what happened to loulou?

I’ve blogged for years…. I documented every step of our 2 Guatemalan adoptions and made some lifelong friends. We Guatemama’s are a loyal loving group. I’ve noticed as I’ve been documenting my attempts at craftiness that several have joined who know NOTHING about me… about what drives me….. about what makes me who I am. I decided I should start giving you a glimpse at who Loulou is….Who I AM.

For those of you who haven’t experienced an international adoption let me just tell you: they take over your lives…every second. every minute. every day. You don’t leave the house for a week in fear of missing an email about your baby.(the days before the iphone) You won’t be 2 inches away from a phone in case anyone calls….They never call and email as much as you would like. You cling to hope and hate the weekends…you never hear anything on a weekend. Your child is in a 3rd world country, and you have NO control. You eat too much chocolate and gain as much weight as you did in your pregnancies, and NO ONE gets you…. No one EXCEPT those precious souls who are going through the same thing. Your bloggers. Your friends. Your lifeline. Adoption becomes your identity. Finally, your children come home. You spend a year trying to find a new normal….. For the first time in years you wonder where YOU are. What happened to YOU? Where did YOU go as an individual?? Have you ever had a hobby? WHAT did you do before adoption rocked your world?

It took me a while to get myself back together. Sweet Essiecakes has been home 14 months, Anne Pearce for over 2 years, and I am slowly coming out of a fog…. a fog of having 2 babies 7 months apart who couldn’t stand each other most of the time and 2 teenagers with teenage issues. It was tough. Wonderful. Exhausting. Fulfilling. Horrible. The best things we could have ever done as a family. Now I’m having to recreate my life. Who am I? What do I want to accomplish? What do I want for our family? First and foremost I want to do what God wants me to do, and I feel that He wants me to return to the world. Get out of this house. Do SOMETHING….. I’ve had SO many houses in so many different places, and it occurred to me a while back that this didn’t feel like my HOME. I hadn’t done anything creative to change things up and make it feel like my place. My sanctuary. My house. My haven. All of a sudden I was filled with desire for SOMETHING…. I was ALIVE! I have a vision…. I know what I want our home to be!!! All the people who are supposed to be here are here, and it’s time to make our home. Not a home where some of us lived while we waited on the others to join us. A home for all 6 of us. Our place. OUR sanctuary. OUR HOME. I don’t have a fortune to work with or the time I would want to invest, but I am slowly but surely going to make this place be what I want it to be for US. What we need it to be for US. It’s time to live life again, and I am ready. I hope that you will tag along with me on this journey. I always need support, ideas, and I just plain love to blog. This is a different kind of blog than I used to have for a different kind of Loulou. I’m back, people, I’m back. For those of you just joining the story I thought I would help you fill in the blanks…..

The life of loulou:

Fly to Guatemala and fall hopelessly in love with a baby you CANNOT believe God chose YOU to call your daughter…

Get to know this baby girl and adore her more every minute…

Watch Andrew become a daddy to this girlie ….

fall even more in love with Andrew…..

Fly back home and wonder how you will ever make it another day without that face….Fly BACK to Guatemala to see this sweet angel:

Realize that you love her even more than you thought you did…..

Try to soak up every second until you have to leave her again….you don’t believe your heart will EVER heal….

Until you make that final trip and NEVER have to give that baby back again…. You pinch yourself over and over again to make sure this isn’t a dream….after all, this is the dream you’ve dreamed every second for as long as you can remember…

Just be a mama to your baby…

Marvel at every move she makes….

THEN I got to give her BACK to her daddy……after almost 4 months…

I got to introduce her to her brothers for the first time…

Then you bring her home to all the people who have loved and waited for her… Life begins YOU THINK….

You think your family is complete…. You think you are done, UNTIL you see this sweet face and KNOW she is your daughter…. PRAY AND PRAY AND PRAY AND BEG AND BEG AND BEG your hubby for months until he comes to the same conclusion: She’s ours too…..

You decide to adopt this baby TWO WEEKS before adoptions in Guatemala are closing….. no time for paperwork…

Fly to Guatemala less than 2 weeks later….the day after Christmas… Sign papers to register adoption….get registered Dec. 28….cutoff is the 30th…. Praise God that you made it in time….

Fall in love all over again with this TINY precious girlie…

Wonder how in the heck you’re ever gonna take care of TWO of these people!

Cherish every second only to leave.

Become her mama….

Only to have to leave again….fly home to complete paperwork for international adoption. from scratch. by myself. no agency this time. I did it all……Got everything finished in record time and headed back down to see my angel again in March…She had grown SO much.

Still so little and sweet…..loved every second with her.

Wondered what I had EVER done to deserve another one of God’s blessings….

Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.Went home AGAIN.

Went BACK to Guatemala AGAIN…..came back to the same sweet girl….a little older….still my girlie

This picture is one of the worst memories of my life. Essie was so mad at me for leaving this time….She wouldn’t have anything to do with me when her foster mom came to get her….I was devastated…

Then the happy day came when we got to go bring her home…

Two sisters together

Got to share this with my best friend…

Our little family missing our boys….

Bring Essie home to meet her brothers…

and her grandparents….

Come home to try to find a new normal….

Coming out of the fog…..

Here I am now…..ready to reenter the world……craziness. fabulousness…and all.

the tale of a dark table who wanted to be light

I linked this project to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday!

I haven’t been thrilled with our living room since we moved into our new cottage….. The dark, big, leather furniture just seems to make the space so dark….It also feels very masculine. I have a super hunky hubby and 2 hunky teenage boys, not to mention my 2 little girls who climb over everything like monkeys. Leather is practical right now, and I’ve never wanted my boys to feel like they were living in a dollhouse. Having said that, I don’t want to feel like I live in a men’s cigar smoking room in a club sort of house. We have to have a middle ground. To lighten up the space I’m going to lighten up some of the other finishes in here and add new lighter pillows. This will make it feel a little less mannish and a little more girly…. I started with this side table. We bought this at Hobby Lobby a few years ago to hold the tv in our old bedroom….We had this strange place behind the door, and this table was perfect. I’m always moving things around from one room to the another, so this table ended up in the living room. The height and size is perfect for the sofa… My problem?? It just blended right in with the sofa….Looked like one dark mess….. a hot dark mess.

I started by lugging this table out to my evil laboratory my garage. I wiped it down then primed it with a light coat of spray paint. I was too lazy busy to sand. After that coat I rolled on a coat of Behr’s antique white. I was already loving it.

I rubbed a little Ralph Lauren faux glaze over to give it a more antiqued look. This entire project took less than an hour and was free, because I already had all the products from other projects. Look what a difference that hour made!

I love the way the glaze added that extra bit of interest. I rubbed a little extra on in the crevices to make it look more authentically aged. I just wiped it on and rubbed it off with an old rag. When all that was dry I wiped on a layer of poly and let it dry overnight.

I am so happy with the way this turned out. It lightens up the entire space and makes all my accents pop.

All it took was about an hour of work to go from drab and dark…

To airy and light with a total cost of $0. Gotta love it!

How to make a bird’s nest….Easy peasy loulou style.

I have been seeing precious little bird’s nests everywhere…. The Nester being one of my favorites…. I’ve seen them under cloches, in apothecary jars, and sitting out everywhere…. You know what happened next…. I wanted some myself. So, as usual I headed heaven Hobby Lobby. Can I just say that they know Anne Pearce, Essie, and me by name?? I always get a, “Hey there, ya’ll! How are those girlies?” I could take that to mean that I go there WAY to much, but I like to pretend that I just have an easy face to remember. I was on the search for materials to make my topiary tree and decided to get the materials to make my bird’s nest too. This was so quick, easy, and cheap…. HEY! I’m talking about the nest!!! Not about me!!!! Anyway, this is what I got.

A pack of two nests for $1.99. Again, I will be watching for these babies to go on 50% off as everything does at HL. $.50 apiece will be sahweet!

I also picked up a bag of 6 wooden eggs for $1.49.

Then I got out my my paper plates, craft paints, and empty coffee can full of paint brushes fancy tools. The first thing I did was mix up an “eggy” color using white with some brown, gray, and taupe mixed in.

Then I painted those babies. Painting an egg isn’t as easy as it sounds. Those little boogers kept moving all around. I finally figured out to paint one side, the top, the bottom, and then let it dry.

 

I wanted them to look more aged, so I added some glaze: Please ignore the dented up can ;)

To glaze all you have to do is paint it on, and wipe it off. Easy peasy.

 

Here are 3 finished eggs and one of the nests…

I hot glued each egg onto the nest, and voila! I had 2 precious bird’s nests ready to go!

!

So, in under an hour and for about $1.75 each I had 2 nests. One found a home on my new topiary.

You’ll have to check back to see where the other one turned up! Happy nesting!

a little whimsy by loulou

This is my latest set, and I am THRILLED with the end product. After I made Anne Pearce and Essie’s sets I have enough to make ONE more set. This fabric is amazing….it’s Whimsy by Pillow and Maxfield and is true eye candy. It’s got several shades of pink and green and is beautiful. The pant is a bell bottomed ruffle pant with 5 inch double ruffles….. Essie said they were dancing pants! Precious. The top is monogrammed in pink and green to match the pants. This shirt is so versatile though, and could be worn with tons of stuff. I would also do an appliqued initial tee like the one shown here if you’d rather.  I use Old Navy tshirts….. This set as shown is $55 plus $3 shipping. Act quickly. This one won’t last long. I am cutting fabric tonight, and this set will ship in a week or less.

 

Free is GOOOOOOOOD

After our little visit to the Farmer’s Market Saturday I had a stash of pumpkins to use for fall decorations. I had plans but was out of cash…..So I went shopping. In my yard. In my cabinets. We have TONS of stuff sitting around our houses and outside in our yards that make beautiful decorations. I am in the process of rearranging our dining room and have been having a blast. Now that my girls don’t put everything they see in their mouths or on the floor I can actually have a centerpiece again. You are looking at $9 worth of pumpkins on my table and hutch…… All of the rest was FREE!

(Gotta love it when you post something and realize that you took the picture BEFORE you had your table runner on.....I probably had one of the 4 maniacs hanging on my leg....just sayin'.)

I wiped these pumpkins off with a damp cloth. Did you know that some pumpkins will last for years if sprayed with a protectant? I didn’t, but I will be testing that theory. Tomorrow morning these babies are getting a good coating of clear gloss spray. I pulled that big platter out of my cabinet and went to layering…. Those pinecones? FREE. Those berries? FREE. Those beautiful pieces of greenery? FREE. They were all pulled from my yard with the exception of the pinecones. THOSE came from my OLD house ;) Look at the stems on these pumpkins!!! That blue one is my favorite. Absolutely gorgeous!

Those are real itty bitty white pumpkins in my tallest apothecary jar. The girls LOVE them…. I am wondering how they will do in a sealed jar…. Will it make them rot or die?? If you know please leave a comment….I put a bunch of small pinecones in the jar on the left and fresh greenery on the right. I love the way they look together, and I love having REAL nature in my house. It makes everything look so warm and inviting. Plus, when you’re cheap creative like me you know to just replace the leaves when they start looking yucky. We never run out of greenery in southern Alabama!

This is a “cow” pumpkin. Have you ever heard of such? I love the colors and texture….I love me a pumpkin stem….. I got a clear platter out and added more pinecones and greenery. These centerpieces will carry me through Thanksgiving for a total of about $10. I’ll get new greenery as needed, but that’s all I’ll have to do.

On a side note, that pumpkin is sitting on my newly finished hutch. I couldn’t wait to load it up with some goodies….. That project will be coming soon! What are you using to decorate for fall?? Leave me some comments or a link to let me know what you’re using for your fall decorations. I LOVE to see what everyone else is doing.

Happy Decorating!!

How to make a topiary tree from a mold and an old ugly topiary.

I love a topiary tree….Wanna know what I don’t love?? The price. I saw these beauties while browsing over at Ballard Designs. Who doesn’t love them?? Yeah. They START at $49. After looking around for a while at all my favorite discount stores and discovering that I couldn’t afford what I wanted, I decided to make my own.

Ballard Designs Topiaries…

Some of my favorites from my FAVORITE store filled with yummy expensive eye candy: Green Gates… They were absolutely gorgeous, but none of them were under $40. That place is great for inspiration though…..

A while back I picked this up for $3 at a fabulous antique/thrift store. Yeah, not so fabulous is it??? Look at all the dust on it. YUCK! I KNEW it wasn’t what I wanted, but the pot itself was worth more than the $3 especially with the twigs and greenery. I loaded up Anne Pearce and Essie and headed to the Hobby Lobby.

I bought this HUGE bag of Spanish Moss for $4.99. I will be watching for the next time this stuff goes on 50% off….. I have tons left, but I am IN love with this moss.

I also picked up this topiary form. (Sorry for no totally before picture… I got excited and forgot.) They are $9.99, but I had a 25% off coupon….So far so good. It also had a green floral insert at the bottom shaped for a pot.

The first thing I did was rip the first tree apart in a frenzy take the first topiary apart…. I used the pot and saved the twigs that were wrapped around the stem. I used them to wrap this stem lightly. I secured it with wire that was attached to the first pot.

As you see in the picture above I just started layering it on and attaching it with hot glue. (what else would I use?) It really was fun and easy. I just kept pulling out a handful, pulling it apart to separate it some, and layering it on. This picture shows the bottom of the mold….I went ahead and glued it in my pot to make it easier to work with.

layer some more….

and more….

until I was satisfied with the result. I would cup my hands around it as I went to make it a round shape. I also trimmed some of the strays with scissors.Then I glued regular Spanish Moss around the bottom….. I am thinking of tying a burlap bow around the stem to add some more interest… Hmmmmmm….

Even my 13 year old thought it was amazing… He had to clown around with it a bit…..

And here is the finished product: See that little bird’s nest?? I made that too…Simple as pie. I’ll show you what I did later this week.

If you look in the background you will see my hutch that has been sanded and is ready for painting….oooohhhhhh. I’m beside myself… Ok. back to the project at hand.

Here she is sitting on the new (old) table I stole borrowed from my mother’s storage unit. My house doesn’t really have an entryway, so I’m working on creating an en entrylike space… See that plate in the background?? My Bigmama painted 3 for me. GORGEOUS I say. So, what do you think? Is it something you would try? It really was an easy and inexpensive project for the end result. MUCH cheaper than buying one in a store.

Breakdown:

1st pot: $3

Topiary form $9.99 at 25% off…$7.50

A couple of dollar’s worth of Spanish Moss….

The entire thing was about $12-13. Now, THAT’S my kind of topiary.

I linked this to Metamorphasis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.

i won! i won! i won!

I sent my chair redo (scroll down to see makeover) to Marian at Miss Mustard Seed. That woman rocks….. in SO many ways. You should go check out all the wonderfulness that she produces. I wish she was my next door neighbor, although I’m sure it wouldn’t last long with me asking her over for ideas every 2 minutes….Anyways, I entered my drab to fab chair in her Furniture Feature Friday linky party. GUESS WHAT?!?!??! I WON!!!! I flipping won!!!!! Let me tell you there were so many fabulous projects listed, and I am HONORED. Go click through those links to see all the eye candy…… Thanks, Miss Mustard Seed!!!! I’m already dreaming of the new fabulous tray I will have on my coffee table!!! WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!