Life is beautiful

Life is hard.

Life isn't fair- it's true

Life is also.....beautiful.

It's a treasure.

I am reminded of this as I watch my teenagers support their classmates while at a memorial for a fellow student.  I'm reminded of God's loving discipline as we strive to guide and mold our children who are quickly becoming adults.  I see it in the mentors and teachers who invest into my kids' lives day after day, week after week.  

I remember that the sparrows are taken care of too when the mechanic says "no charge".  

Thank you God, for these reminders, these friends.... this hardship.

I don't know where I found this (if you do please let me know!). 

Share a Little Love

My "blog-friend" Ashley, over at Under the Sycamore has been sharing with us her journey in their pursuit to adopt a child from China.  While this woman is immensely talented, (she's been featured many times with her crafty creations and ingenuity - not to mention her mad skills with the camera!) she is a down to earth mama!  It has been my pleasure to read her blog and share with her (in spirit) her journey.  Please take the time to read this post. 

http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2012/04/16/the-incubator-project/

You will be glad you did.

http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/ 

Side table re-do

I don't remember when I first picked up this little lady.  Sorry honey.  You were just put to work right away.  You did a great job at Christmas time.














I knew I would get a lot of use out of this little table.   She's just the right size to play a supporting role in my entrance decorating all year 'round.

So, I finally cleaned her up.  Sanded and painted.

She's ready for spring now.

 Won't you stop by and tell her how lovely she looks?  :-)

 

Pickin' for beautiful junk with Mom.

  Yesterday was my Mom's birthday.  She says she's old.  She's really not.    Most people think she's much younger than what she is.  She tends to be a little camera shy but I do have this picture of her hands.  Her hands make some of the most beautiful things...

 

   ... out of anything!  Seriously.  Anything.  Have an old onion bag?  She'll make you a flower - or a scrubby for the kitchen sink.  She could write a book on 1001 ways to use a toilet paper roll or coffee cans.   Do you remember when you had to bring a box lunch and exchange it at school?  Mine was always the most decorated, the most beautiful, the most creative.  Always.  I was so proud of that.

  Mom comes from a long line of stubborn Norwegians who I swear were the original DIY-ers.  Attitudes like, "I can do that!" and "I'm not paying that!  I'll just make one myself!" were predominate in my mom's family.  Still is.  We are also a family of limited means.  However, my mom doesn't see this as a limitation.  Not at all.  She sees this reality as a catalyst for creativity.

  So it would make sense that my Mom and I (and my sister) have found ourselves in this business of creating beautiful things for our homes.  We take things that others have discarded and make something new.  We take the overlooked and make it the star of the show.  We even take something that is perfectly suited to do it's job - and make it into something else!  Because we can.  Which brings us back to yesterday.

For my mom's birthday, we went pickin'!

Oh the beautiful rusty, bent, dirty stuff we found!!  

I can not wait to see what becomes of these.  We have some 

ideas... but often the things themselves dictate how they want to be used.

I know there are hidden gems under all this mud.

Once we clean them up, give them a good brushing, a coat of lacquer, maybe some paint...

they'll be gorgeous dah-ling!

Happy Birthday day mom.  Thanks for showing us that our creativity is only limited by our need for sleep!

Were you as fortunate as I to have parents who taught you how to be creative?  Or did it come to you later in life?  I would love to hear about it!

We had such a fun sale this weekend at Vintage Boutique.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to say hi!

We are gearing up for a special grand-opening sale at Linda's Cellar on April 4th.  Details are forthcoming.... we are busy planning and stocking!  

 

It's sale week at Vintage Boutique!

With one-of-a-kind creations,

vintage lovelies,

and handmade must-haves!

I definitely have THE MOST talented sister and Mom! 

Come check us out -and 7 other vendors- 

 March 15 -17

at Linda's Cellar in

Chaska, MN

 

This last fall, I had the privilege to help host a thank you lunch for the teachers at my daughters' school.

My goal was to not only provide a lovely ambiance without any money on a budget,

but also to help foster an atmosphere of camaraderie and conversation.

Thankful to my neighbor who let me cut some of her beautiful hydrangeas, I also sacrificed an old dictionary's pages for the filler in old blue mason jars

and cut out leaf shapes paired with a burlap runner.

I also used full pages as place mats.  I heard the teachers were using them to see who was the "wordiest wordsmith".  I say mission successful!