How Many More Days till Oct. 31st?

You probably think that's a strange title for a blog post. Halloween, now? think I'm a little nuts. Afterall, it's still Winter. As a matter of fact we may be getting a substantial snowstorm on Wednesday; possibly a n'oreaster. But...it's always Halloween here! in some place of the house, anyway. I swear it's a state of mind! I am NEVER not thinking of my Halloween or Autumn decorating. I have enjoyed doing my St. Paddy's Day tree, my Spring decorating and my Easter crafts. I was very content with that.....and then it happened. I saw a birdhouse in AC Moore. And the birdhouse I painted black. That's all it took!
And here she is now!

Whew that felt better! To craft for Halloween in February without any guilt! And my husband said I did a good job with the shingles! That's a foil mini cupcake paper for an awning over  the front door.

 Can you see the ghost? It's hard to get a good camera shot. My roof is all sparkly!

 

Sparkle, Sparkle, Sparkle

I used cupcake papers folded in half for curtains. They have little spiders on them. I saw that idea on several blogs so I can't take credit for that! It worked out so well.

 

 

Here is the rear. A little gravestone.

Back to the Spring....

Caitlin and her girlfriends that live behind us crafted Leprechaun traps! Did you know that Leprechauns like shiny things? Well, Genny, Julie and Jackie made Leprechaun traps with Caitlin. They filled them with shiny things to attract the Leprechaun's attention. We are going to set it out somewhere on the rear porch to see if we catch any. Problem is, what do I do with him once we catch him?

 

The girls wrote a letter to the Leprechaun and told him they had some treasure for him to see; just to lure him in!  They printed it up and fastened it to the container. You can use anything. Caitlin used an empty plastic milk jug that we cut open like a little bucket. Stay tuned....

If anyone wants to be part of some great giveaways then look at my blog reading list! SO many great ones! There is one through Raggedy Creations; her sale blog is called Pennys, Prims & Photos. You must check them out! The Rusty Thimble, etc. all have giveaways! Yahoo!

Have a splendid afternoon!

St. Paddy'd Day Pretties

Happy Wednesday morning!It is pouring rain here! I mean, buckets and buckets! The winds are howling! Should be clearing up by lunch time so we'll see! Not much sun predicted this week but that's okay! I am so productive on overcast days! I have never minded them. I actually look forward to them sometimes!

I put the finishing touches on my St. Patrick's Day tree! She's all glowing green and gold! I added some St. Patrick's tags I had purchased a year ago that are glittered and that adds to the glow!

 

I love the vintage images.

The some little mugs and pots of gold! Gotta have the pots of gold, right?

 

 

That's what makes a good Leprechaun want to get up in the morning--the search for gold!

 

 

And speaking of Leprechauns, well here's one now! Well, sorry Mr. Leprechaun but if you came to my house looking for my gold, you are fresh out of luck! However if it's roosters, amish furniture,  or candles you are looking for, then this is the house for you!

 

That Leprechaun was purchased a few years back from a diner that displays crafts for sale and as you eat,  you can admire the displays and then purchase them. They are made by locals. He is fairly easy to construct with items and trims from any craft store. The added glasses make him all the more cuter though, I think!

 

 

Hope your day is filled with love and luck!  and one more thing: Welcome! to my new followers! I appreciate so much that you have stopped by and decided to stay! Love you all!

Think Spring!

February is winding down already. Oh my! The days are passing quickly...in my mind I am already dreaming of my Fall/Halloween decorating :) cause that's just me! That is my favorite time of year. Though I do love Spring and have really started the decorting and crafting for it. We have a great food store here called Best Yet Market and when I went in on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to smell the aroma of hyancinth plants! That's the smell of Spring to me! What a beautiful scent.

I have put away all my snow related items such as snowmen and mitten decorations. Not that I don't love Winter cause I do, but March is time for me to go Spring. January and February were "snowmen" decorations, mittens, and snowflakes. Now for March, it's bunnies, chicks, eggs, shamrocks, flowers!

I love to decorate my foyer and this is what I have done so far:

Lots of egg holders and baskets. Even the little stove in the foyer gets decorated!

My pictures of the big window in the kitchen didn't come out so great so I can't show you those right now but here are a few others I took:

 

In my kitchen, on my Americana chest, sits husband and wife.

 

A long day in Mr. McGregor's garden , I suppose!

 

This little bunny joined the roosters and chickens!

 

Next post I'll have to show you the St. Patrick's Day tree I made and my Leprechaun Friend!

Have a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Have A Winner!

Good Morning! We have a winner for my Spring Giveaway! It's Francine of Primitive Stars!  My son drew her name from a hat early this morning! I'll be getting your box ready to go for shipping! It should be heading to you by the end of the week! Please email me your full name and address! Send it to blackbird365@aol.com

It sure was fun having a giveaway! I think I'll plan another for next month! I would love to send a box to everyone :)

I would like to say WELCOME to my new friends too! Please know that I am also following your blogs! The more blog friends I meet, the more I love them! I am a self-professed copy cat so I am copying some of your ideas in crafts and decorating! Just letting you gals know that ;)  I refuse to be a closet copy catter! Besides it is the sincerest form of flattery they say!

Moving on to this past Sunday, we went here:

This wonderful restaurant my son wanted to go to for his birthday dinner because it reminded him of some of our favorite places in Massachusetts--very Revolutionary War style! It was built in 1672 and has been a working Inn and restaurant ever since! It's called the Milleridge Inn. It was like the Colonial Inn in Concord or the Wayside Inn in Sudbury.  This beautiful original structure sits among other little beauties just as old in what they call Milleridge Village. They have a Christmas Shop, a General Store, a Bakery and more. We went earlier than our reservation for dinner just so we could walk around the mini village. Lots of squeaking floor boards and doors, the smell of burning fireplace--you know, all that GOOD STUFF!

The General Store was adorable! I loved the old cash register and coffee grinder.

 Almost 100% of the buildings were original and I loved that. The big fireplace in the foyer was virtually untouched since 1672! They have the whole  story of the origins of the Milleridge posted so you can read it. It was a stagecoach stop and Inn originally. It still operates as Inn too.

 Caitlin chose some penny candy from the barrels. Lots of Americana goodies. There were other nice shops too but I liked the General Store best! There were lots of rooster items!

Wish this stove was in my house. It was a beauty. Being at the Milleridge gave us that Massachusetts feeling we love when we visit Salem,Concord, Sudbury, Gloucester, all our favorite places. We loved the original beams in the ceiling over our heads and the original wooden plank flooring. HEAVEN!

My son and husband were waiting for me at the door of the restaurant. I was busy snapping pictures even though it was FREEZING! There was a great bakery too. It had the best cinnamon bread.

Hope you have a great day!

Spring is Coming Giveaway!

Good Morning! Many of us may have some snow on the ground and cold temperatures but Spring is coming! The daffodils will be growing, the tulips will be poking their heads out of your bulb garden and the trees will sprout itty bitty buds waiting to BURST into new leaves! Bye Bye winter coats~~~it's sweater weather! Soon! Just a few more weeks!

As we wait for the sunny Spring days to come, I will be hosting a SPRING IS COMING Giveaway to get us excited for the new season! You will receive a surprise box of Spring goodies/accents/decorations for you to enjoy! Here are the two rules:

You must leave a comment with your name and intention to be entered.
You must be a follower or become a follower.

I'm not asking you to announce it in your sidebar cause many of you don't have blogs, but feel free.

The deadline for entering is Monday, February 18th. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, February 19th!

Hope you will join us!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you awoke to a sunny day! We did here! We missed the 1-4" of snow that was supposed to visit us last night and instead the sun is shining!I do hear we may be getting it again though on Friday night into Saturday....we'll see.

Before I go any further, I would like to say a big thank you to Felicia! She has introduced me to quite a few new friends, and I can't thank her enough! Howdy to all of you! I heart you Felicia! And I love all my new friends! Thank you for becoming followers. I hope I don't disappoint!

My husband surprised Caitlin and I with flowers, candy and stuffed animals! He sure is my Prince Charming in so many ways! I love that he is so thoughtful even though he knows I never expect anything. He loves us every day of the year not just Valentine's Day! He brought me beautiful white roses that have an outline of red around the edges. He brought Caitlin a red rose with baby's breath, a stuffed puppy and knowing her love for monkeys, he found a box of candy that had a little monkey on the lid!

How silly that today, Valentine's Day, I would be busy crafting for.....Easter! I know, I know it's only February but I like to get stuff ready so that when I decorate, I have it ready to display! Easter is coming up :)   Soooo I made these cute little clay pots with some chickies and eggs and decorated them with scraps and some adhesive trim I had gotten from Michaels. I was digging through my Easter cartons and decided to use some of my glass and wood eggs as well. Just some odds and ends!

 

So far I have made three and then I had enough stuff to decorate this little white basket I had in the closet.

 I hope the Easter Bunny likes them. I had so much making them and plan to make more :)  You would be surprised what you can do with scraps! Just like cooking! The best recipes come from odds and ends!

After my crafting, I did some dusting around...my shelf in the hallway seems to gather lots of it! This is my Americana goody shelf. I love the red ,white and blue! I made the SPEAK KINDNESS picture about a year ago with vintage buttons. I love prim things!

Then I was dusting my Charles Wysocki plates. I don't have the set; I just have a couple. I actually had three but one toppled and broke a long time ago, and I was so sad. They are NOT the most easy to display and I am not the most graceful! I was not blessed with a "gentle touch" :)   Every time I clean those dang plates, I fear I'll break another . There had to be a better way!  I took a plate rack that held mini plates and pulled off some prongs, then bent some others, etc  I MADE IT FIT! Voila! A holder for my Wysocki Plates that won't topple, and I can't knock over! I hung it on my back splash wall by the coffee pot! It'll look fine there until my husband gets 'round to putting the tile up for my back splash! It's funny how us Ladies can create what we need and it works just fine!

Have a wonderful, happy day!

Keeping Busy

We still have a great deal of snow but school did reopen today. We are expecting up to 4" more tomorrow night into Thursday so it may be a snowy Valentine's Day! Thank you so much for the comments you guys have left! Please become a follower :)  I love hearing what you have to say and appreciate the love! Welcome! and I hope I don't bore you to death!

My son went to work with my husband (you can almost call him an apprentice at this point, he learns so much) and Caitlin was home with me. Thank goodnes my kids were always good about keeping themselves busy; I never suffered the whining of having nothing to do. Billy lives for working with Dad so off he went at 6:00 am.
Caitlin was decorating her dollhouse for St Patrick's Day. Robin had to join her. He loves the kids so much that when they are playing something or having a friend over, he is there. He loves kids and loves being with kids. I truly believe that because we have him since he is born, he believes he is our child. We treat him like that too. He understands everything. When Caitlin said she was going into her room to play dollhouse, Robin followed her. He understood.

That's Robin! He loves playing dollhouse.

Caitlin and I also made some St. Patrick's Day crafts.

I don't know about you, but St. Patrick's Day and Easter decorations are coming out by this weekend :)   I know it's early but I like to have my stuff around for a while. PLUS since I am always moving and tweaking and adding, I won't be even done with it till the night before Easter, probably! Why have it if you can't display it for more than a week or two? It is so going up!!!!!!Besides, the bunnies and chicks and clover tell us Spring is coming!

Woo Hoo! Spring is coming!