Slowly (but surely)

There's no doubt I'm still learning to sew. It's been a slow process seeing as how I haven't made time to take a class of any sort . . . (Unlike my friend Margie Lee, who has tried to talk me into one a couple of times. Are you out there, Margie Lee?)

I have gotten up enough nerve to hem a few pair of pants here and there (all of which, I assure you, have been no where near perfect). I've been lucky enough to be sister-in-law with the all time ultimate thrifter . . . Fleming Marsh. I have her to thank for opening my eyes to such a fabulous thing. In fact, Fleming has outfitted my entire collection of designer jeans for roughly $5 a piece.

HOW FABULOUS.

Anyway, after hemming a pair she recently found . . . I was a bit frustrated with how "clean" and unworn they looked at the hem. Put simply, it looked like . . . I hemmed them! (Not what I wanted.)

Thank goodness common sense kicked in, and I realized a quick fix was simply rubbing the ends on the bricks outside our house to "wear" them in a bit . . .

("Worn" on the right. "Unworn on the left.)

Hell, I'm still learning,
but if you have some other tricks up your sleeve, let me know!
Slowly, but surely . . . remember?

Fruit Basket Turnover!

I still haven't quite decided if my constant obsession to clean out and reorganize is a blessing or a curse. It would be at no surprise that our garage holds a continual Goodwill pile ready for the taking at any point in time . . . (which of course, I never mind doing).

My mom says I get it from my grandmother who seems to have a certain place (or bag) for every item she ever owned. I still remember as a child, her coming over to help my mom and I clean out and reorganize my closet every couple of months. And even as much as I dreaded it back then, I always felt like a ten ton weight had been lifted from my shoulders when it was finished.

And as the tradition continues, my grandmother recently made her way down to Aiken yet again to help my mom clean out a few more closets. Lucky for me, they ran across dozens of old fruit containers in which my mom thought would be useful in my classroom.

However, another ten ton weight was lifted when I found a new home for them in a few very UNorganized drawers.

I guess for right now, I can view this obsession as a blessing . . .

. . . though, I'm betting our kids will hold a much different view . . .

Are You Smarter Than a . . . KINDERGARTENER?

In preparation for Earth Day tomorrow, I asked the kids a couple questions just to strike up some conversations . . .

Mrs. Marsh: "What are some things you know about Earth Day?"

(Kindergarten) Student: "I know you have to turn off the lights to stop greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere and to stop horrible things from happening . . . you know, like ice caps melting and sea levels rising."


Do what?

Somewhat of a . . . 2nd Spring Break!

I was more than spoiled to have a couple more days vacation
in Isle of Palms with the fam.

We certainly didn't pass up any opportunity to check out the shopping!

( . . . and eating.)

In fact, it just so happened we fell upon a community yard sale!

Grady was thrilled I seemed to find a thing or two . . .

The "new" hat rack . . .

. . . and a large frame I'm still pondering with what to do.

HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

My Spring Break Project!

I've been staring at my bathroom shelf for months now trying to figure out what to do with it. I thought about painting it, but then decided a solid color would just be too boring for this space. I thought about putting some fun wallpaper on it, but quickly realized all the wallpaper I wanted was selling for 100's of dollars PER ROLL!

Ridiculous.

Eventually I got too impatient (especially with all this free time on my hands) and decided upon this . . .

. . . a simple stencil made from one of my most favorite fabrics in the world . . .

. . . and started painting.

This is BEFORE.

This is AFTER.

Flea Market Find

Number 1 on Saturday's flea market "things to find" list, was a bench for the end of our bed. I can't tell you how excited I was to find one . . . just the right color, just the right size, and just the right PRICE!

THAT is what thriftin' is all about!

Since I still hadn't posted anything on our bedroom redo . . .

Here is BEFORE (before we moved in, that is).

Here is AFTER.

The Flea Market

Marked on my calendar for months now was the Flea Market held in Charlotte this weekend! Mrs. Ann, Fleming, and I had the best time rummaging and plundering through all the fun things!

It was heaven.

I certainly didn’t leave empty handed.

WHAT A FUN TIME!