the new mail bag...

There I was, minding my own business.

the business of sweeping the front porch...



it was just chilly enough for me to want to redecorate for fall.

and the porch definitely needed a new mailbox!

mailBAG to be exact!

I have had this idea floating around in my noggin for a while now.

I made the bag with ~ what else ~ drop cloth.

I ran a coat hanger through the hem around the top so that the mail lady wouldn't mind

bringing me my mail. :)

It stays open all by itself so all she has to do is drop it in!

I did like our old mail box, but it had issues.

It had been glued and reglued and well,

I did mention that I was sweeping the porch,  right?

That is just how i clean...

it's not really clean if I can't redecorate!

love,

Theresa xoxo

I'm linking up to:

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Air Your Laundry Friday

thanks for the party girls!

this is one of those if you give a moose a muffin posts...

They're here!!!

Oh I just love them so.

Hannah and I brought in bunches of the freshly blossomed lilacs to make the house smell like spring.

Actually, she said "now I know it's spring, because the lilacs bloomed"

so true.



For the last couple of days I have been cleaning, organizing and getting rid of stuff.

just stuff.

You know, the kind that you take home with the sole purpose to make it beautiful again?

the idea file was getting too big and the time that I physically have to do every

idea I brought stuff home for seems to be shrinking!

So it was time to let go of some of the extras.

Which was a wonderful feeling really.

Because then I found this fabulous egg basket just sitting in the attic full of parts of said projects.

Now it holds my reading materials for bedtime on top of a wicker cooler.

In the aftermath, this pillow that I had made a while back got it's just rewards and is now sitting in the 'pillow place of honor'.  I made it with a skirt that I found at the GW.  This is one of those projects that is a no brainer...

step 1 ~ sew up the top

step 2 ~  insert a pillow

step 3 ~ sew up the bottom.

step 4 ~ admire all of that ruffly goodness.

easy peasy.

sitting right here on top of the dropcloth 'bedspread' which gives the room a neutral that the funky green walls do not.  I have had painting the walls on my ta da list for quite some time now... lets see, we moved in here about 6 years ago now. 

yup, some time now.

They unfortunately match the ugly green carpet.

I know, the pity party starts about now.

Unfortunately I don't have enough to go around... you know I try not to wallow in it.

So I'm going to have to make it a  B.Y.O.P. party.

I hope you understand!

Since the carpet isn't going anywhere anytime soon, I have lived with the walls too.

After this whole rearranging and cleaning though, I think some paint is in this rooms near future.

Yes, I said rearranging... right now, my shoulders, arm and back are cussing at me something fierce!!

" Hey lady, how old do you think you are?"

"We know how old you are and you are WAAAAY to old to move that bed and a dresser and all the other stuff you thought you were young enough to do yourself"

"How about next time you use some patience and let somebody help you!!!"

(I cleaned up the cuss words for those of you with delicate ears)

I was actually smart enough to know that I could NOT move this fireplace upstairs from the kitchen.

I had Cam help with that.

sweet redemption.

My aching back says "way to go"

I know it's not really cold enough to have a fire going, but I  just had to see it lit up in there :)

Our bedroom smells so lovely.

This urn was just sitting empty on the front porch begging for some flowers!

So you ask... "When is she bringing out the muffins?"



These suitcases were the nightstands in the bedroom before yesterday.

These and the ones that are now at the end of the bed.

I saw this idea somewhere here in blogland and I'm sorry but I can't remember where right now, but if you know who inspired me or if it was you, please let me know and I will gladly credit my source of inspiration!

I knew someone would be able to jog my memory!  This idea is from Kasey over at Lola B's

Thanks Kasey for the inspiration and thank you Melinda for the info!

The doilies are a cover-up.  I need to put a new piece of molding around the frame but the doilies were on the table near by and the glue gun was plugged in...

waalaa!

I'm so happy I didn't play carpenter and instead played

crazy glue gun lady with a pack of doilies!

feel free to send in an application for admittance to the club :O

So there you have it...

suticases get moved

so...

room gets cleaned.

pictures get rearranged.

bed is moved in front of windows for the spring/summer night breeze.

fireplace gets new home.

muffins all around!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

love,

Theresa xoxo

linking up to White Wednesday... Have you heard? 

 There have been 100 WW's for all of us to swoon over & an amazing group of bloggers are sharing in the love with giveaways... you need to get over there right now!!!

Thank you Kathleen!

Wow us Wednesday

Link Love

Transformation Thursday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Open House Party

Show and Tell Friday

Inspired and challenged...

Have you taken Z's 15 minute timer challenge this week?  I have and can I say, it is liberating... I mean she said it would be, and while I do trust her explicitly, what can I get done in 15 minutes?

See this fabulous pink bread box full of dead flowers?

It used to be full of junk in my kitchen.

what a waste.

So I did it, I set my timer and cleaned it out!  I was in a purging mood and so those two phone adapters that nobody could remember exactly what phones they ever went to...

GONE!

Along with the umpteen papers, and scraps, and really just plain junk, that at one time or another I had convinced myself that if I threw the junk away then what would happen to the axis of the universe?

Would everything come tumbling down?

guess what...

NO!

 

Now look at it on my cleaned up front porch!

remember that house-tending I had to get to?

This porch was desperate for it.

Seriously, I picked up no less than 4 nerf weapons from this thing.

Max and his army have been banned from the front porch,

I'm sure the mail lady will thank me ;)

 Blogland is so inspiring and I just love that. I mean I think I am more inspired everyday!

Yesterday Alicia put a challenge out there for us to turn our cameras off of auto.

I don't have a big fancy schmancy camera, I have a canon powershot.  I love it and not that I think I am much of a photographer but I am really in love with my powershot now that it is set on Manual!

I was doing the happy dance as I started taking pictures, I would take one on manual and then one on auto, and I couldn't believe the difference.

maybe it's just me but the pictures look so much more crisp and clean!

I am a happy girl!

Blogland is a wonderland, a wealth of inspiration.

 

Did you know about dropcloth rosettes before the country of blogland existed?

I didn't.

Did you care about taking pictures of your clean porch and new spring wreath before you blogged?

I didn't.

When these buckets get filled with beautiful plants I will show you them again, promise!

I can't wait to put a beautiful little garden in the pink box.

Thanks Z!

And I can't wait to take more pictures.

Thanks Alicia!

This porch is next.  

Rehang the sheets uhum curtains,

New cushion covers out of dropcloth or something equally fabulous is in the works.

Thanks to all of you who stop by and inspire me.

love,

Theresa xoxo

I thought I would share a picture of this sweet little nerf mess maker and budding artist with his newest creation and his new glasses.

 Notice the details, the berry in the birds mouth and the barbed wire fence! love that!

See how cute this face is?  This is why, even though he is banned from the front porch, I will still share the side porch with him!

:O

I'm linking up to Sherry's party Open House Party Thursdays  and Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday
and Cindy's Show and Tell Friday

A giveaway for my Birthday! xoxo...

That's right... today is my 50th birthday!  I know I seem so much younger, what with my youthful typing over here, but that's right I am now 1/2 way to 100, as was pointed out to me by Max yesterday!  I'm hoping to make it all the way there, but I'm also hoping he gives up on teasing his mom and pointing out the obvious to me by then!   

Now, having been born in the 60's  you know I didn't grow up with the whole, I'm going to a birthday party and I'm getting me a treat bag, right?  I'm guessing most of you didn't either... we put on our best and most favorite outfit and we went to our friends house for a rousing game of pin the tail on the donkey and hide and seek, but the birthday girl or boy received all of the presents! 

Well, I'm about to rectify that for someone at my party today!

Cuz, I'm having a giveaway, that's how!  Throwing a little Junie B. Jones atcha!  Is it bad when a childrens book is a good read for bedtime because it makes you giggle? :)

(with Max ofcourse)

So for the rest of this week, I am going to add a little something to this bag that I made and then one lucky party guest will go home with their very own treat bag!

It is made with our favorite material... drop cloth with a matching ruffle and then I crocheted the strap and the trim out of another utilitarian material, butchers string and added a vintage bakelite belt buckle for a bit of vintage goodness!

So stop on by this week and see what else I toss in the treat bag and add me a comment or two on any of the upcoming birthday posts and become a follower if you aren't one already for your chance to win the Birthday Treat Bag!

I'm linking this up to White Wednesday, Link Love, and Wow Us Wednesdays and Transformation Thursday!

Thanks for coming to my party!

Theresa xoxo