The Baby

Today is the 22nd birthday of my baby. How did that happen?  Really. The days, at times, were long, but the years have gone so quickly. The oldest of my five is 29.  You can imagine how busy, crazy, fun, loud, and active those child-raising years were with five children so close in age. In case you do not remember the story of Luke's unusual birth, go here and here to read about it. You will get a good laugh. So today we celebrated, talked about highways and speeding and hot summer mornings....and hoped that the clock in our mini-van that day was pretty close to accurate. ....Because 8:04 a.m. (in the middle of rush hour traffic), twenty-two years ago changed our lives forever. 
Happy Birthday Luke!

SCORE!..This table 'lettered'!

 I bought this little table off of Craigslist. Actually, I bought a different table, and when I went to pick it up the girl asked me if I would just take this table too so she wouldn't have to move it. The original table I bought was $20. So, I suppose you could say this one was $10, if we divide the sum in two. And of course the table did not look like the above picture at the time. No indeedy. Instead it looked just like the picture below. Only a little more dust.

 When I bought the (sad) table, I had never heard of Chalkpaint. (That tells you how long the table has sat in my storage.) BUT, I did know instantly that I wanted to paint it red and I had great plans for that piece of glass and very shallow (probably about half an inch) shadow box of a top.

 So I brought the tables home and my Hubby did one of those growly-roll-the-eyes-thing as I unloaded the two prizes. And then the tables sat. And sat. And sat. Then we moved. Then I heard about chalk paint. Specifically, Emporer's Silk, a groovy red paint.

 That's when my growly little freebie (or $10) table "lettered"....in "oh-so-coolness".

 JUST as I was putting the first paint touches on the table I remembered to get a 'before' picture. This shows a tad-bit of the red paint. It shows the scratches on the table. And although you cannot tell, that is a super-bright-faux-brass-frame around the inside of the shallow shadowbox. (Now you see why my Hubby was a growly-eye-roller.)

 I painted the inside of the 1/2 inch shadow box (which was cane, by the way), and the cool-brass frame in Old White chalk paint. Then I painted the entire table in Emporer's Silk.

 The red goes on almost pinkish at first. It did worry me. But as it began to dry, it began to turn a rich red. (And I LOOOOVVVVEE red). I gave the table two coats of red.  I only gave the 'shadow box' one coat of white. I did very, very minimal distressing. I gave it a coat of clear wax and very minimal dark wax. Talk about an easy table to make beautiful!

 Then I changed my mind from my original (year ago) plan. I knew as soon as I saw the table I wanted it red. And with that glass insert and uber shallow shadow-box I envisioned a large photograph inserted under the glass. (The glass is a smokey glass, by the way). My idea was to take one of my many pictures of the football stadium at the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner), blow it up to the size of the square and feature that under the glass. (Which would go perfectly with the red color of the table.)

 But then I started---and finished--painting this table late at night, and I did not have the football-stadium-photograph blown up yet. And being the impatient soul that I am, I wanted to see how the table looked "really" finished. I thought about putting ticket stubs to ballgames under the glass. I thought about putting pictures of my own three sons and husband all in their football-playing-days under glass. I thought about putting old programs under the glass. Those are all great ideas, but then I remembered my box of old chenilles. I sent my son to get the box of chenilles. We began to pull some from my stash and I knew we had a winner! Score---This table had "lettered"!

 The table has a small drawer, which I lined with cover copies from old programs to Sooner games. The drawer is perfect for keeping remotes in place.

I have chenilles in every color imaginable. I kept the ones under the glass in a color pattern that was harmonious with the table and with the room the table will be used.

 In our new (old) house we have a small media room that the boys are using for all their ESPNedness as well as video games, poker games and ballgames. (Yes, my girls are welcome in the room as well). The table will be in that room.

 So the chenilles will go perfectly with the decor. They have found a new home. No longer am I planning on putting the large photograph under the glass, (although it would have been cool too.)

 The handle on the small drawer was an antiqued brass. When I took it off to paint the table I was originally going to put a new handle on the table. Then since I was doing it at night I put the original handle back on. I have decided it does not look bad and in all honesty, since it is the table for the kids room the handle will probably stay as is!

 And how did I get so many chenilles????? (Because I used only a few of my stash!) Well, one day the Letter-Jacket-Salesman came to the high school where I was teaching to sell his jackets. I went to him and asked him if they ever had any old chenilles I could buy.....I figured there were some "mistake" chenilles here and there. He said he would look and asked for my address.

 About a week later a big box arrived at my house. I opened the box and there were every kind of chenilles imaginable. There are football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, chorus, band, speech, names, ball team names, numbers, awards....Well you get the idea. And he gave them all to me!

 I have used the chenilles on pillows, a chair and even in tablescapes. Now a stash of them have transformed an old table.

The rest of this room is also decorated in vintage sports memorabilia. I will show you the whole room later. (If you looked in the background you could see the room is still being unpacked!) In the meantime, I say, "SCORE!! This table has lettered!"
Disclaimer!!--Blogger was having some kind of issue when I was trying to upload my pics. So I had to use nighttime-taken pics, as well as daytime-taken pics. Basically I had to use whatever I could get to upload!...And it still took me over two hours! rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I am linking this to Metamorphosis Monday and Thrifty Treasures. I have also linked to Wow Us Wednesday's with Kim. As well as the Open House Party at No Minimalist Here. And Miss Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday and Show and Tell Friday. And Funky Junk Interiors. Please go by and check them out!

Simple Sunday

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. --Plautus

Twenty years ago this week, we packed up our five kiddos, ages 2-9, and moved hundreds of miles away from every single person we knew and loved to a little town in the most northeastern part of Kansas where we did not know a single soul.   Little did we know how much Hiawatha, Kansas, would change our lives. It was a perfect Mayberry town to raise a family. We made lifetime friends. 

Then three years ago (coincidentally) this same week we moved back to our home state of Oklahoma.  While it is wonderful to be back home, we know the friends we left behind in Kansas will always have a piece of our heart. This weekend we returned to Kansas to attend a wedding. (Probably not coincidentally, but all in God's great timing,) it is that twenty-years-ago-this-week-move that we have reflected on while being in Kansas.  We got to see many of those forever friends and it has been wonderful.

We moved not knowing a single soul and left with hearts enlarged by friendships. God is so good.

Kitchen Conundrum

I have mentioned once or twice...

or maybe a hundred times

about my kitchen conundrum.

Hmmm. What to do? What to do?

My summer-of-no-cooking is quickly coming

to a close.

One of my sons told me yesterday that

he thought the holidays

without a stove

would just not be right!

(Really. He said that.)

So we began to look for appliances.

We got a spiffy new dishwasher.

I know what fridge I want.

I am still looking at stoves.

I know what I want.

I have to be able to afford it.

Then just the matter of a new sink...

and of course there is the

matter of cabinets.

So many decisions and the clock on summer is ticking.

I guess it is time to get serious.

After all, the holidays are just around the corner.

Just ask my son!



The Galleria

The upstairs of the

new old house

has a

long and winding

hallway.

You walk up the stairs,

open the french door (pictured on the left)

and enter your first hallway.

Turn right and you enter my bedroom.

Turn left and you get another hall.

Turn right at the end of that hall

and you get another hall.

Turn left at the end of that hall

and you get yet another hall.

Sandwiched in between all these hallways

are four other bedrooms

besides my own,

niches and cabinets and storage

and of course a bathroom.

Can you guess what I am doing with

all that hallway space?

Well with all that space it's not a gallery wall...

it's an entire galleria!

And yes, I have plenty of pictures to fill it all!!