Time In A Bottle

You know the song I'm sure. "If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do..." The thing is, all the time we think we save by eating fast food, using microwaves, calculators, etc. is gone and time is for spending, not saving. This picture above is an absolute reminder of that to me.

Karen was our neighbor for 5 years. Then we moved to here and she moved to California. We haven't seen her for 6 years and when she left Zac was about up to her middle. Time didn't stand still. Kids grew, things changed. Karen came into town and surprised us with a visit. It was great to see her and was a little perk for an uneventful afternoon!

One of the things I do like to do with my time is create. So, I have been taking discarded ( and no, I didn't drink all that wine! And I knew that's exactly what you are thinking!! haa haa) wine bottles and wrapping them with jute and making new vases out of them. It's really easy. I found some jute in the dollar bin at Target and had no idea what I would do with it. But, I saw this on a blog and I would like to give someone else the credit for the idea but, I can't remember where I saw it. ( See? Time is taking away my memory... boo hoo)

I used some of my Grandmothers old buttons on some and glued stones to some others. I have given away them and this was the only one left with the stones. They are a nice "earthy" touch to a room.

My daugher has been buying fresh Gerber Daises to keep in them every week but, it seemed that Fresh Market flowers weren't so "fresh" this week and they all faded out pretty quickly. We have some HUGE hydrangea bushes in our backyard so, I cut some for the bottles.

Here's one on a table in the guest room. I am not a real "beachy" decor gal but, since it's summer and I had some cool shells my Mom gave me, I thought it looked pretty good. Oh, and that candle had funky pictures on it and I wrapped it in burlap, ribbon and added a little shell.

Here's another on at her home ( I think all these bottles are girls for some reason, maybe because they are so curvy?) on the side table in the living room. Notice this lamp? I have to tell you about it down below.

These three lovely ladies are gracing the kitchen table. I should sprinkle a few votive candles in there for some mood, right?

Okay...this lamp. WAS.....a very bright brassy touch lamp that I found, so it was free and it worked! I spray painted it a Satin Black and I love it! It is right at home in the living room. I also added a tassel I had and tied it on with some jute ( my new best friend) . Oops. Wish I had taken a before shot but, I guess I got too excited and started painting.

And how about this lamp? I am beginning to have "Lamp Obsession". I love lamp. This one was free also. Found it. It was brown with a burgundy and gold striped lamp shade. I painted it the same as the other one and just put a different shade on it. Yes, that's two new lamps for the living room and one can of spray paint. $2.99. I know. Ridiculous. Oh and since I have this "Lamp Issue" , I have found 3 more that I am currently working on. My new motto. "LET NO TABLE GOETH WITHOUT A LAMPETH"

Karen and I. She is looking awesome! California life is agreeing with her. Her sons and Zac were big buddies back in the day. We used to take them to school everyday. I was not expecting company that day ( obviously by the outfit, the hair, the lack of make-up) but, to me, this picture is priceless. By the way, one day, you may be seeing her son on TV playing football or running in the Olympics. Stay tuned.

Another thing I have been making. A cool jewelry organizer! I did not come up with this idea on my own. I have been browsing blogs at night and people are so creative!! I just changed it up a little. This is an old brown frame that used to hold a Needle Point with Z's birth statistics on it. I painted it black. I believe I might be addicted to the black spray paint. I got some wooden knobs from JoAnn's Craft store, some ribbon, a gerber daisy and some burlap. Total cost I think....about $ 5 or $ 6 dollars.

It looks really good hanging in RLH's closet and I am working on another on for KMH's closet. It's fun to make and all you need is the supplies and a handy glue gun. And by the way, I nearly burned one of my fingers to the bone. TO THE BONE!!!!!!

And just one more thing I made this past month. I'm sorry. Is this post too long? A chalkboard plate for the kitchen counter! Made from a square plate and a can of chalkboard paint. I had a hard time finding plates that would work. I found this one in TJMaxx in NC. It was $ 2.99!! Yay!

I also made one for my Mom for Mother's day out of a plate with yellow and green scrolls around the edge. Looked great in her kitchen! I made one for my Mother in law that was with a red plate. She likes apple stuff and I thought the red was nice. She said she uses it everyday. Oh, and I made one for my Daughter in law and my friend, JoAnn. It's a really nice gift, I think. We use ours for writing the dinner menu on, wishing each other a good day, quoting lines from our favorite movies and giving instructions while I'm out to the kids.

I hope maybe I gave you a few ideas as I found all my ideas from someones blog and I hope that today you'll SPEND YOUR TIME and NOT SAVE IT!