Thursday, December 30, 2010

Have a Happy New Year


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year ...

I have been taking a little blog-break while enjoying the Holidays with the family.

Can't wait to catch up in the New Year.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A Pony for Christmas

Well....Lily would REALLY like a pony of her very own...but we can't buy a pony!

So, what is a girl to do....

Make your own Pony!

Yes, yes.... that is a trash can, a trash can turned into a rockin' cowgirl Pony!

I love a resourceful girl!!



And, I love this girl more than anything!!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Dressing for the Holidays

All I want for Christmas are these two dresses....




Please Santa!!!!!
Talk about Vintage Deliciousness!!!!!
Thursday, December 16, 2010

A few Christmas Crafties and a Paycheck....

Hello my friends!
I am having some fun experimenting with a few Christmas crafts...I spent Monday "Multi-Crafting"...I like that word...I will be using it a LOT more in the future..seems to be the way I work anyway. Glue something while spray paint is drying on something else...then off to sew something or cut something while both of those are drying...

Any-hoo....
Here are a few pictures of my projects on Monday....all completed before I headed off to earn my very own Paycheck!






As mentioned above...I had to join the rest of the world and get a J.O.B. I would love to make a living off of glitter and cupcakes but the truth is...I never get my Etsy shop filled with my little creations and I am always all over the place with my crafting...I haven't found my niche yet. The life of a Crafter with ADD...No worries...I actually love my new job. I was SO SORE though that I could barely raise my arms on Sunday! How is that for being out of shape??? WhoooHoo

So, where you might be asking????
Trader Joe's is my new home away from home...
I am a produce girl....
I need flannel panties....seriously!
I LOVE it....
Tuesday, December 14, 2010

One World One Heart Blog event



I am excited to say that I am going to participate in this fun event!! I have some ideas already for my door prizes ~ giveaways!!

Click the picture above to read all about it! And if that doesn't take you to it...Click HERE

Lisa @ A Whimsical Bohemian seems like an amazing woman and I have enjoyed reading back through her blog a bit...can't wait to meet new woman through this blogging adventure!
Monday, December 13, 2010

A few Christmas wishes

We all have them...that little wish list...or maybe not so little??


 
You'll notice that my lists are all over the place...obviously some are things I will never really get...just fun to think about!

I love this artist...and I love these prints. Check her etsy shop out!



And since this is Wish List....I would LOVE to have this under the tree!! But...I am not sure I have anywhere to where it....

I am a lover of Anthropologie - but can never bring myself to buy much more than tiny things....I would love ~ love to have any of these beauties...but they are NOT practical for my daily life so I know that they would not end up under my tree...again it is a WISH list!





These I could see getting some use out of...and I love the sock/skirt/shoe combo....

NOW....I may get these under the tree! I need a few replacements...all my little bowls took a beating this year and my mug got chipped recently. I love pretty coffee mugs - go figure - and always enjoy a new one. I am also a sucker for Monograms!



Another favorite....Ruche. Such cute clothes and much more affordable! How cute is this green sweater?? Under $45 too...might have to be removed from the wish list to the MINE list....

 This jacket is adorable! I love the entire collection that it is paired with in the catalog...check it out. Click on the jacket and it will take you right to it.

And for the Whimsical side of me....
How cute are these little candy canes...handmade and super cute!
5 Custom Artisan Candy Canes, Skinny size, Your choice of color and flavor (all one color and flavor)

This would be so fun behind my couch!

or this...
Vinyl Wall Decal Sticker Art - Merry Christmas - Holiday Decorations

How about some Eye Candy...fancy shimmering shades for our eyeballs!
HOLIDAY SALE - Holiday Glam Collection - 7 Limited Edition Eye Candy Shadows and Deluxe Starry Eyes Serum

Friday, December 10, 2010

Brave Girl give-away

Jeanne over at A Bushel and a Peck is giving away one spot into Soul Restoration Online Workshop offered by Brave Girls. I REALLY want the opportunity to take this class - I would really love to go to the actual Brave Girl camp but that is not in my future right now.  I would love to do the mother ~ daughter one some day. That would be a dreamy!

I could list MANY, many reason why I need to go to this retreat....can't we all????

I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I win!!! 

Jeanne writes one of my favorite blogs...I visit her every day!
Visit is such a nicer word than Stalk...isn't it??

A Few of my Favorites

Sharing a few of my favorite little spots in the house right now. Usually I do different - but coordinating - themes all through the house. This year I went with a few favorites instead....and decided that I had a problem with buying Christmas decorations! I put away 7 HUGE boxes of decorations without even touching them.

My mantel at night (before putting my nativity scene up)...these tall "candles" are from an auction we went to last year. Lily spotted them and had to have them. We got them for $5!!! I love them!! I switched out the bulbs and put all white in, I love their golden glow they give off.
They had colored bulbs in at first and they looked magical to her... She wanted them in her room year round... 
The hall holds the Advent calendar and this is Lily's favorite spot in the entire house because every morning the Christmas Fairy has left her a little treat in there.
The Dining room has one of my vintage houses and a sparkly silver and white vignette.
 I have more of these little houses but they live upstairs in my craft room (year round)....
I love the little pink sparkly houses and trees!
 
The dining room also has a tree...Lily's tree. NOBODY is allowed to put anything on Lily's tree unless Lily approves it....I think I have a problem with this little person.... But her love of glitter, big blue eyes and genuine Cuteness saves her! How many little four year olds do you know that want vintage hankies folded up and stuffed in their tree????

I can't show you a picture of our tree yet....realized after taking pictures that I needed to make a few adjustments.
But..I will show you something I found on my tree! My mother and I have a little bit of a running joke/dialogue about how she is little by little unloading her house into my house (which is much smaller than hers!!)

I was sitting there last night and almost choked when I saw it...how would you like to see this staring at you from your Christmas tree???
Freaks me out a bit...
There is a funny story behind these clown ornaments...I will share later.
Monday, December 6, 2010

Dinner, Decorating and Family fun

This weekend was filled with all of the above. Dinner out with my hubby for his birthday, then hanging out with some of our friends...always fun!

On Saturday we went as a family to the dreaded Mall...I know...can you believe it?? We didn't actually buy anything, we just wandered. Not exactly the best time to wander when there are hundreds of people in that frenzied state of mind for holiday buying. But we had fun...

We puttered and decorated around the house all day Sunday, it was fun to have nothing to do but hang out together. I will have a few pictures to share with you tomorrow.

For now, it is off to the store to try to get some meals cooked for the week. Don't forget to pop over to Hayden's Hungry for a few Festive or Cozy recipes. On this weeks Menu ~ Hearty Chili, Cozy Chicken pot pie, and Russian Tea Cookies
Friday, December 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Baby....

Happy Birthday to my beloved..

You work HARD for us - very HARD, every day....we don't say it enough...but we appreciate it and we love you for it!

I love this picture of you....it reminds me of you when we first got married!
Thursday, December 2, 2010

Answers...

I had a few emails/questions that I wanted to clarify regarding our Handmade Christmas.

1. No, my kids don't feel deprived
2. No, my kids do not spoil "Santa" for anyone else
3. We do "buy" gifts...
4. YES, I do shop at chain stores when I need to....geesh!
5. We try to give at least 1 handmade gift to everyone that is on our list, and we sometimes include a handmade item with a purchased item.

We support as many local businesses and Artisans as possible!

Our point was to cut down on all the "Stuff" that is given at Christmas. To remember what the "Meaning" of  Christmas is and get to the meat and potatoes of what they really wanted. 

Also, I would rather my kids give a gift from their heart, made from their hands and their imaginations than go buy some "thing" from a store.

Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Work in Progress

I have several little projects going on right now. I need to figure out "exactly" what I will be making this year for everyone and who everyone is...sometimes I forget who all needs to be on our list. That is never good!

I took a page from Karla Nathan about bleaching Christmas trees from the craft store. I have a growing collection of bottle brush tree's and my collections growing even bigger now!! I have so many plans for these little trees! I can tell you right now that "place cards" for Lily's Snow Princess Tea party is one of the plans....this is not the best picture, but you get the point!

I also worked on an Art Journal...I thought it would be fun to participate in one of Jessica Spragues online classes. This was a free one and I thought it would get me motivated on the rest of my Christmas projects. I love having a notebook or sketch book  handy to write down all my ideas/thoughts...there is always one in my purse.
The first 2 days were The Cover and a Dedication page

The best part about Jessica's online class is she did all the work for everyone....everyone except me that is because I am a "Digi-moron" when it came to getting the pages she made to scale down. I decided to just work with what I know best...paper, and embellishments! I had all the paper and embellishments on hand so this is a $$ free project for me. She recommends a bigger journal, but I like the 5X8 size so I can throw it in my bag. 
Let's see....what else have I been working on???

Tearing my house apart trying to decorate....
Posting some yummy recipes on Hayden's blog....
Thrifting and Treasure hunting! Man did I score some goodies this week!!