Gathering Roses

'Somerset'.

I fell in love with this fabric a long time ago and purchased a chair slip in it for the kitchen.

I just HAD to have some of that gorgeous color in this old house.

My head and heart were telling me so.

When I saw that my friend, Tausha, had purchased a duvet cover and pillow sham 

and had casually thrown it over her sofa bed...

the pink roses tumbling over the overdyed purple-denim background

draping onto the floor...

I swooned.

I groaned.

I whined.

I wanted it.

My head and heart were in total agreement.

So I took some of my hard earned money that was being saved for something really really special

and bought some fabric.

I flew over to my oh-so-talented friend, Randi's house and begged her to stitch up a king-size fitted sheet 

to cover the cushions in the living room.

You see, a duvet cover was permanently affixed in my mind.

But the more I thought about it, 

the more I realized that I wanted to be able to look at this gorgeous fabric all the time,

not just at night when I climbed into bed.

I wanted to walk past the living room and see those faded roses strewn across the sofa.

I wanted to see that deep, rich, cozy overdyed purple-denim shade warming the room.

I wanted to sprawl across it while watching television.

I wanted to lay my head in the middle of it.

Yes...I'm quite obsessed like that.

A king sized fitted sheet works perfectly as a cushion cover on this old sofa.

I usually have a 'Mon Ami' sheet tucked on it which is just perfect for spring and summer.

But 'Somerset', with her rich, warm shades is dreamy for winter.

Sweet Randi worked diligently at getting the project completed in just a few days.

She knew I was chomping at the bit to feel that luscious fabric in my hands again.

I tucked it in and smoothed it out.

I squashed down-filled pillows into the shams.

I threw pillows here and there around the room waiting for the perfect combination to appear.

And all the while....

my head was singing

and my heart was sighing.

As I stood back with a smile on my face and started taking photos of my now warm and cozy room,

my head started talking with my heart again.

Yeah.

They chat quite frequently.

It's where many of my ideas come from.

The ideas that make my husband raise his eyebrows in wariness

and squint his eyes in despair.

Head:  You need prairie shutters in here.

Heart:  Oh! I agree!

Head:  You need to ask hubby about getting it done as soon as possible.

Heart:  Oh!  I agree!

Head:  You're going to Home Depot next week to pick up replacement windows for the attic.

You could get the wood then.

Heart:  Oh!  Great idea!  I agree!

I can really get myself in trouble listening to them, you know...?

{That happens quite frequently, too.}

I see more prairie shutters as another texture in here.

Earthy, rustic statement pieces.

A beautiful backdrop for 'Somerset'.

Head:  Oh...by the way....you need to ask hubby about hanging that chandy from the medallion in here, too.

Heart:  Oh! I agree!

My husband hasn't a clue that I have these conversations with myself while decorating.

Poor guy....

In the meantime,

you can find me gathering overdyed roses in my living room,

and trying to quiet the little voices in my head...

~  Eucharisteo  ~

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Religious Cross Altar Box

After spending days and days dreamily floating through Rachel Ashwell's new book,

immersed in beautiful bedrooms, enchanting entryways, fabulous flowers,

and luscious living rooms,

needless to say ~ I was in heaven.

As I slowly turned each page, my eyes landed on a beautiful vintage cross altar box.
I remembered that my friends, Tausha and Stephanie had created their own.

I decided to try my hand at making one, too. 

Although I am not Catholic, but a Protestant (brought up in the reformed church),
I loved the vintage look this small altar box had

and knew that it would add a serene, inspiring feeling to Heaven's Walk.

While perusing the aisles at Michael's,

I found a small wooden trinket box,

wood pieces to make a cross.

a thick wood piece for the bottom,
and a thin one for the back.

I glued the thick base onto the box and let it dry for a couple hours.

Next, I glued the thin piece of wood onto the back,
resting on the hinges.
I also used tiny brads to nail it in place to make it sturdier.

I measured out the cross,
cutting off any extra inches for the horizontal piece.
Using tiny brads and nailing in from the back, I secured the two pieces together.

Then, centering the cross on top of the box,
I nailed it from the back to the back piece.

A quick swish of stain, some drying time, 

a splash of white chalk paint,

a bit of distressing ~
and it was completed.

It quietly reminds me of the cross we have up in the front of my church.
During Lent, it is always draped with a swath of white silk.

A gentle reminder that I have so much to be thankful for...

Whispering eucharisteo...


~  Blessings ~

[And in gratitude to all of you, I'm planning a sweet giveaway very soon.

Stay tuned!]

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Large Wooden French Rosary

While listening to the much needed rain patter on the rooftop this afternoon,

(after a morning of making a couple dozen pints of dill pickles 

and bread & butter pickles with The Husband)

I played with some beads.

Big beads.

Big wooden beads.

After swooning for many months over the oversize wooden rosaries I've seen on many beautiful blogs,

(I love the natural, rustic, inspiring statement they make in a room)
 

Source:  Simply Me

Source: Rachel Ashwell

and knowing that I would get the hairy eyeball from The Husband 

if I shelled out the $100+ to buy one,

I dove right in and tried my hand at making one.

I thought, 

"Why not?" 

 If it didn't work out, I could just donate the beads to my church's pre-school or something.

After an hour (or two) in Hobby Lobby yesterday,

I filled my basket with these goodies.

Beads with large holes...

beads with small holes...

oblong beads, a little pine plaque, and leather cording.

(Side note: Do you realize that they're putting out Christmas items in stores already?

What in the world....?)

Anyway, I asked The Husband for some help because unbeknown to me,

the beads had a hole on only ONE side.

In my excitement at finding them, I failed to look at both sides in the little bags.

Duh.

But he fixed me up right away with the drill press.

Yes, my friends ~

I used a DRILL PRESS.

Can I get a lady-like grunt here....???

I drilled a hole through each and every bead which took me about an hour.

I'd definitely use that drill press again after getting the hang of it.

It brought back memories of seventh grade shop class.  :)

 The Husband is a retired "shop" (Industrial Arts) instructor, so I had a great mini-refresher course in his work room.

Sheer and utter concentration because I didn't want to drill a hole in my hand!

While I was drilling one little hole after another,

The Husband helped out by cutting out the rustic cross for me.

A little sanding of the edges, and I was ready to rock and roll with this project.

I didn't change the color of the wood.

I liked it's light, natural color.

 

Knot, bead, bead, bead, bead, bead, knot, bead, bead bead, knot...

After a couple hours, my new shabby chic inspired wooden French rosary was completed ~

all for under $25.

~  Blessings ~

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Ruffles and Roses

Ruffles and roses have been slowly making their beautiful way into Heaven's Walk lately.

My heart has been being tugged more and more by the inspiration my eyes linger on over at

Courtney's French country cottage and Tausha's simply romantic home.

I find myself returning to their blogs again and again because I want to feel surrounded by 

creamy white ruffles

soft, faded roses

candles

and

touches of pale purple and aqua.

Romance.

Sweetness.

Femininity.

So, for now...for the summer

(and probably longer...),

ruffles and roses have made a serene, romantic appearance throughout this old farmhouse.

With Tausha's gracious guidance,

I bleached some Simply Shabby Chic linens that were originally an oatmeal color.

 I soaked them in lavender scented bleach for quite a few hours,

and then soaked them in a whitener/brightener for a couple hours

to remove any leftover yellowy tint.

The result was just what I was hoping for.

A beautiful, rich, creamy white cloud of linen ruffles.

 

A Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic ruffled tablecloth in "British Rose"

was draped casually over the end of the chaise.

A vintage looking basket tucked next to the chaise

was filled with faded floral scraps of fabric.

A handful of ranunculus and old roses

in faded, purpley pink were tossed on top. 

 A vintage cut glass vase on the coffee table, given to me by my grandmother, was filled with  purple hydrangeas, stock, and a sprig of lavender.

Heaven's Walk is smiling...

happily dressed in her summery wardrobe of

ruffles and roses.

  [ Blessings ]

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