holiday haze

I am still breaking down boxes, untwisting toys from their store housing and tinkering with wonderful gifts of all kinds. Ahhhhh, Christmas! It seems to be the one time of year that things on the outside, the fast paced lives we lead and the everyday routine seems to vanish and all good things stand still to linger and enjoy.

The Christmas cookies, fudge and pecan pie make me smile. I enjoy every moment of the wonderful church programs spreading good tidings and great cheer of our Saviours birth. The smell of the winter cold wind is refreshing but yet stinging at the same time. The look of the white snow dusting the ground and the tops of houses was a pleasant southern Christmas surprise. There is just no sweeter sound than two little girls giddy and full of anticipation dashing to the living room to see what Santa has left for them. Good times!

I hope that each of you enjoyed Christmas and all of it's splendor. I am looking forward to 2011. I am looking for new and exciting things. Out with the old and in with the new. I'm cleaning house physically and emotionally. Sometimes you've just got to replace that picture on the wall with something a little more appealing. Not that the picture was broke, ugly or defective in anyway. It was just that you needed a change of scenery. So, 2011, I welcome you!

Santa Clause is Comin' to Town!

These two little love bugs just can't wait for Santa to arrive! They are getting so excited about the gifts that Santa will bring to them. I love their innocent and imaginative minds that create such wonderful magic about Santa and his elves. I hope that the spirit of Christmas and all of it's magic is swirling and twirling like sugar plums dancing in the heads of your little ones as well.

drum roll

.......Congratulations to Cheri and Kris for winning the "Frosty" giveaway! I love what both of you said about your family traditions. So girls, take a look HERE at these wonderful embellishment goodies and let me know what item you'd like to have. I'll have it shipped right to you! Thanks again for posting such wonderful holiday traditions. Merry Christmas!

messy perfection

It's quite a palace isn't it? This is a work of a labor of love. Despite the sticky fingers, shifting gingerbread and sprinkles galore, this was by far one of my favorites. It's not easy to achieve perfection without getting a little messy. The girls were up to their elbows in icing. Each of them put such thought in exactly where they wanted to place the candy and sprinkles. This my friend, is PERFECTION!

frosty

Brrrrr.....! Are you guys feeling the cold blast from Old Man Winter as well? These below average temps here in the south are fierce! Don't get me wrong, I do love winter, much more so than summer. I love the layered look and it's the only time of year that you can use your breath and your fingers to make silly faces and shapes on glass windows.

So, how many of you can say that you're DONE with your Christmas list? I have bought for everyone except Mr. Roe. He's kind of like Santa. If he wants it, it seems to magically appear or he goes out to his shop and makes it. Sooooo....I am lost on what to do. The kids are getting more and more giddy everyday. Bryar brings me a present form under the tree almost hourly and ask if it's Christmas yet. Poor kid!

Anyone out there still carry on a family tradition? If so, share it with me. I always love to hear how people celebrate Christmas. Hmmmm.....maybe a giveaway is in order. Post a comment and I'll make this fun!

whisper

There is something in this piece of art that speaks to me. The funny thing about it is...hello, my background for my blog is so matchy-matchy with this! That in itself says alot. :)

Check out how Donna made this piece come to life HERE.

holiday goodies

My friends Kris and Kim have got a great Christmas celebration happening over at the DIYdish blog. They are celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with some fun holiday goodies. Be sure to check out what they have posted. Yummy recipes, paper crafts & the basics of how to make a beautiful bow to top your gifts. These two girls know just how to turn simple into sensational!

Love handmade?

If you love handmade goodies, you've gotta come over HERE and see what my dear friend Lisa is up to. She's the most clever gal in all of blog land. She's introducing her new podcast, the All Things Handmade Holiday Show. So, stay tuned over at her blog for the best of the best this Christmas gift giving season!

WWJD

A few years ago there was a very popular saying that led to bags, t-shirts, wrist bands and other items being printed in large quantities and sold by retailers everywhere. The saying was, "What would Jesus do?" or WWJD. As catchy as this phrase was, I decided to use it to ask yet another question. "What would Jackson do?" I know, who/what is Jackson, right? Well, let me give you the scoop...

Jackson is a precious five year old little boy with a smile that will knock you socks off. He's one of Roxy's kindergarten buds. Not only is Jackson full of charm, giggle bugs and a love for Mario Brothers, but his life is filled with lots of other not so fun stuff as well

Take a minute to watch this video and see just how Jackson's day to day life is. Ask yourself, "What would Jackson do...with a cure, without insulin or with failing kidneys? The questions are endless. If possible, please donate to his team. I have done so and I hope that you will do the same.

you

With a full heart and soon to be a full belly, I want to wish each one of you a very happy Thanksgiving. As we give thanks for so many things, don't overlook yourself. Day in and day out, we go about our busy lives and never stop to say thank you to ourselves. I am thankful for my health, my ability to love, the characteristics that make me who I am and the purpose that I have been given to make a difference in life. Without each one of you having similar qualities, you would not be the great wives, mothers and friends that you are.

table talk

Want to get some conversation started around the table? This will do the trick!

You think I can sew up a 1/2 dozen tonight? Nahhh, me either...LOL!

Thanksgiving favorites!

Why is it that there are certain foods that we make at Thanksgiving that we never seem to make any other time of year? I guess that may be part of what makes the Thanksgiving feast so special. I can remember as a child, different dishes that family members would add to the spread on Thanksgiving day. It would make me so excited that my Mom, or one of my aunts or my grandma made that certain dish that I loved so much. It just wouldn't have been the same without it.



I still have a couple of my favorites that I love for others to make and a few of my own that I make for my family. So, when I saw these recipe cards, I knew they would be perfect for a little Thanksgiving gift. If you know of friends and family members that rave about one of your special dishes, fill out one of the recipe cards, make a special dish of it up for them and attach the recipe card to it...an instant Thanksgiving gift!

filling & feelings

Each year as the cheer of the Christmas season arrives, as a family we always make it a point to share in giving to others. It's become somewhat of a tradition in our home to participate in Operation Christmas Child.

(I also included some of the children and their families from our church to help out this year. We were able to send a total of 7 boxes to this wonderful charity.)

My Dad and I took my girls shopping and let them pick out appropriate items to fill their shoebox gift. Their faces were full of excitement and their voices chirped as they busily picked items from the shelves. With tiny baby dolls, toothbrushes, pen sets, small puzzles,Play Doh and many other items, we were ready to start filling up our shoebox gift package.

Once we were finished we wrote a letter about ourselves and tucked it into the package before shipping it off. Roxanne was full of questions about who might get the box, what their name would be, where they lived and so on. I could tell that her feelings and emotions were tender. It was such a sweet moment to watch her faith and hope build in her as she put forth such effort into something, only trusting my words that it would be delivered, but to whom...we knew not. Wow, that's a lesson all by itself!

I hope that you will take the time to give a smile, a hug, a small donation of your time and energy or simply just a prayer for those in need. Though the holidays come and go, those who have needs carry those needs year round. Just something to think about.

beautiful blues

Meet Drew! He's the cutest little dude in south Georgia and he's gotta thing for fishin'. Those beautiful blue eyes are enough to make any heart melt. Love ya, Drew!

kindness = a smile

I purchased a new vacuum a couple of months ago. I am weird, but I like certian features on a vacuum. If I'm going to take the time to clean, I want it done right the first time. I can't stand to use products that just can't "cut the funk!" Watery liquids, soap that doesn't suds, streaky cleaning solutions...you get the point. So, when I purchased my vacuum, I wanted all those fancy attachments, the HEPA filter, bagless and so on.

Anyway, the other day while vacuuming with my turbo brush attachment, it fell from it's holder onto the floor and busted. I felt like I just lost my best friend. I use that crazy brush tool on everything. Seriously, with it's high powered spin you could ride on the thing if it were a little larger. It's got some powerful suction along with a fast spinning brush...LOVE it!

I immediately emailed Bissell to see how I needed to go about ordering a replacement turbo brush. To my surprise, I recieved a very customer friendly reply to my email to notify me that Bissell was going to replace the turbo brush at no cost! Talk about a smile, I was beaming! Thanks Bissell, your customer service is awesome!

the countdown is on...

Check out my friend Lisa's blog for a handmade holiday!

it's a comin'

Oh yeah, this is soon to be hanging in my closet. Well, my version anyway. I'll keep ya updated on how it turns out. This is gonna be fun! Wanna join me?




(photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

special delivery

It's an amazingly peaceful rainy day here in the south. The girls are both at school. I am working on ads for magazine publications for the garden center. The washer is swishing and the dryer is buzzing. Lots of house work to be done. Not so much the cleaning of it but the need to organize and ready my house for the holiday craziness of decking the halls!

There is a very special delivery that is expected to arrive today. My dear friends, Heather and Sam are patiently awaiting to see their little baby boy. Owen will by their first baby and he is already loved so much. I was thrilled when Heather asked me to take her maternity photos. Fun times are always best when shared with friends!

vintage therapy

These two ladies are fun, full of creativity and absolutely the best vintage shoppers on a $300.00 budget. Nate Berkus invited my friends Kris and Kim on his show for a design challenge. It was a true challenge to say the least. When I talked to Kris before she headed to NY to be on the show, I could hear the excitement in her voice and I could not wait to see the big reveal. Take a look at what they did when they turned trash to treasure with some unique finds.




I am so glad to see these girls living their dream of being ordinary people with extraordinary talent that they want to share with others. They are both such loving people with a heart to bring a smile to each and every person that they meet. You ladies did a fantastic job. I think I was just as excited when I saw your bright and cheerful faces on the show. Way to go girls!

sugar high

I am sure that most all of you felt the rush of a sugar high at some point over the weekend. We started our Halloween sugar rush by making spooky chocolate suckers. Then we headed to the craft room to make these fun mummy treat bags...

(mummy picture from swakembroidery.com)

and tagging behind two little monkeys as they went trick-or-treating.


(big sis. was trying to get little sis. to look at the camera...way cute)

We had a great time seeing lots of Halloween costumes as we made our way through the crowd of goblins. I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend of Halloween fun!

Sew, this is it!

You may have guessed by the picture of the boxes in my previous post that I was getting a bit organized. I was in such need of a little organization, oh so badly. All you crafter's out there know that your crafting space is most of the time, less than desirable. That is unless you are in the high end of being a designer of some sort. But, for all of us crafty moms that do it for a hobby, therapy and just for simple pleasure, our space is easily cluttered and overtaken by our children or "little crafter's" as I like to call them.




I moved into Bryar's old room/nursery after the girls decided to share a bedroom together. As you can see in the "before" pictures, the mural on the wall kind of gives it away that the space was in need of a makeover. With limited time and funds, I had put the project off for quite some time. Once it had developed into the mad mess that you see, I had to regain my territory.

Yes, it was quite embarassing to say least.

Thank goodness I could shut the door to this eye sore when needed! LOL

So, a trip to Ikea was in order. I needed lighting, organization and a kid friendly atmosphere that would blend well in a creative space. I decided to go a little brighter and bolder in my accent colors, and spruce things up a bit. Along with new lighting and a wonderful organizing cube, I added shelving, painted a chalkboard on the wall for the kids and moved other things around a little to stretch the space. The bright colors in the rug are so fun and the small kids table & chair set is perfect for my little crafter's.





We are so much more comfortable in our new space. It's not a show room nor does it compare to other crafting spaces that I have seen. However, it works and the view is awesome! I'm not sure why I didn't move to a window view sooner.

Everything has it's own place, the kids art and creations can be displayed on the shelves and on the art wire. The chalkboard is super fun and I love to hear the girls giggle as they draw.

There's a great guy behind this project that helped me pull it all together.

Mr. Roe, I am so in love with you!

I've gone batty

There is nothing cute about bats in my opinion. That was, until I saw these bats that Heather Bailey created. Seriously, she can take one of the most ugly creatures and give it such character and charm that it becomes cute! Oh, and the best part...it's FREE!!!

**I noticed that for some reason my blog is playing this crazy rap music that just sort of breaks in. I am not sure where it is coming from, I pray it's not a virus. I have checked my playlist and there are no added song titles. So, please excuse any "off color" lyrics/music.**

giggling guzzeling goblins

Make a little swamp juice for those giggling goblin's to guzzle while enjoying festive Halloween parties with friends!