Anniversary Quilt

WARNING:  THIS IS WORDY, THERE ARE PHOTOS BE PATIENT AND READ FIRST :)



I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.  Sometimes I dwell on the negative in life and forget how BLESSED I really am! 
I have a dear friend that I have been friends with since Kindergarten.  She has been a part of my life FOREVER. Later in life we come to find out ,that funny enough, we are distant cousins....like 5th.  Does that even count?  Our parents are friends and even though she lives in the Washington DC area, we try to visit with each other on her visits to our hometown.  Usually we see each other at least at Christmas time, but sometimes twice a year.
Let me back up a bit.  She works for the government. (Crazy woman) and for a hobby she designs and pieces masterpieces of quilts.  She was home this past summer for a visit and had a private trunk show of her quilts.  I was lucky enough to be invited to the show.  I am amazed and in awe of the work she does.  I am amazed because one, it takes a brilliant mind to design and patience to piece the quilts to the perfection that she shows.  I can sew, a very little bit, not well, but it will hold together whatever it needs to.  Now give me a hot glue gun and I can conquer the world.  Seriously some of her work is so tiny and exact it is amazing!!
Anyway, I was in awe of her work and asked to bring my husband back to her parents home later to see her work.  He comes from a family that his Grandmothers and Mother both do old fashioned quilting.  Not for beauty, which some are beautiful, but for the simple warmth the quilt provides. So Hubs, appreciates quilting as well as I do.  I have been told now that during the show I pulled several out many times to ooh and aah over the design and fabrics.  Little did I know I was being "watched" ;) 
So Christmas arrives and we plan our yearly visit.  I invite her to eat pizza with my family and stay for our yearly chat, gossip and B***tch session.  All in good heart. She brings along some of her current projects for us to see.  As I said before I love to see her works, so no surprise to see her pack along her quilts.  She opens up her bag and proceeds to show us her works.  Beautiful!!!  Original and unique as well.  She opens a quilt in light green and pastel muted colors in what I call a Star design.  I am drawn to this design and say how beautiful it is!  She states, "This is one I have put a label on." She brings the quilt over for me to read the design.  She chuckles, because I have to remove my glasses to read the label.....old age stinks!  I read the first few lines and say the dumbest thing.  "Seriously?"  "Are your serious?"  I must look and sound stupid.  I am not at a loss of words very often but this dumbfounds me.  She laughs and says of course I am serious.  The label states the quilt was pieced and made by my friends name, specifically for Hubs name and my name and our last name in honor of our 29th wedding anniversary.  Amazed.  Simple amazed.  Now comes the best part.....photos of the quilt.  The pics do not show the beauty of the quilt.  I am honored and AMAZED!!
Enjoy the photos and her wonderful work....

Anniversary Quilt

A square from the quilt

Another beautiful square of the quilt

The back of the quilt.Which is reversisble!!

Showing the beautiful quilting.

The Anniversary quilt, in the process of being quilted.

A gift that can not be duplicated.  One of a kind, just like the woman who pieced the quilt!!
Forever in my heart. Thank you!!

Inspiring Christmas

I thought I would share with you some inspirational decorating photos.  Words will be limited, so enjoy the ambiance.

Credit:  Funk Junk Interiors

 Credit:  HGTV

 Credit:  Holly Mathis Interiors

 Credit:  Home by Heidi

 Credit:  Jen Rizzo

Credit:

 Credit:  The Yellow Cape Cod

Credit:  Back Porch Musings

 Credit:  Better Homes and Garden

 Credit:  Cottage Instincts

 Credit:

Credit:  Forever Decorating

Simple and elegant.  Go check out these talented ladies at their blogs.  A must see.  Please share your favorites or inspirational sites.
                                                                                    Peace,
                                                                                      Stephanie

Getting That Warm Fuzzy Feeling

The weather around here has been BEAUTIFUL.  It has been in the upper 50's and 60's and sunny.  Not TYPICAL for Ohio in late November.  I wish our winters could be like this, however, I know we will pay for this in the near future. 

We decorated the inside of the house for Christmas.  Weird decorating in the sunshine and warmth.  Today I actually have the windows open a small crack.  I again I remind you this is NOT typical Ohio weather !!

Thought I would share a few of our vignette's of the upcoming holiday season.  I normally go all out with garland on the stairs and in the dining room and den.  This year, just not "in to it".  Went simple and hopefully pleasing.

Up close of the door wreath.  All made by me :).  Thrift store Styrofoam balls, painted and glittered.

Packages.

Front entrance to our home.

Our "pencil" tree.  Now sporting our handmade red glitter balls.  Made by me from thrift store items.  So much more practical $$$ wise than buying the store made glitter balls!

So glittery!!

Snowmen a top the TV cabinet.

Decided to add the snow sign to the silverware tree.  Still disappointed that the silverware are not more distinctive.

Kitchen sink vignette.

Tree in den, decorated with....what else....snowmen.  Have you noticed I collect snowmen?  I edited the display this year and only put out a fraction of the men.

Even though I decorate with "SNOW" signs, does not mean I like SNOW in any way, shape or form.  Well I like it on TV, not in my real life :)

We are not blessed to have a fire burning fireplace.  So we warm the den with an electric version.  Decorated with my pottery.This

This pottery is made here in Holmes County!!

Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, but it is our home and we feel blessed to be in it!  What does your home look like during the holidays?  Do share.
                                                                    Peace.

What? Already?

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I decided to take advantage of the warmer weather here and decorate the outside for Christmas.

I broke my own rule.  I NEVER decorate for Christmas until at the very earliest of the day AFTER Thanksgiving.

I was inspired by so many wonderful ideas on pinterest that I decided to change up my holiday decor.

I am cheap frugal and refused to pay the big $$$ for my "new" decorations.

I had priced the glittery balls for the tree and was SHOCKED at the price of one ball.

I had priced florist ribbon and again about fell over at the price of a bolt of ribbon.

So what is a woman to do when they want to change up the decor on a budget?

THRIFT.

Hubs and I purchased  2 bags full of assorted sizes of Styrofoam balls at our local thrift store.  Ready 50 cents a bag.

Garland $2.50

Small tree $8.00

I painted the balls and then covered them in glitter to match.

The other supplies were from our craft room box(es).

 The ribbon was "borrowed" from my Mom, along with the urns.  Hubs painted the once well worn white urns black.  The boxes are empty and recycled from my office junk pile.

Up close of the balls and ribbon. Must say I am very pleased with the outcome!!

The cheap camera does not show the pretty color of the paper.  The paper is actually a lime green, red, white and silver.

The silverware also came from the thrift store for a mere $2.50.  I must say it didn't turn out as pretty as I had in my mind.  I have seen these trees on pinterest and their silverware was front and center and bold.  Mine tends to blend into the tree.  Not sure what is so different except the trees on pinterest are smaller and the branches are not so full.

Well there you have the beginning of our Christmas decor.  More to come next week when we finish with the inside of the house.

Would love to see your decorations.  Send me a note with your blog and I will stop by for a peek.

Peace.

Gift Wrapping.

Since the Holidays are approaching us fast.  Not to mention the stores are throwing them directly in our faces, it got me to thinking.  CHRISTMAS wrapping ideas.  I always try to come up with different ideas.  One time I will wrap each persons presents in one style of paper and no one else got that paper. Another time I used basic crafting (brown) paper and applied rubber stamped decor on them. Once I used comic papers for everyone.

I have been inspired by Older and Wisor blog (olderandwisor.blogspot.com).  She has a sidebar 31 Ways to Wrap Your Crap.  You MUST go check this one out. 

Lollipops designed to be Cherries.  How simple and CUTE!!

Balloons.

Dollies.  You can find these at thrift stores.  I bet you could even find the jewelry too.

I have seen many ideas using paper towel rolls, but never thought to use as "ribbon".  Must try this year.

A "double" gift.  The actual gift and the magnets.  Again, these are purchased on the less expensive side.

Gosh, I would love to do this one this year as well.  Dried orange slices and craft paper.

Simple. 

These would be adorable on gift food.  Love it.  Love snowmen!!

These are so cute, simple and inexpensive.  Much better way to wrap then the outrageous priced store bought ribbon!!!!

What ideas do you have for this seasons wrapping?  Do share.

Peace.

A Happy Accident

I have always been a "use what you have kind of person".  I have never really been someone who has had the luxury of, if I want it or see it, buy it.  So when we decided to repaint the "guest" room.  (By the way it is hard for me to call it the guest room.  It will always be our eldest sons room.  He has moved into his own home, but you know how us Mom's tend to be.....) We pulled it together ACCIDENTALLY.  I swear it was all by accident. I hope it doesn't look like a bad accident

The paint was chosen by both hubs and I.  It is a linen sort of color.  Not tan, not beige, not creamy white, just linen.  I would need to get off of my rear end to check the actual name. 

 The red comforter is an old one we had when the boys were little and wanted matching comforters, even though they did not share a bedroom.The bed is our youngest sons, who lives with us, but now has a full sized bed.

Sadly, I still need a small office space and it has been this room for about 4 years now.  Why change now? 

This artwork was given to me from a family member.  I love it for sentimental reasons.  I also just love it.  The red, accidentally works well with the red comforter.  The mat of the artwork is a perfect match to the new wall color.  I swear, NONE of this was planned.  When hubs hung the art he grinned and said "Hey, check this out."  I was like check what out?  Duh, the mat and the wall are a perfect match.  OMG!!!!!!

The color doesn't show up so well.The swan is sitting on a a navy blue hutch and it just so happens the comforter is reversible and guess what the other color choice is......BLUE!!  I swear accident!!

Here is the before.

I must say I am very happy with the results.  Thanks hubs.  He worked hard on his days off while I was at work to finish paint the entire room. 

We removed the upper shutters from the windows and will be hanging full length panels sometime soon.

Hope you enjoyed the accident.  We are very pleased with it. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace.