Saturday, December 24, 2011

Whatever You Celebrate....

 

 I want you to know how much my life has expanded because of each and every one of you....

The days are now getting longer and the light is coming back....


I think of you and how it all might be going with you this evening...

You're a part of me now...



The end....


Monday, December 19, 2011

Pretty Manger Scene, and a Wonky Gingerbread House...


Look at this gorgeous manger scene done up in a little cabinet at the Elegant Relic in Mebane, NC... Lacy the owner is amazing... She used this brown paper she has in rolls for sale there to line the back of the scene...  



I just wanted to buy some of the paper and run home and put it on something in my house... but i couldn't figure out where, thank god, because the rolls are big, but they also cost $50.00 big ones!

Here is a little cloche i doctored up with a Wal Mart bottle brush tree...
Why are bottle brush trees so cute?  They just are!


I pried my little white thrift shop tree out of the shed, 
( meaning i stood on a wobbly stool, reached high up on a shelf, grabbed a branch, and pulled it all on top of my head ) 
and stuffed it in a galvanized bucket, and i love it!
It's such a raggedy little tree, but the white on it is faded just right, and it looks alot prettier than this awful photo when it's lit up!




Finally my wonky little gingerbread house...

I went to a friends house the other night with the most amazing ladies in the world...
and we had a gingerbread house decorating party...

i was all into decorating my house, when the sides caved in...

anyway.... Linda, the lady hosting the party, did the sweetest thing ever 
and it really touched my heart
she waited a day or two, and she pulled it all back together and fixed it back up, 

and brought it over to my friend's shop
  
(which is by the way the coolest shop ever,  where i sell my paintings, and find all the good stuff in my house, like those arches in my bedroom... 
plus i manage her blog, she's on my sidebar... if you want to go visit)
 
 to hang out with all the other cool gingerbread houses...

Mine is a little worse for wear,... but that's ok... because i've decided the next time i make a gingerbread house, i'm bringing a drill,  gorilla glue, a blow torch and a soldering iron -

I know that's against true gingerbread house rules, but i don't care, .... 
i'm not that great with rules...

Anyway, TADA!  Here they are !



the end....

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Front Door Wreath ... Yawn... More Pink... Plus I'm Not Giving Someone a Car for Christmas

I was given a beautiful wreath for my front door!,  So what did i put on it???  A PINK BOW OF COURSE...  



Here it is with little white lights at night... the lights look so much prettier than this photo shows... i put them on a timer so that they come on from dusk to dawn, it's so fun to drive up at night when i get home from work and see them already on...





check out these cool little napkin holders i found at the thrift shop.  they're glass and you can put water in them and real flowers in them... i thought that was so clever... probably everyone in the world already knows about these, but i didn't....


here is the house lit up at night...

as you can see i forgot to remove the pants on the hanger on the front door for the photo... actually i meant to do that... it's called the "unstaged" look...
...yeah, right...


in the above photo, propped up under the mirror,  you can  see this cool old vintage painting i found at the thrift shop 
(i'm a pathological propper upper... i prop things everywhere...)

here is a closeup, can you see the old guy walking with the sheep?
it's really aged and wonderful...
when i found it at the thrift shop, someone had marked it at $125.00!

I called them, and i said, are you people on crack!??? this is the thrift shop... ! even an antique dealer wouldn't sell it for that much!  Some very patient lady said she'd look into it...
next time i saw it it was 65.00... 
waiting.... waiting... waiting...
finally it was marked $25.00... then i bought it!


oh yeah...  a couple of weeks ago this little lady decided she wanted to be painted... her name is Isabelle...


she'll be going to my friend's shop looking for a new home...

and, Finally, to add to this random mix..

i have a bone to pick
have you seen those holiday commercials where the woman surprises her guy with a new car
or the guy has to show his love by buying his wife a 3 carat diamond?  
are they freakin kidding me!!
so, i guess we are soooo stupid and completely inadequate if we can't afford to get our loved ones this stuff for christmas

i'll be lucky if i can afford garbage bags for christmas

you know how mrfractured shows he loves me?
he thought to buy me my favorite meyers geranium dish soap when i run out, it's more expensive, but he noticed i love it..
or he warms up my car for me when it's cold outside...

so you know what i say to those commercials?
Screw you guys!  most people can't afford that stuff! or they're smart enough not to get into debt over it!

...i feel better now...

the end...


Thursday, December 1, 2011

I Put Up My Other Bedroom Arch, and Just For Fun, More Christmas Photos...


My other arch is up now, and i don't mind at all that the two are matchy matchy...  I really love them both... and it totally seems to help make the bedroom feel more together, and closer to finished...

...and we all know what "finished" means for us... about 5 minutes...

I touched up the "dream" over the bed... maybe i'll put white platters there instead... i tried it and it looked pretty good too, but for now, i'll wait and see....


ok, a few more christmas photos... just for fun...









...and I just love this little guy....



ok, and what i really want to add is some fresh christmas greens and silver like in these beautiful images from Pinterest...
omg this is so gorgeous...



...and i would die and go to heaven to have this little tree...

another amazing image from

the above links to my Pinterest account, but you should just go to Pinterest and play...  it's great for visual people like us



the end...


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Faux Flocked Frasier Furs, and Other Such Things...


Ok, so i'm really enjoying saying faux flocked frazier fur... I'll stop soon, i promise...

Anyway the tree is up... and for some reason, it's really hard to photograph... but here are some shots of it... i wanted to do all white, but the pink fairy always comes in and dusts my tree with pink, and then she adds candy canes... oh well, it can't be helped... a pink fairy is gonna do what she's gonna do...










I found this sweet little wreath for $5.00 at Home Depot, it was for their black friday sale...

It needs some flocking too... but i'm gonna try to settle for some of that spray on snow that you can buy at Wal Mart for a dollar..
I had some bits and peices of ribbon, and tied them all together with a twist tie, so the ribbon is quite a mix
and a sweet friend surprised me with me this glitter "Nest" today, so i just stuck it  on the wreath...





Here is a little vignette in the corner, i've been trying to use things i already have...
i have no idea what that string thing is that is hanging from the front of the little vignette...
my photos are filled with strings, dust, random pieces of paper, whole foods bags... 
i'm really not that great at the staging photographing part of it all, i just don't really "see" this stuff, visually i see the whole picture, not details...



I messed around with the mantel a little more... Wonder how many times this will change before Christmas...





The kids came over for Thanksgiving tonight, and i made their favorite, pecan pie with chocolate chips, it's epic... 


To decorate the table i had some random glass jars, and i added dollar store peppermints to them.  This really looks pretty if you have some of those tall glass jars with lids, like the kind you see at TJ Maxx all the time for nine to 12 bucks... they're  beautiful done in different heights in groups of three filled with peppermints...

I had this shredded pink paper i got somewhere, and added it to the jar...
 and a few chocolate covered cherries...


It was my funnest Thanksgiving in a long time.  My daughter (she's 21 now) actually looked at me and talked to me.  We were playing on the computer listening to some pretty songs, and she sang some songs for me, she has a beautiful voice and she likes opera!  This is the daughter who was a Bon Qui Qui double, rap queen with semi criminal mind...
  I think everyone has seen Bon Qui Qui, but if you haven't please watch...  

  
When she was younger she used to sing... but 
between the ages of 13 and 18 when she was a psychotic teenager and pretty much out of her mind.... 
she stopped singing...
I never knew why,...
but she has found her voice again... 
 ...wow... that was the best thing ever for me...
  My son who is 24 now and is about 95% "normal, but the other 5% is Aspergersy... came too, and he was drinking beer, and sneaking vodka shots... add Aspergers and alcohol and see how much fun you have if that's your kid.  
Anyway, he was really sweet, and thankful, and got all emotional when Ellie and I sang together 

we hate it when he is buzzed and emotional...

 and Ellie and i just looked at each other like "kill me now" 
and Ellie informed me that I used to say that alot when they were young and we were in our house all together...

...terrific what kids remember...
you could connect an iv with your blood directly to them, and save their life and die right in front of them as you sacrifice your one and only life to save theirs..
but what they'll remember is the fact that you said, 
"just kill me now"   ...alot...

Anyway, it was one of my most wonderful thanksgivings ever.. it's been a hard year, and i am really thankful that we were together in all our dysfunction... 
It was us, and no one will ever get us like we do...


the end


Monday, November 21, 2011

Pulling Out the Christmas Stuff... and I'm NOT One of Those People Who Packs Things Neatly Away Every Year...


So, it's fun decorating for the Holidays, except for the part where i have to drag big bins of Stuff out of the closet upstairs, which is loaded with lampshades, baskets, tangled silk flowers, boxes, candlesticks, a rotted pumpkin, (don't even ask),  halloween spiders, wrapping paper,  pillows, fabric, and other stuff i'm sure i will need someday.... that is if i were brave enough to enter to find what i was looking for...
...oh man, what a mess... 

Anyway, first victim to get a big pink bow, this cute little TJ Maxx lantern... 
Everyone has a lantern now, i know, and i've resisted, but i saw this one and folded... i do like it...


the pretty little ornament is from Marshalls...



I know, i know all my photos are so blurry, everything is done with my iphone camera, and me being ADD and rushed...


I found this darling little wooden platter made from hand hewn wood at a local shop, and couldn't resist it, but  i can't really find a place for it..., 
so for now i just propped it up on the mantel....

Do you see the Merry Christmas sign?  I got it from 
Paula's Etsy shop Castles and Cottages, 
and Oh my god i love it... 
for now it's just propped up too...
along with the tinsel that is going to go on the tree...
(we'll pretend we don't see the tag still on that candlestick)

this is the prettiest tinsel ever, and i don't know where i found it or i would buy more... 


I wanted to show you a cute pillow cover my friend with the little shop found at an amazing price, 
so i grabbed one to try... 
I usually don't like red, but i do like a coral red... and these just caught my eye, and darn if i don't like it... !



I heard her talking to a lady in her shop the other day, and they were saying how everyone should have a touch of red somewhere in their house... and i was like hmmmmm... really??, it made me think... that's why i grabbed this pillow cover, and stuffed a pillow in it...




I got my other arch for the bedroom this weekend, so i'll send pics soon, i'll try to get some that aren't blurry ... 

here is my new inspiration photo from  Aiken House and Garden  Her little cottage is decorted for christmas, and it is AMAZING! 
I hope she dosen't mind that i show you this photo...
you HAVE to go look!..


The end....