A Special Keepsake Made With Wedding Gown Lace

Earlier this year, while I was purging stuff in preparation for our move to the house in Hooterville, I mentioned in this post how I had made the decision to part with the wedding gown I wore when I married my hubby in 1972. 

 Before I let the dress go though, I cut off a small piece of lace and asked  Joy of Cupid’s Charm to incorporate it into a special keepsake.  Joy turns vintage jewelry, broken china, old silver spoons, vintage photos, papers, lace, crystals, pearls and sterling beads into the most beautiful and romantic pieces of jewelry you have ever seen.

When Joy was done working her creative magic, the charm bracelet below was the result.   

 

In addition to Swarovski crystals, pearls and sterling beads, she combined 3 heart-shaped charms made with broken china pieces and 4 charms containing lace from my wedding dress.

Let me tell you, the bracelet  is absolutely exquisite in person!  I am sure this gorgeous bracelet is destined to become a family heirloom.

Originally, I had planned to gift my daughter with this special bracelet on her 30th birthday next June.  However, I decided to give  it to her early so she could wear it to the special premiere event she attended last week in California.

If you pop over to Joy’s on-line shop to browse, don’t blame me if you want one of everything!  :)

Linking up to:

Metamorphosis Monday #132 @ Between Naps on the Porch

Wow Us Wednesdays #25 @ Savvy Southern Style

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Tango’s Movie Debut

Last September, my daughter’s horse, Tango, was used  in some scenes for a movie that was being produced by singer/songwriter, Bertie Higgins, and directed by Bertie’s son, Julian. 

L to R :  Bertie Higgins, Bianca (who plays “Elena” in the movie),  Tango,  my daughter, Bertie’s son, Julian (the director), and Robert (who plays “Jack Hooks”)

 If you are new to my blog and would like to read the details of how Tango got the part in the movie and see some of the photos from her first day of filming,  you can click   here.

It would seem movie making is a long process.  After all these months, the movie is finally finished and I am now able to share more information about it, as well as a couple video clips.  

The name of the movie is THROUGH THE EYE and a synopsis of the storyline can be found  here.

This short video clip was from Tango’s second day of filming.  The movie character, “Elena,” riding Tango, is being chased by a dune buggy driven by the actor playing  “Carlos Huerta,” the head of the Colombian drug ring.  

If you know anything about horses, you know they can  sometimes come completely unglued and spook over the smallest and stupidest little thing so there was some uncertainty about how  Tango was going to react when  she was left standing alone after the actress dismounted and that very loud and fast-moving dune buggy came roaring up behind her.  Would she freak out and take off running?  As you can see in the video, she just did a little side hop  out of the way and meandered out of camera range.  Way to go, Tango!

The premiere screening of THROUGH THE EYE  was held in Pasadena, California Tuesday night, July 26, 2011.  

My daughter was invited  to the premiere screening and imagine our excitement when we saw Tango’s picture  on the premiere  invitation!

 

Tango is also seen briefly in the movie trailer below.

There was no way my daughter  was going to miss this momentous, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend this premiere event so she flew out to California Monday afternoon.  I can’t wait to get her assessment of the movie and hear how Tango looked on the big screen.  In relation to the length of the movie, I’m sure Tango’s scenes will most likely be very, very, VERY short but we are as excited as if Tango had the starring role!

Even though I’m not an avid movie-goer and typically I avoid action movies because they tend to be violent, this is one movie I’m obviously anxious to see.  I don’t have any information yet on how/when/where THROUGH THE EYE  will be available for the general public to see but I’ll keep you posted,  just in case you’d like to see it too .  Then you can  say, “Hey, I *know* that horse from Blogland!”   ;) 

Linking up to:

 Wow Us Wednesdays #24 @ Savvy Southern Style

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

My Camera

This afternoon, my little pocket-sized blogging camera is on a plane headed for California.

 

 

No, it’s not going to a repair shop; it’s actually working well.

I’m not really at liberty to reveal WHY my camera is going to California just yet but I can tell you the reason is quite exciting (at least to us).   I can also tease you a little bit and say it has something to do with this post.

I’ll be able to share the details  later this week, probably Wednesday.  :)  And hopefully, sometime after that, I will have some fun photos to share of the California trip.

Oh, and in case you were wondering…I am NOT on that plane with my camera!

Oh No… Here We Go Again!

If you were reading my blog about a  year ago, you probably remember the hhGregg/Samsung front load washer ordeal and the months and months of consumer’s hell I went through to return the defective washer. 

After hhGregg finally took  the washer (and dryer) back in August 2010,  I replaced the Samsung set with a Whirlpool Duet front-loading steam washer and dryer.

I’ve been very pleased with the new machines’ performance…

…until today. 

I walked into my laundry room this afternoon to find water pouring out from underneath the washer.

What the heck?!  

It was all I could do not to sit down and cry.

And, wouldn’t you know,  the 12-month interest free promotion on the Lowe’s credit card is almost up.  In order to avoid a year’s worth of interest, the washer and dryer balance had to be paid off  by July 26th.  As my luck would have it,  I just mailed the payoff check two days ago. 

TWO DAYS AGO! 

Of course the washer is still under warranty, but if it turns out I have another washer with a chronic defect, I won’t have any consumer leverage for return and/or replacement this time since the washer and dryer balance has been paid off.

The repairman is coming tomorrow afternoon.   I’m going to think positive and hope  the leak  was just caused by a small problem that requires an easy, one-time  fix.

Sewing a Faux Roman Shade

This week, I attempted to get reacquainted with this old gal. 

It’s been a  long time since we spent any time together. 

A very, very long time.

I’ve mentioned before that my mother was a very talented seamstress and loved to sew but I didn’t get passed the sewing gene.  I am more than capable of sewing if it is a necessity, but  it’s not something I enjoy so I have always made it my mission to avoid  it whenever possible.  In past years, any time I could get my mom to sew for me, I would.  However, since she passed away six years ago, if I need/want any sewing done now, I’m on my own. 

A couple months ago, I saw a really simple tutorial for a  faux Roman shade.  It was so ingenious, I wanted to try it for my kitchen window so I bookmarked it.   I won’t repeat the tutorial here.  Just click the above link and scroll down to the middle of that post for the instructions. 

Even with the 50% off sale Joann's Fabrics was having on the special order home decorating fabrics, the fabric I chose (P. Kaufmann Sea Breeze Patriot) was $19.99/yd.   I wasn’t even sure I was going to like this faux Roman shade once I got it  done so I only ordered a yard of material but that meant I wouldn’t have enough length to double the fabric over the top rod per the tutorial instructions.  I planned to compensate for this by sewing a pocket to slip the top tension rod through.

Yes, I was actually going to SEW!

I dug out my (almost 40 year old) sewing machine.  After dusting her off, I reviewed the owner’s manual to refresh my memory on how to fill the bobbin.  Like riding a bike, it came right back to me.

I threaded her up, slipped my fabric under the presser foot, hit the foot pedal and……

NOTHING.

She hummed a little but the needle wouldn’t move and upon closer inspection, all the parts seemed to be a bit rusted and bound up. 

I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t sew.   (Insert sarcastic tone.)   The last time I can really remember using this sewing machine, my now 29-year-old daughter was in the fourth grade. 

Yeah, I guess if you store a sewing machine in the backyard  shed where it gets exposed to the intense heat and humidity of Florida’s  summers  for 20+ years, things are bound to be a bit rusty and bound up.  The light bulb  still worked after all these years though!

Plan B:  Make this a no-sew project (like the tutorial) by using hem tape. 

Unfortunately, that was a fail for me too as my fabric was a bit too heavy and nubby for the hem tape to hold  well.

Plan C:  Buy a new sewing machine.   Ugh.

I actually have a couple other simple sewing projects I want to do in the coming weeks so I got on the Internet to check out some inexpensive, basic machines.   I didn’t want or need a bunch of bells and whistles, just something to do some straight stitching.

Most of the machines I looked at under $100 didn’t get very good reviews.  This machine did more than I would ever need but it had a very high number of positive ratings.

 

I  decided to jump  in the car and go to the nearest Walmart to see if they (hopefully) had it in the store.  I didn’t want to order anything online.  I was ready to do this Roman shade project now!

It must have REALLY been my lucky day.  Not only did Walmart have it, but it was on sale for $109.00!  A savings of almost FORTY-ONE DOLLARS! 

Finally, I was off and running.

 

My kitchen window is small, only 36 inches by 36 inches, and I found that for my liking, too much of the light and view were obstructed by fabric when I inserted the tension rods into the window frame.    (I tested this before I did any cutting or sewing.)

By using the cabinets on either side of the window to support the tension rods, I was able to  raise the rod higher to give the illusion of  a larger window and then only  the top 1/3 of the window was covered.  Although, after looking at these photos, I think the top rod could be raised even a bit more.

My fabric was wider than the width between the cabinets so I added 2 inches to that measurement so I could sew a one inch hem down each vertical side of the fabric.  For the length, I used the whole yard of fabric and  put a one inch hem in the bottom.  As mentioned above, I sewed a pocket across the top for the top tension rod to slip through.

 I was  quite happy the way this turned out.  It was easy and would have been quick…had I not had to stop to research sewing machines, run out to buy one, set it up and learn how to use it. 

If I decide to ever make another faux Roman shade using this tension rod technique, I would probably do it this way again.  The single length of fabric and the rod pocket worked  fine, thus cutting the expense of fabric in half.

New Bookcases For the Living Room

When I started the conversion to cottage style decor in 2008, I was on  a painting frenzy to change all my dark furniture to white.  One of the pieces I painted was an old 3 piece wall unit we had purchased many, MANY years before, back in the late 70’s!

Although the wall unit was way out-dated, it did afford me lots of storage and display space but after moving to the house in Hooterville, it didn’t take me long to realize that wall unit just wasn’t going to work well in this new house.  In addition, the 3 pieces really needed a fresh coat of paint.  It was a HUGE  job to paint this beast the first time around so I was not up for the challenge of painting it  again now, especially when I wasn’t happy with it in this house and I have so many other projects on my “To Do” list.

I decided it was (past) time to let the wall unit go so recently my hubby and I hauled all three pieces up to the main road and left them there, hoping a passing motorist or neighbor would come along and adopt them.  Before we had even gotten out of sight, someone was stopping to check them out!

With no wall unit anymore, I needed someplace to display my late grandmother’s milk glass pieces, as well as some of the trinkets and treasures I kept when I purged stuff  before our move to the house in Hooterville so I started looking for something that would work in the new living room.

I found this and based on all the positive reviews, I decided to order two  of the 36 inch size in white.   My hubby was able to get them assembled this past weekend.

Well….I suppose for the price, they aren’t bad but there were a few things I didn’t like about them.

The back piece was folded in half for shipping, which is typical for this kind of furniture, but when it was opened up and attached to the bookcase, there was a large and very noticeable vertical gap.

I ended up filling the gap with white caulk but it still shows more than I would like.  Eventually, I may end up covering the backs with bead board wallpaper.

There were also some gaps where pieces were joined.

I filled them with white caulk too and it looks better.  More seamless.

Once I got the bookcases caulked and all my nick-nacks arranged, I was pleased with the way they look flanking my sofa. 

That picture (temporarily) propped on the back of  the sofa was in the living room in  my previous home and the green mat looked really nice on my light sage green walls there.  Obviously though,  it’s not working with the pale gray I painted the walls here.   I plan to keep the big, chunky white frame (it cost me an arm and a leg!) but I am debating whether to keep the print and have just the green mat replaced, or have  both  the  mat and print replaced.  I haven’t decided yet.

And I’m still working on the area directly across from the sofa.    There’s lots left to do on that side of the room!

I Love Flip-Flops

Ever since I retired from the business world in 2007, I have pretty much lived in flip-flops.  Here in Florida, we can almost wear them year-round.

I SERIOUSLY love flip-flops!

Why do I love flip-flops so much?  Well, that's an easy question to answer!

• They are easy to slip on and off.

• They are cool and comfortable.

• One of my guilty pleasures is regular pedicures and flip- flops allow me to show off whatever pretty color  polish I have on my toes. 

• The styles and colors are endless.

• They’re cheap.  Most of the time I pay far less than $15.00 a pair so a shoe-a-holic, like me, can have a pair of cute flip-flops in every color to match every outfit, without breaking the bank.

Did I mention, I think they are really comfortable???

 

Now, if you are like me and love flip-flops, you probably have at least a few (and possibly way too many) pairs.

And maybe if you have a *few* pairs of flip-flops, the bottom of your closet just might look like mine. 

 

(YIKES!  It’s a wonder I can even find a matching pair in that mess!  Believe it or not, I’m such a neat freak in most all other areas of my life.)

The other day, I was blog hopping and on the blog, EPBOT,  I ran across the most ingenious idea for keeping flip-flops neatly organized.

Isn’t that fabulous?!  This is definitely one of those ideas that makes you say, “Why didn’t I think of THAT?”

I am SO going to put this on my list of projects!

If the bottom of your closet is covered with a messy mound of flip-flops like mine, go check out her easy  tutorial on how to make these flip-flop hangers.  (She also shows how the hangers work for ballet flats too, if those are more your thing).

I’m Calling This Bathroom *DONE* ! (For Now)

The (drywall) dust was flying again this past weekend at the house in Hooterville. 

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you might remember one of the first rooms I fixed up in this house was a bathroom right off the breakfast room.  This was the way it looked the day we looked at the house.

 

Now, if money were no object, I would have gutted it and started from scratch but there were other rooms that offended me more so I just decided to replace the toilet and do a cosmetic makeover with paint, fabrics and a few accessories.

But this is what it looked like this weekend! 

When we gutted this bathroom, we took the old light fixture from there to replace the “Hollywood” light that was in here.  The existing electrical box for the light over the sink was too low and the *new* light fixture had to be hung upside down in order to be able to open the doors of the medicine chest/mirror.  It’s been precariously hanging upside down for six months.

This weekend my hubby moved the electrical box up and dry-walled over the old hole.

If you’ve ever had any drywall work done in your home, you know it’s a messy proposition.  Every surface ends up looking like this.

Fortunately, everything is now cleaned up and the light is hanging the right way.  (Scratch one more project off the “To Do” list!)

And since I no longer have a slew of workmen using this bathroom and leaving the toilet seat up, I removed this *lovely* piece of “artwork” which was hanging over the toilet…

 

…and replaced it with something a little prettier.

 

I do believe this bathroom is *DONE*.    Well, at least done until I feel like we can afford the time and money to replace the tub, shower tile,  vanity, medicine chest/mirror and install new flooring.