Wanting all you've got!

I spend last evening searching for the perfect light to hang over my dining room table , I have spent many nights doing this , actually I found a lovely lantern , and it may be a contender ,

But I think I may be {happy with the one I've got !} , it is one of a kind , I love the clean look of the grey paint and metal flowers with their mirrors { I added those , stroke of genius} but I thought I needed to bring it up a notch and while wrapping the girls gifts today I wrapped the candle sleeves with this pretty paper , these things just come to me...

while at Home Depot the other day Sophie and I spied this package of MAGNETIC crystals , magnetic , uh huh , place them where ever you like , move them around , no need for holes....

I think this light is staying for a while , and I think I want another package of crystals too ....

happy monday

this is the recovered seat cushion for the cane chair I am working on , beautiful sand colored linen.

I have the first coat of paint on the frame of this cane chair I am making over for my in-laws , it is a creamy soft color , it is breathing new life into an old chair , it looks so much fresher already .

The sun is shining and I am feeling full of energy , I have the cleaning bug .....

Where have I been ?

A little tweaking restored balance to the dining room , there is nothing like something being "off " to drive a detail oriented person a little batty... the dining table is no longer crammed unusually close to the window , I am not one to push a table out of the way , it deserves its rightful space , an electrician will not determine where best my furniture will go...a little cord extension and a hook solved my problem , thanks to the suggestion of a reader.

With Christmas looming my mind has been very focused on Christmas lists , getting things started , especially my Christmas list , I am glad to say things are going well .
But this has left me little time or energy for projects , in fact I have been hesitant to start any kind of project , but I can feel something stirring , I think this week may be fruitful , let's hope because I have quite a list...two chairs for Grandma and Grandpa to be re-painted and re-upholstered , a couple of towels to customize , wrapping , and perhaps re-building the front hall closet into an open bench area with loads of hooks shelves and baskets...???

I did do a couple of things this weekend and even had a little help from the husband , my frightful lighting experience {here} has left me a lot more cautious , and after living with my dining room light in the wrong location and too short for comfort , I am happy to share I dealt with my problem , a reader suggested lengthening my cord by adding new wiring and chain and hiding the mess with my scrunchie cord cover , well it was the perfect trick indeed. I actually moved it out even more than before and I no longer need to shimmy behind the dining table , it looks so spacious . I am still on the look out for my forever fixture , but nothing has fit the bill as of yet , these things can take time...but until then I think I will treat myself to some magnetic chandelier crystals I found at Home depot the other day , a little sparkle might be nice...

I hit the pool store today to talk about the cost of installing an in ground pool , we have talked often about how we would love a pool , we want a preform fiberglass pool , our ground here is awful for the traditional type , turns out it will be $40,000.00 plus to get our way , so we will have to see what the future holds and whether this will be our long term home ...that is still up in the air right now...the pools I saw in the brochure are fantastic , lots of variety , many different style and shapes to choose from in our size range , with lots of neat ledges which are great for kids , and the big bonus is that the dogs can swim and enjoy the pool with us ... still not ready to jump in and make that decision , sure would be nice especially with the kids getting older it may be the right choice to keep them around...

Sorry I have been a slacker , and hope you have been well...see you soon with more to come , I promise.

More decor for Christmas

I found these silver wreaths at Walmart and the glass ornaments shaped like light bulbs , i know I said no colored lights and technically they aren't lights , but they are darn cute .

I added a second table top tree to the front room , we had these smaller trees already they normally go in the childrens rooms but they take up too much space so I took one for here and replaced theirs with small tinsel trees , a purple one and a pink one .

I used a snowman table cloth to cover the table that the tree is sitting on , its the wrong blue , i will switch it with a painters cloth tomorrow.

I bought a cheap set of multi sized white and silver balls for this tree , then I used the remainder of my snow flake ornaments , more blue light bulb ornaments and even a little bit of white pom pom fringe , why not ?


Its beginning to look alot like Christmas ...Happy Thanksgiving All.

Our winter wonderland

Here is my little white tree , now why didn't we try it in this room before , it feels right at home , with all the white and the cottagey ceilings....

Is this the cutest polar bear or what , adorable...

Perfect bears for my tinsel forest table scape...

I pinned these felt ornaments to the roman blinds , little added whimsy...

A few other things I banned from this Christmas scheme, colored lights and green garland ...

A peanut free advent calendar , a nice pop of green it goes well with my two lanterns flanking the fireplace...

I wanted to keep the railing simple and clean by stringing up the furry blue snow ball garland with cream ribbon and giant felt snowflakes , these were a runner I found at Fabricland {if you are in Canada} that I cut apart...

All we need is snow , yuck, no thanks I would take a green Christmas any day ...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my friends...

It is going to be a white Christmas

I have decided to put up the Christmas tree today .
I took the girls to Homesense for our annual outing to pick a special ornament for the tree , they are getting quite a collection , they pick something personal to themselves and will have a great start when they move on to start their own lives , many many years from now...
I found this gorgeous tree topper , it is so icy beautiful.

I love my white Christmas tree , it is magical ...

I am gathering all of my Christmas decor , sorting out how to go in a different direction this year, I don't want to do the same old rendition each year , the tree has never been set up in the family room , we were all excited about trying this new location... mixing things up this year...

Robin's egg blue is plentiful....

Sequins.....

More beading , this is my special addition ornament to the tree...

And this one ...

Mason's choice...

Pretty picks...

Gorgeous glass painted ornaments , so cherished ...

A few things are getting banned , the color red , I never do traditional green and red any way , no burgundy ,this years theme will be quiet white silver and blue , simple is the same of this years decor , this may take some restraint...I will show you how this turns out very soon

I decided that the balls were destined for the exterior decor , the window box .

I have experienced that leaving window boxes empty over the winter the soil will splash up in the rain and cause quite a mess, so I have dealt with it by covering the soil with garbage bags . I then added wired pine garland and attached it with wired floral picks because we are sure to get some nasty storms throughout the winter. I also attached wired picks to the blue and silver unbreakable balls and poked them into the soil.

I took the hanging basket piece I bought myself for mother's day and attached a wreath to it and propped it up by the front entry , the wreath I had fit perfectly ...
as you can see no snow so far , just a little rain , the sun sure is in hiding these days , that really brings me down... but I am feeling a little more upbeat after cleaning the house a little bit ...

I took two picks and twisted them together and covered them with floral tape and used this to secure the garland into the window box...

I attached two picks to each grapevine ball...re-enforcing them with floral wire...

Easy enough ...

This is my floral kit , it contains wired picks, floral tape , pliers , elastic bands ,and 18 gauge wire , I love floral projects , so much so I did all our wedding flowers because I didn't trust anyone else to create the simple arrangements I was after , I also did my Mother in law's wedding flowers , a sister law's wedding flowers and table arrangement for 20 tables , my Mom's wedding bouquet's after I saw the ones created for her I ran out and made her new ones that were up to the standard we had agreed upon with the venue , as well as recently doing my sister in law's 4oth birthday arrangements , I love to do flowers oh I do...

My real problem is I am missing my husband , he has been in Los Angeles for the last 6 days on a business trip , I am feeling a little lonely , I don't know ho people do this over a long period of time , I don't make a good single mom , or single person I suppose , I have been with my husband since I was 19 , it feels slightly like I am missing a limb these days, but he is coming home tonight , we are all looking forward to seeing our boy again :)

I found these lovely vine balls , but where do I put them?

I was thinking maybe here above this porch wall ...

Or should I hang them in these three front windows ...? any thoughts ....?

Chicken parm casserole , I made a huge casserole , but I had only one to feed so I invited my Mom my brother and his wife over for dinner , a little impromptu dinner .

Here is my new casserole , I used my left over BBQ chicken , a jar of sauce , a container of ricotta , mozzarella and Parmesan , I am calling it {chicken parm casserole }

I have not felt so inspired lately , it could be a lack of funds or burnout or maybe a combo if both .

Maybe I will put up my Christmas tree today ? we'll see..