Bedroom makeover progress

I've shown you some of these changes before, but I have some new things to show you. First off I finally have a palate thanks to this wonderful pillow I found in Mo's booth at Winnie & Tulula's. I'm focusing on the bright green with a gray and just a splash of the burnt orange here and there.

I found the best coverlet and shams at Kohl's with a variation of Orla Kiely's stem print design. It's amazing how many things are out there that seem to be inspired by her designs. The coverlet is perfect as it has a gray underside, that I fold down to reveal both sides of the blanket and it gives the bed some dimension. The 3 euroshams are perfect to completely cover the very "countryish" headboard. I framed some prints from her book "pattern" that I got for Christmas and hung them on either side of the headboard and laced one on a small side table.

Even though I'm kinda going for a slightly modern look in this room, It'll always have elements of repurposing in it. Like the crates I use to store pillows and blankets. I'm on the lookout for some new lamps and I'll know them when I find them. The side tables and dresser need to be painted, but I'm still deciding on the right color for that. I'm leaning on the color of the matte in the frame above. A pretty slate-ish dark gray. What do you think about the gray for the furniture, and what should I do with the bed skirt? It's cream right now, but I'm just no feeling it. Any advise?

I actually got out in the workshop last week

Do you know what it's like when a project inspiration hits you and you just can't get it out of your head until you try it?

Well that is what it was like last week with this idea, So here it is. Still needs some tweeking. I took pics along the way, so a tutorial will be available soon and definitely by next Christmas.

Hope you had a great Holiday with family, took some time off to rest and are now ready to get back into some junkin fun.

Merry Christmas

We've counted down the days and it's finally here. Our last tag is simply
"The Gift of God"
May your family take the time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, as you exchange gifts, and spend time together. Remember why we celebrate... and focus on the "Gift from God" that is His
Son, Jesus Christ.

Get pre-printed Jesus tree or advent tags here
Find a larger list of the "names of God" here
See examples of advent calendars and each day's tag on my pinterest here


More ideas for this type of tag would be the Gifts of the Spirit, The Commandments, The story of Easter and/or the Birth of Christ, Passover (the plagues etc), Creation (what was created on which day), Genesis (creation, fall, flood...). Go with it and enjoy.

Oh Christmas Tree!!!!

I'm loving some of the Out-of-the-box Christmas Tree ideas. I think I'll try a new one each year.
Do you know of one I should add to my idea collection? Let me know.


To see the complete list with links, go to my pinterest page.


Merry Christmas

An old Fashioned Christmas Treasury for you

Filled with the things that go under and around the Tree.
Some memories from the past etc. All available in my Etsy store.

Advent Project, Final Week

Are you ready? I think I am... finally. I think all the gifts are bought, and wrapped. All I need to do now is get to the grocery store, and tie up a few loose ends. This time next week, it will all be over.

As you can see our "Names of Jesus" advent calendar is coming right along. I'm looking forward to sharing this last week with you. I've had so much fun with this project, and I've made a few changes along the way, like finally adding numbers to my board.

For my tags, I've added the actual verses instead of just the references, so that I'll be able to review the verse as I think about it's meaning. Also I've discarded a few that I had planned to use like "rose of sharon" turns out this is not a "name of Jesus" but is often mistaken as such. I decided to remove it even though I love having the Rose as a token, because of it's ambiguity.

I've also discovered that some verses work in the NIV that might not work in the KJV so check both translations.

And to my dismay, I've discovered that I had the wrong scripture references on more than one tag, so I've been checking those as well. You can view a complete list of the "names of God" or "names of Jesus" here. Be sure to check the references before deciding to use one. Some of them are up to interpretation. And if you want to get pre-printed tags, my friend Jodi offers them here. I get nothing from the sale of the tags, I'm just doing this for the fun of it, and it has been fun, and enlightening.

Hope you are following along, and having fun too.
Happy Christmas Week!!!!!! Are you ready?

The great East Texas Nativity controversy

There is a little town in East Texas called Athens.
It's much like "Bedford Falls" from It's a wonderful life, with community activities, an active town square and quaint small town feel.

The City of Athens has a nativity on the courthouse lawn, as well as Santa Clause and some other various Christmas accoutrements

Some Atheists from Wisconsin found out and wrote a letter.



this is the result:

ATHENS — Thousands have rallied on an East Texas courthouse lawn in response to an effort to remove a Nativity scene.

The Athens Daily Review estimated that about 5,000 people came to Saturday's rally, where a Baptist pastor told the crowd was prompted by "the beginning of persecution of Christianity in our nation."

Henderson County officials this month received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The group asked that a Nativity scene be removed from the courthouse square and seeks to put up its own banner. County Judge Richard Sanders says the county is complying with federal law and the Nativity scene will remain.

Next year the Athiests get their "banner" on the lawn as well. Having been brought up in that way I know their mindset, but what they don't realize is when they push we pray.... and which is truly more powerful I ask you????

So push away, and we'll pray...And gather... and our faith will be strengthened, which is opposite of what they are trying to accomplish.

This report from Gloria of Winnie & Tulula's which is located just across from the courthouse on the square."It was amazing..everyone was nice..happy..no traffic problems..no litter to pick up..great day ..love our little town!!"

Have a Merry Merry Christmas.

What a Crate Shelf

Always in the mood for change, I decided to pull some old crates from my barn and make a storage/display shelf in my "junk room"

First to make it look less "dorm" and more "furniture" I added some feet to a board for the base.
This lifts it up off the ground a bit and makes it look more like a piece of furniture.

Then I pulled in several crates from my barn. I tried them in different configurations before I settled on this. You could screw them together at this point, but I did not.
Then I accessorized with stuff that I have in the barn that is mostly for my Etsy store. Pretty much all of it is for sale. It'll be a rotation of my favorite items until they sell and then something new will go in their place.

The whole project took about 20 mins including drilling holes for the feet. I think it might make a good spot to photograph Etsy items as well.

We are half way there

The Advent board is filling up, are you following along?

Watch the left side bar each day for a new object, that points to the Reason for the Season.
I'm having so much fun, and have come up with some cleaver ones for the last 2 weeks.
I'd love your feedback.

Remember, if you want some pre-printed tags you can order them from my friend Jodi, Here. Expand the project and make Jodi's Jesus Tree with her tags.

I'm keeping a pinboard and am pinning each day's tag and trinket. Also I've found some wonderful "similar" advent boards to inspire you even further. You can view my pin board here.


If you don't want to put screw hooks or nails in a wooden board. How about just getting a cork bulletin board and using tacks. Or it's easy to screw cup hooks into the cork. Cover the cork with burlap, linen or fabric for a more finished look.
Have fun with this. I know you will.

Please do this with the children in your life. Incorporate it into your Sunday school lessons, or school lessons, or bed time stories. They'll remember it all their lives, especially if it becomes a tradition. And what a fun way to learn about our Savior.

Find more names of Jesus by your own research. You'll be amazed what you will learn and have fun doing it.

My Travel Belt-Courtesy of Karla Remixed Stitches

Back during the last Junk Bonanza I fell in love with the great utility aprons that Ki's sister, Karla, makes. I knew I needed one for a future trip, but I just couldn't make up my mind. So Karla and I made arrangements to talk about it after the show.

I had some specific needs. Large enough for iphone, passport, glasses, money, and notepad and pen. But also discrete so I could hide it under my clothing or jacket. After a fun phone call, sorting out the particulars and picking fabrics, Karla knew my needs and got to work.

She's quick and within a week I had my apron. Complete with 4 large pockets, 2 zippers (for security) and lots and lots of room, not to mention some drop dead gorgeous fabric choices. Let me tell you... Karla's work is quality and I can't wait to use my apron on my travels.
But I'll have to wait till April. More on that later.

You can find Karla's aprons on her Etsy store, Remixed Stitches, Along with even more great sewn creations.

Most of her belts have added "junk" objects and trim, but I wanted mine simple and utilitarian


Hop over and take a look at her fabulous shop.

Thank you Karla, I love it it's perfect.

Last day to enter my fabulous give away, click here for info.

Pendant winner, Olivia Please contact me

The winner of this fabulouspendant is Oliva with this comment

Olivia said...Awesome necklace I would love to be the owner

Oliva has been contacted and prize has been claimed. Thank you to all who entered.

Are you following along

Are you following along on my Advent board? Have you made one for your family? It's an easy project.

I'm now on day 6 of my advent calendar project, see the left sidebar. A new item will be drawn each day. Are you following along?

So far we have had "My song, The Door, King of Kings, The Healer,


The ShieldAnd The Pearl of Great Price
Wonder what I'll have for tomorrow?

Each day I draw a different ornament, each pointing to the
"Reason for the Season"


I'll post the object and verse on the left side bar at the top.

Christmas....Simplified...The Margo Way

For the last few years I've been a real Christmas Scrooge. Maybe it's because there are no little ones in my life, or maybe it's because it has all become a huge list of chores. Whatever the reason, I just do not look forward to this season at all.In an attempt to get some Christmas spirit back into my heart, I've decided to attempt to simplify it all. I'm delegating more and scaling back in some areas. One of the things that is such a daunting task is putting up the tree. I found the solution with an old aluminum tree. Quick set up, no lights, no garland, just the fun part of putting on the ornaments. Son #2 was in town this weekend, so what better time to get the tree up. Mr R helped too. There were a few broken ornaments, but I bore it all with a smile. There is nothing like the sound of plop and pop when those glass orns break.And Ta Da the tree is up...I think i'll be adding some more ornaments to it though. It looks great at night when the light wheel is on it.
For the rest of the house, Simple is the word
Just a few things tucked in here and there.
I love the vintage ornaments and decorations

This was new for me this year. I was inspired by a dealer's display at Winnie & Tulula's
Just hang some old ornaments in front of a mirror or even just an empty frame.

Except for a few tweeks here and there, and the clean up, that is my decorating for this year.
How about you, are you going all out, or scaling it back?

Don't forget to enter the give-away below. Just 3 more days.

Just 3 more days to enter for this fabulous pendant,Give Away from Sterling Grace

In October I told you about a fun store in my town called Sterling Grace. When the owner, Deborah, contacted me about doing a give-away on my blog I was thrilled. I love supporting local merchants and small businesses and she is both.

After visiting with her in her "very decorated for the holidays" store this week, we came up with the perfect prize. One of her very own, Sterling Silver Trio Cross Pendants, as seen in the first photo.

How can you win this pendant you ask??? There are 3 ways
1) comment on this blog post
2)tweet or facebook about it
3)mention it on your blog
I'm putting this tee on my wish list

Be sure to let me know if you do any of the things above and your name will be entered once for each.

I'll draw the winner next Wednesday night at 8:00 central time. You will be notified if you are the winner, so please make sure I can get in touch with you.
Note Anonymous postings often do not give me enough information to contact you.

Keep Sterling Grace in mind for those hard to buy for ladies of Faith, for the perfect gift of inspirational jewelry or t-shirts etc.

Good luck to you all, and thank you Deborah for the great give away. You can find Deborah's wonderful sterling silver creations on the web here or in Tyler Texas between Michae'ls and Handcock's off Broadway.

Give away open to US residents only

Great Local sale and fellow blogger in Historic Tyler

A friend ofmine sent me a heads up on a sale at a local historic home today. So off I went GPS programmed and I found myself at this beautiful home. You can't see much from this pic but the house is to die for.

Inside I met Mandy, and she was having an open house sale. There is one more day so be sure to find her on West Houston Street tomorrow and see her fun stuff. Mandy also keeps a blog here.

Pop over say hello, and if you are local be sure to stop by her place tomorrow. I know this gal has good things in store for us in the very near future. There's talent there!!!!


Don't forget to enter my give away in the post below.