An Early Spring

I have spent the last week making birds.. I don't know, maybe I am dreaming about spring even though we still have a lot of winter left to endure. Here are a couple of love birds. They are made from an old damask tablecloth, handmade lace and old millinery flowers. I used a scrap of lovely old Pendleton wool to make this little top hat.

A paper flower buttoniere.

She has some nice old buttons on her neck and tail feathers

One of my signature handmade tags. This would be nice as a ring bearer pillow or even a cake topper.

These are just little stuffed birds made from vintage fabrics, ribbons and trims. They have no particular purpose except to make you dream of fresh spring days to come.

Mail Order Delight..on Sale

I have been wanting to order something from Anthropologie for some time now but it is a little pricey for me. However, there were a couple of things on sale and one thing that was not that I couldn't resist. Truth be told, I really did this to be on their catalog mailing list. The catalog so inspires me. My package came the other day and this was how it was wrapped inside the brown cardboard box... delightful! And this was how the packing slip was presented: in its own little muslin bag. What a wonderful touch!

In case you were curious, here is what I got for $6.00 each (regularly $24.00 each). A sweet little folk lady.

And a quirky little paper and wooden doll with a beaded hanging loop. Now I just have to put these away to give for next year. I'm not too good at that. There is one more item coming for me that was on backorder.. I'll show and tell soon.

Token of Affection

I've always been fascinated by sailor's valentines so decided to try and make one from vintage fabric, trim, beads and pins. It is filled with buckwheat hulls for a lovely rustling sound. This one is available in my shop which I have vowed to try to restock and revitalize.

Every Room needs a little Red

Today I used some brilliantly colored scarlet wool and a lovely old lace doily to create this accent pillow. I love touches of red in every room. I may have to keep this one.

What did you get for Christmas?

Now I know that Christmas is NOT about the gifts... but it is always fun to share with friends some your favorite things under the tree. One of my favorite memories from Christmas morning was calling my best friend (and next door neighbor) Diane up on the phone and setting up a time to see each other's "stuff".

This little lady (Mrs. Claus) was given to me by my mother. I just love her little polka-dot outfit with the ruffly collar, cuffs and apron trim. Maybe I'll make an outfit like this to wear around the holidays! This was my "big" present from my husband. I want to try some metal working projects this year and can't wait to try this out with all its attachments.

This was also from my mom and dad and late grandmother. For the last couple of years my mom has had a gift for me and each of my sisters with a tag that reads from our grandmother. She has been slowly picking out her treasured possessions and giving them to us. This little silver container has been around for as long as I can remember. No one quite knows what it was used for... soap saver? purse? I do love it.

Inside was this little old tin that once held liver pills. These little trinkets have great memories for me. I think these were always in my grandmother's top drawer.

This antique Christmas postcard was from my husband. I love the image of the child all tucked up in bed.

These beautiful vintage snowflake glasses came from my good friend Carol. I am crazy about them (there are a set of 10!) and am already planning a "Snowflake Luncheon" sometime in February.



Finally.. from my daughter- One of my favorite TV shows growing up. I just love the adventures of Ann Marie. I wanted to be her, have an apartment like her and a boyfriend like Donald and especially her wardrobe!!! It makes me want to go right out and get a pair of white gloves. I love these shows... nobody gets hurt and all troubles are solved in a half hour. My kind of entertainment these days.

Hope your Christmas was fun and just as blessed. It really isn't about the presents but you have to admit, the presents are still fun.

A Peek into my Holiday Home

I will fully admit that I love walking or driving around at night and sneaking a peek into the windows of well lit homes. I especially love to see everyone's Christmas trees shining out. Here is a little peek into my home and some of the little corners I've done up for the holidays. I just recently found these at a great thrift shop in Vermont... They were $20 which is a steep price tag as far as my thrifting habits go but I just had to have these... and they are my size! They are a bit uncomfortable but they do make quite a fashion statement. I guess I'll just enjoy fresh cut holly in them for now.

This is our tree for 2008... a gloriously fat Fraser Fir. I honestly don't know how my daughter ever talked my husband into this tree. Every year he grumbles that we are going to get a fake tree but he knows better. They went and chopped it down together and the thing weighs so much we could barely get it into the house. I went out to the hardware store and got some eye bolts and wired it right into the studs in the wall because if this tree goes down, it's not coming back up! It is beautiful though and easily handles all of our decorations. I just need to remember to water it twice a day because it is sucking up water like crazy.

Above... look at my Christmas cactus blooming away. How does it know?... just miraculous!

This is our mantle with the same red and white cloth I used for Thanksgiving. I used a lot of the little pinecone gnomes and nutcrackers that haven't come out of their boxes in a few years. That giant pinecone was given to me by my mother who picked it up in California. When we got it, it was totally closed, very heavy and looked like a solid sculpture. I put it on our mantle for decoration. One evening we heard a sharp pop, pop, popping sound coming from the living room. It was the pinecone opening up and shooting its seeds across the room like firecrackers! It was wild... I just love this pinecone but can you imagine something this heavy falling on your head!

This is my little white "Martha" tree. I got it at K-mart several years ago from the Martha Stewart collection and it is very pretty and easy to decorate with the tiny glass ornaments.

Here is a little collection of the snowmen made through the years. They are having their annual reunion. You can see that we had a lovely dusting of white fluffy snow last night if you look out the window. I hope it lasts so we can have a white Christmas.

This crepe pointsettia wreath was made recently from a kit that my kids gave me last Christmas. I love the way it turned out. Happy Holidays and Comfort and Joy to you all!

Little Holiday Paper Creations

Here is a quick holiday idea and a great way to use some of those pretty holiday scrapbook papers, lace, ribbon, buttons and other bits. I made a simple stocking pattern from cardstock and used that to cut out these shapes from decorative paper (cardstock works best). Remember to flip the template so that you cut out both sides of the stocking. For the "cuff" you can either use lace, trim or cut paper in a decorative edge.Make a little loop from ribbon. Sew the cuff along the top edge of the stocking (using a decorative stitch if you wish) and make sure to catch the loop in the stitching at the corner. Place the other half of the stocking on the back and sew along the edge. Trim away any uneven edges. Now you can embellish to your heart's content with ribbons, flowers, buttons, etc...

I stuff a bit of fiberfill in the bottom and toe to fill out the stocking and then put a small wad of paper shred coming out of the top to give it the finishing touch! Tie one of these to a package or hide a special surprise in one for someone special. Happy Holidays!