Monday, November 29, 2010

Signs of Christmas Mantel

This is my mantel this year , in years past it has been covered in nutcrackers, and all sorts of other things. this year I wanted to be more simple, although I always tend to keep adding things , so what starts out simple doesn't stay simple. There will also be 6 more stockings hung when I finish trimming them with lace for the girls and fringe for the boys.




This little Eskimo Legend was sent to me from a friend who is also a widow.
I thought it was sweet and saved it.

I tried to keep a neutral theme throughout the living room this year. Just shades of white with touches of pink and green , gold and silver
I'm having fun decorating this year cause I'm doing it totally differently than I have in the past. I didn't pull out any of my old stuff.
Are you having fun with yours ?

Linking to Faded Charm White Wednesday.



Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday morning light show

As I walked past my sun room this morning I couldn't help but notice how the sun was kissing the objects in the room , the play of light and shadow was so pretty.
So I tried to capture it with my camera and share it with you.


I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did !
Happy Sunday !




Friday, November 26, 2010

Time to trim the tree

As I mentioned before , with two dogs and a baby crawling around the house this year I thought it might be smart to get a smaller tree and set it up out of reach on a table.
This is the tree , kinda looks like Charlie Brown's scraggly little tree doesn't it ?All it really needs is some love and a big fluffy topper made with yards of Dollar store ribbon.
Tuck the ribbon all around and add some dried hydrangea . I spray painted some of the hydrangeas with pink and white to add more color.

I added a few of the cones I made.
I made five of them and only used three of them on he tree, just wasn't room for more.

Stuck in a birds nest.
There is a Swedish legend that states that if you find a birds nest in your Christmas tree , you'll have a year of health , wealth and happiness. I'm not Swedish ' but I like the sound of that !





Then I hung some wispy snow flakes and icicles.

And wraped some toile around the bottom to hide
the skinny little stem.
There all done !
Now all it needs is some gifts under it.



And a visit from Santa !
Happy Shopping !






Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving

May your day be filled with an abundance of God's grace !Happy Thanksgiving !
Sharon

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Etsy coupon code

Just in time for Christmas shopping !



If you are interested in anything from our Etsy shop you can now get 10% off by entering coupon code (sweetie123 ).
Check it out !
Adding some new things today !

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Paper Wreath White Wednesday

Yes I know it's Tuesday , but I'm linking up with Kathleen for white Wednesday.
I have seen so many of you show these beautiful paper wreaths that you have made , that I decided I just had to try it too.
So this is what I got , I'm thrilled with how it turned out.
I used an old book ( I have boxes of them ) and a cardboard circle.
When I got to the middle I couldn't find anything that I liked to stick in there so I just kept gluing cones till it was full.It was fun , although a few times I could have used 4 hands.
I hung it in my sun room.
Do you like it ?

God Bless !



Sunday, November 21, 2010

Inspiration

About a week ago a couple of gals I like to visit in Blogland,



Tracy at French Larkspur , and Tot at Time-Worn Interiors, went to a place in Tipton , In.



Hortons , and they took pictures of this , I loved it so I thought I wold give it a try.



This is my version , I like how it turned out and will probably make more as gifts and decorations for Christmas .


Fun and easy to do , once you gather all the stuff.

What do you think ?


Saturday, November 20, 2010

K-Mart Dishes

Look what I found at K-Mart , the cutest red and white dishes, I have been looking for some since I repainted my kitchen. And they were on sale !
Don't you just love the rooster on the salad plate ?I figure I can buy a Christmas salad plate and change the whole look for
the holidays .

Look at this cute little bowl , it has four differant toile designs around it.

















They are not formal , but then we are not a formal family, we are all very laid back country folks.
So these are perfect.
Also got a cute red serving bowl , just right for the mashed potatos.
Look at those roosters marching around the edge.



And last the toile like table cloth with the red print ruffle trim.
I'm having a birthday dinner for my daughter tomorrow.
It will be a chearful pretty table.





Ya'll have a great weekend !






Thursday, November 18, 2010

I am thankful to my God for the beauty that surrounds me.A beautiful family, who are always there for me and have been my backbone for the last three years since my husband , love, best friend , soul mate, passed away.
Beautiful friends who never fail to make me laugh and remember the good times and look forward to the future.
For my beautiful home that surrounds me with warmth and nourishes my imagination.
And last but not least, the new friends I am making here in blog land.
God bless you all , and have a peaceful Thanksgiving !

Today I'm joining The Vintage Nest for her Give Thanks Party.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Last week Sissie from http://sissieshabbycottage.blogspot.com/ made the cutest Christmas decoration from a cone she found at the Dollar Store, I thought they were really pretty and that it would look nice to have some on my tree this year, so I hunted in every dollar store for miles around, and alas there were no pretty silver cones.

While we were out junking the other day we happened into the cutest store in Eureka Springs called" Something Simple", she has a web page if you want to take a look. But she had some cones she had made from brown shipping paper. So armed with that idea and Sissie's idea I came home and made these for my tree , I will be making more, they are easy and fun.

Take a look .




What do you think of the bed spring stand ?






I hope you all are having a great weekend !

Friday, November 12, 2010

I had hoped to have some picture of all the wonderful finds I had from going junking yesterday. but the total of my finds were 2 lace curtain panels and some fringe for a total of 50 cents, and a little zip lock bag with some rick-rack in it.
Pam found a box full of turned wood candle holders, and 14 juice glasses for $6.00.
Billie found a stained glass window for $60.00, so she had the biggest buy.
Yes I had my camera with me...
No I didn't take any pictures...
Guess we were having so much fun I just forgot to pull out the camera.
Today and tomorrow I am cleaning and fixing up because I have an old High School friend that I haven't seen in at least 12 years coming to see me Sunday.
I can't wait to see her , and I want my home to welcome her.
So I better get off here and go to work!
Hope you all have a great weekend !

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Giveaway at Cindys'

I don't have anything going right now to talk about, but I did want to get on here and tell you about this sweet giveaway that Cindy at Cindy Adkins'Whimsical Musings is having.
She makes the cutest Tags.
Since I don't know how to make a link , here is her blog address.
And here is the tag she is giving away , so hop on over there and give it a shot !
I'm going junking tomorrow with my sis and our buddy Billie.
I'll let you know if we have any great finds.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Birdcage Chandelier and Playing with Photoscape

This summer I painted my pergola white , it was black and just didn't fit the look I was going for.

So I took about 20 cans of spray paint and went at it with a vengeance. It's still a little blotchy, but I like it better than black. Anyway I found an old birdcage and made it into a chandelier for it using Christmas lights. I'm thinking draperies and a white metal table and chairs should finish the look I want, I just have to find the stuff .

I took pictures yesterday and started playing around with Photoscape to see what I could come up with , these are the results....

I really like the next two.















This is pretty much what it looks like without any fancy stuff.






I like this one in sepia tones too.




Sorry I can't tell you what settings I used on these , I just played around till I got something I liked.
Hope you are having a fun weekend !








Thursday, November 4, 2010

The Other Interest

Ok , so you may have heard me mention in some of my older posts that I do portraiture. I love all kinds of art, and have tried most of it at one time or another, including decorating , which I am still trying.


But drawing and painting people in their daily lives is what I love to do best, I have done it since I was in High School , I didn't go to collage to learn it , although I did take some private lessons where I learned to use color, the rest is just something I could always do , a God given gift...


So I thought I would share it with you .


This is my Gallery ! ( well actually just my hall .) And some of my many paintings.


The second one below is a self portrait , I was in my 30's .

As you can see these paintings and drawing span 3 decades. This is a close up of a black and white oil called Bedtime Story. My daughter Mandy and my son Nick when they were little. When I started art classes the teacher made us do 2 value study paintings before she would let us do color , nearly drove me crazy. This was the first one. This was the second , a brown and white oil of my Husband , He loved this painting , called it his Bad Bart picture. Wasn't he handsome ? This is my daughter at 13 , mid 80's , notice the mullet hairstyle ? But look at those beautiful blue eyes !
This is a close up of a much bigger painting of my son at age 6 , called

Gone Fishing
Another of my daughter at 16 , she was a great model, if I told her to dress a certain way she would.

In this one I wanted it to look like something from the past. I think the bangs are the only thing that give it away.
A closer look.
This is my mothers stepfather , but for my whole life he was my grandfather,

we called him Papa Jim , and that is the name of the painting.
Mandy and Nick in their High school years , Mandy 18 and Nick 16
She was a band nerd ( that's what she called herself ) she also played a baratone horn.
And he wanted to be a rock star , notice the Jimmy Hendrex tee shirt and

the flannel shirt that was his uniform , not to menton the long hair.


After the two paintings above I didn't paint anything for about 10 years , I don't really know why, life was just to busy for some reason, I did do a couple of commision pieces after that, but no family portraits , other than drawings.

Then last year I started painting again , another way to keep grief from taking over , and it works to stay busy doing things you love .

Speaking of things I love , here are two more. My two oldest grandchildren Bane and Robbyn

I do commision paintings and can be reached at my email address

floshar5@gmail.com Hope you enjoyed my show and tell !