Tuesday Treasure - Ikea

This coming weekend, I'll be traveling with my daughter and granddaughter to Minneapolis and

the main shopping attraction for me will be Ikea... and if you don't know about Ikea, I thought I'd show you what draws me to their store...

First all of all, back in December of 2010, we went to Chicago and

I took a couple of quick pictures of the Ikea store...

No, I don't know these people..I waited for a few minutes and
they looked like they weren't going to leave...so don't pay any attention to them...

I was in awe of the two walls of bookcases...

how in the world would you put somethingor anything up there,

let alone get it down? But I was still very impressed!

Exactly opposite of the bookcases is the living room.

I can't even imagine having windows this long...

love the curtains an the placement of the furniture...

I love to see the various staged areas...

nothing is really over the top...

very simple and calm...

Now let me show you some more Ikea things from the internet...

Ikea Hackers is a great resource to see how people have transformed the generic Ikea products into knock off's comparable to the expensive companies...

this is one of my favorite...

Ikea price but looks like Pottery Barn..

Heidi Swapp used a 99 cent Ikea frame to make a

birthday countdown calendar...

decor8 shows so many amazing spaces using Ikea products...

Yvonne has lots of Ikea things in her crochet shop in her basement...

I found this video on You Tube and it's amazing....
love taking a small space and really using it to it's full potential...

And another reference is also Pinterest!
I'll be buying a bookcase and some baskets...
working on our family room and if all goes well
I'll be posting pictures in the next couple of weeks...
What's your take on Ikea...love it or not?

Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday!
Linking to these parties!
Don't forget about my party going on now...

My Altered February Calendar Page

Wow, I just realized that I didn't show off my February page of my altered calendar...

can't believe the world didn't come to an end...just kidding...seriously, this is what

blogging is about...showing off our projects no matter how big or how small they are...right?

I showed you the calendar kit that I got from Michaels here

and here's my February page.

The kit came with some ribbon to add to it and I added one of my handmade flowers...

and then started bligging it up!

I love the idea of using all the fun papercrafting things that I have to

bring this calendar to life...

Even though it's still so sad to see pictures of Storm, this is one of our final pictures together....

and we are considering getting a puppy...

I'm excited but know that Storm will always be in our hearts..

Thanks for all your wonderful comments and support..

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Linking to these parties...

Sunday Song - Blessed Are The Ones

My daughter recently told me about this artist and thought I would like her music...

and well....I LOVE her voice as well as her uplifting message.

While the month of February was mixed with happiness and love,

we also experienced immense grief when we

needed to put our dog and very faithful companion, Storm down.

There have also been other bloggingfriends that

have experienced loss or received bad news this month..

I dedicate this song to those

of you who need a lift...

and know that we are all blessed...



 Love to all of you!

Sunday Blog Love - Linky Party

Well this a unproductive week for me...
my hubby has been out of town visiting his parents and it's been
quieter than normal around here...couldn't seem to motivate myself to

do much other than watch lots of tv shows on the dvr....

and it seems that winter has now arrived.

5 inches of snow on Thursday

and another storm or two to arrive next week...

Pretty exciting stuff, right?

Please know that I appreciate each one of you

that took the time to link up last weekend!

Let's get started on this weeks

Sunday Blog Love party

and I'll show you my top five picks!

Anytime I hear the word 'pizza'...I pay attention

this French Bread Pizza looks yummy and the recipe is super easy.

I might need to make a pinterest board with all these great pizza recipes..

If your family loves pizza, this might be your next family favorite snack/meal!

 You won't believe what this chair use to look like...
Loren and her hubby worked on this together and totally transformed this chair!

And how cute are these tags from Andrea @ The Cottage Market?
Be sure to stop on over and download these free printables..

Elizabeth unveils her bathroom that was completely updated...

you won't believe the 'before' pictures let alone the 'after' pictures...

And the most viewed last week was..

Life can change in a minute and Lynn shares from her heart.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to read this very personal message.

Feel free to grab the featured button to add to your blog.

Now it's on to this weeks linky party....

I hope you'll join me this week and show what you've been busy with..

All kinds of posts are welcome--whether it's about your family, a craft project,

thrifty find, a favorite recipe or maybe it's decorating your home or a giveaway....

The only requirement is..you must link back to my party...

(besides it's blogger ettiquette to link back...)

Not required but if you become a follower - then you know if you've been featured....

and will also be added to my Sunday Blog Love on Pinterest.

Tuesday Treasure - Are Dollar Stores A Good Deal?

I love Dollar Store, don't you?

My kids will sometimes wonder why I love to go to Dollar Tree

You can't beat the prices, or can you?

Check out this video from Studio Five and let me know your thoughts...

Have a great Tuesday!

My Flannel Rag Quilt

I've have been in love with rag quilts since I first saw this rag quilt that Megan made here..

and then I fell in love with this rag quilt from Northern Cottage
and I went shopping for some flannel material to make my own rag quilt...

I had trouble finding flannel material that wasn't babyish or kiddish...

after I realize that I wouldn't find material to coordinate, I just picked what I liked..

and while I was concerned that it wouldn't look good together..I was so wrong...

let me show you how it turned out and you be the judge...

I followed the directions from Do It Yourself Divas and cut the material....

And got it all put together for sewing...love this project because it's all straight sewing...

and I'm pretty sure anybody can do this...especially if I did this....

This took me longer than someone who sews a lot..but in my defense...

I was watching "The Body Guard" and I love Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston together....

and I stopped sewing more times that not just to watch the movie...

After it was all sewed together, it was time to start making the fringe...

got it all washed and dried...

I didn't bind it because..

well I wasn't sure what binding is...

and I was pretty sure if I tried, I'd ruin the quilt..

so I fringed around the entire edge...

I love how it turned out...

and it's so soft and not super heavy...

For more rag quilts and sewing inspiration,

visit my Pinterest board here...

Don't forget to link up at my party going on too.

Wishing you all a fantastic week!

Sunday Blog Love - Linky Party

I'd like to thank everyone who left a comment this past week

concerning the passing of our very loved dog, Storm.

As I read your comments, the tears flowed and

you touched my heart in ways that I can't explain.

Each day is getting easier and we'll develop

new routines and life will go on.

So again, I truly want to thank you

for the wonderful, supportive comments.

I'll try to keep this upbeat.....

thank you for linking up last week...

Let me show you my top five picks....

Jenny shows how her cute little guy, Ben and how his space has been updated as he grows...
I so love this closet and check out those baskets!!

One of the fun things about bloggers, is the vision that they have.

Tiaras and Bowties shows how she rescued this banana hammock (love the name of this!)
and gave it new life...great project!!

The pictures alone makes me hungry...Steph shares
her recipe for a yummy potato casserole....

Joy shows us her sewing room and how she's organized her space...
lots of great ideas...not to mention looking at all of
those zippers, buttons...fabric...

Something Nice and Pretty  shows her finds one after another in one day!
Don't we all love those days where we find great things at great prices?

And the most viewed link from last week was....

Need I say more...we're all hooked on chocolate and peanut butter!
Keri has a fantastic not to mention yummy recipe for chocolate peanut butter overload bars....

Thank you so much for linking up ladies!

Feel free to grab my featured button to add to your blog.

Now it's on to this weeks linky party....

I hope you'll join me this week and show what you've been busy with..

All kinds of posts are welcome--whether it's about your family, a craft project,

thrifty find, a favorite recipe or maybe it's decorating your home or a giveaway....

The only requirement is..you must link back to my party...

(besides it's blogger ettiquette to link back...)

Not required but if you become a follower - then you know if you've been featured....

and will also be added to my Sunday Blog Love on Pinterest.

It Happened So Suddenly

I wasn't sure if I could write about what happened so suddenly in our house

but part of blogging for me is to share more of a personal side...

and so I write today to tell about about our wonderful dog, Storm who was put to sleep yesterday.

I had written the story of what happened but I deleted it..it's just too painful

to relive right now....

We adopted Storm from the Humane Society and he quickly won our hearts with his good natured disposition. He didn't bark(no matter how much I tried to get him to bark), 

never had any issues with the cats...and I don't think he knew he was a big dog..

If the cats took his dog bed, he'd find another place to sleep...

this became a typical afternoon picture in our house..

This weekend, Storm suffered several seizures which changed him into a dog

that we didn't recognize...he acted like he had never been in our home before..

and the list continues...it's just too painful right now to think about it..

He couldn't get around anymore...and we're pretty sure he had a brain tumor...

because his face changed..his eyes became empty looking...

And now our grief is overwhelming...our house is empty...

and our hearts will never be the same...

Oh  Storm, we miss you and will never forget the

unconditional love you gave us...

I will be taking off some time from blogging..

my heart is so heavy and sad...

I'm sure you understand..

And I apologize for any typos, as I write this, the tears are flowing

and I don't dare go back to try to fix the wording..

Romantic Valentine's Day Cards

Happy Monday!

I mentioned on Saturday morning that I was going to check out Goodwill and see

what great finds I could get..,

sadly, my Goodwill store was so empty..

and no finds were found...

so I'll show you some Valentine's cards that I made....

combination is from Michael's Craft Store

as well as The Funky Junkie etsy store..

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day.

Linking to these parties

and don't forget about my linky party going on right here