My Very Own Mistreatments

Here are a couple of things I did over spring break...the fun ones at least. No one wants to hear about or see pictures of cleaning, vacuuming, and all the other necessary but not so fun jobs I also accomplished.

The first was our bathroom window. As of right now I can't sew a thing other than the ribbons and elastic on my pointe shoes (and probably a button or two) so instead I used my hot glue gun to "hem" the edges and create a pocket to insert the rod through. It was actually a lot easier than I thought and I love how a little bit of fabric and ribbon made such a difference in the way the bathroom feels!


My second window was the kitchen and not quite as difficult because all I did was fold it and tacked it to the wall using upholstery tacks. Not the most sophisticated method I know, but I just wanted something simple that would provide a pop of color to an otherwise white room.


This first picture makes it look like a tacked it straight.(I know it's a little crooked, but I hope you will join me in ignoring it! I promise it's not that back in real life!)

Here you can see how I fluffed it out

I also made a trip to Lowe's for these terra cotta pots, made labels on my computer and planted my cosmos, zinnia, and shasta daisy seeds. I cannot wait till they get big! (can you see the snap dragons peeking out behind the pots from my window box? They were planted by Mr. Wonderful)

The Breakfast Room Makeover

Although the smallest room in our house, it is my favorite and one of the main draws to the house as a whole when we originally looked at it. I'll never forget being held up by my dad so I could look in the window and low and behold the house had an original built-in! Add to that the fact it was built in 1937, had all hard wood floors, and two beautiful chandeliers...I was ready to say sold on the spot! But of course the roosters had to come down, a nice coat of paint, and a few more projects for the room to fully come alive.

Here is Mr. wonderful scraping off the roosters that refused to be removed! Thankfully he was up to the task that night because I know I wasn't.


We decided to leave the checkered floor, which I sometimes have regrets over, but that mainly happens when I am trying to get it clean. For the table and chairs, from the beginning I knew I wanted a white round table(which took months to find) and then we decided that instead of having the chairs the same we would find four different chairs, paint them white, and recover their seats with different fabrics. In the end I decided I liked all the seats to be the same. The chairs were more difficult to find than I expected, but after looking at a flea market, getting one from a garage sale, and then finally our fourth ended up coming from my grandmother. Overall we worked on them off and on for quite a while when we had a chance...lots of sanding, some wood glue, and a staple gun, but I can say that I am VERY pleased with the outcome!

3 of the chairs before (and there are 4 even though I only show 3 for some reason)

and after...




This picture shows the chandelier that I continually debate on whether I should paint it or not. Right now it is some sort of gold color that makes it look really dated. I have thought about painting the metal portions either with white or black, but I can't make up my mind if I should even do it much less the color!


I love how the room feels fresh and like spring year round! It will be even better as my flowers in the back yard start to bloom and I can bring them in for splashes of color throughout the house. Just thinking about it gets me excited and makes me smile!

Spring is Here!!

After days and days of rain the sun is out and shinning today! Also after only three days in their pots these little guys are peeking out and saying hello...


Despite the rain, which for the most part I enjoyed, I had a really good spring break and was able to get many of the things done that I wanted too. I should have a post about it all very soon!

Sprink Break...

is here and while we are not going anywhere I do have quite a list of things to do! Most are projects that have been in the works, but have been waiting to finish them during a time when I don't have to run off to ballet in the middle of it.

One such project is in my living room...creating my much needed window treatments. Well actually I am going to do "mistreatments" that I discovered a while back on The Nester. I absolutely love going through her blog and reading her thoughts and ideas. For a struggling perfectionists like myself her motto "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" helps me tremendously! The funny thing is when I showed my mom some of the posts, her response was that she had been mistreating for years...funny how I never noticed that, but when I think back I do remember her making pillows without sewing or creating window treatments without a pattern or a lot of hoop-la (is that a word?!) and yet they always turned out great. So maybe mistreating is in my blood and I just needed the nudge from reading the Nester to get me going. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Oh the beautiful

Next to peonies my favorite flower that simply causes me to sigh and wish for a whole bundle in my arms are the elusive ranunculus. I say elusive because I so badly wanted them for my wedding to go in my bouquet and for my prince charming's boutonniere and yet they were not available in the month of June! Last year we also tried to grow them in both our front and back yard and only managed to get three blooms...two pink and one yellow. I guess the Texas heat is too intense for them! Already I have seen a few of their leaves popping up so maybe, just maybe, I'll get one or two this year.

My lone survivor out of 80!

Look here to more pictures of these unique and charming flowers! (and the post I stumbled upon that sparked my own thoughts and reminiscing) It is actually an inspiration blog for weddings and I only wish I knew about it when planning by own.

My Bridal Bouquet, beautiful even without the ranunculus

Release

I finished school several months ago and with that season now at a close I am excited about other opportunities I can now explore! One of which is starting a community dance company. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for a while, simmering, and waiting for an opportunity to be brought to the forefront. Then about a year ago by dance teacher/mentor/friend casually mentioned the desire to do the same! Yet it wasn't until about a month ago that we finally were able to sit down and share our thoughts and ideas. (till 2:30 in the the morning!)

Typically a company means commitment, scheduled rehearsal times, performance opportunities, among many other things, but for us we wanted it to have a more relaxed format where dancers can be a part as they are able. It's all still in the beginning stages, but the most exciting part was within days of our discussion we were both asked separately to dance at the very same woman's conference! Talk about timing...we knew what we hoped for but didn't even think we would get an performance/ministry opportunity withing days of talking about it! This seemed to solidify we were headed in the right direction and that we had a release and a beginning to something new! I cannot tell you how excited I am even though we don't know what happens after this, whether we'll have a name or identity that can be used within our community, or if this format will really work, but honestly I am trusting that all will happen in its perfect time.

Our first performance was a great success. It has been several years since I have operated in that capacity...going in, setting up equipment, placing costumes, communicating with contacts, and so much more. I loved it and realized how much I have missed doing this. It was a deja vou of what is was like when I lived on the road and toured around the country performing .

As we were leaving I was wishing I could do it all over again the next day and the day after that! Hopefully more doors will open for us and we can do it again...

To New Adventures

For months now I have enjoyed reading what others have written, the projects they share, the beauty they find, and the overall happenings of people from all walks of life. So after much thought, prompting, and encouragement(from my husband) I decided to venture out into uncharted territory. I am not the greatest writer in the world, but really just want to share who we are and the adventures we have together!