Saying a Prayer

Our oldest nephew experienced a seizure this afternoon. Fortunately he and my sister-in-law were at the doctor's office for a normal visit.

Unfortunately he is our nephew that has autism and is not verbal so this experience makes everything that much more difficult.

All test have come back negative so far, but prayers and good thoughts are always welcomed.

Dawn

New Pillows

This past weekend we had fantastic weather with highs in the 70's the whole weekend with sunny, sunny sky. You know it was one of those weekends that you didn't want to do anything around the house......(especially finish a craft room.)

I have got to finish that craft room so that I can move my crafts out of the kitchen.

I did get a few things done around the house this weekend. I made new pillows for the sofa and love seat. The pillows that came with them were way to large and were not washable. We have to have washable pillows considering that our dogs lay on the pillow every day. Plus I wasn't a big fan of the color.

I am very happy about the way they turned out I hope they hold up. I also bought some fun fabric. I have some plans lets see if works out the way I want them to.

By the way is it bad when the lady at the fabric store ask if you actually finish your projects or do you just buy more fabric. I think it may be bad that she knows me by name and can name my projects.

Hope you have a great week!!!

I Have Been Featured!!!

Yipee!!! I have my first feature. I would like the thank Denise over at Extreme Personal Measures for her feature.

Check her out

Two New Fosters....

I guess the best laid plans don't always go the way you plan. I had planned on finishing the craft room this past weekend and having tons of fun craft projects done to show off.

Well......Dennis had other thoughts. I received a call from him Thursday afternoon telling me that he needed a kennel or two. Now this isn't really a weird call to get from my friends or my family because they are always rescuing dogs and getting them into the rescue group I volunteer for. It is though a very strange call to get from Dennis because he has never picked up a dog before. Not only did he pick one he picked up two.

After meeting the two pups, Pete and Joe, I know why he couldn't pass them by. They are around six months old and were hanging around the lumber yard where he works. The temperature was supposed to go into the 20's that night and Joe who is around 10 lbs was already shaking and it was still the early afternoon.

To top off doubling the dogs in our house we also dog sat this weekend for Dennis' brother so we had six dogs in our house. It literally felt like we had dogs coming out of every nook cranny.

Pete and Joe are settling in and of course were neutered yesterday (I am big fan of spay and neuter) so I hope to be able to finish up my craft room this weekend. Plus my desk should arrive sometime this week since it was shipped on Friday. I love Martha Stewart.....I hope I like her craft table.

Have a great rest of the week and stay tuned for pictures of Pete and Joe.

Dawn

Hello Family and Friends!!

If I had known you guys were going to stop by today I would have done a post just to welcome you. Sit back and enjoy this what I do in what little free time I have.

Love you,

Dawn, Dennis, Shea & Wolfie

Z Gallerie Knock Off

Okay so I am one of those people who loves to look at accessories in magazines and on line and dream. I rarely buy because well we wouldn't eat if I did. Of course the first time I saw the the Z Gallerie pillow it was full price, but it has been way marked down since then, but still more than what I paid to make my own.

First I must say that I saw a tutorial on this by Cluck Cluck Sew and it is very easy to follow. Instead of using different fabric for mine like she does I used felt for the whole pillow. So the petal and the form are made of the same material (more like Z Gallerie). Of course I over estimated how much fabric that I would need so I bought 2 yards. Good thing I did because I already have a friend who wants me to make one for her.

I also hand sewed the petals on because I find that it was rather relaxing for me. So it for sure took me about four hours longer than it took her. Plus my sewing skills on a machine are nowhere like hers. (For some reason I was having serious issues.)

This little beauty is looking a little limp right now because I only had a 16" x 16" pillow, when I really need an 18" x 18" form. I will either pick one up or I might just leave it like it is. This little girl will be going into the window seat of my craft room whenever I get that finished....hopefully this month.

I am surprised at how much I have accomplished this weekend, I hope that I can continue that through the week. I hope that everyone has a wonderful safe week.

Check Me Out!!! I am in the running for the best knock off piece over at Seven Thirty-Three.

Decorating a Dough Bowl for Free!!!

I will admit that I am a pretty lucky girl. My parents neighborhood is exactly two miles from mine. Why does that make me lucky....well other than the obvious my dad has a huge collection of orchids and something is always in bloom.

So today I went by and raided it for a plant for my dough bowl. This time of year isn't always the best but there were a few beautiful flowers in bloom today.

I think it is funny but when I was growing up I thought that almost everyone had a greenhouse in their backyard. Most of my parents' friends had greenhouses, even the ones we would visit out of state. My parents would also force my sisters and I to visit any local orchid sellers when were on vacation. I can't remember how many times that we would be driving home for hours with an orchid that had an odd scent. (They had one that smelled like chocolate, by far my favorite. I think we picked that one up in Miami.)

On the floor of my dad's greenhouse are several other plants that I decided to uproot to put in the dough bowl. There are ferns and another plant that's name has escaped me. I also had two balls that I threw in along with some Spanish moss. The moss is from a wreath I did back at our old house. (It didn't take the move very well.) So the decoration in the dough bowl is certainly not something that will stay forever but will last for a week or two. Plus it makes me smile and it makes Dennis smile because it was free.

I hope you enjoyed. By the way the orchid shown is known as a Lady Slipper but it has an actual name, but I won't get to technical here (yes I forgot its name). If you have any questions shoot me an email and if I can't answer it I will ask my dad. One of my dad's favorite thing is to talk about his "other" kids.

I hope to share with you pics through out the year of the orchids that are in bloom so I hope you check back often.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Real Antiques that Pottery Barn Knocked Off.......

Well I am one step on the other side of thirty since my birthday was Friday, but I sure have had an awesome weekend so far. For my birthday dinner we went to our favorite restaurant and had an amazing meal. After dinner we went to Cirque De Soleil. It was awesome.

This morning my girlfriends Brandi, Dustie, and I went shopping for antiques. We went to one of my favorite shops Charles Phillips Antiques, who I highly recommend. (I also purchased the mirror that is in my foyer from them last fall.) It technically isn't a shop but a farm with several buildings with furniture in each. There are also architecturals, windows, shutters, and anything else that you could imagine. Well it may have not been the best day to go searching through buildings without heat since it was barely 50 out, but we persevered and I came away a winner.

I walked away with two dough bowls, one for the dining room table and one as a catch all for our nook. The dough bowl decision was extremely hard because there were at least 50 in different shapes and sizes. Luckily the dough bowls were about half the price of Pottery Barn's. I'm not positive what I am going to do with the dough bowl in the dining room yet, but I think that once my dad and mom are both over the flu I may steal some orchids and decorate with them. I will let you know. (Plus come spring I may share a few pics of my dad's greenhouse. He has one of the largest private collections in Alabama, which means he only collects and doesn't sell.)

For our nook I also purchased a chest that is very similar to one found at Pottery Barn. I think though that the color of mine fits a little bit better in to our color scheme. The price tag is also much more affordable, which makes me happy. I mean we are talking about more than half the price less. Can I hear a yipee??????

With the small dough bowl on the chest we have now finished the nook that is located right off of our garage. It is also the walk through from our garage to the kitchen and our to our upstairs. Originally we had thought to put a second refrigerator in this nook, but I am glad this is going to be our catch all. The bowl currently has keys, a cell phone, my sunglasses, and Dennis' wallet. I think it will become very useful. Plus I am sick of seeing mail everywhere.

By the way I just had a suprise party thrown by some of my closest friends and I can without a doubt say that I have the greatest friends and family. Thanks guys for everything.