A Forest of Trees!

HELP! I'm living in a forest and I can't get out!!
HAHA!

Hubby has started making wood turned trees and they are absolutely beautiful! I have sold several
for Christmas gifts so I thought I would share them with you in case anyone is interested.

Each one is unique and they are also different sizes. I didn't have time to really stage them so I just took
a few photos. 

He amazes me. He has worked as a machinist with metal for over 40 years and this came
natural to him. His brother-in-law gave him a lathe and he loves playing around with it. One day I
said "you should try and make a tree" and the rest is history. He loves turning wood and that
is a 'good thing' as Martha says.

Has the GM strike hit your household? It just hit ours. His factory supplies parts for GM and this is
his first week of layoff. ugh. I sure hope they get this strike settled soon. In the meantime, he will
keep making trees. It keeps him busy and out of my hair. Just kidding!

Trees range from $20-$45 depending on size, base etc.

Give me a hollar if you think you might want one. My email link is on the left side of my page.
Happy Fall everyone!!

Handmade Gifts ~ Calendar Journal

I made a few gifts for Christmas this year and I will admit that it was fun. I used to do handmade gifts
 a lot in years past, but somehow had gotten away from it. This year it was more out of necessity than
 anything else {remember hubby's factory closed}, but I thoroughly enjoyed it for the most part.

I found this idea on Pinterest and I decided that this looked fun and like something someone
actually might use.
{never dreaming how much date stamping I would actually have to do for several calendars}
lol

The original tutorial used vintage postcards, but I used regular greeting cards or note cards,
cut them down and it worked great! {except for the time that I cut FOUR cards in a row all
the wrong size!!}

It truly was a labor of love, but worth every minute of it...I think...*SMILE*

My sister is a shoe lover so I used cards with different shoes printed on them that I had in my stash.
WHO KNEW that I would find 12 different shoe cards...one for each month? Well...truthfully I didn't.
I think I found ten, but I did find two other cards that also fit in nicely with the shoes.

So....if you have nothing else to do today, may I suggest that you make one of these cute
calendar / journals?

All you need is index cards, {you have to cut each and every card in half...
so I needed 365 days x 5...that is a lot of cards! Oh yes, you also need about 100 more for the
mistakes you make. ha!}, some berry boxes {I purchased them on Etsy}, some type of cards
{greeting or vintage postcards} and cute twine. Oh , I almost forgot the most important part.
Go online and buy a date stamp also. They had one at Walmart for over $16 and I was having
 none of that, so I got on on ebay for about $5 including shipping!

You do have to admit...they are cute right?? The idea is to write the year such as 2014 on the
first line and just a little blip of your day. Then next year  you write 2015 on the next line
and a blip about that day...and on and on. So this way your little journal will encompass
several years in one cute little berry box.

Adorable idea, but I can't get much written on one line so I use two...or three. lol

Please share your pics if you decide to make one of these for yourself or for someone else. I would
love to see them.

For the original tutorial please click here.

I also found the free printable online for the "just for you"  gift tag.  Click here to get to
that page.

I think it is the cutest thing since sliced bread...maybe?
Hugs~

Just a little love...

I have been doing a little creating and three one of a kind tags are the latest items that
I have come up with. 

~ Blessings ~

~ Key to my heart ~

~ Love...Amour ~

I had fun making these tags, but the whole kitchen was in utter chaos while
I was working on them. Glitter, fabric, embellishments ...everywhere! lol

Just sharing a little love with you before the big day arrives. :)

Have a wonderful Thursday ~

Oh my stars!! {tutorial}

We had a whirlwind time since  Wednesday and I am ready for a long winters nap. lol. I packed up the car {back seat and trunk stuffed full} and when hubby got home from work we left for our oldest son's home in Indiana. We spent three nights and came home yesterday. We celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas with our kids and had a wonderful time. My parents even made the 2 hour drive and we loved having them there. It is the first time they have seen our son's new home as well.

For two years we have given our children and their spouses money for part of their gift. Last year it was a treasure hunt of sorts and this year I folded bills into stars. It was so fun and they seemed to be very impressed with them. Much more fun than just sticking money in a card. Click here for the link in case you want to try your hand at making them. I thought the directions were great and easy to figure out. They all asked me how long it took to fold them and it really didn't take long at all. Once you get a couple made and get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast.

Each side looks different and it was fun to do.


Another thing I did for them was to get small totes and fill them with all their leftover baby items that I had stored in a chest upstairs. Baby books, clothes, blankets, photos etc. I  think our daughter-in-laws loved them just as much as our children did. Our youngest sons wife was amazed at how clean they were and she loved every detail. Don't know if it really impressed my son-in-law or not. LOL!!
My daughter sent me an email today telling me that she just went through her whole tote today at home, looked over each and every item and read every single card etc. Hers included a baby blanket that I had made for her out of squares of fabric and her dedication dress and slip that my mom had made her shortly after she was born.  Both of my boys included adorable teeny tiny outfits that had lace trim. My sister had purchased them at a childrens boutique and of course they had something to say about the lace. You actually put these on us mother??{ hee hee} I said yes and you were adorable!   All these goodies are from 27-32 years old and it was fun to see their reactions when they were opened. I am bummed that I did not take photos of their totes with the lids off for you all to see, but I didn't even think about it. Can you believe that??


We also took a large tote of items purchased throughout the year on clearance or sale. I spread it all out on the table and had a fun time of drawing names, numbers etc. and watching them pick out goodies to keep.  All in all it was a very fun weekend, but I am taking a long rest now!

Angel wings now available!

I have been working on more Jeanne de' Arc style angel wing ornaments and have finished a few.
The large ( 6 inches in length) will be 8.50 each and the small (4.5 inches in length) will be 5.75 each.
{plus shipping charges}


Family...8.50

Hope...8.50

small fleur...8.50 {this one is SOLD}

small wings with buttons...5.75 each {these are now SOLD}

Destiny...8.50

cross...8.50 {this one is SOLD}

large with button...8.50

large with button 2...8.50

large with button 3...8.50

large love...8.50 {this is now SOLD}

small with hearts...5.75 each {these are now SOLD}

large fleur de lis...8.50 {this one is SOLD}

I hope to get some listed on Etsy one of these days, but not sure when. In the meantime if you see something you would like to purchase just give me a shout out. :) I ship to US and Canada only at this time. Thank you!

The blessing of a best friend

...a real friend sticks closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24

Once again I have been overwhelmingly blessed

by my bestest and dearest friend in the whole

wide world.

Remember the post I did a couple days ago when

I went to that neat garage sale and found lots of

seam binding and other goodies?

Well...

...my dear friend Peggy happened to go to the same sale

{before I did}

and she picked up a couple things for me.

We met for lunch Friday at

Seasons Coffee and Bistro

and she handed me a bag with tissue paper

sticking out of it.

I knew it was not my birthday...

and certainly not Christmas,

{ain't ready for that yet!}

but just a regular day.

I was so surprised and giddy at the same time.

The first thing I pulled out of the bag was this

gorgeous glass shaker with the silver top.

I was stunned to find out when I got home that it

matched perfectly with my salt and peppers that I

found earlier this summer.

Love it when that happens!

She also gave me a cream color vintage pottery planter that is wonderful too, but I didn't get a picture taken of it yet. Maybe I can add it to my white Wednesday post this week.

Do you have a best friend?? I truly pray that you do and if you don't that one will come across your pathway soon. I can't imagine what I would do without her in my life. She is my go to person, we talk...and talk...and talk some more and she makes me laugh so hard at times I almost pee my pants. {now that is quite a friend...or it could be my age too. lol.}

Her life has gotten much busier, {she is a grandma now to two little ones and a farmer's wife...busy, busy, busy} and it seems that we are off running in different directions most of the time , but I pray that we always make the time for each other. always...always...always!

Love you my BFF!!

Blessings and friendship to each of you~

Christmas for others ~

I love my parents dearly and I wanted to share with you

what they have been doing for Christmas the past few years.

Instead of buying gifts for the adults, mom and dad

send money to help others out and then let each of us know

what the money from "our gifts" purchased.

This year this typewritten note was included in a bag of

homemade goodies that mom made for hubby and I.

"As military personnel serve the cause of freedom this holiday

season, they face dangers and challenges daily.

They need God's word to give them direction, hope,

courage, peace and comfort. Your gift will help provide

a special camouflage-covered New Testament with

Psalms and Proverbs to 13 of our brave men and

women serving in uniform".

I can think of no better way to use money that would

have been spent on us for something else to stash

in our homes. Sharing the love...

Blessings~

Blogging Kindness~

I am overwhelmed with blogging *KINDNESS* today! Saturday after our wonderful day out at the beautiful Arboretum I had an envelope waiting for me in the mail. It was from Marietta of Sweet Old Vintage and in it was this gorgeous scrappy that she made! I love it!! Thank you so much Marietta...it made a special day out even more special!

Then today I was painting away on my back porch and checked outside the door to see if the mailman had picked up my packages. To my wonderful surprise there was a package waiting for me ! This package was from Lady Pamela of Lady Pamela's Cottage. I was so wonderfully surprised at each and every little thing that she sent me! Thank you so much!

This homemade card is so pretty~

Gorgeous pink rose napkins~

A beautiful needlework vintage hanky ~

*LOVE* this little soapdish with the sweet bird on top ~

Have you ever seen such a neat tape measure?? It has a tassle that you pull and out comes the tape ! Too adorable!

*CHOCOLATE*...I am so anxious to try these. Pamela said they are made right in her town of Aldergrove about 10 minutes walk from her house! YUMM~

A *PINK* butterfly galand that just says *HELLO SPRING* ~

She also had all this wrapped in a vintage linen napkin. I am so grateful to both Marietta and Pamela for thinking of me and showering me with such kindness! God knows I needed a lift and these ladies gave it to me in such a special way! I hope your giving comes back to you many times over! Blessings~