Decked Halls

The "Halls" are officially "Decked"...

And Bis is resting comfortably nestled beneath the tree (and dining room table, didn't notice until now). What a wonderful gift already under the tree!

Making Christmas tree ornaments. Getting ready to "deck the halls" tomorrow. Adding a few more homemade ornaments to my tree. I love these icicle ornaments. I bought some "ting-ting" for my tree this year. Excited! I love the holidays and the reason for the season.

Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving at mom's with the family. Turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mac & cheese, deviled eggs, green beans, marinated carrots, brown rice, broccoli casserole, corn, okra, yeast rolls. Desserts, too many to mention. Good food, family and football....aaaaaahhhhh!

Beautiful moon

Family Recipes

I am presently working on a Family Recipe book and am thoroughly enjoying it. There are some very very good cooks in my family. I love the recipes that have been handed down, and especially the handwritten ones. I hope to pass this book on down the line of generations. SO thankful for family and for the opportunities to share.

Wonderful church service today. Psalms 103..., song sang..."It Is Well " (With My Soul).

So very thankful for the many blessings He has given me.

So very thankful for His grace and mercy.

So very thankful to be a child of His.

So very thankful...

Recycled and Altered

These great "Christmas Gift Ideas" came from the Better Homes & Gardens "Food gifts" magazine. We made them today at the "Creative Play"/Crop from recycled items. Egg cartons, plastic produce containers, jars, cans, etc. and with simple, inexpensive household things. Just add your baked goods, rubs, dip mixes, homemade preserves and jams, homemade dog treats, and Merry CHRISTmas! So fun and easy....and so inexpensive!

Beautiful Works In Progress

Beautiful works from a talented group of ladies at this week's "Creative Play"/Crop that I hosted today, Sat. Nov. 20. Beautiful day to play, both indoors and out. Home early enough to play outdoors with Choco and Bis. Loving life!

"Simple Pleasures"

Fun and simple project using premade pocket accordian book (Bazzill) to note a few of my "Simple Pleasures". Memories, shoes, red kitchen appliances, chocolate milk, and my seat warmers in my car, to name a few...

"Creative Play"/Crop

Hosted a "Creative Play"/Crop again this weekend and had a wonderful time with a great bunch of ladies (12 in attendance). It is open to all arts/crafts. Great food, (each bringing a salad for the "salad bar") everything from Bluegrass Salad to Oriental Slaw. Had some great dessert salads( Congealed, Grape, and Apple Salads). Even had a couple of ladies bring breakfast (Breakfast Casserole and homemade Applesauce w/ homemade Biscuits). Each time, the money(fee) above the cost of having it, goes to a Charity/Foundation/good cause. We have been able to give to the MS Foundation, and the proceeds from this time will go to our local Humane Society. So much fun and so much creativity in one place. Some truly talented artists in this group of women.

Glass Ornament Topiary

Handmade from glass ornaments, a 4" styrofoam ball, a candle holder and a little hot glue. I also added ribbon on a few that I made for friends, to fill in the "gaps" as needed. Either way, it is a beautiful addition to Christmas decor.

Garland Beaded Trees

These trees are made using bead garlands of varying colors and bead sizes and shapes. I made 3 trees of varying heights and they sit on the mantle at Christmas time, 2 on one end and 1 on the other. They are very easy to make, just take a little time and a few burned fingers from hot glue (ouch!)

Art Essentials

Fun "Art Essentials" boardbook, made for journaling and photos of my "favorites" that I use when create.

"Our 12 Days of Christmas" Book

For this book project, I used a file folder template to make the pages. The cover is made from a transparency sheet atop a patterned paper. Patterned papers were added throughout the pages. Added the ribbons and the lettering(chipboard, bling, stickers, rub-ons, etc.) to the cover. Inside are photos and journaling of things we do during the Christmas holidays to prepare like, decorating, shopping, baking, gift wrapping, family photo in front of the tree, sending Christmas cards, watching Christmas movies, etc.

Vintage Keepsake Holder

Multiple uses for this fun project. Could be a "purse" book if accordian pages added, if cards added, could be a card holder, or a holder for tags. I plan to put notes written to me from the boys when they were younger in it to have as a keepsake. Very simple and fun to make and very versatile.

This book w/handles is a "family" album that I made a while back. The book is by 7 Gypsies and I used papers from Scenic Route. I am happy and not really lucky, more like blessed to have a wonderful family. I love the time we spend together, like tonight, dinner out together. And glad my boys are not only brothers but friends as well. Close in age (14 months apart) and close in friendship. My 3 men and my 2 dogs....my happiness!

My Two Latest and Greatest Finds....

I found these two great finds at a local thrift store (Foothills Hospice Store). I have seen the idea of the spice rack several times, just didn't want to spend the money on it, but ran across this one the other day while shopping with a dear friend. It took a lot of cleaning up, as it still had spices in the bottles (old spices, I might add), but was totally worth the work. I have filled it with embellies (16 bottles). I still need to label the bottles.... the other is of course a coffee mug holder, but is perfect for my book rings, and my SLICE Tagmaker metal rimmed tags. I love special finds...but more than that, I loved the time spent with my good friend and the fact that my spendings went for a good cause. By the way, together, the two were $5.00 total. However....that's not all I bought...shhhhh!!!!

Finished projects

In the top photo, to the left is a "spool" book. Just a fun kind of thing I saw in a book. I sewed papers together, making a one long piece, glued one end to the empty thread spool, and wrapped it around the spool. I attached an eyelet and a "4 " elastic" band (7 Gypsies) to hold it closed. It is a time-line book, of the year that I was born, having information/happenings throughout that year. To the right, of the spool book is an "envelope" book. The cover is handmade (including the paper). Inside (the following pic) is a look at the inside, which is made from envelopes, sealed and cut on the opposite end, with others aattached to make the pages. I inked, spritzed (Maya Road, Tattered Angels), created the embellies using my Cricut machine and had a blast!

The next pics are of a "Book in a Tin" themed "Autumn". The pages are accordian and easily fold out and back in. The only problem I had was keeping the pages simple to remain flat enough to fit into the tin. If too heavily embellished (including photos), the tin would not close as it should. All three projects were time consuming, but definitely worth it.