Heavy Rain Flooding Tornadoes Northwest Iowa Towns

Hi! Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Hope this finds everyone doing well in your areas.

How was everyone’s weekend? Wet, dry, stormy, windy, and it seems that everywhere around we all were facing something. I was out of town for weekend with a Class Reunion. This year we were going to see a few more from further states than we previously had. So, was kind of excited for that too.

I knew that going home I might see an abundance of water in different areas. Northwest Iowa was having rain that was resulting with tornadoes, and a lot of flooding too. Was a nice sunny warm day when I left. As I got further north it was becoming cloudy, and then taking on that gloomy like feeling as things are working there way to surface,

I was staying at my sisters for the weekend. We unloaded my cat, and her belongings as her new home will be with my sister. Tonight I am missing her here, kind of the routine of things she would do, and hoping she is adjusting with the new home. Sat down for a bit to rest, and talk. Then, the tornado siren was going off. Really, is that the kind of night we are going to have? 

I later cleaned up, and went out for supper. I was going to be at our classes meeting place early, but that was fine. As the night went along. Classmates came in, and we accumulated a nice group. Everyone having fun talking, sharing, taking pictures, and having an enjoyable evening. Some phones were receiving weather notices, and soon tornado sirens were sounding. Boy, was it raining too! Nice stream was in front of the building. The sirens stopped, and we continued on with our gathering. About 5 minutes later the sirens went off again. Windy, and really raining outside. Couldn’t really leave. I guess a tornadoes had landed outside of town from where we were. We just figured if it had to be our class of 84 would go out with a bang. We were fortunate to have some visiting from out of state, or a distance with the weather before and now. Things calmed down, and we all kept an eye on things as the night moved along. Some towns dealing with flooding, not entering or exiting some towns, and a lot of water. Finally we all parted for the night knowing we were gathering again the next night for a cookout.

Woke the next day to some towns flooded, and some having evacuations from apartments, homes, nursing homes, and so on. In town for us there was a water restriction issues. They asked for everyone not to take showers, do laundry, and things like that.

Despite everything we had a good night with our gathering, and sharing memories with laughs and the enjoyment of everyone’s company. Nice night with a nice breeze on the patio. Very comforting, and relaxing.

These are some photos from Spencer Iowa. They were flooded badly as you can see. 

This is a photo of flooding in Rock Rapids, IA. So much water!

Another town with flooding was Rock Valley, IA. Just horrid the water they had too!

This is only a few pictures of things happening around us. Homes with water in basements being dealt with right in Sheldon, and all around us. Even up in Sioux Falls, SD got a lot of water too. It has really been bad so far this year with Northwest Iowa. And the northern part of IA too. 

This is a picture of The Falls in Sioux Falls, SD. Bottom picture is from 2 weeks ago, and the top one if from the rain and flooding at the falls now. What a difference, right?

I hope everyone is getting through the weather if you are experiencing it. Enjoy, and be safe! Thanks so much for visiting LilacsNDreams! Happy to see ya, and I enjoy the company. Hope to see y’all again. Till the next time Have a Great Day, and be safe with all you do. Have a great week everyone! Toodles!!

 

Pop Up Canopy Tent With Sides Vendor Fair Events

 

Hi, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I know I’m a little behind this week. I am sorry I apologize for that. Wednesday house and dog sit for friend, and this weekend I will be gone all weekend too. So, trying to keep up with things at home to have it all done for the week, and to be organized a little for when I’m gone.

Ok, last week I discussed a little bit about the vendor fairs we do, that I enjoy them, and while we are taking time off from it I have been working on new ways to do our booth set up. Along with that is also the canopy that we use. We have done some events outside which I don’t mind too much. One exception is when it gets windy. We do not have side walls for our canopy. During some events we noticed a few would put their walls up, and yes it helped them with their booth. So we considered some walls for ours. I came across a deal to get a set of sidewalls for the canopy. I got them, and about a week later my neice informed me that our canopy is a 12 x 12. The walls I got were for a 10 x 10. So, the next thing is do we get another canopy to fit with these walls? Do we get another pop up canopy that comes with the walls? Upon viewing different brands, and some styles I have also seen some with the 4 walls, and an awning too. It would be nice to have the awning, but is it really needed? Then, trying to see what other vendors are using, and what they suggest to use. A lot of it depends on what money you would want to spend. 

There are many different ones to consider. Some are more water and weather resistant than others. Some do come with sand bags. I have also read that straight standing legs are better than the slanted tent legs too. Also, should we consider a color, or just use white? Right now we have a light gray which has been ok. The new table cloths are a royal blue, and the shelves we will be using will be black. Just so many things to think about. Of course with many of them I prefer to read reviews so I can consider issues others are experiencing as well. 

So, another project added to the list of to dos is to consider this issue with the tent. An average booth spot is 10 x 10 which we are accustomed to. So that would be another factor to consider when looking at them too. I don’t know, what do you think? Have you had this experience, and if you have what brands have you found to be good. Or, what style has benefited you? Please, feel free to share with all of us. 

I want to thank everyone for stopping by LilacsNDreams! It’s always a pleasure, and I appreciate the visits. Till the next time everyone. Take care, and Toodles!

Repurpose DIY Handmade Vendor Fairs with LilacsNDreams

 Hello, and welcome to LilacsNDreams! Happy to have you stopping by! Hope this finds everyone doing well, and ready for this new week. 

I sometimes do Vendor Fairs with my neice. She had done some, and one time asked me if I wanted to join her. Not only join her, but to bring some of my pieces along I make. It generally fits in with what she does with things handmade. She has done shirts, pens, tumblers, blankets, and a lot of kid things. Then, I add in my repurposed handmade home decor, and it looks pretty good together. 

Right now we are taking a break with her having a new baby. We both have been watching different events being scheduled, and of course missing it a little bit too. I watch different facebook groups, and the internet with different pieces being made, and get many ideas from everything shared. Course a lot of notes are made, pictures kept for reminders, and watching different sales to accumulate some pieces that can be used for different projects. 

Note: NONE of these pictures, or projects are mine. They are from people sharing in different facebook groups, the internet, and Pinterest is another good place to look too. So many different things are used, and United to make such adorable pieces to use for your home, given as gifts, and to be offered for sale for others to enjoy. I just love spending my time looking! It’s kind of like window shopping, and sometimes I admit I spend too much time looking too. For me it’s addictive, and I just so enjoy it that I get lost in it all.

Another thing I have also been doing during this time off is watching some of the vendor groups on facebook with things other vendors share about how they are setting their booths up. Some are set up for inside, and some for outside too. Yes, I completely agree how your booth appearance is will help bring people in to visit, and look too. When I would decorate my windows for my physical store I once had, it brought people in to buy, look around more, and gave them ideas as well too. Some of the vendors with their booths have noted seeing some difference with the change in their booth set up. Generally we would use 2 tables, sometimes 3, and then set wooden crates on top to give more room to show products. Nice, but also blocked views sometimes of seeing people when you’re sitting behind the table. Also, made it a little confusing when they pay for products too. 

Many are showing the different cloths they use to cover their tables, and share their opinions of why they use what they are. Others show the tables with wooden crates on them too. Depending on products being sold some show the back drops they are using, some have added tabletop shelves, floor shelves of different sizes, and also some have shared their checkout areas they have set up too. It’s amazing all the time, effort, thoughts, and everything that goes into this process. When we are ready to do the vendor fairs again I will be better prepared. Still use a table, but I believe in using the tall shelves to also display with. They hold more, easier for people to walk around to look at everything, and they do sell foldable shelves too. They transport like the tables, but I guess are a little bit better to transport too. I also have recently ordered a foldable shelf, but it is a smaller one to use for our checkout area. 1 shelf for the cash box, and another shelf to put bags that are used for items bought. Now…to decide on the taller shelves, how many to get, and where to buy from too. Hey, at least I have some time to look around, and become more organized too.

Pictures shared are not mine. Google what you are looking for, and you’ll see products offered from Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Hobby Stores, EBay, and pretty much everywhere items can be found. I just wanted to share ideas of what I have seen, and found myself. 

Well, thats how my time has been occupied quite a bit lately. I truly need to start working on organizing my work area with storage items I have bought to help, and getting items separated into places that I will be crafting with too. So many things to do, and I need to learn to organize my time a little better too.

Thanks so much for visiting LilacsNDreams, and hope you enjoyed what was shared today. Take care, enjoy crafting, and all of your searches for items too. Till the next time everyone….Toodles!

Repurpose Upcycle Restyle DIY Handmade Home Decor LilacsnDreams

 

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Happy to see you dropping by here today! I think about this site, and all of my other spots I have quite a bit. I run through my mind the things I should do, the things to discuss, how to pick up from where I left off a couple of years ago, and things like that. Yes, it’s mind boggling sometimes. The best way in my thoughts is to start fresh. Not completely over, but make a more fresh restart to things. So, notes are made for me to reword my About Me, my goals, what I do, and you know things like that.

So, here I start things again. My restart to what I do, and sharing with you. Bear with me on this venture of my restart to LilacsNDreams, and with this path I have chosen. 

Welcome to LilacsNDreams. I am Kim sometimes known as Lilacs too. I’m so happy you are here! I hope to inspire you with creating things that you can fall in love with. Creating things making them new again. I want to remind you that in doing this there are so many things that can be used for this passion that we share. Vintage…which I will always have a passion for. Vintage inspired, old, new, and even items from your home can be used for repurpose, upcycle, restyle, reimagined creations that inspire you, and maybe fall in love with too. I have fun doing this, and hope that you will also have fun, and will enjoy what is shared with you. What is that old saying … “If you Love what you do it will never feel like work” So that being said, Let’s Have Some Fun!

Thanks again for visiting with LilacsNDreams. Drop on by here anytime. I’m starting new schedules of things, and will do my best to stop by to say Hi too. It’s a working progress, and thanks for bearing with me. Take care, and see you again soon. Toodles!

UPDATE FOR LILACSNDREAMS

 

Hello Blogland!! Welcome back to LilacsNDreams!! So happy to have you stop by, and it feels pretty good to finally be back here too! It’s been a good couple of years, but feels like a lifetime to me. So many things have happened…seems to be the story of my life. Just another day, another story, another chapter to be added. A lot of the time that has passed has been with family situations too. Some good, and some not so good. It is what it is, right? To start today off my issue I was dealing with was trying to find my way to signing in here. Whew! Google, and changes they’ve made was a challenge to get worked out, but I finally made it. Thats a relief for sure!

Soooo, where do I begin? How do I begin this? I have thought often about this, and my site here. The only thing I have kept up with really is keeping my domain to here. I have done a few vendor market fairs with my neice who asked me to join her. Those have been fun, learning experiences, and still learning it too. I pretty much joined along with her, and just kind of threw a few things in with her. Not knowing what I’m doing, and she just kind of does things herself too. Soooo both of us learning as we go. This year with her being pregnant no plans were made for vendor fairs. Yes, I am kind of missing it some this year too. But, I have been reading a little here and there with Facebook Groups that deal with vendor fairs, set ups with your booths, and things like that. I’m still learning what I can, and enjoying the learning as the days go along. For me it’s interesting doing this, learning. Ideas, seeing what others do and suggest, and it’s great filling my time doing this too. 

I have a basement full of products to craft with that I got during specials, and sales. Biggest thing I really need to do is spend time putting up foldable shelves I bought, and some stackable containers with drawers to organize everything that I have, and have added to those piles too. It’s enough to keep me busy for a while, and occupy my time. You know how it goes. I’ll get it organized, things put in places, and pretty soon I’ll make a few adjustments, then arrange a few more things, and hopefully at some point it is settling enough for me to start working on things again. 

Once I get that done then I would like to put some of my notes, and scribbles along the way together, and go through places that have my name LilacsNDreams there. Places I’m associated with, check into, visit, and so on. It’s definitely time to update my descriptions of things, places to find me, share some pictures of things I have done, and are doing. Kind of like advertising me LilacsNDreams. By the way, the picture you see above is an item I made for 1 of the vendor fairs I attended. I used 2 pizza pans, and made it that you can hang it, or it can sit in a plate stand too. I also made it that the lilac flowers are removable, and you can put in what you like and change as you feel to do also. I have made another one of these with neutral fall like colors. I put the word Grateful on it where the butterfly is on this one. I also would like to work on my business cards making some really minor changes with that too.

Ideas, notes about ideas or my To Do List, and things like that. I’ve been sitting back long enough it’s time to get busy. Keeps me busy, keeps the hands moving, and occupies time for me too. Since I like doing this it makes it comfortable for me to do as well. 

First things first…getting started back with blogging. I don’t mind sharing things with everyone. It might be thoughts, ideas, and sometimes me just rambling. I enjoy it, and I hope you will too. I prefer being laid back, and not so stiff business like. Enjoy, and have a little fun with it, right? 

So happy to have you stopping in to visit. Hope you’ll stop back when roaming, and feel like seeing what’s up next. Always happy to have ya! Thanks again for the visit, and hope you’ll stop again. Till the next time everyone….Toodles!😊

Repurpose Upcycle Reuse Restyle Pedestal Plate Stand

Repurpose Upcycle Reuse Restyle Pedestal Plate Stand

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Happy you found me, and are visiting. I am enjoying sharing pieces from when I started to repurpose, and upcycle things. I had made quite a few Pedestal Plate Stands when I first started. I did different sizes using dinner plates, sandwich plates, dishes, bowls, and so on. A lot of the bases were made from candle holders. Once in a while I might find a coffee mug that would add character to a plate. I enjoyed using lonely vintage colored glass goblets to make these stands too. So many possibilities I enjoyed it, and had fun with it. Sometimes pieces were united, and offered as is. Some of the stands I would consider adding some lace, ribbon, cut and shaped sheet music, and it depended on my inspiration at the time what I would do. 

Below you will see a simple, but adorable stand I had made once. I used a green sandwich snack plate that had character with the shape, and design in the plate. I united it with a darker green ceramic candle holder with some light colored design around the bottom base. You will also seem my first balls I had made to accompany this stand. I used some ivory colored lace, and some light brown ribbing which was wrapped around styrofoam balls to make these. I had fun, enjoyed doing it, and the new owner was happy to have this adorning their home as well.

I do hope you enjoyed what I shared with you today. I take pleasure in sharing, and I have hopes maybe it will help to inspire you with your own creativity. Remember if you do not want to create it yourself you can always search for someone who does make things like this. Adorable unique pedestal stands that have their own uniqueness. 

Thanks for visiting LilacsNDreams, and I hope you enjoyed your visit. Have fun, be safe, and see you again soon. 

Repurpose Upcycle Reuse What You Already Have

                                            

Repurpose Upcycle Reuse What You Already Have

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Happy to have you stopping by. Last night I was thinking of repurposing, reusing, upcycling, and how many times can we do this to particular items. How many items in your home have been repurposed, and reused in some way. Also, are the repurposed projects from home, were they found items while thrifting, or were some pieces handmade by others. 

I LOVE to repurpose, upcycle, and reuse things myself. It can be more cost effective using what you already have, it’s fun to thrift for items to use, and these projects are great for your home or reselling too. Another reason to repurpose is that some of your pieces already have character, maybe some patina, some of their own details, and so on. Newer pieces do not have some of this. So, before you buy new have a look around. Carefully look for some pieces that you could reinvent. Some of the pieces might just need a little updating which could be new material, maybe united with another piece, paint touch up, some kind of new hardware, and so on. Just have fun reimagining them in new ways.

Remember I am suggesting some ideas before we start throwing things away, or sending them off some where. Nearly everything has possibilities for a second life. Seeing beyond what things are to what they can be can be fun, and a money saver too. A few ideas have been shared below of images shared for viewing.

This is a small Pedestal Plate Stand that I had made. I used an adorable little dish bowl, and attached it to a glass candle holder for the base stand.

Great idea! Use some of your favorite coffee mugs that maybe the insides are worn from time, or just some extras not being used. Add some styrofoam to put some succulents into, and add some filler around that. Adorable showing this on shelf, counter, window seal, etc.

Always looking for ways to do some small organizing, and using an old muffin tray would be perfect for small things as shown. Add an old handle to it if you like to carry it from spot to spot. The pan can be cleaned, and used as is. It could also be painted if you would like too.

Another great idea to reuse with some of your favorite little plants, succulents, etc. Old single coffee cup, bowl, glass bowl vase, and so many possibilities.

Got an old grater not being used? Why not smooth the cutting sides, and then hang it upside down for storage of colored pencils, maybe some crayons, scissors, and different things by your desk or for the kids.

Have an old shutter, and wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it. Picture above is 1 of many ideas what to do. Give it some paint, add a couple shelves to it, and it is something uniquely done for your home. This would be great in the bathroom, kitchen, your bedroom, in your office, and many possibilities.

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams! Don’t be afraid to share, or comment with things shared here. Love hearing from you, and enjoy reading what you share. Take care, be safe, and see you again soon!