My "SPRING" Banner

So many bloggers are crafting adorable banners I became inspired to try to make some too!  I don't like to spend too much money so I use materials I had on hand.  I used card stock and scrapbook paper and my "Create A Card" computer program (it's out of print now) to print out the graphics and letters.  Then I glued it all together and strung ribbon through the banner and it's finished.

What do you think?  Not too bad huh?  Have you tried to make a banner?  

Hare Wall Decoration

For all you bunny, rabbit and hare lovers - isn't this cute!  Unfortunately, it isn't mine.  I wish it was, however, it belongs to my Aunt whose maiden name was "Hare".  My Aunt and I love to visit craft fairs together but now that we live hundreds of miles apart we can't.   Wouldn't you love to have this on your wall?

BEFORE - A Pile of Granny Squares

This is the WIP.  You will have to wait to see the finished project.  I bet you can guess what it will be!

Tea Time Years Ago...

I grew up drinking tea using Lipton instant tea bags and mostly only when I was sick.   That all changed when I was in high school.  My best girlfriend's mother was English.  I so enjoyed the time spent with Sue and her family.  Imagine my surprise when visiting one day when Sue's mom put water in a kettle and brewed her tea using REAL English tea leaves.  And the best part was when she added sugar and cream.  I was in heaven.  Never before and since have I had such tasty tea.  It is a memory forever frozen in time.  I need to take the time to brew a cup of tea and try to capture that moment again.   Do you have a special moment that you would like to share?

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a wish to all my new blogging friends.  I wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!  And if by chance you don't celebrate this holiday have a great day anyway.  

Myspace Graphics, Thanksgiving Graphics at WishAFriend.com

The Inspiration...Black!

The true color of our guest bathroom doesn't show up here it looks gray but it isn't.  I will have to look up the paint color and add it later.  We bought this picture on a trip to Montreal Canada many, many years ago.  It is a scene from downtown Montreal.  The black picture frame is the inspiration I had to update our guest bathroom with accents of black.

I found a set of four different bird plates at my favorite store - Homegoods - in black and white and immediately knew where I wanted to hang them.

Another great find at - Homegoods - this cute white lamp with the black toile shade and you can't see it here but the lamp has a cute bird finial. 

Now you see all four black and white bird plates...

Bird plates and black toile lamp together...

Black and white towels added along with a view in the mirror of the white shower curtain with black trim.  I also added a beautiful white crocheted doily that I purchased at a craft fair to the top of the toilet..

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A doily (or doilie) is an ornamental mat, originally the name of a fabric, from Doiley, a 17th century London draper.^[1] They are usually made of cotton or linen thread, oftencrocheted but may also be knitted. Openwork allows the underlying surface to show through. In addition to their decorative function, doilies have the utilitarian role of protecting fine-wood furniture from the scratches caused by crockery or decorative objects..

I'm not done yet I still have to get the window treatment.  Hope you enjoy the tour of my almost updated guest bathroom.  What do you think of my black accents?  Do you have any rooms with black accents?


Update:  Paint color of our guest bath room is Benjamin Moore's Regal Wall Satin Latex Interior Flat in the color of "Emerald Vapor".  It's a very, very light shade with just a hint of pale blue with a greenish or aqua shading.  The color reflected in the mirror photos above is a more true coloring of the shade.  I wanted the lightest color I could find.  In the same range of Regal colors we painted our master bath in the color "April Sky" which is very pale, light shade too but more of a blue shade than "Emerald Vapor".   I would suggest stopping in at a Benjamin Moore store to obtain a color chart.  The Regals have an excellent selection of very pale, light shades.  

My Pretties

Some crocheted dish cloths up close and personal...

Look at all the lovely colors...

Ice cream colors....

Don't they go together sweetly...


What have you been crocheting lately?  

Christmas Cookies 2008

I haven't started my cookie baking yet but here's some pictures from last year.  Please forgive me for my messy house.  For several years now I have continued the tradition of baking sugar cookies passed down from a family recipe from my dear MIL.  Her recipe makes a huge batch of cookies and can be halved.  I spread the project out over three days:  1) mixing the dough and chilling it the first day; 2) rolling out, cutting and baking the 2nd day; and making the frosting and frosting the cookies the 3rd and last day.  My family (especially the guys) love lots of frosting.  The full recipe makes a good 12 dozen.

Rolling out and cutting...

All baked...

Frosting table all set up (with a place for my hubby - he volunteers to help frost)....

All frosted and ready to freeze or EAT!

We don't eat all of these cookies.  We take back several cookie tins at Christmas for our family.  Do you bake cookies at Christmas?  What is your family's favorite kind of cookie?

More Crocheted Dishcloths

I had fun making crocheted granny square dishcloths tying each set of two with pretty ribbons.  I loved changing the colors for each round and choosing a different edge/border for each one.  I passed them out to my relatives & friends as gifts.

Colors and more colors...

I flipped them over to see the bottom ones....

More of the flipped side...

All the delicious colors combinations....

See the pretty pastels...

All of these were made with Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn.  I made seven rounds of different colors for each square not counting the border using a size H hook.  What yarn & colors do you like to use?

Christmas 2008

Have I mentioned I LOVE, really LOVE decorating for Christmas?  Well, I do.  I haven't started decorating for 2009 yet but I thought I would share some photos of my home from last Christmas with you.   This photo is a close up of our fireplace mantel.  My SIL gave me the cute Snowman.  I made the quilted forest scene fabric panel behind the Snowman many years ago (i.e., 1991) and embellished the mantel with green garland, pine cones and red poinsettia silk flowers.

Here's the mantel in all its glory!  As I mentioned I first quilted the piece on my sewing machine, added fabric paint, beads (red ones to embellish the berries, white star shaped ones, and a string of red beads on the Christmas tree) and tiny pine cones.   PS - I just discovered how to make the photos larger.  Ah - tah!

Last year I decided to get a small, slim Christmas tree and found this one at Target for just $25!  After much thought (i.e., where to put the extra tree???) I put it up in our foyer.  I love all styles for Christmas (white, pink etc.) but I still decorate in the traditional reds and greens of my childhood.

One of my vintage ornaments!  Isn't it beautiful!

Now you can see the embellishments on the forest scene from the silver glitter fabric paint on the snow, to the red beads on the berries, white star beads on the stars, to the red garland beading on the Christmas tree.  I had fun making this fabric panel.  I have another fabric panel of Santa Claus that I may try to make for Christmas this year.

Our family room Christmas tree and fireplace all decorated up for 2008.  I hope you enjoyed the tour.  I can hardly wait to start decorating for Christmas 2009.

Coral - My Teddy Bear Angel

Ah...did I mention I also collect teddy bears?  I have a few Annette Funicello Collectible Bears.  This little angel is named "Coral" and she has the cutest pink nose and pink flower buds by her ears and the most beautiful white feather wings with sea shells.  She has lovely black eyes and mohair white fur and double jointed arms and legs.   I wish you could see her in person because she is adorable!

My First Crocheted Dishcloths

This is my 3rd time in over 20 years taking up crocheting again.  I'm left-handed but when I picked crocheting up the 2nd and 3rd times I decided to use my right-hand so I wouldn't have to fuss with reversing etc.  I used Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn for the dishcloths.  This is the first time I made a flower.  I enjoy crocheting because it is very relaxing especially when using the granny square stitch.

 The big difference with picking up crocheting now is the wealth of information out there on the internet.  From the crocheting blogs to I-Tube videos there are so many talented people who have posted their tutorials, WIPs (work-in-progress) and

finished projects.  It's unbelievable to see so many willing to share their expertise and knowledge with us.

 

I just love the red rose and green and white colors in this dishcloth.  The ones with the roses are double-sided.

Here is my attempt to do something a little more lacy.  Hope you enjoyed seeing my dishcloths.

Fall View from Our Screened Porch

We love our screened-in porch and deck.  We had our old wooden deck (put on by the previous owners of our home) replaced with a large screened in porch and side deck.  One of these days I will show the "before" pictures.  This picture was taken last year when our Red Maple was changing colors.  We love to sit out here and enjoy the view.

Some more views from last year this one looking out at our River Birch and Leland Cypresses.  

Here's the deck portion - that's a Serviceberry tree at the corner of the deck.  The birds love it for the tasty berries.

And here is the Serviceberry in its Fall colors.  Hope you enjoyed the tour of our screened porch and deck!

Fall Color & Thank You!

I want to thank all of you that have visited!  I am so excited to have visitors and such nice compliments this soon after starting my blog.  I am overwhelmed how quickly and warmly you all welcomed me!  


My hubby has spent the better part of the day helping me with my blog.  Somethings I set myself without any problems but others I was lost and didn't have a clue.  For example, somehow I set my own blog as a Follower on my blog. If anyone out there knows how and where I can delete me as a follower of my own blog I would appreciate any help you can give me.  So far I haven't been able to figure it out.  Update:  Thanks for the tips I have corrected this problem.


This is a picture taken last Fall of our Mountain Green Sugar Maple tree in our back yard.  Aren't the leave colors just beautiful.  We missed the turning of the leaves this year because we were on an RV trip to Florida.


I plan in the future to share my small collections with you - thimbles, miniature china and tea cups.   And for those of you who crochet - you will have to sit through my WIPs (i.e., "work in progress").  My favorite time of the year is coming - CHRISTMAS!  I love to decorate!


Thanks again for making my day and thanks for all the birthday wishes!