The Vietnam Memorial

 
 
 My Husband’s Uncle Gregg gave his life in Vietnam and left behind a loving family and fiance.

  
To all American Veterans and their loved ones:

My Family and I Thank You

 And Salute You
  

We will not forget your sacrifice and vow to spend our freedom wisely.

Your fight has not been in vain.

Theirs–$198:

Mine–$35.00

Materials:

112 silk rose blossoms–$32 half off at Hobby Lobby (These were on 8 bushes)

1 lamp shade–$3 at Old Time Pottery (It was marked down from $15 for being dirty.  I washed it in about 3 minutes.)

Hot glue, Old Lamp and white spray paint from stash

Note:  This is a good sized lamp. Total height on finished lamp is 30 inches plus the finial.  The lamp came with a shade, but I soon figured out that it was too huge and would cost close to the $100 to cover it with roses.  That's why I purchased a new smaller shade.  The new shade is still large–top diameter is 6 inches, bottom diameter is 13 inches with a height of 12 inches.  A smaller lamp and shade would be even less expensive to do.

Here you can see the original lamp shade and the new one beside it. Besides the large size,  I didn't care for the scallop design with the roses on it and ended up cutting them off to use on the new lamp.

I tried to sell the old lamp in several garage sales and no one seemed interested.  It belonged to my grandmother and I really liked it, so I couldn't bring myself to send it to the thrift store as long as my mom would keep it in her garage .  When I saw the PBK picture I knew this lamp would be adorable fixed up that way.

I used paper towels and painters tape to keep the cord, lightbulb plug and hand turning thingy free of paint. And then sprayed it with 3 very light coats of satin white spray paint to make it this:

Here's a few step by step directions: 

1.  After you get your lamp base the way you want it, pull the rose blossoms off the stems.

2.  Then use scissors to snip off the poky thing on the bottom.

3.  Then apply hot glue in a small circle around the base of the rose and stick it to the lamp.  I found it looked better to work in a ring instead of vertical rows.  I started at the top but can see a benefit from starting at the bottom.  Hold the rose in place for a few seconds until the glue sets up. 

Here are some answers for some questions you might have:

Q.  Will the hot glue melt a plastic shade? 

A.  Nope, my shade was plastic and it worked great.  I couldn't remove a rose from the shade without cutting it though.

Q.  Can I use low temperature glue?

A.  No, the heat from your lightbulb could reactivate the glue and make the roses fall off.

Q.  Are roses less expensive at Dollar Tree?

A.  Yes and No.  The roses at Dollar Tree are $1 a bunch, but there are only 7 roses on them instead of 14 roses per bush at Hobby Lobby for ($4 half price)  The DT roses are also a lot smaller so you will need a lot more.  It will end up costing about the same but imho the Hobby Lobby roses were a lot prettier.

Q.  Do the roses block light from coming through the shade?

A.  Yes.  The roses block some of the light coming through the shade, but it is still gorgeous day and night.  The evening light is the perfect bedside "read a book before falling to sleep" kind of light.  We are going to place ours on the corner table between the two heads of the storage daybeds we are building for the girls' shared room.  Here's a evening light photo without flash so you can get a feeling for it.

 Now I have the old lamp shade that I've ruined.  I wonder if I can take all the plastic off of it and make something like this?

Thanks for reading.  I'd love it if you left a comment.

Theirs–$198:

Mine–$35.00

Materials:

112 silk rose blossoms–$32 half off at Hobby Lobby (These were on 8 bushes)

1 lamp shade–$3 at Old Time Pottery (It was marked down from $15 for being dirty.  I washed it in about 3 minutes.)

Hot glue, Old Lamp and white spray paint from stash

Note:  This is a good sized lamp. Total height on finished lamp is 30 inches plus the finial.  The lamp came with a shade, but I soon figured out that it was too huge and would cost close to the $100 to cover it with roses.  That's why I purchased a new smaller shade.  The new shade is still large–top diameter is 6 inches, bottom diameter is 13 inches with a height of 12 inches.  A smaller lamp and shade would be even less expensive to do.

Here you can see the original lamp shade and the new one beside it. Besides the large size,  I didn't care for the scallop design with the roses on it and ended up cutting them off to use on the new lamp.

I tried to sell the old lamp in several garage sales and no one seemed interested.  It belonged to my grandmother and I really liked it, so I couldn't bring myself to send it to the thrift store as long as my mom would keep it in her garage .  When I saw the PBK picture I knew this lamp would be adorable fixed up that way.

I used paper towels and painters tape to keep the cord, lightbulb plug and hand turning thingy free of paint. And then sprayed it with 3 very light coats of satin white spray paint to make it this:

Here's a few step by step directions: 

1.  After you get your lamp base the way you want it, pull the rose blossoms off the stems.

2.  Then use scissors to snip off the poky thing on the bottom.

3.  Then apply hot glue in a small circle around the base of the rose and stick it to the lamp.  I found it looked better to work in a ring instead of vertical rows.  I started at the top but can see a benefit from starting at the bottom.  Hold the rose in place for a few seconds until the glue sets up. 

Here are some answers for some questions you might have:

Q.  Will the hot glue melt a plastic shade? 

A.  Nope, my shade was plastic and it worked great.  I couldn't remove a rose from the shade without cutting it though.

Q.  Can I use low temperature glue?

A.  No, the heat from your lightbulb could reactivate the glue and make the roses fall off.

Q.  Are roses less expensive at Dollar Tree?

A.  Yes and No.  The roses at Dollar Tree are $1 a bunch, but there are only 7 roses on them instead of 14 roses per bush at Hobby Lobby for ($4 half price)  The DT roses are also a lot smaller so you will need a lot more.  It will end up costing about the same but imho the Hobby Lobby roses were a lot prettier.

Q.  Do the roses block light from coming through the shade?

A.  Yes.  The roses block some of the light coming through the shade, but it is still gorgeous day and night.  The evening light is the perfect bedside "read a book before falling to sleep" kind of light.  We are going to place ours on the corner table between the two heads of the storage daybeds we are building for the girls' shared room.  Here's a evening light photo without flash so you can get a feeling for it.

 Now I have the old lamp shade that I've ruined.  I wonder if I can take all the plastic off of it and make something like this?

Thanks for reading.  I'd love it if you left a comment.

Sprawl-Busters first heard from citizens in Monroeville, Pennsylvania back in June of 2005. They were organizing to fend off a Wal-Mart supercenter proposal. Three months later, the group accomplished its purpose.’

Sprawl-Busters reported on September 17, 2005 that the Monroeville City Council had voted to reject Wal-Mart. On a vote close to midnight, the Council voted 5-2 against Wal-Mart’s plans. The retailer was seeking to rezone 21.6 acres of land from industrial to commercial use, so it could build a 203,818 s.f. store on the border with the town of Pitcairn.

Wal-Mart patched together a series of lots to create enough room for the huge store. The Council’s vote overturned a planning commission vote, which had narrowly recommended the plan on a 3-2 vote. The Walnut Capital Development Corp., which was pushing the Wal-Mart, told the newspaper that Wal-Mart has been trying to build a store in Monroeville for 10 years.

I was at the hardware store while an electrician worked in my kitchen.  I saw the fan, thought about 5 minutes and bought it.  The electrician installed it before he went home.  At $88 the fan wasn't a steal, but it had a remote, was pretty, and less expensive than other's of the same type. My mom came over to see it a few days later and declared it was the very fan that went on sale that day for $20 cheaper.  How did she know that?  I didn't believe it and looked it up online to prove her wrong.  She was right.  For a few minutes I had a pity party, then called up the store.  I found out that with a receipt they would happily refund the difference, and they did!

Before:

Now:

It blends into the room a whole lot better and doesn't leave spots in your eyes if you accidentially look at it.  Even though ceiling fans aren't my favorite look, it sure has come in handy as the spring temperatures heat up.
 

I found this pale green and white striped knit skirt at our thrift store for $1.49.  The fabric is very soft with no pills.  It is a straight style, with few seams, in a large size. That translates to yardage . 

My daughter Heidi is growing so fast that her summer nightgowns from last year were too small. I welcomed a break from remodeling projects and took a few measurements, transferred them to this schematic and drafted a pattern.

I wish I had a video elf so I could show you how easy it is to draft a knit pattern like this.  Perhaps another day?  The front and back pieces are identical.  I simply drew a fold line on a large piece of newsprint.  Then took 1/4 of the girth measurements and the exact length measurements and transferred them to the paper, connecting the side seams, neck and arm hole curves with a French ruler.  I added 3/8 inch seam allowance.  Her nightgown doesn't need extra ease because the knit fabric gives her room to move.

To prepare the skirt for recutting, I cut off the waistband and the center back seam.

I placed the nightgown front on the fold to cut out and found that my skirt was too full to fit.  No problem, I redrew it just slim enough to fit and folded over the excess.

Since the back of the original skirt had a seam with a kick slit, I had to add a seam to the back of my nightgown.  I just cut it out with a 3/8 inch seam down the back and serged it together. Knit has a tendancy to stretch out of shape.  To help, I lengthened the stictch and steam pressed to help it shrink back.  The first time the item is washed and dried it usually recovers it's shape.

 To construct, I sewed the side seams.  Then turned under the arm holes 3/8 of an inch and hemmed with a cute tricot stitch.

Then I cut 26" of 1/4" width elastic.  This was 6" for each neckline plus 8" for each shoulder strap.  I cut several 1 inch wide strips of knit from the scraps and stitched them together quilt binding style.  Then I used my longest straight stitch to sew the elastic down the middle of the wrong side of the strip stretching the elastic as I went.  When I came to the end of the elastic, I cut off the excess knit strip.

Then I stitched the elastic strip in a circle and pinned it to my front and back neckline, centering everything.  This created a finished neck edge and the shoulder straps.  I stitched on top of the previous stitching on the necklines and left the shoulder straps free.  What a cute ruffle!

To finish the nightgown, I used the same tricot stitch to hem the bottom, but this time I stretched the fabric as I went.  This made a nice ruffly hem with a scallop.  An alternative to the scallop hem is to add the same ruffle as around the neck.

 
 Cute, Comfy, and Cost effective.  What more could a girl ask for?

Don't forget to leave a comment; it makes me so happy .  
 

I found this pale green and white striped knit skirt at our thrift store for $1.49.  The fabric is very soft with no pills.  It is a straight style, with few seams, in a large size. That translates to yardage . 

My daughter Heidi is growing so fast that her summer nightgowns from last year were too small. I welcomed a break from remodeling projects and took a few measurements, transferred them to this schematic and drafted a pattern.

I wish I had a video elf so I could show you how easy it is to draft a knit pattern like this.  Perhaps another day?  The front and back pieces are identical.  I simply drew a fold line on a large piece of newsprint.  Then took 1/4 of the girth measurements and the exact length measurements and transferred them to the paper, connecting the side seams, neck and arm hole curves with a French ruler.  I added 3/8 inch seam allowance.  Her nightgown doesn't need extra ease because the knit fabric gives her room to move.

To prepare the skirt for recutting, I cut off the waistband and the center back seam.

I placed the nightgown front on the fold to cut out and found that my skirt was too full to fit.  No problem, I redrew it just slim enough to fit and folded over the excess.

Since the back of the original skirt had a seam with a kick slit, I had to add a seam to the back of my nightgown.  I just cut it out with a 3/8 inch seam down the back and serged it together. Knit has a tendancy to stretch out of shape.  To help, I lengthened the stictch and steam pressed to help it shrink back.  The first time the item is washed and dried it usually recovers it's shape.

 To construct, I sewed the side seams.  Then turned under the arm holes 3/8 of an inch and hemmed with a cute tricot stitch.

Then I cut 26" of 1/4" width elastic.  This was 6" for each neckline plus 8" for each shoulder strap.  I cut several 1 inch wide strips of knit from the scraps and stitched them together quilt binding style.  Then I used my longest straight stitch to sew the elastic down the middle of the wrong side of the strip stretching the elastic as I went.  When I came to the end of the elastic, I cut off the excess knit strip.

Then I stitched the elastic strip in a circle and pinned it to my front and back neckline, centering everything.  This created a finished neck edge and the shoulder straps.  I stitched on top of the previous stitching on the necklines and left the shoulder straps free.  What a cute ruffle!

To finish the nightgown, I used the same tricot stitch to hem the bottom, but this time I stretched the fabric as I went.  This made a nice ruffly hem with a scallop.  An alternative to the scallop hem is to add the same ruffle as around the neck.

 
 Cute, Comfy, and Cost effective.  What more could a girl ask for?

Don't forget to leave a comment; it makes me so happy .  
 

It looks like a pretty good week at Target with several decent gift card deals. Be sure to check out the Target Forum and the Target Shopping List to see the entire ad and see all of the deals!

FREE $5 Gift Card WYB Ten (10) Sobe Lifewaters (20oz.)
-BOGO SoBe Lifewater Printable Coupon
***Deal idea – if [...]

Here are this week’s best CVS deals! I have quite a few of the Reach BOGO coupons so I will be stocking up on those for FREE! I am also looking forward to the Lysol Healthy Touch deal! Don’t forget to check out the CVS forum and Shopping List  for all of this weeks best [...]

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Lot’s of us have barbecues or potlucks planned for this weekend. So in order to take advantage of the extra day of relaxation but still have an easy dish to serve family or friends, here is an amazing recipe for BBQ ribs that you can make in the crockpot. Toss them in there and enjoy your company. You can go HERE to see the recipe. Make sure to read all the

Do you ever get to the end of the month and wonder where all your money went? Do you have to eat top ramen the last few days of your pay period because your money ran out. Worse yet, are you using credit cards to stretch your paycheck? This is the way a lot of us live whether our paycheck is in the hundreds or the thousands. The good news is there’s an answer to the problem but you may

Do you ever get to the end of the month and wonder where all your money went? Do you have to eat top ramen the last few days of your pay period because your money ran out. Worse yet, are you using credit cards to stretch your paycheck? This is the way a lot of us live whether our paycheck is in the hundreds or the thousands. The good news is there’s an answer to the problem but you may

Do you ever get to the end of the month and wonder where all your money went? Do you have to eat top ramen the last few days of your pay period because your money ran out. Worse yet, are you using credit cards to stretch your paycheck? This is the way a lot of us live whether our paycheck is in the hundreds or the thousands. The good news is there’s an answer to the problem but you may

At a meeting of the Charles Village Civic Association in Baltimore last night, a representative from Walmart, Rhoda Washington, came to pitch the community on why they should be all happy about an ugly big box coming to town.

But Rhoda wasn’t willing to answer a few simple questions to the audience: What is the average wage of employees at Walmart’s other Baltimore store? If someone in the community is going to get a job there, what would their starting wage be?

Why doesn’t Walmart want to answer these questions in Baltimore?

I love it when I can promote Basha’s!!  A family owned store where the employees have always been friendly….

The deals this week are really at Basha’s.  They are quadrupling coupons. For example, look at these freebies using coupons:

Farmer John Sausage

Arrowhead water

MCCormick grill mates

Vlasic relish

Sunny D Punch

Zone Perfect Bars

I get 4 of each items since I get 4 sets of Sunday papers!  Plus there are other good deals besides the freebies this week!  so….log on to Coupon Sense, make your shopping list, and hit the stores!!