My Newest Trash to Treasure!

Hi friends!
About one week before we moved, I was driving Mallory to school and it just so happened to be trash day. Now you have to know me to know that I am no stranger to curb trash or dumpster trash.  While I have never been a "dumpster diver", I have been known to bring home a treasure that was left waiting beside the dumpster.

Well, like all trash days, I am well aware of my surroundings as I drive through the neighborhood and I always take special notice of what MIGHT just be waiting for me.   As I rounded the corner about 1 block from the school, at the curb of one house, I noticed a rocking chair sitting beside the trash can.  Well, it didn't take me long to whiz the car to the opposite side of the street and check out my FIND!  I popped open the trunk and loaded that baby in a heartbeat!!!  I knew if I waited and took Mallory to school first and picked it up on the way home, it wouldn't be there.  It was TOO good of a find!!!

I was so excited to get home and get a good look at the chair up close and personal.  I knew that there had to be something terribly wrong with it for someone to be throwing it away.  I looked and looked, but couldn't find anything wrong with it!  It was in need of a good cleaning, but that was an easy fix!  It was also painted red and the paint was chipping, but paint can cover a multitude of problems!

Since I've been in the middle of our move, I have just now been able to take the time to clean it up and give it a fresh coat of paint.  Here's a BEFORE picture...

Isn't it CUTE!?!?!?!?!

LOOK at those SPINDLES!!!!  I LOVE it!!!

And the red wasn't that bad, but I decided I wanted to put it in my office where the walls are painted a burgundy red.  It definitely clashed.

Here's the AFTER!!!!

Isn't it FABULOUS?!?!

I just love it and am so excited to have found it!!  I plan to show you pictures of my office soon.  I have ALMOST finished organizing and decorating it!  And, the black rocking chair goes PERFECTLY!!!

I hope you've enjoyed my Trash to Treasure find, too!!

I'll be linking up with several blog parties to share my fun find!

Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

CraftOManiac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac

DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

More Made-to-Match Creations

While in Austin last weekend, I got Mallory a couple of outfits.  And, of course, with every new outfit, you HAVE to have a new BOW!  Here are the two bows I  made to match these two new little outfits...

(all images enlarge when clicked)

Let me know if you have any outfits that need a bow to match.  I'll custom make a bow just for you!

Check out Mandy Jane Boutique on Facebook to see some other examples of my bows or visit my online boutique.

New Bedding

I told you in my last post that I had found some new bedding that I couldn't wait to show you.  Well, you didn't have to wait long at all.  I am SO super excited!!  While in Austin, I found the most beautiful bedding for my master bedroom.  Well, actually, I had seen the bedding here in Tyler, but it was too expensive and they sold out of the king size really fast!  I had pretty much put it out of my mind until we stepped into the Stein Mart in Austin.  Not only did I find the bedding, it was in a king size AND it was ON SALE!!!  And not just on sale, it was on CLEARANCE which meant an additional 25% off for "Preferred Customers".  YIPPEE!!!  I couldn't believe it!  Now, all I had to do was come up with a way to pay for it.  ;-)

I starting calculating in my head to determine the cost of each piece.  (Of course this wouldn't be one of those "bed-in-the-bags" where all the pieces come in a set.  Nope, all the pieces were sold individually).  Anyway, the final price of the quilt was what my siblings and their spouses usually spend on me for my birthday combined.  My birthday is in April, so what do you think I did?????  I grabbed up all the pieces and hustled to find Mama, Kristin, Amy, and Tennille.  They loved it and within minutes we were checking out!!!  The girls bought the quilt for me and my mom bought all the shams and dust ruffle!!!!!  And they didn't make me wait until my birthday!!!!  SCORE!!! 
So, what do you think????  Here's a BEFORE picture with my old comforter...

And here's the AFTER with my new bedding...

I think the colors just make the room POP now!  It seems so much more rich.  I moved the rug from my bathroom and placed it at the foot of the bed.  I think it adds so much warmth to the room.

For those of you who don't know, the quilt is called a Crazy Quilt.  Years ago, ladies would hand piece quilts with all different shapes and sizes of fabric.  Then, they would hand stitch decorative stitches to hold the pieces together.  Mine happens to be a machine-made version, but it mimicks the hand-stitched design.

I just LOVE it!  It's so cool how God works things out like this.  It is no coincidence that the ones in Tyler sold out, but that I found the exact one I was looking for at a grand savings of 50% off!!!!!  AND, I received it all as a GIFT!!!  WOO-HOO!!!  Thank you Kristin, Amy, Tennille, and Mama!!!!

I'm linking up with Elements Interiors for Whassup Wednesday

and Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday!

Spring Break Trip and CSN Review

Hello sweet blog friends!!
I've been gone with my family for a Spring Break trip to Austin, Texas and just got home late yesterday.  We had SO much fun!!!  Picture this... 17 people including my parents, my husband, my two children, my two brothers, their spouses, and their 3 children, plus my sister, her husband, and her 2 children!  It's 4 SUV's, 4 pack-n-plays, 2 double strollers, 2 regular strollers, and TONS of luggage FUN!!!!  That's right... 10 adults and 7 children.  Mallory is the oldest at 6 years old and all the rest are 3 and under!!!  Whew!  Craziness!!

The guys attend the UIL State Basketball Tournament and watch game after game from Thursday morning until Saturday night.  The girls take all the kiddos and go shopping.  It's totally crazy, but we love it and have so much fun together.

Our first stop was to eat, of course.  We made it to Waco and had lunch at McAlister's Deli.  This was the 1st time we let the oldest kids sit at their own "kid table".  And, we were pleasantly surprised.  They did great!

L to R - Micah, Jack, Mallory, and Grant

The girls (and baby Gavin)... Kristin, Macy, Amy, my mom, Tennille, and Scarlett

Our next stop is always one on my favorites... Salado, Texas. 

Precious boutiques line Main Street and are filled with one-of-a-kind finds!  I think I could spend all day just wandering in and out of all the little shops.

Jack, Mallory, and Micah played in the back of the suburban while we girls took turns running in and out of the stores.  They were SO good!!

That night Mallory and Jack snuggled up on the sleeper sofa in our hotel room.  They were pretty wiped out!

Although I didn't take any other pictures on our trip, I had to snap this picture of our state capital for Mallory to take back to school with her.  She couldn't wait to show it to her classmates and tell them she had seen it!!!

We had so much fun.  This year was the 20th year we've taken this trip and our family just gets bigger and bigger.  Next year we'll have 2 more little ones going!!!  Yep... my brother Josh, and his wife Amy, are expecting another little girl in June.  And my brother Chad, and his wife Tennille, just found out they are expecting a baby in mid October.  So, our 2012 trip to Austin will include 19... do they rent tour buses?!?!  We may need to start considering something like that!  HA!  :-)

I'm excited to be back home for many reasons, but mostly to continue decorating and working in my house.  I found some gorgeous new bedding and I can't wait to show it to you!!!!  I also have some reviews to tell you about!!!  As a preferred blogger with CSN Stores, I have received the opportunity to review several items from their 200+ online stores.  Ya'll, if you haven't checked out CSN, you MUST!!!  They have EVERYTHING under the sun!  From baby items, home accessories, and home furnishings to recessed lighting, cookware, bakeware, and plumbing fixtures, CSN Stores has it!!!

Recently I was given this plastic 3-drawer cart to review.

I LOVE IT!!!  I am storing the ribbon for my bow boutique in it and it couldn't be more perfect!

The drawers are just deep enough to hold my largest spools!

And they're plenty wide enough to allow for extra space for more ribbon!!!

Thanks to CSN Stores I will have another review coming very soon!!!!  Just wait and see what I get to review THIS time!!!!  I'm so excited!!!

Dog Tired

Tonight I went in Jack's room to get him ready for bed and this is what I found...

This is what happens when you only get 3 minutes worth of an afternoon nap. 

He was OUT!

 

Back to Business

Well, the move is done and all the boxes have been unpacked.  After only 3 weeks, almost all of the decorations have been put in place.  My office still has lots of work to be done, but I'm waiting on a review item from CSN Stores to finalize the organization in there.  So, now it's back to business - my bow making business! 

I received an order for 5 custom bows THE VERY WEEK we were moving.  Fortunately, the customer wasn't in a hurry and was willing to wait a little bit.  I just hate it because my usual turn-around time is 2 days.  I try very hard to get orders out quickly and timely.  But, there are some things you just can't help and this was one of those.  I enjoyed pulling the ribbon supplies out again and making these.

Here are a few of my most recent made-to-match custom bows....

This precious purple bow was made with all shades of light purple.  It is so sweet and little girly!!!  Mallory keeps watching me make all these bows and continues to ask if they're for HER!  I've got to get busy making HER some things now.  My sewing machine has been VERY quiet lately.  Gotta get it humming again very soon.  :-)

Front Door Fru-Fru!

I have officially created my first project in my new home office!!!  This first creation was a spring wreath for my mom's birthday.  It's nothing like I've ever made before.  I typically use a lot of greenery, flowers, and ribbons to create fairly traditional wreaths.  This time I used giant mesh ribbon and a huge, metal, floppy-eared bunny and very little of anything else.  It's big, fun, and definitely fru-fru!!! 

Here's how it turned out...

I think that bunny is just the cutest thing!  It was fun to make and even more fun to give to my incredible mother!!!

Happy Birthday, Mama!!!  I love you so much!!!

We celebrated my mom's big day with dinner at Bruno's, one of our favorite italian restaurants.  We had the back room reserved for just our family.  All 17 of us had a great time!  :-)

Mallory and Cousin Grant have SO much fun together!!  It's just precious to watch them interact with each other.

We begin Spring Break this week!!!  Woo-HOO!!! 

The weather is supposed to be really nice, so I'm really looking forward to it!  I just love this time of year!!!