Happy Valentine's Day!

HOPE YOUR DAY IS SWEET!

Since this is a day of love ~ and being sentimental ~ I'm going to document some points of interest in the picture above.

The candy dish was a recent gift from Mom after she learned of my new-found love for all things silver.  One person's opportunity to clean out their hutch trash can certainly be another's treasure.  Thanks, Mom!

And see that spoon in the candy dish?  It was my baby spoon.  
All together now:   Awww....

The Valentine in the background was from Chip's grandparents, Grace and Earl.  I wish I'd dated it.  Earl passed away in November of 1990, so that's my only reference point. 

Just a reminder, if you're a sap sentimental like me, date your cards! 
Start today, 2/14/11!

 

~ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! ~

Love,
Cj

Thanks, Craig!

This antique vintage baby

gave out on me after only 32 years.

Seriously? 

And you know I used the heck out of it. 

ahem...

So . . . we welcomed this baby to our kitchen a couple weeks ago.

It was a whoppin' five bucks, still in the box, and I only had to drive to the local Walgreen's to meet its previous owner.  

I just love my friend Craig and his amazing lists! 

Happy shopping mixing!

cj

Sew, what's up?

I've been playing around this weekend.  This is one of six.  Each will be different. 

I'll attempt to make three of them a bit less feminine.  =)

 This one uses lace from Chip's grandmother, Grace,

and buttons I had in my scrapbook supplies. 

The velvet is decorator fabric, which is all I could find in the right color.  Lucky for me, it was dirty and, thus, reduced to $7 a yard.  I got 3/4 of a yard -- which should be plenty for six cuffs --  and used a 40% coupon. 

I had an old cotton sheet -- literally old, and literally 100% muslin, which meant it had to be ironed and I would never use it -- that I used for the lining.

So far I'm out $3.44, including tax.  Suh-weet.

(Yes, Christina, it's a little wrinkled.  I was too eager to photograph it. 

I hope you can iron burlap...)


*ETA:  My "talent" did indeed come from my mom.  Plus, you're the one that taught me to sew.  Thankyouverymuch, Mom!

Got Scraps?

I've never been a wasteful person.  When I first began scrapbooking, I would cut the paper out from behind a picture and use that scrap somewhere else.  I don't do that anymore, but I still like to be creative and see what I can do with my waste. 

In this case it's burlap.

Remember the table runner I made a couple weeks ago?  Once I was finished, I was left with a pile of burlap strings and scraps.  So what can you do with burlap scraps?

You can make nests for big pumpkins . . .

and for little pumpkins . . .

and even for the poor little gourd that's trapped under glass in your bathroom, of all places.  Everybody does that; right?

You can tie up a bundle of books.

And if the candle you want to burn isn't anywhere near quite the right color, just wrap some burlap around it.  At first I used burlap to tie it as well, but I decided I liked the strip of muslin better. 

So there ya go.  Instead of throwing my burlap waste in the trash, I sprinkled it around the house.  Did I mention I've got several yards of burlap left? 
I'm thinking of making Christmas stockings
with creamy velvet cuffs adorned with vintage buttons and lace. 
I'm going to need six stockings this year, ya know!   =)

Stay tuned! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Cj

Halloween recap

Hey there!  I mentioned doing a little fall crafting, and I did it on Halloween day.  Over a year ago -- or maybe longer -- I bought yards of burlap for a project I never completed.  Okay.  I never started it.  But I knew the burlap would be put to good use eventually.  So many possibilities.  I've seen some cute burlap table runners in blogland.  I decided to start simple, and I made a runner for the chest in the foyer.   

Cute huh?  My next one may have hemmed sides and a 3-inch ruffle on each end.

Things I learned for next time: 

Don't work with burlap right after you've dusted your house.

Don't wear black pants.  Please.

Use a tape measure instead of "eyeballing" it.

Don't work with burlap right after you've dusted your house.
Yes, that deserves being mentioned twice.

Here's a shot of the chest in the foyer as we waited for trick-or-treaters.  What's significant about this picture, you ask?  Well, it's the yellow melamine bowl.  That was the bowl we used for our candy when I was a kid on Sunset Drive.  And now I always use it for our candy. 



That bowl also held lots of green beans, and macaroni & tomatoes, and mashed potatoes in its day. 
No, no, not in my house.  On Sunset Drive.  It's my candy bowl, remember? 
Me having a bowl for mashed potatoes would give my family a good chuckle.  ;)

 Here's a shot of the front porch.  Instead of putting mums in my planters this year, I just added pumpkins.  Much cheaper.  I'm hoping they'll last through Thanksgiving.  It doesn't show up very well in these pictures, but there's a grapevine draping thingy (I can't think of the word I'm looking for!) with some burlap ribbon woven in it and hung over the door, along with a "boo" sign, and a spooky spider web is stuck to the storm door.  That Kaitlyn is full of good ideas!  ;)

 

Oh, look.  You can see Chip sitting in his chair with his laptop, and you can see part of my still-summer mantel.  The smart thing to do would be go straight to a Christmas mantel, but I am determined to celebrate Thanksgiving in true fall style.



And since these pictures were taken on Halloween day, it's only fitting to end the post with a cute little pumpkin.

And a cute little '50s diva!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cj

Happy Halloween!



  

My little monsters spent a little time with me Saturday.  Kaitlyn only had about an hour after basketball practice, which was just enough time to get a craft done. 

We used a treat bag she'd gotten last year as our inspiration. 

I cut out the hair, but the rest of the handiwork is hers.  

When I told her we could sew the mouth, she said, "I call the pedal!"   

And you're not going to believe this, but I couldn't find my camera.  Ryan already had Nolan in the car seat, ready to get home and get K ready for a 1:00 birthday party.  But I kept looking, because I'm stubborn that way.  I sometimes hide my camera when I leave the house.  (Robbers:  Steal my computer, tv, whatever, but please don't find my camera!)  And it would be a little counter-productive to leave myself a Post-it saying where I'd hidden it, so I often find myself looking for it.  Ironically, it was where I usually put it, I just didn't see it the first time I looked. 

 I got Kaitlyn to stop for a quick picture while her daddy was waiting for her to leave.  I reeeeally wanted a picture of K and Nolan together, too, but I didn't think Ryan would go for that...

Look at that sweet smile.  Right.  She could care less about the camera at this point.  She's wanting to fish a pumpkin out of that jar of mixed candy you see there. 
And she knows her daddy is waiting . . .
and Mommo is wasting her pumpkin digging time. 
I've got her number.

Here's the back of her "card."  Even though we're always telling each other "It doesn't have to be perfect!" ... and that usually works ... she wasn't pleased with her commas.  She thought they looked too much like 1's.  So we made a small, last-minute "repair" and we were good to go!

 I don't have any pictures of Nolan from yesterday, but here's a couple from last week.  He's growing like crazy!  And smiling like crazy.  And I promise you he was singing "Your are my Sunshine" with me!  Such a shame there were no witnesses.   ;)

There will be pictures of these two in their costumes next week.  Plus, I'm doing a little fall crafting today which I'll share with you.  Stay tuned!

Happy Halloween!

Cj

Ta-da!

Ta-da!  It's done! 

Of course, one thing led to another.  I needed to don a dust mask and clean the room before putting things away. Then a little rearranging and "foofifying" (my word) seemed in order.  That was the fun part.  Once I got into it, I had to resist the urge to do an all-out purge of supplies.  I did start a small pile for Molly, who has expressed an interest in doing an album for Nolan. 

So now I am inspired.  I'm inspired to spend some time in there creating -- like maybe a belated Happy Birthday card for Mom! -- and to spend some time in there and really get it organized.  The closet in the corner could be used so much more efficiently.  

So here's the big reveal!

Look!  You can see the carpet!  And you can sit in the chairs!

Someday I plan to do a post featuring particular items I'm using.  As I was putzing around in here this weekend, I realized how many family pieces fill the room.  I know Mom and Margaret will get a kick out of seeing how what I've done with things that were theirs or were their mothers'.  

Now, this closet I've got big plans for . . .

Yessiree, Bob.  (Or maybe it should be "yessiree, Gene."  ha!)  This is the home of my future sewing closet.  When I work up the courage -- and when I'm up for the challenge -- I'll show you what mass of junk loveliness lies behind Curtain Number One.  You can safely assume it's another weekend project.  Or maybe a month-long project.  I've got all kinds of ideas for this space.  As a matter of fact, I've already got old sewing pattern pieces up on the wall as wallpaper. 

I think this is something Dad will want to come help with.  I'm going to need an electrical plug or two...   It'll be so much fun!  =)   (Love you, Dad!)

That's it for now.  Transcripts are calling my name!

Cj

Keeping it real . . . and a challenge

A challenge to myself.  I'm thinking if I disclose to you-all the state of my scrapbooking room -- and further reveal that it's been this way for, uh, three weeks now -- that it just might, maybe, possibly give me the kick in the behind I need to transform this room back to its splendor.  Who knows.  If this form of humiliation motivation works, I might even get up enough nerve to post a photograph of another room or two or three or four in the house that could use a little attention.  ha! 

In my defense, I've been working on a big transcript.  Sure, one could argue that I've been working on the transcript to avoid the scraproom.  One could be right.  So what?

Okay.  So here I am, stripped of all dignity and pride.  Here is my scraproom as of Saturday afternoon @ 2:20 p.m.

So what do ya think?

Can it be done in one afternoon? 

Check back to find out!

Cj