A Little of This, And a Little of That!

As you can see I posted some photos of some crafts I did. I wish they photographed better. I love working with new supplies but since I haven't really gotten any new stuff lately to work with, I used some supplies I had. The little green wire chair had (at one time) a ceramic planter in it but it broke. I certainly couldn't part with such a cute little chair (I have a thing for little chairs) so I found the galvanized wash bucket to fit and worked from there. It's very spring-ish not prim but I will find a place for it! The little rocking chair I had gotten many years ago from a catalog called Collections Etc. It originally had little resin cats sitting on the arms of the chair and was a little planter. One of the ceramic cats got damaged over time so I removed them and redid my little rocker. I put that in the parlor room. I think it's sweet.

What I do love doing is painting wooden items. I had gotten a couple of these wooden benches from AC Moore, and I painted this one in sage green and white and used rub on transfers of strawberries for decoration. I also made the little decoration that sits upon it. My favorite one I painted is more the colors that I love~~~burgundy and black. I'll show that one next time. I have two Amish dolls sitting upon it. Before we tore down our ranch and built this house in its place, my kitchen was decorated in 1950's reds with cherries and strawberries. The little green and white bench would have been perfect for it. It was a cheery, cherry kitchen. This house is all earth tones and prims and country. I found my true calling of colors in this house~~warm and cozy. I love burgundys, blacks, tans, mustard. They just call to me!

I do know what supplies I want from Michaels! I was there recently and they have really expanded their supply of prim "details". Lots of rusty ornaments in all sizes, some nice wooden items to paint, a better selection of folk art paints and alot more. I was making a mental list of items I want so when Billy finishes constructing my craft room, I can fill 'er up!

Speaking of Billy, he has been coming home with some amazing finds. He's been working for several weeks for a great family that sold their older home and is moving into another older home on the same road! He did wood floors in their new home, and has been building window seats and bookcases, and now he's gonna start building them a new basement. He was also completing some things in the house that they sold such as taking apart their old treehouse (which will now be OUR new tree house :)~~~but here is what is special. He has been coming home with some great things that the family has discarded from their old house. He brought the "works" of an electric fireplace that gives off heat, a ton of candles, a really big log holder (we needed that), some great big coffee mugs with matching little plates, beautiful storybooks and even a couple of outdoor statues of bunnies! All stuff they didn't want anymore! Even though I have a real fireplace, I was excited about the electric one cause Bill is going to build a cabinet or a little hearth for it and we can put it in any room here. I was excited! I also love that he knows to bring the stuff home to ME rather than let it go into the dumpster at the house!

That's about it for me. Caitlin wanted to bake a cake for the Presidents (Washington & Lincoln) since they explained in her kindergarten class that they have a week off celebrating "President's Week" aka Winter Recess. We have it every February. Since it's their birthday, they needed cake! I hope Lincoln and Washington would have liked Pillsbury Funfetti with chocolate icing!

Looking Forward to Spring!

Every year when I take down my Christmas decorations, I always leave up my various snowmen and sleds and "Winter" decorations. After all, they aren't Christmas. I usually leave them up till the beginning of March but not this year. We have had do much cold weather and snow this year, that I'm hoping (crossing fingers) that if I take down all my wintery decorations, maybe we won't get anymore snow! So today, down it all came, down came the Valentines and up went the shamrocks (for my husband.) I'm dreaming of Spring and Easter and light jackets. I never felt so strongly about this before. I hope my little ploy works. Bring on the sunshine!

I also took out all the crafts I want to repurpose. I have a supply of mushroom birds, straw, nests, and other goodies and plan on redoing some of my craft projects. It's been a busy week! Caitlin had a Valentine party at school, which was adorable, and also attended a birthday party for her friend. Now we are planning a little St. Patrick's themed luncheon with her other little friends and their really terrific Mom. My daughter loves to plan! We won't be doing it on St. Patrick's Day but to us, all of March is St. Patrick's Day! My husband took out two sets of green Christmas lights he wants me to put on the bushes outside the house! We'll see about that ;) !

I'm just in a Spring-type mood today! It's freezing out now and will be tomorrow but the weather is supposed to improve and be 60 degrees on Friday! Woo Hoo! Maybe I should pull out the Easter stuff!

Happy Valentines Day!

Mail Call!

Good Morning! Yesterday our temperatures dropped quite a bit. At night, it's almost 0! or feels like it anyway! I've been busy feeding my friends outside and this little guy is one of them! He is so friendly and waits patiently for a handout. I had given him some peanuts and after gathering a few, he decided to perch upon my mailbox and eat it! Last week, one of my squirrels must have been feeling the cold because he decided to remove some stuffing from a snowman I had sitting on a rocking chair on my front porch. Granted I was a little sad to see my snowman dissected as he was, but I also know that it has been a very cold Winter and that little resourceful squirrel knew what to do to make his nest warm. There was probably nothing he could forage for in the thick ice to make his nest warmer so he used his little head, saw the snowman and VOILA! Nice soft bedding! I might also add that all the squirrels I feed have never been aggressive or destructive; this is the first time they ever damaged anything of mine so you know conditions are extreme. I took the rest of the batting that filled the snowman and put it near my birdfeeders for my feathered friends to take and guess what? It's all gone. Have a great day and STAY WARM!

Valentine Tags

Recently I came across these adorable Valentine tags in my closet. I had received them as a little "bonus" gift from a super nice woman I bought necklaces from on Ebay several years back. She was a very unique crafts woman~~she took vintage postcards from holidays or just pretty scenes or flowers and shrunk them down and then took dominos and attached the picture to the domino. Then she would add little colored jewels to the picture to highlight them and add a string for a necklace. They were very cute, and I bought two Halloween ones from her. I LOVE VINTAGE HALLOWEEN! Just the thought of that special shade of orange, you know the one!, and black, is very exciting to me!My friend bought quite a few, and she used them to decorate her Halloween tree! Anyway, when I opened the box they came in she had also included a little "thank you" gift. It was these adorable tags! She photocopied vintage Valentine scenes and postcards onto tags, tea-stained them and then SCENTED them! They were so sweet! Unfortunately, the scent has faded but they are so cute. I think I'm going to decorate a Valentine tree with them. I have several prelit trees around the house that I adore. I had gotten four small pre-lit trees on clearance at AC Moore about three years ago. One is decorated with prim kitchen items, another in Americana, and the other one I always switch around. That will now be a Valentine tree. It was snowmen for Christmas! I'll post some pictures when I'm done and also my kitchen tree, which is my favorite! Check out the two domino necklaces and my precious little tags!

Sorry, I'm Just Daydreaming....

While our house is buried in snow and now ICE, I couldn't help but think of my porch last Spring. Lets go there for a few minutes.....how many days till Spring?

Happy Birthday!

Today is my son Billy's 12th birthday. To say that time flies is an understatement. My son is something special. At 12 years old, he loves all the things most boys his age do, but he has always been a little different. Billy has a fierce love for family and family times. He always did. He loves all his relatives and cousins and enjoys each of their personalities. The only thing that would make him happier would be if he had more of them! He loves family time even now. Now as some kids are so obsessed with friends, Billy still loves board games and nights where we will be watching a special show or movie. He loves all the things we do and takes an active interest in things like collecting and decorating and woodworking. When we go to Lancaster, he loves the farms, the crafts, the food. He notices and cares about things that most boys his age could care less about. He wants to know how things are done, how things are made, and how people are. He loves rides in the car. He loves to work with his Dad to make his own money which he usually enjoys spending on others, especially his sister.
Billy is my oldest~~he arrived ten years after Bill and I were married and Caitlin came along six years after Billy. He is an incredible big brother who gives is sister so much attention and love. He is not ashamed to kiss and hug us no matter who is around or where we are. He seems wise beyond his years and as one of his teachers told me just yesterday, "He's an old soul." He's truly my buddy, and I can always depend on him. Billy has always been one of those kids that you could take somewhere and be with someone and not worry about his behavior or manners. He really is something special. Happy Birthday my Bill!