Ho Ho Ho
holiday decor
Merry Christmas!!!!
holiday decor
Its starting to look like Christmas!
fairies, family, holiday decor, how to's, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party
The view from my studio window is a blizzardy one today. 
But the view inside is improving!
I actually got the studio cleaned and HALF of it is set up for my 3 big Christmas party meals coming up.
Did you notice the amazing painting on the wall??? A gift from my sister-in-law’s family.
She commissioned an oil painting of her mom and had copies on canvas framed for everyone in the family.
Look at this detail!!!! Right down to the hearing aide in Little Joan’s ear and the nub of the eraser on her mechanical pencil. 
The artist is Lynn Lupetti, and I was so impressed with this portrait, I had to look her up online.
Apparently, I am not the only one impressed with her, she has paintings hanging at the Smithsonian, The Vatican, and the White House! 
Now, I am stunned by this gift. Not only does it capture the sweet nature and kind face of our Little Joan, it is from a renowned artist. I loved it before I had any idea who did it.
I’m sure it was expensive and so is the frame, but do you think anyone would care if I painted the frame white?? You know it is going to happen. Maybe more of an ivory.
I placed the painting in my studio for now, so we can all enjoy it during the holiday meals I have planned for out there.
I have this side of the room set up and ready to go, and the other side is close. 
I got side tracked and made some Christmas cards while trying to set up the unfinished side of the room.
I’d already had Sugarwing’s painting copied into four per page, and cut them out, some around the body, but others, just as a rectangle. All of the cards are different.
I buy note cards on clearance to use as background, this one was a teddy bear design thank you card.
I glued a piece of vintage styled scrapbook paper over the teddy, and across the back of the card to cover the writing on it. Then, I added snowflake stickers, some swirls of black glitter ink (I thought I had a silver pen, oops! but black is OK, at least it is glittery)
Then, I glued a sepia toned copy of Sugarwings onto it- and was done.
These are being kept extremely simple. I did a couple dozen this morning and now will stop and add addresses those before I do any more. I want to be sure I can get some mailed to relatives and not get carried away with cutting and gluing and having too much fun, then not have time to address or mail them. (The vintage wrapping paper is from Beth ‘s stash)
This one is on old wallpaper that has a star pattern in gold. The paper wraps the back of the card too, so you can appreciate the vintagey goodness of the print, and so it will cover the writing, since I am using premade note cards and don’t want that to show.
I cut a snippet of holiday ribbon to glue down and embellish with a brass snowflake and that is it on this one.
I keep wanting to do MORE to them, but figure that friends and family would rather get one like this, than nothing at all. And if I spend too much time on them, I wouldn’t get any out. 
Plus, I really need to get back to work on the studio/dining room and get it set up completely. Looks like I will have 22-27 on Christmas Day and this side of the room is only set for 12. 
The bleached and dyed bottle brush trees didn’t go as far for a centerpiece as I would have liked.
I added sugared birds, reindeer, cake plates and compotes, as well as some candle holders. Lots of clear glass and tea cups with millinery flowers or tea lights in them. 
I always serve all my meals as buffets, so I can fill the center of the table with pretties and have the food set up in the kitchen where it is convenient to clean up and put away afterwords.
I don’t know how I will decorate the other side yet. Funny, that 4 packages of 21 bottle brush trees only fills one table.
But they are so tiny, they need to be clustered for any impact.
See there is progress on this part too! When I finish my Christmas cards, I will stash all the supplies behind the screens and arrange them to hide the messes, foof up the tables, scrounge around the house for chairs, and as Tim Gunn says, "make it work". I might need another table squeezed in somewhere……
Hope your holiday preparations are going well too!
*<];{> Santa comes early for me with pretty pink birdies and a fairy land delight!
fairies, family, holiday decor, how to's, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art
I got pretties in the mail!!!!!
My Sissy made these pink paper birds for me, and I ripped open the package immediately. Hope I wasn’t supposed to wait till Xmas!
Aren’t they sweet????
And look at the cute box that Barbara sent to me. This is a whimsical box as it is, and who would have thought to use something this fun to mail a package in??
But look at the magical creation inside!
Twinkle and Sparkle Fairies, in a glittered floral wonderland.
Next to the princess of all the fairies, Sugarwings!
Every detail is perfectly wonderful from the rainbow paper the banner at the top is made of to the vintage pink ribbon bow.
I hung this fairy filled glitter ball of delight on the silver wreath next to the other gifts Barbara sent a while back, silver snow flakes that say Twinkle and Sparkle. Oh, I owe this lady big time!
Christmas is catching up to me and I know I won’t be able to make something for her by then, but Barbara, watch out when Valentine’s Day rolls around! And thanks so much!
Here is an update on how far behind I am in getting ready for Christmas. My studio is a jumbled up mess from the sale I had in here the 2nd. I had over 600 people come through here and haven’t recovered since.
I do have a menu for Christmas day brunch and for dinner that night, but I don’t have any place to seat the people till I get a bulldozer and shove some of this out of the way.
Here is my menu-
- a professional ham (that is what I call food from Vermont Street BBQ where my son works)
- 4 pans of Rhodes cinnamon rolls (yum)
- fruit and cheese by Beth
- sausage gravy and biscuits (not from a can)
- egg casserole from Lori
- tomato salad from our garden tomatoes that I have been babying along to ripen by Xmas and made it just in time! And they really taste good too.
- fudge and cookies (if I don’t eat them first)
- maybe more desserts or muffins or something??
juicy juice boxes, bottled water and coffee in to go style cups
all served on paper plates with plastic forks
and most important- a Forest of bleached and hand dyed bottle brush trees as a centerpiece
At least I have my priorities right- the trees are done! Sugarwings and I made 4 packages of them the other night. 
They were not easy to glitter.
I ended up dunking them into a can of water based poly and then holding them upside down to drain off, then sprinkling them with glitter.
The problem was that after being left to dry overnight, the poly still dripped onto the craft table, and dried the trees solid to its surface! I had to pry many of them up. ooops
But, back to the mail- I ordered myself a little Christmas gift. Beautiful wallpapers from Donna Layton on Etsy.
Can’t you see me using some of these for the covers of my cook books for the Swap that Beth and I are doing for Valentines Day??
I wish I had time to play with them now, but Christmas is getting closer and closer and closer and I am far from ready. (see above studio photo!)
This big box of goodies came from my brother-in-law Randy in Florida. That cylindrical shaped package on top is for ME. I am crossing my fingers that it is more vintage wallpaper, from the heft and shape of it, my chances are good.
Randy’s husband, Kevin, is a master junk shopper and I think he might have found a roll for me. I’ll wait til Christmas and won’t peek, but it will be hard.
Sugarwings and I have been having some tea parties. She is very good at feeding imaginary treats her teddy bears.
And the fairies on her tea table Christmas tree.
I am off to run errands and mail packages. Oh- I put Sugarwing’s room on HGTV’s Rate My Space.
That site is addictive, so I try to stay away from it, it is too much fun. Here is the site, if you want to give her a rating:
Twinkle has a go at helping decorate the studio
Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Food and Drink, holiday decor
Its a relief to be feeling well again and back to getting ready for the holidays!
I am feeling all well now, thanks for all your kind thoughts and wishes!
My flueyness was gone and I was able to go to my cookie exchange party last night. The best part was that I got the dates wrong and made up fudge to take to it last week instead of this.
Which was great, because this week, I would have been sick and couldn’t have done it! 
The flu-germ-free fudge was made a week ago and frozen, ready to add tags to before the party.
My Aussie pal, Natasha had sent me some wonderful, old, textured wallpaper that I made simple tags out of, and added a snowflake sticker to and then tied to the dishes of fudge.
I like giving treats out in containers that people will use and keep and enjoy, a gift in a gift. For bake sales, I always put my goodies on vintage plates from garage sales, they are so cheap to find around here. As little as a nickle quite often.
I love living in the Midwest!!
Every year, I think I am going to go all out and wrap gifts so beautifully and they all will match and be breath taking. But, I never do. I wrapped all these yesterday and towards the end, the were lucky to get stuffed into a bag with a bit of tissue.
What’s my favorite thing in those bags and boxes? This sweet little dress for Sugarwings! Can’t you just picture her playing in the garden and getting all muddy in it this summer?
Maybe we can dress her in a long sleeve onsie and tights underneath it, so she can wear it this winter too. 
Our swap is full! And a great mix of artists, bloggers, friends and fun people are in it, we are so lucky to have them join. Thanks everyone!! 
Doesn’t Twinkle look like a sweet little angel? That girl thinks that her only job is to pose for the camera.
Well, that and CHEW things. My favorite chair!!!!!!! And now that she has had a taste of it, she won’t let it go. Any tips on stopping a dog from chewing your furniture??? I’ve never had a Dorkie as hard to handle as this one. She chews, she licks, she jumps, she hams it up every time I try to take a photo. She is one tiny,wriggling, bundle of desperate need for attention.
I am still feeling sentimental today. This table was one of my mom’s favorites and was made for her by a friend. No, actually, I think her friend made it, and her husband got it as payment for a poker debt at some bar. Oh well, what ever its origins, it is hand made and she loved it and now I do too!
The drawing was done by my great grandmother in 1906, and is another treasured possession of mine.
Notice the alarm clock?? I found a non-ugly, electric clock on Ebay, finally.
Then it quit working after about 6 weeks. So, I am back to looking, if anyone has any leads, I’d love to hear them.
People are still visiting our "What do you LOVE about your Holiday Home?" party and I am still adding links. Feel free to visit here for some holiday decor ideas and pretty things to see. I don’t even know how many sites I have linked, but I know there was a lot of beauty and warmth out there!
I want to thank Sara (Sadie Olive) for adding my latest magazine to the line up at the left. If you ever decide to have a blog redo, I have to tell you that she is so reasonable, helpful, talented, and easy to work with!
Sara is going to add my next few issues too. I have a collage kit shown in Somerset next month, and another in the next issue.
I am always surprised and thrilled when something gets published, since I am not a professional writer. All my articles have been just lucky strokes for me. A right place, right time, type thing. 
Oh, and thanks also to my friend, Gail, who always takes time to visit and comment, has entered my Sweet Treats and Roses swap, PLUS bought this desk from me!! Thanks, Gail!!!
In the few minutes that I have sat here at my computer writing my blog for the day before I go run holiday errands, this sweet angelic little dorkie of mine as done-
THIS.
Oh man, just that much more I need to clean up before I can turn this mess into a dining room for 3 big dinners, at Christmas.
I am having a Christmas Eve prime rib dinner for the immediate family, then have invited about 28 people for Christmas Day Brunch and will have about 18 for Christmas dinner that night. Do you think they will enjoy dining in Twinkle’s decor and my mess from the sale??? I really need to get to work………. but for now, I am going out to lunch and playing with Sugarwings!!
don’t forget every comment is an entry to my monthly giveaway!
A red and green (with only a hint of pink), sentimental journey through Christmasses past
family, holiday decor, paintings, vintage paper/collage art
Throughout my kids’ lives, I have painted an ornament each year for them to hang on our tree. Ry is still a bachelor and lives in an apartment we built onto our home, so he shares our tree, (plus most of his apartment is a home gym, with punching bags and weights, not exactly Christmas tree friendly).
But Adam lives with his pretty little hippy chick and Sugarwings, so I think it is time to pack up all of his ornaments and send to his own happy home.
The teddy on the rocking horse was an early one for him, painted in 1981.
But his all time favorite was the pink Care Bear. My little guy was never afraid to be fond of pink toys. He had a pink water balloon named Pinky that lived for over a week and went every where with him when he was four. He wrapped Pinky up in a towel "blanket" to cuddle it. (the towel came in handy when Pinky met his demise)
This was one rough, tough, little boy, but he had his sweet side too, and that might be why he is such a great dad now.
This Care Bear ornie is even more special now, because Sugarwings is a huge Care Bear fan, and her uncle Ryan is giving her a big stuffed pink Care Bear for Christmas.
Some of the balls that I painted over the years are satin, most are glass.
When I was a single mother, working as a waitress, I used to buy all the kid’s Christmas gifts with money I made by selling hand painted ornaments for $3- $5 each. And my hand painted ornaments were the gifts I gave to everyone else. I still do a few dozen each year as presents, as well as selling them.
I also used to paint these pre-made ceramic pieces too. These two horses were painted to look like our own horses, Scooter and Fairy Belle. I think these were made for Adam in his Jr. High years. 
Here is a cartoon of Adam as a high school wrestler.
And a moon face for the year he had his bedroom done up in gargoyles.
The marble looking balls were some that he and I made together, by pouring and then swirling acrylic paints and glitter into clear glass balls.
Sadly, not all the ornaments survived, we’ve had a few mishaps over the years. But I have quite a few to pass on and to hope he will pass on to Sugarwings someday.
Some of them do make me cringe, looking back at them. I think I was lucky to sell my work for five bucks back then! They were all cute, but maybe not that good.
I enjoy seeing the progression of my style over the years. And I am glad I didn’t trash the ones I painted when I was young, no matter how bad they look to me now. 
Some of my sentimental things always make it into my holiday decor, things that aren’t necessarily Christmas items.
Like this scrapbook, that I made last year of Sugarwings. I have it opened to the page of her first Xmas. 
(of course, I made the book so thick, it never closes anyway!)
The book that Mr. Snowman (the doll is not sentimental, only 50 cents at a garage sale) is reading was written by a friend, Vicky Howard. And the apron covering the chair was sent to me by my great Aunt Caroline who is turning 100 this next summer.
I had painted this little wooden box for my mom one year. And she didn’t really like cats, so i don’t remember why I painted a kitten for her.
I think I was just in a kitty phase and was painting a lot of kittens in late 80s.
I always have family things on display year round and dedicated one wall in my stair way to paintings and photos of people I love.
The background of the oval painting of my mom is of a quilt she made for me. And I hung the necklace she wore in the painting to a nail I put into the frame. It is a charm necklace that I made for her, and she used to wear it a lot.
Here is a painting I did of my husband’s grandmother, and also used a quilt she gave to me as a background. 
Her name was Gladys, so I added a gladiola to the painting.
I used her quilt top as a table cloth in the library and set out more family scrapbooks on it.
One page is open to Grandma Nathan’s picture in a cabinet card. The background is "quilted" with strips of paper, and I tied a teeny sewing machine charm to the flap of the photo cover.
And the card opens up to the photo I did the painting of.
Well, I’d better get to work. I have a studio to clean up and turn into a dining room.
Does this look like a place you’d want to eat Christmas dinner?????
I have packed up a few things, sold a few, gave some away, and then the rest of the things from my sale are just shoved here and there and every where. I have to do a major transformation, plus buy gifts for my family and wrap them. And did I mention that not a single Xmas card has been made or sent??? I’ve been in bed with the flu and have severely fallen behind.
Heck, I’ve shown you bad artwork from my youth, the total wreck of my studio, I’m sure you’d love to see the ultimate in NON-eye candy photos- me recovering from the flu. Ugh. Now, I have probably chased away all my readers for good!
At least I have Twinkle by my side through it all.
Now, for a shower and back to work. Or maybe a nap.
PS– here is a little tidbit of decorating advice from my funny freind, Beth. She was sick too, and stayed at an auction long enough to buy a transferware bowl before going home to bed, and I said, at least she had a pretty puke bowl to keep by her bed.
"That’s a pleasant thought- maybe you should write an article about how to keep living a lovely life while you sick- pretty puke bowls, arrange your pills in the shape of flowers, use antique lace hankies instead of kleenex to blow your nose, take your cough medicine from a sterling silver spoon"
Romantic Country, Toasty Trees, and enough tiny trees to fill a country
Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, give away, holiday decor, how-to projects, I do tend to run on, don't I?, magazine pictures or articles, Sugarwings
I have news- my latest story is out!! Romantic Country is on the stands now, I picked up this issue at Borders.
I had dealt directly with the managing editor, Phyllis, for the whole article and didn’t even know that our fantastic blogging friend, Fifi was the guest editor!!!
If you don’t read her blog, you should get right over there, it is full of great how to’s for beautiful projects and sneak peeks into her lovely life.
I wish I had gotten to work with Fifi, she seems like a fun person and everyone who knows her says such wonderful things about her.
The issue is 100% gorgeous, and I am thrilled with the whole magazine.
The titles to my story, that Fifi added, are cute as a button and add so much to the article, I wish I could take credit for them.
Here is a tiny snippet from one of the photos by my good friend, the talented, Diane Guthrie. Diane and I had worked together on an article for Romantic Homes a couple of years ago, and it was such a great time. She is a buddy and we get together regularly for coffee and hanging out.
Diane is the one on the ladder in the photo on this posting, and there are also photos from our collaboration for Romantic Homes on that post too. 
And now for more news- the winners of my drawing are:
Lori Oles– Vintage Flair (blogger winner)
Gail Sell (non blogger winner)
Gail has entered the Sweet Treats and Roses Recipe Swap that Beth and I are doing. I know that Gail LOVES roses as much as I do, and can’t wait to see what she comes up with. We still have a few spots left if you are interested in joining in too.
The two winners get to chose either a pair of earrings I made from vintage pieces, or a copy of The Crown and Tiara book (great ideas in it, and so pretty!!) First come, first serve, email me with your choices, I only have one book to send.
Remember, there is still the monthly drawing that you can win too. I’ll draw that the beginning of Jan.
We’ve had a fun morning here, yesterday was a Sugarwings sleepover night.
She helped cook breakfast.
A favorite around here is "Egg in the Hole"
You cut a hole in bread with a glass, biscuit cutter- or even better, holiday cookie cutter, then drop an egg into the hole and fry it up together.
Of course, the best part of egg in the hole is the little piece that you cut out, that you cook in butter too, then add jelly to.
Sugarwings liked the jelly covered Christmas tree shape, but notice that under her high chair, Twinkle is having the rest of the meal. I think Twinks gets more food than the baby does at mealtimes.
Well, I never have to mop after I feed the baby.
Sugarwings was fascinated by the Christmas tree project I did too, but I had to keep her back from the bleach and the dye. She isn’t quite ready yet to be a hands on helper with these kind of things.
I found the directions to this on Clarice‘s site.
I am crazy about the results!! Vintage looking, beautiful bottle brush trees from brand new ugly ones!
First you soak them a few minutes in bleach and hot water, and rinse well.
They already look great once they are bleached, but if you want you can dye them any color.
I used professional quality fiber reactive dyes, just because I had them, but am sure that Rit would be fine too.
Of course, I should have changed clothes. I should have done this in my studio. But no, I was too excited and wanted to play with the colors, so did it in my kitchen sink. There is a perfect, made for projects, sink in the studio. But, heck, it is only dye, I bleached it out of the sink when I was done. I think the sink might return to white again………
I left the dye in the trees for about 10 minutes.
And since I hate to let anything go to waste, I used the left over pink dye that was in the bowl to dye some shirts for my fairy grand baby. 
Once the dye is washed out, the trees are perfectly vintage looking!!
These trees are on sale at Michaels right now for 25% off, plus they are pretty cheap to start with, a big bag full of all sizes for $14.
My little helper was pretty impressed with the results too.
Thanks for the tip, Clarice!!
And thanks to Fifi and Phyllis for making my article look so good in Romantic Country!
And thanks to Sugarwings for making my morning such fun with her giggles and all her help.
And thanks to Beth for being such a fine administrator for our swap and for being such a buddy.
And thanks to Diane for being such a pal and for her great photos.
And thanks to everyone who participated in our "What do you LOVE about your Holiday Home?" party
I must be feeling very thankful today. Just extra happy and exuberant, I guess. I need someone to start playing the music that tells me it is time to shut up, like they have at acceptance speeches at the Oscars.
Edited note: These trees really are not my own idea, I saw it on other blogs!! here is another one with them, http://mamanjackjack.blogspot.com/
and here is a flickr site to see everyone’s!! http://www.flickr.com/groups/563828@N24/
They are so fun to make, and so easy. Nothing like a simple project at this hectic time of year!
And speaking of passing along project ideas, Dona has used my lamp/coat rack idea and tweaked it into her own. Mine is featured in the Romantic Country magazine article that I wrote.
Sweet Treats and Roses- a Valentine’s Swap coming up
Books, Food and Drink, holiday decor, swaps, vintage paper/collage art
Thank you all so much, for participating in our "What do you LOVE about your holiday home?" party!!
Wow, it was quite the tour of homes. I loved getting a peek into the creative and colorful as well as the traditional and charming decor that you all shared.
I am blown away by the beauty and the response for the get together!
I’ll continue to link as many people who want to join until Christmas. So keep checking back, and take your time looking through a few particpant’s homes here and there for a taste of holiday cheer throughout the season!
I’ll announce my drawing winners tomorrow- for today I have a special announcement.
As Beth and I were hanging out and making things yesterday ( I made this banner), we decided to host a swap!
I LOVE blog swaps!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!!
So, what would be more fitting than hosting one that is full of Valentine LOVE?
Yes, I know it is really early, to be thinking about, it isn’t even Christmas yet! Am I as bad as Wal-Mart, having the next holiday out on display before this one is even over??
There’s no hurry, sign up is until Jan. 2, 200EIGHT.
We were just too excited about our idea to wait till later to tell you about it.
These photos are a hint of what is to come.
The swap involves you making photo copies of a decorated dessert recipe and Beth and I making 
covers for them and assembling the cook books.
So, yesterday, we made up a few sample covers to show you.
These first two are mine. All will have a rose theme, but no two will be alike.
All will be made with lots of vintagey goodness to go along with your yummy recipes.
Here is one that Beth made.
How pretty is that???
We will ask that along with your copies (color on card stock) of your treats, you send in a rose themed decorated tag, (one original) that we will tie onto another swapper’s cook book after we add the cover and assemble it.
And look at this one from Beth! I am looking forward to getting one of her covers, that is for sure.
I will be in DC setting up my part time apartment there after the holidays, so please RSVP to Beth at her blog, Gathering Dust.
She and I will be sharing hostessing duties, and you are lucky about that, because she is very organized and I am not. She’ll make sure that the books all get the right amount of pages and get mailed to the right addresses. And are on time.
So, please contact the detail oriented one of our group to sign up.
And speaking of details, here is what she wrote up for us- the Swap Rules are:
Karla & Beth’s Roses and Sweet Treat
Cook Book Recipe Swap
Put your favorite sweet treat recipe on a 5 ½” x 8 ½” piece of paper turned vertically, and decorate the page. (5 ½” x 8 ½” is half a regular sheet of paper.)
Make as many copies as there are swap participants- we’ll let you know the number when the sign ups are complete.
Also make a tag (approx 2” x 4”) decorated in some way with roses.
Send to Karla and Beth. They will assemble the recipes into a “Sweet Treats” Cookbook. Each cookbook will have a unique cover, handmade by Karla or Beth, and a tag decorated by another swap player.
The Details
Recipe Card– 5 ¼” x 8” with the recipe vertical. The books will be bound on the top, so leave at least a 1” margin for binding. The copies should be well made, in color and on card stock.
Sign Up Date- Sign up by emailing Beth, using the email link on the upper left side of her blog. The deadline is Jan 2. We’ll limit the number of players to 40.
On Jan 3, we’ll send a confirmation email to all participants letting them know how many copies to make. (To save on copy costs, you can print 2 per page, and cut the paper in half before sending to us.)
Receive by Date – We’ll need to RECEIVE your copies by January 20th so we have time to make the covers and assemble them.
Cost- The cost for a padded envelope, mailing and materials is $5. Please include the $5 with your copies and tag.
What You’ll Get
A Sweet Treat Recipe Book with a one of a kind handmade rose themed cover created by Karla or Beth, decorated with a tag from another player. We’ll mail the books by Feb 7, so you’ll have them in time to make sweet treats for Valentine’s Day.
Can you imagine how cool the individual pages will be from all those great artistic crafters out there in blog land?????? I can’t wait to see what you all send in for this!
Here is the button for the swap:
PS- thanks for your interest, we are full now! And we have GREAT players!! thanks to all of them, can’t wait to see what they make!
Oh, Fudge!
celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Food and Drink, give away, holiday decor, Moving to DC, We're having a party
It’s almost time for our "What do you LOVE about your holiday home?" party!
I’ll do my post later Tuesday evening and start linking up as comments come in.
Please remember that you have to leave a comment on THAT post, the Holiday Home party, or I will miss you and won’t link.
And what have I decided to send as a prize? Well here is one of them, this great book, Crowns & Tiaras. I’ll have more party door prizes for guests that day too.
I will have separate drawings for bloggers who participate and for readers who leave comments about what they love about their holiday homes too. I just want to make sure some one from each group gets a prize.
Here is one little tidbit I love about my own holiday home. This welcoming pink glow in the breezeway, where I have wrapped pink lights around an iron garden topiary frame and set it into a wicker plant stand. People get an idea of what to expect from the rest of my house when they are greeted by this!
And there is more to love around here, my dorkies of course. All cozied up by the wood stove on a fluffy pillow staying warm while an ice storm rages outside. 
The weather makes it a perfect night to stay in and make holiday candy. I am a fudge creator. I make tons of fudge each year to give away. Beth claims that my fudge is the reason she had to join the gym
I make the short cut, simple to do, nothing to it variety, always perfect, and quick. All it consists of is melting a bag of chips into a can of sweetened condensed milk and then beating it till it is fluffy and pouring it into a pan. Best, creamiest fudge ever. And everyone thinks you slaved over it. Oops, my friends won’t think that anymore, will they? My secret is out. I’m bad with secrets, you can tell by the way I run on and on, I tend to blabber about everything.
I bought these ceramic pans at a garage sale this summer for 25 cents each, never used, still in packages from the store! They are oven and freezer safe, and I will fill them with fudge and wrap them up pretty and give them to friends this year.
So, tonight, I make 14 batches of fudge. I have to have plenty to give away and to feed the family when I host lots of holiday get togethers! I have a 6’4" nephew who is a size 28 waist and can really pack away the peanut butter chocolate fudge. He’ll get a batch all of his own.
Yesterday I showed the 3 slate tables I bought for our Eastern apartment, but didn’t show why I got them.
The tables are to remind my husband of our home here, they match this floor in our entry way.
I laid this tile myself. I don’t know how to use a wet saw (and am afraid of those anyway, I nicked a knuckle on a power saw once and still get the heebie jeebies thinking that I could have lost my right hand!)
Since I couldn’t cut the pieces, I made a mosaic with small stones and 4" tiles throughout the 12" tiles. It really was pretty easy to do, except for the kink in my back from crouching on the floor so long.
I also did some of the trim in this area- it is barn wood we tore out of our 100 year old barn that couldn’t be saved. (That is how I caught my knuckle on the power saw. ) I sure prefer less dangerous projects like painting, or gluing wallpaper!
Twinkle just can’t understand why she shouldn’t be in every photo, so I just humor her.
This snowman tree is from Paula Kay’s home. She was a door prize winner at our last party and sent me a photo of the tree she created this year.
I am really looking forward to our party tomorrow. If you’d like to take a peek at the last one we had, it is here: http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2007/09/what-do-you-lov.html
Here is a photo of something my neice loves about her holiday home- Baby, her cat peeking out of the tree. Twinkle just wishes she could do that with ours.
Hope to see you all Wednesday!
Macho Decor and close quarters
Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, holiday decor, Moving to DC, Sugarwings
We are home from our relocation trip. I didn’t see much of DC at all, we were in the burbs the whole time apartment and furniture shopping.
At first, I thought it looked like Anytown, USA with all the chain restaurants, apartment buildings and strip malls, but then realized, that the East is very different.
Burbs in Kansas City or St Louis SPRAWL. Outside of DC, they build UP not OUT. The buildings are high and all the people stack up and squeeze in. 
I got a bit homesick for the spaciousness of Kansas, but will learn to live with the high paced, jammed in life style there.
We got a bit homesick for the fairy grand baby too, and went immediately to pick her up when we got back from the airport to take her out to lunch. Of course, we’d been out to eat for every meal since Thursday, but there was no food in the house and it is always a good excuse to go pick up Sugarwings and her family and take them out to eat.
We find ourselves coming up with so many of those little bribes, I mean excuses, to see her. 
OK, this doesn’t look like my style, but I took my husband into consideration while furnishing the new place. At first we were going to go with rental stuff. then used, but decided to buy some decent pieces for his place because it is going to have to be his home away from home for a long time.
I got a slate top dining table and matching living room tables for the apartment. All the colors are earthy and the look is slightly rustic. No girly roses at the East Coast Bachelor pad.
I shopped like a woman possessed trying to find the cheapest, yet still stylish things I could find in just a day. It will all be delivered on Jan. 2nd when we go back to get settled in.
Do you have any idea what kind of pain it caused me to buy brand new things from a furniture store and have it delivered???? I just don’t do that. I buy the things no one wants and fix them up.
I know that I could have gotten a sofa table for $3- $20 at a garage sale in Kansas instead of $159 there. Really painful.
But here were my concerns:
- no time
- no truck
- no tools
Of course, also my husband wants it all simple and easy to care for and doesn’t give a durn about Pretty.
He doesn’t notice stuff like in this photo of our Kansas living room, a cabinet from a junk shop ($35) repainted and set on top of a small table from a garage sale ($15) that was painted to match.
Or the mirror from the dumpster above it. Or the free lamp given to me by Beth. I foofed its lampshade and painted it, then set it next to some old chippy paint finials that are serving as candle holders ($5).
So- I know how cheaply I can find things and what can be done.
I am still in pain from going to a furniture store and decking out most of the apartment in one swoop.
Oh well, it will work out. It is stuff he likes and will make him comfy there.
Now on to something more interesting. Joy and Roses!!
I’ve decided what to send the winner of my November drawing, Joy. I know I am a bit late, but with the trip and the open house, she was very understanding about it.
I am also behind on Etsy shipping, but will get all of it caught up and in the mail tomorrow. Thanks so much to everyone who shopped there and thanks also for your patience.
I am sending Joy a JOY sign. It is made from the end of a magazine rack that came from the same dumpster that mirror in the earlier photo did.
She seems to be a person who enjoys salvage and sees the possibilities in a discarded piece herself and I thought she might like this hand painted wreath on something rescued. If you’ve read her blog, you know she has a great eye for redoing things herself.
Don’t forget that we will have more gifts during the What do you LOVE about your Holiday Home? party on Wed. the 12th and that all comments are entered into the giveaway for December too. I love to try to match the gift to the winner instead of just naming something that will be given away at the end of the month. Joy will also receive a little pack of ephemera and doodads for projects.
I had sent Natasha some vintage and hand painted ornaments as well as a Noel banner made up of vintage papers for our trade in the Deck the Halls Swap hosted by Monica. I love the way Natasha has displayed the ornaments on a springlike vine to complement the Australian weather at Christmas.
But wait till you see what she sent to me!!
And to Sugarwings too. Of course, Twinkle thinks everything that the baby gets is half hers.
There is a possibility that Twinks will be wearing this cute little crown that is meant to hang on the tree as a gift to the fairy baby. Either one of them would be adorable wearing it!
And look what else she got- a Santa on a Kangaroo! She thought it was hilarious. That kid has a sense of humor that makes her have deep belly laughs when she sees something funny, and this little santa really struck her funny bone.
She was also given a book about Santa’s summer Christmas, so much fun to read to her and tell her about Christmas in other parts of the world.
Natasha had everything wrapped up so sweetly. And yes, I saved every pink rosebud!
She made a wonderful wooden banner with a matching snowman in glitter, the pink rose bud "cookie", and the 3 little glitter framed wallpaper pictures to go on to the tree.
And she sent Tim Tams. Which we discovered are the world’s best cookie. And I cant find any more around here, I was hoping World Market wold carry them. 
And thats not all. A blown glass angel ornament that I immediately hung on my white and gold tree.
Thanks, Natasha! and Thanks to Monica for hosting. What a fun swap. I made out like a bandit on this one. But I do say that bloggers are the most generous people around and if you get a chance to swap with one- DO IT!!
Little Miss Maddy Cat came by to have her Christmas photos taken at my house to use the painted bench as a back drop. I had some trouble with the red eye on this one, but as cute as she is, it didn’t matter.
She and Sugarwings are starting to interact now that Miss Maddy Cat is getting bigger. Sugarwings leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek and it looks like they are about ready to plan a cousins play date together.
Wow, I’ve ran on long enough. I’d better go and mail those packages. Thanks again to all of the shoppers who went to my Etsy Shop and to Natasha!
A List a mile long
Etsy Goodies, holiday decor, I do tend to run on, don't I?, paintings, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art
I spent as much of yesterday as I could listing on Etsy!
I got quite a few things up (at lower prices so they will disappear) until about mid-day. Then, I had a break and when I went to go back to listing more, the light was gone and I couldn’t get any more good photos.
Natural light makes such a difference in a photo. Like this one of a hand dyed vintage linen bag. Isn’t it pretty how the sun comes in the window from the left side?
I try to never use flash in my pictures of my art work or shop listings.
This bag was done with fiber reactive dyes, I have a huge set of dye colors. Before Sugarwings was born, we had a baby shower that was a tie dye party in the garden. 
Everyone brought something white and we dipped and dyed all after noon. She has a whole wardrobe full of tie dye clothing, which is perfect for her since her mom is a hippie chick.
Our fairy grandbaby came home from the hospital in a tie dyed ensemble.
I get the dyes out and make something every once in a while. I like to dye my t-shirts that get a coffee stain on the front so I can still wear them.
Today, I am taking all my photos first, then listing throughout the evening. Its a Sugarwings sleepover night, so I can’t say how much I’ll get done…….
My afternoon break was from some shoppers who called and asked if they could come over to look around. They verified my guess that the reason my sales were down on Sunday was because it was too crowded.
All of them said that they just couldn’t see to shop and wanted to come back and look without the crowds.
I have more people coming in the next couple of days, but I did warn them it wasn’t set up as pretty as before. Actually, the studio kind of looks like a bar the day after New Year’s Eve.
At least my house is still clean! But the baby isn’t here yet. Give it a couple of hours and it will be looking quite lived in.
Which reminds me, I walked into my house from the studio during the home tour to find someone going through my kitchen drawers!!! She was telling her husband that real people did live in the house. Well, what did she think it was?? So, I said, yep, this is MY house and she turned red and walked away. Really funny, I was laughing and thinking maybe I should have cleaned out drawers too??
After the whole thing was over, I saw that the shower curtain had been pulled back too. I guess that means, I should have cleaned the shower. Geez, who would have though that people would be peeking in places like that???? There were hosts around to keep an eye on that kind of thing.
Oh well, they got an eyeful of mess is what they got. I only cleaned what I thought was going to show!! I hope they enjoyed the view of the pile of wash rags and an empty shampoo bottle on the floor of the shower. Did I mention that there were tiny little, muddy dog foot prints on the shower floor? Twinkle loves to play in there.
These photos I am showing are of what I did get listed yesterday. Some have sold already! thanks!
All are listed at lower prices than I have had on similar items before.
This is another photo of some of Beth’s contributions to the shop.
I’m not sure how much of these she sold. I do remember ringing up the little pink angels. The weekend really was pretty non-stop crazy.
Beth and I figured out what was weird about Sunday- with all those crowds, we didn’t get our giggle and gossip time.
Usually if you aren’t selling much, you are all alone at a sale, no crowds. So we hang out and talk and usually have so much fun, we don’t care about sales. But with hordes of people walking through we never got to relax and kick back. It was just weird. 
But I would do it again, I enjoyed my weekend and sales weren’t bad. And I am donating $500 of the sales to the charity that sponsored the open house tour. They are a free clinic that helps people with no health insurance, and that is a great cause to me. When my son broke his elbow, they were great. He has no insurance, much like many young people his age.
Now, I need to go Christmas shop from my pile of leftovers to find presents for my blog giveaways and for my family.
The rest I need to photograph before we go out of town, we have a trip to DC coming up this week. 
So, I’m off to shop in my own studio, then list more things before the baby comes to play. Nothing gets done while she is here, except some tickling, hide and seek, and made up stories about fairies in the woods.
When she is older, I will write some down and illustrate them for her, so she will have books of her adventures in the forest as a fairy with sugar pink wings.