Planting Flowers & Doily Bowls

There are a lot of things I have never done before. Planting seeds that will grow into flowers is one of those many things. There's a slight chance that I did something like that in my childhood that I can't remember, but thinking back, the only flower-planting I can remember included putting an already bloomed something into the ground.
Today, on our morning walk, Finn and I went to Mize's Farm & Garden, which is about three blocks away. While I perused the seed packet aisle, I had an old man go on and on about his sons who were 6'5 and 300 something lbs. Arms that are "this big around" while placing his hands in a circular fashion....Finn and I loved it!
We picked up three seed packets since $7.00 was all I brought and I didn't want to go overboard and then be embarrassed when we had to put one back because we didn't have enough money....
The winners were...Zinnia, Purple Coneflower(Echinacea), and Poppy(Oriental Orange Scarlet).

I plan on planting the seeds in this bed behind the house...I only hope it gets enough sun!

Then I would love to make a little fence like the one below that I saw in June's issue of Parenting magazine...

I also wanted to share a quick project I tried out from Pinterest. Just a doily, a bowl, fabric stiffener, and rubber bands...and you've got a doily bowl!

Mine was a little lop-sided and I'm still not sure why the fabric stiffener made weird thin coats over the doily holes, but all in all I was impressed with how easy this project was and thought that it'd be a really cheap and easy way to make lots of bowls for a themed party or wedding.

Happy start to summer everyone! I hope you get lots of chances to sit in the sunshine this week!

Allison

Thrifting & Style Changes

Today in Elizabethton, Jamie and I definitely got lucky with our purchases, especially when we found items that had no price-tag and a friendly old man in gingham gave us his best deals...which really were perfect steals. 


I got a Fire-king teacup and saucer for $6.00 and I'm waiting on four more from etsy to show up on my front porch...I can't wait to start my teacup collection!

I found this sweet tea kettle for $10.00

The orange and white striped apron was $3.99 and after Jamie mentioned that it would look good in my home I couldn't pass it up. I screwed two decorative hooks from Hobby Lobby on the wall next to the dining room hutch and now my aprons are on display.

The orange & white was purchased today. The apron next to it was a Birthday gift from my friend Kristin, made with the fabrics I used in our wedding. The brown gingham apron was Steven's grandmother's and she gave it to me for a wedding gift, she even tucked a hanky into the pocket and said that was what her mother used to do. The apron on the far right is from Anthropologie, a gift my brother picked out for me(way to go big bro!)

I found this old charm upstairs today during our trip, I immediately fell in love with the color, so if I ever do a new paint job, I hope to find something similar! 

These embroidered napkins were handmade by Amish women who used old bedsheets for fabric. Aren't they gorgeous? Found those on etsy! My plan is to start gathering a hodge-podge of mismatching cloth napkins. It's been a lot of fun so far!

I've also found two yellow linen napkins and I've decided to keep them stored in this milk glass piece that was Steven's grandmother's as well.

I've already mentioned that I'm becoming an old woman with my new love for embroidery, lots of colors, and all things cottage and farmhouse...it's definitely true, I can't get enough! Anything that reminds me of a quilt has become my new favorite. 

I've also become incredibly excited about fabric patterns and using them in new ways....also an inspiration from quilts. And for the first time, in a very real way, I'm thinking about making products to sell.......!

Allison

Outdoor Seating on the Cheap

Yesterday while I was dropping off donations at the Goodwill, I picked up a light blue wooden chair for $5.97! Which got me thinking.

Since I was already on the "stealing from my son's room" kick, I decided to pair the new Goodwill chair with the wooden chair I painted and covered for his room a while ago. I thought they would look nice together outside on the back patio in some little nook.

All I needed to do was to re-cover the chair pad with fabric that would endure outdoor weather.

I already had some special plasticy fabric on hand, so 22 staples from the staple-gun later and I was ready to move this chair outdoors! 

Always interrupting my photo shoots...

I've been eyeing this tray table (in the dusty blue) from Bed, Bath & Beyond...

which I'd like to add to the nook where these two chairs will be, then a few potted plants, and maybe a new coat of paint(possibly Love Bird by Martha Stewart) to the little blue chair, yes! Oh, maybe I'll even try stenciling on the new chair, that'd be fun!

Allison

Recreated Crate

I've been stealing from my son's nursery(can I even call it that anymore? He's getting so big!) a lot lately...first the curtains and now his wooden crate.
I found a pair of these old crates while antiquing with my mom just a few short months before Finn was born. I brought them home and decided to put casters(fancy word for wheels) on one of them.
Then I put it in Finn's room to hold toys and books.

But, after seeing an idea on Pinterest, I wanted the crate for my rosemary! So I took it and lined it with some thin fabric to keep the soil inside. I guess you could use black plastic as well and it would blend in better with the soil.
I used a staple gun to fasten the five pieces of fabric.

I put some gravel pieces on the bottom after cutting a few slits into the fabric so that water can drain easily.

Then I transplanted the rosemary...I'm hoping it'll get even bigger, like shrub size!
I plan on doing the same to the crate's match and using these for little herb gardens to wheel around the back patio before I get comfortable enough planting into the ground...I have anxieties about plants dying once they're in the ground.

Oh, and we started landscaping the front yard-so excited about how "grown up" the front of our house is looking!

Allison

DIY Painted Twig Letters

Lately I have been a color enthusiast. I'm having a hard time reigning in my thoughts on how I can bring more color into every room of our house, specifically the dining room. Our living room has curtains with lots of color, our kitchen is a hodge-podge of blues, yellows, greens, and reds...but our dining room has been a dull mix of gray, green, white, black and gold.
First, I took down the curtains (which I still love) and replaced them with the curtains in Finn's nursery which are a white sheer with jute strung through.
This helped...there was now a lot more light coming through the windows, and I got rid of color boundaries and opened the room up to endless possibilities.


The At Table sign I created a while ago definitely started looking drab to me, so after seeing an idea on Pinterest and in the newest Parenting magazine that magically arrived out of the hands of our postman, I got to work. By the way, I love that the postman walk in our neighborhood to deliver mail!


First, I took the dogs out back and let them prance around while I collected sticks...this didn't take long, since we have a 10 foot pile of limbs and branches sitting at the back of our lot waiting for the city to (hopefully) pick up.

I took my coffee and grabbed my hot glue gun, breaking pieces of twigs apart and arranging them into letters. By this time Finn was up from his morning nap and out to join us.

After arranging and glueing, I set up the words on a window ledge on our little shanty shed (that is soon to be a spiffy garage!) and admired.

Then, I took a break and gave Finn another outdoor bath in the rubbermaid...in the back this time at least! The dogs might have drank out of his bathwater. I still maintain that this is old-fashioned rather than redneck.

After Finn was down for his afternoon nap, I pulled up the rest of a really ridiculous movie called Lost in Austen and got to work painting the sticks.

First, Green Tea(Americana), then Blue Sky(Martha Stewart), followed by a thin line of Deep Sea(Martha Stewart), and to finish it off, Love Bird(Martha Stewart) at the tips.

And there you have it! New life for the words that hold so much meaning in our dining room.

Am I becoming an old lady? This table runner was purchased Wednesday....it is the second embroidered item I've bought recently, and I have countless plans for more embroidery, doilies, etc....woops!

They remind me of what you would create during craft time at a kid's summer camp. And I love that about them. I kind of want my house to look be that, a place where creating happens. Even in a dry macaroni and Elmer's glue sort of way...

Here's a comparison:

These letters would be a fantastic baby shower gift...and SO cheap to make! Just takes a little time and creativity. I want to make a huge one for our back patio that says HOME or something ridiculously sentimental like that.

Read more about the meaning of these words here.

Have a fun weekend!

Allison

Farmhouse Prints

Katie Daisy is my favorite artist on Etsy, and I would buy just about everything in her shop The Wheatfield.
I ordered a print in the past and  last night I ordered two more from her. I can't wait to get them and hang them up in our dining room!

I love the sense of warmth and feelings of home her prints capture. I need more bright and cheery in my house!

Allison

Farmer's Market Season

I am so thrilled....Saturday was my first trip to the Johnson City Farmer's Market this season. I love the summer. I am convinced that it has to be my favorite. I do get excited for the next upcoming season, and I mope and complain when each season seems to drag on and I simply can't wait for the next. But, nothing gives me such refreshing elation as the start of summer. I so look forward to bare-feet on pavement, especially at night when the sun is gone, but the cement asphalt is still warm. I love the fireflies, iced everything, sun-kissed cheeks, conversations at the pool, thunderstorms, sounds of a neighbor mowing their lawn in the distance, and the sense of adventure that the summer season brings.


I can't wait to go back to the market each week with Finn! It's walking distance from our front porch, but I'm already looking forward to the day when I have a bike with a basket and a seat for Finn to ride in...and it is the best to stand and listen to a group of old-timers play bluegrass for all the shoppers. Seriously, the best.


Saturday I purchased three herbs for the herb garden I hope to start soon. Spearmint, Sage, and German Winter Thyme.

It gives me such a sense of locality and warmth to stand and talk to a local herb grower about caring for my new plants...it's even better when friendly market-goers stop and pitch their tidbits of knowledge into the conversation "Well if ya can't grow mint ya can't grow nuthin. Them's is weeds in these parts, they'll a take over everthan'!" "If ya want some of those just come on over to my place and I'll give em to ya for free to take off my hands!" Love it.

I can't wait to go back and try the homemade Amish donuts that I keep hearing everyone talk about! 
Yep summer, it's official, you're my favorite. Now to go pin some herb garden inspiration...

Allison

Sunday: Eternity

Mothering has taught me: Raising children is of eternal worth.

I love movies with larger than life stories, ones that take you on a journey, and include huge obstacles that are eventually overcome. I love it when a film leaves me with this feeling that although the movie is over, it never really ends. Movies are great movies to me if there is a legacy left behind.

Frodo will always be remembered as the hobbit who destroyed the ring. Mikey from The Goonies has a story so grand that it'd be passed down throughout the generations. Willow...who could ever forget his courage and heart, so much bigger than his height! Don't even get me started on The Labyrinth, James & The Giant Peach, The NeverEnding Story, The Secret of Moonacre, Princess Bride....

When I step back and really think about my family, over generations, the extension of our tree, Finn being of the same blood as my Grandaddy, Steven's Granny, then I begin to feel the same way I do while I'm watching one of those adventures unfold on the television screen. Because in continuing our family line there's the ability to create traditions that will carry over for years and years, the venture of exploring everyday happenings and explaining how they point back to God our Creator, power to stop generational sin, the gift of sharing the Gospel in the intimate setting that home provides.

"The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever" Psalm 37:18

All of the toil, the unchecked items on the checklist, the errands and chores are meaningless and shy in comparison with today. Because today I got down on the floor to laugh with my son, I sat in the sun with him and described the changing seasons, listened to happy silver-haired musicians pluck the banjo, found Spot again in the basket, ate applesauce, laughed at the dogs jumping to snatch pieces of tomato out of the air, whispered Gospel truths while sleepy eyes traced the movement of my mouth, rocking back and forth back and forth in the dim-lit nursery..."I love you so much Finn, I am so proud of you...and the best part is God loves you even more."

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you." John 6:27

Mothering has taught me that those moments ring out into eternity.

Mothering has taught me that investing in my son is lasting.

Mothering has taught me that I am a part of the greatest, never-ending adventure.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you..." 1 Peter 1:3-4

Mom, I hope you know the incredibly significant role you play in my life. Thank you for standing beside me, always encouraging me even when I didn't understand, knowing that one day your daughter would become a woman and a mother of her own. I'm sorry for the countless times I've forgotten what a blessing you are. I'm so delighted that you're Finn's grandmother, that you were there for his first breath, and that he will carry parts of each of us throughout his life.

Mom, Happy Mother's Day!

Allison