The Dust Ruffle...

(which is really a bed skirt - who knew???) is finished.  And boy am I ever glad!

Using the directions garnered from do-it-yourselfer extraordinaire Gina, over at The Shabby Chic Cottage, I managed to stitch together a lush king-sized bed skirt for $20.00.  It would have been way cheaper if I hadn't over-scrunched the material when I was sewing it together necessitating adding another sheet plus 1/2 of a 5th sheet, but I love the lush over-done look.

It took 4 1/2 twin sheets which cost $4.00 each at WallyWorld.  I had a bed skirt on the bed that cost $2.00 at the thrift store so I used that for the base and simply stitched the new folded over fabric right on top of the old stuff (which was ugly) and only had a 14" drop.  My bed has a 16" drop plus I wanted some extra fabric to puddle on the floor.  I was shocked at the cost of decent looking bed skirts online.  Even Pottery Barn was in the $90.00 range. 

Rather than reinvent the wheel, Gina has fabulous instructions here.

It's a bit like sleeping on top of a wedding cake...

The left over fabric will be used to form a ruffle for the footstool...

The top cover for the footstool will be the fabric that is being used to recover two more of my ugly "dentist office chairs" (which seem to have bred like maggots. These are the other two of the ones I already re-covered for the dining room.) It appears like the fabrics don't match but they actually match perfectly...

About the cover on the down comforter ...

Many years ago I bought a very expensive duvet cover.  The down comforter was always slipping around inside and it was a hassle to remove and wash.  This is the first time ever we have not had a couple of dogs but we still have two cats.  The "fur-people" crawl all over the bed and therefore I'm not going to spend a gazillion dollars on a duvet cover that is inconvenient and can't be easily cleaned.

I love old sheets.  They are soft and nicely faded due to years and years of washings.  King sized flat sheets are readily available at the thrift stores.  Bottom sheets not so much because they are the first to wear out.  For years I've scarfed up old king-sized flat sheets, purchased a good coordinating fitted sheet and, voila, a king sized set for about $20.00 bucks.

For the comforter cover I simply throw a king-sized sheet over the comforter and fold it over the top of the comforter.  It comes off every week and is washed along with the sheets.  Simply and cheap inexpensive.

Another vintage sheet I use...

I've linked to Gina for Transformation Thursday.  Visit her at The Shabby Chic Cottage for more wonderful ideas...

I've linked to My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday, too

Don't throw away those orange and grapefruit peels...

throw some in a little dish and give them a twist during the day to release the wonderful citrus aroma.  Sniffing citrus scents helps release stress and can give you a boost in the afternoon if you're feeling tired. 

Tea tree oil also works wonders for an added boost in energy but many people don't like the medicinal smell.  I love it (but then I also love the smell of oil paint and WD-40)  and will often put just a drop on my left wrist so I can have occasional whiffs during the day.

Living the Savvy Life Review

Living the Savvy Life

The Savvy Woman's Guide to Smart Spending and Rich Living

Melissa Tosetti, author of Living the Savvy Life, has done a remarkable job of making what many think is a complicated and boring subject not only easy to understand, but actually fun.  While the book is chock full of ways to save money it is, more importantly, about how to live richly and enjoy your life to the fullest.

The first five chapters cover how money affects everything, the philosophy of the "savvy life", our habits, where we spend our money,  and the golden rule - "spend less than you make."

The following chapters give you concrete ways in which to do this.  There are chapters on home, entertainment, wardrobe, and food.  Melissa teaches about savvy shopping and gives us tricks to stay motivated.

Chapter 12, "What is Important to You", was one of my favorites.  It gives you a blueprint to work through to help you define in what areas you life is working and identifying the areas that may need a bit of attention.

Listen to what Melissa says in the beginning of Chapter 12:

"You may have a general idea of what is important to you.  You might have goals that you want to focus your spending on such as a house, a dream vacation, or something as simple as updating your wardrobe.  As you have already learned, defining those goals and writing them down will help you achieve them faster.  But have you ever sat down and looked at your life as a whole and how you want to live it - then planned your spending to achieve it?"


"This type of thought and planning allows you to live a more purposeful life.  Instead of going where the wind takes you, you have control and can direct your life according to where you want to go. Of course you want to be flexible and leave room for serendipitous moments, but having a design in mind for what you want your life to be like and how to achieve it is powerful."

Melissa proceeds to give us wonderful questions to work through in order to help us define who we are and what we want out of life.

Her Favorite Resources in the back of the book is a goldmine of excellent and motivational reading, including many of my favorites.  

I'll leave you with this wonderful quote from the closing page of Melissa's book:

Remember that Living the Savvy Life isn't just about money.  It's about turning your home into a sanctuary.  It's about taking pleasure in every moment of your time off.  It's about building a wardrobe and beauty routine that make you feel gorgeous.  It's about nourishing your body and soul with delicious food.

Your are the artist and a savvy life is yours to create.

Melissa's website

And while you're at Amazon allow me recommend Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley, aka FlyLady.  Melissa loves Flylady, too!

Look What I Got!

Friday my hubby actually entered a Ross store with me. We were headed to Costco and he agreed to a quick run through. He always objects to visiting stores like Ross,  but ends up having more fun than moi. 

Of course, he immediately found a cup he just couldn't live without. He said the cup made him want to eat enchiladas...

 And I found an awesome new little table for my bathroom fuchsia plant (it was ONLY $7.99) 

The table is heavy and the birds are three dimensional - not flat. I love a verdigris finish...

They also had two battery operated candles on the clearance shelf for $3.49.  Those electric candles are super for places like bookshelves where a real candle could be a hazard.  I went "shopping" in my hall closet and we put the new candle on a wall holder that I took down when I painted.  Perfect for the end of the bookshelves.

After returning home, I mourned the fact that I didn't get one of those great cups for myself or grabbed the other candle. I also had my eye on a new thingy for my coffee table. 

Saturday hubby had to run to the pharmacy to pick up a med refill for Elle, one of our dogs(her meds cost $29.00 a month - good thing she's cute (she has my eyes)   

Her little quilt was a gift from noted young adult author and quilter extraordinaire, Katie Alender.  Elle has a crush on Katie's doggie, Winston.

Hubby seemed to be gone quite a long time for such a short trip. When he returned home - guess what????? He had gone back to Ross (all by himself - I'm so proud!) and snagged the other candle, grabbed me a cup, and found the vase thingy I wanted.   Now - how cool is that?

I'd love to show you an awesome tablescape with my new vase ($6.99) as the centerpiece, but the coffee table is stacked with Etsy projects that have spilled out of my office. They were on the dining room table and we had to eat around them.  I guess that's a step up in home decor....

Back to work!

Feeling Rich Friday

Clean sheets on the bed make me feel rich.

I change the sheets every Thursday. I used to change them on Friday as a sort of "welcome to the weekend", but Thursday proved to be a better day in my schedule.

During the summer I hang my laundry out to dry. My husband put up a wonderful clothes line as one of his first projects when we moved to this house. All the sheets are kept in a breakfront in our bedroom which is filled with fresh lavender sachets made with lavender from my garden.

The combination of sun-dried laundry and lavender is heavenly. It is awareness of the simple things in life that make our lives rich. Who needs a Rolls Royce when you can have fresh sheets?

My clothes line. I know there's nothing hanging on it but I didn't feel right about a picture displaying my knickers on the internet, and I'm waaaaaaaaaaay too lazy to "stage" a picture.


A lovely water color...


Tuscany scene...

I love these colors...

Boy - that's a lot of laundry!

Maybe this is Kansas. It's windy...

And my very, very favorite...

Tell us what makes you feel rich?

Have a wonderful holiday weekend and God bless!

P.S. Check out my beautiful new pincushion on my other blog...

Feeling Rich

Sassy Water makes me feel rich....

I ran across Sassy water when I read The Flat Belly diet book from the library. It was part of the diet plan and I made some and decided it was pretty dang good. Plus it's so pretty it makes me feel rich.

Here's the recipe:

8. 5 CUPS WATER
1 TSP/ GRATED GINGER
1 MED. CUCUMBER (if the cucumber is large just use half and unless it organically grown, peel it)
1 MEDIUM LEMON
12 SPEARMINT LEAVES (I use mint from my garden)

I use my Britta filtered water and make it up before bed and let it steep in the fridge over night. Tastes really good on a hot day.

Happy Weekend Everyone

Thought for the weekend...

My new kitchen sign mounted over the stove

One of my favorite daylilies, Ed Brown. It will be in full bloom soon. This is a flower from last year. Don't you just love the edge?

More rain on the way. I jumped on my lawn tractor and zipped around mowing before the rain started.

5 Ways to Live Like a Rich Person this Weekend

You don't need to have a lot of money to live like a rich person. Sometimes I think having scads of money is actually a hindrance to enjoying what you already have.

Here are five things that make me feel rich.

1. Having a timer for my coffee pot so the smell of coffee brewing wakes me up in the morning. I've not had good luck with the the pots that have timers so I have one that plugs into the outlet. It can also be used to turn on your lights at a pre-set time.
   
2. Fresh sheets on the bed
3. Using my nice china. I love pretty china and don't save it for company. I also have found really cool plates at of all places - the Dollar Store. Bright flowers are fun for breakfast. When I was growing up my Mom always used her finest china (Noritake), and her best crystal for our birthday parties (even when we were 6 or 7 years old). My friends and I never broke a thing and today I'm using the same china and crystal.
   
4. Using stemmed glasses for orange juice in the morning. Sometimes it's the high end crystal and sometimes it's cool stemware from, you guessed it - the Dollar Store
5. A vase of flowers, even a small one, makes me feel very, very rich

What Makes You Feel Rich?

From the combox:

Lola has given me my new favorite motto by way of her friend Coco:

"Elegance is the art of refusal"

Lola said... One cure for a love of stuff is to work in a historic house museum.

I did one summer for my undergraduate degree. I Just loved Victorian homes up until I had to catalog each and every piece of linen, pottery, bric a brac and tsotchkes.

I too love many styles. I even love that 50's Retro stuff, modern and such, but don't know if I could live in a home full of it. Something about "modern" style can get depressing. Often the modern art of that era reminds me of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".

I've been trying to be hard nosed about the junk brought in. New or Old. I tend towards loving everything.

But, when I reach for that silver plated tray at the Thrift store along with the Van Nys pottery, I hear my friend Coco saying, "Elegance is the art of refusal". I now tend to put many items back on the shelves.

Thanks Lola!

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to tell me what makes you feel rich. I'm always open to new ideas...

Next week we'll be talking about bookcases as I re-do mine. I'm going for calm by covering the books in brown craft paper. I know, I know - waaaaaaay too OCD!!!