Prom Season is Here!

Already getting phone calls for prom dress alterations.  Yea, I do alterations for the public.  I like altering prom dresses and wedding dresses.  It's fun to see what the girls are wearing these days since the last time my daughter wore a prom dress was-ah!-let me think.  That long.  

I really taught myself how to do alterations and it's not really all that hard it you think about it. I always tell people that if I can take it apart I can put it back together again.  

Hemming and taking up the shoulders and the sides seems to be the biggest part of what I do.  If you need some help you can always email me with a question.

The picture below is a dress that I've replaced the zipper in.  I hate doing that!.  But sometimes those size ? girls try on those size ? dresses.  Don't want to hurt anyones feeling.  

I will posting more about alterations and some of the things I'm working on now shortly so just keep checking back.

Debbie

Great Giveaway!

I just wanted to let everyone about this great giveaway that I spotted on the web.  Please be sure and check it out.  You might be the lucky winner.

Today, Chena Designs is giving away a 2-3 Letter Custom Monogram, and 25 digital printed flat cards with your new monogram in any color imaginable. Her custom monograms are drawn completely by hand, and digitized for you to use anyway you can possibly dream up.

My Little Loaf of Bread

Hello to everyone!  I have been really busy with trying to get my Christmas sewing finished.  Just as soon as I think I'm finished I think of something else that I want to do.  This year everyone is getting a little more home made things than they have in past years.  I think everybody will be OK with that.
Just the other day while I was in my sewing room making a gown for a little girl that I used to babysit I noticed that one of my dogs, Scooter, was missing.  Well, not really missing, but not in my sight.  I didn't think much about it and later I heard an odd noise.  I looked around and found him scratching around in a basket that I had on the floor.  There was some interfacing and a quilt that I had folded up and laid in the basket.  He's never really been one for sleeping in anything except a bed.  But when I turned around I was pleasantly surprised.  He had found him a little out of the way place to catch a short nap.  I thought he looked kinda like a loaf of bread.  I thought maybe a lot of you would get a kick out of it too.

Whew!! Finally finished!

I can't believe I finished my television console.  I started out with a yard sale find and some Rustoleum spray
paint.



I love this stuff. 

I bought the primer and the glossy spray paint.  I didn't know if it would like it, but I do.  Yellow is one of my favorite colors though. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it matches my living room and brings out the gold in my new wall color.  The wall used to look green for some reason.  Anyway I like the room alot better now.  

For my first piece I learned alot about painting furniture.  I looked on the internet trying to get some ideas.  I've posted some of my favorite sites so that you can look at what they've done and maybe come up with some ideas of your own. 

I really liked http://www.censationalgirl.com/.  She does some really pretty pieces and they are so great looking.  Her last piece was a blue/grey and it gives it that french country look.  My style isn't french country at all. I call it "Debbie's style".  That way how can I go wrong?

The top of the console I painted black and I painted the handles black.  It really turned out pretty good. 

Well, with that said I hope my console gives you some different ideas about how you can fix your yard sale furniture.  Keep checking back for some more furniture redos.

My yard sale and thrift store finds!

While I've been out looking for items to fill my home I enjoy going to yard sales and thrift store. While involved on my makeover in my dining room I don't think I spent more than $10 for any one of my pieces.

The silver mirror was a yard sale find and it was a very yucky gold.  The mirror had pine straw stuck in the sides and I also bought an oval mirror along with it for a grand total of $10 for both. It was also gold. I painted it turquoise and draw brushed it with silver nickel paint.

The two decorator pieces on the side of the mirror I bought at a thrift store for $1.

The silver platter I purchased it at a thrift store for $1 and the green apples I did have to buy them at TJMaxx(one of my favorite stores).

The sand candle in the glass jar I received as a Christmas gift last year and really didn't have a good place to put it until now.

The buffet belonged to my grandmother and it's at least 100 yrs., old.  It wasn't in the best of conditions and we(my mom and dad) had to help me glue the top back on and paint it and the pulls.
This is what it looked like before we painted it.

I thought it turned out pretty good. Let me know what you think.

                              




Debbie

I'm a Picker

I know all of ya'll has been wondering where I've been.  I've been pickin'.  I have been buying stuff to repaint or rework.  I've bought picture frames, mirrors and candle holders to repaint for my sewing room and other parts of the house.  I had my sewing room painted and my living room, kitchen, hall and dining room.  I painted my sewing room a lime green and I'm gonna use red and black accents.  The rest of the house I painted a golden color and it just makes the house look brighter.  It's definitely cleaner looking.  

I really enjoy hunting for stuff.  I'm gonna have to get where I enjoy redoing stuff too.  Every time my husband comes home on the weekend I know he's not surprised to see something else piled in the basement.  Jennifer, a good friend, and myself do yard sales almost every Saturday.  Sometimes I do Fridays too.  I was in Nashville, TN, this weekend and couldn't wait to go yard saleing(I know that's not a word), but it rained.  Talk about being pissed.  I was.  I did stop at a couple in the rain and bought a lamp shade and a pillow.

I only paid $2 for this one and

I paid $1 for this pillow at the same yard sale.  I think I did pretty good.

The pillow I'm gonna put on my bed.  It's brown and blue.  I thought it would be pretty and add some lighter colors to the bed.  The lamp shade I'm gonna put on my $2.50 lamp. I'm painting it and it's not completely finished.  I will be sure and let you see the lamp when I get finished.  

I have also been looking at some great websites and I will put them up and let you see them and tell me what you think about their decorating techniques.  I'll assure you it will be better than mine, but I'm getting better.  If you stay up with my blog I hope you can see me "mature" in my designs.

Picture Frame Redo

I have recently repainted my living room, dining room, hall, and my sewing room.  I was getting so tired of yucky gray walls.  My painter also spruced up my trim with some new paint, too. I got on the internet and searched for some inexpensive ways to decorate my walls without it costing too much money.  Well, I came up with a pretty good idea.  I found a few sites like Centsationalgirl.com had several photos of how she repainted picture frames the same color of the walls and put her pictures in the frames and it looks like the pictures are floating on the wall.  Addicted 2 Decorating had several gallery frame walls that I really liked alot.
This is my attempt at finding, buying and painting some picture frames.  I hope they turn out ok.

Debbie