An Update on the Library

Last week I spent a lot of time over at my new hangout...Girls Inc.  Working on the library was at times overwhelming, plowing through all of the books and magazines and what-nots.  You might recall all of these books were awaiting my perusal after Tammy and her family cleaned and painted the room.

 

I am going to do the big reveal on Wednesday, but here are some during-the-process-pictures so that you can share in my JOY :)

 

I chose this fabric for window treatments and when I went

back to Parthenon to purchase it...they gave it to me. 

What a wonderful gift :)

Now, I don't sew...so I have pretty much figured out how to

accomplish a lot with fabric and a glue gun :)  These are

not the finished product, you can see those on Wednesday!

I have so much fabric left over I want to make pillows for

the built in bench that runs along one wall...hmmm I wonder

how I will swing this without sewing!!

While going through stacks and stacks of books, I came

across many that have been donated by one of my favorite

organizations, The Panama City Junior Women's Club...oh the memories!

Eventually I began refilling the shelves with picture books,

chapter books, poetry books, mysteries, young adult books,

classical literature, and more...

I was so happy...I think I was born to be a librarian :D

 

Last Wednesday, the first group of girls came to visit.

I read aloud as the first and second graders sat mesmerized

 (okay, a slight exaggeration) and they learned a little poem too!! Stay tuned cause this Wednesday (my Katelyn's 20th Birthday) I will show you the finished project!   

A Little 4th of July Preview

July is just around the corner...are you getting in the patriotic mood??

We are looking forward to celebrating the 4th with our family out at the beach.  There is this annual 4th of July golf cart parade at Carillon...Rich is very pumped...because he thinks Claire will enjoy it ofcourse ;)  And this year Claire wants "to fly a kite wif Pop"...Stay tuned, I am sure there will be loads of pics.

Oil Cloth...Why Do I Love This Stuff??

While in Nashville for the Music City Half Marathon...we went to a little boutique in Hillsboro Village that Kate likes...Pangaea

Yep...loads of really cool stuff, like these lamps...

 

 This is also where my sudden unexplainable obsession with oil cloth began...

I have named my latest board on Pinterest...Oil Cloth Wonders  I bought this book for Nicole in Pangaea along with 3 yards of oil cloth...thinking that she might make herself a giant shopping tote that she can use to go to the farmer's market in her new neighborhood!!!

Today while out running a dozen errands I ran across this cute child-sized oil cloth (actually,it is probably more like vinyl covered fabric) apron.  This will be great for Claire who is surely going to be fingerpainting any day now ;)

 

It almost makes me want to take up sewing...ehhhh...nope...I will just wait for Nicole to get settled into that new dream house and then I will show up with some cool oil cloth and beg for a tablecloth for my sun room table!!

 

So many choices!!

Yard Sales, Mermaids, and Decorating

Ok...so I am always the last one on board for anything (remember Gilmore Girls...Downton Abbey...) but when I get on it I AM ON IT.  I have watched NBC news for decades.  The Today Show has been my show since, well do Jane Pauley and Tom Brokaw ring a bell??? So when I was wandering through HGTV a few days ago and happened upon Lara Spencer of Good Morning America decorating her friend's house using yard sale stuff...I thought...Who is this?

Who is this?...just the cutest and hippest gal to once again make buying someone elses cast-offs the IN thing.  I watched the show (same name as the book) mesmerized and on Saturday when Rich and I were over in Destin, escaping a rainy day at PF Changs, Barnes and Nobles, and the movies, I picked up her book.  Perfect timing for my trip up to Nicole's at the end of the week, because amidst all of the packing and her AP English exams coming up soon for her seniors...she will have loads of time to pour through this idea book :)

Now I know that thrifting has been around forever...I have, over the years, done several makeovers on Goodwill finds.  At this point in my life, I have no room for more cool tables and dressers...but I love thinking of the possibilities...such as this wonderful dresser I saw yesterday at the Beach House Market on Hwy 98 just west of Hwy 79...

For this price, any one of my girls could turn this into a cool painted chest for clothes or linens or sewing stuff...

I move on though...I am looking for something vintage Florida for the family room at the condo...something like this...maybe...

or maybe the tin mermaid....ha ha

While I contemplate "art" I will leave you with this article about decorating on a budget by Lara Spencer.

*not certain if you can tell the word article is lighter than the rest of the words...click on it and it will take you to the actual article!