Liebster Blog

My cousin, Diane, who blogs at Diane Turpin Designs presented me with this blog recognition.  Diane is a wonderful photographer, scrapbooker, designer of digital scrapbooking layouts, seamstress, and artist --  she received a huge dose of the crafty gene in our family.  Her work is excellent and you can purchase a piece of it from her Etsy Shop.  The highlights of my childhood were the times we were able to spend together at Christmases, Thanksgivings, and weeks in the summer.  There is 10 and 1/2 months between our ages and since I never had a sister, she is the closest person I have to fill that void.  We even roomed together in college for a year before she married.  Check out her blog when you have a chance and give her a shout.

This award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers, in the hopes that it will bring many new friends/followers.

Leibster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea of the Leibster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five other bloggers. Please stop by and visit them.

The Rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blog share-other bloggers.

5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

I present the Liebster blog to the following blogs:

Charissa Explains It All - spiritual thoughts with a dash of humor

Quilting Grannie - my Mom!  Anything to do with a needle, she can do it!

Upon A Dream - a recent find for me - great photography, cute kids, and crafts.

Spring Hill Farm -  restoring a 180 year old farm house - exquisite redos.

Living On Live Oak - renovating, cooking, and baking.

Please give your support to all of these "small" bloggers.

Judy :)

Christmas Decorations 2011

Christmas decorations this year were much more simple.  I pulled out very few decorations and filled in with greenery from our farm.  The feel is more open and less cluttered.

I simply added a ribbon to the front door wreath this year.  The ribbon is just woven in and around the branches...very simple yet effective.

Pine branches were added to the mantel with small antique ornaments in a crystal dish with the nutcrackers.

We added a "Noel" banner this year made of red ticking, burlap and ribbon.  You can purchase one like this at my cousin, Diane's Etsy Shop.

We filled our dough bowl with pine cones from a tree that fell on the back of our farm.  A simple branch of pine with a little tuft tucked in the pinecones was all that was needed for a great dining room centerpiece.  The jar with greenery is filled with our trimmings left over after decorating.  This makes the pine and cedar handy for including with gift wrap tied with twine.

I thought the tree needed more garland than just our cranberry beads.  This year I added rope as a second garland.  It suits our lifestyle and keeps our tree more casual.

This is a closeup of the rope and beads.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve to the fullest!

Judy :)

Before & After: From Window to Coat Rack

Tutorial to follow soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Judy :)

A Few Christmas Decorations

I just wanted to let you know that I'm not holding off Christmas any longer!  I had set December 10 as the date I put up the tree this year and later came to find out that December 10 was the day my grandmother always put up her Christmas tree.  Maybe I inherited my wait for Christmas from her!

I purchased some antique ornaments this year from White Flower Farmhouse.  The photos I took didn't do the lovely ornaments justice, but below are a couple of them.  These ornaments reminded me of the ones on my parents' tree when I was a little girl.  In the assortment of ornaments, I also received several of the old fashioned ornaments that are colorful with the concave silver centers.  My photos of them did not turn out at all!

This ornament is one of my favorites.   One of our friends brought this Santa back from Germany on one of her trips.

I had time for one Christmas Craft.  I made this wreath out of a package of glass ornaments purchased at CVS after Christmas a few years ago.  The wreath has been around for several years and the ornaments were only $3!

I may add a bow next year, but have enjoyed the simplicity this year.

Christmas excitement is beginning to stir around our house.  We look forward to the next few days to be around family and our traditions.

Looking forward to Christmas,

Judy :)

Before & After: The Front Door

When we purchased our house, it had been “well” used.  Bluntly, it was filthy and needed a total make over.  We did a quick makeover of walls and flooring then moved into it as soon as we could.  Over the past six years (after moving in), we have slowly been fixing other little things as we can.  One of my recent “do-overs” was the front door.  We have a really nice front door with the side window lights.  I think the previous owners intended to paint the door after their dogs had ruined the finish as they scratched to get inside.  The front door looked like it had been lightly sanded at several places.  These are the before pictures of the front door:

Everywhere we drove this past summer, I looked at front doors.  I noticed the colors of the doors and if the side lights were painted the same or in contrast.  My favorite front doors were painted black with white side lights.  The contrast really made the front doors pop.  I liked black, but I remembered traveling in Charleston, South Carolina when I was in college and loving the color of their front doors.  At first glance, they looked black, but after looking closer, you noticed the color was really a green that was so dark it was almost black.  I started looking for that color and found what I thought might be a good substitute at Lowe’s.  The color is called Nocturnal Green and is made by Valspar.

When I began painting the front door, the paint looked to have a more bluish tinge to it.  My son thinks it looks black, but I can definitely see a blue tinge and not a green tinge.  When I hold the paint sample up to the door (which looks green when held away from the door), the paint exactly matches the sample.  Go figure?!  Maybe the bluish tinge is the reflection of the gray concrete on the porch floor.  I do like the way the door looks, so I am going to keep the color….just not totally what I was after.

Here is the way the door looks now (and decorated for fall):

The gold “Welcome” is a vinyl transfer from “Leen the Graphics Queen”.  Check out her website.  She has all kinds of sayings and scriptures to add to your walls, doors, or crafts.  They are reasonably priced and are easy to apply.

What new projects have you finished this fall?

Enjoy your weekend!

Judy :)

Diane's Etsy Store

My cousin,  Diane, has always been very talented.  She excels at sewing, crocheting, drawing, painting, photography, and scrapbooking to name just a few.  Diane's mother and my mother are sisters and are both talented in their own right with many of the same skills.   I didn't receive a full dose of those genes.  I can sew curtains and pillows - things that take a straight line.  I am learning more about photography (I think a better camera might help along those lines!).  I can draw a little. But I can do nothing to the professional craft level that my mom, aunt and cousin have reached.

Recently, Diane opened an Etsy shop to offer a variety of her items such as stationery, necklaces, birth announcements, christmas stockings, digital scrapbook papers, and much more to the public.  You can check out her Etsy Store here. 

When I saw her Everyday Tote Bag-Purse, it was exactly what I needed.  I teach a class of 3rd and 4th graders on Wednesday night and needed a sturdy bag to hold a bunch of "stuff":  my bible, binder, flashcards, folders, overheads, markers, candy, and many other things that vary from week to week.  After talking with Diane about her tote AND finding out I could pick out my own material, I was ready to order.  I picked out my material at Wal-Mart (not much variety here, but we are getting a JoAnn Fabrics soon...can't wait!).  I chose a dog print for the outside, a black check for the inside, a black duck cloth for the bottom and straps, and some black stringy cording as decoration to go around the top.  I was a little concerned about how the different thicknesses of materials would work, but she made it all come together beautifully and it is very sturdy.

Here is the final product:

And, it even gets better.  On the inside, she has a zipper pocket which is great for my flash cards:

And a pocket for my markers, pencils and pens:

This bag is both functional and beautiful.  I can definitely see this used as a purse and might consider one for that purpose too if I wasn't so completely in love with my Ameribag.  I'll have to do a post on that sometime, too!  :)  Please do check out her Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/diturpin.  My next purchase may be her stationery...gorgeous!  Or maybe the Christmas Tree Stockings...hmmmm.

Have an enjoyable Independence Day weekend and be safe!

Note:  I just noticed that there is a pocket on the outside too!