My Military Mansion

Little Drummer Boy

2010-04-10T20:48:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone. Happy Monochrome Weekend to you and yours. My daughter and I enjoyed the reenactment of the battle of Pleasant Hill today. The participants were decked out in Civil War period attire. It was an interesting experience.

Here is a photo of a little drummer boy.

Yall have a great Sunday.

Laura

Monochrome Weekend: Tank

2010-04-02T17:10:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the mansion. It is time for Monochrome Weekend. You know you live on or near a military installation if....

There are dozens of old tanks, planes, and helicopters just sitting around.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed Easter.

You Capture...Feet

2010-03-31T20:45:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. I am joining in a new link party this week. It is called You Capture. The theme this week is FEET. Hmmmmm. I had a hard time with this one. I don't normally take pics of feet. Do you? I once met a guy who really like feet. I bet he has some good photos to share!

So....I looked back through my files and found a picture of thing 3 in his B-day suit. I cropped out the "suit" and am posting just the feet. Here ya go.

This little guy is always trying to get into something. At this particular moment, he had already made his way into the water fountain and drenched himself. Thus, the birthday suit.

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend.

Outdoor Room

2010-03-29T22:01:00.013-05:00

Howdy yall. Welcome to the mansion. I am now the proud owner of an "outdoor room." AKA enclosed porch. Here is a pic of what our back porch looked like when the previous owners lived in our "mansion."
Can you say, "YUCK?" I sure can, "YUCK!" Well, after searching the web and finding this inspiration photo.... I really liked the wood design on the bottom of the porch. I also really wanted a space that would be screened. We have lots of pesty bugs down here in the swamp!

I had no sooner spoke my desire to have such an outdoor space, when Aunt Kathleen, Super Aunt, offered her services. She also offered Uncle Charlie's services. They are both great wood workers and can manage a saw much better than anyone actually living in the "mansion." Well, they arrived and the work began. First we had a frame...
Then the fancy woodwork began. Lots of miter cuts involved in that.... After screen, paint, and a cute door we have this...

Isn't it fabulous? Can't wait to make faces at all of those crazy bugs wanting in my new outdoor room.

Now, for those of you who live in quarters...When I did live in quarters (13 years of them) I always had some sort of covered patio situation. This was either in the back or the front of the house. You could construct a frame and do a similar outdoor room or you could use sheets of lattice to create an enclosed space. I know! You are saying, "But we can't alter our quarters like that." Horse Pucky. I have altered every housing I have ever lived in. I just made sure that my alterations were gone when I cleared.

A big thank you to Aunt Kathleen (super aunt) and Uncle Charlie (her sidekick) for all of their hard work and planning.

I am linking this post to

DIY at A Soft Place To Land.

Toot Your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow.

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Thing 2 Swings

2010-03-29T15:15:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the mansion. It is time again for the I Heart Faces photo challenge. This week is dramatic B/W.

Thing 2 is deep in thought on the new tire swing. Who knows what is going on in that mind of his. Hope it is something wonderful.

View From The Road

2010-03-28T21:42:00.002-05:00

It is time for the Monochrome Weekend.

Well...I am sending in a sepia pic this weekend. This is my neighbor's yard. Gorgeous. Have a wonderful weekend.

Thing 3 In Thought

2010-03-22T09:54:00.006-05:00

Hello to everyone. It is time again for the I Heart Faces photo challenge. This week's challenge is based on angles. Here is my submission for the week....

This is thing 3 contemplating his next move on the playground. Deep thoughts for such a little guy.

Beige Wash

2010-03-21T15:55:00.009-05:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the mansion today.

I have mentioned before, several times, that I live in a "cave" house. By "cave" I mean DARK. When we moved in, the walls, floors, and ceilings were all dark wood planks. Husband loved it, I did not. So...I have SLOWLY but surely changed the dark to less dark.

One of the ways I tried to key down the dark was to beige wash a few walls. I put one part paint to three parts water and stirred it up real good. Then, I brushed it on the boards and quickly wiped it off. This gave me a much less dark wooden wall. You can still see the grain, but no brown. See.....
Ahhhh. So much easier on the eyes. The finished product came out like this...

This process of "washing" was super easy and free. I used the paint that I had from painting other parts of the house.

Well....I must not be the only one with the "washing" idea. I pulled my new copy of House Beautiful out of the mailbox, and what do you know? There on the cover was a wonderful room with paint "wash" all over it. See.....

So...pretty.

I have been thinking of how you could accomplish this look if you live in quarters. Here are my thoughts...You could nail up one by eights or something like that and wash them. Then, when you move out, just pull down the boards. This would leave some holes to fill, but that is nothing new. You could also put up 4 by 8 paneling and do the wash on it. This would leave less holes. Not as attractive, but an option. I have actually lived in quarters that had half wall paneling already up. I could have washed that. Wish I would have thought of it then.

There you have it. "Washed" walls. Hope you enjoyed the pics and the info. Come back again when you get a chance.

Head on over to The Shades of Pink for more Room A Month ideas.

Check out Between Naps on the Porch for great Metamorphosis.

Look to A Silly Little Sparrow for other Tuesday Toots.

It's Talented Tuesday at My frugal Family.

Laura

Monochrome Weekly...Walking on Glass

2010-03-20T06:22:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the mansion. It is time again for the Monochrome Weekly Event.

This is my entry this week. I took a picture of some little mirrors strung out on the table and then put a picture of my kiddos on one of the mirrors.

Walking on Glass!

And there you have it. "Walk" on over to Monochrome Weekly to see all of the wonderful photos.

Poke Me, I'm Done!

2010-03-12T06:34:00.012-06:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion.

So...do you ever need a little gift for a crafty friend? How about a pretty little teacup pin cushion? See......
This particular nifty gifty cost about a whopping BUCK! Now that is what I call a steal of a deal. This is what you do...
First, find yourself a cute coffee or teacup for almost nothing

Next, cut a circle of fabric 8-10 inches in diameter. (depending on the size of your cup) Lay it flat. Put a big blob of polyfill on top of the fabric. Then, place a metal dish scrubber on the polyfill. (you can get these 3 for a dollar at the dollar store) Now, you will need to sew some big stiches around the outside of the circle to gather the circle into a ball. OK. Now you are ready to hot glue the ball into the cute little cup. Just squeeze a bunch of glue into the cup and press the fluff ball into the glue. Add a few little pearl head pins and some ribbon, and walaaaaa....thrifty nifty gifty DONE! Just to recap...here is all you will need.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion today. Hope you can take this idea and tuck it away for future use.

Stop by Today's Creative Blog for super crafty ideas.

And, click on over to A Picture is Worth 1000 Words for trash to treasure.

Jump For Joy

2010-03-07T19:51:00.007-06:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the mansion this fine evening. It is time for the
I heart faces weekly pic. This week's theme is JUMP FOR JOY!

My entry is Thing 2 jumping after his wooden sword. Hark....it's Thing 2.

So Close You Can Touch It!

2010-03-06T12:56:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone. Welcome to the manison. It is time for the

Monochrome Weekly Theme.
This is a great link up where you share your favorite black and white or sepia photos. It is wonderful. Here is my entry for this week....

Spring is so close you can touch it!

Grosgrain All Around

2010-03-01T22:29:00.010-06:00

Hi everyone. Welcome to the mansion. I wanted to share a quick and easy decorating idea with you all today. As it is a frugal decor idea, I am linking up to a new blog that I found...Finding Fabulous. There you will find tons of frugal ideas for Frugalicious Friday.

Grosgrain ribbon all around your room!

Our walls are really tall in this house. I keep trying to think of ways to break them up in the different rooms. On one of our trips to see the in laws, I noticed that my mother in law's "decorator" had attached grosgrain ribbon to the tops and bottoms of the walls in her kitchen. It looked great. The professional had secured the ribbon with wallpaper glue and the professional had charged a great deal of money to do the job. I am "anti-glue" and "anti great deal of money!" So, I promptly bought some grosgrain ribbon at Hobby Lobby (50% off) and got myself a jug of liquid starch. I LOVE liquid starch.

This is what I did with it...
It is difficult to take photos of a large portion of the walls at one time...sorry. But, I starched the strips of ribbon to the tops and bottoms of the walls. I left two inches of painted wall above the ribbon which is also two inches wide.

Here are some on the bottoms of the walls...

And one more top...

The key to success with this project is to buy your ribbon in one long piece. ( so you can cut the exact length of each wall) After you cut your wall length of ribbon, dunk the entire piece into the liquid starch. Then, stick it to the wall. Smooth the ribbon out with a sponge. Wipe off the excess starch. After the starch is dry you can clean up the wall with a damp sponge.

When you get tired of the ribbon border, just pull it off. Wipe the walls with a damp sponge, and it is like it was never there. NOTE: don't do this on flat paint....it doesn't clean up like satin or semi does.

And that is that. I have also seen this done in a little girl's room with wide pink grosgrain ribbon around the center of the room. Cute!!!

For other DIY wonders...visit A Soft Place To Land.

You can also see some super metamorphosis ideas at...Between Naps On The Porch.

Toot YOUR horn over at ...Silly Little Sparrow.

Yall have a great day.

Laura

Hilarious Outtakes

2010-02-27T22:00:00.011-06:00

The I Heart Faces photo challenge this week is...Hilarious Outtakes.

Thing 2 found something hilarious on this train ride.

His sister didn't share in his hilarity.

Sisters are like that sometimes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Laura

Flower "Toot"

2009-11-24T09:19:00.007-06:00

Howdy gals. Welcome to the mansion. Wanted to take a moment to "toot" my horn today.

Lots of folks are doing the same over at Silly Little Sparrow.

I LOVE flowers. All flowers. A couple of times a month I pick up a pack of blooms at Wally World to spruce up my entrance table. Just seeing the pretty stems makes me happy every time I walk in the door.

Well...I decided this year to buy only yellow roses and to dry them and keep them for a Christmas project. I wanted to make little rose bundles to place on the Christmas tree. Nothing elaborate, just five dried roses, a pretty pick (from Hobby Lobby) and tie it all together with some ribbon. I ended up having enough dried flowers to do 12 bundles and have a few for the star as well....I didn't think to take pics of the "putting together" but here are a few of the finished product....

I like the way they turned out.

Here are a few of my helpers this year...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

This will also be posted at DIY Tuesday over at A Soft Place to Land.

Dollar Store Wreaths!

2009-11-22T19:11:00.010-06:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Sunday. A few days ago I posted some wreaths and asked which you all like the best. (Check that out here.) You all chose the bell wreath. It was indeed gorgeous. See?
Well...I decided to try the bell wreath. I trotted myself down to the dollar store and loaded up on some wreath items.... I got some floral wire, a roll of gold ribbon, and 4 boxes of bells. My friend Judi ( Hi Judi!) also gave me some silver bells she had leftover from a project. I used the items to make two wreaths. So...that averages out ot 3 bucks per bell wreath.

I made a circle out of the floral wire and started loading the bells on the wire. I put one big bell and then five small bells and repeated this until I was done. Then I had a solid circle of bells. Next I tied a big gold bow and attached it to the wreath. At first, I hung the wreaths from the door knobs like "Martha." But, upon further thinking I decided that my kiddos would be too tempted to yank them off...over and over again. So, I attached them to the tops of the doors...

I really like the way they turned out. The gold and silver go well with our Christmas decor theme this year.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion to take a peek. I will be posting more wreaths and holiday decor in the days ahead. Have a great week.

For other crafty ideas hop on over to Its So Very Cheri.
And to see some super metamorphosis projects try Met Monday at Between Naps On The Porch.

Cottage Instincts is also hosting Make it Monday.

Monochrome Weekly: Missouri Sky

2009-11-22T18:45:00.001-06:00

Hello ladies and gents. It is Monochrom Weekly Monday....yeah. This is my entry this week. It is a photo of the Missouri sky.

Hop on over to Monochrome Weekly to see all the great black and white photos.

Three Blind Mice: Monochrome Weekly

2009-11-17T19:27:00.002-06:00

Monochrome Weekly: Black and Whites from around the world.

I am submitting my "three blind mice."

DeRidder, Louisiana

Super Simple Stockings

2009-11-16T19:01:00.014-06:00

Hello and welcome to the mansion. I am 'tooting my own horn' today at Silly Little Sparrow.

As I have mentioned before, (here) I am one of those folks who can't commit to a constant Christmas decor theme. It is a sickness. Because money does not grow on trees here in the great state of Louisiana, I must find fun and frugal ways to satisfy my constant desire for CHANGE!

Each year stockings are a big issue. They must match the tree and the wreath, etc. What to do? I saw these beauties at pottery barn...

Love them. I like the simple white with the name. However, I don't like the 30.00 price tag. So, I went to Wally World and got some white felt. I think I paid 5 dollars for it. I drew a simple stocking and cut it out. I loaded the sewing machine with some black thread and started making some monograms. I also added some fancy stitching.
I sewed the stocking all the way around, and it was done. The ended up costing about one dollar a piece. Not quite a stunning as the pottery barn version, but I like them a lot. Here is one more pic... Thanks for stopping by to see my super simple stockings. Have a great day.

I am also posting at The DIY Show Off .

And, scoot on over to A Soft Place To Land for more DIY goodies.

The Porch Bathroom

2009-11-11T19:49:00.014-06:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. It's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch. I am joining in.

Have you ever had a room in your home that is just WEIRD? We do. When we bought our house several months ago we did the purchase via computer. Although we had 60 or so pics of the property, there were a few things that could not be fully appreciated from a photo. One of these things was our porch, turned sunroom, turned office, BATHROOM. Yep. Several owners before us had enclosed the back porch to make a sunroom. The next owner used the space as an office. The owner following that decided that our 1923 farmhouse needed a second bathroom... So...they removed the desk and "threw" in a toilet, tub, and sink. I am not kidding. It kinda looked like they threw the toilet, tub, and sink up in the air and where they landed, they stayed.

OK...so we got over the placement of the stuff, but we just couldn't get over the 10 windows with ill fitting mini-blinds. You couldn't do any sort of "business" without flashing anyone outside.

Here are some before photos.

The bathroom had no storage, a mirror that was too large for the vanity, and a dark green color paint. And....those awful mini-blinds.

Our first thought was to take most of the windows out and wall the bathroom in a bit...too expensive. Our next thought was to have shutters made for the windows...too expensive. After much debate we decided to purchase ten sets of outdoor shutters, paint them, and hang them ourselves. We added some new paint, a new mirror, and some furniture for storage.

This is what we ended up with...

Yeah....no more gaps to see through. We can still open the shutters when we want sunshine. The furniture helped to balance the room with the small vanity. The color change warmed everything up a bit. Still a few things to do, but we are loving the updates.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion. Come back soon.

Also posted at Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage , Get R Done Friday at Expressly Corgi , and Room a Month at TheShades of Pink.

Posting for the first time at It's So Very Cheri for It's So Very Creative .

Monochrome Weekly Theme...

2009-11-10T19:24:00.003-06:00

I am joining in at Monochrome Weekly Theme today. Here is my entry...

I took this picture at a retreat in Missouri this past weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Who Ate My Armadillo?

2009-11-10T19:05:00.001-06:00

Howdy ladies. It is Ruby Tuesday at Work of the Poet. So, I am joining in for the first time.

Last month I had the opportunity to visit Natchitoches, LA, for a tour of homes. One of those houses happened to be the home featured in the movie, Steel Magnolias. If you have not seen this flick, leave now and rent it....If you have seen the movie, you will remember the Red Velvet Armadillo Cake. This was the groom's cake created by "Weezer" for "Shelby's" wedding. Well....the fabulous owners of the Steel Magnolia house offered all of us on the tour a bit of nostalgia in the form of....you guessed it....Red Velvet Armadillo Cake. It was served in the garage right where it was served in the movie. It was delicious and comical all at the same time.

Thanks for stopping in to the mansion.

Blue Kitchen Angels

2009-11-09T19:16:00.007-06:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion on this fine Monday. Blue Monday! It is Blue Monday over at Smiling Sally's. Stop on by and see all the fine blue stuff.

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to Missouri with some lovely ladies from my bible study group. As the trip was twelve hours long, one wonderful woman offered up her inlaw's home for a half way stay spot. Well.....little did I know that this great home would be full of fabulous treasures to share with you all.

One of the beauties in abundance was this....
BLUE KITCHEN ANGELS! I had no idea there was such a thing. Mrs. Shrepfer (the nice lady who let us take over her home) had oodles of them. All sizes....

I know this is Blue Monday, but there were lots of pretty pink ones as well...

Did I mention there were OODELS of them?????

Well, there you have it. Kitchen angels in blue and pink. I had never seen the likes of them before. I love it when a new treasure is brought to my attention. Now I will have to search for one of my very own. Have you ever seen these gals before?

Thanks for dropping in.

Laura

Painted Rug

2009-11-02T19:28:00.008-06:00

Howdy ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Tuesday. I want to share the boys' rug with you all today. It started out as a cheapo green rug from Wally World. However, when we put it between the boys' beds, it looked less than fabulous. So...what to do? Aha! Paint it!

First I marked off a large rectangle to create a border. Then I grabbed some brown, black, and green paints (the craft paints in the craft section of Wal-Mart) and started painting blobs on the border area of the rug. More blobs... After the border looked nice and camo-like, I used some stencils to paint the boys' names in yellow. Here is the finished rug. And, here are some pics of the rug in their room....

Thanks for stopping by.

For some really great diy projects jump on over to A Soft Place to Land.

If you are looking for a new craft to try click over to Today's Creative Blog.

A Question of Wreaths...

2009-11-01T19:59:00.011-06:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. I am trying to decide on a wreath. I want to make a wreath (or two) and I don't want to spend extreme amounts of money doing it. The Teague Christmas colors this year are white, black, gold, and silver. So...here are some ideas that I have come across...

Very cute wreath made with puzzle pieces.

Gorgeous paper stars.

Lots of different holiday stuff spray painted white.

Beautiful paper wreath.

Traditional wreath with balls and berries. Fluffy white balls and leaves.

Simple silver bells. Leave it to Martha....

I think that the "bones" of all of these could be purchased at the local dollar store. What do you think?

I will keep looking....maybe something will "speak" to me soon.....ha.

Have a great week.

Three Blind Mice

2009-10-31T22:54:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone. Welcome to the mansion.

Well...another Halloween is under our belts. Every year is a challenge to come up with costumes for the kiddos. I am one of those folks who loves a theme. So...I try really hard to get all three little peeps excited about a group dress up. This proves to be a bit tricky with ages ranging from 13 to 3. Anyhoo! This year we went with....THREE BLIND MICE! Have a looksee...

There they are...the faces a mom dearly loves.

We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween full of tricks and treats. Tomorrow starts the quest for next year's great group costume idea. Any thoughts? Do tell!

"Sour" Acorns

2009-10-28T19:58:00.011-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. While looking at the pottery barn site the other day, I came across this pic.

Love it. Those are not real acorns, they are "vase filler" acorns. They reminded me of some really cute acorns I saw at a fabulous gift shop in Natchitoches, LA. Someone had made large acorns out of plastic lemons and pinecones. I decided to give it a try.... Got me some dollar store lemons. You might be able to get them even cheaper at Hobby Lobby with 50% off.... I grabbed two shades of brown paint and a paintbrush. I painted about 2/3 of the lemon witht he brown paints and let them dry. Next, I gathered up some pinecones and plucked the little pieces off of them. Then, I hot glued the pieces on the remaining yellow portion of the lemon. And walaaaaa.... Big..."Sour" acorns.....love them.

It's not Pottery Barn "vase filler", but...it's not 14.00 plus tax and shipping either....ha. Grab some little lemons and make yourself some big "sour" acorns.

For other thrifty Thursday treasures skip on over to Tales from Bloggeritaville.

And if transformations are your cup of tea, check out The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Buzzzzzz....

2009-10-26T15:14:00.005-05:00

It is challenge day at I heart faces. This week is "Halloween Dress Up." Fun Fun Fun. My submission is a pic of thing 3. The title: Chinese Bumble Bee. Buzzzzz.....

Yall have a great week.

Excited!

2009-10-12T14:18:00.005-05:00

Hello all. Welcome to the mansion. This week's photo challenge on I heart faces is "Excited." 'Round' these parts, nothing is more exciting than sparklers in your pajamas.

I just love the I heart faces weekly challenge. It is getting me all Excited about taking photos.

Seeing Blue in Natchitoches

2009-10-11T21:55:00.009-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this "blue Monday." Smiling Sally is sharing all of the best blue Monday posts. Stop on by and visit her today.

This past weekend, several ladies and I went "cajun." We ventured to Natchitoches, LA for the fall tour of homes. We saw seven of the most beautiful houses in town. We ate Natchitoches' famous meat pies, we did the B&B, and we gobbled up some yummy bread pudding. Does it get any better than that???? Not!

I want to share some "blue" views from my tour of homes adventure with you all today. Enjoy!

Blue napkins, blue cups, and blue willow

Blue flow and a blue basket

Blue flowers...

Blue pitchers, a blue ribbon, and a blue horse

Blue skies, a blue lamp, and a pretty blue bedroom.

After seeing all of the gorgeous sites in Natchitoches, I was "blue" green with envy.... sigh...

Have a wonderful day.

Goodwill Hunting: Christmas Balls

2009-10-06T13:46:00.008-05:00

Hello gals. Welcome to the mansion.

I am one of those crazy people that likes to change my Christmas "theme" every year or so. I love the challenge of thinking up what my tree will look like each new Christmas season. However, my pocket book does not like my thinking this way. So...the race is constantly on to find frugal ornaments and decorations to use.

Not long ago, I decided to try my hand at tassel making. For some reason, my tassels did not turn out quite like I had envisioned them in my head... I am NOT the Nester, that is for sure! Anyways...this ill fated attempt left me with some extra craft materials...ie: fringe, ribbon, beaded things, etc. And...when I was in the Goodwill store a few Thursdays ago (20% off for Military at the DeRidder Goodwill on Thursdays) I found 24 white Christmas balls for 1.60. I grabbed up those balls and headed for home.

Long story short...extra craft materials + cheap Christmas balls + hot glue = cheap tassel ball Christmas ornaments for our 2009 tree. See???

I can't wait to place them on the tree. Have a great day....Laura

Blue

2009-09-28T10:21:00.009-05:00

Howdy gals. It is time for another photo challenge over at i heart faces. This week's challenge is "Blue."

Thing 3's last big surgery left him with two bright blue arm casts. I can tell you right now that he felt mighty "blue" about the whole thing. While we were staying at the hospital, we found a big yellow fish with bright blue hair. This is a pic of Thing 3 and the fish. They were having a very intense pow-wow of some sort.

Skip on over to http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to see all of the "blue" entries.

Have a great day. Laura

Fleur De Punkin'

2009-09-27T13:19:00.009-05:00

It's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on The Porch. The mansion is sharing a Pumpkin Metamorphosis.

Skip on over to www.songbirdtiff.blogspot.com to see some Frugal Fall Decor ideas.

Hello ladies... Welcome to the mansion!

OK....all you GRITS (girls raised in the south) out there can feel my pain on this one....if you live down here in the heat and humidity, you can't carve a pumpkin for display until Halloween morning. If you attempt the impossible and carve anyway, your work becomes a big mushy molded mess in a few days. So starts the never ending search for great "carveless" pumpkin decorating ideas.

I saw some neat ideas on BHG this week...

All of these pumpkins involve painting. Very nice, but I am not a great punkin' painter. Then I came across this one... This one is great. Decoupaged leaves. I was inspired!

So...Aunt Kathleen and I got out some black paper napkins, some punkins and some mod podge and got to work...
We cut some fluer de lis shapes out of the black paper napkins. We also cut out a "T."

Then we mod podged the shapes onto the pumkins. This is what we ended up with...

And here is the final resting spot for our carveless punkins... No mush, no mold, no mess, just pretty cajun fleur de lis pumpkins.

Take a quick trip over to http://www.twiceremembered.blogspot.com/ for Make your Monday.

i Heart Faces: completely candid

2009-09-21T17:44:00.007-05:00

Hi all. This weeks photo challange over at i heart faces is..."Completely Candid". I am not a photographer, or even a whannabe photographer. I just love photos. Here is my contribution to the challange...

I caught "Thing 1" and "Thing 3" sharing some reading space the other day.

Have a great week.

Groundbreaking Experience

2009-09-20T22:37:00.012-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to Metamorphosis Monday. For all of the great posts go on over to http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

We recently had a groundbreaking metamorphosis of sorts. It was groundbreaking AND back breaking. We did an overhaul of the driveway and the flower beds near the house. We started with a gravel drive and zilch for landscaping. See.....There is the yard. Not a lot going on there. I don't have a before of the gravel drive, but...not a lot to look at either.

First we marked the beds with spray paint. Then, we started digging. We dug out the grass and transplanted it to other areas of the yard. Next came building up with new dirt. We called in the big dirt truck and got a dumper full. Our kids, neighbor kids, and kids we didn't even know all showed up with shovels and gadgets to move dirt from one spot to another. We worked and worked....the pile wasn't getting a lot smaller. So...more neighbors showed up with this... Much faster. While the dirt was going down, the pvc was also going in. Husband and neighbor ran the pipe for the sprinkler system. Gotta love that. Men get really dirty when they are messing with pvc.

Next came the big trip to the Nursery. As one who knows nothing about plants, I had many questions. The nursery man was really nice. We got all the plants and headed home. Then, we had to lay out all of the plants where we wanted them.
Finally we planted and mulched.

Now we have a paved, planted, mulched, watered, landscaped yard. Our groundbreaking metamorphosis is done. We learned a lot in the process and we can't wait to spruce it up some more in the spring.

Thanks for stopping in to see our metamorphosis. Much love, Laura

A Splash On My Back!

2009-09-16T12:54:00.011-05:00

Hello ladies. It has been a while, but I am trying to catch up. As most of you know by now, we are in the new military mansion. We have been working and working to get it into tip top shape. Great....but....all of this tip topping has left my piggy bank sounding a bit tapped out.

We finished the bathrooms, the laundry room, and a bunch of other stuff. We were nearing the end of the kitchen and I decided that I needed a tile backsplash. FABULOUS! Major Husband says, "No problem, I will just work a little overtime..." LOL For those of you pounding the military pavement every day, you know how crazy funny that statement really is. 24/7 No overtime...ever...

So, this means that the lady of the mansion and her Aunt don their work clothes and get at it...

Here is a pic of the kitchen before we started any redos.
We left our mark on the wall and started placing tiles with tile adhesive. It went on really easily. We used some little dividers to space the tile just right. We also covered the countertops with brown paper to keep the mess down.
Some of the tiles needed to be cut to fit. No problem. We used a wet tile saw to cut. This was much easier than I thought it would be. We just marked the tile with a wax pencil and went to cutting. After all the tiles were in place...then we grouted with a pre-mixed grout. This is as easy and making mud pies...just real messy!

After intense clean up efforts....we had this....

Not bad. My splash now has a back and my piggy is not much worse for wear. The entire tile job cost about 200.00.

Thanks so much for stopping by today for DIY Thursday. Take a look at all of the wonderful DIY stuff at A Soft Place To Land.

Laura

My Shrinking Bathroom

2009-08-16T20:22:00.015-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Sunday evening. Hope this finds you all well. I wanted to take a moment and share a little bathroom metamorphosis. If you would like to see scads of Metamorphosis Monday posts hop on over to Between Naps On The Porch.

As I mentioned above, my hall bathroom in the new mansion has experienced a metamorphosis. When we moved in a couple of months ago, this is what the bath looked like...

The walls were white and the trim was dark brown. The furniture was dark brown and there was one small light fixture on the wall above the sink. All the dark trim made the 10 foot tall bathroom look really stark and sterile. The one small window made the tall room look even taller. Our mission was to shrink the bathroom and make it less "chilly."

First of all, we painted the walls and the trim. Then we knocked down the glass shower doors.

I painted the furniture black and added a monogrammed shower curtain (thank you lillian vernon, love her!). These things softened the room, but they didn't do anything to shrink that ceiling ...So...we decided to add a large light fixture from the middle of the ceiling. The light is actually an outdoor light, but the space was large enough to accommodate the fixture. The light addition helped with the height of the room, but the tiny window on the big wall still presented a problem for height and blandness. So...off we go to build a cornice board. We used some cheap plywood to put the board together. The height of the board ended up being 15 inches. We put the board at the top of the window and extended the ends of the board 15 inches to either side of the window. We added curtains that fill the extra 15 inches on either side of the window. The whole thing is set upon two "L" brackets.

Look at that! Instead of three empty feet above the window, now we have only about one. And the window looks much larger. Yippee. We threw in some DIY art, a cute stool, and a bamboo shelf.

And finally, we have a finished bathroom that appears to be shorter and less sterile.

That about does it for the shrinking bathroom. Yall have a great week.

Laura

Laundry Anyone?

2009-08-02T19:49:00.012-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. It is Monday and time for Metamorphasis...check out Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch.

Today I would like to share my laundry room makeover with you all. Here is a pic of the before laundry room when we moved into the new mansion...

And...here is Aunt Kathleen painting like a crazy woman.... We painted the room all the way up to the top...10 feet. The color is called Teague Dune. We decided to paint the trim bright white.

Here is the finished laundry room...

I found some great "dune" colored fabric and made a little curtain and a counter skirt. The skirt is box pleated and attached with velcro. I made several hidden openings in the skirt so that I can get to my goodies underneath. I found a bunch of baskets really cheap at Wally World. They are hiding candles, light bulbs, pet supplies, lunch kits, and much more junk. I made some tags out of scrap paper and ribbon to affix to the baskets.

I found a cute mirror laundry sign at the thrift shop for .50. Yippee. And there you have it....the laundry is done. I would like to find a great light to hang from the ceiling....maybe the next trip to the thrift store will make that happen.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion. Have a great week.

We Got A Horse...Kinda...

2009-07-15T22:34:00.012-05:00

Hi there ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Friday. It is time for show and tell over at There is No Place Like Home . Pop on over and check everything out.

We, my husband and I, have lived all over the place in the past 16 years. Germany, Georgia, N. Carolina, Texas....and in every single place we have been a stone's throw from our neighbors. I am so...not kidding about that. Some neighbors were a mere 5 feet across the stairwell. Some neighbors even shared a common wall. We were always surrounded by people...and cement. I would classify all of our prior homes as belonging to the "concrete jungle." Here is a picture of our hometown:

Houston, TX. No grass between your toes going on there.

So...here we sit. In our new "mansion." In the country. Grass between our toes, open spaces, not so near neighbors, and lots of questions... Like...what do we do with all this space? How do we cut all that grass? What is that small creature? Where do we park...there's no concrete? Ha. Being here, we want to embrace everything country. We really do. But, we decided to start small....

His name is Micki Moto. He is a seven year old mini horse. We didn't even know there was such a thing. He is too...cute. The little ones ride on him. They feed him, bathe him, and even scoop the poop.

So, we are jumping into country life...we are just jumping in one "mini" step at a time. All we need now is a mini cow and a mini goat.

I must also confess that we just had someone lay a 5,000 square foot driveway...all brand new beautiful CONCRETE. You can take the family out of the "jungle," but you still have to give them a place to park!

Have a blessed weekend ladies. Check back Monday for our yard metamorphasis.

Polish Pottery Crazy

2009-07-09T21:31:00.013-05:00

Hi. This is a repost from Show and Tell Friday. A couple of ladies suggested that I post on "Blue Monday" over at Smiling Sally. So...here goes...

Hello ladies. It's Show and Tell Friday at "There is no place like home."
I decided to "show and tell" yall about my Polish pottery. That is some of it right up there. It all started in 1994. My husband and I had just moved to Karlsruhe, Germany. The Army "misplaced" our furniture, so all we had in the flat was several pieces of military furniture on loan to us. Sad and pathetic.... Well....our new neighbor knocked on the door and asked if I would like to go to a German thrift sale. Yahooooo....Yes Mam. Several hours later I came home with my first piece of Polish pottery...Thank you Emily... I paid a whopping 5DM for it. That would have been about 3 bucks. I proudly placed it upon my Army issue table. It was our only "pretty" until Uncle Sam called and informed us that he had indeed found our stuff. Gotta love it...ha.

Being the new military spouse that I was, I didn't fully understand the importance of the teapot I had recently acquired. That is, not until Emily knocked on the door again and invited me to go for a weekend ride...to Poland. What???????????????? Yep. Poland...Boleslawiec, Poland. Because, you see, Emily clued me in. We MUST have tons of Polish pottery. We must have oodles and oodles of the stuff. We must drive to Poland with a mere 100 bucks in our pockets. We must find a place to stay in the afore mentioned Polish town. We must go to BOTH of the potteries. And, we MUST buy every last bit of pottery that we can stuff into Emily's Explorer. So...we did. We turned in our 100 bucks for millions of Zlotnys. It was the first and only time that I will ever be a millionaire of any sort. Ha. We bought Christmas pottery... Patriotic pottery... Cheese ladies... We bought every piece of pottery that struck our fancy... I lost track of Emily over the years. But, I owe her many thanks for our trips (we went back a second time), our overnight stays with a nice Polish family (they had a little picture of a bed on there front door...the symbol for...stay in my extra bedroom), and for my enduring love of blue and white pottery.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion.

Stripe Me Happy!

2009-06-28T07:34:00.001-05:00

Metamorphasis Monday: Take a gander at all of the changes at Between Naps On The Porch.

Hello ladies. Welcome to the "new" mansion. It has been almost a month since my last post. Much has happened since... Two flatbed trucks and 17 crates later...here we are. We are getting the new place whipped into shape slowly but surely. We are also learning much about old houses and small country towns (more on that later).

Today I wanted to share a striping project with you all. A polyurethane striping project to be exact. When we arrived here four weeks ago, our dining room looked like this...

10 foot ceilings and white walls left this room feeling like a flour canister. So, first we painted the walls with a neutral color. (Teague Dune from Sherwin Williams) Then we used a laser level to mark 14 inch stripes all around the room. Next, I painted every other stripe with a high gloss polyurethane. One coat did the trick. The end product is a subtle and sophisticated stripe.

Thanks for stopping by the mansion. I hope to share many more thrifty and nifty ideas with you all real soon. Have a blessed week.

Laura@ the mansion

2009-05-27T14:49:00.001-05:00

Hey Ladies. We are homeless for a few weeks. See ya later. Can't wait to share some ideas with the new house.

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

2009-05-17T17:36:00.006-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Sunday evening. It's time for dinner, discuss, dessert.

As the movers are due to arrive bright and early in the morning, The Teagues are doing their best to clean out the food in the pantry. We don't want to carry any more than is necessary.

To that end, we have been eating some crazy stuff. This evening we enjoyed Zataran's black eyed peas with rice and chicken. Not bad. We through in some steamed veggies (trying to clean out the fridge too) and everyone was happy.

DESSERT consisted of leftover ice cream from the boys' birthday party yesterday. Ice cream is always a big hit, whether it's day old or not.

Now for DISCUSS... Tomorrow, just about everything we own will be boxed up and loaded into crates and thrown onto a truck. Then, it will be driven over several states to a holding facility. Next, it will be down loaded and put into storage. Finally, it will be reloaded onto a truck and hauled to the new mansion. Our "stuff" will be in the hands of many different people over the next couple of weeks.

This got me to thinking... In the military, we hear horror stories about folks who watch their stuff loaded onto the truck, wave bye to it all, and get a call some days later informing them that their belongings have fallen into the ocean or burned to bits. I have never met these folks, but they are talked of often. What would I do if I received one of those horrible calls? Hmmm.... I can tell you that not so many years ago, I would have lost it....completely. I would have been terribly distraught over the loss of all my precious "stuff." That is "my" stuff. I have worked for it, decorated it, cleaned it, and treasured it.

Last year, we learned that our dear friends, the Banks' had lost their home in a cat. 3 tornado here in Prattville, AL. The Banks family lost just about everything. They lost their "stuff" and their cars. Thankfully, none of them were hurt. They managed to jump into the tub just in the nick of time. I need to tell you all that I never heard these folks complain about their trials, not once. Not about their cars or their clothes, or their furniture, or their pictures, or anything. What a testament to their faith. What a statement of their character. Their example was inspiring to see.

God tells us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19

As I mentioned earlier, there was a time when I would have been a basket case over the loss of my "stuff." However, something has changed in me. I can't really tell you what or why. I just know that I don't have strong attachments to things now as I once did.

So, I say, "Come...take my stuff...drive away...try not to lose it on the side of the road...but if you do, that's OK too." How do you all feel about your "stuff?" Would you be devastated by its loss? Would you see the situation as a great opportunity to shop for new "stuff?" Would you feel like a weight had been lifted? How attached are you? Do tell...

Have a great week ladies.

Laura

My Bucket Buddy

2009-05-17T05:50:00.000-05:00

My Bucket Buddy
This post was previously displayed as a Project Friday. Today it is being posted on "Sunday Favorites" at Happy to Design. Scoot on over there and see all the previously posted favorites.
Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion today. Fabulous Friday.

Have you ever finished a project and had to ask yourself...."What did I ever do without this thing?" I am wondering this about my bucket buddy. Not long ago I cut a picture out of some magazine and put it in my idea book....here it is...

Isn't that fabulous? I closed the idea book and didn't think of it again until I saw this...

Well...husband happened to be sitting near when I exclaimed over this bucket. He mentioned that he had an old bucket liner thing in the garage. "Run," I said "Don't walk," to get it for me. He did. Here it is...

Not very attractive, huh? I washed it...it smelled like motor oil. I pulled the man tag off of it. And then, I did some sewing and gluing...see????

First I sewed on some white gros grain ribbon that I had. Then, I hot glued some big rick rack on. I was too lazy to change the bobbin color to sew it on....And finally, I had to put my monogram on. (like any good southern girl) And then...I had this....

I love it! I love to wrap things in brown paper. And, being military, I am constantly mailing something to someone far away. I can't believe that I didn't do this earlier. Everything is right there in the bucket (white bucket from Wal-mart for 4.50). Here is a pic of the inside...

And there you have it ladies...the bucket buddy. It cost me 4.50. You could use the bucket buddy for any number of things other than wrapping and mailing. Crafting, cleaning, picnic stuff, home school stuff, stuff to take to lessons when you are sitting and waiting for the kiddies....endless possibilities. I hope you too create a bucket buddy.

Have a great weekend ladies.

Try This: Frugal Plate Hangers

2009-05-14T16:44:00.025-05:00

It is "Show and Tell Friday" @ There is No Place Like Home. This is my first Friday to join in the fun. To see all of the great "Show and Tell" posts click here.

It is also "Frugal Friday" @ Life as Mom. To see all the frugal tips click here.

OK. So....do you sometimes buy things that are WAY too expensive, but you really do need them, so you buy them????? GUILTY. I have decided that I am going to hang around 20 or so plates (small in size) at the new mansion. (Movers come on Monday...biting nails....wheezing...heart racing...what will get broken?) I digress. I also decided that I do not want to use the standard metal plate hanger...the ones that look like this..

I decided to go with the round stick on kind of plate hanger. The ones that look like this..

These things are great. I found them at Hobby Lobby and bought them up. Now...here is the less then frugal part of the story...these little gems are VERY EXPENSIVE. We are talking 3-5 bucks per. But, because I needed them, and because I couldn't think of a way to achieve this type of hanging without them, I bought them....lots of them. Content with my purchase, except for the expense...I went on home. Then, strolling through Dollar Tree, I came upon this... A Package of 8 cloth hangers. They are adhesive on the back and have a metal hook. I think that you are supposed to use them on the wall. But, if you put one on the back of your plate and then use a twist tie, you so....have a plate hanger. See??????????????? Here is the plate with the cloth hanger stuck on....
Here is the cloth hanger with the twist tie attached. Just make a loop with it. Here is me, holding the plate by the twist tie. Then, you just put your nail in the wall, and hang it up. Tada...invisible plate hanger. This version costs 12 1/2 cents per hanger. Much better on the budget. Now...I wouldn't try this with a jumbo plate or platter, but it will do nicely for my purposes.

Needless to say...I am returning my 60.00 plate hangers and heading back to the Dollar Tree. I just have to eat 20 loaves of bread to get all those twist ties. Ha.

Have a great weekend ladies.

Laura

The "Crunch" Chair

2009-05-11T21:14:00.015-05:00

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this terrific "trash to treasure" Tuesday. As some of you know, the movers are to arrive Monday to take us to our new military mansion. There is a pic of it above. With only one week left to go before everything I own is loaded onto a big truck and rolled down the highway, the "crunch" is on. Last week I had pretty much checked everything off of the pre move list....except for a chair for the bedroom. OH BOTHER! I had looked and looked and nothing caught my eye. I was beginning to panic. Would I have to move without a bedroom chair???!!!??? Say it isn't so.

Well, I decided to drive the streets Saturday during the neighborhood yard sales. And I saw this.... Not perfect, not pretty, but it is a good size and you can definitely sit on it... So, I asked, "How much?" The nice lady said, "Ten bucks." I said, "Sold." I loaded it in the Suburban and headed home.

Now...earlier I made a slipcover for a different chair to go into the new mansion. You can see that here. But, I had just dropped my sewing machine off to be serviced so I wouldn't be able to sew anything for the new old chair. What to do? Hot glue and staple...of course. First, I loosened everything that could be loosened. There were some prong things holding the back and the sides on. I pried them up so that I could stuff some fabric in and hammer the prongs back down. Then, I stared cutting pieces and stapling.

For the front of the arms, I couldn't staple, so I cut some pieces, ironed the edges under and hot glued. Above, you can see one side glued and one side not yet done. Then, I did a little "Nester Mistreatment" for the skirt on the chair. This is basically one long piece (hemmed with hot glue) with a few box pleats glued in. There was a gap right in front between the sides of the pleat. OOPS. So, I covered a big button and glued that right on. Tada. Not a bad looking chair in a "crunch." Can't wait to see it in the new mansion.

To see all of the great "trash to treasure" ideas, visit Kimm @ www.reinventedkb.com .

Laura

2009-05-10T14:52:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Heat Tool

2009-05-09T08:11:00.003-05:00

Howdy Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Saturday. I had several questions regarding the "embossing heat tool" that I used on the candle project yesterday. So...I decided to give a little more info on the tool today. Here is a pic of an embossing heat tool...

This one happens to be from Stamping Up. But, there are many out there. The heat tool is used mainly for heat embossing of cards and whatnot. The tool blows hot air like a hair dryer, but it blows a lot softer than a hair dryer.

I googled and found quite a few on ebay, they are sold at Michael's, they have them at Hobby Lobby, and I even saw them on Wal-Mart online. The cheapest price I saw was on ebay for 10.00. The rest were between 17.00 and 20.00 bucks. But, if you used the Michael's 40% off coupon, you could most likely get one for 12.00 dollars or so.

Probably, someone you know who does card making has an embossing heat tool that you could borrow. That way you would be able to try it before you buy it.

I think that these candle are fabulous and would make great wedding, baby, Christmas and birthday gifts.

Some of you know that I do a monthly giveaway....I think that the embossing heat tool might show up as my giveaway next month......HMMMMMMMM!

Have a great weekend ladies, and Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies.

Picture Candles

2009-05-07T20:16:00.021-05:00

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fabulous Friday. Today I am joining in on a Round Robin over at Keeping Up With The Schultz Family. Hop on over there to see other great ideas.
Yesterday I saw the photo above at BHG. The family photo on the candle caught my eye. Having all of the necessary materials for the project, decided to try it.

Gather a piece of white tissue paper, tape, a piece of printer paper, and scissors. Find the photo that you would like to appear on your candle. Tape the tissue paper to the printer paper and print your photo on the tissue just like you normally would on the printer paper.
Now, you should have something that looks like this. Cut out the image that you want to appear on the candle. Place the image on the candle. Now you need a few other things.... OK...Now...wrapa piece of wax paper around the image and the candle.Now use your heat tool and heat up the image. This takes about 30 seconds or so. You will see the tissue paper start to disappear. When you no longer see the tissue, you are done. Carefully peal the wax paper off of the image. There you have it. It is much easier than it sounds.

I wanted to see what would happen if I used a colored candle. So, I printed a pic of a bird silhouette on my tissue. And here is how it turned out... I love this one.

And there you have it. This particular project didn't cost me anything, because I already had a couple of candles laying around. I think this would be really neat with all kinds of silhouettes. Halloween candles would be really cute with pumpkins or crows. Hope ya enjoyed it.

Laura

Junk Under My Skirt!

2009-05-04T20:34:00.012-05:00

Junk Under My Skirt! AKA: Trash to Treasure Tuesday. To see all of the great trash to treasure items visit Kimm @ http://www.reinventedkb.com/ .

AKA: 2nd Time Around Tuesday. To see many makeovers visit Diane @ http://www.diane1876.blogspot.com/ .

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Trash to Treasure Tuesday. This week I am sharing my daughter's junk hiding side table. Here is the table before...

OK...so it's not exactly trash, but darn close. This little table has been around forever. It had scratches, dings, and even cigarette burns. But, the "bones" of it were good.

Now, my dear daughter has lots of stuff that she MUST have very near her at all times. IE...the clicker, her journal, some hair thingy or another, pens, etc. I, however, am not fond of seeing these items piled beside her chair or her bed. So...I decided to make a "skirt for her junk." First, I got some spray paint...

This particular paint is Ivy Leaf from Krylon. I sprayed the table twice. It took a while because I neglected to sand the table before I started. (Note to self: sand next time.) Then, I searched for a basket of some sort to attach to the legs of the table. I happened to find one at the Dollar Tree that was exactly the same color as Ivy Leaf from Krylon. See???? I attached the basket first with epoxy on the three braces of the table. Then I used some small screws as well. You can see that here...

If you look really close, you can see the little screw on one brace. Finally, I grabbed up some fabric from Hobby Lobby, hemmed it, and gathered it a bit at the top. Then, I dug out the hot glue gun and secured the fabric to the table top.

The old yucky table looks a lot better. And the best part...

all the junk is hidden right underneath. Fabulous.

Thanks for visiting the mansion today ladies. Hope you can stash some junk up under your skirt sometime too. Ha.

What State Are You In?

2009-05-03T20:15:00.012-05:00

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. I must apologize...I forgot to do dinner, discuss, dessert last Sunday. Do forgive...

Dinner: The Teagues had steak, mashed potatoes, and peas. Yum. I usually add a recipe, but the dinner is pretty self explanatory this Sunday.

Discuss: What "state"are you in? At the current time, I am in the state of Alabama. In three weeks, I will be in the state of Louisiana. I am often in the state of Illinois (Shrine Hospital). I visit the state of Texas several times a year. I also visit the state of utter chaos several times a day. Many days, I am in a state of distress. There have been days when I have been in a state of ruin. What state are you in?

Today, our pastor discussed our "state." Very interesting. He proposed that we were in one of three states...Natural, Carnal, or Spiritual. So...let's look at this a little further and see where we are.

The "Natural" state. In the Greek this means "unrenewed." 1 Cor. 2-14 "The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seems like so much silliness." So...the natural state would be one in which a person has not received God. This person can't understand the ways of God or the ways of those who know God. This person has not been renewed by the Spirit.

The "Carnal" state. In the Greek this means "wordly." 1 Cor. 3:18-20 "
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Here, the carnal state would be one in which the person is renewed but still living of the world. This person may know God but keeps worldly options open. Straddling the fence, so to speak.

The "Spiritual" state. In the Greek this means "filled with and governed by the Spirit of God ." This person is inhabited by the Spirit. Ephesians 5:8-9 "You groped your way through the murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. " The spiritual state would be one in which a person is filled with Christ and does everything within his/her power to live for God. This person seeks the narrow way. This person is continually being filled by God's word. This person is running over with God's love.

So....what state are you in? I would love to say that I am in a continual "spiritual" state. But, that would not be true. I vascilate between carnal and spiritual.

As I move from the state of Alabama to the state of Louisiana, I am also going to strive to move daily from a state of carnal to a state of spiritual.

Dessert: The older Teague kids made chocolate chip cookies. Yum....See????

And that is all ladies. Have a wonderful Sunday evening. I will see you all back here on Tuesday for Trash to Treasure.

2009-05-02T17:45:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Haley. You won the May Giveaway. I will try to contact you later today to make plans to send your fab gift on to you.

Trash to Treasure: Man Edition

2009-04-29T21:15:00.009-05:00

Trash to Treasure: Man Edition...

While driving home from a birthday bash on Saturday, I spotted this on the side of the road...
Not the little boy, the GO-KART!!!! Well, I went on home and told husband all about it. He couldn't believe that someone would throw this out. But, he went back with the "man truck." Not 10 minutes later...he came home with one fabulous GO-KART. It wouldn't start, thus the trashing of it. However, after husband took some part or another off and "flushed" it out, it started right up. Go figure! Husband has wanted one of these since time began. Really. We are all enjoying the new trash to treasure man toy. As you can see here:

Did you see all of those smiles? You just never know what kind of treasure you will find on the side of the road. When we lived in Germany it was called "junking." When we lived on post it was called "dumpster diving." Now that we live "on the economy," (we rent a house off post) it's just called digging in the trash. Whatever you call it, one man's trash is another family's treasure.

Have a great evening ladies.

The Tray that Transformed and a Converted Cheese Ball Cover

2009-04-26T20:01:00.021-05:00

The Tray That Transformed and a Converted Cheese Ball Cover: AKA Trash to Treasure Tuesday. (For a look at all of the fabulous trash to treasure ideas visit http://www.reinventedkb.com/ )

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Trash to Treasure Tuesday.

Last week I went "junking." I hit the goodwills, the thrift shops, and the flea malls. While junking, I found this tray pictured above. I bought it up because I loved the size and shape of it, not because of it's aesthetic value. Anyways...it was a steal. I also came upon a cute cheese ball cover and base. I grabbed that up too. Here is a pic of it...

But first, the tray. I have been seeing some really cute chalkboard trays. So, I decided to make my ugly tray into a cute chalkboard. I got a can of chalkboard spray paint and coated the tray.While the tray was drying, I cut out a stencil of the letter "T."
When the tray was VERY dry, I placed the stencil on the tray and dabbed it with white paint. I removed the stencil and finished the "T" up with a fine tip paint brush. Now, as for the cheese ball cover...I first epoxied a dollar store candle holder to the bottom of the plate. Next, I painted the plate black with a paint brush and some craft paint. When it was good and dry, I put a coat of sealant on it.

So...once again, here is the after pic of both trash to treasure projects. The projects cost around 11.00. They were quite fun and add a punch to a bland corner of my kitchen.

Thanks to you all for stopping by. Check in again on Friday for the May giveaway. TaTa for now...

2 Remnants + 6 Chairs = 1 Happy Lady

2009-04-24T11:46:00.009-05:00

Hello there all. Welcome to the mansion this fine Friday.

You know how you sometimes have great plans for something...and then the plans go somewhat astray? Well, this has happened on this post. I planned to show you some how-to pics and I inadvertently erased the pics. Dread... So, we will make do. Improvise!

Anyhow...I wanted to recover my 6 dining room chair seats. The animal print I had going on just didn't go with my new and improved neutral "look." So, off I went to the Fabric Barn. I love upholstery fabric, but it is so darn expensive. I headed straight for the remnant table. There, you can get 2-3 yard pieces for around 6 bucks a yard. Not bad considering that they usually cost between 14.00 and 30.00 per yard.

I looked and looked for the perfect piece for my chair seats. I found two remnants that I loved, but neither of them was enough to do all six chairs. Much mental deliberation....A-haaaaaaaaaaaaa. I will cover the two arm chairs with one fabric and the four other chairs with a different fabric. Fabulous. WARNING: Do not be alarmed. Not every chair in your dining room has to match all the other chairs. So, I left Fabric Barn with two remnants for 18.00.Now, let me show you how it turned out, and then I will tell you how to do it too...

This is the fabric for the four side chairs. Very nice....It is kinda goldish and kinda taupeish all at the same time. I like. Here is one of the arm chairs...

This fabric here is a strip with black, grey, cream, and the same taupeish-goldish color of the other chairs. I like.

I had some fabric leftover, so I decided to make a little something for the wall...here it is

I had an extra frame, so I embroidered our monogram on the extra fabric, and voila...wall stuff.

OK... here is how to recover the dining chair seat:

1. Remove the seat. This is usually done by unscrewing four screws on the underside of the seat. When this is done, the seat will just come right off.

2. Lay the seat on top of your new fabric. Draw around the seat with a pencil adding about three inches everywhere. You will need extra to pull under the seat and staple.

3. Cut the piece out that you just drew. Put your chair seat on the fabric piece and start pulling the excess fabric toward the center of the seat and staple the fabric to the seat.

4. Put the seat back on the chair with the same four screws. Got it?

Here is a pick I found of what I have just explained...kinda...

There ya have it ladies. 6 chairs recovered and one piece of art for a mere 18.00 dollars. The chairs are going to look great in the new "mansion." Can't wait to show you when I get there. Have a great weekend.

WaHOOOOOOOOO!

2009-04-22T19:56:00.009-05:00

WaHOOOOOOOO Wednesday!!!!

Howdy all. Welcome to the mansion this evening. It's Wednesday....glorious Wednesday. "Why," you ask is this day soooooo FAB? Well...let me count the reasons:

1. All the thrift stores are open today.

2. Goodwill stores are open today.

3. All three of my children are in school...all day. WaHOOOO.

4. My mansion is clean. (This helps to alleviate shopping guilt.)

So...after dropping the tiniest Teague at Mom's Day Out, Mom headed to town. I started at the farthest haunt and shopped my way home. I hit one thrift store ,(on Maxwell Airbase....gotta love thrifting from a military store. Well traveled ladies selling their gently used gems.) two Goodwill stores, and one FABULOUS flea market. I didn't even make it to the best store of all, I pooped out before I got there. No matter....treasures were found in abundance. Take a LOOK!

Yes....that is a gigantic cloche that you see there. I have to admit that when I rounded the corner on that baby...I almost screamed out loud. I have been wanting one for the longest, but would not pay the huge price wanted for one. So...I gladly donated 7.50 to the thrift store for the big one above.

I also found 5 small lamp shades for my revamped chandelier. Gave 4 bucks for those.

Now....see all that Milk Glass? I have been hunting these beauties on ebay for some time. I finally bought one the other day and paid 12.00 with shipping. (for one!) I got 8 milk glass vases and compotes today. I paid between 1.50 and 4.00 for each one. Great deals. I also found two milk glass plates...fabulous.

Had to snag up the cheese ball cover and base. 4 bucks. I am going to make a trash to treasure with that little guy.

I am a sucker for anything "made in Germany." Found three gorgeous plates and a great white bowl from Deutchland. Yippeee.

And, last but not least is the UGLY wooden tray. I am going to revamp that thing. You won't even believe it when it is done. (Stay tuned)

I only do this type of thrifting every several months. Some Wednesdays are a big bust. Other Wednesdays are WaHOOOOOO Fabulous. This one definitely got the WaHOOOOO.

You never know what you might find at these great stores. I liken it to a momtastic treasure hunt. Go out and hunt ladies. Look for treasures every where.

Have a great night.

Picaso ain't got nuttin on me!

2009-04-20T19:51:00.010-05:00

AKA: Trash to Treasure Tuesday! See all of the Trash to Treasure ideas at http://www.reinventedkb.com/ .

Hello everyone. Welcome to the mansion this evening. A few days ago I was searching the web and found this picture of some DIY art at Better Homes and Gardens.

See the two canvases in the background? I liked them right off. I needed something to cover quite a bit of space in the new craft room at the next mansion. So....ran through the mental check list: canvases...check (I salvaged them from the attic and spray painted them the other day), paint...check, and bowls...check. Can do. So, I gathered the stuff.

I squirted some of one of the colors of paint into a paper plate. Then, I used a paint brush to apply some paint to the rim of a bowl. Flipped the bowl over and placed it on the canvas. I did this several times. Then, I switched colors and bowls. Etc....

And, here the canvases are after they dried. Kinda hard to see, but I used three different colors, three sized bowls and added a small round sponge at the end.

Now I have art for the craft room. Free and fabulous. Trash to treasure until the next time I need a "change."

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

2009-04-19T19:25:00.003-05:00

Hello all. Welcome to the mansion this Sunday evening. It is time for Dinner, Discuss, Dessert.

Dinner: The Teagues had baked potato soup for dinner. Yum

Discuss: Well...here I sit watching the Miss USA Pageant. Why???? I don't really know. It is on... For a full 40 minutes or so, the girls were walking across the stage (and across the world) in less fabric than comprise my underwear. I thought, "I hope one of them doesn't fall down. Cause if she does, something is gonna fall out of that little triangle of fabric."

As the girls walked across the stage, a score showed up above her head. 8.5...9.1...8.1... So, not only are the poor girls 7/8ths naked, they are also ranked in their nakedness for all the world to see. Why are we doing this? What is the point of this "show?" What does this display say about who we are as a people? What messages are being sent out to our young girls and boys?

I certainly don't have the answers to these questions. So...let's see what God has to say. GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) I want women to show their beauty by dressing in appropriate clothes that are modest and respectable. Their beauty will be shown by what they do, not by their hair styles or the gold jewelry, pearls, or expensive clothes they wear. 1 Timothy 2:9 GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) This is what is proper for women who claim to have reverence for God.
1 Timothy 2:10 Hmmmmm.....God wants women to show their beauty by dressing in appropriate clothes that are modest.... Seems pretty clear.

I don't know God's motives, but why might He want women to present themselves in a modest and respectable way? Christ declared “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes!” (Matthew 18:7) By the way we dress, we can either be this stumbling block to our brothers in Christ (and other men and women), or we can strive to remove these stumbling blocks from before them by dressing modestly. Why would we want to cause someone to lust? Why would we want to open the door for others to walk around half naked?

I think that it is great for girls to have opportunities to win scholarships, learn to speak well in front of others, and have good sense of self. I just wish that we had a different forum in which to win and achieve these things.

Before we put a "toddler in a tiara," maybe we should think about what we are trying to accomplish.

What do you all think?

Dessert: Chocolate Crock Pot Cake (recipe to follow)

Chocolate Crock Pot Cake

1 box of chocolate cake mix

4 oz instant chocolate pudding box

16 oz sour cream

4 eggs

1 cup of water

3/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, water, and oil in a bowl. Mix with a hand mixer for two minutes or so. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Serve warm with ice cream. Yum...

Laura

Is That My Head In A Jar?????

2009-04-17T12:50:00.006-05:00

Hello to you all. Welcome to the mansion today. Hope you are having a wonderful Friday. This is eat out day for the Teagues, so I am really...excited.

I wanted to share a great idea I found over at Photojojo.com .

Jar Photo Frames!

The photo above is from photojojo.com. They are wonderful. They have tons of cool photo ideas over there.

Anyways...Here is the dealio... You just collect yourself some jars. Pickle jars...olive jars...jelly jars...soda bottles...etc. Then, you decide which photos you would like to use in the jars. Cut them to fit and toss them in. The glass gives the photos a 3D look. Really neat. Here are some more pics of the idea...

This is Casey and your's truely on a cruise with the gang.

Here are Chelsea and Parker several years ago.

And, here is another from photojojo.com . I love the little short one. How cute is that.

I was thinking....How wonderful would a bunch of these be in black and white with red tissue paper stuffed in behind the photo on the mantle around Christmas time? I think that I will surely try that out this year.

Have a great weekend. See you back here on Sunday for Dinner, Discuss, Dessert. Laura

Someone Else's Cute Skirt

2009-04-14T14:01:00.008-05:00

Howdy ladies. Welcome to the mansion today. My sister-in-law, Julie, over at elphants, zebwas twains, and wobots, did a most fabulous thing this week. I just have to share it with you all.

She made a table skirt "mis"treatment. For those of you not familiar with the term "mis"treatment, you need to visit The Nesting Place. The Nester tells you all about mistreating windows and tables and vanities. Basically, this involves making something look great with fabric and a hot glue gun instead of dragging out the sewing machine. * Why use a pattern and a measuring tape when you have two perfectly good eyes to eyeball it with????? *Nobody is going to look at the back of it, so who cares what it looks like back there????? See how the "mis"treatment works?

Here is Julie's desk before the skirt "mis"treatment...

You can see all the electronics underneath... Little fingers can mess with stuff under there.... But then,

Oh...My...Goodness. Martha aint got nuttin on Julie. Extreme Makeover: Desk Addition.
For the full deal on how to do this visit Julie or the Nester (Look under window mistreatments). In a nutshell, hot glue your fabric to the sides of your piece. Pull the remainder of the fabric all the way to the front of the piece, find the center, and hot glue it to the front center of your piece. Then, make a pleat on either side of the center that you hot glued and hot glue them too. I know...makes no sense. So.... go visit the ladies mentioned above. Have a great day. Laura

The Kids Have Taken Over The Mansion

2009-04-13T07:35:00.012-05:00

The kids have taken over the mansion this week. It's spring break at East Memorial Christian Academy. So....what to do with the kiddies for 10 days....hummmmmm. We shall feed the birds......

We made some orange bird feeders for the backyard. The kids had a great time. It was a bit messy, but mansions are washable. Check it out.

First, cut the oranges in half.

Next, scoop out the orange meat with a spoon. It helps to score the orange first.

Then, punch a hole on either side of the oragne with a hole puncher.

Put some wild birdseed in a bowl. We put 3 cups for four orange halves.

Throw in some peanut butter. We put three big spoon fulls. Mash is all up.

Oh...forgot to tell you to lick the paper off of the top of the peanut butter jar.

Now, fill the orange halves with the seed mixture. Add some rafia to each side where you punched the holes.

Tie the oranges to a tree and you are done.

And what do ya know.....our first customer. Look to the orange on the right. A cute little birdie. Have a great day ladies. Laura

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

2009-04-12T21:32:00.009-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this fine Easter evening. I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends.

The Teagues attended a great church service this morning and then headed out for a HUGE lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse. Yum. Because of the belt busting lunch, we didn't have DINNER. So...there will be no Dinner or Dessert, only Discuss this evening.

Discuss:

During worship this morning we sang, "In Christ Alone," by the Newsboys. The song starts kinda slow and then builds to this...."Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again..." I LOVE that song!

He Rose! He is Risen

Matthew 28:5-7 says, "The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He is risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay."

He Rose! He is Risen! He is Alive!

Matthew 28:18-20 says, "Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

He Rose! He is Risen! He is Alive! He has Commanded!

Jesus died that we might live. Live to testify here and forever.

42 times in the New Testament Jesus tells us to get His word out. While this Easter day may almost be to a close, our work day is not over.

Phillipians 2:9-11..."Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Every knee has not yet bowed down. Every tongue has not yet confessed. There are more ears needing to hear and more hearts needing to embrace. Continue the good work ladies. Bless you and your families this day. He is with us....

Laura

Out With The Old...In With The New

2009-04-10T19:35:00.015-05:00

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this evening. Have you ever walked into your mansion and thought...."I hate it!"? Well...I did that the other day. So, nothing doing (whatever that means...) I had to make a change. A little tricky considering that we leave this mansion in 5 weeks. I am saying bye bye to these things....

And, I am saying "Hello" to things like this....

This has inspired a lot of spray painting...

Today I worked on things for the new mansion bathroom. I decided to go with a birdie and nestie kinda thing. I saw this over at http://www.nestingplace.blogspot.com/

Hey...I just spray painted two nice black frames... I think I can, I think I can...

I cut some craft paper to fit into both of the 4X6 frames. The paper has little wings on it....get it???? birdies!

Then I hot glued some little nests and eggs onto the glass of the frames. I so...love these. They will adorn my new bathroom wall. While I was at it, I decided to frame a picture of some bird eggs that I found on the web.

Oops...wrong pic.... That's Nate. He is helping me arrange my ribbons. Here is the picture of the bird eggs.

I saved and enhanced the picture. I spray painted two mats that I had laying around and spray painted the frame. Instant art. I love it when that happens. So...three new things for the bathroom for the price of two little nests and six little plastic eggs. That's a "camo" project that can't be beat.

Sorry this post was so...long. I just had a lot to say. Love, Laura

We Left, But Our Corners Didn't!

2009-04-09T21:43:00.011-05:00

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion this evening.

Have you ever arrived at your new "mansion" and found that several of your pieces of furniture lost their corners along the way? Somehow that bookcase lost a complete edge or corner....Somehow your mantle lost a big wooden hunk.... This happened to us a few months ago. Luckily we did not need to use those pieces of furniture here at the rental mansion. However, we are wanting to use them at the next place. So....what to do? Should we buy new furniture to replace the broken ones? NOOOOOOOOOO. Then what? Ladies....let me introduce you to Joint Compound. It is a wonderful goo that comes in a bucket like the one above. You can buy it at Walmart or Lowe's. It is really cheap, lasts forever, and you can do oodles of thing with it.

Like I said, we lost two corners on this move. So, I grabbed the joint compound, stirred it up with a plastic knife, and started slapping it on the broken furniture. It has the consistency of thin play doh. You just use the plastic knife or your fingers and mold a new corner or edge.

Here is the bookcase with the new corner. It takes a good day or two for the joint compound to dry. In this case, the bookcase was raw wood. So, we painted it black after I fixed the corner. Here is the mantle with the compound on it. The mantle was already black, so we just painted it again. And wala..... You can also use joint compound to create a frieze, or raised stencil, on your walls. Here is a pic of that.... With this project, you place the stencil on the wall and wipe joint compound over the stencil with a spatula. Remove the stencil and let it dry. Here is a great craft using joint compound. Start with a clay pot. Smash up some old china or tiles. Smear the joint compound on the pot in a small area. Place pieces of the china or tile into the compound. Work your way around the pot in the same fashion. Let it dry. This can also be done with tile adhesive to hold the tile and then grout to fill in.
This is my VERY FAVORITE use of joint compound. These are faux snowballs. I am going to make a zillion of them for our Christmas tree this year. Start with a styrofoam ball. Roll it in the joint compound until you like the look. Let it dry. Spread some mod podge or glue on the snowball and roll it in glitter. Let it dry. Hot glue a ribbon on top. There ya go....gorgeous snowballs.

So, if you lose a corner, if you want a frieze, if you want a new flower pot, or if you need a snowball, grab your vat of joint compound and get busy. Enjoy. Laura

Easter Through Dollar Store Buys

2009-04-06T13:35:00.009-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion today. As Easter was approaching, I discovered that I did not have anything to decorate with. I guess that I purged my stuff last year. So...off to the dollar store I went. Not those dollar stores that charge 3 or 5 dollars....no. I am talking about the Dollar Tree. The mother ship of all dollar stores. I wanted to show you that you can add a little holiday decor for very little cashola.

The pic above is all dollar store. The two bunny candles were .50 a piece. The grass in the vase was one dollar and the plastic eggs were a dollar as well. Probably could have got the eggs and grass cheaper at Wally World....

Three wooden crosses decoupaged with craft paper. Three bucks. This is a felt egg taped to a glass door. You guessed it....one dollar. Here is another .50 candle bunny. The moss in the nest is also a dollar at the dollar tree. I love white pillar candles. They can be used all of the time. Here are two with dollar store Easter ribbon tied around. OK. These cute cages filled with bunnies and ducks are from Big Lots. They are 5.00. But, you most likely get them for 75% off the day after Easter. Then, you are set for next year. And finally, here is an old bunny sitting in some more of that cheap grass. Cute.

That about does it. So hit the dollar store and get some Easter goodies for your home. It will make you smile. Love, Laura

Polish Pottery "Re"Purposed

2009-04-05T19:39:00.010-05:00

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion. I have been wanting a polish pottery cake plate for some time. I have a lot of pottery, but it is mainly flat. Not a lot of height going on in my cupboard. So I found the one above online.....for 91.00. Yep...91.00. I don't know about you, but I don't have 91.00 to spend on a cake plate. So......I found a way to make one for almost nothing. This is called repurposing....ha. Here is what I used:

I pulled out a polish pottery plate, a candle stick holder, and some epoxy glue. You will also need a paper plate and a plastic spoon.

First, mix up some of the epoxy on the paper plate. Then, flip the plate over to the back and spoon the epoxy onto the plate where you will affix the candle stick holder. Next, place the candle stick holder. You have to then let the piece dry over night. This stuff sticks real well, but don't put the piece into the dishwasher. (Just in case.)

Then, you have a polish pottery cake plate for almost nada. I already had the dishes, so the cost was only the epoxy glue. You can pick up the dishes at TJ Maxx or Marshall's for around 20.00. Much better than 91.00.Here is the finished product. And below is another one that I made for a friend with a polish pottery plate and a sundae cup.

Some folks on etsy.com are selling some other repurposed cake plates and stands. They are really pretty and can inspire ideas.

These pink pretties are found at http://www.funkyvintagekitchen.etsy.com/

This gorgeous green goody can be found at http://www.stylegarden.etsy.com

There ya go ladies. So...now...dig out some dishes and some epoxy and start gluing. Have a great week. Much love, Laura

2009-04-03T06:48:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Melissa Sowards. She won the April Giveaway....The Bunny Tassel. Hope it makes it all the way to Alaska in one piece....There is nothing worse than broken bunny....ha. Love, Laura

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

2009-03-29T19:26:00.003-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. It's time for another Dinner, Discuss, Dessert.

Dinner:

Fried Chicken

Loaded mashed pots (recipe to follow)

Country gravy

Black Eyed Peas

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

5 potatoes peeled and cubed

1/2 stick of butter

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

crumbled bacon

salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain. Add all other ingredients and beat on medium until well blended. Yum Yum....

Discuss: Are you jumpin for Jesus popcorn or are you "chex" mix?

Yesterday, my friend Jen sent me a crazy piece of video. It was titled Popcorn. It showed some folks sitting around a table. They had 5 or 6 kernels of unpopped popcorn sitting in the middle of the table and they had placed their cell phones near the popcorn facing the center of the table as well. They each dialed their phone and the phones started ringing. Only a few seconds later, the popcorn started exploding and popping all over the place. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJlv9HHJyAo Here is the link if you have not yet seen the video.

It was amazing. All I could think was..."my kid is never getting a cell phone." Whatever was making the corn pop would also make their brains to weird stuff.

Well....for some reason I thought of the video during church today. I remembered the kernels bursting and jumping like crazy. I questioned myself with, "Am I bursting and jumping for Jesus?" What does it take for me to burst and jump for Him? Must someone else apply pressure for me to jump? Must God turn up the "heat" for me to jump? Do I jump at appropiate and convenient times only? Hmmmmm? Let's see....

I go to church...check

I read my bible...check

I pray...check

I volunteer at church...check

I try to guide my children in God's ways...check

Awanas...check

PWOC...check

bible studies galore...check

It occured to me that I sound more like "chex" mix than jumping for Jesus popcorn. I don't know that I "burst" and "jump" in any of the activities mentioned above. What is this saying about me? Hmmmm...

Are you "chex" mix too? Or...are you jumping for Jesus popcorn?

Dessert:

Strawberry shortcakes...yummm.

Have a great Sunday evening. Laura

Lavender Lift

2009-03-28T19:52:00.019-05:00

Hello Ladies. Good evening. Welcome to the mansion. On the way to dinner last night, my eyes kept being drawn to the side of the highway. It was beautiful. The wild wisteria was every where. The color was perfect....like bunches of pretty grapes hanging all over the place. If you live in the South, you may know what I mean right now. If you are up North, maybe you will get it in a couple of months.

About.com has this to say about LAVENDER...

Lavender has long been a favorite flower and color of genteel ladies. This shade of purple suggests refinement along with grace, elegance, and something special.

Wow...who knew a color could mean so much. Thought I would share a little lavender inspiration with you all...

Any toile is great, but lavender toile is super great.

So simple yet so pretty.

God and lavender....fabulous

This is a great dresser idea in any color.

The lavender with the black behind is fab.

I feel more "genteel" already.

Last but not least, the lavender wreath. This could greet other "genteel" ladies at the door. Hospitality at it's best.

I hope that something in this lavender post has inspired you to grab a little lavender for yourself or for someone you care about. Have a great evening and a blessed Sunday. Love, Laura

What Is It, and Do I Want One?

2009-03-27T11:28:00.009-05:00

OK. There are many things that I ponder about the blog world. One of which was, "What are those glass upside down vase things that everyone has on their site?" Why does everyone have them? Where do they come from? Do I need one? I feel like a fairly savvy decor kinda gal, but this one had me feeling like I had been living under a rock. Oh..wait..I have...a zero-scaped rock known as El Paso. Ha. Anyways.....So, I did some digging, and here is what I now know....these jar, bell, glass, cover, upside down, things are called...

Glass Cloche Bell Jar!!!! Definition please?????????????

The French developed the glass cloche, or bell jar, formed of a solid piece of glass shaped like a dome. The purpose was to protect an early garden plant from bleak cold and frost. This would hasten their crops to maturity. The Dutch and English expanded the idea with handlights, lantern style, faceted pyramidal covers made from glass panes and frames of cast iron.

Now, we know what the thing is. Why the big fuss??????????????? Let me show you......

This photo by Tara Frey says it all. Isn't that just the prettiest thing ever? I do believe so my friends. Let's see some more...

Ohhhhh....love the pumpkins in several cloches.

Sewing notions under glass...be still my heart!

Someone get me a towel. I feel like a dip in the ocean....ha.

Twigs...we all have twigs...right?

Now, cloches are not cheap. A nice size cloche seems to run around 35.00. A bit steep for my tight self. So...the photo above shows other glass options to use instead of the cloche to get the same look. I have the little vase on the front row in the middle. It was 1.50 at Wal Mart.

Most blogs seem to have these displays in an entryway or on a dining table or buffet. I love the entryway idea. After payday, I am going "junking" to see if I can't find me a cloche. Come fall, I too will have a plethora of pumpkins under glass in my military mansion. How about you?

Everything Old Is New Again!

2009-03-26T12:48:00.008-05:00

Hello Ladies. While browsing over at RealSimple, the website, I found some great ideas for using old items as new things. Take a gander....

All of these photos and their stories can be found at http://www.realsimple.com

For those of you with little girls...this is just too cute. They used an old stool and added a tutu. Walaaaa:bedside table.

Here is a cute table made out of a step ladder. I like.
This one is a covered cake pan that is used as a writing caddy. Could be great for the kiddies too.

And last but by no means least....wine glasses are used here as little candle holders. Just stick the candles in some sand or pebbles. Tada...

Hope you can find something old in your mansion to make new again.

Laura

Don't Forget To Look Up!

2009-03-24T20:18:00.012-05:00

Hello Ladies. Welcome to the mansion.

For the past 10 months the Teagues have lived in a rent mansion. Very frustrating for a person who aches to paint every wall a different color. (that would be me) So, off I went to try to add some color without altering the house at all. My solution in two rooms was to "look up." Some fishing line and thumb tacks allow you to hang a plethora of items from the ceiling, giving the room a less flat look.

Here in the playroom, we hung blow up globes with curling ribbon and thumb tacks. This repeated the theme of the room. (you can see the globes in the background) The globes also added color and shape to the area. The globes were purchased for almost nothing at oriental trading.

In Chelsea's room we hung large paper lanterns in colors that matched her curtains and bedspread.

Here are some other hangable ideas from the web....

Pretty paper stars.............. How about draping some fabric???????????????

And here are few other ideas to add to your ceiling..... So fabulous ceiling medallion. Did something like this in El Paso. Adds a rich look to the light and the room. In your own home, you can paint the entire ceiling into the theme of the room. Shawna Walker did this at Polk in much the same manner as above. Here is a ceiling stencil. This is a picture of tin ceiling tiles. This might be a weighty job, but the same type of look can be accomplished with a wallpaper product made to look like tiles. You can even paint them.

So....there ya go. Some ceiling ideas to think over before the next move, or right now. When everything is moved in and all the furniture is in place, Don't Forget to Look Up!

Laura

2009-03-24T11:37:00.003-05:00

Hello ladies. I was just informed that Nathan's Shriner Hospital Coordinator has passed away. Mr. Buddy Hartin was key in getting us to and from Chicago without trouble. Please take a moment to pray for peace within his family at this time.

I can't say enough about the Shrine organization. We have been blessed over and over again by their generosity and care. As I plan yet another trip to Chicago next Tuesday, I continue to be thankful for every member of the club from the Coordinators to the Clowns.

If you ever hear of a child needing special surgical treatment involving clefts, orthodics, or burns, please send them in my direction. I would love to share more about the wonderful things being done for children by the Shrine.

Love, Laura

2009-03-22T20:35:00.003-05:00

Hello ladies and welcome to the "mansion" this evening.

Dinner

The Teagues will be having Nachos for dinner tonight. Here is the recipe...

Yummy Nachos:

Corn Tostado Chips. (These are round like tortillas)

1 can of refried beans

shredded colby and monterrey jack cheese

Place 6 tostadas on a baking sheet. Spread a thin layer of refried beans on each tostada. Put 1/3 cup of shredded cheese on each tostada. Place the pan under the broiler for enough time to melt the cheese. Keep a close watch on this. Cut each tostada into four quarters. Garnish with sour cream, picante, jalapenos, tomatos, etc. Delicious. You can also add grilled chicken or steak. Yum.

Discuss

Well. Let me see. Our church is going through some 'turmoil.' Our preacher announced last Sunday that he had been having an affair and that he would be resigning after the service. The Teagues were not in the service to witness this. However, we did hear of it right away. News travels fast. Bad news that is....Why is that? Why do we thrill in hearing of terrible things that are happening to others? Does it somehow make us feel better about ourselves? Does it pump us up? Why? Do we feel that these things will NEVER happen to us?

Matthew 7:3 as stated in the New American Standard Bible..."Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Are we so free of sin, any sin, that we don't have any logs in our eyes? I surely am not. There is a log cabin floating around in there for sure. This is not to say that we should ignore a transgression or a sin. We can certainly acknowledge the presence of sin. The question is....what do we do then? In this case, the sin was stated aloud. Forgivness was sought. Is that where it should end? Should we continue to dredge in the muck of it?

Our sins, when confessed to God are washed away right then. They are cleansed and forgotton. Wouldn't it be nice if we, humans, could display a bit more of this? Just something to think about.

Dessert

Yummy Chocolate Fondue with strawberries and pound cake.

Have a great Sunday evening.

Much love, Laura

April 1st Giveaway!!!!!!!

2009-03-19T22:56:00.002-05:00

Hello Ladies. Here is a picture of April's Giveaway. It is a handmade decorative bunny tassel. These things are all the rage on etsy. To win this tassel you need to sign up as a follower on My Military Mansion (if you can) and leave a comment below this post that answers this question...

What is your fondest Easter memory?

I will select a winner (based on the comment) on April 1st and send the tassel out asap. Good Luck. Love, Laura

Ms. Frugal Got Herself Some Coupons

2009-03-18T20:13:00.008-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion this evening. With economic stress and strife sucking the life out of us these days, there is less and less "fun" money to keep the mansion in tip top decorated shape. Don't you agree? The Teagues have had to take a few steps to help alleviate financial woes. Let's take a look see...shall we?

#1: Fired the Butler....As if......Ha.

#2. Restricted "paper" usage. Not a square to spare....Ha again.

#3. Hired Tinkerbell out as a doggie double. Ha....yet again.

So...what did we do? Well here ya go.....

#1. The Teagues go out to eat 4-5 times per month. Every Friday. We each take turns selecting a restaurant. We don't eat fast food during the week. We don't grab lunch. This time last year we were eating out 3-4 times per week. Huge savings....and better for the waist line.

#2. We have taken to selling items at the thrift store. This month we have dropped off three loads of stuff. If everything sells, we will receive 160.00. (Hobby Lobby, here I come.) This is a high number because we are prepping to move, but there are always things to go. I have started keeping a walmart bag hanging on the boys' door knob. I throw their clothes in it as they grow out of them and take the bag to the thrift store when it is full.

#3. Ebay. We sell and buy off of ebay. We have purchased everything from diamonds to cars to toys. We have sold pottery, purses, toys, stamping supplies, and much more. There is always someone wanting to buy our "junk."

#4. And, last but not least....I just found http://www.mycouponhunter.com. What a fabulous thing. You go to the website and scroll through the grocery coupons. You click on the ones that you need for your shopping list. Submit your order. ( you are paying the lady to clip and ship the coupons) And, several days later you get an envelope in the mail with all those coupons. This last week I ordered coupons that will save us 22.00. I paid 3.40 for the service. So, 18.00 saved. That is without any double coupon stuff. I don't know about you, but that is almost two piano lessons for us. If I do this twice a month, that is four piano lessons...wow. I love that. HINT: Make your shopping list before you go to the site. That way you don't buy things that aren't on your list.

That about does it for us. If you have any super duper saving deals to share please comment with them. I will make sure that everyone gets in on the savings. Have a great evening. Laura

Easter Gift Idea.....So Fabulous.

2009-03-17T13:33:00.005-05:00

Hello ladies. I just found this over at www.creativeholidaygiftideas.blogspot.com I had to share it. You can make this same gift for all holidays that offer a Peep candy. So....cute. I noticed that the creative holiday gift idea blog had not posted a new blog for some time. I hope she posts again soon. There are some great ideas over there. Check it out...now...:)

INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

1. Reduce 1 sleeve graham crackers to crumbs.

2. Layer 2/3 of the crumbs in a 1 quart jar.

3. Place 8 marshmallow bunny peeps standing up, facing out around the inside of the jar.

4. Press them up against the glass, but don't squash them.

5. Carefully spoon remaining crumbs in the center of the jar to support the bunnies, pressing down to keep it snug.

6. On top of this pour 1-1/4 cup Easter M&M's.7. Spoon 1/3 cup brown sugar into center of M&M's, gently pressing with a spoon.

My changes: I did M&M's first, then Peeps, then put combined brown sugar and graham cracker crumbs in baggie. I didn't like how the crumbs made a mess in the jar.

Attach a gift tag giving the following instructions:

1. Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen sheers or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits to the mixture. Mix well.

2. Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 9" square pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.(Makes 9 to 12 bars.)*Option - leave bunnies whole; combine remaining ingredients and place the bunnies on top; then bake as directed.

*This gift jar may be created to suit any holiday for which marshmallow candies are available.

Submitted by Hilary Shirley

Isn't that the cutest thing ever???? With penny pinching days upon us, this is a great low cost gift for teacher, neighbors, and friends. Love, Laura

Dinner, Discuss, Dessert

2009-03-15T19:38:00.010-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the "mansion." It is Sunday, so it is time for Dinner, Discuss, Dessert.

Dinner:
The Teagues had Chicken-n-Dumplings. Here is the recipe...

Easy Chicken-n-Dumplings

3 Chicken breasts
4 cups of water
2 cans of cream of celery soup
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 cans of cheap biscuits

Bring the water, bouillon, salt and pepper to a boil. Add the chicken breasts and boil until done. Remove the chicken and cut into small pieces. Add the chicken back into the water in your pot. Whisk in the two cans of cream of celery soup until there are no more lumps. Heat until a low boil. Open the canned biscuits. Flatten the biscuits out very thin and cut each one into six pieces. Drop the pieces slowly into the boiling pot. Continue on a low boil for 10 minutes. TaDa. Done. Enjoy.

Discuss:
I must confess. I did not go to church today. After Casey's stomach virus and a day of upholstery, I was in no shape to get up early. So, no talking points from the preacher. However, I did have a thought. While I was trying my best to cover my denim club chair, I kept thinking...."this is so...not my gift." I though that over and over. But, I didn't stop sewing. I kept on going until it was done.

God says through 1 Corinthians 12 that to each one of us (Christians) the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. This is done as follows..."To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues."

I have taken a "gift" test several times before. This test determined my "gifting." I am supposed to be gifted with hospitality and discernment. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Knowing this, I am set....right? I am expected to be hospitable. I am expected to be able to discern between what is of God and what is not. Everything else is hands off for me...right? I have heard folks say (out loud) "I can't do that, it is not my gift." I have even heard someone say, "I don't feel sorry for her, compassion just isn't my gift." So...are our "gifts" a way out of doing things that we don't feel comfortable doing? Are they a pass on showing care and compassion? Hummmmmmmm... The last verse of chapter 12 says...Love "And now I will show you the most excellent way." The most excellent way and greatest gift is Love. Without love, and the pouring out of it, we are for not. Without showing love, our gifts don't count for anything. So...I am going to go ahead and say that NO, our gifts are not a get out of jail free card for doing things that we don't want to do. NO, they are not a pass on showing compassion and empathy. They are ways that we express our love for others. They are ways that we build one another up. They are ways that we move folks to Christ.

I didn't quit sewing that silly slipcover because I didn't have the gift of sewing. I just gritted my teeth and ripped those seems out. I worked on it until the job was done. We should do the same with each other. Don't bow out because something isn't your gift. Don't be less than gentle with someone because gentleness isn't your gift. Because above all those gifts is the gift of Love. The most excellent way to do, the most excellent way to speak, the most excellent way to act, the most excellent way to react. And that is all.

DESSERT:
Ice cream sundaes on Sunday. Yum

Have a blessed week ladies. Show your gifts and your non gifts through love. Laura

Let Me Share My Chair....

2009-03-15T12:12:00.014-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the mansion. Let me share my chair.... Ever have a chair that you would like to use, but the color is just not right? Well...as I prepping to move to the new "mansion" in two months, I found myself in this same quandary. The denim rocking chair that now sits in the playroom is going to be put into the craft room in the new mansion. The craft room, in my mind, is taupe, black, and white. Denim would just never do. So....off I go to Hancocks for fabulous fabric to match the craft room. I found the fabric you see on the chair above. Love it.... Then, I had to cover the chair. These are the things I used for the project... First, I made a pattern by putting paper on the sections of the chair and drawing each piece. Then, I cut the pieces out. Waaalaaaa: Pattern. Next, I started to cut the pieces out of the fabric. As each piece was cut, I laid them on the chair where they would be. OK. When all the pieces were cut out, I started sewing them together. After each sewing, I would set the fabric back on the chair to make sure that everything was going well. I saved the back of the chair for last. I decided to make the back into two pieces with a velcro closure. This would allow for easy on and off. And there ya go. This "camo" project took one day. The total cost of the recover was 80.00. Not bad compared to the cost of paying someone to reupholster the chair or buying a new chair. I love my new chair. I can't wait to see it in the craft room. Here are some pics of other revamped chairs from flicker....

Thank you for letting me "share my chair." Have a great day. Laura

A Flower A Day...

2009-03-12T09:11:00.015-05:00

Hello ladies. Welcome to the "mansion" today. I noticed this morning that everything in the yard is in bloom. What a fabulous discovery. Just looking at all of the flowers makes me feel happier. And, it's not just me. According to Country Home, a Harvard Study shows that placing small bouquets of flowers around your "mansion" increases feelings of compassion and decreases feelings of anxiety and worry. How many of us couldn't use some of that kind of FLOWER POWER?

Not only are flowers beautiful and evidently effective for our psyche, but they are also cheap. If they are growing in your own "mansion" lawn they are FREE. Pretty flowers can make a room as well. Take a look at this pic... What do you focus on?

My eyes go directly to the vase of flowers. So...let's see what is in the yard and see what we can do with them...Here are some buds growing in my yard right now.

Here is the top of my cupboard in the breakfast room....BLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Now, let's clip some buds and pop them in.....BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Are you smiling as big as me?????????? Go outside. Cut some flowers or some pretty weeds. Put them in a vase or a jar or a cup. Smile. Do you feel the anxiety level dropping already? Have a blessed day ladies.

Laura

Big Trouble on the Little Blog

2009-03-10T21:51:00.003-05:00

Hello all. Having some big trouble on the little blog with my pictures. Had to delete some posts to try to fix the problem. So....sorry. Laura