Fringed Lamps

I've had these lamps for a number of years. I've always liked them, but wanted to add something to them, like some fringe.

So, I headed to Walmart. STEEERRRIIIKE ONE! 

They might have gotten some of their material back but that was about it. New bulletin...If you are going to carry fabric (which Walmart REALLY needs to, you also need to carry other things that go with sewing...)

Well, then I headed to Hancock Fabrics.

STEEEERRRIIIIKE TWO! 

Hmmmm...now what?! I really didn't want to drive all the way over to Hobby Lobby in West Monroe, just to find out they don't have any fringe either.

Oh wait a minute. There's another place. Kinda pricey, but they are an interior design place. They should have some. Maybe they'll have some on mark down or on sale.

BINGO!!!

Isn't it pretty? It was on clearance, so I got a good deal.

So I was off to my home to start the transformation. 

I really like it. Sure adds a lot. Even my oldest son said he liked it better.

Don't the beads glow nicely when the light is on?

If you decided to do this to some existing lamps, I do have one suggestion....use a HOT glue gun, not one of those cool ones. Doing this by myself, well, I had a hard time; by the time I got the glue on there, then sat the glue gun down, picked up the fringe, the glue was almost too cool. 

One more look--

Before

and....

After

You like?

Foto Friday Playing With Some New Settings

A few weeks ago, I was able to get an update on my photo editing program. So this week for Foto Friday, I'm just going to use a picture I previously used in an earlier Foto Friday, and play...

Here is the original photo I took. No editing what so ever.

This is Lomography. Never heard of that? Well, it's taken with a certain type of camera. You can learn more about it at Wikipedia. I know....no one thinks Wikipedia is accurate. Well, it is sometimes.

How do you like this one?

Now this is kinda cool, don't ya think?

This was actually quite fun, to see all the cool stuff I can do!

Ooooooo!

Awwwwwww!

I believe they called this the 60's look. Ya, I can see that...

Hmmmm...Ya know... you could really take some cool pictures for interior design....hmmm....

WOOOOW!

Well, that's all for now, folks. It was kinda interesting to see what all I can do. I probably need to go out and about shooting some interesting photos and play with all this cool editing stuff. Maybe that will be a Foto Friday in the future....

By the way...which one do you like the best?

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!

Easter is just around the corner! I love this time of year! Winter is leaving us and Spring is greeting us. I love seeing all the beautiful blooms.

Cool mornings and warm afternoons are a wonderful feeling!

I even love hearing the rumbling of thunder in the background. Spring brings many afternoon storms.

Without the rain, we wouldn't have all the beauty.

This weekend, we are having some company! My daughter and her husband are coming up from Baton Rouge and one of my son's has a few days off from school, so he'll be joining us too.

I love having family home.

Learn From Others Mistakes

A close friend of mine has a son in his early 20's who has had a few tickets. Nothing major, no DUI's or excessive speeding. He did, though get stopped for a minor traffic violation and was found to have no insurance. That is not a good thing. On top of that, he didn't pay the ticket until he actually lost his licenses.


Upon receiving the letter, the first thing he did was pay the tickets; one for the minor violation, the other for no insurance. He then had to pay a reinstatement fee which was well over $100. He then received a letter showing he could go get a new license. In this particular state, one does not need proof of insurance to get a drivers license. You do here in Louisiana, though, should be like that everywhere.


So, anyway, he got his licence reinstated, only to receive a letter about 4 weeks afterward that he had yet another fee to pay. If he did not pay it within three weeks, he would loose his license. He paid it, on time. Now, he finds out that they revoked his licence anyway.


I really don't know the whole story, but I do know of several that find themselves in these type situations. It infuriates me that the legal system seems like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. I asked my friend why they didn't tell them up front about all the charges at once. She told me she asked them the same question. Their answer was they don't know about all the charges til the tickets get paid. Paying the tickets sets up a red flag in the system, and paperwork gets sent to the judge and the judge decides what fees need to be charged. Sounds like a scam to me!


My reason for blogging about this, is that we all need to learn from this. At one time or another, most of us will received some sort of ticket. Maybe speeding, parking, or whatever. But when you do, pay it...SOON! Also, don't drive around uninsured. I believe that is one big reason our insurance policies are so high!

Bead Soup Is Simmering

I am involved with another Bead Swap!  My partner and I talked to each other the other day, and boy, do we have a lot in common. I really enjoyed our chat. 


Cyndi Turner Bauschka, better known as CJ is my partner. You need to hop on over to her blog and see her beautiful creations. Her specialty is off loom bead weaving, which, in my opinion, is NOT easy!!!  You should see all the goodies she sent me.


When I opened the mail box and picked up the package, it made a fun sound! She had everything packaged so nicely in small containers.

And there was a lot!

I got everything out and sorted them to see exactly what I had.

I had a little bit of everything.

Sorry about the bad quality, I really need to get a macro lens.

Then....you should see what else she sent me!

Like, WOW!!!!

Yes! She sent me one of her beautiful creations. I wore it yesterday!

It's hard to tell here, but she used purples, greens, coppers, and there is a dragonfly hanging there too!

Maybe you can see it better here.

There's a very different clasp. Not sure if I've seen one like this before, but she put the back together very nicely, you could almost wear it backwards, it's so pretty.

And there you have it....So what am I going to do? Well, I've already made a pair of earrings that I love! Wonder what else I have up my sleeve? Well stay tuned to find out...

182nd Annual General Conference

This weekend I was able to enjoy the 182nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I enjoyed every minute of it. The only thing I did not like about it was that I was not able to enjoy it with my husband and all four of our children. He watched it, but in Kentucky. As far as my children, well, my daughter and her husband are living elsewhere, my oldest son had to work, one of our other sons was home for part of it, but had to go back to college, and my youngest and I watched it together.


There were so many uplifting words that were said. I can't remember their being a conference that there were so many good quotes from our leaders. I'll share some of them with you.


Larry Y Wilson said, "Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them." As a mother of four, I never really looked at it that way, but, yes, that is what we should do, so that they will be prepared when they leave the home to be on their own.


Neil L. Anderson said, " What thinks Christ of me? He talked about how " the winds of change and moral fiber are disentegrating today." He spoke how difficult it is to be a disciple in today's time, and that "discipleship is not a competition." He really gave a good talk.

Then there was Dieter F Uchdorf. I love his talks. He spoke of how we should not judge. I took a boatload of notes on this one. This is one of my pet peeves, for others to judge especially before they know the whole story. He said he could give a two word sermon on this, "STOP IT!" All of us must repent and forgive. Then he quoted a bumper sticker he saw, "Don't judge me because my sin is different than yours." Boy, how true!!!

Here are some other quotes I liked:

"Ponder the truths you've heard, help them make you better than you already are." President Thomas S. Monson (in referring to all the talks this weekend)

"Remove all of your fear with faith." M. Russell Ballard

"If we dedicate our attention to our families we will do better temporally and spiritually." . Russell Ballard

"The Bible and the Book of Mormon work together to confound false doctrine!" L. Tom Perry

"If someone is drowning, would you ask if they need your help?"

Ronald A Rasband. This was in reference to helping others. In other words, if you see someone needs help don't ask, just do. Of course, most people are going to say they are fine, that they don't need help. Brother Rasband's talk was a really good one too!

President Monson then closed by some wise words. Most of which most of us already know, but it is always good to be reminded. "We live in troubled times....pray always." "The spirit of contention is not of the Lord, it is of the Devil!"

Well, this is just a smiggin' of things that were said to us by our church leaders. It will be a few weeks before it is in print, but you can go here to view or listen to all the talks that have been given over the past two days. Even if you are not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, there are so many good and uplifting things that were said. I hope you have the opportunity to watch some of it.

WHERE TO PUT ALL THOSE COOKING UTENSILS

I love Pinterest. I have seen so many ideas that I would like to try. I've actually already tried a couple; recipes, crafts, jewelry. Some of the things I have pinned, I'm just going to have to wait to see what house we wind up with. At minimum, I am getting some inspiration for when we do get that house. More than likely, whatever house we get will need some updating, as most of the homes in the area are old and have never been updated :P


Anywho....


I would like to share an idea of my own. I actually came up with this a long time ago when we lived in North Carolina. Our kitchen had some very busy wallpaper that I was not a fan of. I took that down, and we painted. We hung new window treatments, and I put together a back splash for behind the stove. It's in storage now or I'd show it to you.


At the time, Scott was in preschool, and one of the dads owned a tile company. They made a lot of specialty tiles for individuals, and for Christmas, he came to the school and each of the children were able to make two ceramic tiles with their hand print on it. I. LOVED. it!!!! I wanted all my kids' hands on tiles. I asked the gentleman about it, and he said, oh sure! He even gave me all the stuff to do it with, AND he fired them for me. He just charged me for the tile, which was very inexpensive. I took one of the tiles from each child's hand and made a back splash. It really came out nice. The other tiles I had from the other hand, I just framed and hung up too.


In addition to paint, window treatment, and back splash, I bought a new cobalt blue tea kettle and a really pretty ceramic flower pot to put all my wooden spoons and cooking utensils in. I have always kept it on my counter. It is so convenient, and it adds color.

I know there are a lot of utensils in it, but I do a lot of cooking.