A Tribute to Grandma B.

Grandma Bellefeuille lived to be 92 years old. She passed away almost 2 weeks ago now. She had a stroke and just never woke up. But that was her wish, she always said that she wanted to just fall asleep and never wake up. She went very peacefully after living a very long and full life. She did many things that way, on her own terms. She was 100% Itailan, and she was very feisty!!! She always said what was on her mind. One other thing that Grandma insisted upon was that she did not want a funeral, even though she was catholic. She was blessed by 2 preists prior to her passing, and then we went on respecting her wishes. No funeral, but we had to do something to celebrate her life and all that she gave to us. One of the things I learned from her was how to cook! Her signature italian dish was what she called, covadills, Italian dumplings cooked in a red sauce. They are a family favorite, and I knew that was what we must have. So I offered to cook the meal at my house and wanted to have everyone over to eat. The family also decided that we needed to have some type of private service. One of my dad's life long frends is a minister, and he knew my grandma very well. So he agreed to say a few words and join us for dinner. 

This is my Aunt karen, she is from Califorina, she and my Aunt Peggy, and my Mom, all came over to help prepare the covadills. We had 31 poeple to feed! This is Aunt Karen showing NIcholas and Zach how to make the Dumplings.

Once the dumplings were prepared I made the sauce and managed to turn my living room and kitchen area into a huge dining area. I found this old map of Italy at junk Bonanza last weekend, I knew that I had to have it!! 

Also inspired by something I saw at Junk Bonanza were these vintage style pins, I decided to make them for all the women in my family with pictures of Grandma. They are a wood back, and I printed photos onto cardstock, cut to fit, applied some mod podge to the front and back, added some glitter, buttons and  lace. And there you have it vintage pins! I will be making some more for the cousins who were not able to travel home. 

Here is me after everything was done!! Can't wait to eat!!

You could say that we had a little bit of food!

The entire night was perfect, I think it would have been exactly what she wanted, all of her family together to celebrate her life. 

Uncle Marvin, Aunt Karen, Aunt Peggy, and My Dad. 

Doris Bellefeuille

1918-2010

You will be missed Grandma!!! 

A very Green Giveaway and a new Linky party!!

Remember the post I did not too long about my hand painted rug??

I used FROG TAPE to create the lines. 

And guess what??? Someone at FROG TAPE saw it! And decided to contact me and thank me for mentionng this great product!! 

Do you know what that means?? 

I get to do a giveaway for one lucky person to receive a FROG TAPE goody bag! WOO HOO!!

So here is what you get:

This re-usable tote bag, but wait, there's more!! 

Inside there is a T-shirt and 3 rolls of FROG TAPE!!! 

So now I bet you are all wondering how do I get entered to win this fabulous gift?? 

Well, I have a few things up my little sleeve!! 

First, I want to know what projects have you done with FROG TAPE?? 

I want to see them, so I am having my 1st ever LINKY PARTY!! You can link up any past FROG TAPE project, or you can enter something you create just for this fun event! It will be open for one week, so you have some time!! 

So how else can you enter the giveaway??

Here are more ways to enter:

1. Visit FROGTAPE.com & check them out and comment here about their website

2. Leave a comment here about why you love FROG TAPE

3. Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this awesome giveaway & link back here to that as well!

4. Each FROG TAPE Linky Project will also be entered to win.

That is 4 times that you can get entered into this giveaway!!

I will be announcing the winner next Monday, so show me what you've done with FROG TAPE, the possibilities are endless, here are a couple of other things I have done.

Kids chalkboard on the wall, with a painted frame.

Faux Brick wall in my sons room, we painted this entire wall, and used my Frog Tape to create the "grout lines". Whenever anyone sees this room in person they always have to touch this wall. It was one of my favorite projects! 

Ok Link em up!!! 

BUT PLEASE, ONLY FROG TAPE PROJECTS!!! Thank you! 

Organization can be fun!

I am attempting to get financially organized. I have everything I need to do so. I have the tools, I have the know how, but there is one thing I am lacking, it's the willpower. So this week I have been working on putting all of the tools I have too good use. You see them all above. My planner/calendar where I have organized my bills by week. My receipt Organizer and my debit card tracker. I know that these tools will only work if I use them everyday. So now it's time for the fun, I needed to make my accessories cute and fun!! 

So I took this fabric that I bought out at Hannah Johnson's last week. 

It is a heavy weight fabric too, so it was nice and sturdy. 1st project in the book cover for the planner. 

My fabric is 12 x 22, I also cut a piece of heavy weigh interfacing and ironed it on to the back. Then fold in all the edges about 1/4 inch and iron. You will then fold in the flap edge hem another 1/4 inch and sew.  

Next fold the top and bottom edge in about 1 1/4 inches and iron in place. 

Next crease your fabric where the permanent fold will be, then fold the right sides together at the crease on each side like the photo above. Sew in one inch at each edge to tack it in place, but be sure to leave the side open so it will act as a removable book cover. Turn and press. 

Then simply add your book. 

Ok Planner is now cute. Time for the receipt holder. I simply opened mine up and used it as a pattern. I cut out 2 pieces of fabric and one of the interfacing. Iron the interfacing on the wrong side of outside fabric. 

Put the wrong sides together and sew all the way around leaving one tab side open for turning. Turn and press, then sew the open tab side closed. 

Fold and press it together, use a strong hold fabric glue to glue the tabs to the inside flaps. 

Ok I am all set to keep my receipts in one place, imagine that, they wont be shoved here and there all over my purse and wallet. Last but not least is my debit card tracker, same as a check book register, only smaller for debit card use, who writes checks anymore?? The question should be who accepts checks anymore! 

I made this one just like the larger book cover, but on a smaller scale. 

Make sure to add a pocket to keep the debit card in too, if it's with the register you will be more likely to write it down, right???? 

And just for fun, since I had some fabric left over, I made a clutch too. Now I am all set. 

Ugly Chair

Why am I not better at taking before pictures??? Because this was quite a transformation! 

This chair was a very dark wood, and awful blue fabric and even uglier brass tacks, I think there were about 150 or more holding the fabric on! So you will have to envision the before, here is the after! 

First I spray painted the entire thing with 2 coats of rustoleum Heirloom white. Then I sanded her down with a heavy grit sandpaper, I wanted it to rally look worn.

I then applied Ralph lauren Smoke glaze, brush on, wipe off. I let it setting into the details before wiping off. That was it for the wood part. 

For the fabric, I simply used the old pieces to make my new ones, ironed the edges and the only part that actually needed sewing is the front, show below. I made piping and had to attach the 2 pieces together. 

The last part was the upholstery tacks, I simply took the ugly old brass ones, spray painted them rustoleum espresso and reapplied them, using maybe 1/2 of what was originally on the chair! 

I just love all of the old detail in this chair, you don't see that anymore! Thank you to my awesome SIL for spotting this baby at a garage sale and picking it up for me because she knew it had great potential!

It's perfect in my room! 

More Fall Decor, out on the porch

We have been having the perfect fall weather this weekend, so I finally threw out the rest of my summer blooms, planted 125 bulbs, and decrated the porch for fall!

Now can't you just smell the harvest spice candle burning?? MMMM, my favorite time of the year!!