Winter in Bloom

We had to run to town yesterday and hubby bought this for me as an early Christmas gift.

I had looked at these a few weeks ago and thought they were so pretty, but didn't bring one home.

Yesterday...HALF OFF!

(Gotta love a bargain)

LOVE the french design on the container. I haven't googled yet to get it translated, but I will.

This is what they are supposed to look like when in bloom.

WISH ME L.U.C.K!

I do not have a green thumb for inside transplants.

I was very surprised at the huge bulbs.

The bulb on the left was busting out of the container when he purchased it.

Have you ever tried to grow one of these? Please give me your tips if you have.

I need all the help I can get. ha!

Christmas is almost here...BLESSINGS!

It's Christmas time AGAIN...already??

I don't know about you , but I feel like someone stole the past year from me and gave me
another Christmas in it's place! The older I get the years just seem to fly by.  In all reality
we all know that there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 52 weeks in a year, but
EVERY YEAR...but it sure seems to go faster to me. I just don't get it. 

I found this wreath on clearance this summer. I think technically it is a garland that
is rolled up, but I left it as is because I love the shape of it for a wreath.
I added the pine cone spray and greenery.

I have shared this picture with you before, but I love the sparkly garland that I added to it for the holidays.

The above candle-holders are another item that I picked up after Christmas one year at about 90% off.
They came from JoAnn Fabric.
Perfect sweater design and WHITE...does it get much better than that? :)

I have a thing for vintage silver ornaments and have quite a stash of them.
The older... the better.

I get these WONKY trees out every year and just laugh.
I call them my DR SUESS trees! haha!

They are the first trees I made with paper and I wasn't bright enough to realize the center
 wire or whatever you use, needs to be sturdy to actually stand up straight.

I LOVE them though.

You can move them this way and that way to your hearts desire. lol

Another TJ Maxx clearance find above...his and hers pillow for $12.

I hope you enjoyed the mini tour through my home this year. I could photograph much more, but
the lighting here stinks today so I quit while I was ahead. Also, I don't think you want to see
wrapping paper and trinkets all over the place. I do have it confined at this point to my dining
room table and love seat beside it, but it is still looking rather unruly.

Blessed Christmas to each and every one of you!!

Jesus is the reason for the season...

CELEBRATE!

Chippy WHITE Project Finally Completed!

You know those projects that start out as one thing and then along the way they
morph into something else? Yep, that is how this project came about.

Do you remember this starting out as a bench/ potting bench. {If not I have added pics
at the bottom of this post} 

It was a potting bench that hubby and I created this past summer while he was laid off and
now it is a vanity on our back porch/ laundry/mud room. The vanity we had out here was

NASTY!

I didn't realize how nasty it was until we took it out. ugh. NO, I didn't take before pics.
I didn't even think about it. ha!

I was laying in bed one night with my mind racing a million miles an hour {couldn't sleep
AGAIN} Does that ever happen to you?

Well, I was thinking about the brand new porcelain sink that I had picked up at the Route 127
 garage sales in August for $15 and inspiration hit! Why not make the potting bench into
a vanity. We can always make another bench right??!! yep...it was on.

So, I timidly boldly broached the subject to my hubby.

He was INSTANTLY on board!! Can you believe it??  He is always indulging my whims,
but I know he secretly thinks knows I am crazy!!

So we got started and we both
LOVE 
how it turned out!

I had fun filling the little pockets/shelves with lotions , Christmas decor etc. Think of the
decorating possibilities. Unlimited! 

I thought my little white twig tree was perfect for this spot.

This mirror is old with some patina and a little cloudy, but I love it.

Do you see the Merry Christmas HUGE burlap piece?

It is a huge lavender sachet that I won a few years ago. In fact I won two of them along
with a burlap bag. These exact pieces were featured in a magazine and I forgot
what magazine! HA! Romantic Homes or Country Living or something. There
was a giveaway on a blog and I won. They still smell wonderful!

We picked out the perfect faucet for the sink. Whoever sees this almost always says,

"Does the sink really work"...ha! YES, it does! 

I used an old feed-sack to hang in front of the shelves at the bottom.
{After all I had to hide the plumbing. :) }

This is another corner of my porch where the vanity is.

I would show you all of it, but there is a bag of cat food, a can of kerosene and other
 "lovlies" sitting around that doesn't really make for pretty pics.
 Keeping it real here folks.

The long tin coat hanger is made from old tin ceiling panels from a store that I remember
 going to as a child. Loudens was the name and it was in Montpelier , Ohio. Loved that store!

Okay, here is how the vanity started out. I picked this up at a garage sale this past summer for $2.00!
It was a yucky bluish gray color and had a lot of grease on the top as it was used for a work bench.
I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and got it painted white.

Then it morphed into this potting bench above and now into my vanity.

Somehow I see a new potting bench in the works next summer. SMILE.
I will have to hit those garage sales again and see what I can find to start our project!

Yep...loving my new/old vanity!

Some of these photos are out of order , but oh well.

My dear friends... always remember that

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL...

no matter what is happening in our lives
that is one thing we can be sure of...Life is a beautiful thing!

Blessings~

Sign, sign everywhere a sign ♪♫♪

I decided I better pop in here quick before you all thought I dropped off the face of the earth.
 I have been a busy beaver as of late. I have LOVED making these large signs.
Believe stands five feet tall, Peace is 4 feet tall and Joy is approx. 28 inches high or so.
I still have to touch up the ends of the JOY sign with white paint, but I will get
to that eventually. Now I am on the hunt for more old barn wood...the hunt that is never-ending
for all the things I want to create. :)

This has been a project of mine for a few weeks and it is finally done!

I L.O.V.E. it!!

Hubby did a lot of the work , but shh...:)

I hope to get it all decorated and do a post on it soon. It is the new vanity on our back porch.
Kicked the old ugly one to the curb. It really WAS ugly! I didn't realize HOW ugly
until we actually took it out. "shudder"

Do you recognize the wooden piece that we put the sink in? It is the "potting table" that hubby
 and I made this summer. I had a revelation one day to use it for this and hubs thought it
was a great idea! Love it when we agree! SMILE

It has been downright FRIGID in Michigan this week and this soup was on the menu!
Creamless Cauliflower Soup
They say that the US shattered over 100 records {or was that 1000?} in weather this year.

UGH! I don't like breaking a 150 year old records at this time of year!! No thanks, but we take
 what we get right? For some reason God must think we need this bitter cold so I am trying to
take it in stride. It will be in the 50's this weekend so you know what I am doing!

yep!

Christmas decor to be put up outside!

I made this yummy recipe of cauliflower soup that we watched being whipped up on America's
Test Kitchen from the warmth of our living room. I did google and find it on another site so
you can click here to get the recipe.

As usual I didn't have some of the ingredients so I winged it. I didn't have the chives, leek
or sherry vinegar, but it was still very tasty to me. My hubby added cheese to his and loved
it. He is a cheese man for sure. The butter drizzle was supposed to be browned, but obviously
I didn't get it browned. lol.

Do you have your Christmas shopping started? ME?? Barely. It gets harder every year.
I am thinking of opting out...:)

Blessings~