Where I lay my head.

last week I read these words about a down bed pillow "instant comfort" and it got me thinking about how true that statement is, how much I love to spend time in my bed and why is that? A few summers ago my 2 younger daughters and I spent a week in NYC. We walked and walked and walked and at the end of the day that bed with those wonderful pillows felt like heaven. I thought that maybe it was because I was so tired. Then I stayed in another hotel with those wonderful pillows again and was hooked. I had to know what kind of pillows those were. They were Pacific Coast. I went to the their web page and saw how much they were and had to put them on a wish list until one night I was in Costco and there to my delight was a pak of 2 king down Pacific Coast pillows at a price I could live with! Yahoo!!!!! They came home with me and have made me so happy! Why? Instant Comfort!!!! I love to lay on them and read or fluff up all my pillows turn out the lights and watch a good show. I love when my grandchildren say "Nanna can I spend the night and sleep in your big bed." I love to play hide and seek with Katie under the covers. I love when she says when it's time for us to go to sleep, can I lay over here by you? As I have contemplated all these happies it made me think of the Sunday nights long ago when my children were little and I had a water bed that was on a double platform of drawers and we would pile up in that very high bed, fluff up the pillow, turn off the lights and watch Animal Kingdom. I loved that feeling of having my little chicks securely tucked under my wings. But were did all this come from? Hum.... I think it came from the security that I felt as a little girl when my dad laid down by me at night and the love I felt from my mother when I was a teen/young adult and my mom would lay down after she had been up making breakfast for my dad and I would go in and lay on her bed and we would talk. I love when I come home and can see that one of my kids have been laying on my bed. It makes me feel like I have done something right!

Ask not.....want not!

Saturday morning I dragged my tired self out of bed to see what the city was selling in their front yards. The first street we turned onto was Glenda's (http://magnoliabenddrive.blogspot.com/) score of the day! There on the sidewalk sat just what we were out looking for, a mid-century dresser with the price tag of.........$20.00 We squealed with delight loaded it up and dropped it off in my garage so there would be room for more treasures we just knew were waiting for us. We were starting to get discourage. Our favorite part of town was not producing the sales we were so hopeful to find. We were going to just one more sale and it became the jack pot at the end of the rainbow! There in the garage sat one of the most beautiful beds I have seen. The lady said it was an antique Victorian bed that had been converted into a queen size bed. I fell hard for it! I rubbed my hands over the ornate detailing and then asked what she wanted for it. $350.00 ouch!!! All I could do is shake my head. She asked what I would pay for it and I told her I didn't want to insult her but all I would want to pay was $75.00. She really wanted to get $250.00 for it. My partner in crime looked at it and contemplated where she might be able to put it or what she could sale to make room for it and it just didn't make since to buy it. (I know that's an oxymoron when it comes to buying furniture out of someones yard! lol). We had to park on a side street and went to get the truck to load up the doll house and other things we bought. After we were loaded up the lady of the house hollered after us "let's talk bed!" She came over and we talked back and forth and told her that neither of us "needed" that bed. She asked what we would pay for it and Glenda said $100.00 but we would have to go and get the money and come back. I think she was afraid if we left we wouldn't be back so she said how much do you have? Glenda had $30 and I had $69 sooo.... She sold the bed to us for $99.00!!!!!! All the way home we talked about who was going to take the bed. In the end it come home with me. I love it!!!! BUT, best of all I laugh out loud every time I think about all of this. I feel I got the deal of the day! Tell me if you agree or not!!!

Isn't she grand?

Who wouldn't feel like a princess sleeping in this bed!!!

My first thought was to paint it AS chalk paint white with dark glazing but the more I look at it I'm not sure. What do you think?

~SALLY~

Party time with....



and FindingFabulousblog.com

The Three Dollar Bench

This is another of my thrifty finds where the true beauty was hidden. I didn't take any before pictures because my friend at http://magnoliabenddrive.blogspot.com/invited me over to paint this lovely with some Annie Stone chalk paint and I was so excited that I forgot the camera and before I even remembered that I hadn't taken the pictures she was painted and ready to be glazed! So let me tell you how she looked. She was dark brown and had a red, white and blue piece of fabric safety pined on the cushion and ricked of cig. smell. No wonder they only wanted $3.00 for her! I do have these pictures of what was under the fabric and of course her coming out pictures!

Under the vinyl was a felt pad.

You ladies that can upholster I'm so impressed with you. It is much harder than I thought to get the corners right.

Not to bad for my first time cutting the foam and recovering something!

Pretty snazzy for a sewing machine bench!

Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

~Sally~

Partying with:

and

FindingFabulousblog.com

THE KING!

One of the largest pop culture events happens every year the week leading up to Aug 15. It's call Elvis Week. On Aug. 15 in front of Graceland, Elvis' home a candle light vigil is held and then the gates are open and his fans are allowed to walk to the eternal flame where Elvis and some of his family are buried. It goes until dawn. Aug 16 is the day he died. I'm not the typical Elvis fan, but I do love to people watch and when something like this is happening in your town it's a shame not to go just once in your life time. Three years ago a friend of mine said she would go with me. Well I found out that there were quit a few gals that I work with that wanted to go, so off we went. It was really interesting to say the least. We got hooked and this is the 3rd year we have gone. This year marks the 34 anniversary of his death and people are coming from all over the world to light that candle. Let me take you on a short picture ride of what I saw. Who knows it might peak your curiousness and you might take the trek to pay homage to this young man that loved something so much that he wasn't going to let others dictate who he was or how he should act and therefor Rock n Roll was born. Hope you find it entertaining...........

Sign across the street from the house.

This is a sample of the people that were there. As you can see they are not just old people. There were lots of young people there, some weren't even born until after his death. I do have to say these are some of the nicest people to be around.

Many of them are very moved by his life and legacy.

New generation of Elvis fans. Mom had an Elvis Jump suit on her!

This "Elvis" had a shrine and he stood there just like this most of the night. He was very accommodating when asked if they could have their picture taken with him.

This is his shrine to Elvis.

Some of the other shrines....

I asked a few people what they were going to do next year for the 35 anniversary and I was promised that it was going to be something really big!!!

I guess the biggest compliment there is, is someone wanting to be like you!

Some of the fans........

"Elvis" working the crowd!

This man was really OLD. If he hadn't been so tall, ya might have thought he was the real Elvis!

Thanks for looking!

I think Elvis just left the building..........

~Sally~

Had to have it!

I love estatesales.net. I can look at the pictures and see if there is something that I'm interested in looking at. When I saw this juice pitcher in a kitchen photo I knew I wanted it. The house was dark and greasy but there in the kitchen cupboard she sat waiting for me, along with with these refrigerator boxes(I remember my grandmother using these). I snatched them up and when I asked what the price was I couldn't believe my ears........ $1.oo each!!!! I'm sure it was because she had so much grease caked on her she was yellow! But I knew that Dawn dish washing liquid would clean her right up. Now she sparkles!!!

Can't wait to share my find on Another Thrifty Treasure by Southern Hospitality!
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/another-thrifty-treasures/

Your never to old.......

Sunday night we had a family dinner in honer of Kelly's birthday. She asked me to make Lasagna, bread and salad. We had the family favorite yellow cake with fudge frosting with Eddy's girl scout thin mint ice cream, yum if you've never tried it!

Then presents!!!!!!

She was just like a little kids with her very simple gifts. I think she liked the pretty bags as much as what was in side them.

As she was opening them she remarked that it was all the things that she had asked for. Binders, pens, highlighter, Hue socks, journal, gift card to Barns and Noble and the Vera Bradly backpack with coordinating pencil pouch!!!!

What is the sound of happiness? Hearing your young adult children talking and laughing at the dinner table and it continuing through the evening!!!!

I feel like heaven is smiling down on me tonight!

~Sally~

Remember this?

The before......

and after......

Yes, it is the same light fixture with some up dated globes on them! I was going to replace the lights but have decided I would rather up grade the faucets. Wait until you see the towel bar. I did the same finish on it, except I'm trying to seal it with polyacrylic. I need to see if it works before I show it off! If it does works, then the next thing will be the shower door trim!!!!

~ME~

They're right! You never forget your first love.....

My children are a good support system of my new hobby. My oldest daughter Kristin asked me if I would keep an eye out for a table her husband Bill could put his C pack and alarm clock on. I assured her that I could find one. One night not to long after our conversation I ran into the Good Will store right before closing. I zoomed through my favorite aisles and then to the furniture department. There "she" was and it was love at first sight!!! She was a very pretty Ethan Allen end table. She had been in a church and on the top of the table were two very large and deep scratches. There for she was being sold for $14.99. What a steel!!!! I found a gentlemen that worked there and he brought her up to the front for check out and delivered her to my van. I was so excited. Kristin loves shabby chic and my all time favorite look is the white glazed bottom with the beautiful rich color of walnut or burnt umber as the case may be. Here was my chance to transform this lovely table. Take a look and see what you think.....

I sanded the top to get rid of the scratches and ready for the stain.

below you can see the beauty and design of the wood.

I used a coat of oil base primer.

final coat of Sherwin Williams creamy white, don't tell Bill I went to his competitors for the paint!!

top has been stained and the body has been glazed.

I did the original hardware with Sophisticated finishes Blackened Bronze.

Here she is in all her new splendor. I love this piece of furniture. I can't believe that I was able to do this! I gave the table to my son-in-law for Christmas. I told Kristin that when she no longer wants it to please return it to me. She quickly let me know that there wouldn't be any reason to let it go!!!

This piece of furniture has given hope to a middle aged woman who felt dumped at the good will, but has realized through the transformation of this table that just because your old it doesn't mean you still don't have purpose and beauty!!!

While the stain is drying...........

I'm impatient and wanted those cabinets dark and just maybe got carried away. They are still drying but boy do they look nice!!!

So I thought I would share the before and after pictures of this desk that I bought for Karen. But first a little bit about Karen. She loves color!!!! When we first moved into this house she painted her room the brightest eye hurting pink, it grow on me after I found some black and white bedding. After having a box fan malfunction and having her room rebuilt she picked out a very bright salmon color. Karen understand color and has paired some very interesting things in her room. She has the vision for what something can look like with a little bit of paint. She has gone back to college and asked if I would find a desk for her. Her lucky day came when there was a desk for $20 on the Craig. Take a look....

The desk has really good bones

Oops! I spray painted something on it! There were scratches all away across the top.

Look how pretty the top looks after she has been primed!

Primer makes everything look ok again!

She is now ready for the very purple color Karen picked out!

I think she turned out cute! Karen bought her own pulls and did a great job!

This bookcase was painted white and Tennessee Vol orange when Karen brought it home.

She spray painted with black board paint and then painted the inside with these very pretty blue and green colors.

She likes the Beatles. Who would have thought of this? She is so cleaver!!!!

Hope your inspired!!!!!!