In Preparation of the upcoming holidays...

We've gotten all our patio furnitured stored away for winter and I've been busy re-arranging our living room in an attempt to create room for the Christmas tree. To help, I also decided to move the computer to the back section of our kitchen. It's a temporary solution to a long-term problem but one that will have to wait for a much later date to resolve, but in the meantime, we'll simply have to make it work. Gary, our electrician/computer guru should be here today to run my new internet connection line, then we can proceed. We've decided to pack away one of our two kitchen tables and utilize the smaller one along with the two spider back chairs to create a cozy, intimate dining space for just the two of us. Thankfully, all of our holidays dinners, with the exception of our own dinner, will be away from home, so I can do so this year!

We've began our Christmas shopping and shopping for Alexxis is done! Once again, I've probably purchased too much, and a few things will get put just to surprise her with whenever. Our Thanksgiving grocery shopping has been done. Earlier in the week, Don and I made a trip to Garden Ridge where I purchased the craft materials to create us a new tree topper for our Christmas tree. I have several toppers already but neither of them work with the tree due to the low ceilings, so this year instead of one big bow as a topper, I'll be putting in gold spray painted branches, clusters of silk poinsettias, red sparkle-y ornamentation. I'm excited to actually get the tree up and begin decorating it!

I made a trip out to the studio yesterday afternoon to gather up some craft supplies. I cut out 6 chipboard stars which I'm decopaging with vintage sheet music, adding a Christmas collage, and decorating. I started covering medium sided tags to create a "Winter Wishes" banner for the tree and I glittered up some vintage Santa postcards that we'd purchased at Tis The Season during the summer. The glitter is now dried on those so I can start working on creating ornaments out of them soon. I'll take some pictures --- just as soon as I locate my camera! Stay tuned!

A new slipcover....

One Saturday a few weeeks ago, I got creative and sewed up this slipcover! It's a painter's dropcloth and so soft! Just wash them up with a little Downy in the rinse cycle and dry as usual. Here, I wrapped the seat cushion with red tablecloth, just for visual inspiration, although I haven't thought about or purchased any additional fabric yet. The loveseat is next!

A few laundry room sneak peeks....

Don and I are still struggling getting one last shelf hung in our laundry area. The shelf will be placed between the wall cabinet and the closet tower one day. But, in the meantime, we have some minor repairs to make, a new hole to drill, and then... we can proceed! I did take advantage of the open shelving that the tower provides and accomplished a lot of decorating vignettes. Here's some of them: The container is a recycled plastic mayo jar that I added Clorox II powder to, tossed in a few seashells, covered the lid with a co-ordinating piece of fabric, tied with jute and viola!

The starfish dish is so adorable! It came from Home Goods and we actually use these out on our deck in the summer. I used a lot of summer dishes for the decor as it provides us with a great area to store them while not in use. The small wooden scoop came with some bath salts that I used up years ago but somehow couldn't toss, tied with natural raffia, it provides addition texture to the vignette. The seashells candles were a gift from my sister, Mary, who lives in Texas and I smile every time I see them!

This vignette features my plate stand with more of our summer tabletop decor displayed and surrounded by some of our seashell colllection. I toss in a couple watercolored beach cards to add more visual interest. Do you see that large seashell in the bottom left corner? It was a gift to me from my dear daughter, Amber, after returning home from a hurricane in Florida; the storm packed all the sand and small seashells within it.

Don and I picked up this adorable sand pail while in Amish country during the summer. I love the color and the skeleton leaf adds more visual interest, especially when filled with starfish! And last but not least, the bottom shelf... mostly made up with treasures relocated from other areas of our home.

Like I mentioned, the laundry area is still an on-going project --- it's just been pushed to the back burner until we get the shelf issue resolved and make preparations for the upcoming holidays.

In the meantime, Don and I totally re-arranged the adjacent bedroom. {sorry, couldn't find my cam this a.m., so no pictures of the finished results. The above pics were stored previously on my computer.} I promise more soon!

Has it really been that long since I've posted? Geesh. Life just goes on... and on... Don and I have been so busy! The laundry room is still a work a progress and we've since moved on, tackling other "gotta get done" things like storing the deck furniture, raking leaves, and preparing for winter. I'm hoping to have it finished up by the end of this upcoming weekend.

Anyways, our Thanksgiving holiday plans are in the process of being made, the Christmas shopping has been started, and the house is being readied in preparation of Christmas.

I rearranged our living room yesterday to make room for the tree and Gary's scheduled to come visit to run a new cable line for the computer; I've decided to move it to the back section of our kitchen and create a small home office there.

I recieved a Vintage Mingle in the mail and created four nice items; which I'm behind in getting postal. I need to sit down today, create a card, write a letter of apology and get it sent! {I'll try to post what I sent and received soon.}

We've had sweet lil Miss on several occassions and a few overnight visits. She is growing up so fast. Her newest phase is not wanting to give out kisses so she'll blow a kiss into your pocket for you to save for later, like when you really, really need one! She's so adorable!

Anyways, I wanted post just to let any of my readers know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I'm still here. And I'll post some updates later. {smiles and waves}

Well, a girl can dream, can't she? {I know I was.... wishing for the warmth of the sun on my skin} Anyways, I sincerely apologize for the disappearing act. It seems I really burnt myself out and ran myself down attempting to be superwoman, decorating the laundry room, a little remodel, and trying to keep up with the housework, the studio, family, and friends... and all. To add insult to my injuries, once I slowed down, I caught the first cold/flu of the season during the middle of the week and spent two days on the couch, covered with a blanket while my teeth chattered, my body shivered and ached, and for the life of me, I couldn't get warm!

Thankfully, hubby stepped up to the plate, pulling out the dryer to retrieve the two screws I'd dropped behind there, and actually hung the two shelves for me! What a man, I tell ya! Anyways, the laundry room decorating is currently on hold for a few days while I attempt to put our home and lives back together. I hope to finish it up, photograph it, and share it by the end of this week. I'm so sorry for the delay!