Lamp Shade

So, if anyone has read through some of my posts you know that I've had this ongoing war with a lamp in my living room.

Here is the lamp, and my brother-in-law...

First I painted it white, and I loved it.

Do you see it in the corner? 

Please note there is no lampshade.  There hasn't been a lamp shade since I painted it.  I wanted something barrel-shaped and burlap.  So I've been looking.  I've tried to make some even.  It has never gone right.  I end up burning my fingers and getting mad and scraping the whole idea.  So there this lamp set in the corner with no shade.  Until...

It broke.

That's right.  It broke.  I don't know what happened to it.  I went to pick it up and it fell apart in my hands.  Upon further inspection--it was REALLY broke.  I have sent it to the garage for my dear husband to fix. :)  So, instead I brought up this lamp I had in the garage where I had painted and rewired it and it was waiting to go into the basement.  It also needed a lamp shade.  Desperate I bought a $10 shade at the store, but it was way too small...

So I left it because we had company coming over and I didn't really have a choice.  This week I was in my local goodwill, and I saw it.  As soon as I walked in I saw it.  From all the way across the store-there it was.  A HUGE barrel shade.  I kind of ran (seriously) over to it, and grabbed it.  $1.50! Even better.  I took my prize home.  I was so proud of myself and so excited I forgot to take pictures of it before.  I got home and ran down to the basement and immediately covered it in burlap and glued it down and put it on the lamp.  

Here is the finished product, please don't judge my endtable, it belonged to the inlaws, and I'd like to refinish it. or paint it. But doesn't my lamp look soooo much better????

And a couple other things...I'm in my last semester of nursing, and I had a study session yesterday.  I was completely fried by the time I got home and so I lay down on the sofa to watch some TV with my darling Belle.  She took the remote.  I guess it was too much TLC for her.

And lastly, I'd like to introduce you all to my baby niece.  She is due in February.  We just found out it is a girl.  Here is her latest picture-and yes, she is staring right at us.

That's all for now.  I have a test tomorrow so, I probably should go study some more. :)

Thanks! 

Stethoscope

So, as I have mentioned previously, I am a nursing student.  One of the most important tools I keep in my uniform (I will NOT share a picture-its horrible) is my stethoscope.  It is handy to keep it around my neck because it is accessible there, but the oils from your skin can break down the rubber and ruin your stethoscope...and they are not cheap.  Some of the nurses have these cool covers that are fun colors and keep the rubber safe.

One of my girlfriends gave me a TON of fabric, so I decided I was going to make one of these covers for my stethoscope.  I have a basic idea of this is going to work-so bear with me.  First thing I did is I picked out a fabric.  I used a drapery weight because I liked the pattern...I picked it out of this stack:

So I took the fabric, and found online that I needed a piece that was 36x6 inches.  The one I had was 28 x 12.  So I took my stethoscope and measured:

The key is to have the bell out, and the ear pieces out, so once I hem things up, it leaves a good amount.  So, I sewed.

When sewing, if you use pins, do NOT point them toward the machine, you WILL stick yourself...it will hurt, and you may bleed.  Fair warning.  I will be completely honest, I have played with this three times now.  The first time I sew the long end then added the elastic to one end and hemmed the other-then the second time, I did the elastic first and then the long end.  Really, I don't know what the best way to do this is-but the moral of the story is try it out and figure out what works best for you....

Also, its important to add a snap or velcro to the top end to keep things from sliding down toward the bell.  But this is my cover, and I'm very excited about it and am making a couple more for my friends at school!  One last photo of the pretty fabric-it matches our uniforms.

I hope you enjoyed this short tutorial-




p.s. I'm linking up to:


Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

aha moment: nursing.

aha moment: nursing.

Entry Closet

As I mentioned previously, the weather is beginning to change here.  It is no longer 90 degrees every day with 100% humidity.  It was almost as if a switch was turned once school started.  Anyhow, I love it.  I have the windows open, I can hear the crickets, there is a nice breeze, and best of all...no more air conditioner (those are expensive to run).  Today I went to our hall entry closet.  

It is not my favorite closet, there are actually a lot of things wrong with it.  For starters, its too small.  Then there is the fact the door opens so that it blocks the ONLY light.  The linen closet is directly across the hall, and the hall is small...thank you 1980s home design.  I went to this closet because this is where we have to keep our dog food, in locked containers, behind a closed door...to keep our lovely lab from eating himself to death.  When I opened the door, this is what I saw (I am sad): 

And this...

Ick.  There are coats, shirts, pants, hats, collars, leashes...you name it its in there...including a waffle maker!  I decided something needed to be done, there had to be a better use of this space.  I pulled everything out and used the vacuum on the carpet.  Then I assessed the situation, my closet looked like this...

...but now, my living rooms looks like this...

The dog was not in the closet.  But he wanted to be involved.  AND, the mirror and plastic containers there were purchases today to complete the closet.  The first thing I did was sit down and sort.  What can go to goodwill, what has to be kept, what can be thrown away.  That's always liberating.  The things I wanted to keep were put into plastic boxes.  One for me, one for my sweet husband, and one for the puppies.  

I like that they are clear and you can see into them, but I wanted to decorate a bit.  So I took some white cardstock and cut it to fit, and decorated. 

They aren't perfect, but I liked this look better, I wish I had enough caps and lower case letters to make everything match...this is what I ended up with.  The next thing I had to address was the lighting.  Because the door opens in such a way that it blocks the hall light, and is far enough down the hall that it doesn't get the light from the kitchen or living room, its a very dark place.  This makes it hard to see, and find stuff etc.  I picked up two fluorescent lights, battery powered, at wally world for $4 each.  Not too bad.  They had screws to mount them on the wall, so I used:

I managed to drill holes, put the plastic anchors in, screw in the screws, and hang the lights...

And...

Now with light, we can see what we are doing in here!  FINALLY!  The next thing was to hang the mirror and put everything back.  

...and...

I still need to paint and get some nicer hangers.  For now, this will do.  I already feel better about it.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to work on the other closet....

Thanks for stopping by...

p.s. I'm linking up to:

My closet still looks like it did when I finished this, which is a huge accomplishment for us since its been 4 months! :) ...except I was able to purchase some AWESOME wooden hangers from biglots for $10. Yay!!! 

Things are going....

So, I feel really bad for neglecting my blog.  It is something I really enjoy, and reading everyone else's....  The problem is, I was in school over the summer.  13 hours.  Microbiology and Nursing 3 (OB/Peds).  I'm wore out.  I did however manage to score Bs in both classes and an A in my micro lab.  That is fine.  My final in nursing was last Wednesday, my last clinical was Friday...AFTER the final, and I started my final semester of my ADN program Monday.  So I have class two days a week, a clinical on a third, and because I'm a loser and have to remain full-time, I started my first BSN class.  "Intro to Professional Nursing."  It has 5 more books in addition to the 10 I already have for Nursing 4 (which is advanced care/medsurg in case anyone was dying to know).  Basically, I am exhausted.  I haven't done anything around the house, my sweet husband has been cleaning it....

Good news is, this weekend since it has finally cooled down to a reasonable temperature, that sweet husband and I are going to remodel the deck somewhat.  I honestly am not sure how this is going to go.  My mother-in-law is giving/selling us her thermaspa hot tub.  Its a 6 person $13000 (new) hottub.  So, our poor deck isn't up to the task of holding an additional 700lbs (plus the weight of the water).  We are going reinforce and rebuild part of it to make the space we have more efficient.  I will post pictures of before and after when we are done.  I'm really hoping to get it mostly completed this weekend.

I think that is about it for now.  My lovely mother had a post she wrote for me to put here to update everyone, but I decided I had a spare couple minutes while my peach cobbler was in the crock pot and sweet husband was still asleep.  Maybe I should repost my cobbler ... let me see how it turns out first.  I will say the peaches I bought at the farmers market were soooooo delicious.


I hope everyone is having a great day, I'll let you know how the cobbler comes out!

Decorating

I think we all have a love for Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, and Ballard Designs.  I know I do.  I also know that I cannot afford much, if anything from those stores.  Its fine.  My hand-me-down kitchen table, sofas, and coffee tables work just fine with my peddler's mall finds.  My other favorite is The Country House, they regularly have some cute decor things...again I mostly cannot afford, but they are more in my price range.  My dear sweet mother-in-law gave me a sack full of magazines she had collected for me.  She receives a ton of them apparently.  In any case there were clothes magazines, junk magazines, and more home decor magazines....  I just wanted to share a couple of my new favorites, and why.

• Sturbridge Yankee Workshop - This is much like The Country House, very cute decor items and some curtains and other things that would be nice in my house. 
• Garnet Hill - Some really cute dresses in here.  I love light summery dresses.
• Cambria Cove - I have never heard of this, and some of the items look like what my grandmother would have had in her house, BUT they have some really pretty china tea sets etc that would be nice to have for yourself, or to give as a gift.  I love pretty china.  
• Viva Terra - Again, I've NEVER heard of this.  However, they have some cute items for the home and garden etc ...some are even affordable.  
• Van Dyke's Restorers - OMG...I can build a house from this magazine....enough said. 

 I found this in Viva Terra, and I want it. :)

I love enamel ware.  I don't know why.  I think it looks so bright and vintage.  :) 

On a side note from all of this, I have a project in the works.  Thanks to Ana at Knock-Off Wood I have plans to build a bench for my landing area, coffee table, and end table.  She has excellent plans that if I can follow....I KNOW anyone can do it.  You can't get any more step-by-step than this.  I'll be posting those photos as they become available. :)

I am sorry I haven't been around that much.  I am taking a summer course (okay actually 3) so I can graduate in December.  Summer school is only 14 weeks instead of 16 weeks.  That has caused me to be super busy with studying, care plans (ughhhhh), and school in general.  I start my other two classes tonight, Microbiology with lab...how exciting.  8 weeks of that....  I'm actually hoping it wont be too bad.  AND though all of this I have had to continue wifely duties-take care of puppies and Miss Kitty, and hubby...occasionally I cook. :) 

I look forward to getting back in the swing of the blogging soon enough!

Thanks,

Guest Post

Since my daughter is a sluggard and won’t write a new post, I will.  Actually, her time has been taken up with school and trying to get healthy.  As to the latter, she has sprained her ankle and now can’t run for another week and a half.  However, her garden is producing some wonderful things .   

She has gotten her baby groomed and clipped for the summer and is taking wonderful care of her husband and close friends.  

 Before

 After

Decor at her house has not improved a great deal but I have put out some flowers and a few pots of vegetables (not that you want to see my stuff).  Even though she does not have time to write to you all, she does think of you and, I’m sure, writes messages to you in her mind… they just don’t make it to the Blog post.   

Cheers.

Pegge