A Dresser for my Dollies

Oh my goodness..why is it that when life seems like its getting out of control is when I finally do something about it? For 3 years I was able to fit 2 little girls sets of clothes in the closet in neat little stacks on the shelves, but then (on more than 1 occasion) PJs would be under the bed, pants and tees thrown on the floor. There was literally no room for their everyday clothes. I looked at my husband and asked,"Why haven't we bought the dollies' a dresser??! For months and I mean MONTHS I searched online, thrift stores, ads and nothing popped up that was my style or budget like always. Finally one day I found one on  my local online ads for 20 bucks. Now that I look back I really wish I would have paid less, but I was getting desperate for things to get in order.
Here it was before in all its laminate glory...

Yuck right? I wish I would have gotten a better photo, but I was so impatient to start fixing it up. Just imagine dark brown laminate on the front of the drawers too. 

I kept the original handles and just mod podged some left over scraps of a vintage sheet I had. I wish I would have painted the drawers white first because you can see small areas of the dark wood underneath, but you live and learn.

Then just added 3 coats of white paint. I didn't want to spend alot and just bought a sampler container of some Valspar paint plus I get military discount at Lowe's so I think it came out to $2.

The dollies' love it and they now know where to put their clothes away which makes things soooo much easier in the morning! So $22 dollars later we have a new little dresser!
I'm think later I'm going to paint those cute, little tapered legs a hot pink but leave the gold tips. Fun right?

So as long as it has a nice shape not all laminate can be scary;)

*hugs*
Georgette

A Constant Battle

I've been dealing with the fact that we are not through with military life. 
I've been preparing my mind and spirit that we were moving onto a new chapter in our lives. That we were going to move back home with family. Where my husband grew up and where we met. Finally buy a home, have bbqs on the weekend, listen to Tejano in the mornings making breakfast, have the hot, sticky sun on our faces, and have our daughters be surrounded by our very, large extended family. But plans have changed like everything in life and I'm constantly struggling with myself to accept this new road.

It's been a long, tough, but rewarding experience these past 6 years. Going into it I thought it was nothing and could handle it all since I was a military daughter growing up, boy was I wrong! Being a wife and mother in this lifestyle is a whole new ballgame. The first 2 years being away caused me to have a lot of anxiety. I couldn't sleep and always felt restless throughout the day. In a way I couldn't program my mind to understand.."This is your life now not a vacation from home." Not to mention since I was 13 have been dealing with depression that unfortunately is extremely hereditary in my family. (ugh I'll save that story for another day.) Meeting other wives, making friends and saying goodbye to them. Changing homes, changing schools..or worse deployments ugh. It wasn't all bad though, but when I look at the bad times it does try to overpower me.

It seems when life gets to heavy like this I go through the same pattern. I try to distract my mind with more projects, more recipes, more thrifting trips, more crafts with my girls, more reading. So that throughout the day I don't have time to think and dwell on things that are no longer in my control. So that I don't disappear on the sofa in my pajamas watching movies that depress me even more. I look at my daughters and appreciate the fact that they are healthy, taken care of, and happy.  They ultimately are my peace. But once night hits and everyone is sound asleep is when my mind starts to run. And all the "what ifs" start taking over.

I know its going to be another long and bumpy road adjusting. I'm not very religious, at times I wish I was, but I do have alot of faith. I have faith that whatever we are given on our plate god makes sure  we can handle it and get through it. It won't be easy, but that is all part of living and experiencing  life I suppose.
You know I feel good already letting it all out to you whoever may be reading this and thank you for that. One thing I always tell myself is...

 

 

Thanks for listening to my ramblings and current worries. It helps.

 

*hugs*

Georgette

Put a Doily On It!

I love doilies. They are feminine and sweet. I love all the work and detail put into them. And they are so easy to find(and cheap)! Thrift stores, garage sales.. or your grandma;)  They are real treasures, but they can be more than just throwing them in odd places or under items.
Over the years I've found myself sticking them everywhere. Here are a few ideas on how I use them in my home.

 

 

 

To snazz up a simple mousepad I just stuck on a doily. You can sew it or modpodge it, but I just placed it on there and it doesn't wiggle around. Super easy!

 

 

 

 

How about some instant art? I modpodged these paper doilies to a blank canvas and voila!

 

 

 

 

 

Dress up a naked window with a doily garland! I picked up a bag of these little beauties for a buck at the thrift store. I just sewed them all together and hung them up!

 

 

 

 

 

To make my little girls bed more girly I just sewed one onto a throw pillow. 10 minutes to happier pillowcases:)

 

 

 

 

 

It really doesn't take much time or money for that matter to dress up your home.  These little handmade treasures make everything happy!

 

Now go and put a doily on it! ;)

 

*hugs*

Georgette

 

 

 





Around These Parts

It's been an emotional rollercoaster here lately. I've been really happy with how my daughter is rolling along in homeschool. Yet the winter blues have been trying to pull me down. I feel like bits and pieces of home are coming together. But I just found out we are not moving back to Texas and staying in Utah.

 

I've been anticipating this move for over a year now and so has our family back home. It's been extremely hard accepting our new path, but I constantly try to remind myself it's for a reason.  The military has blessed us in many ways and I'm very grateful. I suppose it was the whole idea of finally planting some roots somewhere, but over the years I've learned that home is wherever you make home.  Things could be a whole lot worse for us and when I'm struggling accepting where we are it reminds me to keep counting my blessings.

 

Here's a few pics from my instagram feed around these parts.

 

 

 

 

 

1. my dollies heading out to play//2. new embroidery I made for my love for pyrex// 3. family time// 4.thrifting treasures// 5.dress refashion// 6.handmade dollies for my dollies// 7. "Home is Where the Heart Is"

 

 

 

*hugs*

Georgette



crazy for finger knitting

I have always been a bit in love with the art of crocheting and knitting. I love thrifting or seeing all the time, work, and love put into projects like that. It's such a beautiful craft that not many do anymore, but has become a bit more popular. I've tried my hand at both, but sadly could not get it down. I stumbled upon finger knitting on pinterest and after seeing photos of young children getting the hang of it I thought it should be easy enough!
Well it was pretty dang easy after 10 minutes of throwing myself into it and I must admit it is SO ADDICTING! My 6 year even figured it out and made herself a little knitted headwrap and scarf!

I want to share this little craft with you and attempt to make a tutorial to teach you as well. I love the quiet time my daughter and I had together. With us kinda being stuck indoors with all the snow it calms her when she's a little restless.
So here we go..

• Step1: start by grabbing your yarn over your palm and holding the tail with your thumb

 

• Step 2: wrap around pinkie then come back again around your middle finger under ring finger and over pinkie.

 

• Step3:  come back around pinkie over ring finger, under middle around index. This is the bottom row.



 

• Step 4: to make the second row on top you go under middle,over ring, around pinkie, under ring again, over middle and around index. See now 2 rows!

 

Step 5: your going to grab the bottom row and stick your ringer through the top row starting from the pinkie.



 

 

 

 

See now you have one row again so your gonna do Step 4 to make that second row and repeat pulling the bottom row over your finger to make your chains. After about 4 times doing this you should already see a little chain forming.

 

 

That's it! I takes approximately the time of a movie to make a big chunky scarf and I love that I don't have to count rows or chains. It's just a nice Sunday afternoon craft to keep little hands busy:)

She loves em!

 

 

 

And so do I!

 

 

Add a little brooch? Don't mind if I do!

 

 

Or wrap it around your head like my dolly.

 

 

Hoped this little tutorial helped and you love it as much as I do!

 

Thanks for visiting:)

 

*hugs*

Georgette

somebody around here turned 3!!

This past weekend we celebrated little dolly's birthday!
We knew it was going to be at home with just us four because all of our distant family is in Texas and the weather has been soo cold in the teens that we really just wanted to snuggle at home.

My little one has been obsessed lately with Cinderella and that is the cake she chose this year. Of course I began decorating last minute while my husband took her to pick out any toy she wanted at the toy store.  I started rummaging through my stash in my craft room to try to figure how to make it look "Cinderella" themed! Since she's only 3 I knew she would be pleased with anything!

I began by making her a homemade banner on the wall with some blue washi tape and balloons.

I just so happen to have blue vintage pillowcases which I thought would be a cool to make into chair covers. I just slipped them right on!

With left over vintage fabric I made a scrap garland.



I just blew up some blue balloons for her to have a ball with and that was pretty much it! Sometimes when you are in a time crunch everything just seems to come together!

She loved the balloons and seeing her name on the wall. Big sister had fun helping me decorate and couldn't wait to help her eat her cake;)





We ate pizza and ate cake. Ran around the house with balloons and really appreciated our little one that makes our family whole.
It was a good day.
She was a happy happy happy girl:)



Thanks for visiting!

*hugs*

Georgette

taking on new adventures.

wow. it's been a good few weeks of silence around these parts.

I did a lot of reflecting and appreciating this holiday season. I was remember back to the first xmas with my little family and I was so high strung! I wanted everything perfect and was missing my extended family back in Texas.  I've grown so much these past few years in living in the moment and not taking for granted the small things that make up "the stuff" of life.
Last Christmas season was definitely hard having my husband deployed and I never want to relive that again, but man did it make me soak in every second he was here with us this year. Not only that, but I was blessed with a surprise visit from my sister and I met my nephew for the first time!

My resolutions for this year is to not be afraid to try new things and not to get stuck in too much of a routine of things. Don't get me wrong I still have a few things that we NEED to stay in routine for my girls sake , but I just want to continue to grow as a person and not just as a momma:)

That being said, one big change I've decided to throw myself into is homeschooling. Yep you heard me right. I know this is such a controversial topic and another day I will write why I chose to finally do this. Along with this scary and exciting adventure we will also be moving in 4 months! I can't really say where yet, but I'm so happy for a new chapter.

Just wanted to peek in and say thank you again for reading and I'm still keeping my hands crafty and heart open.

*hugs*

Georgette