Blouse "Upcycle" - From a Thrifted Dress and Skirt

It all started yesterday, when I made this pillow out of a linen thrift store dress... As I was gathering the scraps to throw them away, I noticed that the top of the dress was still intact: So I saved it, and began thinking about what I wanted to do with it. I remembered this thrifted skirt I bought last year, also for .75 cents, but have never worn - it is super cute, but a little too short for my liking.

But it has several rows of gauzy ruffles...


...which I utilized (cut off) to make a ruffled trim for the cut up dress-turned-pillow-and-blouse...


Here is the ruffle, sewed on to the bottom of the dress-top, making it into a tunic-length blouse:

Then I decided the neckline needed a little somethin'-somethin'. So I cut out about a zillion circles, and made four rosettes:

Here is all that was left of the skirt:

Here is the finished product - this thing is so cute! It looks darling on! I can't decide whether to keep it and wear it, or start a little online shop and sell it.

I am so enjoying this little season of not homeschooling. I have not "not home schooled" for twenty years. Isaac will be completing his apprenticeship, and finishing up a very few things for his senior credits, and it is mostly all on him now.

I basically get to wake up every day, play with grandson, and decide what fun thing I want to do today. I have never had that luxury, ever. I graduated from school, went straight to work full time, got married, kept working, and got pregnant with twins before our first anniversary.

Then I chose to home educate all four children.

Now...here I am, in the enviable position of being a young "forty-something" who has absolutely no regrets, is not burned out, not skeptical, not jaded, and getting to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life - how would God have me spend and be spent for Him in these finest years that lie ahead of me? I am considering a part time job - since staying at home to raise and home educate four children with a husband in full time ministry was/is the equivelent of financial suicide. We have some ground to catch up on. I simply have to decide which job do I want? All advice will be eagerly considered.

God is good. And for now, waking up and sewing stuff is crazy-fun.

Embroidery on Burlap

Inspired both by the Easter season, and by the burlap tapestry art of Lisa Borgnes Giramonti, I started an embroidery-on-burlap project a few weeks ago...my very first.

I already had the burlap. I bought an inexpensive needlework frame, and got started, choosing the words "He Is Risen". Once I finished it, I decided to make a small pillow slip out of it.

Taking a small pillow that decorates my living room presently, I took its measurements and decided to make a pillow slip for that pillow - something I could put on it, and remove it sometime after Easter, and save it for next spring...I love decorating for both Christmas and Easter. This, I think, will be specific to Easter.



I took a .75 cent linen jumper that I bought at Goodwill, specifically for the fabric alone - wouldn't be caught cold and dead in the dress...


...and laid out the measurements of the pillow on it, using a disappearing ink pen - all you sewers know the one I'm talking about...




Cutting from the center out in an "X" shape, I cut the opening for the burlap insert, and pressed the seams back...



...and stitched the insert into the opening, then sewed three seams together. (I left a finished edge that was already on the dress - one less thing for me to sew!)



The finished product ~




I so enjoyed the embroidery on burlap, and am already planning my next project with it.

Baby Dedication(s)

(Tim and I, praying over baby Ethan...)

Yesterday, at Harvest, was a Sunday I will never forget. It was a true milestone in our history as a church - we've passed many milestones in the past few years...sending out our first full time missionary, setting in our elders, discovering "we" are expecting six babies (four are now born, two on the way), setting in five deacons, and the dedication, yesterday, of four babies.

I know elders are important. My own father was set in, also on a Sunday, as one of the elders in Harvest...think of it! I am a laborer in the harvest, side by side with my father. My daddy and I are in ministry together in the same church. I'd never have imagined it, just five years ago. And I know deacons are special. No finer men in this world can be found than those who serve Harvest as deacons.

It was a special Sunday, when we set those men in place. But yesterday was such a golden Sunday for me. Take a look at the front of the church, when the families all came forward to dedicate their babies:

Sorry this picture is dark. I'm the picture-taker, and I'm still learning. I posted the first picture so you can see Tim and I together. If you look closely above, the babies from left to right are: Timothy (my grandson, and my Tim's namesake), Ethan, Gabbi Grace, and Jeremiah.

Timothy (left) and Ethan (right)

...there's Gabbi Grace in the yellow dress, in her mommy Megan's arms. That's daddy Michael to the left of Megan and Gabbi.

This is Jeremiah, in his daddy Matt's arms. That's Kelly, to Matt's right. Baby Jeremiah and me...

"Then", back last November...

and now... (oh, how I wish I knew how to make this shot bigger for you!)

My. Lord. I. Am. Blessed. How I love these women and their babies. How I love that grandson of mine. Watching him being dedicated to the Lord was so very special.

Yes, it was a milestone Sunday. Four babies. How cool is that?

It's What I Love About Sunday...

It was the perfect day for a top-down drive on one of our city's Dogwood Trails...and I just love the 'Polaroid' app on my phone.


Hope your Sunday was as blessed as ours...we dedicated four babies at Harvest today: our grandson Timothy, plus Ethan Cantrell, Gabbi Grace Cummins, and Jeremiah Bailey.

I'll post pictures of the Blessed Event soon!

Precious Moments

Grandson Timothy, playing with his daddy and momma...




Oh, that sweet, sweet face. Tuesday early morning, I was still under the covers waking up, when Poppy brought me a cuppa coffee and my grandson. There are no words for it! The sun was beginning to shine beautifully, dappling light through the trees, casting rays over the bedcovers and my walls. My window was open to let in the bird song, the coffee was hot, and grandson was snuggled under the blanket with me, smiling and "talking" to me - giving his mommy a few extra morning-minutes to herself.

It was like I was totally inside a "Folgers In Your Cup" coffee commercial.

We had found out the night before that our oldest boy has been meritoriously promoted this week (he is a Marine) and our youngest son had just left for his apprenticeship job...it was his first day. He is learning a trade as a part of his high school education, just as his brother did at his age. (Years ago, we made learning a trade mandatory, whether our sons were college bound or not. We felt it vital that every young man know how to do physical labor, with his own two hands, in addition to a college degree. That's just good character. "If you have not at least begun to learn a trade, you do not graduate from our home school..." that was the Atchley Tradition, and it has proven a wise one.)

So it was a fine morning, a milestone sort of morning, made all the finer by waking up to my grandson's sweet, sweet face. And a man who loves me bringing me both coffee and baby.

Folks, this is what it's like to be me these days. It just is. Don't hate on me for it. I'm not going to tell you I've "paid my dues". My family and friends would probably say that, because they are so good to me. But I don't look at it that way. Here is my take on it:

I'm living a dream I did not earn and do not deserve. God is true to His promises to me...that's all.

Pot Roast - A Tutorial

Few things are more delicious than a roast, when it has been cooked right.

For many years, my roasts were hit-and-miss, and I never could figure out why. Some roasts turned out fork tender, others were tough. I tried various cuts of meat. I tried drenching the roast in whole bottles of Italian dressing. I tried the little packets of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Still, some turned out, but most were ever so slightly tough.


Fork-tender is the goal. If it doesn't fall apart, it isn't a great roast dinner.

I am glad to be able to say that I have finally discovered the secret to a roast that "cuts like buttah..."

Don't overthink it. Don't hover. Provide plenty of liquid (I simply use water) and forget about it for hours.

Two words...if you remember just two words, you will never have another dry, tough roast, no matter what the cut of beef:

Low. Slow.

Low and slow. Low heat, sloooooooow cook. If it doesn't fall apart, it wasn't in your oven long enough. Just keep some water in with that roast, cover it, and forget about it, except to check the water level.


Step one: sear your meat, front, back, and sides. (I'm not sure what constitutes "front" and "back", but you can decide...)


Salt both sides generously - coarse salt. Please, please coarse salt, not table salt.

This is what a good sear looks like. I use my cast iron skillet for the whole thing, from start to finish, from stove top to oven. Get the skillet screaming hot, and plop the roast onto it.

I love that sound.

After a couple of minutes, take your tongs, and sort of jiggle it. If it doesn't release from the pan, leave it. I know...it's scary. Trust me. Leave it another minute and come back at it with your tongs. When it has seared properly, it will release from the bottom of the pan pretty easily.


Some will take issue with me on this, but I add my herbs at this point, after the sear. I might use a sprinkling of thyme, or, like today, I might do Herbs De Provence...


My herbs did come from Provence, really and for true! A friend of mine went to France, and sent this to me, (along with some lavender...no one does lavender like the French!) and I use it generously on my roasts.


After you sear, after you add your herbs, fill the pan 1/2 way up the sides with water, and add as many potatoes and carrots as you can fit in the space around the roast. I also add garlic cloves and rough-cut onion...


Cover it and cook it how? Low and slooooooooow. (Note to self: clean the oven. Ahem.) Set your temp to 300 (or even 275) and walk away. Walk away for a very long time. Three hours isn't enough. Four hours, maybe.

I wish I had a shot of the finished product, but the family was so hungry, I didn't dare make them wait. I promise, it was fork tender and really good.

Remember - if it doesn't fall apart, it wasn't cooked long enough. Don't be afraid to leave that hunk of meat in there for hours and hours...just make sure it doesn't cook dry, and you'll have a roast so yummy, it'll make your granny proud.

My Chandelier

My daughter Hannah made me a beautiful chandelier. (Read about it here)

This past Saturday, Tim-the-Tool-Man-Husband finally had time to wire and hang it in my dining room! It is a sparkly gorgeous work of art, and the quality of the light in that room is exactly what I have been longing for. On the cloudiest day (we had storms here in East Tennessee this afternoon) my dining room looks like a clear, sunny summertime morning.

Beautiful, bright, crisp light. A must for me, in this season of my life.

Take a look:


I think rooms are not complete without something old and scuffed, paired with something fancy and shiny. Yin and Yang. Leather and Lace. Pearls and Jeans. Marrying the opposite textures creates such interest, whether in fashion or interior design.

My floors are (purposefully) worn and scuffed oak. My table is an oak antique. And on the wall, I have two sunburst-style grapevine wreaths. The sparkle of the girly chandelier balances out the scuffed masculinity of the wood and the grapevine. Walls are the white neutral backdrop that I have come to require.



"Hey baby, he's my handyman..."




(In the corner, behind the pocket parrot's cage, is a walnut room divider...put there to add warmth and texture.) All this room needs now is the right area rug, and a rustic, beautiful bird cage. With the right finishing touches, this will be the French/Swedish/Gustavian/Ecclectic/Undecorated look I've been going for.

I told you Hannah is a gifted designer.