InstaFriday {Tornadoes in January}

It isn't all that rare for me to have an evening to myself.

It is however very rare to have one in my own home.

As you can see I filled that time with refined, cultural things.



I got to do a little antiquing this week.

Long overdue.

The smell of moth balls does wonders for the soul.

By the way...this cash register was $3500...wha?!?!



I spent the rest of my week dodging tornadoes.



And sitting in the storm shelter at 2 am waiting for this to hit.

With four not so glad to be out of bed family members.

There are not enough moth balls in the world folks.



My boy is so creative.

He called this one...Mustard Man.



Magpie has learned 3 chords on her guitar.

One more and she can play just about any worship song out there.



This girl oozes with creativity.

She painted this adorable owl canvas for our homeschool talent show this week.

Love.



It was displayed alongside her photography.

She has such an eye.

I told her daddy that if he felt compelled to give her my camera and get a different upgraded one for me I would totally understand and wouldn't have my feelings hurt too much.



This is her latest talent.

Making Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies.

And making her momma fat.





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Ladder Love {DIY}

Since sharing my turquoise ladder at Christmas, I've had numerous folks ask about it.

I figured I'd share a few of the details.

This was a ladder that my kids used to climb into their clubhouse...so it isn't your typical size.

It is 77 inches long and 14.5 inches wide.

The distance between each rung is 9 inches.

Depending on the size you are looking for, Jennifer can walk you through making your own here.

The wood on the ladder was raw so I started by spraying it with Primer.

I chose not to sand it down because I didn't want to lose the ruggedness of it.

And because I'm all about skipping steps like that.

I covered it with 2 coats of Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze.

This color is the perfect turquoise in my opinion.

Speaking of skipping steps...the entire back of the ladder never got painted.

That's just how I roll.

Here it is at Christmas.

I loved it so much I decided to keep it up once the holidays were over.

Love how it frames the silhouettes.

So go find yourself a ladder and invite it into your home.

Just don't blame me when you never want it to leave.

I'm linking up at the fabulous blogs:

Robyn at Mingle Monday

"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Yard Sale Finds

I had a folder full of pictures I had taken of my adventures in yard sale'ing' this year. I stumbled upon The Nester's "Best Yard Sale Finds Ever" linky and figured what better time to show them off?



I got this really neat poster for $1. Yes...ONE DOLLAR! I cannot tell you how good this looks in my kitchen. The colors are perfect.



Ok this one just about made me pee my pants. I had just been in Pottery Barn about a week earlier and had priced their clear fillable lamps for $150 and up! Walked up to a yard sale and found this one for $5. Shells and all! Score. All I need to do is switch their shells out for my own shells and maybe put some sand in the bottom of it. Oh and get a shade.



This little coffee table spoke to me the minute I saw it. Friends from our church were having an adoption fundraising yard sale for their adoptions from Haiti. It is the neatest little table. See that line in the middle? It is for a leaf to be added just like a dining table. Except this is NOT a dining table. At first I thought maybe it had been and maybe the legs had been cut down but that was not the case. I'm not sure how old it is but the woodwork and mechanics underneath for the leaf say old. Very delicate. Yet the table itself is very sturdy. Since it had been donated there was no leaf so I just used wood glue to glue the dowels together. Now it is permanently one piece. Paid $10.

I plan to paint it the same color as Lindsey's entry table.





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"