Lovvve is in the air

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I wish I had had the time to decorate for winter. I love what Joy has done for the winter. She is my decorating hero. I would have my house look like hers in a minute. Alas, this week was about an 80 hour week for me. So, I skipped winter and went straight for valentines day. Interesting fact-my V key is on the blink just in time for my VVVVVValentines day post. Here is what I did with my chalkboard and sewing hoops for V day.


This is what I have going on in my china cabinet right now. I really love the rose pink depression class. I recently aquired the candy dish at the flea market and am loving it.I am so glad that I made these books when they started popping up all around blogland. They have sported jack-o-lantern faces, Christmas ribbon and now are looking lovvvvely for Valentines day. I think I need more for sort of a cluster.

This cute little cake plate is one of two that I got from my sister. The other is larger and they stack together. This ivory spray painted frame travels around my home with different magazine clippings that I think are cute and seasonal. I love candy hearts. I need to buy some more to eat and not just look at.


And last but not least here are my two favorite guys. They are the hobbit adventurers Marry and Pippen. Yes, Mary is a boy. I have had Pippen (the siamese mix) for almost 5 years and can't imagine life without him. Mary is a relatively new addition to our home. But, Pippen is showing him the ropes and will kindly swat him if he gets out of line. And in case you are wondering Pippen is not evil, His eyes just dialate more slowly than the average cat.

Tutorial:Versitle Seasonal Decor

Monday, January 19, 2009

I love using sewing hoops to decorate. Fabric is always easy to work with and very inexpensive. You can always find interesting prints in pillowcases and other scraps at your local thrift store. I took these Pictures in December, these were the colors that I used for Christmas. If you look carefully you can see that I kept several of the scraps in place for Valentines day and only swapped out the green ones. I keep all of the swatches tucked away together so that I can reuse them for different seasons. For more examples check out my post HERE (Fall). I also have some wooden ones in my craft room here. In this room I actually used some shelf paper in the hoops, just because I liked it better than any of the fabrics I could find. The hoops are easy to find. All of mine came from either the Avendale Flea Market or the United Methodist Childrens Home Sale. Some of the fabrics came from there as well.

1. Choose your fabrics. and hoops They can come from anywhere. Some of my hoops are quite small and don't take much fabric to fill.
2. Choose the portion of the fabric that you want to "Frame." This mostly applies to fl orals and toilles.
3. Place the bottom of the hoop under the fabric and the top piece (they come apart, these metal ones have springs and cork to cushion them) press down until they firmly hold the fabric in place. You may have to tug the fabric until there aren't any wrinkles. Be especially careful with stripes so that they don't get wavy.
4. Trim around the edges.
   
5. Hang.

Here are the ones that I have up right now for Valentines Day.

Camera Broken

Sunday, January 18, 2009

I hate blogging without pictures. So, I haven't blogged in quite a while. The camera is broke so I am having to revert to my older one. It is charging now and I promise I will post some pictures soon, I have been doing some decorating for valentines day. I have been very busy couponing. My husband even got a little involved today. We went and did half of our Publix shopping after church today. When we were at the register he was cheering as the "ammount saved" kept going up. The total that we spent was $9.23 and we saved $34.86. Joel was very suprised and gushing with pride at my couponing skills. Hope to post more pics soon.

Last day of winter break

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Sundays are my day of rest. My husband and I live 45 minutes from our church and we choose not to go back to church on Sunday nights. We go to the morning service and to Sunday School. When I was growing up we went in the morning and then back at 4:00 for choir practice and then the evening service. We lived three minutes away. Sundays are the beginning of the week and they are important for me to be able to prepare for the rest of the week. Some people may judge us for not spending three hours on the road on Sunday, but I know for us it is the right decision. We have decided that, for the new year, we will have our date night on Sunday evenings and I couldn't be more thrilled. This evening we plan on having dinner...at the table, discussing our goals for the new year and watching Superstars of dance. He and I are both huge suckers for anyone with rhythm. Have a great Sunday

Coupon Bonanza

Saturday, January 3, 2009

There will be 5 coupon inserts in the Sunday paper tomorrow. So, even if you aren't one of the few, the proud, the couponers, you might want to check it out. There is a preview over at Taylortown Preview. The site looks a little scarey, but if you scroll down you can see what's in them. I spent the afternoon clipping them and there are lots to be had. It is good news because a lot of the ones that I had expired 12/31. Happy Clipping!