show, while you can"

Wreaths

I've been trying to add some winter greenery to my rooms and was happy to find these wreaths at Trader Joe's. For six dollars each!

They are supposed to be candle wreaths, for on the table, but I really like them on the windows.

Coffee Sack Ottoman

I upholstered this ottoman a few weeks ago using a coffee sack. This picture was taken before the wrinkles were gone but I really like how it turned out!

And the best part, it hides ALL of the dirt.

Our Vacation

 We had an awesome vacation starting with an overnight stay at my Aunt's in South Carolina.

She has a lovely place near Charleston - I should have taken more pictures...

 After a huge, yummy breakfast, we drove around a while and ended up at Fort Moultrie.

The children enjoyed climbing around on the canons!

I just started using Instagram and am having fun playing around with it.

 Lido Beach was wonderful as always, there's something magical about the days spent playing and relaxing there!

She had a blast with her surf board, and I loved watching her!

Treats from Starbucks!

They have been begging to carve pumpkins, and it has taken me this long to make it happen, luckily they don't mind being a little late.

And that's it! It was hard to come home to cold weather but I'm trying to stay busy and hoping for snow this winter.

Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the week!

Trampoline Fun

Oh, to be a child...

Sick Days

We've been a little sick around Cass House the last few weeks. The children started it off with coughs/fever and missed a good deal of school. Then, this week it has been my turn with a fever/chills. Maybe this would have been a good year to get a flu shot... 

We have an arsenal of medications stacked on the counter. I'm never sure what is most effective so we try everything! I have found that just like the adds say, Aleve does last much longer than Ibuprofen, at least for fever.

I'm grateful for my husband taking the children out to get some dinner when I was at my worst. I guess they would have been gnawing on crackers if he hadn't. And for making the juice, popsicle, herbal tea run :)

But enough about sickness! The sun is shinning it's brightest today - looks like we're in for a warm few days! And we'll be heading to Florida soon! I'm starting to day dream about those lovely beaches....

It's been a year since we've been there, or really had a family vacation and I'm so ready!!

Yay for sunshine!!

Today I'm thankful for a warm house, safety and electricity. I keep thinking about all the people in need because of Hurricane Sandy. Let's remember them in the upcoming months!

Have a happy, blessed weekend everyone!