Decorating

My last project of 2008…..I think.

December 31, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 242 Comments

We jaunted off to Goodwill this morning where the after Christmas sales were hoppin’. I could be exaggerating but we did find this old door which was 1/2 off. It was 5. 48 with tax! This ‘studio table redo’, as Ms. Pink and Polka Dot called it , was a quick and rewarding project. We had our sights set on a sewing table….and by the end of the day……after a lot of help from Leigh Ann…..and 4 cups of coffee and two diet pepsi’s; we were sewing. And making us some hoopty crafts.

We used modge podge and wrapping paper on the door itself. (as ever so eloquently described here) and then set the door on old particle board desk that was taking up valuable real estate in my basement.

…then I used macdaddy’s industrial stapler to add a simple but perfect table skirt. To hide all manner of hideous but well organized junk. And various and sundry sewing notions.

Oh yeah, and I spray painted my thread holder with ‘Catalina Mist’….love that color. And if I’d had any more of it, I would have spray painted two locker bins, the old desk I bought at Leigh Ann’s yard sale, and 7 other random items. It’s a great color. I have no lies to tell.

It turned out beautiful. Thank you so much to Leigh Ann for hours of hard work. (The ‘door’ part of the project was the easiest part…all that pesky organizing is what took so long) She was excellent at keeping me on task and has some great ideas, that girl!

My children then begin to sew til their heart’s content. Emme made an iphone ‘cozy’ for dad. Wow I woulda never thought of that. I praised it so much….

she made me a lip gloss ‘cozy’. Very……cozy……indeed. Her mind is reeling with little things she could snuggle up in between two swatches of fabric.

So there. That’s it. The last hurrah before a new day….a new year….takes over. 2008 was full of joy and change and many good and perfect gifts from above. We truly are living a dream we don’t deserve. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift.

Love and hugs to you all and Happy New Year!

I’m working on a guest post for Country Girl in which I will share my ‘take’ on fashion. And if you could see me right now, you would be very afraid. It’s a Nester version of decorating yourself instead of your home. We will shop our closets and even some thrift stores to find some ensembles that put the q in cute. It should post on Sunday January 4th. Otherwise known as MY BIRTHDAY!

Let the Games Begin……I own Resolutions.

December 30, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 256 Comments

The big clean-out/take-down has begun. It’s 9p and the only thing I can be sure of is that the American Girl accessories now have their very own slighty-used storage container. What a blessed gift to find an purse belonging to ‘Kit’ only to say to my daughter, “You know exactly where this goes, don’t you?” So this is what life is like in non-ADD land? And I’m not sure who loves the American girls more……Emme and Elea…..or Hank. He’s turning out to be quite the ladies man.
In between eating hard-boiled eggs (Thanks Michele) and protein bars and sorting through way too many AG doll clothes, I read some more in my new ADD book. I learned 3 more gems.

1. We ADDers must use retractable pens. The caps are otherwise too distracting and can disturb our already jumpy train-of-thought. I did not get the memo on that one.

2. We tend to let laundry ‘loiter’ in the laundry room. I love that. Not the piles but calling it ‘loitering’. ADD is so much fun.

3. We apparently have no business owning wire shoes racks. That extra step of making sure the shoe lodges onto its holder is enough to push us over the edge. We’re supposed to pare our shoe collection down to a bare minimum and then we get a pass……to store them ON the closet floor. I’m beginning to wander if I’m capable of running my own dishwasher. We probably let dishes ‘loiter’ too.

Then there’s the other book which I believe Jessica (from Musings) recommended. It is very provoking and has given me some much needed ‘inspiration’ to keep on trucking with homeschooling.

My neighbor and friend Leigh Anne has so kindly offered to come and help me in the school room tomorrow. I’ve been working in there already today and you’ll soon see why I need supervision. My mother usually comes to help me with such projects…..she’s perfect for the job. Focused, slightly irritable if I get off task, and such a worker bee. Leigh Anne has promised to fill the ‘slightly irritable’ portion of the qualifications if I find myself led off on a tangent by a stack of old pictures. Tough love, Leigh Anne. I’m not easy to wrangle in. My mother is probably so glad she’s in Key West.

Life with ‘Hanker Down’ has been so much fun. He got to play with another English golden this weekend and they were instant friends. Our dear friends Cara and Drew brought Brody over to play. He was a welcome playmate after the intense cold shoulder Scooter’s been giving.

Oh, and Elea wanted me to show you the Littlest Pet Shop Fitness Club. At least somebody’s working out this week.

And finally, here’s where a smidge of ADD comes in handy. I bought this cool scrapbook paper at Walmart this morning. At 5:30 in the am. Thankyouverymuch. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would do with it, but I got quickly inspired when I found myself facing a huge basket of 8,756 unrelated items that needed to be sorted through. I’ve got just the cure for that.

I used modge podge on the back and then hung the letters on the wall in random order in the school room.

There’s a whole page of each letter in all colors and sizes.

And oh my dear…..it turned out so cute. You must try this at home. Now don’t go asking technical questions like what happens when you try to take the letters off. Those of us with ADD seldom consider such consequences. We get inspired……and go for it! Anything’s better than the basket I was facing.

What’d ya think?

Christmas Tour of Homes………

December 10, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 80 Comments

Grab a cookie cookie and come on in!

I am so excited to be linking to all these festive Christmas tours.

Ya’ll are gonna love this cookie recipe. We’re just making iced sugar cookies (recipe here) and putting the final touches on our decorations. The ‘little’ girls wanted to show you their tree first and then we’ll move on to the rest of the house.
They love this white tree and the colors we used coordinate well with their girly room. And we sorta have a love affair going on with ribbon. It’s a southern thing.

Welcome to this Christmas tour sponsored by the BooMama and Hooked on Houses and Kimba……and welcome to my home. I was so happy to participate in this linky party and in fact am using alot of the same pictures I used for Nester’s garland party…….so hope you don’t mind. These fun linky parties gave me the added ‘kick in the tail’ I needed to finish my decorating. I am so happy with how it all turned out and can only say that this garland probably weighs a good 30 or 40 pounds. I pray for the stability and stickiness of 3M tabs…..

And because I have more Christmas decorations than any sane person should, I ‘borrowed’ stuff from the house to make this years’ Christmas cheer fun but cheap. So I snatched the ‘W’ from the kitchen……
and the star I ‘borrowed’ from the breakfast room……
I started with a skinny little anemic garland and added lots of fresh magnolia, cypress and pine and then added my signature Christmas decoration……lots of ribbon!

I had the little evergreen trees from Thanksgiving and put them on candlesticks…..

and voila!! My best garland ever. Thank you Nester for the inspiration.
I took my skills from the garland on the bannister…..which is sadly not finished, so I can only show you this far up.
and I thought you’d enjoy this little jewel…..it’s a cute ‘family tree’ decorated with pictures of all of our brood……..
and this is my favorite tree this Christmas……simple and kinda old-school…..
then there’s the table top tree in the breakfast room…..
and my dining room with a bare but beautiful bird tree…
and a peak into my bedroom where I recently nailed pillow shams right to the wall for window mistreatments (a Nester trick from way back) and added some fun lights for Christmas.
That’s one sure fire thing about being Southern……we know how to do everything ‘big’ and ‘bordering on gaudy’. We tend to be of the ‘more is more’ persuasion. And if you’d like to know more about Southern women, I’ve given a short tutorial here. I would like to add that I’m a brand new reader to BooMama and L.O.V.E her blog. Apparently along with everyone else in the free world. Hope you are inspired to make your Christmas colorful and beautiful!

The day after……

November 28, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 5 Comments

In the afterglow of a wonderful day of food, family, football, and fun……I am ready to relax. I have my books (A Christmas Carol, Uncharted, and Organizing Solutions for ADDers), and my knitting and I’m snuggled on the sofa by the fire…..with the sweetest little snuggle bunny you’ve ever seen. There’s a small…..very tiny….part of me that wishes I was shopping with my sister. Or at least drinking coffee and people watching. As people nearly kill each other to get whatever it is the HOT items are this year. But mostly, I’m just so thankful…..to be here today with my family, eating leftovers…….and admiring my new ‘picture wall’ I made for my office. With 8×10 pictures that I printed on regular paper.
This project started itself really. I was printing 4×6 pictures to put on my ‘family tree’ tree and accidentally printed one of them as an 8×10. So as not to waste a beautiful picture of someone I love, I secured it onto my cork board in my office. Then the madness began…..and I love how it turned out.
And since I didn’t manage to get hardly any pictures of the Thanksgiving feast(I guess I was a little busy), I thought you’d enjoy this project.

So whether you’re shopping or relaxing like me……have a wonderful day! And remember that Sunday is the first day of Advent. We’re putting our advent wreath out today along with our calender. You should try it….it’s a great way to teach your kids about the coming of our Lord.

Now, should I have creme brulee or apple pie for breakfast?

Company, hot glue, and thievery……..

November 6, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 17 Comments

I’m having company…..which is like my superbowl…..the world cup….the indy 500. I’m a maniac and as soon as I heard the news, more ideas popped into my head than you could shake a stick at. I become someone my children don’t recognize. I move around the house fast and talk to myself and take lamps off their dressers and bedspreads off their beds and spray paint and hot glue and begin the ‘REDECORRRANGING’. That’s where I ‘shop’ the house and the basement and ‘shake’ the snowglobe, if you will. They start to wonder if they can even sleep in the same room anymore. I’m not finished but I’ll give you a sneak peek. Don’t tell Taylor I took his comforter or Caiti that I took her chair and her candle sticks…..or Emme that I took her lamp. It all washes out in the end. But hold on to your ‘stuff’ if you live in my house…..’cause nothing is sacred. And you stand still too long….your liable to get painted.

My bedroom with a cute little makeover….don’t look too close ’cause those ‘window treatments’ are pillow shams nailed straight to the wall….with spray painted stars hung over them. I am completely out of control. The nester would be proud.

most of the items are things hijacked from Taylor’s room….

and I’m taking profile shots too…..to send off for my silhouettes……

and a chair ‘borrowed’ from Caiti’s room…..

and a beautiful damask make-shift ‘tablecloth’……it’s just 5 yards of fabric that I bought from Hobby Lobby for ten dollars!!!

and a fun little table decoration I threw together. I looked like I was doing Kung-Fu when I made this….

and a window ‘mistreatment’ that is pinned mostly…..with the most gorgeous tassel and three trees….to decorate the kitchen window…….

and this pile of stuff……

which I turned into this…..

Are you tired yet? More coffee anyone? Stay tuned ’cause I’m in a frenzy and there’s more to come. Oh, and I forgot to mention all the food I’m making…..pumpkin creme brulee, gingersnaps, homeade bread, and much more. When my in-laws get here I’ll be sittin’ on the sofa knitting…..like nothing ever happened!

Election Day….

November 4, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 8 Comments

It’s election day, except I already voted for John McCain which you can read about here. So much for never discussing politics or religion….rules I frequently violate. In other news, guess what I found yesterday? C’mon, guess….no, I didn’t find cheap and gorgeous pieces of ironstone. No, I did not find a way to train for a half marathon without running…..and no, I did not find my sanity which I seemed to have misplaced a few months back. But I did find several delightful pieces of hammered aluminum at my local antique store. It seems they have some new vendors…..who have some new pieces. Or had some new pieces. For those of you who don’t love all things 1950, hammered aluminum was very popular back then and is harder to find these days because it’s relatively inexpensive and people who buy it…love it and don’t give it up. Why do I love all things from the 40’s and 50’s…..I don’t know. Maybe it’s because that’s when my parents were born….and we always idealize the past. Maybe it’s because I watched too many episodes of Leave it to Beaver….and Andy Griffith….and I love Lucy…and Happy Days. But I love old things….which sounds much better if you say ‘vintage’. And I absolutely can’t wait until Thanksgiving…..when my hammered aluminum will make it’s debut. Macdaddy loves this quote by Cicero, which seems so appropriate today,

“To disdain those things handed down by your fathers is to remain a child”

So, I won’t disdain them, I will wash them and display them and use them and think back to a quieter more settled time in history when home was the center of life….and mom’s wore aprons and made homeade bread and kids played outside…..all evening long…..and people knew how to do the east coast swing…..which I am determined to learn. Oh, and they served their families homeade food in hammered aluminum. Which I will do very soon!

Doesn’t it look lovely against the black bookshelf? This piece I will use for silverware.…
and these pretty little pieces will hold olives and pickles…..
and this sweet covered dish will hold my cranberries and apple dish……
and this…..will hopefully be finished by then. I’m painting the bookshelf black….then I have to distress it (to make it looked ‘worn’ )and then I will add maple stain(to make it look vintage)
and then I will add the hammered aluminum to make it look retro 50’s. Now, go vote. For John McCain. And find some beautiful pieces of hammered aluminum. And put on an apron and make homeade bread with your own two hands. And turn off the TV and send your kids outside to play. And dance. The east coast swing preferably. But I’m not trying to tell you what to do.