Love me some shutters

I bought some old shutters a while back and had them sitting around collecting dust. I knew I wanted to use them for something but I didn't quite know what. I decided to paint and stain one set of shutters for a project in my bedroom (which will be revealed later). I had them sitting in my living room waiting for me to take them upstairs (which can be days in this house). I was sitting there, looking at them and then I decided what I wanted to do with my other shutters.

There is a fairly large picture over my couch but the rest of the wall seems so empty. I  was never sure what else to put there....now I know...MY SHUTTERS!!  

So I painted them an olive green color, then I went over that with some ASCP in old white. I sanded them down to distress it some and went over them with a brown glaze.

I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. I can use them to hang holiday decor on or whatever strikes my fancy. So for now I put some Halloween decor on them. I think it helps to fill in the space more, and I just love the look of shutters, so they make me happy :)

Thanks for taking a peek!

Rachel~

popping out pillows

Last week I finally set up my sewing machine. It has been sitting in a garage/storage shed for over 5 years! I never seemed to have somewhere to put it, I would forget about it and we moved so much it just got shoved aside over and over again. Well it is finally set up and getting put to use! I am not a pro at sewing, I have sewn here and there at my moms, so I am having fun getting back into it.  I decided I wanted to make some new throw pillows for the living room couch. I took a curtain panel I had that I wasn't using and decided to cut it up to make the pillows. I am really happy with the way they turned out (of course I had to call my mom a couple times to get it right) but now I know what I am doing for the next time.The toile pillows were an Ebay purchase, I can't take credit for those ;)

 

I used down feather pillow inserts that I already had....so this project cost me nothing. Gotta love that!

 

 Then Today I was looking at some scrap fabrics I had and threw together an applique pumpkin pillow. It's a little rough around the edges but it was the look I was going for.

Last but not least, I made another pillow out of a toy store bag that we bought when we lived in Germany. I had in lying around in my closet, we never used it anymore...sooo I thought why not make it a pillow for the kids. Now we can actually use it. I love that it's special to us and brings back good memories...a one of a kind piece :)

I wanted to leave you all with a Georgia night sky...

 

Rachel~ 
  
I'll be linking up with funky junk interiors SNS party
 

A peek at my bedroom project

I bought an old headboard a while back with the intention of painting it. After reading so many blogs about the wonderful Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I knew that was what I wanted to use....but I had to wait until I could buy it. I finally bought some, in Old White, and was able to get to work on my headboard. 

 

 
It's not finished because I decided I would like to use some Paris gray on it as well....have to wait to buy that! I also need to buy the waxes...so it will take me a little while to have this fully finished. This is definitely a test of my patience...having a vision that I can't bring to fruition drives me a little nuts! Either way it's coming along and I wanted to show the progress I've made so far. Click here for the before picture.


I would love opinions on it...do you think I should rough it up more?

Rachel~

I am linking with From my front porch to yours

My Romantic Home 
French Country Cottage feathered nest Friday

My memory of 9/11

I was sound asleep when Jose came home from PT and woke me up saying a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. He was telling me about it so quickly, I was confused. I made my way out to the living room and he had the news on. All I saw was smoke and the Twin Towers were on fire, people were running everywhere, it was chaos! I could not believe what I was watching unfold on the television. I laid on the couch for what seemed like a long while just watching all of this, the play backs of the planes crashing, and the towers falling. I felt hopeless, watching and knowing that people are trapped, hurt, scared, and there is nothing I can do but watch. 

Jose started to tell me that he might have to leave, he wasn't sure if they would get called to go to N.Y. or D.C. to help with things. He had been in the Army for just a little over a year at that point, the idea of having to leave for an extended amount of time was not something we had ever had to deal with. I was 3 months away from having our first baby and the idea of him leaving me was so scary. I had no one there in Texas to help me, all my family lived in PA. I didn't want to be alone. 

Well we were fortunate then that he did not have to leave, but eventually all good things come to an end. We moved to Germany in Aug. 2003, and we knew that the likely hood of him deploying was great. Being in the infantry makes it hard not to deploy! Jose left for his first deployment to Iraq that Feb.2004 and returned Feb.2005. He got to be home with our daughter and myself for 18 months, which was great! We found out I was expecting our second baby...a boy...and then we found out he was leaving for his 2nd deployment to Iraq. He left Aug. 2006, missed the birth of our son and returned Nov. 2007. I had moved twice at that point and our son was already 7 months old. That was a hard deployment, he was gone 15 months and missed so much! Having him home was wonderful.

Jose with Autumn the day he left for his second deployment
August 28,2006
 

Jose in Iraq 2006

 

 Jose home on R&R, Jadon was 4 weeks old

May 2007

 

A day at six flags after Jose got home in 2007

 

My Love and I, Jan 2008

It always seems short lived though. He had to return to Iraq again in Feb.2009 when I was 5 months pregnant with our 3rd child a baby girl. Luckily he was able to schedule his R&R so he could be home for her birth. I was so grateful for that. He returned for good Feb 2010, when our baby was 7 months old.  We were all so glad to have him home...it truly is the best feeling in the world to have the one you love with you.  

Jose, Jadon, Autumn. Feb 5th 2009
The day he left for Iraq for the 3rd time
 

Getting ready to leave on the bus for the airport.

Feb 2009

 

The day Jose had to go back to Iraq after R&R July 2009

Autumn,Jose,Cayla,Jadon

 

  Valentines Day 2010, Jose just got home for good! 
 

 Our family this 4th of July, with our newest addition Cullen

We are very fortunate that Jose was able to get a position that would keep him from deploying for a couple years. He has been home for 20 months now. The longest he has been home since these deployments started. I know one day he will probably have to leave again...most likely to Afghanistan, but I know we are blessed to have him here. There are so many people who have lost their lives or their loved ones. Whether it was on 9/11 or in the years to follow fighting for our country, may they never be forgotten. May the sacrifices of the men and women of this country be remembered in our hearts always.

I will never forget