Trash to treasure!

My new home is a joy to have. I am recently re-married and my husband and I have bought a new construction home outside Charleston, SC. I love it. The joy of having my own home after apartment living is so wonderful, but a new construction home poses it's own obstacles. Drab walls, no ceiling or window trims, very little "charm". Everything is new and shiny and sometimes it can be daunting when you think about how to make this whole house cozy and "home" for your family. I grew up watching old movies and loving the 40's and 50's era homes in them. I love vintage finds and sometimes these items look "out of place" in a brand spanking new house. 

This is what I stood before only months ago.

To this... ready to be transformed into a home with character.

This summer we found an old enamel top table in Winchester, VA. I loved it immediately. I had no chairs to go with this table however. 

Quilling or twirling?

Ever since I was a child I coveted paper, love isn't a strong enough word here. My mom was a preschool teacher at the church's preschool when I was in Middle School. She had a parent that owned a printing business and she came home with a stack of scraps from them. Colors of paper I hadn't seen before like coral and lavender. Michaels and AC Moore didn't exist. After much begging she gave me the little stack after taking what she could use. I sat and carefully used bits of it sparingly for various projects. I'm a paper hoarder as well....I might as well come clean. Somewhere up in my stash that little stack exists to some degree. I've used most of it, but I guard my pretty paper as well! I love the textures, colors and patterns of paper. I love that it is natural and I feel a connection to something when I create with paper. It sounds crazy I'm sure, but the fact is I love trees and nature and knowing the paper I'm using was once a living thing makes me have some reverence for the product. Crazy, I told you.

My crazy stash of quilling strips and fringed ones I sit and cut for flowers.

So now you can see my obsession with paper. I've cut, pasted, drawn. painted, glued, decoupage and printed on it. I can't imagine life without it's versatility. Recently I took up a craft I did as a small child with my grandmother and great- grandmother. Quilling (or as some people call it paper twirling) is a very old art form.

my mess is all contained in a 12x12 box. Looks messy doesn't it? Part of the fun I guess!

Welcome 2012!

What is this we are sitting in? Mom's new bookcase!

Yes, Yes, I know it's been 2012 for about week. After traveling home from my mom and dad's home in Virginia Beach, I had a day of unpacking followed by sickness. At this very moment I can see my glands looking in a mirror. They are swollen and popped out! So this post will mostly be pictures that I took just prior to Christmas, during and after. Hope you enjoy and get ready for a cool post I am doing tomorrow...later today if my throat and body permit!

My husband and I built our first piece of furniture! A bookcase 9' x 9'. It looks lovely in the living room!

You can see how much storage and display space this will give me in our new construction home that had very little storage space prior. I was so happy just to have a home again, but when hubby said we could build this together I was so excited!

Look how big!

The cat and dog didn't like it as much as the girls and hubby though!

Downtown Charleston, SC. is beautiful at this time of year. It's always beautiful, but you can see all the ironwork and front doors better without all the lush plantings in bloom. They are so beautiful in full bloom as well, but I was on a mission to take some pictures of decorated front doors. Not as many were done up as I anticipated but I still took many a great shot! Enjoy!

Two Meeting Street Inn- A Charleston Gem!

One of the beautiful architectural elements of this home.