jennifer, Author at Hopeful Homemaker

I love white paint!

November 17, 2009 jennifer Decorating

I really, really love white paint. It can take anything and make it beautiful. Well, most anything.
I’d been slowly accumulating old picture frames from the thrift store, so I finally laid them all out and got to painting.

They started in various shades of gold and brown. (And, yes, that’s an obnoxious vinyl tablecloth that I use to paint on) IMG_8439 (Large) This gold one I’m really excited to work on.
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I quite like this frame, too. Great detail!
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And this mirror was a find!
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I confess I did no priming at all, just went right to work on them with my white paint and a brush.
I just paused every hour or two to brush another coat over everything until I was satisfied…

Just look at this great collection now!
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I’m so pleased with how they turned out.
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Most of them will end up on my dining room walls with family photos in them, but the mirror is already on the wall!
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Sigh. I love my living room…
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I also love this sweet face. She had to try one on.
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I just wish you could hear her little voice saying “cheese” IMG_8502 (Large)2 “Tseez!” I love those pudgy little hands…
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Too bad you can’t hang that on the wall! Ka-yoot!

Leave a comment Decorating, vintage, white

Brinley’s Blossoms baby quilt

November 12, 2009 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

My brother and his wife had their first baby last week. A little girl. They named her Brinley.
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We visited them this week, and she is adorable! She looks just like her mommy, and is smaller than any of my 8 babies were. I loved holding her, even though it made me feel like my baby is huge.

We took Brinley her baby gift, a rag quilt that I designed and named “Brinley’s Blossoms” in honor of my niece.
I managed to get a little tag on it before we wrapped it up:
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I used the same fabrics in this quilt that I used in the one I made for my baby a few months ago. I really loved this line!
(Forgive the poor pictures; we were in a hurry and it was night and I couldn’t take any decent ones.)
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It’s a simple strip quilt with some flowers appliqued on top and in a couple of block strips.
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It was a lot of fun to make, and gratefully it was a quick project (or I might never have finished it!)
I always love the way the backs of rag quilts look:
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There’s no plain side with quilts like these!

And, finally, here is a close up of a new idea I tried, and I must say I’m really excited about it both because it turned out so cute and because it’s truly my very own idea! I’ve never seen anyone do anything like this before:
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A scalloped border! I love the way it turned out, and I think that I’m going to try another quilt using this idea.
I’ve got something in mind….

9 comments baby, Color, pink, sewing

Veteran’s Day

November 11, 2009 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

As I was driving past our city cemetery, there was a little golden spot in the middle of all the green. It touched my heart so much that I went home to get my camera and drive back. While all the other trees had shed their leaves, two had saved their golden blanket for today.
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So beautiful!
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I have always found cemeteries to be very restful, reverent places.
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Today there was something lovely about a freshly fallen blanket of golden leaves, undisturbed.
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It beckoned me to visit, to sit and stay a while.
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Wandering through the cemetery, seeing monuments to lives lived and gone, I remember.
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I remember that so much of what we worry about doesn’t really matter.
That people are what matter most.
That we give our lives in more than death, that we give our lives by how we spend our time, who we serve.
That people I have never met have given life (both in death and in years) that I might live and have the opportunity to choose how to spend my time, choose who to serve, choose to remember… or not.

Today is Veteran’s Day, the day we honor those who have served in our armed forces and are still with us.
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Those who were not called to make the ultimate sacrifice.
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I am grateful for them. I think a lot about the WWII generation and how much they have to offer. Among them is my grandfather, now in his 89th year.

To my children he is Great Grandpa, who we visit every summer (even when I’m pregnant).
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As a young man, he served in the Navy. He was the navigator on a Kingfisher plane.
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I grew up hearing the story of the Battle of the Truk Islands and the role he played.
I’m grateful for his example and for his military service.
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I tried to call him today to thank him for his service. In the end, I had to leave a message.
In this Thanksgiving season, I suppose it’s appropriate to offer thanks to our veterans.
Who can you thank?

Jennifer