Memorial Day Thanksgiving and Praise

 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.                Psalm 69:30

On this Memorial Day Week end let us remember to give thanks to God for our freedom. For the women and men that have served and paid the ultimate price for this freedom and for his protection of our nation. God Bless America!


Joining Spiritual Sundays

Pottery Barn Knock Off

 My grandson will soon be four and is really into pirates. I saw this picnic table in Pottery Barn catalog and loved it ... but the price, not so much.

I was so excited when  I found one  very similar at Anna White's blog . She is so talented and has the neatest things. If you haven't visited her site fix yourself a snack and go on over... you'll be there a while. I want to try every project she has.

Mr. Vintage and I decided to give it a whirl. I printed out the materials list and we were off to Lowe's.

I will admit, at this stage I was really nervous but we pushed on. Mr. Vintage was smart enough to label the pieces as we cut. That really saved us a lot of time and headaches later.

I added  6 inches to the height and 8 inches to the length to give him a little grow room!

All assembled and ready to be painted.

Instead of adding an umbrella, his sports a pirate flag.

I think I feel a new hobby coming on. Move over Bob the Builder... here I come!

Thanks for dropping by. I hope all of you have a fun, safe, Memorial Day week-end!

I'm linking this post to the following parties:

Show and Tell at Romantic Home

Thrifty Things Friday at Thrifty Groove

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Transformations and Treasures at The Pink Postcard

Dean Koontz and camping???

Hope everyone had a wonderful week-end. I have spent the last four days camping in N.C. with no internet and no phone signal unless I drove about five miles out of the forest.
Let me offer some advice, I know I am no advice columnist but I'm just saying...
Never and I mean never go camping and take along a Dean Koontz novel to read. I was jumping at every sound outside and while hiking, everyone looked like a potential serial killer. I should have taken my camera. I may have helped solve some unsolved cases.

I did get in some thrifting and that made me happy. These little blue canisters are going to the condo.
I got lots of other junk, treasures and will be posting them later. They are tucked away  along with my camera and a ton of laundry to do.

Glad you dropped by and y'all come back.

I am joining Smiling Sally at Blue Monday

E is for Epitaph

I spotted this grave stone at an outside market and had to snap a shot.

The perfect epitaph for someone feeling poorly or a hypochondriac.

I'm joining...

Alphabet Thursday

Glad you dropped by and y'all come back!

Sunday Reflections

My peace I give you. (John 14:27)

When I think of peace I think of the story I heard long ago. Two artists were asked to paint a picture illustrating their own idea of peace. The first for his scene choose a quiet, lonely lake nestled among mountains far, far away. The second painted a thundering waterfall. Beneath the falls grew a fragile tree, bending over the foam. On its' branches, nearly wet from the falls sat a robin on its' nest.

The first painting was simply a painting of inactivity. The second, depicted rest and peace.

I've often thought if I could paint, I would love to paint a scene like the second one to remind me of what true peace is and that Christ is the giver of this peace

Christ endured a very troubled life. Storms and turmoil and waves broke over him until he was laid in the grave. His inner life however was smooth as a sea of glass, and a great calm was always there. Anyone could have gone to him at anytime then and still today to find rest. One of his final offerings to the disciples

was "My peace" 

Peace is not some holy feeling that comes to us as we sit in church. It is a state of calm rising deeply from the heart of a believer.

Please join me in linking up with Spiritual Sundays

Entry way table fun...

I am so happy, Well, pretty much. I need you to help me decide about a color. I have an entry table to share with you today.  It really started out as a jewelry armoire. It was in pretty good shape but not really my style.
I stopped by the Goodwill on the way to the beach while Mr. VS sat in the car (not his favorite place to go but he puts up with it.) When I spotted it I thought it was just the right height and length for the condo entry. I knew the mirror would have to go... to dated. It reminded me of Bonanza. Do any of you remember that show?  Anyway, I  digress.  Here she is.

I asked Mr. VS to go in and take a look while I sat with Skipper. As much as they love us there they will not allow dogs. In my haste, as by this point Mr. VS nor Skipper were very happy. I forgot to mention the mirror. Did I tell you it gets hot in the car in SC in May?
Long story short, Mr. VS thought it was broken and hideous...  but I won.

The first thing we, Mr.VS, did was remove the mirror. (Don't tell him but I have plans for it as well.)
Then we reattached the top center with wood glue and sanded it all over. I painted it with a coat of my oops paint I had left over from my china hutch redo . Then I  changed out the drawer pull with a crystal look pull from Home Depot. The table was twenty-two with my senior discount and the hardware 3.50.

Now to the decision. It is bright and happy looking in the entry but I'm just not sure. I'm trying to decide if I should distress it a little.(There isn't a lot of detail on this piece to highlight though), and tone it down with a little whitewash or walnut minwax? Mr. VS wanted to leave it as is but then that would require more painting and he has after all painted all of the condo and a hundred pieces a lot of pieces of furniture.

 Please let me know what you think. I am really going back and forth on this one. So glad you dropped by and y'all come back.

I'm joining:
Thrifty Things Friday at Thrifty Groove
Show and Tell at My Romantic Home
Transformations and treasures at Pink Postcard
Blue Monday at Smiling Sally
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Blessing of the inlet

Hope everyone is having a great week-end! We attended the Blessing of the inlet Saturday and it was wonderful.
The Belin Memorial United Methodist Church at Murrells Inlet has been having a ceremony/festival every year for 15 years. They usually average about 10,000 residents and visitors each year.

   

The bagpipes playing Amazing Grace sent an instant hush all over the crowd. There is just something about Amazing Grace and bagpipes that touches my heart.

The American flag was hung high in a tree by the marsh and my heart swelled with pride as fellow Americans pledged to it and proudly sang the National Anthem. America has been so blessed. We,  (and I'm at the top of the list),  often take our freedoms and our blessings for granted.

The voices of Belin's praise team and choir echoing out over the waters of the inlet, the soft breeze blowing and the occasional murmur of a sweet child's voice produced a serene almost spiritual calmness.

Psalm 104: 24-25 ~

“How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-living things both large and small.”

What a wonderful reminder that He made it all and is forever and ever in charge. If He cares this much for the sea and it's creatures how much more does He care for us?

Come join me at Spiritual Sundays and Outdoor Wednesday

Small bath redo

I hope everyone had a great week-end. We are at the condo for a few days and I thought I would share the small bath redo. Don't blink or you will not be able to see it,  the room is so small. When we bought the condo a little over a year ago the bath along with every other room was painted builders beige.
I wanted to go for an old beach cottage look and with my love of thrifting and cheap, frugal finds, I set out to make some changes.
The first thing I did was to repaint the room. Sorry I don't have a before. That was before I got into blogging.

The paint is  Wave Crest by Behr Ulta  and it is the palest of blues.

Next, I took down the old brass light fixture, with the help of Mr. Vintage S and painted it white rustoleum.
Sorry about the picture quality.The top picture is a truer color.

While I was on a roll I painted a brass candle holder from Goodwill and a half price sale basket from Hobby Lobby with white rustoleum as well. Man that candle holder is heavy. It could be repurposed as a weapon.

I was so excited, the shower curtain is a $2.00 Goodwill find. I was even more excited when I priced a similar one at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The cherub box, small candlesticks and vase were all thrift store finds as well as the candle sconce.

These lovely cross stitch pictures were from a dear friend. The center 3x3's are cross stitched to blend with the pictures. Every stitch is perfect... such patience!

I found this shelf at... you guessed it, Goodwill. It was a gold color  so, it got a coat of Rustoleum.

 The roaring twenty's figurine  was a gift from my sweet grandmother.She painted her for me in the 70's.
Does that make her vintage or just me? She has a hairline crack but I wouldn't part with her for the world.

The one rule I had in redoing the bath was that anything going in it must be old... like me!

I'm glad you dropped by and y'all come back.

Parties I'm linking to:
Blue Monday
Today's Thrifty Treasures
Show off your cottage Mon
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Power of paint party
Metamorphosis Monday
Thrifty Things Friday