Rest in Peace My Sweet Bella

We had to put down our sweet Bella dog yesterday and our hearts are broken into a million pieces over it.  This was completely unexpected and we were not prepared to lose her so quickly.  

She had recently stopped eating so we would switch food and she would eat again.  But in the last few weeks, she even refused to eat treats or human food.  A trip to the vet for some x-rays and blood tests showed us that she had cancer and was in renal failure.  When they told me she only had a few days left on earth with us, I just couldn't believe it. 

She is only 8 years old and had never shown any sign of being sick until recently.  If we had known, we would have done whatever we could to make her better.  The cancer started in the kidneys and moved up into her lungs.  After reading about renal failure, I could see that she was definitely exhibiting all of the symptoms and we made the hardest decision of our life, to have her put down. 

We got to be in there with her as she took her last breaths and my heart broke even more.  Bella was our baby girl and the love of our lives.  We thought we would have at least 8  more years with her but for whatever reason, that wasn't the case.  Since I didn't grow up with dogs, I never knew how much this would hurt.  Cody is a mess.  She was a daddy's girl in every sense of the word.  He is devastated and lost without her. We both are.

Before we buried here, we brought Grady out to her so that he could say goodbye.  He gave her a kiss on the nose and then got into the car where she last laid.  He wouldn't get out, even when we bribed him with treats.  He is going to miss his little sister so much. 

Does the hurt and the pain ever go away?  Will the crying ever stop?  I know someday I will meet her again, she will be waiting for me when it is my turn to go but boy do I miss her like crazy.  I cry at the drop of a pin and don't know if I will ever have dry eyes again.  I've printed a picture of her so that we can hang it in our house so that we will always remember her.  I'm also going to print out every single picture that I have ever taken of her so that we have it.  This is just the most awful thing. 

We love you our sweet Bella Blue Heeler baby girl.  May you rest in peace my angel baby.

Fall Pine Cone Cluster

One thing that I have plenty of is pine cones.  I have been trying to find ways to utilize them in different ways and my newest creation is this pine cone cluster for fall.

I went out gather pine cones this morning then baked them for 45 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Then I glued burlap ribbon in different lengths to the top of each pine cone.   

I had some fall colored hydrangeas that were then glued to the top where the ribbon is glued on to the pine cone.  I ran out of hot glue sticks (how unheard of?!) so I had to be creative to put the ribbons together to hang. 

A twist tie came to the rescue!  I just used it to bunch the ribbons together and then used another one to attach the cluster to my vintage gate.  I was going to tie a bow at the top of the ribbon but I attached an orange flower instead. 

This was a fun and fairly quick project to complete.  I have a lot more pine cones so I think a Christmas cluster as well as a winter cluster will be happening.  Who knows what else I might come up with for all of my pine cones!

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Thrift Store Lamp Makeover

I have been searching every thrift store and every yard sale I go to for lamps.  I didn't really care what they looked like, I just wanted a matching set for my living room.  While at the Idaho Youth Ranch today, I spotted a matching pair of shiny gold lamps and at $4.99 each, they came home with me for a makeover!

After we bought these lamps, we headed to Walmart to pick out some spray paint.  Rustoleum Turquoise Sky was the winner today.  If I change my mind later, I will just spray them a different color...I just love spray paint! 

I scuffed them up and then cleaned them with glass cleaner before handing them over to my handy hubby to paint.  Since he paints cars for a living, I figured he would do a much better job than I would and I was right.  I am loving the way my lamps turned out! 

I have had these lamp shades for years and never had a use for them.  I tried to spray paint white over them to tone down the black but that didn't work. Although they aren't exactly what I was going for, they will work for now.  

They are perfect on each side of the couch in my living room.  Next up, making new end tables! 

I am kind of looking forward to it getting dark tonight so I can turn off the lights and admire my new lamps in my favorite color. 

It's amazing what some spray paint and a little creativity can do to make your vision come to life.  Don't pass up those horribly ugly gold lamps that you might find in the thrift store.  You can always give them new life with some spray paint like I did! 

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Sunflowers on the Chalkboard

We are getting into late summer here in Idaho.  It's still hot and smoky but the nights and mornings are cooling down and I am longing for fall more and more everyday.  I decided to re-do my chalkboard today to go along with the late summer vibes.  Sunflowers are the perfect transition flower, don't you think?!

I drew some simple sunflowers on my chalkboard and wrote a sweet little quote to go with it.  Then I busted out my silk sunflowers to decorate the dresser that my chalkboard sits on. 

I love these sunflowers in the blue mason jar.   

These silk sunflowers are huge!  Look at their size compared to the small ones at the bottom. 

The tiny sunflowers are so fun and so cute.  They really add a delicate look to all of this. 

All of this sunflower fun makes me want to go out and pick some fresh ones.  I guess I know what Cody and I will be doing on this late summer afternoon! 

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Surprise Wedding

This past Wednesday, I planned a surprise wedding for a dear old friend of mine.  Originally, they had planned to have their wedding this September but pushed it back until next September.  After learning that her mom doesn't have a lot of time left due to brain cancer, they decided to move the wedding up and held a surprise wedding.  They invited people to the wedding via Facebook by telling them they were just having an End of Summer Soiree.  

When the guests arrived, this is the sign that they saw to tell them that they were here for a wedding.  Some people figured it out ahead of time but some people were completely taken by surprise!

I also made all of the centerpieces, aisle decorations, bouquets and boutineers.  I used babies breath, monte casino's, spray roses and lambs ear for the aisle decorations in mason jars. 

The centerpieces were babies breath, billy balls and lambs ear in a mason jar wrapped in burlap with a silk sunflower on top of a wood slice. 

The bouquet consisted of sunflowers, babies breath, monte casino's, spray roses, billy balls and lambs ear wrapped in burlap ribbon.  The boutineer was a billy ball, lambs ear, babies breath and monte casino's.  They were exactly what the bride wanted!

We held the ceremony at a friends parent's house.  August in Idaho is very hot and very smoky due to the fires in the area and although it was over 100 degrees, it was still a beautiful evening for a wedding.  We hung lace curtains in the tree and placed one of my mirrors on the tree as well to create the perfect backdrop for the ceremony. 

My candle chandelier was the perfect finishing touch hanging from the tree! 

I love planning weddings and I loved planning this one.  Mostly because it reunited me with friends that I have had almost all of my life as well as the mom's of my friends.  I can tell you that I spent many days of my younger life with all these ladies pictured below and I have so many memories with all of them.  We've talked of having a grown up slumber party in the basement of one of our friends' parents just like we did when we were kids.  I hope it really happens!  Please keep Janet, the bride's mom (lady in coral) in your thoughts and prayers as she fights against the cancer that they are unable to do anything for.

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Outdoor Daybed

I have always wanted a screened in porch on my house.  One day I will have one here, but until then, I have this outdoor daybed where I can day dream about it.

Cody built this daybed for me years ago using a queen size head and foot board.  Click here to see what it looked like before I painted it.  I put on a quick coat of white paint and it was instantly better. 

Next, I free-handed some flowers on the back of the headboard using acrylic paints.  I am by no means an artist but I think my flowers turned out pretty cute. 

I also made a fun banner using some fabric in colors that match my flowers.  I was waiting to find the perfect sheet to put on the feather bed I have on it and I finally found it at my favorite thrift store on Friday. 

I hung some solar lights around the edge.  It will make it extra pretty at night. I have also decided it needs some sort of a chandelier hanging down from the middle of the ceiling.  I must figure out something for this soon!

My pink vintage TV tray is the perfect side table holding a lantern and a jar of silk peonies.  You have to have somewhere to place your drink and your book! 

Even though we still have at least 2 more months of hot summer weather left, I am already looking forward to the weather cooling off and taking advantage of my newly made over daybed!

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Fire Starter Kits

We have so many pine trees on our property that naturally we have tons of pine cones.  I was trying to come up with ideas as to what I could do with all of those pine cones.  Come Christmas, I plan on making cinnamon scented pine cones, wreaths and other fun pine cone arrangements.  

For summer, I decided to make Fire Starter Kits.  I went about gathering my supplies, some from my yard and some from other places. 

Dried pine needles make the perfect tinder.  Pine cones work great as kindling.  I baked them to make sure there were no bugs in them.  I bought mini packs of matches from the dollar store and a co-worker just happened to have a bunch of sage in her yard and she brought be a big bag of that.  I put everything into a mason jar that I got at the thrift store. 

I love this project because it uses up some of the many, many pine cones and pine needles in my yard.  It's also a great way to use up lids that have already been sealed that you can't re-use for canning.   

I tied some twine around the matches and the sage to make it a bit more special.  Plus you can use the twine to start your fire.  

Everything fit perfectly into my jars, including the sage which will make your fire smell extra nice and it will help keep the bugs away! 

I made a nice little label for the top of the jar that tells you what this is and a tag that I tied around the lid of the jar that tells you what's inside. 

These are perfect little summer gifts for the camper or s'mores lover in your life.  They would also make a fun favor at a wedding or other get together.  And of course they aren't just for summer, these would be perfect for winter time too...which by the way, I am really looking forward to!

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Only a few things I like about summer...

The 4th of July.  

Summer is my least favorite season.  I hate being hot, I hate sweating, I hate temperatures above 75 degrees. This week we hit 100 degrees for the first time and I am already done with summer now. But I love celebrating Independence Day and decorating for it.  My home sweet home sign outside got a new arrangement in the jar and I love it!

And my chalkboard inside got some new chalk art too.  I had more decor for the 4th of July, but you've seen it before so I thought I would just show you the new stuff! 

Yard Sales.

I love yard sales and sometimes I find some great stuff!  This ladder is adorable.  It's not too tall and not too small.  It's a little wobbly so it will work perfect as a garden decor piece. 

I don't even know what these wooden box things are but I liked the look of them and will hopefully come up with something to do with them soon. 

This heavy duty iron candle holder was only $3.  I can decorate it up or leave it plain like it is now.  I just thought it was too cute to pass up! 

This vintage gate/fence thing matches the gate I already have.  Who knows what we will do with it but I couldn't pass this up either! 

This window only has one pane of glass but I don't care.  I will use it anyway and love it!

These chairs aren't from a yard sale, they are from my work.  Someone was getting rid of a bunch of extra chairs and these came home with me.  I just love old wood chairs!

The other thing I like about summer, camping.  But we have no plans to do any of that this summer.  Maybe next year!

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