Tile Mosaic Table Top

I found an article about a lovely tile mosaic table top and have included the link. How lovely and inspiring it is to me while I'm redoing my table top with tile. http://homeschoolblogger.com/hsbcompanyblog/530751/

It's Saturday morning, and I'm off to go to a moving sale advertised and whatever other yard sales I happen to find.

Living in a House Without Wheels

Have you ever lived in a fixer-upper house that you plan to sell when it's fixed up? I am living in one, and I am anxious to fix it up. Our little house that was built as a cabin over 30 years ago will be a "normal" house when we remodel. I can think of all kinds of ideas to do with what it looks like now, but I must stay focused on the plan. The plan is to meet with our investor and the gentleman who has drawn up our plans for the new house. Then we will move back into our RV until the house is ready to move back into. Honestly, I just want to have a home without wheels to live in. I recall being asked by several in the past, "How do you stand living in a camper all the time and not having your own home?" I loved the traveling. It was right for me at that time. Now it's different. I'm different. I'm not getting any younger either. To be able to walk on a floor without wheels is a wonderful thing. Some other time I'll tell you about the RV lifestyle and the fun, funny, and interesting things that happened. That life was good and rewarding, and I'm grateful for all those years. For now, I'm enjoying the fixer-upper house challenge ahead of me.

Southwest Cottage Designs: Ceramic Tile Table Project Tips

Southwest Cottage Designs: Ceramic Tile Table Project Tips

Ceramic Tile Table Project Tips

Are you on a budget but want to redo a table in ceramic tile? First, find a table for your tile project. The ideal places to start looking for free tiles are at yard sales or thrift stores (Tip 1). The next best thing is to find discontinued tiles that have been marked down at a home improvement or tile store (Tip 2). When my husband and I purchased our fixer-upper house, I found a huge pile of tiles in various sizes and colors. I call that F-R-E-E tile! Free with a mortgage would be more like it. A small kitchen table with four chairs also came with the fixer upper. The only drawback is I have never worked with tile before this project. But who says I can't learn? So I browsed through Country Living magazines (Tip 3 - browse through your favorite magazines to find your style) and found two tile tables - one almost exactly like my kitchen table - and a small square tile table. At the library the mags are free to browse through or check out (Tip 4). Go to your favorite bookstore (Tip 5) - browsing mags is free there, too. Or, find them for $1 or $1.50 each at an antique store (Tip 6). 

Table for tile project. Photo taken on first project workday; hence, the cleaning supplies.

When you get your tiles, practice by laying the tiles on the table in the design that delights you (Tip 8). 

That's the end of the first workday. Our workdays tend to happen on the weekends since we have day jobs. Visit again next weekend to follow this project.

Cottage Headboard Project

I've started a project inside my cottage - a headboard that I found in a junk pile. Or maybe it's a footboard. I plan to use it as my headboard, however. This morning I took a picture of it though not in the best of light. Right now it's leaning against a wall in my ugly duckling cottage fixer upper. It's in good condition except the panel is gashed, and it needs some extra TLC. My idea is to cover the wide panel with fabric and leave the wood posts and any trim. Any ideas on what I should do with the headboard?

Cottage Yard Saling

It's the weekend! The weather is beautiful here on this autumn day in the desert, a perfect day for yard-saling. Yes, that's s-a-l-i-n-g! They sell, and I have fun scouting out the sales. Today's finds for my cottage came from a yard sale and my favorite antique store in town. For weeks I've been looking at a couple of mirrors and a baker's rack in the antique store. This morning when I stopped by there, the dealer who rents the space I frequently shop was moving a piece of furniture in and moving other pieces out. I overheard her mention she was moving this particular mirror out that I've been watching. My visit to the store today was one of those right-time-right-place moments. The dealer let me have the two mirrors and the baker's rack all for a huge discount! I put them on layaway and rushed out to my car lest I be tempted to buy something else. Whew! Soon I'll post photos of some of the pieces. The antique store finds will be posted after the layaway is paid. So keep coming back for the updates.

Cottage Update

Since I began this fixer-upper project with my husband, we've experienced many changes and learned much from the project. We began the ugly duckling project with a friend who knows more about building than we do. More about that later. Now it's just my hubby and me. We feel like we just got married and bought a house but have nothing to go in it. We've been married for 31 years. We are loving it. It's fun. It's challenging, and we're up to the challenge. Hubby and I traveled for nine years in an RV for our ministry. What little furniture we didn't sell in yard sales before the on-the-road ministry is scattered. One daughter is using our bedroom furniture, hutch, and table. Dressers and mirrors,etc., are in two other of our family homes. So here we are starting over. We're giddy with the fun of it. More later...

Starting Over With Fixer-Uppers

My husband and I purchased a fixer-upper cottage a couple of years ago. It was built as a cabin near the mountains in a desert area. The first time I saw it, I fell in love with it. Actually, it looked like the ugly duckling in the neighborhood. In fact, the ugly duckling was hidden by its own little forest. When we began clearing the forest, neighbors expressed how they had never seen the house because it had been hidden by the trees. When you buy a fixer-upper to flip, you can't get sentimental. Ah, but I did. We signed the papers the week my mother died. So I sought refuge in the vegetable garden I attempted a couple months later. Digging, planting, and watering helped me through the grief. Truthfully, I was no pro at gardening. That didn't matter, however. The therapy of tending to the garden was what really mattered. I found solace in the garden and in planting comfort foods that my mother used to grow in her garden like yellow squash. That was the beginning of my southwest cottage designs. Come along with me on my journey while fixing up the southwest ugly duckling cottage.