"Pinterest" Phobia...

Pinterest - an online pinboard to organize and share photos of ideas and things you love.




Phobia - usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational.



Yes...I have NOT joined pinterest. And I would say at times, I have committed to great lengths in avoiding it....curiosity being the archenemy in this case. But what I know about myself, and what I have heard and read about Pinterest leads to this conclusion

Number one...Pinterest IS ADDICTING. (*have read SOS's of people needing to be saved, or developing blood clots from sitting so long pinning!!) lol

Number two...I CAN BE WEAK!!

Number three...Me + Pinterest would =



And so with wisdom...I will continue to "commit to great lengths" to avoid it...for now!

In the mean time.... I do have my own little PIN-IT board right in front of me...it changes at different times as I find pics I really like...



and another up above my right shoulder in my personal computer nook...my very own little space in our bedroom.



How about you??? Are you an avid Pinner?....an addicted Pinner? an asylum-bound Pinner? (hopelessly drowning in it- need therapy?) O.O - or an avoiding Pinner...like me?

Do you have your own little "off-line" Pin board? :-)

Merry Monday and a GREAT idea...

Merry Monday to you...pull that smile out...polish it...put it to work! ;-)



Before I share the Great Idea, here are:

Two little Goodwill finds {under 1.50~ woot! gotta love 'em} that made me merry last week....

**a pretty silk peony bouquet .....{{{smiles}}}



the blooms look so real...



gracing the unfinished room across the hall...



** a cheerful Barred Plymouth Rock Rooster pillow with a red gingham border....so Cottage cute! (*we used to have some BPR roosters in our chicken coop days, so this feather is a little thread in our family story tapestry!!)



and NOW... I have a creative idea to share. I saw this little mirror deal sitting on a shelf and walked over to look at it. When I tried to pick it up it rolled around under my fingers...(!!???)

Here is the mirror part that I saw...pretty details on the trim.



Now look underneath,



Look closer....



yes...Rubbermaid!...it's one of those lazy Susans for your pantry or cupboard. Somebody took one and glued a perfect-sized mirror to the top and made a pretty turntable for OUT of the cabinet. SO smart! (thinking outside the box!)




So now I have a pretty turn-around mirror tray for the Family Room coffee table to catch all of Kam's stuff!!! *That's where he throws it all!

I thought I would share that today, because it was such an ingenious idea. I figure you can use a round frame with glass also, and put a pretty print, pinterest collage, vintage hanky, favorite photo....who knows??? under the glass! or you could do a mirror like the clever person who made mine.

That's all for MERRY MONDAY!! Your smile will make someone's day...TODAY!

Thanks so much for remembering to include our military heroes in your prayers.


{{{Hearts of love and hugs}}} flying out to YOU!

**thanks Tete - for the image!

Friday's FAVORITES feature

Since we have moved to Iowa, I have encountered winds on a consistant basis like no other time in my life...It is rare for there not to be some amount of wind blowing here in Cedar Rapids...( and here I thought Chicago was called the "Windy City!")

But in the winter time...OH MY, it is the cold air blowing combined with the frigid temperatures that will do a Southern girl in. The Wind Chill factors are brutal on the skin. I was applying more and more moisturizers and lip balm the more the winds blew and the temps dropped.



I went out looking for something new, because I didn't think my standby loyal face protections were working here...and when a girl enters her 50's, she needs ALL the help she can get!!!

I HAVE FOUND SOMETHING THAT IS THE BEST I HAVE EVER USED IN MY ENTIRE LIFETIME OF USING FACE MOISTURIZERS... I'm not kidding! I have used Olay, L'oreal, Clinique, Estee Lauder, and a number of others... This one trumps them all.



As you can read, it defines this product as a whipped souffle, and it feels so soft after you apply. (probably because it has both shea and cocoa butters in it) There is no leftover feeling or greasiness of ANY kind on your skin and face. (smells nice too!)I put this on my face throughout the day, when I get up in the morning, before I go to bed... before makeup, and in between...It is AWESOME!

It really does moisturize...NO dry skin here girls, and with negative temps and extreme winds swirling around, AND the fact that we have GAS heat in this nest....that is saying a lot. And you won't look like this when you put it on at night!! LOL!!!



I even told Katie that she HAD to go and get some in Charlotte, and try it, after I had used it a couple of weeks. She did and she likes it too!

Well, that is my newly discovered "WOULD-NOT-WANT-TO-LIVE-WITHOUT" facial moisturizer.

I am absolutely SOLD on this Friday FAVORITE!!

It is not available at every store. I got mine at TARGET, and it is probably in some drug stores. I could not find it at my local WalMart or KMart.
It only runs around $8 - 9.00 which is so cheap compared to most high-end face moisturizers...another reason ...

******* I LOVE IT!!!!! *******

So, if you are not totally satisfied with your moisturizer, I highly recommend you getting a Valentine's gift for yourself! Try this one. :-) :-) :-) smiling in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!
{**if you do try it, let me know what you think! }

Hugs to all visiting here today.

Have a GREAT FRIDAY!!

Thursday Book Highlight

While out last week, (before the BIG snow) I made it to the Marion library. It is FANTASTIC! Their DVD section is the largest I have ever seen in ANY library anywhere... and not just movies, but entire seasons of television shows - shelf after shelf after shelf!

I found several books that I am loving flipping through, and wanted to highlight the one below. It is loaded with pictures of combinations of colors and patterns that are beautiful.



Love that sunny yellow with the blue tartan plaid!


Here's another cheerful yellow/blue and white. *LOVE* the toile. It's a classic.
!!!AND WOOD that is NOT painted..kind of rare nowadays..I'm loving it!!!


Love the soft green with the pop of yellow.


Another sage green, this time with red. love the checks and florals.


favorite ~ blue and white!!


Another..patterns galore! Don't ya love that puppy picture on the wall?


One more...with toile again.


How about black and white?...the yellow touch is nice, yes?


and another.



Another Favorite color ~ RED!



Very Cottage cheerful kitchen, toile on the ceiling this time!



This is the last photo in the book, and I will close the highlights with it.


This was one of my favorites in the entire book. I immediately had my wheels start turning when I saw it. I have a 3/4 bed that belonged to my grandfather. He slept in it as a child, and I know he was born in 1896, so it's at least that old. It is handmade and the spindles handturned. My kids used it when they were small, but it takes a special size mattress (worn out!) and is not really long enough for an adult.

Here it is in our current basement...a very sentimental possession, yet not really usable for sleeping anymore.



I have visions of THAT treasure becoming a useable piece of furniture again, (repurposed) with some handy dandy saw cuts and added wood, and nails and glue...yes...a bench like the red one you see. I have run it by Da Man as maybe a 30th wedding anniversary gift??? hint..hint... so that was why I liked this book so much.

It inspired a vision! :-)

A very FUN book to read and thumb through multiple times. I wouldn't mind having it in my personal collection. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for one. Maybe your library has this one.

Hope all of those stopping by have a wonderful Thursday. If you have snow, STAY WARM! If you have sunshine and nice warm temps...get out in it for ME!!!

Happy Reading. (I think I sound like Levar Burton on the Reading Rainbow show my kids used to watch...lol)

***PS My Marine Mom Sister, Nancy (sargeant major mama)shared this with me this morning...LOVE it. put it on my FB and here too! :-) a smile for you today.
Hugs to all...

A REAL COWBOY HAS NO FEAR!

Pillow Love...and Semper Fi!

Thrifted Pillows...

If you keep your eyes peeled and watch, you can get some really great pillows at Thrift stores...no stains, no smells, no tears or pulls, no lumps... "like new" OR new with tag on.


I LOVE me some blue and white....some roses...and some heavy fringe...SO like this find. The fabric is like a heavy linen. Meant to sit in my Living Room...well...I think so! :-)

I love the Muppets, I love Charlie Brown, I love Peter Rabbit, I love Winnie the Pooh... silly ole bear... "think...think...think..." that's me. :-)



Perfect for the spare room downstairs next to Kam's.... :-)


These just gave a contemporary and colorful punch to the "man-cave" downstairs...kind of has a bit of Western Rustic theme going in it.

Pillows came from Salvation Army and Goodwill stores in Cedar Rapids and Marion IA.
They can run from .49 for a small one up to 3-4.99 for floor size pillows.

Fun. I love to thrift. Still have Christmas gift $$ in my wallet after many finds.
Cheap Thrills.

Hugs to all who pop in this hump-day Wednesday!

A Marine I have been praying through his 2nd Afghanistan tour is getting ready to return home. {{He is out of the danger zone.}} That would call for a big Praise The Lord...OOO-RAH...SEMPER-FI...and Thank you, Lance Corporal Simmons. Your service and sacrifice and commitment are priceless.

Transformation Tuesday...yes...this works!

When the big snowfall came last Friday, I was starting to get Cabin Fever...we are getting snow on top of snow now...just yesterday we had ice and sleet to put the icing on the snow-cake...this is Winter!



But, back to the Cabin Fever... I had been wanting to frame a couple of pictures but I had not found the right frames or mat color I was thinking of.

**These were to go on either side of my dresser mirror.

Well, sometimes being cooped up makes you just GO FOR IT...experiment, and see what ya get out of it all... and that's what I did... *** keep the shades of blue on that beautiful bird in your mind's eye...



I can't show the actual BEFORE framed pictures - (since I didn't photo-document any of the process - I never think about that...til it's too late...)


I had two more of the above smaller framed prints ..pretty much the size I was wanting - 14x16.

One was actually a duplicate picture, so the extra pair sat in a "Goodwill donation" box for weeks after we moved here. But I decided to save them, and pulled them out right before I finally took the box ~ ! glad I did !

I took those two pictures apart... taped off the thin strip of inner mats and spray painted the burgundy outer mats...(yes...that's right)- I spray painted them...the paint was the color I was thinking might be the pop I wanted in the bedroom. (I will say this...I would NEVER normally paint stuff in an 8 degree garage...but I was "cabin crazy" that day.) I had to bring them inside to dry completely. When dry, I took the tape off and used a black sharpie to change the inner mat color.

I printed off my chosen photos in black and white. I put the pictures back together and hung them in the room.

YES!...just what I was wanting. I have done the present Master bedroom in black and white, but still wanted my favored BLUE in there. (Our room has previously been blue and white for almost 30 years)


*quite different from their previous look and color, yes?



Under each of these pictures are two plates that I had painted a birdie/nesting scene on with the words Sweet Dreams...not perfect...but neither am I! :-)



Each of those plates has a vintage ear"bob" that belonged to my maternal grandmother affixed to the top with that pretty blue color in it...



I have this old Ball mason jar on my dresser with that perfect shade of blue...



and also these...



That gives an idea of the blue shade I was trying to pick up on. I had the spray paint left over from another paint project I had done in Charlotte, for an item on our deck...

There are different pops of blue scattered on small things here and there in the bedroom that tie in with the Blue master bath.

I am happy with the Cabin Fever CRAZY wintertime paint project I experimented with...now I know...so I decided to share on my blog with YOU!...

If a Framing Store doesn't have the mat shade you really want, you CAN spray paint a mat! ...Takes 2 or 3 coats with a dark mat, but it's definitely do-able. :-)

That's my transformation tale for Tuesday...and I'm sticking to it...

Hugs to all dropping by!!

Hope you don't get cooped up too long in your nest because of multiple snows!!!

Who knows what you might end up trying???!!!

Seriously...people really are spray painting furniture fabric now to transform it...