like peas in a pod...

Here is yet another reason to love Pinterest.

(My pod went past 2 years ago)

I saw this pin and immediately clicked on the source,

it was none other that Cathe Holden.

She is a wealth of information and downloads and creative beyond belief!

She has a tutorial for this peas in a pod necklace,

and I just had to make one for myself!

Hers was made with a green leather shoe,

see, a crafty Macgyver like the rest of us!

I didn't have a green leather shoe,

but a beautiful pea green wool will have to do.

so if you want to make your own peas in a pod necklace

to show how many peas are snuggled in your pod,

check out the link!

Have a fabulous day!

love,

Theresa

xoxoxoxoxoxo

linking to:

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Transformation Thursday

barn door meets desk drawers...

You know that cleaning isn't really cleaning to me unless I can rearrange something ~ 

or even better... 

make something!

meet my new favorite piece in the whole house!

it's barn door meets desk drawers!

I have had the barn door all summer, 

I got it from Nancy's sale,

Thank you Nancy!!

it's huge, 7 1/2 feet long

(sadly, mostly leaned up against a tree in the back yard)

and then a few weeks ago while running errands,

I popped into a garage sale and found the two desk pieces.

The man sold them for both, the top was no where to be found,

but that was o.k. I already knew that I had the PERFECT top!

are you ready for this?

The whole piece was only $30.00 to make!

Doing something nice for my house felt sooooo good,

that I decided to continue and actually clean it!

Oh my gosh, it has been ignored all summer but you know how it goes,

as soon as inspiration hits, you grab it!

I love the new shelves in the kitchen also,

they add that industrial look that I love.

I'm hoping that the sun will cooperate soon and I can take some non-blurry pics.

but I couldn't wait...

I was just too excited to show all of you my new barn door counter!

Thanks for stopping by!

love,

Theresa

xoxoxoxo

linking to:

White Wednesday

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Transformation Thursday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

the effect company has on me... and my home

Sweeping, mopping, dusting, rearranging, cutting the last of the peonies,

fluffing, and fluffing some more...

is this what having company does for you?

I really need to have company more often and then maybe my house would

stay reasonably clean!

... not 'pop in' company, although they are my favorite kind of company,

but they unfortunately don't reap the benefits of my crazy

cleaning and fluffing!

They just take me as I am, and as the house is

and I am thankful that they want to knock on my door again and again!

My 'pop in' company are my friends that know they will

probably walk into scraps of paper strewn everywhere, the smell of 

a hot soldering iron, next to a sewing machine and piles of fabric, 

and a sink full of dishes,

and yet they still come over.

Thank you!

p.s. the door is always open ;)

They don't see the house as you see it,

photo ready.

(which by the way, please excuse the blurriness of these

latest photos, the light wasn't the greatest and my camera

is temperamental to it)

I couldn't retake them because, as you may have guessed

this room did not stay like this for very long.

Between the kids and the cat, the next morning

as I headed out to work, I walked through, shook my head and 

then closed my eyes.

I'm glad that I got pics of the peonies in the old crate and blue jars

 while I could because Oliver thought that I provided him with a new toy

 and had them shredded by the next day.

Good thing I love the booger.

p.s. that goes for the kids too!

Today I have it back in order, (mostly)

except for those pesky dishes and the never ending laundry...

wanna stop by for a visit?

If you call first, who knows what kind of projects I could get done just for you!!!

(sometimes I get crazy enough to break out the spray paint too!)

Happy Monday!

love,

Theresa

xoxoxo

linking to:

White Wednesday

Primp your Stuff Wednesday

nesting...

Here in Michigan it feels like spring.

I am not fooled however, and am calling it 

"pretend" spring

it is only March after all and it could very well snow next week!

Never the less, it has been warm and sunny and that makes it feel like spring.

You know, the feeling that makes you want to rearrange your whole house,

clean all the windows, and redecorate?

a little fluffing of the nest, perhaps?

**Spring**

The birds have been singing their sweet songs,

but instead of rearranging, cleaning windows, and redecorating,

in honor of the birds

I made these...

I know, I know, it was a tough task to take ;)

(In my defense, I did manage to sweep down the cobwebs)

I know we've all seen these,

and I wanted one of my very own.

The one above with 5 fresh water pearls in it is just for me.

I made more to share though.

They are actually very therapeutic to make.

Weaving nests and thinking of the children who keep flying out of them.

Danielle was home for two weeks for some oral surgery.

She was told in Atlanta that she needed 4 root canals asap

and without any support system in place down there,

she came home to the mama bird to be cared for.

Her 4 root canals actually turned into one, with some other work to be done

so after all was said and done, I'm glad she got a second opinion!

The best part?

While she was home she hung out with the family most of the time

and took me to the Roller Derby again for my bday!

We had a great time!

In the picture above she was trying to teach me to take

a picture without my eyes disappearing,

but I couldn't stop laughing so it didn't work!

She was also here for Hannah's special dance.

She told Hannah that she could invite her friends over and she

would do their hair and make up.

That made 6 girls all together!

It was a crazy, fun, wild, house full of girls!

Danielle made them all feel special and they all were lucky

to have an in-house professional make them look like princesses!

(excuse the photo, my camera does not cooperate at night with low lighting)

I really wish this one would have turned out better.

This is another way we enjoy the warm weather of our "pretend" spring...

Duane, Max and Hannah play catch in the yard while I snap pictures.

Another tough job of mine :)

We have been on walks, bike rides, grilled out, played soccer, catch,  

hit tennis balls on the barn, and grilled out some more...

please, oh please don't let it snow.

I could get used to this early spring stuff!!!

For now, we are back down to two in the nest,

but this week John comes in for a week before he moves to NY.!

OH HAPPY DAY!

How is your nesting coming along?

I want to share a giveaway with you,

I know, that's just the sunshine making me extra nice ;)

Suzan over @ Old Grey Mare

is having a 8 away from 500 posts giveaway!

Rumor has it (one that she started btw)

that she is going to fill a couple of boxes with some 

fabulous prizes for 2 of her followers!

WOOHOO!

Head on over and put your name in the bucket!

love,

Theresa 

xoxoxoxo

linking to:

White Wednesday

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

last chance to throw your name in the giveaway hat!

I wanted to have a new post this past weekend, but things were pretty busy around here, 

so I am reposting this before I draw the winners name tonight!

t.xoxo

First things first...

I want to show off my gift of spring from a dear friend,

I will say right now that those beautiful hyacinths were put on the dresser

just for this shot and cannot stay there... why, you ask?

Meet Oliver.

Hannah found him on Halloween when he was just a tiny thing,

I will say that we were apprehensive,

we looked for the owner,

we actually ended up finding the owner after having him

for over a week.

(after we all fell in love with the little booger)

by the way,

this is how they make you fall in love with them.

Kittens are so adorable and then to top it off, he is a cuddler with a very loud purr.

So Hannah, Max, Oliver and I went to the home that we were

told he probably came from.

Imagine the scene... 2 very sad and crying 

children who know that, although they are doing the right thing

by taking the kitten to his owner,

are madly, deeply in love and are clutching him so tightly

that he is lucky to be alive today!

I will cut this short...

the sweetest 5th grade boy who Oliver belonged to,

had 4 other kittens in the garage and

gave sobbing Max a hug and told him he could keep

Oliver because he could see how much they loved him.

Now I was crying.

What a generous thing to do.

Jazz took the longest to welcome him to her domain,

and still pretty much pretends he doesn't exist...

but he even managed to weasel his way onto her beloved pillow!

O.k., back to the real reason for this post...

It's giveaway time!!!

(this pendant has a snippet of a doily that my Bushie made many years ago)

I am going to give one of my followers a custom

pendant necklace.

from my new line in the shop called

snippets of life

I will put a snippet of your treasured item between two pieces of thick glass and using lead free solder, I will preserve your families cherished memories for you.

I have different sizes and shapes of glass to choose from with a necklace made from glass seed beads or a key chain.
A piece of fabric, grandmas apron, grandpas tie, a scrap of the napkin from your first date, a button, a photo, a favorite quote, the possibilities are vast... double sided.

(stolen right from my site's description)

so, you can choose a necklace, key fob, or even one of these bracelets 

with a pendant hanging from it!

Hannah and I were at Forever 21 looking for a dress for her big dance, 

when I stumbled on the super cheap belts.

Skinny, cheap perfect for the bracelet that I had wanted to make for a while now!

Cut the belt to size, poke a new hole or two in it

with a nail... yeah I'm super high tech over here...

not.

I added a large jump ring to one of my pendants and

strung it onto the belt ~

Waa Laa!

I did find a really great tutorial with detailed instructions

but I knew I wasn't going to go out and purchase

a rivet maker thingy

so a belt was the easy choice.

edit... I just found the great tutorial and wanted to give credit to

Flamingo Toes

and now you can go and check her step by step pics out!

no hand model available so this is the best I could do for this shot :)

Then a few days later, while I was out running errands,

the car automatically pulled into the thrift store parking lot

and I figured since I was already here I might as well go in :)

Low and Behold, they had even cheaper skinny belts!

So I made one in red, and I have a couple of good 

distressed brown ones waiting in the wings!

So here's where you come in...

let me know in a comment what you would like me to put in your pendant,

Do you have a snippet of your mom's favorite dress,

or maybe a cherished photo,

or a special medal that you won in 4-h

that you want dangling from your neck?

here's your chance!

These can be double sided, so maybe a special photo on the front,

and a quote or scrap of fabric on the back!

Oh wait, one more thing!

I am at 599 followers,

if I reach 600 during this birthday giveaway

I will pick 2 winners!

you know the drill...

1.  this giveaway is for all of my wonderful followers

so if you aren't one yet

jump on board!

2.  let me know in your comment what memory you would

want preserved under glass.

3.  for one more chance,

"like" my facebook page ~ The Old White House

There you go!

easy peasy, right?

I will pick the winner on Monday 3/12/12

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you

who stop by and let me ramble on and on at you,

and leave me the best comments!

Plus, like I said a couple of posts ago,

what's a birthday party without a goody bag or two?

love,

Theresa 

xoxoxoxooxo

linking to:

White Wednesday

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

Share the Love Wednesday

tulips and necklaces...

We had a 4 day weekend over here and boy has it been nice!

A dear friend stopped by with a 'spring present' of beautiful tulips

for me the other day and I had the perfect spot to 

show them off.

playing with picnik,

I sure am gonna miss it :(

(sold)

I have made some new necklaces to share!

I love the light citron color of these glass beads,

just enough sunshiny yellow...

(sold)

to go with a vintage religious medal hanging from an old chandelier crystal

along with a silver bird and a heart from a vintage bracelet.

I can't even remember where I found this gold wrapped shell but it is fabulous,

perfect for summer!

I beaded it with multi colored natural glass beads with a few 

larger tiger eye beads encased in bling... I love me some bling!

pretty in pink...

The bee is soldered and then I gave it a copper patina,

and that drew me to the pink beads on the table.

pinks and golds and copper and pale browns...

yum.

a pink rose with a copper heart and a brownish bead for the dangle effect :)

I'm going to leave you with the tulips...

they have really brought a bit of spring into the dining room 

and into my heart!

Thanks Julie! xoxo

I have more beading to do, ideas to play with and well, you know,

laundry to put away.

(thank goodness Hannah volunteered to make dinner!)

back to work...

Thanks so much for stopping by,

I really appreciate all of you for following my little blog,

those that have been here since the beginning

and the newbies I see on the sidebar...

welcome aboard!

love,

Theresa 

xoxoxoxo

linking to:

 White Wednesday

Primp your stuff Wednesday

Pin It

the story of a simple piece of string...

How does something as simple as cotton string create a whole new room?

My drop cloth curtains in the dining room needed new tiebacks,

so I grabbed my butchers string from the bucket that it resides

 and crocheted some new tiebacks for the dining room!

It was a nice sunshiny day and that coupled with the new tiebacks led to a fresh, clean room!

(o.k. that coupled with some window cleaner, a vacuum, 

and  a bucket of vinegar water and some elbow grease!)

The tiebacks were just the excuse I needed to rearrange and freshen things in here.

Last years boxwood wreath bit the dust while decorating for Christmas

and this old mirror frame with last springs wreath took its place.

The metal basket filled with blue jars was a special Christmas gift...

as was this little frame, I put one of the few pictures that I have of my mammy in it.

( I love it, even if it's small and a bit blurry... she is feeding a puppy)

I balanced all of the light colors in the room with this black dresser on the short wall

before the living room.

AHHHHHHHH gotcha!

I wasn't "balancing" anything on purpose!

This dresser was put here when the Christmas tree came in the  room

and I liked it so much that this is where it stayed!

(that's the truth, the whole truth!)

During the holidays, when everyone was showing all of the Anthro inspired snow globes,

I made one of my own.

A vintage wedding cake topper on a small silver coaster

on top of a candle holder.

It will probably stay out way past Valentines Day.

As for this girl, she made it safely to Atlanta and the happiness in her voice

is music to my ears!

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. xoxoxox

These are pics that I shot through the window in the comfort of my semi-warm (old house)

kitchen of her and Duane tying down all of her must-have treasures.

She doesn't miss the cold at all!

so that's the story of how a bit of cotton string can create a whole new room!

(Who would have thought that something as basic as curtain tiebacks

would force me to redecorate the whole room?)

ohhh you, of course!

;0

Thanks for stopping by!

love,

Theresa xoxoxo

linking up to:

White Wednesday

Primp your stuff Wednesday

What's it Wednesday

Transformation Thursday

Thanks for the parties girls!

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