Slip Cover Joy

Last year my friend Yanet from 3 Sunkissed Boys offered up a challenge to me to make a slip cover for my ugly ugly rocker when I posted about how much I didn't like it.

(can't find that post right now, ugh!)

I have to say that that frightened me because I can't sew very well. I can make a pillow and that is about the extent of my abilities.

Through the months I have come across many beautiful slipcovers in blogland that were just toying with me.

A couple months ago we replaced ugly, ugly recliner with just another ugly recliner but better made. (thank mom and dad)

Here is "new" recliner.

(sorry about the photos)

I did my research online and found Miss Mustard Seeds video tutorials the best help for me. So I watched them and then started in using a large drop cloth that I have had for a while that had been washed and bleached several times.

I started piecing, cutting and pinning the sections together,

I used the hems that were already there for the back. I still have to make ties or use velcro to keep the back together.

This made it for easy off an on.

I tucked in some areas as well because I had to have some extra so when we lean back the seams don't rip.

This whole section is one piece.

After that was all done, I worked on the cushion doing the same thing. I cut around the cushion, then made a strip, well actually two because I didn't have enough drop cloth left, for the sides and pinned then and sewed. I made a flap for the back and attached velcro so I can take it off and wash it if need be.

I had to think about the foot rest for a while but I decided that the easiest thing would be to unscrew the pieces, wrap them with the cloth and staple on. I figured drop cloth is inexpensive so if it gets dirty I will just replace it. :)

I am SO not that great at this but it works.

There are holes and unfinished seams and hopefully it doesn't fall apart when I wash it.

BUT

I like it, it does the job and it will just have to do. :)

Wanna know my next big project?

sure, why not! :)

I am revisiting this mess...

I have already done some painting and I lost the battle with the cat pee so up came the carpet.

I will post pictures soon of what I have done and what I am thinking about doing!

Oh and my logs came in!!!!
YYEAHH!!!!!

I love them!

Cozy huh?!

I am still thinking about what to do with the hearth, I have a few ideas in mind.

The glow is really nice, the crackle, eh!

It does not sound that real or at least it would, but there is this large click that goes off that kind of ruins it, but all in all I am really happy with it.

Have a great weekend!!!

Fall Mantels Coastal Style

Happy Monday to you!

I hope you are all doing well and had a great weekend!

I went with Laurie to the last Flea Market, Debbie could not come this time and we missed her.

It rained and rained and rained

BUT

that didn't stop us from shopping until we dropped or were soaked to the bone.

I will show you my treasures in another post.

Today has started off a bit rough, my BIL had to have emergency surgery at 4:00 this morning due to a twisted colon.

He did really well and the boy and I are off to go visit him.

Things like this can be very scary for him because he is paralyzed from the mid-chest down so anything, even a cold can be really hard on his body.

BUT

he is amazing and pulls through.

Last week I spent a day getting out my fall stuff and adding little things here and there to my mantels.

The living room I just added a few big pumpkins

(which are 40% off at Michaels right now)

and a few smaller ones along with my friend the crow.

Simple, subtle and works for me.

Now my kitchen mantel I had more fun with.

I added some fall grasses to the beach grass, pumpkins in my big-fire-pot-thing-that-I-can't- remember-what-it-is-called-but-I-painted-it-gray. :)

Of course keeping to my coastal love I added some driftwood, starfish a few mice and some other Halloween treasures that I picked up at Meijer and lastly another one of my crow friends.

I love these!!

Hey did you know that a group of crows is called a 'murder'??

cool and creepy huh!!

When my faux logs come in I will put the bucket-o-pumpkins on the right side or somewhere near there.

I am so excited, they told me that it shipped!!!

Have a good day and I will show you what I made a week ago so don't "slip" away for too long!!

yes I am a dork. :)

Linking up to

Modern Country Style: Fall In Love

link party.

on Oct 5

Bears, Packers and Lions Oh My!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Well, fall is officially upon us

YEAH!!

and that also means football!!!

I love to watch football on Sundays afternoons, chili in hand, sitting by the fire and cheering on my team!

DA BEARS!!!!!!

How is it that I love the Bears when I live in Michigan?

Shouldn't I be a Lions fan?

NOPE!

My dad is from Chicago, so growing up we would always watch the Bears play.

I even think my dad still has the tape of the Bears back when they won Super Bowl 20 in 1985.

How could not love the Super Bowl Shuffle!!!

Also my hubby is a die-hard Bears fan so it was all meant to be. :)

Now I am not a crazy-in-your-face fanatic but I have my moments.

SO, today my friend Ryan from Two Starfish Seafood are posting together because, well, he is a Packers fan!

We thought it would be fun to get a little friendly blog rivalry going here.

Packer and Bears are footballs longest rivalry starting back in 1921 and their games are always exciting to watch just for that fact.

Their last meeting ended up to Green Bay and actually Green Bay won 4 of the last 5.

BUT

DA BEARS still lead with 92 wins to Green Bays 84.

Talk about a lot of games played

As it stands this season Bears are 1-1 and Green Bay is 2-0.

So Ryan, my friend, I am feeling it my bones...

Packers are

GOING DOWN

today!!!

Cozy In Almost Every Room

I think that I had left you last week with a sneak peek of some thing that I was working on.

As you know, or may not if you are new here, in which case I welcome you and thank you for tagging along with me, I LOVE fireplaces/faux mantels!!

LOVE!

ALOT!

You have seen my "frantel" in my bedroom and then of course our real fireplace in our family room.

Well, I have this wall in my kitchen that was lonely and needed to be apart of all the fun.

Last month I went and picked up some Annie Sloan Chalk paint for me and for Laurie (Heaven's Walk),

and I came across this beauty!!

PERFECT!!!!

I had to have her so I told myself that if I did not spend the money that I saved for last flea market I would come back and if she was there, I would take her home.

Well, as fate would have it, or just dumb luck, I hardly spent anything at the market, went to the store the next day,

she was there and now she is here!!!

So much lighter and brighter.

I added some of my beachy things and treasured treasures.

This summer I picked up this map/poster of Leelanau County which is the county that Glen Lake is in.

I just love the vintage feel of it and the colors are perfect!

Traverse City is known as the Cherry Capital and almost everything up there has places that bake the cherries into everything!!

YUM!

I also found a perfect, and appropriate home for the sweet gift that Laurie sent me as a thank you for getting her some paint.

A gorgeous aqua jar and one of her beautiful clay tags.

Thank you sweets!!!

I also ordered faux logs to go in the opening of the mantel.

It is supposed to have the lights and crackles like a real fireplace.

Unfortunately no heat, but I just love the idea of the sights and sounds of a real fire to feel cozy all through fall and winter.

I will show you once I get it in!

A Bittersweet but Perfect Wedding

Hello my dear friends!!!!

How are you???

I am sitting here Sunday evening listening to Josh Groban (LOVE) and the rain, reflecting on my past week.

I have to tell you that it was a week of ups and downs but certainly ended on a beautiful and happy note.

As you know my brother got married over the weekend and before I show you pictures and tell you what a complete DORK that I am I have to tell you that the week did not start off to good.

I received a phone call last Monday morning while grocery shopping from my mom.

Do you know those rings that just sound bad? That you know that on the other end there is bad news waiting for you to digest? That was the kind of ring it was.

My mom told me that my brother's best friend and best man for the wedding unexpectedly passed away that morning.

My brother was devastated and my heart ached for him.

His friend was only 55 and passed away while running.

The week seemed kind of surreal and nobody was really sure what to do.

After many phones calls to my parents and my future SIL on what we could do and how everything could be done and even if the wedding was going to happen things were sorted out and the wedding would go on as planned and as my brothers friend would have wanted it to.

He was a great guy and a great friend that helped my brother through his divorce as well as the joys that have come his way with his new wife.

My dad was the only one that stood up on my brothers side and they honored my brothers friend during the ceremony ,and I have a good feeling that his friend was standing right beside him.

OK, now to tell you what a horrible blogger that I am..

I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!!!

I KNOW!!!!! REALLY????

Who goes to a wedding without a camera??

Apparently I do!

So, all the photos are with my iphone and as soon as we figure out how to get some off my daughters camera I will share those as well but for now you will have to look at these.

We ate lots of yummy food with family and friends.

Cherry Republic is the best!

Then we decorated the reception hall.

It turned out so beautiful, even after I broke the lights. :)

She had dried Hydrangeas in blue mason jars as centerpieces.

The chapel was also decorated with dried hydrangeas and mason jars.

Everything was very simple and perfectly placed.

Of course an amazing Glen Lake sunset at the end of the day on Friday.

Saturday morning my daughter and I got up and walked to the coffee shop and picked up my chai and hot chocolate for her and then walked to Lake Michigan to enjoy the early morning sun on the beach.

It was so beautiful that day, a chill in the air but the warmth of the sun on our shoulders.

Of course I had to play around with the apps on the iphone.

Saturday before the wedding the boys went fishing.

There is a beautiful river called Crystal River and the salmon where everywhere!

I also took a few shots of the surroundings and old Mill and home that are on the river.

My nephew caught a huge salmon!

Of course put it back safe and sound.

This is my brother fishing....

Can you say "A River Runs Through It"?

Love that movie.

This is my brother and his son fishing.

After they had their fill of fishing or until they soaked in every last bit before they had to get ready, we headed to the church!

My brother, his other son and my dad.

It was very casual with khaki's and white shirts.

This is my brother, my SIL and his daughter.

The ceremony was beautiful!

We cried and laughed and of course we loved.

Everything went perfectly and the day was gorgeous!!

I hope to show you a few more photos once we get them off my daughters camera but I wanted to show you one of the photos that their photographer took on the dock of where the chapel was at Old Settler's Park on Glen Lake.

(Rudy Malmquist)

I am so very happy for my brother and after all the ups and downs of the week, they made it together and I know that their love will last.

They are perfect for each other and love one another to the core.

Congratulations Tom and Melissa I love you both very much!!

Here are a few more pics from the wedding from their photographer, they are gorgeous!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudymalmquist/6158550965/in/photostream/

Rudy Malmquist is his name and he did a phenomenal job!

I hope you all have a great week and I will see you soon!!

xoxox

Unplugging This Week

Hi everyone!!

How are you?

Doing well I hope.

I wanted to thank everyone for their sweets comments on The Shark Room, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Also, I loved hearing your stories about your memories from 9/11, it really still just pulls at my heart and soul and listening to some news casts again today from that day was just still so heart wrenching.

I also just wanted to drop by and tell you that I am unplugging this week.

I have been so busy with kids and school and sports and also work that I haven't had much time for blogging. Also this coming weekend is the weekend that my brother is getting married so we will be finishing up on some things for that as well.

I am starting up on another big project that I will most likely drag out until winter, I know, how excited are you!!! LOL!! ;)

I also have some other little things that I did earlier that I will show you when I get back along with some photos from the wedding!

Here is a little sneak peak.

Have a beautiful week my dear friends and thank you again to all of you!!!

HUGS!!!!

I Will Remember

I, like all Americans, will never forget where I was 10 years ago on September 11, 2001.

It was a beautiful morning here in Michigan and I was dropping my daughter at Pre-school for the first time. Everything went well, she loves school and I as I roamed the memories of her up to that point I felt a sense of calm, a bit of sadness and so proud of her.

Then,

I got back into my car and headed to work.

I was listening to Howard Stern and he was talking about a plane that had hit one the Twin Towers in New York and then all of a sudden he was talking about other planes that had hit the other tower and the Pentagon. A plane had gone down In Pennsylvania.

The word terrorist began to be spoken and I immediately wanted to turn around and go get my daughter and take her home with me to be safe.

I felt anxious, scared and unsure.

What kind of world did I just drop my 3-year-old off into??!!

I was just devastated as we watched the towers fall, my heart sank, my soul just ached for all those involved.

Source: sailingbrooklyn.com via Hannah on Pinterest

I will remember those that died, those that survived, those that fought and those that carry on legacies.

I will remember those that watched and cried and held on to one another.

I will remember those that helped and those that came from afar to hold out a hand.

I will remember the hero's, I will remember the people.

I will remember America.

I will Remember.

God Bless.

Finally....The Shark Room Reveal!!!

Hello to you my friends!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and were able to soak in as much summer as you could.

I know as we enter fall our friends down under are getting ready for Spring and I hope the warm sun is brightening up your days.

My kids went back to school today and I have to say that it is a bit odd having the house to myself.

Don't worry, I will get used to it....... :)

So this morning I took advantage of no kiddos around to finally take some photos of the shark room!

(sorry about the photos, his room faces north and we live in the woods so not much natural light comes through)

I can't believe this has taken me all summer and to be honest I am still not done.

I have a few more projects up my sleeve for the room but I won't drag this out any longer.

Here is my son's room before......

He LOVES Disney's Pixar Cars.......

ALOT......

like, lives and breathes them!!

But his room was so dark and so cluttered and when I presented him with the idea of a shark room he took to it right away.

So I didn't ask again and went to work......

slowly. :)

And after much work and long and drawn out posts about it

here is the

AFTER!!!

The bed and dresser were painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Aubusson Blue.

Walls are painted in Glidden Simply White.

The rug was picked up at Walmart for $20 and the gray blanket on his bed is from Target for $14.

I hung two shelves from Lowes on one side of the window and put the PB knock off shark painting and another PB knock off crab painting on them.

The adorable stool is what I picked up from Laurie and Debbie's booth at the Flea Market. Laurie painted it a beautiful white and the top is wicker.

The yellow basket was another purchase from the Flea Market a couple months ago that was supposed to be a pendant light but hubby is "not sure" how to put it up.

hmmmmmm....... ;)

I still have to put up some things on this side of his room.

I have these amazing shark prints that my dear friend Sandra sent me that I will Mod Podge on some canvas and hang and I also want to attempt a barn door for his closet door.

We will see how that goes.

So there you have it, the long awaited, hopefully-not-to-disappointing

shark room!!

Before

After!!!

I love how it turned out, it is so much brighter and just feels cleaner and most importantly,

the boy really likes it. :)