Photo: MVC Scholars for 2014 are (front row, from left) Bryanna Rex, Cortney Jolliff, Emily Vesser, Jennifer Lutz, and Edith Amends; Juan Gimenez, Nuwelta Jean-Baptiste, Chase Burgess, Erlene Tweet, Sashary White, Kathrine Flores, Velimir Stefanovic, Ana Calito, Lorin Blackburn, Brooke Boulware, Torey Miller; Garion Brown, Brent Kalwei, Kalen Brady, Josh Wells, Brett Clause, Andrew Huhman, Sheena White, Chandra Crawford, with Dr. Sharon Weiser, vice president for Academic Affairs. Not pictured: Tarrah Sweet and Michell Twist. (Photo by David L. Roberts) Twenty-six student-scholars were honored at the 2014 MVC Scholar Banquet in the R. Wilson Brown Room on April 2. The annual event featured the presentation of scholar awards to Edith Mends (Accounting), Jennifer Lutz (Anthropology), Tarrah Sweet (Athletic Training), Kalen Brady (Biology), Juan Gimenez (Computer Information Systems), Josh Wells (Criminal Justice), Torey Miller (Dance), Velimir Stefanovic (Economics), Bryanna Rex (Elementary Education), Lorin Blackburn (English), Ana Calito (Exercise Science), Nuwelta Jean-Baptiste (Finance), Garion Brown (History), Chandra Crawford (Hospitality Management), Andrew Huhman (Management)

, Michell Twist (Marketing), Kathrine Flores (Mass Communication–Broadcasting), Brent Kalwei (Mass Communication–Journalism), Erlene Tweet (Middle School Education), Brooke Boulware (Music Education), Cortney Jolliff (Nonprofit Management), Sheena White (Nursing), Sashary White (Psychology), Chase Burgess (Public Relations), Brett Clause (Secondary Education–Social Studies), and Emily Vesser (Sociology). Ed Leslie, associate professor of Mathematics, presented the Ed Leslie Lamp of Knowledge Award to Nuwelta Jean-Baptiste, who read her essay about MVC. Other program participants included Earl Wellborn Jr., dean of Education; Sharon Weiser, vice president for Academic Affairs: Gary Ford, chairman of the MVC Board of Trustees; and the Rev. Pam Sebastian, chaplain for Missouri Valley College. Honors Program students also in attendance. Some of the parents, relatives, friends, faculty members, and coaches of the student-scholars also attended the event. The committee for organizing the event included Dr. Weiser, Dr. Wellborn, Sharon Hoeflicker, and Ed and Wendy Leslie.

The dinner was provided by Pedestal Foods. Photo below: An essay by Nuwelta Jean-Baptiste won the Ed Leslie Lamp of Knowledge Award. bacati white string curtain panel(Photo by David L. Roberts)swish curtain track overlap setWelcome to Funky Junk’s Christmas Home Tour 2013!purple velvet curtains soundcloud And a big hello to those that just came from the amazing  A Thoughtful Place!eclipse round & round thermaweave blackout curtains Did you see that tour? curtains foulridge

Christmas Tour of Homes is hosted by Just A Girl, consisting of 25 blogs showing you through their beautifully decorated homes. swish curtain track joinerThanks for having me along for the ride, Chris!dunelm olive green curtains If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Donna, and I’m a true blue junkaholic. My passion is creating cool things for my home out of salvaged finds. As you’ll soon see, I love rusty junk, any vintage junk, junk that no one else wants, and a whole lotta reclaimed wood junk too. I also author a feature blog, I Love That Junk, that showcases YOUR junk creations from Funky Junk’s weekend link party, Party Junk. Totally junked out yet?! You can follow all the rest of my junk at: Facebook / Pinterest / G+ / Instagram / Twitter and click below for my

First stop… my entry. And I just so happen to use a vintage ironing board for an entry table. What I love most about it is that it isn’t very deep so it doesn’t take up much space. Wood round and washer garland I love creating new garlands and this one new one for this year. This little crate is a recent find. Love it hanging on the wall like a small cupboard. Mason jars are illuminated by sneaking white mini lights inside the tool tote. They resemble true candlelight and cast a lovely glow in the evening. I think this baking pan turned office organizer is old… it’s incredibly heavy! The stairway is lit, greened up and ready for more Christmas cards! The star of the show here (literally) are these kindling stars. My brother gave me some firewood but I couldn’t bare to burn it! They are very lightweight and you can make them in minutes! The stairway handle was hit heavy in a good way with fresh evergreen branches and faux snow. White mini lights hide underneath and really help illuminate an otherwise rather dark stairway.

This corrugated metal panel was installed at the foot of the stairway, which makes for one fabulous Christmas card holder in a decorative, quirky way. String is hung from the top, with ornaments for weight on the bottom. All you do is clothespin on your cards! This year’s fireplace mantel features illuminated old windows, one of them being from my parent’s farm. Grapevine / pinecone garland tutorial If you like hand made garlands, you’ll just LOVE how easy this twig and string variation is to make! It looks complicated, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Pallet TV stand tutorial Burlap bean bag sofa pillows (tutorial) A junker’s answer to a present would be to embellish a couple of old toolboxes. The pallet wood coffee table is on the large side, so this sleigh filled with toolbox presents fit perfectly! Stacked gear Christmas tree tea lights (tutorial) eet my winter tree. Tutorial will be up Dec 11th during 12 Days of Christmas!

A recent pruning had me running for the cut branches. So glad I did! The sweet little scrappy bunting is a gift from The Pleated Poppy. I And later, I put up my 7 garland twigged out Christmas tree in a crate. My kitchen decked out for Christmas is in THIS post. It’s loaded with all kinds of quirky ideas you wouldn’t normally see in a kitchen. Such as the crates on a wall office below… Crazy crates on a wall kitchen office (tutorial) My kitchen is tight for space, so going vertical for office storage made sense. And it’s kinda fun to look at too. My attempt was to have these layered crates resemble a decorated tree, hence the vintage measuring tape garland. Not entirely sure I passed, but it’s cool anyway. 🙂 Old crate toilet paper holder A bathroom with a ladder / reveal It’s snowing in the bathroom! We don’t get much snow in our region so I love to celebrate it when I can, even if it’s faux. Desiring more interest in this bathroom window, shelves were created to fit, then blinged up with some tarnished creamers and such.

Christmas Bling Christmas tree window shelves (shelf tutorial included) Christmas tree style! I think this one passed moreso… Make a barnwood shutter window treatment (tutorial) Old crate toilet paper storage en the toilet paper is festive. 🙂 Wanna know my window secret? I never put any light blocking things in a window. So empty picture frames are perfect! Desiring a punch of green, one of the picture frames got covered in evergreen branches to create a square wreath. Grapevine twigs and pinecone garland (tutorial) The grapevine and pinecone garland adds a layer of rustic to the mix. Horse gate Headboard master bedroom tour HERE Rustic wreath created from an old garland And just for fun, here are two other trees I’ve done in the past that were on the top of the quirk pile… Such as my 2011 step ladder tree (there is one in there) And the 2012 treeless ladder tree. Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope some of these ideas have encouraged you to haul your toolboxes and ladders out of hiding and and have some creative fun with the holiday season!