Christmas mantel

Took me here and there of every day for a week to finish my Christmas Mantel.  I decided after featuring some inspiration pictures, and seeing some mantels out here in blogland, I really wanted to do some fresh greens. Remember I could not move the clock. So this is what I came up with, Mike like's it, I like it, kids don't care and we are all happy!

If you are wondering what I am using to enhance my pictures, I am using PICNIK, so much fun!

My first two pieces of mercury glass, very pretty!

As you can see my Pottery Barn knock off tags are here and there as well. I also wrapped my books in Christmas paper.

Fresh cut greenery from my own back yard. I sprayed a little snow on it as well. You also notice I used some scrabble words.

I also brought in some fresh wood and added it to my copper tub.

Last year has nothing on this year. Of course, I learned a lot this past year from so many inspiring women, YES that means you!
HEY you better get on in the CSN GIVEWAY $60.00 
I will be joining a few partays today.
Layla from the Lettered cottage
Kim's Boring to Better party
DIY  
Allison from A Glimpse inside
My romantic home  
Remodelholic 
BNOTP

I am not paying that price!

So I made my own!!~ Not crafty as we are well aware, however this seemed pretty easy to me.  I saw this garland in the pottery barn catalog, they are great inspiration, and I love their ideas, but no way will I pay their prices. Soooooooooo....I started with this, and ended with that!

Created on the computer and copied it on white paper

tea bagged the paper, let it dry, cut it with the craft scissors

And attached it to the tree with a clothes pin

And here is the inspiration originally from Potter Barn. Now if I really wanted to get crafty I could have jazzed up the clothes pin with some glitter, but NAH, this was enough for one day.


Not bad for a rookie, if I can do it, you can do it! Have fun. Oh and I did add some music notes found in the craft scrap book section at the Walmart.
Joining Something I whipped up over at Girl creative 
Remodelholic

Don't forget my GENEROUS GIVEAWAY GOING ON NOW HERE

Vignette snippets

OK, I added a metamorphose at the end of this post......Joining Susan for Met Monday
This time of year I feel we all have a lot to share. I am inspired by all of you and excited to see every one's holiday spirit and homes decorated to the nines.  Therefore, you will be seeing a little more of me, because I too have more to share.  BUT...don't tell anyone, I am slipping back into my old ways...OLD habits are hard to break, and I was doing good there for awhile...whatevs, TIS the season to be jolly, and I want to join in, I hate to miss the fun... no harm in that!!~
Here are some snippets for ya!

DON'T forget my generous giveaway going on HERE

And this is what I am doing for the rest of the day.......

 

OK now onto my Metamorphose. When my Mom and sis were visiting, we took a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina. We stopped at a Flea market which I will be sharing with you sometime soon. My Mom spied this MAC Daddy of all Tureens.  She knew I had been wanting one and said she would buy it for me for Christmas.  I said "well OK " without hesitation.  She does believe she got a deal on this.  It is from the 1940's and in perfect shape. Has the ladle and all. Also it is electric, however we do not have the cord.She paid $50.00 for it. After looking at Ebay, nothing even came close to this one, and some were very expensive, like in the $200.00 range.  I am no expert on these prices, however there are a lot of you gals out there with these pieces, NOT like mine though:)

DON't forget about my generous giveaway going on all week!

HERE

Also joining DIY

and Carrie at Dittle Dattle 

Southern Hospitality 

I'm challenged!

Yes that is correct I am challenged...Fireplace decorating for X-mas challenged.  Every year I struggle as to what to do. We have Old World Gothic kinda style and you think it would be easy.  Last year I thought I would be a little whimsy with the mantel, looking back now, I think OK..what was I thinking? Kinda looking back on hairstyles.  I found a great website sharing ideas, however because my husband will NOT let me move the mantel clock this year, it really puts me in a designer block. Any ideas suggestions would be great! Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving day.
Here are some great ideas for you. The website was:
Fireplace decorating

I love all this fresh  greenery

Totally fun and very colorful. Now onto my last year mantel

My Mantel will look nothing the same this year, however WHAT to do? 
I have a clock in the middle which I CAN't move as I mentioned. Sorry for the bad pics, was not blogging last year, therefore quality was not an issue:)

Giving Thanks!

Hi All my Blogging friends! Hope you are all getting ready to spend this Thanksgiving with your beloved family and friends.  My Mom and sister are here as this is our yearly holiday Tradition to spend together.  I can't tell you all the fun we have, because it truly would be hours and hours worth of posts.

Thanksgiving Delights On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for
Our blessings all year through,
For family we dearly love,
For good friends, old and new. For sun to light and warm our days,
For stars that glow at night,
For trees of green and skies of blue,
And puffy clouds of white. We’re grateful for our eyes that see
The beauty all around,
For arms to hug, and legs to walk,
And ears to hear each sound. The list of all we’re grateful for
Would fill a great big book;
Our thankful hearts find new delights
Everywhere we look! By Joanna FuchsThings I am thankful for:

See you all soon.  Hopefully I will get some creative juices while my Mom is visiting. She has a way of inspiring and we usually come up with something fun! Did I mention Lucy comes everywhere with us?XXX000

Some people call me "MAURICE"

Let me explain.........
I mentioned in my last post that we had some friends over and we played a fun little game.  This was not like your usual pictionary, scrabble, etc.  That would be just too common for Mike and I.  Let me give you a little set up first.....
A couple of weeks ago when Mike was off we decided to hit some antique shops just to browse.  We really do not need anything, but we love to look.  When I found that one piece of art work featured HERE,  I also found a beautiful old family black and white photo in the coolest frame.  We kept looking at it, really admiring it.  However, the thought of a strange family hanging on our wall just kinda creeped us out. We had no history,  Like what if this family was killed in a car accident? , or whatever, they had major issues, etc....we just could not get past something not being right. Now don't get me wrong, a lot of our pieces we have little or none history, however there is NOT a face attached to it, if you know what I mean.   So we left with our one little purchase of $20.00 and felt happy with that.  We could not stop thinking and talking about the picture though.  We loved the idea of an old original photo in a frame.  So MIKE, in his usual EBAY fashion browsing, found a really neat picture in bubble glass of a cute young man making his communion.  He showed it to me, and I immediately loved the background and setting, and the kid was cute too. We both felt a good vibe. Mike won the bid, and within a week, we had a strange boy in our home on the wall.  You can see by the date it is old.  This person may very well still be alive.
Well we decided he needed a name SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......what we did was have all our party guests, first look at the picture, write  a first name, separate paper, Middle initial, separate paper, and last name separate paper.  Put it in my chalice cup, (first all the first name), pull from the cup, middle initial, pull from the cup, etc. So we all partaked in the naming of this fine young Man.  I found the cup at  the Goodwill for a buck.
First NAME:  MAURICE
Middle INITIAL: P.
LAST NAME: LOMBARDI
How much fun and laughter we had I can't even tell you.  It was hilarious, and everyone had a ball.
We love the name, which by the way Maurice was the one I wrote down.  They all asked where did I come up with that one?  I have no clue, but I always loved that song from way back when where the verse is" Some people call me MAURICE, cuz I'm a joker, I am smoker, I'm a midnight toker (NONE OF that is true for the record) but you get the gist, well the joker part is!
So please give a warm welcome to Maurice P Lombardi.....applause applause....applause.

 Please pardon the glare on these pictures, as I mentioned this is bubble glass, so no matter what time of day there is a reflection.

 Here was my Goodwill score, how cool was that, it just was calling our name!

 Maurice resides on this wall where the three tins are hanging to your right. I think this constitutes for Kim's Party, from Boring to Better.

 I will also be linking to Linda for her Junkin finds Friday party!
Also joining Kristen at My uncommon slice of Suburbia 
Cindy at My Romantic home

All Old and special

We love Old things, have you figured that out yet? Last night we had some friends over and we were sitting around our pub playing games having a ball. One friend said to us, "what I love about you guys and your home is everything has a story and has meaning"! Well that is true for the most part.
Let me show you a cabinet in which I have never shown you before.  Not sure why, I think because it is tucked in a corner, as we have NO space for it anywhere else.  This 1940's piece we scored at an antique shop in South Florida.  We were in our first home, really did not have a lot of extra money at the time. We loved the style, the color and that it would have a purpose for our dishes.  At a price of $350.00 we thought that was pretty good for an old curio cabinet, and we knew we would have it forever.
Now pardon the mess inside.  I have a beautiful collection of dishes, and some gorgeous tea cups that  my FIL just handed down to us.  THey were his Mom's and they are all very old and beautiful.

 I really need to take everything out and rearrange this cabinet...it is on my to do list

 These truly are the prettiest tea cups I have ever seen.

 THis old picture we just scored a couple of weeks ago....$20.00, we love the scene and the frame.

Next week I will share with you a fun game we played at our PUB last night...it of course had special meaning, and we let our friends participate in the ceremony.
I want to thank all of you for the support and friendship you have shown me.  Some I had no idea cared as much, however, your personal emails, and kind words were all so touching.  I have found the balance I so need.  Obviously as you can see I am posting in moderation, and that was the KEY for me. I am glad those three weeks away you did not forget me, and rip me off your blog roll HA!!~
Joining DIY

I'm so excited!

I am a huge fan of FALL. I love the season and I love the warm colors.

That was pretty much the deciding factor when choosing our interior colors. We have a very open floor plan, very little walls dividing the rooms.  That can pose a problem when trying to create warmth.  The color we have chosen for most of our living space is called Butter. It is by restoration hardware.  We love it, and the nice thing about this color, is just about everything goes with it.

I just love the backdrop here, love Mother nature! THis is why I keep these windows free of window treatments.

This side window brings in a lot of natural light, I need blinds...HERE are my new valances! I love them....New valances are from Walmart! Loves them.....

Of course it led to a mini project...Have you ever seen me paint anything white? NO, but I like it, not sure for how long though.

And here it was black

What glorious Fall indeed! We are at peak now.

If you are new to my blog. I would like for you to take a few moments to see some of my new features.  I am on a mission to helping all the newbie blogs out. Although, I have only been blogging a year myself, I know how it feels to be the new kid in town.  Please check out my tutorials, and coffee chat series.

Also Every Monday I will be doing a newbie linkie party for blogs 6 months or less and/or less than 100 followers.  The first one was a huge success.

Joining the nester