HALLOWEEN

Where did the years go?  This is a picture of my two little ones many years ago. 

My little ones are now 26 and 22.  Seriously, it seems like just yesterday they were this size. 

Happy Halloween everyone.  

Thanks BellaBud for the picture I stole borrowed from your Blog, I couldn't resist.

Sharon from the blog From Rags to Rainbows awarded me with the Liebster Blog Award!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  Liebster is a German word meaning clean, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Thank you so much Sharon! I am so honored and excited that you included me in your choices! Sharon  is ASHM that used to sell jewelry, and then made quilts, and now she is made up her mind to paint every piece of shiny furniture in her home. A girl after my own heart and wait to you see her work just gorgeous! You go girl!

Now, if you haven't visited Sharon's blog, you are missing out!!

To keep this award going and pass it along to other new deserving blogs, the recipient must now recognize four other bloggers with less than 200 followers that have stood out in the crowd.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2.  Reveal your top 4 picks and let them know.

3.  Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4.  Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!

So, here are my 4  blogs, in no particular order:

http://creating-with-the-js.blogspot.com/ - .

http://www.bellabud.com/-

http://kyleeelizabeth.blogspot.com/

http://missflibbertigibbet.blogspot.com/

Congratulations ladies!

Be sure to visit their blogs and share the love!

SIMPLE but very cute

Here is the before version of the bar stool leftover from a set that I had at one time.  Just plain and boring. 

Here is the updated version using just some paint and an uppercase living snowflake on the top. I took a scrap piece of wood and painted it to match the top of the bar stool and used another uppercase living expression that says welcome.  A little bit of gorilla glue and a couple of snowflake ornaments and this is what you get.

I like how it turned out.  Simple but very cute.  I was thinking of adding some Christmas greenery but decided against it.  This way it can be used all Winter instead of just Christmas time.  I live in Western Pennsylvania so unfortunately the winters are long.

Hopefully I inspired you to take something old and remake it to something new and useful.

Come visit me at: http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/10/door-knob-repair-made-hard-welcome-to.html#more

LUNCH TIME SCORE

I found these babies today at lunch time at the local thrift store.  I love, love, love old suitcases.  These are going to Sister #1 because she keeps nagging asking me to find her old suitcases.  Don't you just love them.

I also found some irish linen and a really cool plate. 

I did some quick shopping on my 30 minute lunch break.  Don't you agree?

Christmas project #1

My first Christmas project done.  I have been seeing these ornament wreaths all over blogland so I decided to try one myself.  I purchased the styrofoam wreath from the dollar store and covered it with silver tinsel, also from the dollar store.  Then I just glued the ornaments to the wreath.  I really did use alot of ornaments.  

This is going to the shop for resale.  

Please leave me a comment, I'm curious if you like it or not.

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep checking back, many many more Christmas projects coming soon.

Another Life Lesson Learned

Last night my Dear Mother was honored at a charity dinner in Station Square in Pittsburgh for her many many years of service.  That would be over 50 years of service donating to a cause near and dear to her heart the Chimbote Mission in Peru.  I can’t even fathom giving each and every year for over 50 years. 

To understand this a little better, my mother is not a rich woman.  Not in the sense of the word as money rich.  She will tell you that she is rich in love and kindness that she has experienced in her 90 years on this earth from her huge family. 

There were times when I was growing up that I remember my mother working two jobs.  My father was disabled back when I was 11 years old and I am the youngest of 6 children.  So for many many years she worked very hard to keep it all together yet she always donated to her charities.  Growing up I always remember a picture of at least one little girl taped to the refrigerator.  These were her adopted children she would tell us.  Each month she would send money to the organization to help, feed and cloth these kids. 

 When you are a child yourself you just don’t understand why she is doing this.  In my adult years I have a much better understanding as to why she gave each and every month.  She would say that God has blessed her with 6 healthy children and she wanted to give back.  What a wonderful example she has set for all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

How ironic that the day she was honored for her charity work was also the day of her 90^th birthday.  As her 6 children and 2 of her oldest granddaughters and one Great granddaughter traveled with her to Pittsburgh, we got to sit back and enjoy with her her moment in the spot light. She was honored by Bishop, David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Bella, Mom, Me, Lori, Carol, Leigh, Sona, Crissa, William & Denise

 

How fortunate I am to have such a wonderful giving mother.  Watching my Mother today I learned another lesson on life. 

You always have enough to give just a little to someone else.

Happy Birthday Mom,  I love you.

SECOND GO ROUND FOR THIS TABLE

This is the 2nd go round for this table.  I didn't take a picture of it when I purchased it at a yard sale this summer.  The table was just bare wood and the top had a split in it. 

I covered the top with scrapbook paper and painted a distressed the rest of the table.  It was like this for about 3 months and I was ready to redo it again when Hubby suggested that I add a ceramic tile to  the top  to cover the split in the wood.  

I did just that, I purchased a ceramic tile from Lowes for $5.24 and Hubby glued it to the top of the table and here is the finished product.

Much better.  This is a keeper!

I'm linking up to:

FALL CENTERPIECE

I learned how to make burlap rosettes this week and added them to this candle.

 I added some sugar cookie potpouri and fall leaves to this wicker chip & dip bowl and it is now a beautiful centerpiece for the Fall.

I just love how this burlap rosette turned out.  Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a comment so I know you were here.

another table ready to go.......................

Here is another table ready for the open house.

Can you see the beat up table that has the snowman propped up against it, I found it in a barn sale and saved it.  I cleaned it up and painted it red, antiqued it and distressed it. 

This is what it looks like now...........

I love how it turned out.  It was hard to let it go.

I'm linking up to:

Party preparations are coming down to the wire!

  If you have been reading my blog you know that my dear Mother is turning 90 years old on October 13th.  We have been planning a huge party at our favorite Italian Restaurant here in town. 

This means all the relatives are coming in for the party.  The count is now up to 118 people. 

Today was the day to pick out the perfect outfit for the guest of honor.  She has been shopping on two separate occasions and still is undecided as to the perfect outfit.  So, Sister Number 2 came to the rescue.  She drove in from Ohio with 9 outfits , shoes and jewelry in the trunk of her car.  She went shopping without the guest of honor and bought all the outfits and will let our Mother pick her favorites.  She has narrowed it down to 2. 

I missed the actual fashion show but I'm sure it was very fun. I did get all the details from Sister Number 2 as she was traveling back to Ohio.   I opted to stay home to get a start on the baking of many, many cookies for the party.  I have 9 dozen wedding cookies and a pan of brownies made from scratch in the freezer.  After I froze them all, I realized I forgot to take pictures.  So you are just going to have to the wait until the day of the party for all the pictures. 

Please stay tuned, this is going to be a very busy week.  On Thursday my Mother is being honored at a dinner at Station Square in Pittsburgh for all her charity work that she has done over the years.  She knows that she is invited to a dinner but she doesn't know that she is being honored and that all 6 of her children and 2 granddaughters are going to be in attendance.  I'm guessing there will be a lot of tears of excitement.

Saturday is the big day for the birthday celebration.  I promise to take lots of pictures.

Painted pumpkins!

These pumpkins were purchased from the Dollar Store....

I painted the pumpkins to change the color a little.  I cut the stem out of the pumpkins and added fall leaves and a candle also from the Dollar Store. 

The finished product looks like this:

I love how they look.  I just placed them in a chicken feeder for the picture.
I'm linking up to between naps on the front porch, please visit them here.
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/10/decorate-your-pumpkin-with-ribbon.html
http://www.tipjunkie.com/homemade-projects-1011/

Did you miss me?

I have been very busy getting ready for the fall open house at the shop where I sell my designs.  The open house is Sunday,  as in less than 48 hours.  The painting is all done, now it's time to get to the baking.  I thought I would take a few minutes to blog about a few of the projects that I've been working on.

First up:  Candles, ground coffee, burlap and frames

-vanilla candle from the Dollar Store

-I painted the candle with modge podge and rolled it in ground coffee

-Let it dry and spray it with clear sealer

-added rafia to the candle

-cut a piece of burlap and set it on top of a frame that I picked up from a yard sale

AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT LOOKS LIKE THIS!!!