The bench is finished!

Linking up with the Shanty2Chic sisters  ....

 

Once upon a time we had a railing around our back porch.  And then we dog sit for our daughter a few weeks ago.  I put the dog on the porch for a while, didnt even latch the gate, and she knocked the gate completely off the hinges.. I guess she didnt want to be put on the porch.  Well then!  A few days later we decide to just take the whole railing down, Tyler took it down.  The boards were a grayish/blueish color and old and worn out already.  Jeff piled the wood up with plans to burn it.  I had another idea in mind.  I had just seen a bench that Gail at My repurposed Life made for her daughter and I knew I could use some of the scraps to do something similar.  Believe me mine doesnt compare to hers.  She does some amazing repurposing of all kinds of found items.  

 I  used one of the 2x4 and cut into two equal pieces (40 inches long i think) and two pieces for the end that measured 14 inches.  I removed what seemed like a billion little nails from the slats and cut them into 18 in long pieces.  I wasnt real sure about how to  make sure the thing was square but Jeff checked it for me after I screwed it together and it was only off by 1/8 of an inch,, that sounded good to me.  Experience carpenters everywhere are fainting as they read this.. ha ha.   I'm sure this explanation of my bench is just clear as mud so here are a few pictures to help visualize.. 

Made a box first and then used a little board ( 2x2? maybe) in the center for support. 
BEFORE

Cutting the small boards for the seat. 

Spacing to get somewhat of an even arrangement.. there are small gaps but I think its just adds character.  I used the nail gun to put these on. 

All the small boards are on and ready for a little bit of sanding.  Pay no attention to the pile of trash in the background. 

Tyler helping his mama with the sanding.  He said it was one of the best things I've worked on  and was impressed that I actually finished something. 

I used some 4x4's for the legs that my brother had given me. Thanks Robert.  They were going to be used to make big candle sticks to sit in front of the fire place but I never got  around to it.  And the dresser that the bench is sitting on is another unfinished project.. kind of stuck on what to do next.  But it'll come to me one day. 

Screwing in some more reinforcement.. dont want a wobbly bench. 

And here she is .. ain't she purty?   And she's very sturdy. 

AFTER

If you look closely in these pics you can see several unfinished projects. (dont look closely, ha )

Mothers Day recap.. (a little late)

Yeah, i know its almost Fathers day and I'm just now posting about Mothers Day.. just got the pictures downloaded of that and some other things,, so i'm a little late but I still wanted to put them on here. 

Melanie and Justin going to his senior prom.. Mel had wanted a camo dress for a long time.. and she found one, not my choice but of course she was beautiful!

We started out the day having breakfast with Jeff's mama.  For some reason I didnt get any pictures, I guess it was too early.  I consider myself lucky because I get along very well with my mother-n-law.  I know alot of people that dont.  Jeff and I are very blessed to have wonderful, supportive, loving and all around great Mothers. 

For my mama we had a dinner at mama&daddy's house.  My neice kinda put it all together and everybody just brought their favorite dish instead of a planned menu. 

My babies,, the wonderful reason I get to be called Mama.  They had to hold Tyler for the picture. 

Me and my beautiful mama.  The one who I can always count on, no matter what.  I never knew exactly how or why she did things until I had kids of my own.  And now I know.  Its because we are special enough to be called  mamas.  One of the greatest blessings God gives us. 

Cricket(my neice), me, Teena(sister), Stephanie(sister) and  Susan(sis in law). All the mothers at the dinner other than mama, who was taking the picture.  We had a great time and delicious food.  I cant say enough how much I enjoy family get togethers.  I hope beyond all hope that as all the kids get older and begin their own familys we can still stay close.  

And thats it for the recap,, hopefully tomorrow I will be posting pictures of the bench I made all(mostly) by myself.  Gotta try and get the pictures downloaded.  Until then.. goodnight!

  

Sweet & Sour chicken

I found a recipe for Sweet & Sour chicken that sounded delicious at this blog,, So I decided I wanted to try it out last night since I already had everything to fix it.. but then I remembered the American Idol finale was coming on last night and after stopping at mama/daddys and by sisters there just wasnt a lot of time left before it started and I didnt want to miss any of the show.. which by the way was really good, I'm mad that Crystal didnt win but I liked Lee too so I guess its okay.. Its not like I voted or anything so I cant complain.   But anyway,, I didnt go exactly by the recipe since I didnt have a lot of time,, So I dipped my chicken strips in buttermilk/egg mixture and then in flour, deep fried and tore some of them into little chunks and tossed in the thickened sauce,, and that sauce is reallly good!  Mel didnt care for it but Tyler liked it so we'll definitely be having it again.  Thanks for the recipe Santas Gift Shoppe

I wish the picture was better but it was taken on my phone. 

Daddy in the cucumber patch..

Some of the first cucumbers from this years garden.. freshly picked.  Heavenly!

Mary Kay..Its a giveaway

This week while looking at some of the linky parties I ran across this one from Jennifer that she posted about these super cute book thongs  she made.  The quote on the card is so funny to me.  They would make great gifts.  While I was looking around her blog I saw her picture and thought she looked VERY familiar and was sure I knew her.  Come to find out I was right,  she worked at the Elementary school my kids attended while I was substituting.  Neither of us live in that town anymore, and in fact, she's in a different state so I thought it was kinda cool that I stumbled upon someone that I knew.

And about the giveaway,, She is having a  Mary Kay giveaway over on her blog  ,, All Things Pink and Crafty.. (such a cute blog name too).  It is a great prize package and its really easy to enter.  I hope you'll hop right over there and tell her "Hi" and of course enter to win a great prize.    Good Luck. 

So much to share..

you just might get bored, but I hope you'll hang in there.  This past weekend was soooo long,, It rained, I mean poured down here!!  I think I only left the once on Saturday for just a minute and for just a little while Sunday morning.  I didnt get a lot of housework done but I messed around with some other stuff and other than just being kinda long it was a GREAT weekend doing things that I love to do.

* Started the weekend by stopping by and seeing Mama and Daddy and the beautiful garden they are so proud of.. as they should be!   God has really blessed their garden this year.  They've already gotten radishes and a few baby squash. 

* I worked on organizing some of my magazine cutouts.. still not finished. 

* I painted  a little sign to go outside..

* I tried a Fried Dill Pickle recipe from All Things Southern website ,, and yes I'm not ashamed to say, well maybe a little ashamed,, I ate..every..one .. of .. them with Mel's homemade buttermilk dressing.  Better than Bumpers fried dill pickles. hmmm hmmm good!  Shellie shares lots of southern recipes this is just one of the few I have tried over the past couple years.  I dont always take pictures of food but they are pretty, huh? 

* I sewed key chains for Lethea and Shelle, the winners of my giveaway that I had last week ..  they are in the mail girls!! 

* I baked a cake in my new to me Pampered Chef fluted stoneware cake pan(almost brand new) which by the way I paid 3 bucks for, woo hooo,,  and priced it online for $33.. now thats a deal.  Anyone have directions for this thing?  The cake stuck!  My cakes never stick.  Didnt take a picture of the ugly cake. I also found those greenish glass things at the same sale. 

*  And helped Jeff and Judy pile up a bunch of limbs and stuff to burn.. and the dog ran away with his shoe,, that was funny, but we found it,,,, lucky dog!!  He loves his crocs. 

I participated in a Spring Supply Swap a couple weeks back over at The Shabby Chic Cottage and I was lucky enough to be paired up with Gina herself.. and I rec'd all these goodies in my box.. She even made a cute little handmade notecard .  Now I have to try and figure out something to do with them...???  Thanks Gina,, this was fun.  I forgot to take a picture of what I sent her but I hope she can use it all. 

 

 

And that was my weekend in a nutshell.. Hope everyone has a great week and finds lots of inspiration here in blogland.. I know I do

Giveaway winner.. oh yeah

Well I declare  I won another giveaway,, from Jen over here.. She makes and does some of the cutest things.. She recently had a giveaway for some earrings and I got to choose which pair I'd like. 

She is very clever and makes and does lots of cool things.  Like this dresser she turned into an island.. I really want to do something like that one day. 

I sure hope you'll go over and say Hi and look around.  You won't regret it and you'll

leave her site so inspired.    Have a great weekend. 

Cowgirl up !

I made a baby shower cake for my girls for a shower they were hosting for a friend this past weekend. .. It was a cowgirl theme for a little girl whose name will be "River Grace".. So many people are going with odd and unique names these days.  When I was pregnant with my son, uhmm 15 years ago,, Jeff wanted to name him "Brick" which at the time I thought was crazy but I actually think its kinda cool  now, but,  I love the name Tyler, which is what we chose.  

Linking up with Gina for Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.  Please go over and see all the talent on display,, so  many creative projects.  Gotta get busy now,, Have a good one! 

1st giveaway winners

Well for my very first giveaway I think we can call it a success.. I've decided to pull two names for the winners.. And since i'm not all that techno savvy and dont know how to use random generator, I put all the names (numbered) in a bowl and let my husband choose the numbers.  And the winners are ....


Luvdaylilies said...
I'm here & I now follow=)
Love they keychains, crossing my fingers!
Luvdaylilies at bellsouth dot net

&

Shel at Dreamy Nest said
Hi Debilou! I saw a comment you made on another blog and saw "Mississippi" and had to come check you out. I'm from/live in MS, too!
I love your blog!! Very creative! I'm a new follower. Have to keep up with the MS peeps.

Winners email me your address and I'll get these in the mail later in the week. Don't forget to tell me your choice of initial(s). Thanks for entering my giveaway! This was fun .  Have a great week! 

Undone projects and a giveaway..

Hello everybody and Happy Wednesday ..

As promised, I am having a GIVEAWAY ,, Why? Because I am extremely lucky and feel very blessed and want to share the love and because my sweet husband always ask when I am going to give something away. Will anybody come?? Who knows, but it'll be fun to do anyway. All you have to do to enter is be or become a follower and leave a comment on this post letting me know. What am I giving away?


One winner will receive not one but two of these keychains that i've been making recently.. with your choice of initial on them.



So come on, be a follower, go find some friends and invite them too. And if you spread the word through your blog or however you choose,, let me know and I'll enter your name twice.

Giveaway will close Monday May 10th and a winner will be announced on Tuesday. Good luck!

One of my favorite bloggers is also getting ready for an awesome giveaway
party once she hits 2000 followers,,
and believe me it sure won't be long. Donna has an amazing blog and is very generous sharing her talents with us all. So hop on over there and become a follower if you're not already and see what she has planned in the next few days or so. In fact I'm almost certain that her first giveaway is up. So go now! and good luck on that one too.

And to make one post even longer,, here are a few things I'VE been putting off for .. awhile. One of them is a dresser that i got from my brother,, I'm turning it into a TV stand with space for the DVD, stereo and all that stuff..


Another is a bench that i rescued from the dump, (yep,, I like trash, and I cannot lie,, ha ha) anyway,, I've had this for probably over a year,, Jeff recently bought me the boards and I've sanded and stained them and now have to seal them and put it all back together,, and I won't even tell ya how long that could take me,, I get sooo distracted by other things. You see the half painted plastic eggs in the background?? They've been there since before Easter. 'Nuf said!



DON'T FORGET ,,, Giveaway will close Monday May 10th and a winner will be announced on Tuesday. Good luck

Transforming trash to treasure and a cake

Happy Thursday,,, Sooo glad the weekend is almost here. Linking up today with Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday. Just a few things I've done in the past few weeks or so and a birthday cake for my nephew Austin back in March (little behind with that one).. Take a look

First is a "Welcome" sign made from an old board that I got from my brother-n-law and sister when they were putting vinyl siding on their house. I should've gotten more than one. I havent found a permanent home for it yet,,I'm thinking on my backporch.


Next up is a quick and simple little note board to hang in my cubicle at work,, and I made it at work in about 10 minutes. I used two pieces of cardboard for extra stability and covered it in wrapping paper,, added a pice of jute twine to hang it with.


And finally my little nephew Austin turned 4 this year. I made a simple but cute cupcake cake and he loved it.


Thanks for stopping by, Become a follower and be eligible for my giveaway next week. Come back soon!

I'm a WINNER..

I won another giveaway,,, well actually i've won 2 giveaways in the past month or so,, and I feel so lucky. I won a gift certificate to Simple Expressions. And I cant wait to be able to use it. She does very pretty and unique invitations and announcements. So if you have a need for invitations please go visit her site.



And today I clicked on one of my favorite blogs and found out that I was one of the lucky 5 to win the Charlie Bug Party hat pattern. I'm so excited, I cant wait to make a few of these. I love the Blue Cricket Design blog. She has wonderful posts of things she's made and doesnt mind sharing the How To with us. Thanks Becca.




I have big plans of things to work on this weekend and hopefully a giveaway to be announced one day next week,, so be sure and come back by for a visit.

A thought to ponder..

Just something to think about . . . . I received this in an email awhile back and thought it was worthy of sharing. Enjoy!


Carrots, Eggs & Coffee A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.

In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?



May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.



May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!

Heads Up..

** Linking up with Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage.. Be sure and go have a look at all the great things others have posted..**

I've been wanting to try and make a simple version of a headboard for Tyler's bed.. I finally got around to it this weekend.. I still have one more thing I want to do to it in the next few weeks and then it'll be complete. I bought one 1x4 and used a piece of plyboard that I already had so this was a cheap DIY fix. The pictures are not great because I took them with my phone. I did most of it by myself but Jeff helped me some when I needed it. Thanks honey!

assembled and waiting to be sanded


Click here to go to Simply Southern home page.. Thanks for stopping by!

Daddy's all in.. 41st

This past weekend we celebrated Jeff's 41st birthday with a party at the house.. He had lots of friends stop by and most of the family was there.. Some played a few innocent hands of poker and others had fun trying karioke,, Jeff had the most fun "entertaining" us with karioke,, wish I had a picture of that.. It was lots of fun.. Hope you had a great birthday honey,, I love you!!!

Paint cures boredom..

Linking up with Gail over at the Shabby Chic cottage.. be sure and hop over there for a visit, you will not be disapointed. Thanks for stopping by!

A couple weeks ago I got SUPER bored one night, was looking for something to do and decided to try painting a little sign,, this was just a scrap piece of paneling type board.. not square or anything.. I drew each little shape and then painted it in green,, looking back I think it would've been easier and faster to just freehand the shapes with the paint brush as I went. I freehanded the name and think it looks ok even though its not centered. Made this one for Alana, special little friend of Amberly's. I want to try my hand at a slightly bigger version but with a bit more design to it.