My Grama's Soul

I have never professed to being a whiz on the computer side of things.   I do like to mess around a bit to see if I can mix things up as I do get a little tired of looking at the same thing all the time.  Since we are now in THE PAUSE as it is called by the younger crowd...you know....staying in, social distancing, etc., and I can only rearrange my living room so many times; I have decided to work on changing my blog.

I have posted before about my little fireplace project.  Still fine-tuning the darn thing as I am trying to create something I am happy with. OK....here is the latest fix.  See the colored tiles I have incorporated in the recess.  I love them.  Our wall color in this room is still not a color I love...but must live with it for now. Here is another shot of what I have done.  Are you ready for the "rub" with these photos.  The "tiles" are NOT tiles at all, they are some wonderful colored papers I cut from a book I own.  Affixed them with Elmers glue and water and bingo.....looks just like expensive tiles.  When I have to be inside I always put my thinking cap on and try to figure out how I can be creative in some way...without spending any "cash".  The pillows on the sofa are old ones...and I simply pinned that little decoration on the front of the yellow one. Here is a shot of the room from afar...

JUST SAYIN'......... Jo

At my age it seems like it takes forever for me to get a project done.  But I keep plugging away at it a little at a time. You can see the changes in the above photo and if you check my last post you can see where I began.  Still have some mantle painting to do...doing a green wash over that black and then coming back with a final light, light wash of gold. Still have to finish up the edges and do a light wash over the face I have decoupaged.   I did a slight wash on the right side panel just to see what it would be like.   As I said Still working........ Hugs. Jo 

Brad and I have a lunch group that meets on the third Friday of each month.  We rotate turns on picking the place.  Today it was Indian food. Here are we girls being silly in our Christmas cheer. xo Jo

I certainly don't do as much Christmas decorating as I used to when I was younger.  In fact, since my son passed Christmas is always a bittersweet time for our family.   But this year it has been easier to get in a festive mood, so we got out all the old Christmas things and tried to use them in new ways.  The above wreath is decorated with clear bulbs that my sweet grandson and I tie-dyed to be pink in color.  They turned out lovely and I was able to use them in this old wreath.  I have it mounted on an old bird stand and it is proudly displayed in our living room. Our tree is only about three and a half feet tall and it sits on a desk and the end of our main room in the house.  My sweet sister in law gave me a Christmas book a few years back with all kind of handmade papers and cards.  This year I took it apart and used it to decorate my little tree.   When you retire ...

I am always doing something around here to spruce up our little place.  Since I seem to have accumulated a lot of little cans of paint, I decided I would paint a wall mural.  Now mind you......I AM NOT ANY KIND OF ARTIST....but it is always fun to see what I can come up with.   This is still early days on this project but I do enjoy working on this kind of thing. It started out being something completely different...in fact I was going to do a large face...but that went "south" in no time at all.....LOL LOL.....  So I decided to fill this spot with flowers and birds and foliage.   I decided to paint on this wall as you can see it when you come into our lovely little spot.  We also have a wonderful piece of art that I plan on hanging here when I am finished.   I have become fearless when it comes to paint....as I tell my husband.....IT IS ONLY PAINT.  YOU CAN PAINT OVER IT IF IT IS G...

I'm always looking for ways to make something on a shoestring.  I think it is wise in today's world to shrink one's footprint as well as doing things as inexpensively as possible. To wit.....I am sharing a little stick light I made from a tree limb found in my yard..and a string of LED lights that plug in to the wall. Had the lights left over from some other project and the best part is I can easily unplug them in the evening when I go to bed. Simplicity and frugality.....the perfect combination. xoxo Jo

I have posted many times about using what you have to decorate around your house.  CREATIVITY OVER CONSUMPTION.....has been my motto for quite some time now. This little house is full of my treasurers  collected over a lifetime during many of our travels both in the U.S. and Europe. Since I would certainly NOT call me a minimalist.....I like seeing all my treasurers and having them around me.  There is a certain comfort from being able to see items that bring back wonderful memories and are also beautiful to MY eye. This is the bathroom off the master suite and the one that I use.  Brad said he didn't care what I did as long as additional construction was not involved.  So I made it MINE.   I have named this little room ANNIE OAKLEY MEETS GYPSY ROSE LEE...Makes me smile every time I come in here.  I moved the feather boas elsewhere as they were a little over the top...even for me! haha When I see al...

Goodness....I have not posted in over a month.  This one will have lots of pics so be prepared.  (O: I was not sure if I was ready to celebrate this year as Christmas day was the last day I saw my son alive....but I know Scott would want me to celebrate the day even though he is somewhere else....hopefully....having his own celebration!!! These old clear bulbs turned into the ones in the shots above.   Still loved the bulbs as they are plastic and unbreakable but wanted to make them a color so took paint and made that happen.   I have used the same decorations now for sometime....just remaking them into something new.   We did not put up a big tree this year as I was just not up to the task...but as you can see I spread little things here and there though the house. The leather photo album in this picture is over 100 years old.  It contains pictures of my aunt, my mom and my grandmother and grandfath...