Niles MI Apple Festival

Dear Hubby and I went to an Apple Festival about a month ago. There were food vendors, crofters, and rides. A good time was had by all. I picked up this frame for my little girl Alison. The little words are magnets and they hold the photo in place. Cute idea!

Show and Tell Friday

Stop by Kelli's blog and visit show and tell Friday. Her link is on my sidebar. It a lot of fun. Bloggersall over link to her blog and share something that is special to them. Kelli also has an awesome on line magazine called Seasonal Delights. She featured a banner in her premiere issue that motivated me to make one for the fall season. Thanks Kelli, now I'll have to make one for every season, gosh...LOL It came out okand I'm enjoying the bit of color it adds to the opening in my kitchen. Here's a set of Autumn Leaves stamps. I used on the white circles. I really like these stamps. They are clear and stamp a sharp image.

Here's a close up of one of the circles.

Here's a close up of the rest of the opening. We put the "window" in the wall when we moved into our home to help open up the kitchen. It's a fun little spot to decorate for the seasons. Thank you for stopping by. (I got the cute little pumpkins for $1.00. Gotta love a bargain.)

Fall Florals

I taught myself to arrange flowers back in my 20's. I couldn't afford premade things and just has a willingness to make my own. I'm not quite sure why I lived with this... like this... for so long, two years, but I suddenly had to change it. No doubt you can see why... Here it is...a wall hanging I purchased from a home party business. I love the concept, but the greenery really didn't do anything for me.I took pictures of my creative process, maybe it will be helpful to someone in blog land. Here's how I store my silk flowers. The large plastic containers allow room for the stems and they don't crush the flowers.Once I decide what I am going to do, I cut apart all the flowers from a bush and separate them according to type and color.

Now the creative process begins. I start with a middle flower and work from that, adding until there is a pleasing flow form top to outer edge.

At this point I forgot to add moss and added it...

And finally wall decor I can be proud to display. I plan to do arrangements for each season.Also, I added a few Fall picks in between the pots, to add a little Fall detail. Thank you for stoping by.
Trudi M.

Show and Tell Friday

Good golly it's been a long time. I seem to be getting back in the swing of things. Yikes, it's been a busy start to school. Finally a post for Show and Tell Friday, I've missed all of you!
Dear hubby and I went to a neighborhood garage sale this spring. We were less than excited about out trip until we went to this one home. There we found the buy of the year for us. Since I teach, I'm always drawn to pictures of school rooms. We were fortunate to find three pictures that would go great in Junior's room. (He moved to supported living last October and his room was in need of some redecorating.) I had painted and put up a Coke border one year ago, however he took most of his things with him to his new apartment, so his room was in need of decorations. My husband and I have always loved the artists Hargrove and Carson. They have similar styles and were reported to have studied together. I can't find much about them on the Internet, but have found their prints on EBay. I already had a school yard print by Hargrove... We were so pleasantly surprised when we spotted in a driveway three paintings. However, there were no price tags. I was sure they would be too much. One was of a school room, one of a soda shop, and one of a toy store. All of them had the perfect colors for the room and they were prints Junior could relate too. They would make a nice addition to his room, plus allow me to make it into a guestroom too. The smaller one we had of the school yard.

The larger one is the picture we found:

Here's the soda shop:
And finally here's the toy shop:

This is the best part, several of them are number and signed by the artist. Their retail value in the early 90's would have been over $300.00 for the three of them in frames. Drum roll please..., can you tell I'm still excited about this??? They were only $5.00 each. Yes a total of $15.00. Yikes that's a good buy. I couldn't have gone anywhere and gotten pictures like this for $5.00 a piece. Are you familiar with these artist? Please let me know. Have a good weekend. Thanks Kelli, for hosting Show and Tell Fridays. Such fun for all.

Great New Magazine...Home Grown Hospitality

I recently purchsed this great publication by Paper Crafts Magazine. It has the most charming projects in it. The editor really captured how I feel about my daily like, crafting and homemaking. I so want a healthy balance. Here's what she wrote: "Have you ever wondered how life gets so busy and complicated? Do you want to learn how to simplify, but still be able to make handmade items, gifts, and cards for your home, friends, and family? Learn to live a “Simply Complicated” lifestyle from this brand new special issue, Homegrown Hospitality, brought to you by CK Media. This issue is full of great ideas on how to celebrate and document both the momentous occasions in life as well as those meaningful everyday moments. You’ll find inspiration for neighbor gifts, handmade cards, scrapbook albums, cake decorating, organizing, sewing, quilting, and much, much more. Make each moment matter by simply sharing a little of your newfound Homegrown Hospitality. " I just love that term, "simply complicated". How about you? Pretty much sums up what I want right now in my life. I don't want to be bored, but I want things simply organized and decorated. *sigh*

The editor has a blog too. Home Grown Hospitality

It appears she updates the blog almost daily. Check it out.

Paint Chips, Don't Repeat My Mistakes

Hi all, gosh I am struggling the balancing act of blogging, homemaking and working again. Yikes, I want more time in the day. Or better yet, better time management. All in good time, I hope.

I've done a lot of painting over the years. I've selected paint colors I love and some not so much...

This post relates back to my red door. We gutted and moved into our home in less than a month and a half. I don't recommend this! At that time, I made some very quick paint sellections at the store. Some turned out and some did not. Those are the ones I am now correcting. Here's my tip; take the time to go to the store of your choice and pick out paint chips. Choose as many as you like in the hue your are considering. Hang them in the area, you plan to paint. Some will be obvious "dont's" and others will be possibilities. Look at them in different lights, and eliminate as you go for several days. Chances are you will end up with a color you like. Any time I have taken the time to do this, I've been very happy with the color. When I've made a split decision, I am not always so pleased. Please keep in mind, paint colors all have a base color to them, red, blue, green, yellow, gray ect. Those base colors make a big difference in different lights. That's where the mistake of a poor color choose will usually come from.

Lowes, Valspar paint happens to be my favorite. It has great coverage and a low odor.

Gosh It's Been A Long Time!

I am so out of the blogging scene it makes me sad. I had so many issues with my computer and then started back to school. Yikes, I'm out of it. I wrote this post last night so I could join the fun again. I miss you guys! School has been really busy. I have 12 students. That doesn't seem like much but their needs are times three at least. Love them, but boy am I worn out. I could be a stay at home "pup mom" on some days. (I don't have children)

Seriously, I think I would miss teaching very much but it is so nice to have the time during the summer. I keep a much cleaner home, more rest, more fun, more creativity, more everything...

Sigh, enough of that. What to share??? Well, here's my front door. I painted it in the last month. It was red, but it had more of a blue base to it before I repainted it. I'm pleased with the results. I must say, red is not an easy color to paint for good coverage. Yikes, I was even painting on top of a red.

I made the wall pocket. It was originally a shabby white, and I sprayed it black. Then, I added the greenery. Over all I'm please with the total effect. Let me know what you think, please... I begging for comments. LOL. Have a good weekend. Thanks Kelli for hosting Show and Tell.

A Wealth of Information, Martha Stewart

I'm not a big Martha fan; but, I must admit, I like her things at K Mart. Also, her wed site has a ton of great crafts and info too. I am definitely going to be checking in quite often. Show Me Martha

Show and Tell Friday

Thank you Kelli for hosting Show and Tell Fridays, what great fun. Please check out the link on my sidebar. Mom's here from NC and I'm really glad to have this time with her. I've been working on the house a lot this summer. I really pushed myself when I found out she was coming. (Two more weeks and I'm back to school. Can you believe it?) I'm sharing the arrangement I just completed on the top of my hutch in the kitchen. I'm really please with it and wanted show my treasures.

This is the entire top. The milk glass pieces were my grandmother's. The little kitty is sitting on a box I decorated to add elevation to the layout. The Bliss can is a vintage coffee can. I love the name and the color. The little bird plate, is a thrift store find for $2.00 and it is Limoge. The biscuit jar is from my grandmother and she use to keep sugar in it. We don't use it, because I don't want it broken. *smile* I like the way the colors fell together. It looks really fresh and summery. I'll change it for fall. Oops, since taking this picture, I added posies to the vase.

Thank you for visiting, please come back. PS, don't forget to leave a message, please.

Thoughtful Thurday

Well, this is a very simple fix for a wall that has studs but no wall board. (No... I don't mean pictures of cute guys, wood, people.) LOL.

Our laundry room butts up to a bathroom addition. The wall for the bathroom has all the plumbing fixtures on it, so to cover the studs with drywall would not be possible without adding additional wood. I was tired of looking at the ugly wall in my laundry room. I'm laundry impaired as it is... hate it! So, I'm trying to "fix up" the laundry room. Here's a picture of the ugly wall:

I know the Angel doesn't help much...

My solution, I went to Walmart and found some inexpensive fabric. A dollar a yard. Can't beat that! I cut the fabric to length and stapled it to the studs. Here's the final result. Not bad for $2.00.Let me know if you try this. I'm really pleased with the clean appearance. Very easy DIY. *smile*
Blogging question... Are any of you having trouble with the image button. I click on it and often it will not take me to the screen to add an image. Any tips?

Decorate Your Own Plate

First, I in no way wanted to offend anyone with my last post about comments. Nor do I want to make anyone feel guilty. As I said, I have had great comments and appreciate them very much.

I participate in the pink and brown swap, by Sweet Goodness in the spring. I decoupaged a plate and thought I'd share how I did it. Here's the plate:

Supply List:

Clear plate

tissue paper

decorative print, stickers, words etc.

Mod Podge, by Plaid

Spry fixative or Polyurethane

Directions: You will be working on the back side of the plate. Cut tissue paper in approximately 1 inch squares. Use your imagination, you may use one color as I did, or use more than one color. Apply the decorative elements first, angel and words in my case, face down. Apply the Mod Podge to the plate and then the elements. (I use a foam brush.) After you have your design elements adhered to the plate with no ripples or wrinkles, you may apply the tissue paper squares. I did the brush in the Mod Podge and pick up the tissue squares with the wet brush. Randomly place the squares on the plate to cover all the surfaces. It's ok the allow the square to stick out over the edge of the plate. You can use a utility knife to trim the excess. If the plate still has rough edges from the paper, sand it with fine grit paper. Apply fixative if you wish. The front can be washed, but I would not soak the plate. I make them for decorations.

Have fun and let me know if you make one. I'd love to see pictures. Here's a close-up picture:

Trudi

Thoughtful Thursday

We have been working really hard on our backyard. We'd love to live on a lake, but that's just a dream at this moment. We count our blessings, because we have a beautiful boat on a lake about 40 minutes from our home. We've tried to create a haven in our yard. Before hubby and I were married, tomorrow is our 5th year anniversary, he really wasn't into flowers and landscaping...Now watch out, he caught the bug, big time! I wanted Adirondack chairs. We bought plain ones and I stained them white with MINWAX and then painted the flat surfaces with latex paint. I didn't paint the seats a color because of the wear and tear. Dear hubby is going to reinforce the legs and back a little. They weren't the most expensive. Design on a Dime around here folks. Please share your lawn furniture with me or look through catalogs and use a picture as in inspiration for your own furniture. These were my insiration from Country Door. Love that company.

I used a two inch foam brush for the stain and latex paint. A brush did not work well with the stain and I didn't want drag marksof the sides with the paint colors. Here's a tip: when painting a color up to an edge, paint out and over the edge. Don't drag the brush over the edge onto the surface or you will create a drip as if you were wiping your brush on a can or edge. Does that make sense?

Please tell me what your think and I hope you had a blessed 4ht of July.

Love 'em or Hate 'em?

I've seen these cute ducks for several years now. Please keep in mind that I live in the Midwest so maybe they've been around for years and I just did not know. However, I love them. I didn't know that their was an "original" with many knock-offs...

I've done some research after seeing them on, HGTV I googled wooden ducks and found them. Through my research, I discovered these whimsical ducks are made from bamboo root and have become an important industry for small villages. I'm including pictures and links for you to check out. I must have some. They even come with adoption papers! How cute is that? It was love at first sight for me, but a good friend of mine, hates them. I love real ducks and think they are so darling. They are definitely not the ducks of the 1980's. Remember the country blue and mauve?

I want a duck: http://www.woodenduckstore.com/store/

Here's a link for the fuzzy ones:
http://www.indonesiacraftsexport.com/

Oh, I need all of this!

I joined Creative Home Arts and they featured a product called Word Stamp Kit. Well, I want it for collage work... And then I went to the site and want tons of things. Yikes. Look at the cute kits for your garden:

Or here's the kit I want for stamping for collage:
Check out the site, it's loads of fun and I'm sure you'll find something creative for your home. Here's the link:

Magnetic Poetry

My Second Cottage Give Away!

I won another give away and feel slightly guilty, but it was very exciting. I love birds so I was trilled when I won, Ann Bulter's give away. She also sent me a cute book of proverbs, sea shells and collard green seeds, cookbook and newspaper article. Too fun.

Here's my pictures of the other give away that I recieved. I had a bad camera disk. Duh.