True Story

This is my day:

I got to work and promptly fell on this ice. I laid there for a minute - half stunned, half wondering if I could move - and mostly upset that I spilled my coffee. I did get up. No major injuries. I'm sure I will have a very colorful bruise on my hip tomorrow, and I did remove a nice patch of skin from my elbow. (do you realize how many times a day you brush your elbow against something?)

However, I had a very productive day at work and had no other tragedies until I left, when I then somehow again spilled my coffee - this time all over me. I was literally soaked. My pants were soaked. My shoes were soaked. My car seat, steering wheel, and keys were all full of coffee. I really don't know how I manage sometimes.

Anyway...on to home. I had a phone interview at 3:30 that involved the government. I sat locked up in my bedroom with my phone next to me and waited and waited. Finally at 4:00, I called the 800 number to find out what to do when no one calls you for your appointment. I was on hold so long, I started to just drive to their office. Someone finally answered and confirmed it was a good plan to drive to their office.

I get to the office and explain:

Me: I had an interview at 3:30, but didn't get a call. So what do I do now?
Government lady (I know she is a person, but I will protect her name): Picks up phone, "Hey 'government man', do you remember what happened with your 3:30 appointment?
Government man: "Ya, I called three times and it was busy. The last time I got voice mail."
Me: Could you confirm my phone number, because you don't get a busy signal when you call me. I have call waiting, and I wasn't on the phone, and I don't have any voice mails. See. Here is my call log.
Government lady: Repeats my number to me absolutely correctly and then says, "Well, we can get you in for an interview on Friday."
Me: Stare.
Government lady: "Let me call a supervisor." Picks up phone and dials. "Ya, I have a lady here who had a 3:30 appointment. We tried to call her three times, but it was busy and then we got voice mail. She said she didn't get any calls and wasn't aware her phone had problems. Now she is here and wants to be seen. Um huh. ya. Ok., so just schedule her for Friday." Turns to me. "I can get you in on Friday."
Me: "Do you guys leave a voice message if you get voice mail."
Government lady: "Depends." "We can work you in tomorrow if you want to come and wait. Do you have anything going on in the morning."
Me: "Um, yes. I have a job. (DUH!)....and I worked my schedule around this appointment today."
Government lady: "Well, you can wait 'til Friday if you want."

Needless to say, I came home feeling a bit beat up by the world, with one giant headache (which I still have), wanting to be held, and hide from the mean old world. However, I did just finish a cup of hot tea and an hour and a half with the One Who is Worthy of Worship. So, I'm hoping I sleep well....and tomorrow will be better.

I listened to a Leeland interview on the way to work this morning. This song really blessed me. One thing I can be assured of through the tough times that Bill and I have gone through, I sure have compassion for those who are facing tough times - and get my feathers a bit ruffled when the poor are taken advantage of. Quite ruffled, actually.

(To view this, look to the left and hit pause on the music player, then hit play on the video. :D )

Pumpkin Pancakes

(I double this recipe for my crew.)
1 1/2 c. flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. ginger
1/8 t. cloves
1/4 t. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
3 T. cooking oil
1/3 c. pumpkin

Mix together and fry in a buttered skillet. Serve with maple syrup (and I've heard whipped cream might be good too.)

Blog Tips: Safety

K, so I thought I might occasionally post some tips on blogging for my fellow blogging fans. I don't really consider myself an expert. But have just learned a few things along the way.

Today's post is motivated by a friend and star performing blogger who has recently has had some safety issues.

What do you want your blog to do? This is a pretty important question to ask yourself when you start. Is it just a place for family and close friends to hear about your family events and see pictures? or are you wanting to share all about homeschooling with whoever wants to learn about homeschooling? or are you wanting to blog your deepest thoughts for your own record?

What should I share? Once you know what the purpose of your blog is, then you need to start filtering throught your mind what is pertinent to really share. For instance, if it is a blog for the whole world to see, you may not want to give much personal information. If it is just for family and friends, you might want to reference to nick names and stuff that you might not the whole world to know. If you aren't keeping it as a personal journal, you may want to be careful about how many details you give concerning your emotions, marriage problems, etc.

Should it be password protected? If you have had any problems with stalking in the past, if you are afraid of anyone in your life, then your blog should have a password on it that you give out to those you want to see it. If it is only for the use of your family and close friends and you want to post lots and lots of pictures and details about birthdays and your new address or cell phone number, you should have it password protected? If you want the whole world to see about your knowledge on childhood diabetes, and you intend to promote it on related sites, you wouldn't have it password protected; but you would be careful about including personal information.

What is personal information? It is amazing what evil people can do these days with the help of technology. Say you post a cute picture of your family on your front porch in one picture, then in another post, you have a picture of your kids playing in the front yard with the street sign visible. In another post, you show your child's picture and their name with it. Blog stalker can now piece together your full address, walk up to your yard, and call your child by name.

Here are some things that can be pieced together:

• House numbers
• Street names
• People's Names
• License Plates (see above post. LOL!)
• Places you hold routine events
• Pictures of your kids in their team shirts
• What school your kid goes to or a picture of them in school attire

Those are just some examples.

How much of my heart do I expose? Besides giving out personal information, carefully consider how much of your heart you want others to see. Just because you are feeling emotional one night, do you really want your whole family to know you are on the verge of bankruptcy? If you just got in a fight with your husband, should you really bash him to the whole world? If you are struggling with your job, do you want your boss to be able to read about it?

Remember, everything on the internet is a permanent record. If it isn't password protected, it is accessible to all.

Should I have more than one blog?

I have had numerous blogs over the years. Some I no longer use. Some you don't know about. I've done this mostly for the reasons above.

• Xanga - I had a xanga blog at one time. It is still live for reference, but I no longer post there. Readers could only leave comments or subscribe if they had a Xanga account, and I didn't like that.
• Angela's Musings - my current blog to let me family and friends know about life happenings. I have not yet password protected it. I've prayed through this a lot and still haven't made a decision. I often like to blog about spiritual matters. That is more of a calling of mine. I hate to make those things private. So, I may have to seperate out another blog someday. Even though it isn't password protected and anyone can comment, I still have to approve the comments before they post. That is setting in blogspot, though, and not automatic.
• Those With Young - specifically designed for mothers of young children who are pursuing a relationship with Christ. I will not have a lot of photos that are personal or at least labeled. Personal stories may be from this year or five years ago. Details will be limited. Anyone can post. I can not just delete comments, but edit them (say a friend comments, "Ya, I remember when you...." I can edit it to say what I want the public to read and notify my friend that I have done so.
• Truths Self-Evident - a blog for political thoughts. I haven't done much here and I don't know when I will again. But I liked the domain name and wanted to reserve it.
• I had another blog that I started when Bill and I closed our tile business down, to start sharing the stories of how God moved and worked in our lives. That blog has been shut down. It was a learning experience.
• I had a very personal blog that I journaled very personal things in when I was going through a rough time. It was severly protected, and I only invited two close friends to read it and share my experiences and prayer needs. It has now been deleted from the internet.
• I have a new blog about to launch all about raising boys. This will be a blog that is very public, has its own domain name, and hopefully generate some income. SO I've been working on code names for my kids, etc. I want it to be REAL, but I want to be CAREFUL.

Private Blogs If you have the total blogging bug, you will feel the insatiable need to blog about everything. It is a great way for a modern woman to journal. If you have this bug, get a private blog that noone can see..just you and share your thoughts. That way it is down for your record, but you really don't have to tell the world.

Safety Settings Safety settings vary by host. Xanga, Blogger, Wordpress, Tyepad....all have a place you can choose security settings. Read them well and reference the help section if you aren't sure what they mean.

Temporary Measures If something makes you feel threatened, you can check your blog settings for ways to completely close it down (without deleting it) or temporarily block it while you figure out a long-term solution.

If you want to get a hint of how public your information is, try googling your name. Then google your name and image (angela gifford image) and see how many of your blog pictures might surface.

There is so much more on this topic; but like I said, I'm not and expert - and I have a pancake breakfast I need to clean up after.

Happy Sunday Blogging!

PRMSLND

I retired the plates. It just seemed time.


So you will no longer be able to spot me around town in the Promise Land van.

However, you will still be able to notice me by:

1. The rather large dent in my front bumper
2. The hideous hand prints that look like six kidnapped children have been trying to escape from the inside
   
3. The nails on a chalkboard sound my rear wiper makes
4. The look of "no one has washed me yet this year"
5. The side to side shaking that comes from four boys beating each other over the head in the back seat

However, I do have really nice, new, clean license plates. :)

Wanted: Reliable Tooth Fairy

My kids are into fairies. They think there is a laundry fairy that magically shows up and washes all the clothes; a kitchen fairy that somehow comes up with three meals and two snacks a day; a refrigerator fairy that keeps it stocked; and a gas fairy that shows up every night and refills the tank.

Over the years, I've dispelled some of the fairy myths. I've explained that there isn't a fairy that shows up to clean the dried-up globs of toothpaste off the counter or replace the cap on the tube. Neither is there a fairy that keeps track of their video game cartridges or delivers their lunch to school. But no matter how hard I try, they still believe in many fairies. One critical fairy is the tooth fairy.

It has been confirmed, however, that our family has the world's worst Tooth Fairy. She has never been all that reliable, but lately it is really getting bad. The kids are very unhappy, and I've heard lots of grumbling from her. Most recently, she has even hinted at how many lost teeth will be honored, per child, per month....or perhaps a weekly limit per family. Who knew that the economy even affected the tooth fairy? Try explaining that to kids.

Hire My Mom!

I was tipped off to something today that I go really excited about! You see, I have the privilege from working from my house. There are lots of ups and some downs to the arrangement, but honestly, as a mom of 4, it is a life saver. I cannot tell you how many days of work I would have already missed this year, if I would have had to stay home every time I had a sick kiddo, etc.

Anyway....it is really hard when you are a mom that needs to earn an income, but want to stay home with your kids. There are a ton of companies out there with sales plans. Some are great! - especially if you have a passion for what you are selling.

But what if you just have marketable skills and know that you could probably make some money from your home office if you could just do a *little* marketing, or some remote assisting. There really are jobs like that out there. It is just a matter of finding them, without being roped by six scams on the way.

So today, I was excited to find the Home Based Working Moms Network and Hire My Mom. It is a legitimate service that you can subscribe to to list your abilities. Companies look for the right person to fill the job and hire moms. For real! You pay a small subscription fee to keep your job application open, so employers can find you. You can subscribe for a quarter at a time, or a whole year and save a whole quarter's worth of fees.

Even better than that - if you think you might have an idea of a great business or maybe you don't know exactly what you could do; but are sure you could pull off your own business, if you just knew how, take a look at the Work at Home Kit! It was designed to help you find the perfect business for you.

I hope some of you find this helpful. I can't tell you how many times a week friends ask if my company is hiring or tell me they wish they could find something like I've found. Honestly, my job landed in my lap as a present from the Lord, but maybe the HBWM Network will be helpful to you!

The Great Gifford Getaway!

Today was just perfect! Starting by waking up late between flannel sheets, followed by plate-sized pancakes and a mocha....then off for a magical fall day. Most folks head off to some pumpkin farm and get hot apple cider. The Giffords go to the golf course. It is the end of the season. The courses are slow. It is the time that the family actually gets to experience what dad does all week.

Last year, at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, we got to actually go golfing on Employee day. This year, however, we got our first glimpse of The Club at Black Rock.

A Little Bit About Laundry

Yeah for working dryers!

Two loads at work in the washer and dryer....and probably only four more left after that!

So here is a little bit about laundry at our house. A friend tipped me off a while ago to buying plastic dish tubs at the dollar store, one for each family member. I fold the laundry straight into everyone's tub, and they are all responsible to take care of their own tub. The tubs then go back down the laundry chute for me to reuse. It works great! - most of the time.

Hayden is famous for putting EVERYTHING down the laundry chute. He puts his tub down the chute. He puts his shoes down the chute. He puts his stuffed animals, bouncy balls, and action figures down the laundry chute. He even occasionally puts himself down the laundry chute. Sometimes, he even puts down his dirty clothes.

Ian is also famous for climbing up and down the chute. The first time he did it in a Spider Man costume and was very disappointed that his webs failed him, resulting in a rather large scrape up his back. Ian also remembers exactly what he accidentally left in his pockets. This week it was .94. Ian also thinks his Zorro suit needs washed after every play session.

Riley always has the biggest laundry pile. Always. This upsets him. He is continually getting upset at me for giving him so much laundry to put away. Riley also generally has the dirtiest clothes.

Clayton is famous for leaving his laundry tub in the floor of his room until it is so mixed with clean and dirty clothes that he just throws the tub full of clothes back down the chute for me to re-wash, folded socks and all. This does not make Wonder Woman happy.

Bill and I have a problem. Even though the laundry chute is four feet from our bedroom door, and the laundry room is roughly seven feet from our bedroom door, we can't seem to get our laundry there. I guess it is because we miss the thrill of throwing it down the chute. So our laundry simply piles up on our bedroom floor or the bathroom floor or the hooks on the back of the bathroom door or the bench at the foot of our bed or on top of the dresser. It is sad. Really sad.

But by the end of the weekend, there should be no excuse for laundry piles anywhere...at least for a few hours. :)

Things I'm thankful for:

1. Nummy dinner tonight and a fun time at the table with the kids.
2. A bag of beautiful red apples that we discovered on an overlooked tree.
3. Hot showers
4. Pumpkin Spice candles
5. Flannel Sheets

Speaking of flannel sheets....it is time to go climb in them!

Laundry Piles, Pumkpin Pie, and Hope

It is a dark, gloomy-loomy day in North Idaho. But there is a pork roast in the crock-pot, rolls in the bread machine, and an apple pie in the oven; so how bad can it be?

Today I feel a bit like I've been on a ten mile hike uphill. But I haven't, I assure you. I don't do those sorts of things. I really miss my masseuse and back-cracker. But I'm hoping he will come back soon.

So after another week of a broken dryer and kids with the flu, here is what my house looked like after work on Friday afternoon.














Even the laundry chute opened itself spontaneously and begin to throw up on the basement floor.



I would show you after pictures, but I don't know when after will happen. I did, however, clean our room today - which is great because it is usually the room I put off until last because no one ever sees it, right? I plan to actually sleep in it tonight now that I can get to the bed....and the new, cozy flannel sheets are on it!



I was so proud of my work. I actually vacuumed under the bed, vacuumed out the window sills, cleaned behind the nightstand (and found two tubes of lip balm!), changed the sheets, removed all the dirty laundry AND dusted. When I was finished, I led my Superman (aka crippled masseuse and back cracker) by the hand into our room to show off my hard work. He stood there like a man whose wife had just cut off 12 inches of her hair and asked, "Notice anything different." "umm...." he looked all over. ""I know I'm supposed to notice something."

He got a slap on the rear for that!

I wasn't in the best of moods yesterday afternoon. Friday just seems to be a long day. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have a child to deliver to school at 12:15, two to pick up at 1:15, one to pick up at 2:35, and one to pick up at 3:15...all while I'm miraculously at work. I did have help yesterday. Aunt Michelle swooped in with baby Audrey and took care of the first two time periods. However, I'm always scrambling to get out the door for church by 4:30, and just never seem to get it all taken care of in time.

Bill stayed home last night with Riley and begged that I come home in a better mood than I left in. I assured him that after I finished my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with three boys around 10 p.m., I was assured to be in a better mood.

As sarcastic as that was, I did come home in a better mood. I love my church! I love my pastor! I love the children's ministry team I work with, and I love doing Fast Pass.

Last week, our pastor made a plea to our congregation to help raise funds to get 300 Ethiopian pastors to a conference that several of our staff are going to do there soon. He knew that many of us were going through hard times, but asked we just give what we could. Mind you, we have five weekend services to put buckets at the door. But last night as we prayed over the team we're sending to Ethiopia, we were blessed to find out that the body had given $58,000 last weekend. We only needed $6,000. I can only imagine what all the other $52,000 will go for. Amazing!

We made it through Wal-Mart without any major hitches. I don't normally take pictures in Wal-Mart, but was amazed by the children's pain/fever reliever shelf that seemed to show the severity of the sickness going on around here.



Before I left home, I had managed to get a pumpkin pie in the oven. I was a little nervous leaving as my Superman is much better at dryer repair than he is in the kitchen. My fears were confounded when I came home to this:



But after peeling off the black parts, it was really tasty. I guess the three hours of pumpkin scooping and cooking paid off. AND my pumpkin came with a sticker that told me how to make a pie. I wouldn't have tried it, but it called for very different ingredients than Libby does. Ironically I didn't have any evaporated milk, but I had condensed milk. I didn't have four eggs, but I did have two. So this recipe was perfect and yummy:

So Easy Pumpkin Pie:

1-1/3 c. smooth pumpkin
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1-1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. ginger
1/4 t. cloves
1 c. hot water

Pour into 9" pie shell. Bake at 375 for 55-65 minutes.

What I'm grateful for today:

1. Pumpkin Pie
2. Apple Pie
3. A husband who had the wisdom to save the $20 we had to spend on another Thrift Store dryer and come home and try one more time. Superman saved the day again! (Still waiting on Wonder Woman to show up and do the laundry.)
4. That none of the flu going around here has been the kind that involved bodily functions that created more laundry for my broken dryer.
5. That God is providing for all of Bill's previous medical bills, so we can start fresh with this last surgery. That gives me more hope than I've had in a long time. I was actually amazed when I begin putting all of the expenses in table form to show what all we've already paid off or gotten the agencies to settle for. All year I've been thinking we weren't making any progress on anything. Truth is, we've paid off thousands and made arrangements to have thousands more taken off. Its just that we keep having to do it over again and gain more bills. So it FEELS like zero progress.

Well, that's more than enough for now. I'm amazed if anyone has read all the way down to here. Time to go fill in for Wonder Woman and tackle some of that laundry.

Gifford Infirmary, Day 23

Today Riley stayed home with 103 fever. He was yelling at us from bed this morning about how he WAS going to school, and we couldn't stop him. This boy loves school. He told us if we wouldn't take him, he would ride his scooter. But he never made the four mile ride. He fell asleep instead.

Hayden said he was ready to go back to school because he was ready to be chased by girls. Oh boy!

Bill came home from work not feeling well. SO, we decided to forego home group altogether and keep our family in the quarantine zone. I haven't felt sick yet, just on the edge - that sleep deprived feeling with the lingering almost sore throat. I've just felt like staying in my warm house and not doing anything. Not that I've been able to not do anything, but I've felt like it. That is not normal for me.

I did feel a little obligated tonight though, to use my time putting up some of the fall produce. I tackled three little pie pumpkins that I got for .58 each at Wal-Mart. So for a few hours of scooping pulp, steaming squash, letting my hands completely wither and dry out, I have about the equivalent of $1.74 worth of canned pumpkin from Wal-Mart...and if you hadn't guessed, that is .58x3. So this pie from fresh pumpkin better taste magnificent compared to the canned.

So now I'm staring at this big bag of apples on the counter - from our tree - lovingly picked by my crippled husband before the second freeze because the kids were being less than helpful. I know my kids would be delighted if I made homemade apple butter. They LOVE apple butter. But the last time I made it, I didn't read the recipe very well before I started. So after I have it all prepared and in the pan, I read the part that tells me I need to stir it constantly for 2 hours! I'm not quite up for that again.

Things to be thankful for:

1. Our neighbor just paid someone to come wash our windows. I'd be tempted to wonder if they just wanted a better view inside our house or maybe they are so dirty that they can't stand to glance our way. But, the truth is, he has been doing bunch of excavating (rather putting a softball field in), stirring up dirt and felt it was the right thing to do. We were terribly bothered by our dirty windows. So bothered, in fact, that we've discussed washing them for four years now. It IS really nice to have them clean.
2. Our niece, Libby, is going to help me make a real-live logo for Those With Young. Yippee!

Gifford Infirmary

Well, Ian and Hayden are ready to go back to school tomorrow. I know because they were absolute stinkers today. What I'd like to know is why yesterday, when daddy babysat, the boys were so sleepy that they slept half the day. They didn't even have ANY time to do homework. But today! Today, when I'm trying to work from home and watch two sick kids, they are completely full of it! They WON'T do homework because they're full of it. What is up with that?

So Riley came home today from school with a fever....and here we go again.

Bill worked today. They let him work in the club house instead of running around the grounds. He came home very swollen, but he survived. He will try again tomorrow, and we are ready. He has been off for three weeks! We went to the doctor yesterday, and he upped Bill's nerve med dosage. Bill still doesn't have any lift in his foot.

I was so blessed today by a visit from a dear mom friend. She brought dinner, and it made me feel so loved. I've been hosting the Gifford infirmary for the last three weeks with four cases of the flu and one knee surgery. It was nice to take a break tonight and - BLOG!

Plus, more than anything, it was really sweet to sit and visit with someone. :) Thanks, Corilynne!

Googling your name

It is fun to Google your own name. I'm enough of an internet freak to actually subscribe to services that let me know where people go when they Google my name. I get a report daily. I do it mainly to see what articles/writings of mine get hits. Tonight, I decided to Google my own name to see what came up and where things pertaining to my writing ended up in the Google lists. The third and fourth listings are mine.

However, it is important to note that angelagifford.com is not me. Even though she is a published author, it is not me. I've known about her for awhile...and it always makes me wonder if people who have not kept up with me for awhile will think that it is me. I am not published, and I no longer have short, red hair. Yes, I used to have short, red hair.



It is now quite long, actually...and very brown. I did my bi-annual length test today by blowing it dry and flat ironing it.



I also found out that there is one of me who is a veterinarian, one who was due with a baby on 9/11 (important to note that is also not me), one who is a licensed massage therapist, and a fictional one with a movie about her disappearance.

I do not do My Space. I am not on LinkedIn. I am on Twitter @thosewithyoung...and a short quote of mine about school carpools has apparently appeared in about a dozen newspapers and online pages, including two of John Tesh's blogs. LOL! Oh, and the Flippee review. That is me, too.

Whew!

Whew! It has been a looooong month.

Riley, Ian, and Hayden finished cross-country. The weather fulfilled its annual obligation to provide the "coldest day of the year so far" for the district meet, so the Lumberjack's Wife and I hid our little brood behind the bleachers as long as we could to block the wind. Riley came in about 15th for his age group.....which probably the top 25%. Ian finished somewhere in the middle, but we were so proud of him for finishing. His coaches had told him from the beginning of the season that 2nd graders only ran a half mile. But he had to run a whole mile when we got there. He wasn't prepared for that, but he finished. Hayden held on to third place until the very end of the race and slipped back to 6th. They all did great! It is honestly always the first worst weather day of the year. They started out just wanting to go home and give up the race. We were really proud of their efforts.

Clayton has graduated from Soaring, and will get to co-pilot a plane soon! He has also started Masterlife with a group of boys that he's been studying with for about three years. He has also begun Serve Leadership with CDY (Christ Driven Youth) and his small group begins out our house tomorrow night.

The biggest thing going on around here is Bill's recovery. He had his third leg surgery on the 23rd of September, and this has definitely been the most difficult one. The doc removed a "wafer" of his joint this time. (love the terms doctors use. Is this supposed to make it feel insignificant that you removed part of my joint because you called it a wafer?) The hope is that the joint will scar up and not be able to produce fluid anymore.



This cyst was 13 cm. long - bigger than the last one. Bill went into surgery with full use of his leg and foot - just starting to really get uncomfortable with the cyst. He came out of surgery without any lift in his foot and without much feeling in it. The doctor has put him on some medication for nerves, but isn't sure at this point what has caused this. Bill has been in a lot more pain this time with lots of pins and needles pain going on in his foot. It has been emotional and tiring for both of us.

He hopes to return to work this week...probably just in time to be laid off for the winter. He has been working hard to build his club repair business though. He has been busy running to courses, meeting pros, passing out cards and price lists, and bringing home a little more work here and there. We shall see if the repair business shuts down as much in the winter as everything else does around here.

I've been doing everything and nothing all at the same time. Basically I've been in high-speed robot mode doing everything it takes to keep everything going and doing nothing of much interest or enjoyment. :P

I've been learning lots by trying to start Those With Young and have spent lots of time in prayer this weekend asking God about some things.

I did do one fun project this weekend. A couple of weeks ago, a super hero knocked over the floor lamp in the living room with his cape, and did it in for good. Later in the day, I found a very unique lamp at a yard sale. I'm the type that always sees potential, so I took a risk.

I asked the family when I brought it home if it was vintage cool or vintage tacky. The vote was unanimous: vintage tacky.




So this weekend I did a little makeover.

I took off the old plastic shades. They were yellowed, smoked, and bubbled from the heat.

Then, I took off the jewels.



Vacuumed all the loose dust off of it. Then spray painted it with Rustoleum's Dark Hammered Bronze. Hammered paint is great because it covers an imperfect paint job....and I'm great at imperfect paint jobs.



While it was drying, I took some translucent scrap book paper and glued the sheets together to make new paper shades for the lamp.


Then, I took all the old brass wire of the jewels, cleaned the jewels off, and rewired them with silver wire (which we already had). Clayton was disappointed that I was putting the jewels back on, but I had Lauren here. Lauren's mom is a professional at creating and capturing vintage beauty, and Lauren like my jewels. Yes, she is only seven, but I decided she knew more what she was talking about.




My photos aren't great, but I'm hoping my lamp has graduated to vintage cool. :)