My $6 Coffee Table

This is my $6 coffee table.

And here is how my coffee table looks now:

Let me tell you the story of my $6 coffee table.

I had finally decided that our little ottoman wasn't cutting it as the spot to put plates and cups on in the middle of the living room. Especially considering the fact that we don't have a dining room or kitchen table in our house. (1100 square feet really pushes you to get the things that you're not using out of the house.) Hoping to find a cheap coffee table for $15-$20 that I could refinish, I was keeping my eyes open on craigslist.com, etc. As I was heading to work one day on a Thursday, I spotted a garage sale on the corner with the ideal coffee table in the yard. I only had $6 cash, but I decided to stop anyway on the off chance they'd take a check or something. When I asked the lady how much she wanted for the coffee table, she said "Mmmm, how about $6?" Seriously?! So I bought it.

I was so excited about this little blessing from the Lord. (These are the type of things that remind me that He loves me personally and knows my every desire.)

As I was trying to decide what to do for the refinish, we went to Home Depot where I looked through the paint selection for inspiration. After pulling together a palette of the colors in the room, I decided to tie the coffee table in with the sectional in our living room since I don't have anything else in the room with navy blue in it. This photo doesn't really do the colors justice. Poor lighting, I know.

Here's how the refinishing went:

I started by sanding the table down. It took me about half an hour to do a light sanding so that the table would hold onto the paint.

The next morning, I pulled out the paintbrush and got to work painting.

Once I had put two coats of paints on the table, I taped the border on the inside of the table for the navy blue.

For the design on the middle of the table, I took a template from this lovely lady's blog and traced it out.

I freehanded the painting of the pattern. (Edit: Apparently this was misleading. I meant to explain that I painted over the traced pattern with a paintbrush... I think that free-handing was the wrong word to use.)

And here is the finished product. It usually takes me a while to process things, so I'm still deciding whether or not I like it. =)

A Celebration of Life

I decided to be rather ambitious this year and host a sit-down lunch for family and friends in my backyard. I pretty much used every piece of silverware, china, and glassware in my house... and still had to borrow some from my mom. But it turned out to be a very nice time.

As we set off for church this morning in our "Easter Best" I was concerned about the threatening rainclouds, but when we left an inspiring Easter service, it had cleared up a bit and the rest of the day turned out to just benefit from the overcast skies (by being cooler).

My goal this year was to have theme that would celebrate life... the first flowers blooming, the baby birds being born, our own lives and the lives of those we love, and the most important life of all... Jesus! I created little cards that look like this to put on the table:

These are the other two little cards I did:

Here's a close up of the table:

I think lilies are my new favorite flower. Too bad they only bloom for about a month each year. There are so many colors and varieties. These grew awry in a quite pleasant way.

I was so busy running around trying to make sure everything was in order that I didn't have time to take pictures. Here's who took a lot the photos. My dad took the rest (including this one).

I had LOTS of candy left after filling little plastic eggs for the Easter egg hunt, so I made these for favors:

I made a pink strawberry cake and lemon icebox pie. I asked my sister, B, to make cookies and she made some bea-U-tiful glazed sugar cookies that tasted as good as they looked. Everything was SO yummy!

After lunch and dessert, everyone sat around and dyed eggs (an Easter tradition with my family).

And my little man went on an egg hunt. Almost every time he found an egg, he said, "Silly Easter Bunny." I must say that my dad found some creative hiding places (as usual). Here's my little guy with his Easter basket:

And here's me and my little gal in her Easter dress:

My little (awesome) family:

My big (also awesome) family:

I could go on and on with the photos, but this blog would be forever long if I did!

I hope that all the eggs and birds and bunnies are reminders to everyone of LIFE! One life matters most- and that is the life of Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and who we celebrate on this Easter day!

Getting Better?

Tonight, I had planned to have a relaxing evening doing some design work, looking at some magazines, perhaps reading some blogs, making some crafty stuff, and doing similarly enjoyable things... Alas, my job got in the way. I got caught up in learning how to send an HTML email and creating some graphics for said email. Finally, I think Mike made some progress in this learning process and it looks like I'll be able to do it. I am SO thankful for a wonderfully talented and intelligent husband who can figure things out that feel beyond me!

Last night, however, I did some design work and here's what I came up with... one new, one improved.

La Maison

Sunday, we happened upon a little antique shop in East Memphis that was having a sidewalk sale. Suspecting that their prices were a bit out of my price range, I was hesitant to even look, but my husband encouraged me to take a peek. Out of my range it was, but I am glad I took a peek since I got some ideas and found some things that I really like. Perhaps I'll find something similar at an antique store that is within my price range. But for those of you with bigger budgets, I encourage you to check it out. (Here's a link La Maison.) Those of you with budgets more like mine, you can window shop with me here.

I loved this display of lovely flowers (water lilies? cabbages?). Mostly, I loved the color and the shine! Ooooo, shiiiny!!!

And this little display of antique christening gowns caught my eye. How innocent and precious.
These curtains would look great in my living room, but not for $500 a pair!
I would love to do my little boy's room with this little bed and with a sailing theme... especially since my husband loves to sail.
And these lamps are exactly what I'm looking for in my living room, again though, not for $300 a pair.
This display was inspiring. I especially love the ribbons by which the silver platters hang on the wall. Not sure I would have ever thought of hanging my good silver on the wall??? But I must say it has a beautiful effect.
This little table/desk would look beautiful in front of the window in my dining room. I would use it as a little desk for my laptop and printer. So much better than my current monstrosity of a desk!
And finally, this little red nightstand... I love a pop of red. Not sure where I would put it in my house, but it is just too, too cute!

Over and out for now!

Feeling small (& New Prints)

Note: keep scrolling... the prints are at the bottom!

The other day, my husband and I stopped at an estate sale late on a Saturday. Most of the things in the house were overpriced, but we were interested in a couple of things, so we asked if they were going to have a half price sale on Sunday (which is common at estate sales). One of the men working the sale said, with much disdain, that they would not be doing a half price sale, though some things would be discounted. When my husband tried asking for more information about a particular item and whether or not it would be discounted, the man abruptly said, "Thank you for your interest and thank you for stopping by." as if cut off any further discussion of the matter and it was almost like he was asking us to leave. Lucky for him, we were already on our way out. But as we discussed the situation on the way out, I just felt low that we had even asked about a discount. Then my fight instinct kicked in and I realized that I was letting another person's ideas about the world (naive and inconsiderate perception of the world, btw) affect my emotions. I got a bit angry that I continually let myself be intimidated by people like that man. I wanted (and still want) to find a way to stand up to the bullies of the world. Not necessarily in a confrontational manner, but just in a way that will let me stay at peace with myself and my own decisions. I think the first part of the process to not being intimidated is to realize when you are allowing other people to intimidate you... and fight it... not out loud, but on the inside. Confidence is key. And I don't ever, ever want to make other people feel small... like the way that man made me feel small.

I have also continued to think about something I posted earlier about taking credit for things. I still feel like it is good to work hard and have a sense of accomplishment and delight in doing something worthwhile, but I also recently came across this verse in my devotion time that really is powerful:

...Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

It just reminds me that no matter how much we appreciate the things of this earth or how hard we work to do something great, it is just so shallow in comparison to the wonder of being with and knowing the Lord.

Along with this thinking about things, I have also been working on more prints and here are some of them:

The last one is my favorite!

More New Prints

I have REALLY been enjoying making these prints... but the problem is that I keep staying up so late. It is a time consuming project and since the only quiet time I get is after the kids have gone to bed... I end up getting to bed really late. Oh well... at least I'm still young... or that's what I'm telling myself for a few more days. I am just one year short of the big 3-0 on Friday. Maybe I should make myself a celebratory print. Just one short year left of being in my 20's (breathe, just breathe). Not that 30 is old... if you're someone else...

Baby Jack

My friend, Susanna, had a baby boy last Monday... and the baby passed away on Saturday. I can't imagine the grief of losing your firstborn child after six days. It was kind of a miracle that he lasted that long, really. And his death, as tragic as it is, has had an incredible impact on so many people. Their FB page for baby Jack currently has over 1700 members. An anonymous donor paid for baby Jack's funeral in full this morning before the family had a chance to pay. With all of the hospital bills, it was a tremendous blessing to them.

The funeral was this morning... I just keep thinking about that tiny baby coffin that was so small that only two men carried it. You know, it normally takes 8 pall bearers to carry an adult coffin. There couldn't have been a dry eye in the room during the funeral ceremony when we watched a video about baby Jack and his family. That baby was precious. The thing that really strikes me is the way the family is handling this situation with such grace and peace. Susanna was talking about the lonely people with babies in the NCCU that didn't have family and friends surrounding them and asking other people about themselves. I know that the reality of the situation hasn't really sunk in for the family, but the consideration of others in a severely traumatic situation is inspirational. My family has been friends with Susanna's family for years and Susanna was my nurse at my OB/GYN office with my first baby. She was amazing... and still is! With love for the family and especially for Susanna, I created this print (above) and gave it to her at the reception after the funeral today.