Married to the Empire

Friday, October 19, 2007

Using what you have

Ever since we had those leaks repaired under our slab, I've been in a bit of a nesting mode. I guess that's just what naturally occurs when your house is torn up, then you have to put it all back together. I've done a lot of sorting and purging, and I've also been finding a few uses for things that have been sitting around doing nothing for years.

First, I have a couple of beautiful bowls that my parents brought back from China. They sat in my pseudo-china cabinet for years with no purpose. I finally found a place for each. The tiny one now sits on my bookshelves in front of my collection of folk tales from around the world. Inside the bowl are some rocks that a craft vendor gave me at the state fair. The rocks are a sort of potpourri; they're scented with some sort of oil. Appropriately, the scent I chose is green tea.



The larger bowl is now sitting on top of my curio cabinet. It adds just a touch of color up there.



I've had these silver crosses for years. I bought them simply because I liked them, but I never had a place for them. They've been shoved in a drawer for a very long time, and I'm glad I've finally found a place for them. They'll go on the wall in the kitchen above the repurposed TV cabinet with the Southern Living plate I've finally put to use.



After we brought home the big TV my parents gave us, I hated how it looked in the living room. The wall behind it looked so sparse, and the TV had to be angled out all strangely. I've made a bit of peace with the TV now by warming up the space a tad by adding a wicker basket with homemade (not by me!) quilts. It's still not a perfect solution, but I no longer hate the TV when I look at it. I can now live with it in its current position. On the other side of the TV (out of view) are some stacked baskets (recently purchased, not repurposed) that give a little balance to that side. I think having a bit of wicker just helps to keep make that part of the room not look quite so sterile and cold.



Now if I could just find a use for this silver-plated champagne bucket that I just had to have several years ago. We don't drink alcohol, and I've only used it as an ice bucket once. Yes, once. I polished it last weekend, and now that it looks all pretty again, I'd love to find a daily use for it. I'm open to suggestions. Otherwise, it'll make its way into the giveaway pile. I've reached a point where I want things to be used, and if they're not, out they go!

6 comments:

Moderndayhermit said...

Could you go to IKEA, Michaels or similar store and purchase some of their dried dried bouquets?

Melissa said...

Yeah...I was gonna ask if it was thin enough to be a vase of some sort. Maybe a planter? That is, if you don't want to use it still occasionally for ice.

And, this is off-topic, but it's been in my head ever since your comment about not being a mom. You may not (yet) have any biological children, but if your husband is a youth minister, you've got _lots_ of kids. I can say that for a fact as a youth minister's kid. :)

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

See, it's good I asked. It never occurred to me to use it as a planter. Doogie always knocks over any vases with flowers in them, but that's because he has a water obsession. He probably wouldn't touch dried flowers, so that's an idea that really might work for me! Thanks!

Leia, we're just youth workers; Ruf isn't actually the youth minister (although he has been a youth min. in the past). But you're right. I do refer to them as my kids. All the love, very little of the work of having kids. ;-)

*carrie* said...

Ewokgirl,

Fun to see these pix--glad you found homes for these pretty objects.

That is so cool that you have an entry in Nancy Twigg's book!

Ann said...

Yep :) I was going to suggest flowers too. I think one gerbera daisy planted in there would be cute. But you could really do any kind of flowers! Or if Ruf has 8 million toy lightsabers laying around the house like we do, you could create a lovely bouquet of those. Just kidding! :)

Ruthie said...

Love what you're doing with the place. :-) I recently bought a gramma (not mine) made afghan and it really makes my living room look more livable.

Something I saw in a decorating book once had a rustic looking ladder hung on the wall and quilts hung from it. It was neat. :)

Ruthie