A Southern Belle with Northern Roots/Junkflirt

I have to say this year I started decorating and 10 minutes into it.....every ounce of inspiration left me.
Perhaps it is the early Thanksgiving, or too many cloudy days,
maybe the dread of hauling everything out and putting it back.
I still managed to get things up but this year I feel I will be tweaking a lot.

 For now....small touches in the china hutch are just enough to spark my satisfaction, I love leaving most of my regular items out , I used to pack so much away and redo entire areas. That has proven to be too much work, I have chosen to opt for simpler decor and things that store easily.


Tucking in bulbs, greenery, and beads gives the sparkle without needing to "redo".










The more vintage items I collect the less I want to store them away for the season, gone are all the stuffed Santas, most of the nick knacks, and the kid type decor, which now allows me to incorporate those small touches in more areas with less items.
 I still see so many great ideas around the web I would like to do sometime, each year I wean out a few more things.
With both our kids out of the house for the first Christmas I have pawned off many decorations to them, I can now simplify decorating.....until grandbabies come along and I once again house a giant dancing reindeer or entertain an elf on the shelf.




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Cowgirl Up






blessings and thanks for visiting

A new believe-ability to the zombie apocalypse.
It seems you don't have to go far to see or hear some reference to it, whether in jest or trepidation, there is some deep seeded belief something terrible is looming.

Zombie movies of old were pure gore fests, full of the undead on the hunt for brains, all having come to life after vicious attacks and weird anomalies.
Today more advanced zombies mutate from bio tech accidents, lab experiments and viral mutations. In some fiction they no longer die and reanimate, more believable??

Preparedness shows and blogs tell us how to live off the grid, a return to pioneer ways of raising your own food, making soap and loading ammunition.
Usually the television show or movie takes place after some horrific attack, takeover by government or some "end to life" as we know it event, leaving humanity plunged into a survival of the fittest. Power struggles ensue between the good and evil
  between the zombies and the sane.

People have become willing to believe the Mayan calendar is right,
  that a nuclear attack is eminent,
    they will believe we will create technology able to overthrow organic life.
They will even entertain a flesh eating mass of barely there humanity invading our homes and our lives.

Ask most people to entertain the idea of humanity overtaken by sinful behavior, unwilling to repent or even admit guilt, overtaken by a God of wrath coming to judge those sins....
      and you will be laughed at.
Tell those same people that they can avoid that wrath on a personal level by believing and surrendering now to Christ who paid the penalty due them for their sins on the cross....
           and you will be mocked.

Tell them the Bible speaks of Armageddon
     of despair
that humanity will be abusive, arrogant, disobedient, ungrateful...
  that humanity will be treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit....
lovers of self and money,
deceiving. (2 Tim 3)
Tell them the land and sea will die;
that men will be scorched by the sun and they will gnaw their tongues in anguish. (Rev 16)
Tell them a holy God will come to judge.

Christians, Tell them!
Do not dismiss them.
The people are willing to believe something terrible lies in wait
Tell them Satan lies in wait like a roaring lion.

The people are willing to believe this world will end
Tell them a new world will be created without pain, sorrow or sin.

The people are willing to believe mankind will turn into wicked, dying, rotting corpses,
Tell them mankind is already there.

The people are willing to believe they can be prepared for attack, that they can withstand and survive against evil.
Tell them they can! by Jesus Christ as their king and his word as their sword.

People are willing to believe in the zombie Apocalypse

Do not waste this witness opportunity.






Spiritual Sundays










blessings and thanks for visiting

First to those of you who helped with advice on what to do with this piece...Thank you. Second to those who said "Don't paint it, I am so sorry."
I painted it.



Although I did love the old wood, the piece was just so dark and since it is large in a small home it didn't blend well, for my taste anyway. I did love the rich contrast but I went ahead with the paint.

As I began, I realized I loved the gray idea, but it was not going to go with the room at all, and the yellow ......was the exact color of the wall.
Although the  wall color was bought years ago and was another brand ....It matched it perfectly, had I tried to do that- it would have never happened!
I even put a splash of paint on the wall and you couldn't even tell where it was.
That put the yellow as the primary out! The pumpkin I had ended up being too dark, so the ever trusty white came around, and yellow went as the accent.




Because the piece was old, it roughed up easily but I did put candle wax on the edges, keeping paint from adhering and then making the sanding go much quicker, thanks Emma for the tip!!



I realize some will say....."you ruined it!"
  But I love pieces that look like they came out our your great aunts farmstead. Whenever I see pieces like this I think of my great aunt Julia. She had red hair and always wore a print dress with an apron, along with over boots as she went about slopping hogs and feedin' chickens.
She would stir up a pot of stew and slurp right from the big spoon, dunking it back into the broth, slurp and all!
She lived on a farm in the middle of a town that used to be.

Her house was on top of the hill that was filled with Crocus every Spring.


I don't remember the exact things in her house, I know they were dated.
The new things came from the 60's, the floors were crooked and the house was...well lived in.
I loved every trip there.
  for some reason, this makes me think of that time
                 and that makes me smile.






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Miss Mustard Seed





blessings and thanks for visiting

Just a little guy talk, a small departure from the usual girl stuff. (Ps then I can pin my guy's stuff to the manly pinboards!)


This Summer my husband came across a gun safe, something he has always wanted but just wasn't in the budget. This one was open at a sale for only $50.....why so cheap? It was open because the man lost the combination. Knowing as long as it was open it could be "cracked" we offered $40 and came home with a pretty nice safe and one big dead spider.

My husband is frugal, he doesn't spend much money and is always looking for the best deal, he wanted something to keep handguns mounted on the wall, since each gun mount we found was over $20 a piece it didn't meet his price range.

Now...Mac's is a local hardware, salvage, nuts and bolts by the pound place where we live. In the bargain barn they had some....peg board wire something or anothers, ( sorry for being so technical, I am a girl keep in mind)
these....were 25 cents each



A few washers and nuts on hand and a couple bucks for some rubber tubing, a little bending and the gun mounts were made. Literally less than $5 for what he needed.





Just a bit of black spray paint to touch up and they are done!



blessings and thanks for visiting

You may have seen this piece before, I rescued it curb side last May, I think the time has come to paint it.
These are the colors I am thinking of more or less,
This gray is a little lighter than I would actually use and the yellow is a shade or two darker than the wall.
My idea....for now
Primary color as the yellow with gray in door center and drawers
Pumpkin on knobs and maybe the upper shelf.
Too much??
Better idea??
There is copper in the kitchen that would help balance any pumpkin color, I have a misc painted table and chair set of white, really light green and red.

room shot

so what would you do? I know so many of you do wonderful furniture work, here is the thing, I am not going to go and buy the good stuff, you know that magic milk paint, because it is not in my budget. I am thinking of trying the vaseline technique to help with the old look and would love any tips on that.

I would much appreciate your help I will be starting tomorrow....no rush LOL!!




blessings and thanks for visiting

In the coldest room of the house
  during weeks of very little sun
Stuck in a pot of mud
a beautiful flower blooms.



It finds comfort in those things around it
  cozy, peaceful and content.
Perhaps not exactly what it wanted
still, a beautiful flower blooms.



At times parched
   and forgotten,
 warm Summer sun can no longer be felt
and winter laughs outside..
 yet, a beautiful flower blooms.



It worries not for what is to come
drinking in all that it can
living it's short life in splendor
that beautiful flower blooms.












blessings and thanks for visiting

I have always loved large letters on the wall. If you have a Hobby Lobby or similar craft store near you, these can be made for a minimal cost.
Cardboard letters were 50% off making them a dollar each and a roll of jute was around $5, cheaper with a 40% coupon.
A few hot glue sticks and your set.



The T is the easiest and the A takes a bit more time. On simple straight areas you just need to secure the first bit of string and then wrap, when you get to longer areas use a dab of glue here and there, to help keep it even and more secure.
Pick a back side to help hide your extra glue and have less stress over wrapping perfection.
That way you can focus on the look of one side that will show while being more practical on the other.






The edges of the letters a bit of a pain, not because it is hard but you need more glue which just makes it more messy. I just put glue on and did a coil type wrap for these. With the E and A or any other odd letters you use for your word, you may have to do several starts and stops, a little gathering on curves etc in order to make it work. Any time you switch up your string flow be sure to secure well.





 I made a jute loop on the back of each but the E needs a pin to keep it straight for now....until I fix it, which in reality could be ....never.

At only a buck a piece I may go and get more to have as templates for large letters too. The ones at Hobby Lobby are very nice and sturdy and should hold up well.



Open House Party
Feathered Nest Friday
What's It Wednesday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Creative Things Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday 
Home Sweet Home
Funky Junk
Home and Garden Thursday
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Potpourri Friday
Tweak it Tuesday
Be Inspired
Thrifty Things Friday



blessings and thanks for visiting

These photos have sat in draft for a month now, I will soon take down Fall decor, not because Fall is over...but in ND....Fall is over. Even with Thanksgiving coming I feel the need to transition to a less vibrant color. We have no leaves left, winter coats are making their way out of the closet and snow has fallen a couple times already.
Snowmen are on the horizon....
Christmas around the corner
and winter just sets in my frame of mind when the time change comes.
We have had nothing but clouds for a couple weeks now.....starts to wear on a person.
Blah!
Blogger blues, weather blues, election blues.....
time to refocus.
A sprucing up of the house, a few crafts perhaps.
Lots of the word, Lord knows that is what I need this week and if the election turns out wrong....I will need more than I can comprehend!
I am sure you have seen the "No matter who is president, Jesus is King."
That is what I need to be focusing on.

We are having friends over to either celebrate or lament on Tues eve, (election day).
I will be thankful all the commercials will at least come to an end!

Thankfulness....
    I stand at that place that verges on seasonal depression....not holidays in so much as just winter blues.
So time to make a list
Thankfulness......
to God and his son Jesus Christ
for family and health
for friends
for freedom, may God protect it.
For luxury....hot water, food, warm home and clothes.
For sunrises and sunsets, for ever changing seasons and a never changing God.

For peace that can only be truly attained by the understanding that when the clouds are heavy and gray, when the cold is breathing upon you....
when despair lurks behind you...ready to pounce,

your peace comes not from this world
not from you comfort
but from faith in one bigger, better, stronger,
from the one who is King
and always will be.

















blessings and thanks for visiting