Preparing for the Trip to the Cabin

I went to the Boulder Goodwill twice on Saturday during the most recent 50% off sale, both times looking primarily for stuff for the cabin.  I had dog walking duty at 9 a.m. so was there the first time just as they opened the doors at 8 a.m.  I had seen some drapes earlier in the week that I thought would be ideal to incorporate into the long-planned bed drapes for the cabin bunk area.  If you've followed my blog for long, you know that draping the bunks has been on my mind probably since I moved to the cabin in the late summer of 2010.  This is the best shot I have of the bunks taken last spring when I was still living there...

I have ample fabric in the smaller black and tan check I used for the curtains...

...but when I saw these draperies...

... I thought the great big checks would really be fun for the bunk curtains...however, they were $9.99, so I turned my back and told myself that if they were still there on Saturday when I could get them half off, I'd buy them.  Otherwise, tough luck.  I'd just have to make do with what I had.

When I pulled into the parking lot, the doors were still closed and people were waiting in line to enter.  By the time I parked and got out of the car, the doors had been opened.  I walked in, grabbed a cart, went quickly to the drapery/fabric section...and didn't see them.  I started pulling the hangers apart and there they were.

The fabric has a nice hand...rather heavy with a nice suede feel.  Right now they have tab tops, but some of the tabs have been removed from one of the panels.  If I don't need the tabs for length, I'll just use the hem as my tunnel and remove the tabs.  If I need the tabs for length...well, I'll worry about that if it comes to pass.  These will be the outer curtains.  I still need to make the inner, shorter curtains to cover the top bunk which is just used for storage.  I have the curtain rods and the hardware that hangs from the ceiling so I'm almost ready to roll on this project. 

I don't think I'll try to do it when I go up on Friday, though.  I'm only going to be there for a few hours and I just want to have fun and decorate the cabin a little for the holidays.  

When I returned to Goodwill Saturday afternoon, having attended to my dog walking duties, I seemed to be drawn to more things for the cabin.  

I found this cute little forest gnome that I thought looked just right for that rustic environment...

...he needed a little tlc...he'd had moss or something glued to his legs and arms and the tops of his boots and this had been knocked off, leaving scabby areas, and his little basket needed refreshing.  Today I did the necessary moss grafts and added moss and berries to his basket and his boots...

  

I discovered in the process that he had a little ladybug under his hat brim...

 

Then I decided to comb his beard and mustache.  His mustache came off and I could see he had a nice smile...

...boy, he looks at least 20 years younger don't you think?  So now I have to decide whether to return him to his original old-man-of-the-mountain look or leave him smiling.  I see he has a little residue there that will need to come off if I leave the mustache off.  He has the pale lip of a long-time mustache wearer who just recently shaved!

So, what do you think?  Stache or no stache?  Teddee