MY MAKEOVER

I have had this cabinet in my bathroom for some time holding towels and it has served its purpose well. The thought came to me that if it didn't have the glass in the front, and was black, it could be used in my den as a prim cabinet. I wanted to do this project myself because it's always better to ask forgiveness than permission, BUT I needed help in replacing the glass panels. I had mentioned it to my son-in-law but he was busy on another job (and I am very impatient) so last week I brought the cabinet downstairs and started removing the glass. My DH came in and asked what I was doing. I told him my plans. We had some beadboad scraps left from other projects and he got right on replacing the glass with the beadboad.
The cabinet was painted black and sprayed with a satin coat of finish (I know it looks shiny here but it's my poor skill in making pictures). I wanted to distress it but the white underneath would not allow this. I still am VERY pleased with the results. It has two shelves inside if I want to put things on the shelves.
I put the shelf that I had finished awhile back on it. If you remember....I had it sitting on an old record player and it looked ok, but I never was completely satisfied. We have moved that to another spot. I love my new "prim look" cabinet!
I'm off today to Christmas Village. It's a HUGE show that I look forward to each year. I'll be posting about that later.

BEAUTY ALL AROUND

Some of you have already enjoyed the beautiful colors of fall in other states, but here in Alabama we are just seeing the full beauty of the foliage. Yesterday I left work to go to the Post Office and this tree caught my eye. There were no cars behind me so I slowed down (and always have my camera in my purse) to make a picture. You can even see my side mirror at the bottom of the page. I told my husband this weekend that I am seeing beauty more and more these days and perhaps it's because I'm getting older. I drove by his parents old "home place" over the weekend while I was out and the drive along the road was absolutely beautiful with trees making a canopy across the entire road at places. If we would only take the time to enjoy the beauty that is right before us!!!
I plan to have pictures tomorrow of a project "make-over". I have had to wait for paint to dry before making a picture. Hopefully....I can show you tomorrow. Have a wonderful day and enjoy the beauty!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

This morning as I was cooking breakfast I started thinking about the things that "make" me happy. Guess I could have said things I'm thankful for... but that topic may come closer to Thanksgiving. These are just thoughts that came to me this morning and I'm sure there are many more but I'll share these with you.

1. Jesus Christ -- He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes and never fails me. That should be enough right there!

2. My husband of 36 years. Have they all been wonderful? No, but our love for each other is stronger today than ever before. He is a Godly and honest man and a wonderful father. Both of my children think their daddy can do anything and they are strong today mainly because of him.

3. My two children....Amy & Chris. I suppose any mother (or daddy) would say that their children bring them happiness, but I'm so happy that they both serve God and are wonderful parents themselves. I am happy that they both have spouses who love God, love them, and are great parents.

4. My grandchildren.....these six little ones are joys! Perfect?? Heck, no! They are so full of life and I look at the things they do and the way they act (when I'm around) and I see their mama and daddy all over again

5 My church....I love my church and church family. I know that I need to be fed spiritually as much as physically and when I miss the few times during the week that I am at church, I can tell it.

6. The change in seasons. Yes, the different seasons make me happy. I love the change that comes every few months....the colors of the leaves, the cooler weather, the few times it snows here, and then before I know it the weather begins to warm and it's another season.

7. A fire in the fireplace. There's something about having a fire in the fireplace on a cold night that makes me happy.

8. Home grown tomatoes and fresh vegetables.

9. Thanksgiving when my whole exteneded family is together at our home. I look forward to this all year long. Family is important folks!

10. Christmas music! I LOVE Christmas music and I smile when they start playing it on the radio.

11. Christmas lights. Sitting in my den with a fire in the fireplace with my Christmas tree lights shining makes me happy.

12. The beach! I love going to the beach anytime but especially each summer when my children and grandchildren are all with us.

13. Coffee in the morning.

14. Doing something for others.

15. Knowing that everything is in God's hands and realizing that I'm not in control...He is!

TRASH TO TREASURE

Diane at A Picture is Worth 1000 Words is sponsoring Trash to Treasure blog day. She invited anyone who would share their favorite trash item turned into a treasure! Although I posted a picture of these cabinets already this week, I'll have to say this is my favorite "trash" item. It's true that a friend of mine got all the cabinets from a house that had been partially burned and had been vacant for quite awhile. She used many of the cabinets in her home (painted them black) and they are beautiful. She gave me these and I painted them black first and then red over the black. Someone had asked me the color red. It is Sherwin Williams Cherry Tomato. I think the black underneath gives it a different color than the true Cherry Tomato. After I painted them red I sanded the edges some so black would show and they looked even older. The inserts to the cabinet doors were missing so I put the chicken wire and made the curtains. You can see my detergents, etc. through the chicken wire but THIS IS IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM. You should have seen it before!!!!

MY CHRISTMAS STOCKING CAME!!

CHRISTMAS came early to my house!! My husband called me at work today and told me that a package had been delivered to me and I knew that it was from Debi who is my Christmas Stocking Swap Partner (that's a mouthful). I could hardly wait to get home. I couldn't believe the size of the stocking that she sent....IT WAS HUGE!!! Let me change the subject for a moment and tell you that my computer has gone crazy AGAIN! I tried several times before the pictures would even upload and then they are not even in the order that I had them. I wasn't about to redo them so you will have to use your imagination. The picture above shows the gifts after I had opened them. I don't even think you can see all of them in this one picture because there were so many!!

This picture above shows the stocking as I took it from the box before taking all the gifts out. Debi had wrapped each gift individually and she even included a gift for my daughter, Amy.

This picture shows all the gifts wrapped before I opened them. My husband kept saying, "Now, why did you get these gifts?" I had to try and explain the Stocking Swap to him. I love my gifts, Debi!!! I will tell you right now that you are more creative than me....there is NO WAY I could paint something for you. You must have really been studying my "likes" because you hit a variety of them (even the old cookbook). I wondered how you knew that I liked old cookbooks and then I remembered that I posted about that a LONG time ago. Even the tulip bulbs....WOW! The sewing kit that you made is a wonderful idea and I love the placemats and napkins and all the roosters.....I COULD GO ON AN ON!!!! I haven't finished your stocking but promise it will be in the mail before the deadline. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! You are the best!!!

MY LAUNDRY ROOM

Several weeks back, Shannon from Bless Our Nest, showed pictures of her laundry room and it inspired me to do something to make mine look a little better. I'll be honest with you....most of the time the door to my laundry room stayed closed because it was not a room that I had ever cared about "decorating", and it really didn't bring much joy to me as far as what was behind those doors!!! After seeing how beautiful her room was I started thinking about how I might make mine more "enjoyable". The cabinets above my washer and dryer were given to me by a friend who had taken them from an old house that was going to be demolished. She used most of the cabinets herself but gave me these. I put 'chicken wire' in some of the openings but made the curtains to hang over the larger opening. This is where I store my things I use alot. My daughter, Amy got me the shutters at The Cotton Pickin' Festival last weekend. She said someone asked her what she was going to do with them and she told them that her mom would paint them and use them somewhere. I had not planned to use them here but after I painted them that's where they are now. I may move them somewhere else later. I have some ideas for putting things on the wall....I have a chalkboard (of course) but for right now I'll have to show you this.

These are aprons that my mother made years ago. She took gingham and cross stitched designs on it and made aprons. I think she gave everyone she knew an apron for a gift. As a little girl, I remember wearing gingham dresses with the cross stitch design around the hem. I love these aprons because I know she did the stitching. I also have the one apron I bought this year when we ate at Paula Deen's.

I know my laundry room isn't as pretty as Shannon's but I will say it makes me feel much better when I walk in there. It's surprising what a little "fixin' up" does to make your whole attitude change. Thanks Shannon for sharing your pictures!

FALL FESTIVAL

I'm really tired right now!!! Our church had it's Fall Festival tonight and I'm happy to say that it was a HUGE success. I was in charge of registration and we registered over 400. It's really a fun time for all but I spent much of today getting ready for the festival. We usually have two big events for the community each year (an Easter Egg Hunt & the Fall Festival). We had cotton candy, popcorn, cake walk (the picture above was made during the cake walk), duck pond, Go Fish, Coke Toss, 3 inflatables, a hay ride, hotdogs, and prizes.

This was just as it started and these two little girls were getting their cotton candy. I was so busy after everyone started getting there until I didn't get many pictures. I can tell you that the cotton candy & popcorn smelled so good all night. I didn't get any but I could sure smell it!

We had three inflatables. This is one that was a long train and the kids had to make their way through. The event was free for everyone. I can say that I am glad that it is over and I think it's time for me to get my bath & head to bed. I'm sure glad the time changes tonight and I get an extra hour of sleep!!!!!!