A great story!

No pics today! Just a really funny story a member of Curves told me she read about! You may have already seen this story but I just thought it was so funny and wanted to share it.
An elderly lady was doing her grocery shopping and when she came out of the store and went to her car she saw 4 men getting into her car. She dropped her groceries and pulled out her pistol and screamed at them to get away from the car! They all scattered! She was shaking so badly over the situation that when she got in she couldn't get her key to fit in the ignition and that's when she noticed a football and some beer in the car! Yep! You got it! It wasn't her car! She found her car and proceeded to the closest police station to tell them what had happened! The officer couldn't stop laughing hysterically! The 4 men the elderly lady had chased away from their own car were also there giving their report about some crazy old lady with gray hair and a house dress pointing a gun at them and stealing their car! No charges were filed in this case but...the author of the news item mentioned that if you're going to have a senior moment I guess this lady made it a memorable one! Glad I don't carry a gun!

Treasures Lost & Found!

I mentioned in a previous post that I had gone to a church yard sale and found some great treasures and now I'm going to show you 'em! You are going to be sooooo jealous! I parked in front of the church and had to walk all the way around the back to the yard sale that was being held in the gym! All along the way people were coming out with their arms full of goodies! I thought there's nothing good left but I'll just go look while I'm here! When I walked in it was so crowded and stuff was sort of haphazardly piled up on round tables all over the gym. So I took a deep breath and started wading thru. I'm not big on fighting crowds...I'd never make it up north at a Macy's basement sale! Anway, I had gone all the way around the gym before I spotted something I liked..a plate, but it wasn't enough to make me break out the cash. So I turned to the next table and people were grabbing up stuff and I looked down and there it was! In like new, never used condition! A Wedgewood serving piece! And you know how much I paid for it! $5.00! It just sold on Ebay without the lid for $41.00!!! Take a look!

It's such a pretty cream color! And the details are so pretty!

And now, for my favorite! I have a small collection of transferware plates. Most of them bought on ebay. I have blue and white plates, a brown and white piece and a purple and white showcased in my blog's title picture! And now this piece! I just looked down next to my Wedgewood dish and there was a stack of plates and I saw this wonderful purple and white sticking out! It couldn't be! But it was! Oh JOY! It's mine! I grabbed it as quick as I could without arousing any suspicion! Didn't want anybody to know what a great find I had! They might try to get it from me! (Yes, paranoia had set in by this time!)

Isn't she just beautiful! Below is a closeup of the center!

And a closeup of the beautiful scalloped edges and the intricate rosettes!

Guess how much! One Dollar! It's selling on ebay for $58.00 buy it now! According to the seller this is an unmarked Staffordshire plate from about 1835! Just imagine this piece being made in England and where it's been to end up in a presbyterian church yard sale 174 years later!!!

And my good buys didn't stop there! I got 2 other things that I'm going to post another time! Got to keep my peeps in suspense so you'll come back! I'll give you a hint: I spent a total of $24...you do the math!

Cabbage Salad!

The wonderful Gollum at http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com is our host today for this wonderful event! And this time I have no trouble fitting in because it's all about kitchen disasters or goofs or something gone wrong in the cooking department! You know they say "misery loves company!" so when you get thru here go over to Gollum's and check out other kitchen blunders!

My story starts long ago in a galaxy far, far away!...before my DH and I were married! We weren't yet engaged but had been dating 4 years! 'Course half that time he had a job in Atlanta and I was still in college in Memphis...and just let me add a little plug here during March madness...GO TIGERS! Anyway, my boyfriend (that's the DH) was a groomsman in his ex-girlfriend's brother's wedding! A little matchmaking going on to my way of thinking at the time! But I played it cool! While he was at the wedding I decided to make him a romantic dinner for two! I've forgotten now what the menu was, but I had shopped and was going to make him a lovely fresh green salad! Now, I have to explain here that I love bunnies but I don't eat like one! For some weird reason unbeknownst to man I don't like salad! I'd probably be alot thinner if I did! In the middle of my preparations my man came back to his apartment to find me in the kitchen making the salad for our dinner and started laughing hysterically! Now you have to understand I had been on pins and needles all day wondering what exactly was going on at that wedding! I had just reached in and pulled out the lettuce to make the salad. He said, Honey are you using that to make the salad? Yes, I replied, of course, it's lettuce.............ummmm, Honey, that's a cabbage! Cole Slaw anyone?! God Bless! Lauralu :)

Tablescape Thursday!

This is my second tablescape and I can see how people can become dishaholics!

I only set the table for two because I only had 2 of the green plates with the bunnies. Ususally they're hanging on the wall of my kitchen but I just had to use them for a spring tablescape featuring bunnies! Did I ever tell ya how much I love bunnies?! Hope you enjoy and then be sure and go on over to Susan's at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ to check out the other beautiful and creative tablescapes! Thank you Susan for hosting this fun event!

Sheila do you recognize your placemats?

Christine how 'bout our same pewter bunny napkin rings?

The butter dish and salt and pepper shakers are Tracy Porter from Target a couple of years ago.

It's A Small World After All!

I'm so excited! One of my new blogging buds came by to see me! A couple of weeks ago I met a new friend in blogland! Some of you may know her and some of you may remember I did a little post about her blog http://thoughtsfromovertherainbow.blogspot.com/! Her name is Susan and she had a post about not thinking so much about what we were willing to give up for Lent but rather what we can give to others during Lent! Well, one of Susan's posts also talked about Memphis and highlighted our local talent currently on American Idol, so I asked her if she was from Memphis, like me! Guess what?! She lives down the street from me!!! How cool is that! So here we are at Curves where I work. She told me she was going to come by so be sure and bring my camera! One of our lovely members took our picture for us. We didn't like the first one so we made her take it again! HA! How vain we women can be! Hey, if I was going to post our pic for all to see, it had to project just how beautiful we really are! Of course, you may notice I look a little hunched over! Susan is a beautiful and petite blonde..I on the other hand am a giant beside her at 5'8" and not a petite bone in my body! We even found out that our children went to the same high school! Her son was a senior when mine was a junior!! And if you read her blog she has a friend who was in the process of moving after losing her husband and her friend lived on my street! Susan and I exchanged numbers and will be "doing lunch" soon! Maybe we need to have our own bloggers luncheon! God Bless everybody! Lauralu :)
P.S. she came in asking for Lauralu so I knew right away who it was!

Metamorphis Monday/Yard Sale to Upscale!

Today is metamorphis Monday sponsored by the lovely hostess Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/! So when you get thru checking out this great metamorphis go on over and see what everyone else has metamorphied! (That can't be a word!)



Last Saturday I was on my way to work. I wasn't on the schedule but I'm training a new employee and so I didn't have to be there at an exact time...but anyway, on the way, a church was having a yard sale! I had seen the signs during the week and had planned to go. So I did. And boy howdy, did I find some goodies! But that is for another post so stay tuned! When I got to Curves of course I had to show off my treasures! And one of the ladies asked if they had any lamps. I hadn't been looking for a lamp but I remembered a yellow ginger jar lamp that had a very nice shape to it and told her about it. "I don't think you want yellow but you could paint it!" Well, this week I saw her at work and she couldn't wait to tell me that she had gone to the yard sale just to see what they had. It was late and she expected for there to be nothing left...and there was the lamp I had told her about. Not only did she buy it, but it was so late they had everything on sale at 1/2 price! She paid $1 for this lamp. Here's the before!

Straight out of the early '80's I'd say!

And now are you ready to see what she did with it?!

Just look at that! She painted it with brown & gold paint she already had at home then bought that cool tassel at Hobby Lobby and a little darker lamp shade from Target and VOILA! Isn't it smashing?! Oops! better watch my language around the lamp! Isn't it beautiful?! Cathy had been looking for a lamp and said she had looked at some over $200! I think she said with the tassel and the new shade she ended up spending about $30! Cathy is so proud of it! and she should be! and I am quite honored to be the muse to her creativity! Below this I've posted my Blue Monday so be sure and take a look before you leave!

Blue Monday!

This wonderful event is sponsored by Sally at http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/. I told you last week I had plenty of blue in my house. Here's my living room/great room/den whatever you want to call it! When we moved into this house everything was original 1978. This room was so dark! Ugh!!! Dark paneling, dark beams, dark mantel! My husband was all for painting it. I couldn't believe it 'cause you know how men are about painting wood! Anywho...I looked at all kinds of beiges and ivories and taupes and nothing screamed at me USE ME! I think I told you before that I always buy my fabric first and go from there and I kept seeing in my mind's eye this wonderful color blue on the walls with crisp cream molding and trim to go with my coral fabric on the valances. I thought my DH would never go for it but I found a picture of a room in Veranda magazine that was painted a lighter blue and showed him. He loved the idea! Go figure?! So all this to show you my blue walls! God Bless you all today! and thanks for sharing your day with me! Lauralu

I think it's amazing how different a color can look in different lighting situations!

I've got so much blue in my house I didn't know where to start! So I'm only going to pick a couple of pics I already have in my computer. This event is hosted by Sally at http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/. I am very new to this but there a lot more people over at Sally's blog showing off their blues so go on over and take a look!

Now this picture is one of my very favorite pieces..so I've already got it posted in my sidebar! It's a vase I bought years ago at an antique shop for about $30. My DH and I were still setting up our first home and I couldn't wait to turn this into a lamp! I love, love, love it! There is no mark on the bottom but I'm thinking it may be an early handpainted Nippon. What do you think? Does anybody have any info for me on this piece?

The picture below is part of my mantle. When we first moved into this house I could not figure out what to do with this long mantle! It was the whole length of the end of the room! I either had too much or too little! So one day when I wanted to see how the other half lives I went strolling thru Ethan Allen and they had free design service...they would actually come to your house and bring stuff to decorate your house with and then you could choose what you wanted to buy! She showed up with some gorgeous things....and used big blue and white chinese urns on my mantle. Alas! those urns were over $200 each!!!!! Not in my budget! It was funny...I really didn't like what she did with the whole mantle but I loved those urns and I did buy two prints for my dining room that believe it or not were in my price range! So later at a local department store (which is now a Macy's) I found these beauties! I like them even more than the ones from Ethan Allen and they were only about $30 each! The little plate is a handpainted Nippon with a cobalt blue rim edged with gold.

So that's all for now...but I've got plenty of blue left for many another Monday! And if you haven't already...check out my post below and give me your opinion on finishing my tile project. I sure would appreciate it!

Please Help Me Finish this Project!

Some of you may remember my kitchen on RMS. I love my kitchen! This house was built in 1978 and had all the original everything except the mulit-brown shag wall-to-wall carpet! The kitchen had light blue and beige small plaid vinyl wall covering and original dirty, beige, fake stone linoleum, not to mention macrame roman blinds, fake butcher block countertops and a 1970's "early american" chandelier. All the appliances were original but atleast they were beige and not "harvest" or "avocado". The whole house was so dark! I have to admit it depressed me! So little by little I started painting and redoing. After a couple of years I finally convinced my husband to let me redecorate the kitchen. I say redecorate because we didn't do any structural changes or new cabinets. This was on a budget! We were initially going to go for a wood floor but decided at the last minute to go with tile which I don't regret a bit! We kept the woodwork and cabinets as is because it would've been too labor intensive to remove or prime and paint, besides, as much as I love to paint wood, the wood in the kitchen was the nicest in the house! I found my fabrics at a local discount fabric store on sale!!! and went from there! When I decorate a room I always start with a fabric. I love fabrics! So after painting over the existing vinyl wallpaper with about 10 different colors! (I wanted it to look old and tuscany) all new appliances, a new chandelier and a medallion I handpainted, lots of stenciling ,etc., I had my kitchen! Of course since then I've added things...(well of course!) We couldn't afford new countertops at the time of the original redo so a couple of years later we replaced the countertop. Now don't get me wrong...I would've loved to have shiny granite but they would have been more expensive than the whole original kitchen redo! So we did laminate. I later painted my backdoor and added the resin fruit basket to it..the stenciling over the sink and painted the top of our antique oak pedastal table which my husband has still not forgiven me for!

The fruit matches my Tracy Porter print perfectly!

I bought the chairs from a friend that had closed down her restaurant. I painted them different colors and reupholstered the seats.

This is my backdoor that leads to a breezeway and then the door to the garage! I got the idea from a french country kitchen I saw years ago in a Renovation magazine!

Before you ask...No, I don't have the pattern to these valances! I showed the seamstress a picture of what I wanted from a Southern Living magazine and she just made it up as she went.

The iron rods and finials I got at Hobby Lobby. They were Waverly Garden and I crackle painted the rods with the red coral and then handpainted the leaves and grapes. The leaves holding the valance up are cafe curtain clips.

I made a stencil for this myself by using Word and then enlarging the letters on my husband's copy machine at his office. Notice I used the shadow on the font! Then I just used carbon paper to trace the image on my wall and then just colored it in with paint markers! The flowers are cut from scrapbook paper!

And now I need to complete another project and would like your help in deciding how to finish! When we had the countertops replaced there was one little measurement we forgot about! the backsplash! So I had about an inch and a half of blank wall where the old countertop had been! No problem, I'll just do some really neat tile above the countertop and cover that up! Well, I just couldn't be satisfied with any ole tile! I had to find something special! By the time I found the tile I wanted I realized tiles can be very expensive!! At the time I was starting a collection of transferware plates..so, while cruising Ebay for plates I came upon transferware tiles! Light Bulb! I started buying the tiles and did a mosaic with these tiles all around the kitchen. Ladies, it only cost about $50 to do my whole kitchen. But now I need to finish off with this molding which I've started but can't decide if I want to paint it or stain it! Would you please take a look at my pics below and give me your suggestions?

Before with no molding!

<-- Stain OR Paint -->

For the painted trim I used the craft acrylics I already had. Colonial blue and yellow and little of the coral red and there may even be a little green in there! Don't be shy! Let me know what you think...even if you have another suggestion! Thank you!

Let's Be Friends!

So, at first, when my dear friend Vanna (aka lvrofantiques) awarded me my first blogger's award "The Sisterhood Award" I tried to keep it light and funny and cute. I alluded to the fact that everybody else had all these awards and I didn't have any and wasn't that just so pitiful and now I'm all happy because V came thru for me! Well, she did it again! This time it's this adorable valentine-looking award to the left that say's "Let's be friends!" "The rules for this award: The blogs with this award are exceedingly charming! These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends! They are not interested in self aggrandizement!" (1. to make greater, more powerful, richer, etc; 2. to make seem greater or more exalted) I had to look that one up! Wanted to be sure I wasn't a self aggrandizer! "The starters of this award hope that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

The thing is, that this time when Vanna told me she had a little blog award waiting for me over at http://lvrofantiques.blogspot.com/ I was humbled. These awards are great! They're such cute little illustrations to decorate your blog with but I haven't been doing this for very long and what I've learned is, that we all really care about each other! We may have never met....may never meet in person...but we pray for each other and celebrate each other's accomplishments and show our love and support in any way we can. And not only do we do that for the people we have already grown to know, but we are willing and even eager to pass this love and support and care on to others, actively seeking each other out. Thank you Vanna for showing me what this blogging award is all about! Below are my friends I wish to pass this award on to. Most of them I selected because they're brand new friends for me!

My sweet and very creative niece-n-law Heather at http://butterflygenes.blogspot.com/ I love to read Heather's blog! Not only is she a great wife and mother but she's a most excellent writer! She takes every Friday to write something about why she loves her DH (aka my nephew!)

One of the most creative ladies I've had the pleasure to meet is Athella at http://athellag-ocdesigner.blogspot.com/. I first met Athella on RMS!

One of my newer friends I met strictly thru blogging I mentioned on another post a couple of days ago! Susan at http://thoughtsfromovertherainbow.blogspot.com/. I just know we're going to become great friends!

Also a new friend Darlene at http://darlenesdays-darlene.blogspot.com/. She's got a wonderful blog! I really look forward to following her!

And a new friend Linda whom I just met yesterday at http://ninasnest.blogspot.com/. She was so sweet to respond so quickly when I left a comment on her wonderful blog!

My friend Donna at http://designson47thstreet.blogspot.com/. We're already sisters in faux fleurs!

And I know that Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ has probably received this award many a time but it was thru her Met Monday that I met some of these wonderful ladies! Thank you Susan!

And my new friend Kim at http://kimsdomesticbliss.blogspot.com/. I just had to edit this post because I must've skipped the page I had Kim's blog address on and then she left a comment and I realized she wasn't on my post! I really need to proofread these things better! Kim is a sweetie pie!

The request of this award is to "Please give more attention to these writers. And when you receive your award to pass it on to atleast 8 or so more bloggers who must choose 8 more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award. Also be sure and put a link to their blogs and then let them know they've been selected!"