THIS ONE'S FOR THE GIRL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAY DAY BABY, KATIE ROSE & TABLESCAPE THURSDAY!

Today, it's all about the girl! On Friday, May 1st, my daughter Katie Rose turns 19! Now, I am a little teary eyed and a little bewildered about where all the time went. ( the music is Martina McBride)

It's also Tablescaping at Susan's. So, in honor of my daughter's B-day, a little table for Katie and her Mommy (me). Visit Susan @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for some inspirational tables!

My May Day baby will probably want to do a little dance around the Maypole.

She will collect a few May Day baskets!

And be the Queen of her May Day Party!

But first she can sit with her Mom for awhile.

And eat some Birthday Cake!

And of course, a rose for my sweet Katie Rose!

We will sit in the morning sun....

With our May Day Baskets,....

And have a little Birthday Brunch for two!

One day I looked up and she went from this...Age 5 months...

To this? Age 2....

This? Age 3

Age 4, her first year on skates......

Now, my lovely daughter all grown up......

Looking thoughtful and ...

Ready to go out in the world......

Happy Birthday Katie Rose,

I don't know where all the time went.

Love, Your Teary Eyed Mom

Met Monday/ The Hall Tree

Welcome to Susan's Met Monday! Met Monday is chalk full of wonderful before's and afters. Be sure to check out Susan's blog http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ to see more wonderful Met Monday posts. Several years ago I was really wanting a Hall Tree for my house. The one's I liked the most were made by the Amish. While shopping at a little mall one day, my hubby and I came across the perfect one. One problem, he had nothing to measure with and we didn't have a camera with us. Now my husband Dan teaches woodworking and Building Construction- beginner to advanced courses. Being the resourceful teacher that he is, he found a piece of paper, pencil and began sketching. Did I mention we had no tape measure. Well, he just happens to wear a size 12 shoe, so he used his foot as his measuring guide. Pretty Resourceful Hey!

Here is the sketch he made that day, with only his size 12 shoe as a guide.

Several weeks later, my new hall tree! He made it out of Red Oak. (Click on any pic to enlarge)

A closer view of the bottom.

A closer view of the top. My contribution was moral support and the little cushion I made. If you missed my first Met Monday Post, you can view it directly below this post. Thanks for stopping and have a great Monday. Cindy

Sunday Favorites/EXTREME GARAGE DOOR'S MAKE-OVER

The first Sunday Favorites is the brainchild of Chari. Chari is the neatest lady with the nicest blog and fabulous ideas on decorating. She also has a great sense of humor. Visit her blog for more Sunday Favorites @ http://happytodesign.blogspot.com/ . My First Sunday Favorite is also my First Met Monday post. A lot of you have asked about our garage doors so I thought I would re- post them here. Thanks Chari!

Preparing the pieces. Prime, Paint,Prime,Paint....

We wanted to do something to change the look of our garage doors, but the wood replacement doors that we looked at were very expensive. My husband Dan, being the creative and talented woodworking and building construction teacher that he is sketched out his idea and went to work. Below, boring brown steel doors

. He began by making 220 individual pieces out of Northern white pine. He cut, primed and painted everyone of those 220 pieces.

He built a frame and glued and screwed all of them in place. He even designed and made the black side pieces out of pine to save money and make them look like wrought iron. Below, one door almost done....

80 hours later, the finished product. The total cost about $200, compare to several thousand dollars to buy.

The finished view. I feel lucky to have such a talented husband.

I hope you enjoyed our tour. Stop back again, Cindy

I am shaking in my Booties! / Or why I hate Bats!

Is there anyone else out there who is terrified of bats? This is not my typical post but when I opened the garage door last night this is what flew in my face! We live in the country and we are surrounded by wildlife, but I still hate bats! We had a black bear in our yard last spring and he was full grown and I think I am less afraid of bears than I am of bats.

Faces only a mother could love!

Mexican bats at night. Yikes! It's like a Alfred Hitchcock Movie.

Kind of Cruel! Someone made this poor gal a bat wedding cake and she is terrified of bats!

Please tell me it isn't so. The title said Mississippi Bats. Who out there is from Mississippi? I think Susan @ a Southerndaydreamer might be. I hope I didn't freak you all out. I have a lot more bats to deal with this summer. Does anyone know what I can do to get them to stay away from my house? My skin is still crawling. thanks for letting me vent a bit. Cindy

Thrifty Thursday/ Or my thrifty (cheap) auction finds!

Welcome to Thrifty Thursday. Our hostess tonight is Chandy of What Now Tablescapes. Chandy is filling in for Leigh who is going on vacation. (lucky gal) Last Saturday was a beautiful day in the mid 70's. I attended an auction at a little town about 6 miles from us. The owners had been antique dealers for 20 years and this was their 2Nd auction. I was surprised at the low attendance. Probably because the weather was so nice or maybe because of their previous auction. After a short time I realized that things were going pretty darn cheap and I thought I better get in on the action.

I got this old chair for a dollar. It's sturdy and with some paint I think it can be darling. I might use it outside and put a pot of geraniums on it.

I got a huge box of old vintage ads for two dollars. I don't know my plans for these yet but they are sure fun to look at.

I also bid and won for 5 dollars an old box of postcards. The one above is an example. Some had been marked quite high. I think this one was from 1911 and is a real photo with color added.

I then bid on these neat old malt/milkshake glasses with stirrers. 2 dollars.

One of my favorite wins. This is a vintage hull covered dish.

Here's the inside. Only 2 dollars! Oh yes, I was thrilled, this had been marked for sale at $25.00

And my last neat win is this old watercolor. I loved the blues and water scene with the windmill. I only paid $2 for this one too! Total for these great finds.... $15.00. They plan on having another auction soon, they shut this one down early. I don't think they were happy with how low things were going. Now head on over to Chandy's @ http://whatnowtablescapes.blogspot.com/

Met Monday/Old Brass and New Garage Door Lights

Welcome to another Met Monday. Met Monday is a place for us to showcase our ever changing homes and projects. Thanks to the lovely Susan @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for being our hostess with the mostest.

A little spray paint will do wonders! This was ugly old brass, (no before)

A cheap little wall sconce.

All spiffed up, I just need to find a candle.

When Hubby re-did our garage doors last summer, (my first Met Monday post) he just spray painted the old lights black to save a bit. I liked it, but wanted something a bit more substantial.

Recently we found new lights on sale at a home and garden store for only $6.00 a piece! Sorry about the sun glare. They weren't cheap looking at all, in fact they were quite heavy.

And here they are. I think they give it the look I was going for and with hubbies installing we only spent $12.00. Now head on over to Susan's for more amazing posts!!!