"Deck the Halls"

Is everyone ready for the big day! We are actually doing Christmas at our house after the 1st so that our oldest son can be with us. But we are going over to Andrew's house on Christmas day to hang out, eat and watch the kids with their new toys. Sounds perfect to me!

This is our family room tree. Since I don't have one upstairs anymore, I've had to consolidate ornaments. So this one has all the handmade and nature themed ornaments. Many stitched by me and carved by Rick. I love this one!

Our white painted hutch is so fun to decorate for any season, but Christmas is the best. The grandchildren love the little village.

I made those tiny stockings this year. They are each decorated differently and it was so fun to use a lot of my little crafty things. I should have taken a close up:)

i just love the afternoon light coming in. It makes the house seem so cozy. We actually had some snow this morning, but it has already melted.

Living room coffee table spruced up with some new Target and Joann's things.

Cross stitch framed sampler and primitive Santa made many moons ago:)    

Our big real tree. It turned out to be very skinny and I wasn't sure we would like it, but we do! We put our glass ornaments and a few that the boys made on this tree. The cats have been sleeping under it on the old quilt. It reminds me of when I was little and would stake out a place near the tree to read.

Our bedroom has the last tree. I put miniature glass ornaments on this one. I painted the furniture in here last winter. (It was a very dark wood.) I love how it brightens up the room and things just show up better against the white.

Well, that's my Christmas house tour for this year. I hope you enjoyed it (if there is anyone still coming around my poor neglected blog.) I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season with your loved ones. See you in the new year!

Happy Fall!

This summer has gone by way too fast. It's my favorite season and I want it to last forever. I've never been a fan of the hot, dry days of September, when the pool is closed and the kids are back in school.  But then the weather gets cooler and the leaves start to change, and I'm loving autumn! Fall is my favorite season to decorate for, maybe even more than Christmas. So I've been having fun arranging the pumpkins we grew, adding faux leaves and flowers here and there, and trying not to buy too many cute things I see at Hobby Lobby and Michaels.  LOL! How are you guys doing in that department?

The pictures above are all from our kitchen/family room. I decorate it the most because this is where we spend most of our time! This past winter my husband put on new counter tops and added glass fronts to some of the upper cabinets. I wanted an apron sink, but we decided the cost wasn't worth it. (Well, my husband decided!) But the changes we made add to the farmhouse look, especially since this is an old farmhouse! !00 years old, as a matter of fact!

Besides painting a few pieces of furniture, the only change to the living room this year is that we brought down the glass fronted cabinet that had been in our guest room. I like the way it looks in front of the window. Inside is part of my collection of antique toys and games.

I hope you enjoyed my little home tour. Pretty soon it will be time to put out Halloween stuff - love that too! Until then, happy fall!

Christmas Memories

Long time, no see! I can't believe it's been so long since I've been here. The last couple of months have been very stressful, starting with my having a bad case of the flu that kept me in bed for almost two weeks. Then the worst, our middle son Andrew had a major seizure. He was in and out of the hospital for a month while they got his meds right. Thankfully, he is doing well now and we had a wonderful Christmas with all of our boys and the grandkids. Little Trixie is 8 months now and couldn't be cuter! I love them all so much!

 I have many plans for 2017 and one is to keep up this neglected blog. I wish all of you a very happy new year! Let's make it a good one!!!

Catching Up and Some Fall Decor

I know, I have been a very bad blogger! It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about or that I've been too busy. I guess you could say I've been lazy! Well, I'm not really lazy, as you will see.

August and September went by so fast. We spent a lot of time with family and working around the house and yard. Oh, and going to the beach a few times. (I have to do that for my sanity:)

The twins had their 2nd birthday. They had a wonderful party with family and friends. I got them the cutest animal backpacks which were quite a hit. They kept putting them on and taking them off. I couldn't get very good pictures. They are always on the go and they could hardly sit still for this one!

Here is Beatrix at the party. She was 4 months old here and kept everyone entertained with her cute smiles. It's so fun to have a little girl in the family!

Justin was here almost every weekend in August. He has been going through a rough patch and just needed some love and support from his mom and dad and brothers. (The boys are all very close.) Here he is with his sweet girlfriend Kelly. We enjoyed having him and I spoiled him with some of his favorite foods:)

Tad started kindergarten this year but we still take him one afternoon a week and do something fun together. Until we closed the pool, that was all he wanted to do! We went to a pumpkin patch, an apple farm and hiking at state parks. We have so much fun with him!

I have been making gifts for Christmas, quilting, working in the yard, and decorating for fall. I decided to paint the dining chairs white after 25 years of oak and that has been a big job. I really hate painting, but you wouldn't know it as I have been painting many items around the house. If it stands still I'll paint it!

This is the hutch that got a paint job this summer and is now decked out in fall colors. I like that things show up better with the lighter background. And you can see the newest member of our family, Jesse. He is such a good kitty and very affectionate. The only thing is I can't do any knitting unless I go outside!

We finally entered the 21st century and got rid of our big, old TV and cabinet and replace it with a flat screen and electric fireplace. Another fun spot to decorate!

I'm loving these signs that are popping up everywhere!

I have also really gotten back into cross stitch. I blame it on certain people on IG (Carol, I'm talking about you. LOL:) I'm really having fun getting new ideas for how to display them and working them into my seasonal decor.

I have since added more pumpkins and a few Halloween items around. I just love this time of year!

I know this has been a photo heavy post, but I have one more of our sweet little Trixie:

Happy Fall everyone!

Bee Themed Bag

If you had ever been to my house, you would know that I love all things related to bees and beehives. I even have a room devoted to my collection - the small bathroom.

The above photo is a close up of our latest find. Actually, my husband picked it out at an antique store we were browsing and he knew that I would love it. I do! It is stamped "occupied Japan" on the back. It's not rare - I found several on ebay. But we did get a good price for it.

So anyway, I've been searching for bee related embroidery and cross stitch patterns. I found this one from pinterest and decided to stitch it up and make it into a drawstring bag. I love how it turned out!

I stitched it on some linen that I found at Walmart. (They had several different colors of this linen for under 4.00 a yard. I bought some of each, but wished I'd bought more. It's all gone now:(
Going through my fabric stash, I found this bee fabric. A perfect match! It's a great bag for storing my  ongoing needlework projects . I had so much fun making this, I've decided to make a bunch (in other designs too) and selling them. Two of my favorite things - embroidery and sewing. I could do this all day!!!