Happy New Year and a Big Thank You !

I would like to wish each one of you a Blessed New Year ahead ! It is always exciting to look ahead and wonder what is in store for the upcoming year ! So here's to you a little "toast" to your New Year!

I would also like to thank Beth from Somerset Studio at Couture Over Coffee for this post about my creations ! So very sweet and I thank you so much !! Click here for the post!

Have a safe and wonderful New Year ! I pray that it will be full of many of God's blessings !

Cherished Treasures !

I thought I would share one of my cherished treasures that I have had for many years ! This sweet little pocket watch ! At the age of 16 my grandmother came over from Norway by herself , hard to believe isn't it , can you imagine letting one of our children leave home at that age let alone to another country! But it was one of the possessions that she brought with and had her initials EH on it ! When I turned 16 ( few years ago ... ha ha ) she gave it to me because at that time my initials also were EH ! Not long after that she passed away.So it is a little treasure that I will always cherish !

A Very Merry Christmas

A Very Merry Christmas to everyone in blogland !! I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas , we are in the middle of a blizzard, so I guess we have a white Christmas !! Take time to remember why we have Christmas , because of Jesus we have the true gift of eternal life ! I pray that each of you will know His peace and joy in your own life Have a blessed day !

The photo's are of a gift a friend gave me for Christmas. She knows I love kitties , so she had found this vintage kitty on one of her many treasure hunts , also it is sitting in a vintage basket that is a fabulous green and she also had it sitting in among the greens with candy canes . Just adorable !!! Thanks Jan !!

Night At The Movies

Last night I had a date ...... well actually three of my son's took me to a movie ! They came and picked me up which was fabulous, curb side service !! We went to see Avatar , a 3D movie , I have to say I really enjoyed the movie , was an all around fabulous evening !!

Back to getting things done today , hope everyone is having a great weekend before the holiday's !

Baby it's Cold Out There!

I knew it was coming ..... but I am never prepared! The temp outside this AM is -28 below ! Yes , it does even get a lot colder than that around here , but this is the first very low temp for this winter. At least we don't have but a dusting of snow yet ! A short post today , I leave you with a little snowman that went up on Etsy & Lollishops yesterday !!! Fitting for the weather !

Off to finish some Christmas lists ! Have a wonderful day !

Oh Christmas Tree

Just got my tree up ! It is always the last thing I put up for the holidays , for starters I don't like the tree I have ( takes up too much room in my living room) I would like to get a different one , but I didn't get that accomplished yet , so .... it is still the same tree from the past years ! I have used the same ornaments also from the past years , some of them I will share. My children , even if they don't live at home anymore all prefer when I use the same ornaments from the past years , I guess it is a trip down memory lane instead of having a beautiful tree where everything matches and is updated !This is a little angel one of my children made many years ago , it gets put on the tree still every year !

Little body from a pompom and the wings are some gold leaves , was made in school ! The little crochet baskets , all are in white in various sizes, my mom made many years ago also ... she is 90 years old now !! I will always keep those as a treasure.

The next little decorations are some icicles that a friend gave me , made using beads.

And this is the tree ! Every year I always plan to change the colors , as I do not like gold , but for some reason it never gets changed !! So maybe next year ! Where my tree is I usually have a chair there next to a vintage hutch that my tv is in !

Last photo is of a distressed basket I have sitting on my kitchen floor ( by my water cooler , you can see it on the left side..not so pretty , but I use it all the time !) filled with various dolls I have made over the years .. lets just say , a long time ago ! The very top photo is of my most favorite Christmas decoration and it always sits on top of a vintage hutch in my living room . It is an old church that lights up with bottle brush trees and mica flakes all over it. I remember this when I was young always peering in the stained glass windows wondering what it would be like inside ! So after my mother downsized a lot of their decorations I claimed it as mine ! I hope you enjoyed the "tour" ! I am linking this to Funky Junk's Myyy Christmas Tree , a lot of wonderful Christmas trees to admire !

White Wednesday photos

I thought I would post a few of my photos I have taken around my home ! And include them in a White Wednesday! I have a shelf that is above my patio doors and is long , I have a collection of creamy white pottery on it , for winter I have filled them with greens and added some of my vintage silver with some of my favorite snowmen I made many years ago !!

An angel that sits in a grouping that a dear friend gave me.

The glass bottle snowman is a vintage bottle that I took from my parents farm & repurposed into a snowman , which I have some similar here.

And an all white ceramic winter angel under a glass dome that sits in a grouping on top of a cupboard in my kitchen ( don't know if you can see my silver pottery vase in the background with a tree in it.. one of my most favorite finds)

Hope you enjoyed the stroll !

Very Shabby Wreath

This is a wreath I made several years ago , made from two frames I had ( oh dear , just one of the many things I collect) ! So , I painted the frames in a creamy tone and distressed them slightly. Then I gathered up some various greens I had , and this is a trick I use to make my greens have a "snowy " look !

I use Plastic-Kote Fleck Stone spray paint ( I used Alabaster) and I ever so lightly spray my greens till I get a dusted look on them .

Let your greens dry and then gather together with wire and secure the greens on the frames. I also added a sheer ivory ribbon and a glass prism for some sparkle ... gotta have some sparkle ! I like to have one frame tillted to add interest , but you can position your frames in any order you like then all you need to do is hang ! I am linking this with A Soft Place To Land , and also at Mustard Seed Creation's Furniture Feature Friday ,so check out all of the other links for a lot of ideas for the Holiday's and more !

How Cool is this?

Okay , I have to confess , because I am single I don't always keep up with things to use in your home. But when I was visiting my oldest daughter over Thanksgiving her husband ( who is an engineer and up most handyman , fix everything and improve it all fabulous guy) had this in there home for all of there Christmas lights , I thought that is the coolest thing ( who does not look for things to make life easy? ) ! Simply plug these in , and you get a remote to turn on all of your lights , mine has three plug in's , I have only one in the photo . I know many of you probably have these , I am just so glad to have my own now !So with three simple clicks I can have the lights on in my living room. Not to mention who wants to crawl behind a tree to plug it in ?

The other photo is on top of one of my antique hutches , with lights ... one's I can simply click on now !!! Have a wonderful weekend !

Thankful

The week of Thanksgiving ! I could have a list quite long of all the things that I am thankful for , this is just a few !

A loving God

Godly parents

my children

that I am healthy

that I have a home

my ability to create

freedom and all of our soldiers that have fought for it & the one's that still are

All of the bounty in this nation

I know that we can sometimes look at the negative things in life and get bogged down with them , but if we can keep our eyes on the positive and what we do have, we are still a blessed nation! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving ! Have a blessed week !

A few glimpses in my home!

Christmas is Fast Approaching !

I have been very busy with getting projects finished and some orders done ! I can not believe it will be Thanksgiving this coming week . But looking forward to it also as all of my children & I will be getting together , which does not happen a lot , with six children getting every one's schedules to work together is not always easy , not to mention the miles in- between ! But everything worked out and we will all be on our way to a great get- together !

Above photo is of some Christmas things I have been working on , or have made ! Have a fabulous weekend !

A final note ! Be sure to go over to Room Remix (the blog) as they are having a giveaway ... a $35.00 gift certificate from Amazon , now can anyone ever have too many books ? So take a few min. and check out the blog , you will be so glad you did !

Junkin Monday !!

In my area it is too cold now for flea markets and garage sales , makes me sad ! But I thought I would share a photo of my finds from area thrift shops!

I found this adorable tiered metal container, I plan to use this in my studio as I can never have enough "storage" containers ! The clear glass container is large , and heavy ! Was still covered in dust when I purchased it so it had to have a bath when it came home ! I love it & not sure what to do with it yet... still deciding ! And this sweet little glass dome with a wood base , I have already painted it with a base coat and I have plans to use as a display , I love the shape of the glass dome !!

I am linking to Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration's blog for the Junkin Monday , don't you just love looking at every one's "treasures" !?

Tiny Lamp Re-Do

I have had this lamp forever , my sister gave it to me many years ago because she didn't want it . It has been one of those things always thinking ... need to re-do that lamp ! Well I finally did! It was a gold and I painted it with a Nickle spray paint, had to take the lamp apart to do which is easy. Also covered the shade with a burlap type fabric that I had stamped on . It is on an antique sewing machine, that sits at the bottom of my steps ( I live in a split level home) so is a dark area and hard to take a photo , even if there is a light above it. The sewing machine was my grandmothers, my dad is 96 years old , so that probably tells you that this sewing machine is also old ! Oppps , guess that would include me too !

Hope you enjoyed looking at my little re-do and sorry for the bad photos! Have a fabulous day !

Will be posting this on The Shabby Chic Cottage also !

Vetrans Day

Just a quick post today , I just want to say a great big thank you , thank you to all of our nation's veteran's ! Because of them and all of their sacrifice's is why we live in a land of freedom still ! Our soldiers and their families who give up so much to serve our country! They are the amazing one's !

Saying thank you seems so small , I honor all of our veteran's and soldier's now serving our country. God Bless you and God Bless the USA !!

Monday's Junk !!

The Nice and Easy Antiques gal's are having a Junkin Monday , so I thought I would join in , except my junk is of things I recently found and am using in my home !!!

The top photo is of my table in my living room ( the table was a junk find also a long time ago ) I purchased a low clear glass candle holder and a clear glass vase from the thrift store.... glued them together and ...tada, it is holding a "birdie nest " !I also came across this large apothecary jar in a turquoise , blue tone , I knew it would go in my office , so there it is sitting by a stack of white pedestal dishes I have also acquired via garage sales! The walls in my office are a robins egg blue ( on one wall only) the other walls are a brown tone, the sweet little vintage kitty is a gift from a friend !.

Another repurposed little treasure is on a table in my living room, I had found this little dome with a bottom , not sure what they are intended for , may be butter, but I glued it to a candlestick and turned it into a pedestal dish with a dept. 56 kitty inside that a friend gave me many years ago , it is sitting in a bed of white vintage buttons.

I also snapped a shot of some frames I had found at the thrift shop and a silver tray that I am in the middle of repurposing !! So I better get back to my projects !! Have a wonderful day ! And check out the other Junkin Monday Posts !

A Giveaway !!!

Snowman created using a vintage bottle , head is from paper clay ! Vintge key with rhinestones attached to the side !!! The inside is filled with "snow" and pearls.

Soups On !

Now that the days are starting to get colder ( I am so not looking forward to winter ) I love making a big pot of soup ! Soup has been one of my most favorite menu choice's ! I had recently purchased a Goose Berry Patch Christmas 2009 book ( because there were several recipe's in it that seemed so yummy ) so last evening I made the Wild Rice Soup ! Mmmmm good !

Wild Rice Soup

1/2 cup wild rice

1 lb. bacon

1 C. onion, chopped

1/3 C. green pepper, chopped

3/4 C. celery, chopped

2 14-oz. cans chicken broth

2 10 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup

4 oz. can sliced mushrooms

1 pt. half and half

Wash wild rice thoroughly ; then, boil for 15 min, drain, rinse and set aside.

Cut bacon into 2 inch pieces and fry until crisp in a large Dutch oven. Remove bacon from pan and discard all but 3 tablespoons of drippings. Saute' onion,celery,green pepper in bacon drippings until onion is transparent. Add rice, broth, soup, mushrooms and bacon. Cover and cook over low heat for one hour. Before serving pour in half and half and heat. Makes 10 cups !

Have a blessed day !!!

Time and Finds

I was out and about this week and stopped at a local thrift shop , I came across this .... I love it ! Of course when I got it it had dirt and "stuff" all in the inside on the glass insert. Now I need to decide what I want to put in it ! Any ideas??? Let me know in the comments , would love to hear some ideas !!

It is also that time of the year .... fall back an hour in time tonight !!!! A decorative clock in one of my rooms that a friend gave to me awhile ago because she didn't want it , so there it sits ! It is all decoration and does not even tell time !!

I listed my chandelier painting on Etsy , can be found by clicking here.

Featured Seller

I was doing my daily check on all the sites I have an interest in , and was surprised to see that I was the featured seller on Lollishops today ! How fun & thanks to Sadie !!! I have been listing some new things in my shops , now that I am done with my craft sale !! I feel like I have been burning the candle at both ends ! I also am listing this adorable little bird plate , that's what I call it , but it is just too sweet ! The colors on it are just perfect for any shabby or cottage style decor ! It is in my SecondTreasures shop ! Click here for a link !

Gotta go... but hope everyone is having a great & creative week !

Crazy !

That is the only thing I can come up with !!! I woke up this AM to a dusting of snow on the ground , which does not make me happy .... brrrrr , but I was also amazed at how the tree in my front yard had all the leaves on yesterday & today they are all in my yard , they never had a chance to change colors, there all green ! I am hoping we will have some warmer fall days ahead !

I have been working on many projects , I have less than a week to finish everything up for the upcoming sale ! A photo line-up of some of the paintings I have done , not such a great photo ... I just sat them on the floor against my tv cabinet in my studio !

Projects In The Works

I have been working on a lot of different projects getting ready for up-coming sale in Oct ! Last night I finished these, they will be magnets! In the background ... things waiting to be soldered! My home is surrounded in projects , kitchen table is the snowman project , my counter top I am using to cut large paper board for some books I will bind, and not to mention my studio ! I guess it is a good thing my two kitties dont mind a mess !
Fall is in the air ( I hate to admit it ) because I know what comes after fall .... WINTER ! I am so not ready for winter yet !

Fabulous Etsy Shop!

Because of my small town location it is sometimes the pits to buy crafting supplies, oh how I envy when my sister will call me and tell me that she just went to her favorite fabric shops or even one of the major chain crafting supply stores! The closest town that has larger shops is two hours away! I am so thankful for the internet because it gives me the freedom to shop online and then my treasures are delivered to my door !! Looking for some items on Etsy I came across a wonderful shop Divine Moments , I ordered a few things and in a few days there was my order! If you love paper and all of the great products that are available now you need to check out Amy's shop and her blog also ! I was looking for a certain item and she ordered it for me , how is that for service ! The photos are of a mask I got from Amy's shop , love those things , they are a lot of fun to work with ! Below are some paper flowers I made using up paper scraps !!

Cookies !

Just had to post these adorable cookies ! My youngest daughter was hosting a shower for one of her friends who had just been blessed with a new little baby girl ! For the shower she made special cookies for everyone to take home as a favor, I think they turned out soooo adorable ( I had to sneak two away ) she decorated them in pastels and each one stored in a sweet little cellophane bag , easy to take home in.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend !! I am off to creating ... need to get a lot more made for my upcoming craft sale!

Creating

I hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend, after this it will be chaining my foot to the studio and making myself stay on task ! I am doing a craft sale in my home town in October( which I have not done in many years ) ! So I need to get a lot of things created! I have way too many things I want to make and it always ends up .... not enough time !

I have created a pile of altered journals , larger ones and mini size.I have used paper, vintage paper,fabrics, and whatever else I find in creating these ! So will share a photo of some of them and get back to creating !

Have a fabulous & blessed weekend !