Hey Ladies. We are homeless for a few weeks. See ya later. Can't wait to share some ideas with the new house.

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Sunday evening. It's time for dinner, discuss, dessert.

As the movers are due to arrive bright and early in the morning, The Teagues are doing their best to clean out the food in the pantry. We don't want to carry any more than is necessary.

To that end, we have been eating some crazy stuff. This evening we enjoyed Zataran's black eyed peas with rice and chicken. Not bad. We through in some steamed veggies (trying to clean out the fridge too) and everyone was happy.

DESSERT consisted of leftover ice cream from the boys' birthday party yesterday. Ice cream is always a big hit, whether it's day old or not.

Now for DISCUSS... Tomorrow, just about everything we own will be boxed up and loaded into crates and thrown onto a truck. Then, it will be driven over several states to a holding facility. Next, it will be down loaded and put into storage. Finally, it will be reloaded onto a truck and hauled to the new mansion. Our "stuff" will be in the hands of many different people over the next couple of weeks.

This got me to thinking... In the military, we hear horror stories about folks who watch their stuff loaded onto the truck, wave bye to it all, and get a call some days later informing them that their belongings have fallen into the ocean or burned to bits. I have never met these folks, but they are talked of often. What would I do if I received one of those horrible calls? Hmmm.... I can tell you that not so many years ago, I would have lost it....completely. I would have been terribly distraught over the loss of all my precious "stuff." That is "my" stuff. I have worked for it, decorated it, cleaned it, and treasured it.

Last year, we learned that our dear friends, the Banks' had lost their home in a cat. 3 tornado here in Prattville, AL. The Banks family lost just about everything. They lost their "stuff" and their cars. Thankfully, none of them were hurt. They managed to jump into the tub just in the nick of time. I need to tell you all that I never heard these folks complain about their trials, not once. Not about their cars or their clothes, or their furniture, or their pictures, or anything. What a testament to their faith. What a statement of their character. Their example was inspiring to see.

God tells us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19

As I mentioned earlier, there was a time when I would have been a basket case over the loss of my "stuff." However, something has changed in me. I can't really tell you what or why. I just know that I don't have strong attachments to things now as I once did.

So, I say, "Come...take my stuff...drive away...try not to lose it on the side of the road...but if you do, that's OK too." How do you all feel about your "stuff?" Would you be devastated by its loss? Would you see the situation as a great opportunity to shop for new "stuff?" Would you feel like a weight had been lifted? How attached are you? Do tell...

Have a great week ladies.

Laura

My Bucket Buddy

My Bucket Buddy
This post was previously displayed as a Project Friday. Today it is being posted on "Sunday Favorites" at Happy to Design. Scoot on over there and see all the previously posted favorites.
Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion today. Fabulous Friday.

Have you ever finished a project and had to ask yourself...."What did I ever do without this thing?" I am wondering this about my bucket buddy. Not long ago I cut a picture out of some magazine and put it in my idea book....here it is...

Isn't that fabulous? I closed the idea book and didn't think of it again until I saw this...

Well...husband happened to be sitting near when I exclaimed over this bucket. He mentioned that he had an old bucket liner thing in the garage. "Run," I said "Don't walk," to get it for me. He did. Here it is...

Not very attractive, huh? I washed it...it smelled like motor oil. I pulled the man tag off of it. And then, I did some sewing and gluing...see????





First I sewed on some white gros grain ribbon that I had. Then, I hot glued some big rick rack on. I was too lazy to change the bobbin color to sew it on....And finally, I had to put my monogram on. (like any good southern girl) And then...I had this....

I love it! I love to wrap things in brown paper. And, being military, I am constantly mailing something to someone far away. I can't believe that I didn't do this earlier. Everything is right there in the bucket (white bucket from Wal-mart for 4.50). Here is a pic of the inside...

And there you have it ladies...the bucket buddy. It cost me 4.50. You could use the bucket buddy for any number of things other than wrapping and mailing. Crafting, cleaning, picnic stuff, home school stuff, stuff to take to lessons when you are sitting and waiting for the kiddies....endless possibilities. I hope you too create a bucket buddy.

Have a great weekend ladies.

Try This: Frugal Plate Hangers

It is "Show and Tell Friday" @ There is No Place Like Home. This is my first Friday to join in the fun. To see all of the great "Show and Tell" posts click here.

It is also "Frugal Friday" @ Life as Mom. To see all the frugal tips click here.

OK. So....do you sometimes buy things that are WAY too expensive, but you really do need them, so you buy them????? GUILTY. I have decided that I am going to hang around 20 or so plates (small in size) at the new mansion. (Movers come on Monday...biting nails....wheezing...heart racing...what will get broken?) I digress. I also decided that I do not want to use the standard metal plate hanger...the ones that look like this..

I decided to go with the round stick on kind of plate hanger. The ones that look like this..

These things are great. I found them at Hobby Lobby and bought them up. Now...here is the less then frugal part of the story...these little gems are VERY EXPENSIVE. We are talking 3-5 bucks per. But, because I needed them, and because I couldn't think of a way to achieve this type of hanging without them, I bought them....lots of them. Content with my purchase, except for the expense...I went on home. Then, strolling through Dollar Tree, I came upon this... A Package of 8 cloth hangers. They are adhesive on the back and have a metal hook. I think that you are supposed to use them on the wall. But, if you put one on the back of your plate and then use a twist tie, you so....have a plate hanger. See??????????????? Here is the plate with the cloth hanger stuck on....
Here is the cloth hanger with the twist tie attached. Just make a loop with it. Here is me, holding the plate by the twist tie. Then, you just put your nail in the wall, and hang it up. Tada...invisible plate hanger. This version costs 12 1/2 cents per hanger. Much better on the budget. Now...I wouldn't try this with a jumbo plate or platter, but it will do nicely for my purposes.

Needless to say...I am returning my 60.00 plate hangers and heading back to the Dollar Tree. I just have to eat 20 loaves of bread to get all those twist ties. Ha.

Have a great weekend ladies.

Laura

The "Crunch" Chair

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this terrific "trash to treasure" Tuesday. As some of you know, the movers are to arrive Monday to take us to our new military mansion. There is a pic of it above. With only one week left to go before everything I own is loaded onto a big truck and rolled down the highway, the "crunch" is on. Last week I had pretty much checked everything off of the pre move list....except for a chair for the bedroom. OH BOTHER! I had looked and looked and nothing caught my eye. I was beginning to panic. Would I have to move without a bedroom chair???!!!??? Say it isn't so.

Well, I decided to drive the streets Saturday during the neighborhood yard sales. And I saw this.... Not perfect, not pretty, but it is a good size and you can definitely sit on it... So, I asked, "How much?" The nice lady said, "Ten bucks." I said, "Sold." I loaded it in the Suburban and headed home.

Now...earlier I made a slipcover for a different chair to go into the new mansion. You can see that here. But, I had just dropped my sewing machine off to be serviced so I wouldn't be able to sew anything for the new old chair. What to do? Hot glue and staple...of course. First, I loosened everything that could be loosened. There were some prong things holding the back and the sides on. I pried them up so that I could stuff some fabric in and hammer the prongs back down. Then, I stared cutting pieces and stapling.

For the front of the arms, I couldn't staple, so I cut some pieces, ironed the edges under and hot glued. Above, you can see one side glued and one side not yet done. Then, I did a little "Nester Mistreatment" for the skirt on the chair. This is basically one long piece (hemmed with hot glue) with a few box pleats glued in. There was a gap right in front between the sides of the pleat. OOPS. So, I covered a big button and glued that right on. Tada. Not a bad looking chair in a "crunch." Can't wait to see it in the new mansion.

To see all of the great "trash to treasure" ideas, visit Kimm @ www.reinventedkb.com .

Laura

Happy Mother's Day!

Heat Tool

Howdy Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Saturday. I had several questions regarding the "embossing heat tool" that I used on the candle project yesterday. So...I decided to give a little more info on the tool today. Here is a pic of an embossing heat tool...

This one happens to be from Stamping Up. But, there are many out there. The heat tool is used mainly for heat embossing of cards and whatnot. The tool blows hot air like a hair dryer, but it blows a lot softer than a hair dryer.

I googled and found quite a few on ebay, they are sold at Michael's, they have them at Hobby Lobby, and I even saw them on Wal-Mart online. The cheapest price I saw was on ebay for 10.00. The rest were between 17.00 and 20.00 bucks. But, if you used the Michael's 40% off coupon, you could most likely get one for 12.00 dollars or so.

Probably, someone you know who does card making has an embossing heat tool that you could borrow. That way you would be able to try it before you buy it.

I think that these candle are fabulous and would make great wedding, baby, Christmas and birthday gifts.

Some of you know that I do a monthly giveaway....I think that the embossing heat tool might show up as my giveaway next month......HMMMMMMMM!

Have a great weekend ladies, and Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies.