I can relate to this...

I read this quote recently and thought it was a great description of how I see myself in my home.

"Home is a place where we welcome each family member with a sense of belonging. Home is a place where we are free to bring the fullness of our womanhood to bear in every sphere of our life. A woman's place is in the heart- the heart of her husband, the heart of her children and the heart of her home. Home is a refuge that we create for every family member. Homemaking is a call to express fully our personhood and thereby enable every member of the family to understand his or her dignity and worth. I am the queen of my realm. I am the heart of my home."
-Kimberly Hahn, Graced and Gifted

A work in progress....

Again, I failed to take a before pic, but this is definitely not the after shot of this fun little drop leaf table I got at an estate sale for $10. It was pretty sad looking when I first got it, was painted the color of that deck stain that people use that completely clashes with everything else on their exterior. You know the color, a reddish brown. It had lots of other signs of wear and tear too. I took the orbital sander to it and was amazed at how that helped! I wanted a green color and had about 1/2 a pint of this color in my garage. Since it was about 9 pm last night when I decided to paint, I chose to use it even though it was very thin and lumpy. The lumps eventually almost disappeared after some stirring. I have found that I like painting furniture with thin paint. I seem to have less drips and can put several layers on without it getting too thick and gummy. I plan to thin out all my paint for furniture from here on.

I haven't decided what my next step is going to be. She looks like she needs some embellishment... like decoupage, or swirly white something on it. Any suggestions?

From a Man's Shirt to a Girl's Dress!

If you sew, you're going to love this!!! I found this great Tutorial on a fun sewing blog about how to turn a men's shirt into a dress.

It's a super simple dress to make. The only hard part was creating the pattern from her example to fit my daughter. But, now that I have a pattern I should be able to whip more up soon. I stood in line behind about 50 people on "Dollar Day" at Goodwill when it opened so that I could get a few more shirts.

Wish I had taken a pic of the shirt before I changed it. There are all types of ways you can change this up, particularly the sleeves.

Check this lady out too.... she's amazing with a man's shirt!

Refurbulous

I've had a lot of fun shopping garage sales this spring! Here's a really cute little chair I got for a steal ($5). It has what people like to say, "great bones," or "character." I can't wait to paint it cute. Wouldn't it be darling in a little girl's room or painted like a regal throne for a little knight's room? I also think it would be cute painted for a front porch with the house numbers going down the front. Any suggestions? What color should it be? I'll probably make it cute and re-sell it, so if you want it, speak now!!

A new venture!!!

I have decided to actually start calling my crafting/sewing endeavors a business. And since every business should have a name, mine is The Cottage Petaler. I think it fits me well as I love cottage style and vintage stuff and I will be trying to pedal stuff off to all of you who like my creations.
This blog is dedicated to all the crazy things I've been up to as my creative side finds time to express itself.
Check back often so you don't miss any giveaways!!