Dining Room

Since I decided to use this for my header, we'll have to start the Christmas tour in the dining room. I really changed things up in there this year. I found a shoe box full of gorgeous vintage pink and aqua balls at a household sale so decided to do the dining room pink and aqua.

I really love the way the mantle came out. I made the swag a couple years ago by hot gluing vintage balls to a fake pine piece. It has all colors in it so it would work anywhere.

I filled this tall vase with some vintage ornaments I've found over the years. I found the white and aqua tree at Marshall's.

The house is from Tuesday Morning. It wasn't lighted so I uncovered the windows and added a bulb inside. The bottle brush trees are from sales and so is the glass vintage snowman.
I covered the mantle with some batting I had, add a string of 20 lights and sprinkled snow over everything.

The figurines are new but look old. They are covered with sparkles. So is the house and snowman. A couple pieces of glass from Second Chances, a local thrift store for the Humane Society are filled with ornaments. I got both for under a dollar. The pink glass bead stems were a surprise in the bottom of the shoe box. They are quite expensive and I got 6 stems in perfect condition.

This is on my table. I already had the pink tablecloth but hadn't used it for several years. My Mom made the bead angel under the dome. It topped my tree for several years, now it always has a prominate place. A glass cylinder filled with pink balls and a glass plate with snow, vintage balls and glass beads make this easy centerpiece.

A family caroling that I painted years ago sets on the book case.

The secretary is filled with more vintage household sale finds. The top shelf has some bells from my Mom's bell collection and her December birthday angel. Four darling angels the spell Noel and caroler candles in the middle. Click on the pictures to see a rare black caroler. Bottom shelf has 2 sets of angel candle holders. ( I forgot I already had some!), a vintage tree topper and 2 more carolers. These have flocked red robes on.

I add a shelf over the windows for my village.
The only thing missing is my Christmas tree that goes in front of the windows. We'll probably go get them in a couple weeks.

I never thought I'd stray any farther from Christmas green and red than burgundy and blue green but I love the pink and aqua colors. My house is a very eclectic and so are my decorations. It all depends on what I find at the next sale!

You did What??

I've been trying to post for 2 days. I must have tried to download these pics of my living room 20 times on Sun. I just tried again and it still didn't work. I checked and no one else said anything about problems so I checked my pics. I had accidental saved one wrong! Do you think I'll know enough to check that first next time?

I've been working on my inside decorating for days! Partial days Friday, Sat. and today and all day yesterday.

I'm finally done, except I noticed that I didn't have anything on the kitchen table. Maybe tomorrow.

All that to say this..I guess it's time to start showing pictures of my decorations and get busy and change my blog theme to Christmas. How's your decorating coming?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a safe, happy Thanksgiving with friends and family!

My Thanksgiving card to all my blogging friends! (click)

Gotcha!

I caught my little friend yesterday afternoon. I don't mind chipmunks but when they are this close to the house they find a way in.

The girls and I took him to the local wooded park. Hopefully he won't find his way back home.

After errands today I put a new doorbell button by the front door, put a new light fixture by the beauty shop door and put some heat tape on the roof. I don't care how nice it is outside, I'm done except for the Christmas spotlights!

A Bird?

That doesn't look like a bird to me!

If you can't fly, how did you get on the second story deck?

How did I get up here?

There is a nice view and lots of sunflower seeds.

The big question is, how do I get down?!!

Bloomin' Tuesday

Since this is the beginning of the busy season, I have decided to put Bloomin' Tuesday on hiatus until Spring. We have had a great showing this year and I hope that all my bloomin' friends will stay in touch. Have a wonderful holiday season and I'll be anxiously waiting for Spring to see your bloomers!
Now, back to my regular scheduled blog programing of 'stuff' and family!

Boots!

It's Bloomin' Tuesday!

I got this story and pictures in an e-mail and thought you would enjoy it.

This
marvelous floral display is at 3725 No.
Vassault St. in Tacoma. The gardener is Vietnamese, shy, very soft spoken,
and speaks very little English, so we couldn't
discuss too much with him about the garden.

The front of the house.

Most of the plants seem to be in pots. Can you imagine watering all this?

Remember you can click on the picture to enlarge it. m

Even the back yard is beautiful!


Now that's a dedicated gardener!
To see more gardens click the names on Mr Linky. If you would like to show us your garden photos add you name, state and permalink to Mr Linky. Be sure to add a link to this post on your post.
Happy Bloomin' Tuesday!

Gramma's Loom

Jerzie was still wearing this hat so Gramma got out the loom again and made us hats!

Food for Thought

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.

Helen Hayes

Done!

My house painting is finally completed! The last picture I showed didn't have the shutters up. It's been a long haul but well worth the wait.

Even tho the color change was not major, I'm very happy with it. I couldn't seem to find the burgundy I wanted last time. I used beige instead of cream last time. The cream makes the burgundy really 'pop'!

I even found this fall 'wreath' at a craft sale. The color of the ribbon was perfect and I like having something a little different. I couldn't make it for the 20 dollars it cost.

I thought I needed some new door hardware but decided to try cleaning up the old stuff first. I left some patina on it and now I love it. Much better to use elbow grease instead of spending money. Another huge summer project can be crossed off my list!

Veterans Day

This is a MUST see video on this Veterans Day!

Thank You!

It's Bloomin' Tuesday!

I'm going to show you the last of the Secret Garden Tour pictures for 2010. These are more garden art pics from several gardens. I feel garden art is what makes a garden yours just like the 'stuff' in your home personalizes it.

I love the story that goes with this bench. This is a beautiful 'Zen' garden with some lovely statues. The gardeners also like to recycle. This bench is made from a 5 dollar piece of marble purchased at a school auction. This piece was the wall of a urinal stall!

There was something unexpected about this bear on a tree trunk.

There was an owl living in the tree.

I loved the pop of color and the bird bath among all the greens. The beauty of the Caladium leaves is the focus of this spot.

My favorite statue in the Zen garden. These hands are at least 5 feet tall.

Another beautiful statue.

A rusty fairy walks among the ferns.

These cute chicken add a touch of whimsy to this area.

A local artist makes these one of a kind wood sculptures.

Both totally unique to the gardens they are in.

This bike has to be my favorite! On closer inspection, it is discovered to be a metal sculpture not an actual bike. The perfect piece for any garden.

Thanks for stopping by for Bloomin' Tuesday! If you would like to join the tour, add your name, state and permalink to Mr Linky and a link to this post on your blog. Then check out the other gardens on the tour.