Sunday Blessings

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

Coffee's On

I love these old coffee percolators. There's just something about them.

Maybe it's the tarnished, smudgy patina

or perhaps it's these charming old glass knobs on top

that the coffee splashes up into
as it's brewing

whatever it is, I love them and my husband knows it.

That's why, when he came across these three old percolators, he brought them home to me. He is the greatest!

Have a wonderful weekend.

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

One of Those Days

I'm sure you've had one....that kind of day when you wake up and the first think you think of, is how nice it would be to just go back to bed.

This week has been busy. Not just busy, busy. Insane busy! We're talking, last minute errands to run, school research projects to be finished, school party plans being wrapped up, Christmas pageant costumes need to be made, cupcakes need to be baked, goodie bags need to be filled for the classroom party. Yes, one of those weeks! Whew!
So I jump out of bed this morning to get the kids ready...feed them, clean them, dress them...send one off on the bus...the other needs a ride today...come back home to get the third dressed and fed and then the fourth - same thing! Everybody's ready! Out the door we go...threat of snow...keep the eyes on the road...ears on the radio...weather report...not too bad...snow expected....less than an inch...okay here we go...off to the grocery store.
We go in...first I pick up the photos that I had ordered on the computer, then I go and buy all of the stuff for the cupcakes, party, etc...an hour later...ready to leave...no...wait...where are my pictures??
Noooo...I've dropped them somewhere! Re-trace my steps...no pictures...back to the photo counter...yes...someone turned them in...wonderful news...head back to the front of the store...find my car keys...approach the door...stop dead in my tracks!
What???
Snow....lots and lots of snow....not the less than an inch they called for...much more than that, and it's only been an hour since I went into the store. Mind you, it wasn't snowing at all when I went in! Get to my car...bundle the kids into the car...clean the car off...forget the rest of the errands...the roads are awful! An hour and ten minutes later(to go 12.8 miles) I'm safely home.
Thank you Lord.

Just in time to get the kids off of the bus....I just want to go back to bed!
We finish the research paper and project, start dinner and cupcakes all at the same time. Finish dinner, the rest of the homework and hubby does dishes while I take a breath! God Bless that man. He shovels the sidewalk, shovels the driveway and takes out the trash while I take another breath...God Bless him!

Yes, I would just love to crawl into this...

or this...

but alas...the timer is going off...the last batch of cupcakes are done...the costumes will have to wait until tomorrow and I won't even tell you what the dog just did.

I think I'm going to bed!

Goodnight!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

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All photos courtesy of Bella Notte Linens

A Tutorial for "Baby Legs"

I know this isn't typical decorating stuff, however, I made something that I wanted to share because I think it could make a great little Christmas gift for a sweet baby or a mom-to-be!

I made Abigail this cute pink plaid skirt yesterday, but wanted something to go with it to keep her legs warm. I'm sure you've seen the baby leg warmers (a.k.a. baby legs) circulating around blogland - I know I've seen a few, so I decided to try them out. Turns out they were super easy to do and they took about 5 minutes from start to finish!
Here is my version:

Start out with a pair of ladies knee socks. I found mine at Walmart. They came in a three pack for $5.

Lay one sock right on top of the other and line them up all nice and neat.

Then make three cuts.

One just above the heel, one just below the heel and one just before the toe.

Discard the heel and toe pieces so you're left with the two short pieces and two long pieces pictured above.

Take the smaller of the two pieces...

...and fold it in half with the wrong sides of the sock facing each other.

It should look like this.

Now...

...take the piece that you just folded and slip it over the cut edge of the long part of the sock as pictured above.

It will look like this. You will have three total layers. Pin them together, but remember to leave the middle open to allow for baby's leg to go through.

Slip the whole thing around the arm of your sewing machine and sew a straight stitch all the way around. You may want to increase the stitch length to allow for some stretching.

Here's what it will look like when you finish sewing.

Just flip that end piece over and now you have a cuff. This is the part that will go over the top of baby's leg.

The part that was the finished top of the sock, will now go at the bottom of baby's leg. Repeat steps for the other sock so you'll have two baby legs. Pictured above are the finished leg warmers all ready to wear. Pretty cool huh? And so incredibly easy. I've already made four pairs and Abigail wore them all day. They're great!

And they look super cute too!

Give me a few days and I'll show you how I made the skirt. It was just as easy and quick as the leggings.

Enjoy!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Christmas Around the House

We did some more decorating this weekend

a few touches here and there...

even the piano is looking festive.

the mirror in the foyer

wishing you joy

a silvery icicle

and some vintage silver balls

the front living room tree

Hoping everyone had a good weekend and that you are enjoying this Christmas season!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Sunday Blessings

You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

James 5:8

The Bedroom Makeover...Revealed

I know that I promised this post earlier, but I've been run down lately with a bad cold.

For the most part, the room is finished, however after looking at the photos, it needs something else. Funny how a photo will do that isn't it? Truth revealed through the lens. I'll tweak it a little here and there and then we'll see.

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So anyway, before I show you the before pictures, I feel I must provide the following disclaimer:

The before photos of this bedroom that you are about to see are beyond hideous, outdated and well, just plain ugly. The color was named "Old Gold" and believe me, it was old and it was gold! Also, I almost forgot to take before pictures until I was well into the throwing around and moving of stuff, so the room is a huge mess! I assure you, I don't make it a habit of keeping our room in a state of disarray with clothes all lying about. It just so happens that I had already begun to tear apart the room before I remembered to take the pictures. But that's okay, better to keep it real! So, without any further adieu....

The Before:
.

See? I told you. I had already started to remove the curtains, move the furniture etc...

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The After:


Ahhhh....much better!

The wall color is Alaskan Husky by Benjamin Moore.

I painted my husband's dresser in a creamy shade of white and then went back and sanded the edges to distress it a bit. Then I went over it with a mahogany stain which I applied and quickly wiped off. I painted the hardware black.

Below is the nightstand...

I painted it exactly like the dresser. I was going to paint the bed as well, but then decided to leave it as is. I thought that the bed and the television armoire would look better in their original stained wood finish. After looking at the photos though, I may go back and paint the bed too. I have to think about it. The armoire will definitely stay as it is though. The wood is too pretty to touch on that one!

The lampshades were originally plain white but I added black ribbon to the tops and bottoms of them to dress them up a bit.

An old, vintage fan that I found years ago at a flea market. I added it to the top of husband's dresser along with a miniature globe.

Here is my dresser that you may remember from this post. I liked the way the black handles looked on the nightstand and husband's dresser, so I took the hardware off of this dresser and painted them black as well.

So there you have it! The finished room. Thanks for joining me in the makeover reveal! I'm sure I'll be adding a few things here and there...such as putting the rest of my photos in the frames - I'm guessing you probably saw some empty frames scattered about - haha! The printer ran out of ink :)

Have a great weekend!!

~~~~~

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen