Practically Perfect

Make Way For Millie: 23 Weeks

2011-08-06T21:59:00.001-04:00

Make Way For Millie: 23 Weeks: "Today is the last day of Millie's 23rd week...tomorrow starts week 24! My energy level has been good and I have no major complaints. My ..."

I'm now blogging at Make Way For Millie!

It's so Fluffy I'm Gonna Die!

2010-10-08T17:34:00.000-04:00

Expansion!

2010-09-16T14:13:00.003-04:00

We've been busy here at the bookstore in Warner Robins. We are EXPANDING! The salon that was next to us moved and so we're moving in! Shane is busy building bookcases and I can't wait to have more room!

Lampshade in Progress

2010-09-03T10:23:00.000-04:00

The Fabulous Fox

2010-08-30T16:12:00.001-04:00

Shane surprised me Saturday night by taking me to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta. We saw The Sound of Music--my favorite!!! The last time we went was in January 2005 to see Beauty and the Beast. Shane had it all planned out so that I had NO idea where we were going (or even that we were going anywhere!) Here is his smirky-smirk I-know-everything-and-you-know-nothing face.

Hope came to my store around 3:00 Saturday and told me to leave and follow some directions very carefully. The directions were to go home, put on my prettiest dress, and pick up Shane at 6:00 at the Macon store where he was working. I went home and tried on a white linen Ann Taylor dress I bought for my bridal showers FIVE years ago and it fit perfectly! I was almost as excited about that as I was about going somewhere unknown!

I LOVE surprises but I'm not very good at waiting for them, so I was very curious. Here's my best I'm-so-curious-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself face. I think I would maybe make this face if you were about to kill me, too.

The play was WONDERFUL and I enjoyed every second of it. Thanks, Shane, for the wonderful early birthday surprise!!!

DIY Fern Prints

2010-08-25T10:13:00.003-04:00

I found public-domain pictures of ferns I liked on Google images and turned them black-and-white on Picasa. Then I printed them directly onto pages of an old dictionary I had around (the Random House Unabridged dictionary, it has about 2000 pages!). The printer didn't like the paper too much and smudged the ink a little bit, but I think it kind of adds to the effect I was going for.

I'd thought about framing them in matching frames or hanging them up maybe with vintage clipboards, but I didn't have either so I went with clothespins instead. I used some removable adhesive strips from 3M hooks to hang the clothespins on the wall.

Here are the pictures of the ferns I edited if you want to try this! (Click a picture to enlarge)

Sharing with Transformation Thursday and Frugal Friday!

Inspired by...Winterberry Cottage

2010-08-24T15:51:00.000-04:00

I love these prints that Winterberry Cottage sells on etsy...they are beautiful! Come back tomorrow to see my version!

Lampshade Help

2010-08-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

Through a link I found Tracy's ideas on how to improve a lampshade. I just love what she did!

Looks like something that will be so quick and easy--perfect! I'm going to try it tonight with my new (borrowed from my MIL) Cricut!

Old Bench Love

2010-08-21T10:15:00.001-04:00

How does The Nester do it? First with the lamps and now with my kitchen table. Yesterday her post about tables and chairs was so perfect for me...I've been thinking about dragging this old bench inside our house for a couple months now and just hadn't gotten around to it.

A short history of the bench: I first remember this bench at my grandma's house right outside her door. It was in the perfect place for setting down her groceries while she fished her keys out of her purse. It ended up at our house a few years ago, right outside our door, in the perfect place for setting down my groceries while I fished my keys out of my purse.

When we got our new kitchen table a few months ago (after we finished our kitchen makeover), I wondered how it would look inside. And now, thanks to The Nester, I know.

I love it! I may eventually sand it down and paint it to look more like the table (or at least to get rid of years-old paint drips), but for now it's practically perfect just as it is!

I also love that when we're not using it (and really, we hardly ever sit at the table to eat) I can scoot the bench under the table and have extra room to move around in the kitchen.

If you're interested, we got the table at Pier One, it is the Carmichael Table and the chairs were given to us when we got married along with a kitchen table that I loved but was too big for our space. We bought the cushions when we bought the table at Pier One.

Check out other tables and chairs linked up at Nesting Place.

Birthday Coming Up!

2010-08-20T09:46:00.000-04:00

Last night I worked on a couple parts of my brother's birthday present. He will be 28 next week, on Wednesday. Anyway, I made two related but different things for him. Here's a hint

I also got him a "real" present so he doesn't feel totally gypped, although to be honest I think he'll like my homemade presents almost as much as his real gift.

Here I Am!

2010-08-19T18:04:00.000-04:00

I'm not dead and I'm not being totally lazy with my blogging...we've just been extremely busy the last couple weeks getting our new store in North Carolina opened, moving some sections around at our Warner Robins store, and starting our new venture, Walls of Books!

If you know anyone who is interested in opening their own used bookstore, we can help!

Send them to our new Walls of Books! website.

I hope to be back with a few little projects I've been working on soon!

To Uruguay!

2010-08-11T09:59:00.000-04:00

Today my mom and her sister are flying to Conchillas, Uruguay to revisit old friends in the town where they grew up.

Aunt Miriam is leaving from point A, Mom is leaving from point B, and they are meeting up in Santiago, Chile, point C to fly together point D.

The Sign of a Great Book...

2010-08-09T16:09:00.000-04:00

I know I love a book when I'm not even 2/3 through and already dreading ending it...

I love it, April!

Potpourri Lamp: Before and After

2010-08-06T08:35:00.002-04:00

Before & After

Potpourri Lamp: $5.00 (part of this) + Lampshade: free (from my mom)

Practically perfect for my dresser!

From the left:

Bride and Groom--wedding gift from my friend Julia. She had a friend make it for us!

I have no idea why that Z has made its way there.

Smoochy picture of Shane and me taken in the Virginia mountains right after our wedding.

Wedding cross given by my cousins' "other grandparents" as a wedding gift (they gave it along with what's become of my favorite books).

Picture of Shane and me the night we got engaged.

Shared with: Frugal Friday, Show and Share Day

A Tiny Lamp Project and a Book

2010-08-04T16:12:00.001-04:00

Here's a little lamp I bought for $1.00 and painted Rustoleum Light Sage (on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1.79, I guess on clearance means it's discontinued?). It's not a bold color, but I like it better than the stark white.

Here it is in the kitchen!

In other (and much more exciting) news, my friend April from A Writer's Journey has a book coming out in November! I met her through our bookstores and I guess I could call her a customer, but I'll go with friend, because that's how I think of her. Anyway, she wrote a book and brought me a review copy to read and I'm probably going to stay up all night reading it because I am so excited!!! (Hope you don't mind me using your picture, April!)

Bye! I'm off to read!

The Loot!

2010-08-03T16:43:00.001-04:00

While I was up at my parents last week we hit several thrift stores--plus my mom had several things she'd picked up for me. Nothing is better to me than when my mom says, "I have something I bought for you...at Goodwill!"

This is what I brought home with me!

My mom got these nesting baskets for me--they look pretty new. They were free to me, I think my mom said she got them for $5.00.

My mom apparently started hoarding lampshades--she picks them up here and there when they're a dollar or two and in new condition--when she found out I was buying lamps she gave me her stash! I bought one of those little ones for $1.99.

I found these plates at a Goodwill that sales wholesale--basically they have huge bins of stuff to go through and they sell by the pound. Two green plates and three white plates = $2.00 total!

I got these six Oneida mugs for $0.50 each...I'm not sure how much they retailed for, but surely more than that!

This Target frame may not have been worth the $1.99 I paid for, but it called to me!

Big blue lamp=$4.99, small blue lamp=$1.00! I think the little lamp looks kinda like the ones I got from TJ Maxx a few days ago. That pink vase there at the bottom was $0.99.

I wasn't crazy about the lamp with the seashells inside, but I do like the glass lamp and I think I'll give the seashells to my mom...I paid $2.99 for it. The little white lamp was $1.00 and the candlestick was $0.99...it's a nice heavy one, plus I got two other candlesticks for $1.99 each. The green...planter? urn?...anyway, it's metal and I loved it and it was a total splurge at $5.00!

The lamp with the potpourri is totally ugly...but hopefully will be better when I de-potpourri it (don't worry, I won't give it to my mom!), it was $4.99. The two brass swiveling lamps were $1.99 each and if they turn out like I hope they will, I may buy 100 more...seems like I found them everywhere!

Let's see...what did I miss? The glass bowl, originally from IKEA,was another wholesale Goodwill find, it was probably $1.00 or less.

The miniature dresser was actually my grandpa's...it held Samantha's clothes when I was little (Samantha ~~was~~ is my American Girl doll)--and some of her things are still in there. I found it when I was with my parents and claimed it again. The green thing on top was a $1.99 find and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but I really liked it.

So total that I spent was $34.92 (and a few more bucks on tax, of course). I think I did pretty well on finding things I love--or will love, after a little work. Plus, I have a while's worth of projects to work on! If you're still with me here, you get a gold star! I personally love seeing other people's finds and knowing how much they paid for thrift store finds!

What should I start with?

Recently Read

2010-08-02T15:46:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Impossible by Nancy Werlin. I was drawn in by the cover (I love nothing more than a beautiful book cover!) and ended up loving the story. I don't like true fantasy books, but I like books set in the real world with twists of fantasy in them, like this one. Rather than write a full book summary or review, I linked the title to amazon (as I always do on my sidebar) so you can read about it there.

Best of all, she has a new book, Extraordinary, coming out in September, and the cover's just as pretty!

Speaking of teen books I love, the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy--Mockingjay--comes out the 24th! YES! I've been waiting on this book for two years, since I read Hunger Games as an Advance Reader Copy before it came out--and didn't realize it was a series until the VERY end of the book!

What books are you looking forward to coming out?

I'm Back!

2010-07-29T12:09:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been gone without warning...I left Friday morning to go up to North Carlina to my parents'. My dad found out Thursday that the college he was working at was closing. This is the last week he's going to have a job there. It was a big shock and so I went up to help move his office and library (about 200 boxes of books, I think? Maybe more?). No worries, my parents are going to be fine--my mom is a teacher so she'll start school in a few weeks and my dad is still pastor of a church.

They have some wonderful thrift stores up in NC so we hit a few of them while I was around...and I got some great deals on some fun things...I can't wait to show you everything!

Julia!

2010-07-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

Wednesday I had the day off from work and drove down to Americus to visit one of my best friends from high school, Julia. It was WONDERFUL to see her--I love how we picked up right where we left off and how she's still the same fun-loving Julia as always! She's also starting to sew and make cute things for her new apartment, so hopefully we'll get to see pictures of her creations on her blog soon!

How I Updated and Charmed My Den {thanks to The Nester}

2010-07-22T12:09:00.002-04:00

The Nester's post about using lamps to "Update and Charm Every Room" couldn't have been more timely for me.

Our den was in desperate need of extra lighting and I'd been thinking about getting some lamps for a while. The Nester's post was just what I needed to pinpoint what I wanted. And then I was so ~~shocked~~ delighted when, Tuesday night, Shane said, "I think we need to get some lamps for the den." So off to TJ Maxx and Target we went, looking for lamps. (Well, to TJ Maxx, then Target, then back to TJ Maxx.)

We ended up getting these three lamps at TJ Maxx for $28.00, $29.99, and $34.99.

Not bad...but not great, either. I thought maybe I could do better.

So yesterday, I stopped at a couple thrift stores and picked up three lamps at Salvation Army for $1.99, $1.99, and $2.99. I also got three shades from Target at 50% clearance for $9.98 each (still wish I could have gotten some cheaper ones, but I really liked the ones I picked).

Hello, Rust-Oleum Green Apple Spray Paint. I love you. You were only $2.99 at Hobby Lobby after my 40% off coupon and an exact match to the paint sample I carry around with me that is the color of my kitchen cabinets. You saved me money. You are lovely. I love you.

When I got home I got to cleaning and spraying. I've seen tutorials on spray painting lamps and taping everything up, but I have to admit, I didn't do anything special. In preparation, I just wiped them down with a damp rag. I knew the shade would cover the top part where I was spraying so it didn't matter if I got it perfectly painted. I didn't worry about it when I ended up painting part of the cord.

I love how the lamps turned out! Total cost of TJ Maxx lamps: $92.98 / Total cost of Salvation Army lamps: $39.90 (including lamps, shades, and spray paint (I only used about 1/2 a can).

I did take the plastic off the shades before I turned the lamps on, just not for the pictures!

We're doing some work in our den (more on that next week, but it involves rearranging everything) so I'm not thinking about the overall presentation here (in other words, ignore our off-center wedding picture and book wreath on the wall). Just admire my new lamps, ok? Thanks!

Sharing with Transformation Thursday.

A Finished Kitchen!

2010-07-14T11:35:00.004-04:00

Welcome to my kitchen!

Before: Christmas 2009

After: July 2010

Before After

Thanks for visiting!

My best advice on painting a kitchen--just do it! Don't be worried about getting things perfect and don't be worried if it takes you a few ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ months longer than you planned!

I'm sharing this with Chelsea at Room to Inspire and Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage and Chris at Just a Girl.

Kitchen Update 8

2010-07-13T13:35:00.000-04:00

Our kitchen is ALMOST done...I'm going to show you THE AFTER tomorrow and am so excited!!!

For now, here's one of the finishing touches--a giant fork and spoon above the doorway to the dining room...

after a couple years of periodically asking Shane to hang them up, he finally got around to it...took about 10 minutes, I think?

Come back tomorrow!!!

Ruffled Necklace

2010-07-08T15:57:00.000-04:00

I LOVE this necklace from this seller at Etsy.

LOVE!

Grey jersey, glass beads, and pearls....yum!

What Made My Day

2010-07-07T12:25:00.000-04:00

I thought today was going to be an average day at the bookstore...but then I recieved this from one of my little customers:

Made my day!!!

J.Crew Copy Cat #2

2010-07-05T10:08:00.000-04:00

Here's the second pair of shirts I refashioned. (See #1 in my last post). I loosely copied Ashley's shirt at Make It and Love It by cutting out hearts and folding in half--sewing along the middle of the heart. I was originally going to ruffle up the whole side, but decided to keep it simple.

Eventually I may go back and add some, making it more like Ashley's J. Crew inspiration shirt:

But for now, it's perfect for me!

J.Crew Copy Cat

2010-07-02T10:29:00.000-04:00

Inspired by this shirt I saw at the J.Crew outlet with my SIL, I knew just what to do with a couple shirts I got at the Gap. I loved the tiny stitches and the randomness of the pattern.

I bought four shirts (two of one color, two of another color) on clearance at Gap for $1.97 each. My stitches aren't as tiny as J.Crew's, and I used a contrasting thread, but the randomness is all there.

I'll show you what I did with the other pair of shirts on Monday.

Happy 4th of July, everybody!

Home from Texas

2010-07-01T15:00:00.003-04:00

I had a WONDERFUL visit with my sister-in-law, Courtney. Loved every minute, but I'm happy to be home!

How great is it that we're both wearing the same earrings as we did in this picture of us from her visit to GA in May?

Husbandly Duty

2010-06-30T14:40:00.002-04:00

My wife told me I had to write something on this blog since she is on vacation.

So, all the crafts you see on this site usually involve me drilling something, smelling paint in my house, cleaning up Abbey's mess when she leaves a table and cardboard for her projects outside our house so that all the neighbors can see and think we don't maintain our property, rolling my eyes when she buys $40 worth of knobs just so she can bring them all home to inspect, or putting up with lines like, "Isn't this cuuuuute?!?!"

I have no interest in her projects, but I have plenty of interest in her. She's pretty and fixes me dinner.

In personal news, I fell off the bed two nights ago. I dropped pretty hard and knocked all the glasses and gum off my nightstand. I thought I broke my back.
I think I fell because my wife wasn't in the bed with me, so I lost perspective. I probably would have just slept on the floor, but I didn't want a cockroach to crawl into my mouth again while I was asleep (it happened a couple of years ago).

In conclusion, I am half-useless without my wife around.
I hope I get some brownies or something when she gets back. I surely don't know how to make any of that stuff.

Undecided

2010-06-29T09:30:00.000-04:00

A couple months back I turned this:

into this:

and I talked about wanting to replace the knobs...well, I did.

At least most of them. I got the knobs from Hobby Lobby for $2.99 (before 50% off)

And now that they're mostly replaced, I'm not sure that I'm crazy about them. Since I spent almost $20.00 on the knobs, I want to be sure I love them if I'm going to keep them.

What do you think? Love the new knobs, hate the new knobs, don't care about the new knobs???

Little Trip

2010-06-28T09:30:00.001-04:00

I'm taking a little trip this week:

Thanks Google Maps!

I'm going to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Texas for a few days--many thanks to Shane for letting me go! I have a post lined up for tomorrow and then Shane's going to post about a project going on at our house and who knows what else on Wednesday.

Be back soon!

Adorable-ness

2010-06-25T16:14:00.000-04:00

There aren't many things more precious to me than watching my husband play with kids. We don't have any of our own yet, but we get plenty of playtime with Ari, my best friend's eight month old cutie-patootie daughter.

Ecuador

2010-06-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

I've been to Ecuador four times and the last time I was there we spent a couple nights at Hotel Real Audiencia in Quito. It's a gorgeous hotel and when you eat in their restaurant, this is what you see:

Photo Credit

That's the Plaza de Santo Domingo, complete with the cathedral that's over 400 years old. The mountains bordering the city are covered in houses. It's hard to tell in the picture, but all those little specks are houses--it's incredible!

My parents and my brother are spending time here this summer with a team of other missionaries. They'll be teaching classes, working with kids, and most importantly, spreading the Gospel. Please pray for them.

Kitchen Update 7 {pictures of my refrigerator}

2010-06-23T16:30:00.000-04:00

I cleaned off the outside of my refrigerator. Amazing, right? Well, actually it is! Look at the difference:

Tell me that's not exciting! No? OK, fine. Pictures of refrigerators are not interesting...I get it. Let me just say that it makes a huge difference to have a cleaned off fridge.

If you're like me, your refrigerator is another surface of your house filled with cultter! I use(d) mine to put up pictures, memo pads, recipe planners, missionary prayer cards, coupons (mostly expired), birth announcements, Hebrew letters (yes, magnetic Hebrew letters...I'm awesome), the lock-up schedule for church...what else is on there?....oh yeah, my easy-peasy recipe for granola bars and my cheater-pants conversion chart (because who can ever rember how many ounces are in a pint and all that?). Whew. Exhausting just to think about!

I didn't want to throw everything away, so I took everything down. I sorted through and made three stacks: things to keep on the refrigerator, things to keep somewhere else, and things to throw away.

On the left side of the fridge I put up cooking stuff...my conversion chart, my granola recipe, etc. I can see this side from the pantry and stove. On the right side I put up the missionary prayer cards and other pictures I wanted to be able to see every day. That's it. So easy! So exciting!...ok fine, it's still not exciting.

IN OTHER KITCHEN NEWS (if you're not asleep by now) I'm so close to finishing up. I have to paint a few more doors and the drawers. Hopefully sometime in the next week Shane will put the hardware on (I can't wait to show you the hardware I picked out!) and hang up the doors and we'll have a we-finally-finished-the-kitchen party!

Toy Story 3

2010-06-21T15:37:00.000-04:00

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

Kitchen Update 6

2010-06-18T17:33:00.000-04:00

The tape may never come off the windows. I think the heat glued the tape onto them...do you think anyone will notice only two of the bottom panes are tape-less?

And I finally got started on the doors...hello, entryway:

Books Brought = Trade Credit

2010-06-16T14:34:00.001-04:00

We take most books in trade at our store.
Most. Books.

Kitchen Update 5

2010-06-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

More progress! It's slow but it's getting there...touch ups and drawers and doors next.

Before:

During:

During-er:

Today:

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought several knobs to try out. I'll put up pictures of them soon...I know you want to help me pick!

Ribbon Memo/Picture Holder

2010-06-14T15:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, BLOG!

2010-06-11T18:02:00.000-04:00

Today is my first birthday on this blog. Thanks to everyone who reads and encourages me! It's been fun!

Busy Week

2010-06-09T13:12:00.001-04:00

We've been swamped the last couple weeks. I have the afternoon off today and hope to finish, or at least get close to finishing, the kitchen cabinets.

Happy Anniversary!

2010-06-03T11:55:00.000-04:00

This is the picture that hangs above our bed. A big 16x20 print. It's what four happy years together looks like!

Happy anniversary to my one and only Shane!

Happy Anniversary Eve!

2010-06-02T11:07:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. Four years ago I married my amazing Shane. I don't think either of us realized when we got married exactly how perfect we were going to be together. I honestly can say that I don't think we could be a better match.

In honor of our anniversary, I took a picture of a picture my mom just mailed me. Apparently she was a little slow in getting some pictures developed...

...like four and a half years slow. This is me in September 2005 (sometime over Labor Day weekend). It's the first time ever I tried on my wedding dress. I think it was the third or fourth dress I tried on.

Here's a quick time line for you--this is in 2005.
May - my brother graduates from Mercer University (where I was going to college, too)
July - my dad, mom, and grandma move from Cordele (about an hour away from me) to Mount Airy, North Carolina (about 7 hours away from me)
August - Shane FINALLY proposes the week before school starts and Victor (my brother) moves from North Carolina (he moved with my parents) to Texas
September (Labor Day weekend) - I drive up to NC to see my parents for the first time since I got engaged and go wedding dress shopping with my mom (where she took pictures in secret and horded them for years)

So basically all in one summer my family all moved away. And I got engaged. And started my senior year of college. And started going to church with my fiance instead of my brother. It was a pretty crazy time in my life.

And here we are four years later with our house, our dog, three bookstores, and a crazy-good life.

Read my 6 1/2 favorite things about Shane.

We Remember

2010-05-31T12:43:00.002-04:00

Happy Memorial Day

Today we remember.

Hey Look I have a 3 Column Blog Now!

2010-05-28T11:44:00.001-04:00

For some reason today it was REALLY important for me to change to a 3 column blog. I searched and searched for a way to do it...and finally did it myself...kinda.

Anyway...I'm still working on the kitchen cabinets. No new pictures, because when you paint white paint over white primer...not much changes.

And, because I hate posting without pictures, here's a couple pictures from Courtney's visit last weekend.

Kitchen Update 4

2010-05-27T10:12:00.002-04:00

And now on to the window/sink side of the kitchen:

Before:

During:

During-er:

It doesn't even FEEL like the same kitchen anymore! Walking into our house feels different now, it really does!

Kitchen Cabinets--Week 3

2010-05-24T11:27:00.001-04:00

We wanted to start and finish painting our kitchen cabinets in a week and a half, but last week was crazy busy with business stuff. So we've done only one side. The good news is that the one side is completely finished...except for the door and drawers...

Today when I get home I'm hoping to put on some paint clothes, grab my MP3 player, and get to work on the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen...

P.S. I am listening to E. Nesbit's The Enchanted Castle on my MP3 player.

Small Business of the Month

2010-05-21T15:57:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture from this past Tuesday...

The plaque reads:

Small Business of the Month Award
Gottwals Books
1806 Russell Parkway
For Outstanding Business Achievement And Exemplary Service to the Community
April 2010
Warner Robins Area Chamber of Commerce

Kitchen Update 3

2010-05-20T11:25:00.000-04:00

The doors and drawers are a work in progress. We still haven't touched the other side of the kitchen, but that's ok because I LOVE how this turned out! Love it with a big hug and a kiss.

Speaking of Courtney

2010-05-19T15:38:00.001-04:00

A couple days ago I commented how excited I was for Courtney's visit this weekend. My sister-in-law is so fun to be around but since she lives in Texas I have to content myself with phone chats. Anyway, she wrote a post for the Baptist Women in Ministry blog, which you can read here.

It's about the live of Lucie Eddie Campbell-Williams, a woman who I'd never heard of, but was an incredible influence in many aspects. Courtney's working on her Ph.D. in Church History with a focus on the Civil Rights era and so her telling of a black woman who lived in the midst of it is very interesting. Check out her blog post here.

(the picture above is one of my favorites of Courtney...isn't she the cutest thing?)

Kitchen Update 2

2010-05-18T08:17:00.000-04:00

BIG WEEK

2010-05-17T12:02:00.000-04:00

We have a big week ahead of us. Tomorrow the Warner Robins Chamber of Commerce is going to be at our Warner Robins location to award us with the Small Business of the Month Award (for April). We also have a couple guests coming to see us this week...including...

My wonderful, smart, funny, and beautiful sister-in-law Courtney!!! Horray!!!

We will probably stay up late giggling, have a pillow fight, paint each other's nails....umm...or just play Scrabble.

Kitchen Update

2010-05-14T10:28:00.000-04:00

Since Monday, our kitchen has gone from this...

to this...

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh...

Chalkboard {at last}!

2010-05-13T15:51:00.000-04:00

I finally joined the millions and made a chalkboard for our house.

I made it out of a picture frame we inherited (a fancy word for...nobody else in the family wanted it) and a piece of wood we had sitting around our house from who-knows-what. The wood just happened to be the right width for the frame and my dear husband cut the length down just a hair for me.

The kitchen part is a hopeful future prediction...we have one side primed and painted with the first coat...

Here's a before of the frame...gold and pretty ugly, but I loved the green ribbon around the center and the details.

Nothing a can of $0.97 Lowe's spray paint couldn't handle.

The Accidental Sweater Fix

2010-05-12T15:45:00.002-04:00

I say accidental because all I was going to do was sew buttons on this cream-colored sweater I got at Target. All the buttons fell off the first time I wore it...why does that always happen?

I kept forgetting to take the sweater with me to the store, so I bought the wrong sized buttons...twice. (Am I the only one who doesn't have a huge bag of buttons around the house?) Too big and then too small.

So while we were watching Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night, I started thinking about the cream colored ribbon I'd just bought for another project and wondered how I could make buttons out of it. Then I started gluing the ribbon on over the button holes and did that on both sides.

Next, I twisted the ribbon into flowers and "sewed" the ribbon into place every once in a while to hold it together. (If you want to make actual rolled fabric roses, this is a great tutorial!)

I think I'm going to put a button behind the flowers to I can button that very top button when I wear it (so that the button faces in and you can't see it).

Linked to Transformation Thursday, Today's Creative Blog

Kitchen Changes {coming soon}

2010-05-11T17:53:00.001-04:00

New kitchen coming soon to the Gottwals house...

Here's one of the millions of pictures I've gotten inspiration from...

Picture Credit

Am I forgiven for forgetting to post my sweater pictures I promised at the end of yesterday's post?

Modern Bird Studios Copy Cat in Picasa

2010-05-10T08:30:00.007-04:00

I really love the images that Modern Bird Studios does. They take regular pictures and make them into amazing art. Here's the example they show on their website.

I love the look but can't spend $165+ to order one from them (although for the quality and the wood mounting they do I think it's a great deal).

So I started playing around in Picasa. I've tried several free photo editing programs and Picasa's my favorite. I'm sure anyone could figure out how to do this by playing around, but I thought I'd do a quick step-by-step of it to make it easier....and so that later when I forgot how I did it I can look it up! I did the process with a few different pictures and it worked best with pictures taken without flash, although any picture will work to some degree. Here's my before and after.

Here's my original, a picture we took at St. Simon's Island last month. First, I like to save a copy of my picture, that way I have the original handy. You can always undo, undo, undo, until you have the original back after the editing, but this saves time and you won't have to redo, redo, redo to get your modified picture back. Just go up to File and Save a Copy. It'll put the copy at the end of the album.

Go to the Effects tab and make the picture Black & White.

Next, go to the Tuning tab and play with Highlights and Shadows. On this picture I slid the Highlights bar all the way to the right and Shadows about halfway.

I want to use the Highlights and Shadows effects again so I click over to another tab and then come back to Tuning. This resets the effects so I can slide the bar again. This time I slid the highlights about halfway and the shadows a little more than halfway.

Next, I went to the Effects tab toTint. Click on Pick a Color.

Then to the Basic Fixes tab to Crop...

...and we're done!

(Too bad I look partly bald, but isn't Shane's messy beach hair the cutest thing ever?)

If you have any questions let me know and I'll see what I can answer, but I'm no computer wizard (I can hear Shane laughing at the thought!) and I figured it out so I don't expect you to have any problems if you try it.

Linked: Between Naps on the Porch, The Persimmon Perch, Today's Creative Blog, Thrifty Decor Chick, A Soft Place to Land , Transformation Thursday
Tomorrow I'm going to show you a sweater I made cuter with a little ribbon...can't wait!

Inspired by...Modern Bird Studios

2010-05-07T14:25:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the art at Modern Bird Studios, I worked on a picture of me and Shane to get a similar effect. I'll be posting a tutorial Monday of how to do it!

Happy weekend!

In the works...

2010-05-06T12:29:00.000-04:00

I have a couple projects in the works to show, just can't show them yet. One I made as a birthday present and don't want to spoil the surprise and I'm waiting for some time to finish up the other one.

I'm nervous about both.

In other news, we've been working at home getting some books out of our house and into our stores. We sort and price while we watch this:

We just started Season 5. See why I haven't been blogging much this week?

New Signs at Gottwals Books in Warner Robins

2010-05-03T11:19:00.001-04:00

BUY and TRADE with us!

(you can see the old and boring storefront if you scroll WAY down to the very bottom of this page)

It Ain't No Joke

2010-04-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

"Housekeeping ain't no joke." - Louisa May Alcott

I don't like housework--I guess that's pretty universal, huh? Listening to a book on my MP3 player while I work makes it better--especially An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott (she wrote Little Women, too). I just discovered LibriVox, a website with public domain audiobooks. You just download them and hope for the best. The reader of AOFG is really good...sounds as good as an audiobook you would buy!

I'm also listening to The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein in my car, so far so good. And I'm reading Anita Diamant's Day After Night--I don't feel like I've quite made it to the "I really love this book now" point in it, but I've just read the first few chapters so far (see her book The Red Tent peaking out above the Alcott quote in the picture?).

Shop Online @ Hobby Lobby

2010-04-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

Today when I went to print my 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon I realized they'd added online shopping! Nice! Some of you who don't have a Hob Lob close by will love this!

P.S. I print Hobby Lobby coupons almost every week just in case I'm in the store and find something I ~~like~~ need. I don't usually use them because I like shopping the clearance 80% off section. But I feel so good knowing that I can get 40% off something if I want. It makes me feel special. It gives me security.

Pairing Socks Makes Me Thankful...

2010-04-27T17:07:00.000-04:00

...that we have two pairs of feet in this house--I am not alone.

...that I can throw away the socks with holes in them because we have other pairs.

...that we have a washing machine and dyer that work!

...that wearing striped socks can make me smile all day.

Linked to Chatting at The Sky

Enjoying the good of our labors

2010-04-23T16:40:00.000-04:00

I love how sometimes when I read a familiar passage seemingly new parts "speak" to me.

¹ To everything there is a season,

      A time for every purpose under heaven:
       ² A time to be born,
And a time to die;
      A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
       ³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
      A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
       ⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
      A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
       ⁵ A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
      A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
       ⁶ A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
      A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
       ⁷ A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
      A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
       ⁸ A time to love,
And a time to hate;
      A time of war,
And a time of peace.
The God-Given Task
⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. ¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

Skipping Church?

2010-04-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

If you ever wonder whether you should skip church or not, read this for clarification.

New Blue

2010-04-21T10:36:00.001-04:00

I PAINTED IT BLUE!

Here it is in my kitchen before:

And after:

It doesn't match a thing! I LOVE IT!!! I was originally thinking about distressing it or doing some kind of glaze or finish, but I like the pure blue-ness of it for now. Not sure that I like my copper things on it anymore, so I may shop my house and switch some things around.

It Rustoleum Wildflower blue (part of my arm is, too!)

Eventually I may get some knobs and replace the little pawn-looking knobs on it...but nothing urgent. I do like these from anthropologie...it has the right shade of blue and green that would tie into the rest of my kitchen and copper...perfect!:

I suppose painting a small piece of corner furniture blue isn't everyone's idea of exciting, but it was for me. It was my grandmother's and I didn't want to ruin in. I also knew it would be strange to have a blue piece of furniture in my kitchen when everything else is in the green family, but I'm glad I did it. It's a bit empowering to give something new life.

Linked to A Soft Place to Land in hopes that someone else will be inspired to try something new!

2010-04-20T14:29:00.000-04:00

I got brave enough to take Kimba's advice (on A Soft Place to Land ) to paint an outdated treasur e. Here's the before:

This was my grandma's and I'll show you after pictures tomorrow. The end.

Currently Reading

2010-04-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Set in the 1930s, I Capture the Castle is a girl's diary of the going-ons in the castle in which she lives. It's a bit of an awkward title, but it makes perfect sense. I'm about 2/3 through it and am trying to slow my reading down to make it last. I just love books that make me want to do that. There was a movie of it made a few years back, I'll see how that compares.

I'm also listening to the audio of this. I haven't gotten very far into it, but it's one of those books I've always wanted to read but never got around to it. So far so good. The nice thing is that there are a lot of books in the series so if I fall in love I have quite a bit to look forward to.

This week when I've picked up my Bible to read I keep getting drawn to 2 Corinthians 5:

¹ For we know that if our earthly house, tent,is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² And, in fact, we groan in this one, longing to put on our house from heaven, ³ since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ Indeed, we who are in this tent groan, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ And the One who prepared us for this very thing is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
⁶ Therefore, though we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight — ⁸ yet we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.

Goodbye Jeep, Hello Murano!

2010-04-16T15:58:00.000-04:00

We just traded my Jeep Liberty in for this beautiful Nissan Murano! After driving it for 1/2 a day now, I can say that I LOVE it! So comfy...plus the a/c works!

Weekend at the beach!

2010-04-15T11:21:00.000-04:00

Shane and I got away for a couple days to St. Simon's--and had a great time!

We enjoyed walking down the super windy beach!

We enjoyed the beautiful view from our room!

We enjoyed finding sea creatures!

And eating them!

Something in Common

2010-04-07T17:04:00.001-04:00

It makes me so happy to have something in common with The Nester. Even if it's just a few white plates on a wall.

Nester's--

Mine--

In a few days we will be here...

2010-04-06T17:05:00.000-04:00

The King and Prince Resort on St. Simons Island.

Chandelier Love

2010-04-05T10:47:00.000-04:00

Will someone please buy this chandelier from overstock.com and let me come visit and see it? Although it doesn't really look like "me" or the things I'm usually drawn to, I love it! Maybe it keeps showing up with the black and white rugs I've been looking at...

Jewelry Holder!

2010-04-03T11:09:00.003-04:00

One of the easiest things I've ever made. Pretty much just followed what Centsational Girl did when she made hers. The hardest part was waiting for everything to dry so I could start using it! I bought a $5.00 frame at Hobby Lobby (50% off)...they have these way in the back of the frame section that don't have backs on them. I was going to use it for something else so I Heirloom Whited it and used a glaze.

Didn't turn out like I thought it would so I decided to use it for my long-awaited jewelry holder! My mother-in-law has a great stash of craft stuff, so she let me have a couple of plastic canvases--even if you had to buy them, I think they're super cheap. So I basically just hot glued the plastic canvas to the back of the frame and added the hooks ($0.97 for a pack of 8). Painted it all pink. The end.

linked: Make if for Monday, Metamorphosis Monday

Happy April Fool's Day!

2010-04-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to come up with something funny for today because it's April Fool's and I forgot to take a picture of my jewelry holder and I don't have anything else to share or talk about but I can't think of anything to say.

Sorry.

Happy April Fool's Day.

Jewelry Holder...Coming Soon!

2010-03-31T13:18:00.000-04:00

This was one of the first projects I saw on Centsational Girl's blog that I actually thought I could make myself...

And now MONTHS later...I've done it! I just forgot to take pictures. So I'll let you stare at her pretty one and then show you mine tomorrow. Here's how she made hers.

Grateful

2010-03-29T19:11:00.000-04:00

Today I am grateful. For friends who are willing to drop their plans and come to my rescue. For friends who know just how to cheer me up. For friends who know when to ask questions and when to just be my friend in silence. For employees who are so much more than just employees. Employees I'd rather call my friends and heroes. Who take pride in our stores and understand our vision. My family. And today I'm grateful, most of all, for my dear, sweet, incredibly handsome, loves-me-more-than-anything husband.

Reworked Necklaces

2010-03-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

Isn't it great what some ribbon can do for a couple of black bead necklaces you're getting tired of?

$5 Challenge @ Living with Lindsay

2010-03-24T17:13:00.000-04:00

I took Lindsay's $5 Challenge and made something new for my little hallway! I've wanted a mirror up here forever so I could make sure I don't have anything in my teeth before I leave the house.

Here's what I bought at the dollar store: The only round mirror was this "Fashion Mirror" that had the foam soccer ball frame around it. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of it first...it was beautiful. So I just took the foam off around it. Easy-peasy.

I also bought these two bird pictures. They're made of cheap metal and were too precious to pass up.

Then I bought some twine.

I also cut a big circle out of a Honey Nut Cheerios box. I know cereal boxes weren't on Lindsay's approved items list but I hoped she wouldn't mind. I needed something extra to put on the back of the mirror so I could make the mirror seem bigger than it was.

Back:

Front:

It's kinda hard to tell in the picture, but the twine is actually in three tiers. I did 3 layers of twine closer to the mirror and then two and then just one layer around the outside.

I also wrapped twine around the bird pictures to tie them in with the mirror. Just wrapped and hot glued.

Love the end result!

Office to be!

2010-03-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

An office for me! I've decided I need to use one of the back rooms of our bookstore as an office so I'm not doing all my paperwork at the front counter. Here's a quick peak at the room now:

It's your typical used-to-be-a-bathroom/storage/stock/kitchen/break room mess. There is a floor underneath all that, it's a not-so-lovely tile. So first on my list is to get a rug down. Hopefully that will add some comfort to a bathroom-turned-storage-mess room. I have a desk at home I'm bringing so I'm hoping the rug will be my only big purchase.

Spent some time on overstock.com today looking at rugs and found myself drawn to the black and white ones...here are my favorites.

I like this one because it's called Snow White...

Option #1

This one is pretty and I like the ivory color instead of pure white

Option #2

I love the bold print on this one!

Option #3

This one is gorgeous. Just over my price range, though.

Option #4

This one is pretty, too.

Option #5

This one is obviously not black and white, but I love it, too!

Option #6

So...what do you think? Now that I've done this post I'm thinking maybe I should get a really colorful rug since the room's pretty blah and maybe having colorful rug will make me enjoy working more? I don't know...

Kids Books

2010-03-17T15:10:00.000-04:00

We've been working on the kids section in the Warner Robins store ~~all year~~ for a while. Finally finished up today! I LOVE the new layout and how much room we have!

It feels SO GOOD to finally get something done!

Quick New Look

2010-03-15T15:10:00.000-04:00

This weekend, in about 10 minutes, Shane and I changed a few things in the den. Here's the redone-not-too-long-ago before:

And the after-this-weekend:

I got some $1.50 letters at Hobby Lobby and Mod Podged some scrapbook paper to them. I think I finished them in November--just hadn’t gotten around to hanging them up yet!

I moved the plates to the opposite wall and added a couple more. Shane is such a great husband. He put up the Gottwals and my plates.

I love that the plates filled in a bald spot on the wall but since they're white they keep it from looking overcrowded.

Here's a before shot...not too bad, just...bald.

A quick note about hanging plates...there are lots of different ways to do it, but we just went with classic plate hangers. I wanted to be able to quickly and easily take the plates down for when we use them since these are the platters that go with my everyday dishes. I got my hangers at Hobby Lobby and Walmart.

picture credit

Map Project #3

2010-03-12T14:57:00.000-05:00

FINALLY got a picture of this thing. Just a National Geographic map I've had forever (doesn't everyone have several old maps sitting in a drawer somewhere?) cut up and individually framed. I originally got silver frames at Walmart for $1 each on clearance. Turned out I didn't have enough so I got these plain black frames for $1.50 each (full price!) at Walmart. I actually like them better than the original silver ones.

I've been going back and forth about where to hang it up and then today as I was walking from the kitchen to go upstairs I spied the perfect place in our living room.

What do you think?

This morning was...

2010-03-11T14:44:00.000-05:00

wonderful and terrible. Shane and I both had the morning off for the first time since...well, ever. It was nice getting to spend extra time together, especially since we got some sad news from some close friends. And then more bad news from other friends. And then more bad news. It's just not the best day.

We went to Lane for lunch, a treat which we both enjoyed...Shane had never been and I hadn't been in several years. Here's Shane trying to ignore me while I take pictures...

I have the best husband.

Not much else to say...my heart is too heavy to make sure this post makes sense or even care. Please pray for Rachel and Ben who lost their unborn baby yesterday.

Oops and New Books

2010-03-10T16:18:00.000-05:00

I accidentally fibbed yesterday. I didn't take pictures of my other project to show you today. But I have two good reasons: 1-I didn't realize it was time to charge my camera until I was heading out the door (that's when I usually remember to take pictures) and 1-I don't know where I'm going to put it yet. It requires lots of little nails going in the wall and so I don't want to put it up until I'm pretty positive it's going to stay there for a while.

Anyway...I do want to mention a couple books I'm pretty excited about that are coming out next week.

Not my usual reading (ok, it kind of is...) but I love James Patterson's Maximum Ride series. Fang is #6 and coming out Monday.

Like Julie Klassen, Liz Curtis Higgs has beautiful book covers. I LOVED her last series set in Scotland and CAN'T WAIT for this new one...comes out Tuesday. (She has a lot of great non-fiction Christian books, too.)

Kitchen Curtains {Mistreatments}

2010-03-09T12:14:00.001-05:00

I know you all thought I forgot I had a house. And I almost did. With everything going on at the stores I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about making my house nicer and cozier. But this weekend, with my mother-in-law's help I got one project completed.

Meet my new kitchen curtains.

The window over my kitchen sink faces our backyard--our pool, storage shed, and acre of woods. I haven't had curtains up in that window in the three and a half years we've lived here. Lately, though, I've needed something. I didn't want to do long panels that covered up the whole window because I love the light that comes in. So I did what I usually do...borrow ideas from lots of different places and make something that works for me.

I started out with a long panel I got from Target on clearance. It was about $9.00 (for two...not sure what I'll do with the other one yet). It was much too big for my little window, but I knew my mother-in-law would cut and hem it for me (because she's awesome) and I could get two smaller panels out of it. Perfect. It had the loops at the top but I wanted to use clip-on rings so I just turned it upside down

I made my own stencil by printing a big "G" onto card stock and cutting it out with my Xacto knife. I used just regular $0.97 paint from Hobby Lobby instead of getting fabric paint. I used one of those little foam brushes that are $3.00 for 12 or something...I had them already. Maybe not the proper way to do things but good enough from me (and cheap!). I painted the first G on and then waited for the paint on my stencil to dry before I started the second one.

Here's the completed stenciling. Am I the only one that uses my coffee table for projects like this?

After a quick trim and hem, I clipped on the rings and hung them on a tension rod I picked up at a discount home furniture store here in town (I got the ring clips there, too).

They look a little naked at the bottom since I did the stencil so high, but I'm thinking someday I'll come up with something brilliant to do...or someone else will come up with something brilliant and I'll borrow that idea!

I finished up another project, too, and hope to get it hung up tonight to show you tomorrow!

Ribbon Cutting Today

2010-03-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

We are celebrating our new Macon store with the Macon Chamber of Commerce, family, friends, and some local dignitaries at 5:00 today. Should be great.

Grapes

2010-03-06T10:52:00.000-05:00

I took a break from blogging this week. After my last post about Chile, everything felt so trivial that I wanted to write about. Last night I washed some grapes from Chile. I bet you don't even pay attention to where the grapes you buy are from...but I do. The small grapes from Chile are THE best. Anyway...I hope to be back to my regular blogging next week.

Chile

2010-03-01T10:57:00.003-05:00

I was born in Chile. My parents were missionaries there for thirteen years. We moved to the States when I was six.

Please pray, pray, pray for the country. The leadership. The people. The efforts to come in and help.

Please pray.

UPDATE: Here's a translated letter we got from some friends...

Dear Brothers and Sisters [in Christ]:
A big thanks for your worries/concerns for this land that you served with so much love!
Continue praying for our country. Still there are no complete informations about the situation of the brothers and sisters in the regions that have been the most affected, Bio Bio and Maule. Talca is almost completely destroyed (my info: 200,000 people, talking about the buildings), Constitution (a smaller town), and the nearby towns.
There is no electricity nor water and communications are almost impossible.
Continue praying, only God can give comfort and strength to the many people in the sad moment of our beloved Chile.

UPDATE: Here's another letter recieved from some friends:

It was a terrible earthquake. We were on vacation in front of the beach in Viña del Mar on a 22th floor with the kids at 3:48 am. I can not describe how was it, but in the south was more powerful and the people is suffering with the nonstop trembling (not sure if is the correct word) and social chaos. They don’t have basic services light, water for almost 2 days yet. In the same time we heard on a VHF radio that the sea was contracted 3 to 5 meters and we saw that and was a terrible feeling because it means tsunami! So it was hard but the one and only thing we were in mind was that Jesus was on control of our lives. Maybe someday we will talk about it and share how really was.

$5 Challenge and a Thank You

2010-02-26T14:51:00.000-05:00

I'll joining up with Living with Lindsay and the tons of bloggers who read her every day for The Five Dollar Challenge.

Basically you just go to The Dollar Store and buy 5 items for $1.00 each. Then you make something. Easy peasy. I know several of you who read my blog (thanks!) and are crafty but don't have blogs of your own (although you should!) might like to do this. So if you do you can send me pictures of what you make and I'll put you on here and then link to Lindsay's blog on March 25th. You can also send them directly to her. Make sure to take lots of pictures all along the way since you'll be doing a tutorial (as in, showing other people how to do it). Just click here for all the information.

I also want to say thanks to a couple of things that have changed my life this winter.

Ok...maybe this has not changed my LIFE, but it has definitely changed my hair. NO STATIC!!! That's something I get excited about. Plus it comes in a pump, plus it smells good. It's a win-win-win.

And no chapped lips. This stuff works like a charm. No more dry-lip misery.

I still need something for my incredibly dry hands...any suggestions? Are you going to do Lindsay's $5.00 challenge?

More Maps

2010-02-25T12:59:00.000-05:00

So...I guess you all know I have a thing for maps. I made a globe bowl back in December and I've started on a map wall project. I also have maps in a frame along the staircase.

Too much? Too many maps? Maybe...but I have another map project in the works. I thought I was going to finish it last night but I didn't buy enough picture frames. So I won't show you yet. But I will show you these two pictures that showed up while I was reading blogs this morning.

This one is from The Lettered Cottage Houzz Ideabook

This one was featured on Today's Creative Blog and is from Jessica Leigh.

So you see, I can't get away from maps no mater how hard I try! Ok...so I'm not really trying.

My Lisa Leonard Necklace

2010-02-24T14:48:00.000-05:00

My necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs came. And I'm in love. LOVE. I added the diamond that Shane gave me for our one year dating anniversary. It's just perfect.

Plates

2010-02-23T12:45:00.000-05:00

I love the look of a gathering of plates on a wall.

From here and she even tells you how to do it!

From The Nester

I also love this one found here from the Domino archives. Adds a little something unexpected in a regular old place. See the one at the top separated out from the other ones? That's great.

This one is so pretty...love how it turns the corner.

Something like this may show up at my house one day...

Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

2010-02-22T17:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight we are going on a date. It's the first we're-not-going-out-just-because-we-have-more-work-to-do-later-but-because-we-actually-like-each-other-and-have-free-time date we've been on in a LONG time! Between opening a new store two weeks ago and buying a ton of new inventory last week and overhauling the young adult and kids sections at our Warner Robins store we've just been super busy lately.

We're going to see this movie

Based on this book

Want Walls of Books? Check out Gottwals

2010-02-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

That was the headline for the story Jenny Gordon from The Warner Robins Patriot wrote about our store!

Here's the story:

A community-friendly store that one can be proud of comes to mind for one Warner Robins business owner.

It is a locally-owned bookstore that sells used books, but it's much more than that for Abbey Gottwals, and her husband, Shane, who opened Gottwals Books in 2007.

Located on the corner of Carl Vinson and Russell Parkway in the Parkway Village shopping center, thousands of quality, used paperback and hardback novels can be found inside the 2,700-square-foot location.

In 2006, and with her husband's degree in English and hers in business from Mercer, the idea of opening a bookstore seemed ideal.

"When we hit on that idea, it was just perfect," said the 25-year-old Gottwals.

In the last few years the store has expanded its floor space, and the children's section at the back of the store is currently in an expansion phase.

You can find just about anything to read at Gottwals, including a selection of Melissa and Doug educational items. Its largest sections are adult fiction, young adult, teen and children's books, and a wide selection of science fiction and Christian books.

Having done extensive research on what kind of store they wanted in the community, the Gottwals settled on a formula that has worked well elsewhere: give excellent customer service, have affordable and good quality books, treat everyone like family and as Christians, and in all ways be fair and honest.

"We have a system that people seem to like so we do want to keep serving as many people as possible with it," explained Gottwals.

"One thing I was very adamant about was if we have a used bookstore, I wanted it to be nice and clean and set up well like a new bookstore would be," she continued. "Even now I really take pride in the fact that a lot of people come in, and they'll look around and ask if these are 'new' books or 'used' books."

"We really work on keeping it maintained nicely," she said of the store.

Much of the inventory comes from buyers the Gottwals work with, and all books are hand-selected for shelving.

One idea that has also worked well is trading or swapping books where no cash changes hands. Rather, customers can receive store credit toward the purchase of other books. You can use that credit to pay for up to half of your next item. And if you have books at home you'd like to bring in, they'll take those too if there's a need for those titles.

"A lot of people like to read, and they don't want to hang on to every single book they've read. This makes things more affordable, especially for those who read a ton or people with kids who are always going through new books and phases," added Gottwals.

The average book price is about $4 and in general, paperbacks sell for around $3 to $4. Last summer the young entrepreneurs opened a second, larger bookstore in Byron at the Peach Shops. A third store opened its doors just over a week ago in north.

Like many small business owners, Gottwals admitted the days can be long and the workload heavy.

"There's always something to be done, always improvements to be made, people to contact and books to price and shelve and organize. I've had to balance work with time off. And finding time to spend with my husband," she noted.

"Another challenge is just the novelty of what we're doing," she said. "We wanted to do something that was our own. The benefits to having this store have far outweighed any problems (other) we've had. Challenges have only made us want to be better and keep doing what we're doing."

She added that since the store opened they've spent very little on advertising, relying, instead, on word of mouth to get the word out.

But it's been the customers and relationships she's built over the years that make it all worthwhile.

"Bookstore people are just great," she said.

(Editor’s Note: Gottwals Books in Warner Robins opens at 9:30 a.m. during the week and on Saturdays. All stores are closed on Sundays. To give them a call, in Byron, call 956-0333, in Macon, 477-9200, and in Warner Robins, 225-1044. Also, visit http://gottwalsbooks.com/.)

A BIG thanks to Jenny for her great article and making me sound so smart!

GB Baby Bibs

2010-02-19T17:14:00.000-05:00

At the request of my bestie, Angela, I'm working on a couple baby bibs for her cutie-pie daughter.

I'm trying out this iron-on transfer thing. I've never done it before but it seems simple enough...$8.99 at Hobby Lobby and I used a 40% off coupon + $0.99 each bib.

For those of you who can't read backwards, here are the images:

I think sweet little Ari will look precious in them!

Crazy Weather

2010-02-18T16:56:00.000-05:00

Did we really just have snow in our forecast? Was it just five days ago that I made the world's ugliest snowman?

'Cause here's our 7 day:

Seriously, it's SO pretty outside. Still a little cold, but inside by the window it's perfect for short sleeves! Yes!

In other news, MY NECKLACE IS ON ITS WAY!

Something to Look Forward to...

2010-02-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

I LOVE having something to look forward to. I love looking forward to events like my birthday, Christmas, vacation, etc. But during some lulls, like now, when there's nothing coming up especially quickly, the little things work just fine. Weeks like this one, when I feel like we've been especially busy, I grab onto anything as something to look forward to.

Today I am looking forward to my Lisa Leonard necklace arriving...

It'll say Shane & Abbey, of course.

If you haven't checked out her store or her blog you really should. She seems like an amazing woman. She donated a gift card to Hope for Haiti, which is how I'm getting my necklace. I can't tell you how excited I was to see that I won her gift card!

Anyway, today is a "blah" kind of day with WAY more to do than I possibly have time for so I thought I'd just focus on something fun coming up. What are you looking forward to?

Bookcases Refreshed: A Before and After

2010-02-16T10:13:00.002-05:00

Notice anything different about my bookcases?

Here's a look at BEFORE (don't worry, I didn't actually still have Christmas decorations up) and here's an even earlier before:

And the AFTER:

All it took was a little wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby:

A little scotch tape:

Left side before and after:

Right side before and after:

These bookcases are in our den which has pretty dim lighting and so the white paper makes a HUGE difference in the room.

Things I liked about this project:
Cost - $5.00 for the wrapping paper
Time - Took me one evening, while I was watching the Olympics and doing laundry
Effort - Super easy--just needed a little tape and my xacto knife
Commitment - Will come down easily when I get tired of it

Things I didn't like:
My birdie bookend turned invisible again (see it on the top left shelf?)
I can't decide if I should do the middle piece in between the bookcases. I think it'll drive me crazy until I do.

I have one more little project to do and then I'm going to get back to my map wall. I know you're all on the edge of your seats waiting for a big reveal!

Linked up at Pure Style Home, A Soft Place to Land, Today's Creative Blog, My Frugal Family, A Silly Little Sparrow

Place Mat Pillow

2010-02-15T13:20:00.000-05:00

I was SO excited to show you what I got done in our den this weekend. But...I forgot my camera at home. Sorry!

I do, however, have another little project to share. I made a pillow out of a place mat...I first saw this project here.

I found a place mat at Ross on clearance for $0.49...I think the first time I made a pillow out of a place mat I paid a whopping $1.29 for it.

This is SO easy to do...just rip out a bit of the seam (I made a fist-sized hole) and stuff, stuff, stuff. I used the filling out of a pillow I didn't like so I didn't buy and stuffing, but you can usually get it pretty cheap at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

Then you just sew it back up (I did a TERRIBLE job of sewing back because my thread didn't match and the fabric was so thick it was hard to stitch but guess what--nobody will EVER notice!) and get your husband to take a picture of you (this may take a while if he's GLUED to the Olympics but just keep pestering him and he'll eventually do it).

More Snow Pictures!

2010-02-13T12:57:00.000-05:00