Toss the resolutions!

I think this little girl's got it going on...




who needs resolutions??

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

You have til the end of the year...

to enter Kathy's great giveaways!

I don't know if it's possible that any of you don't know Kathy~ she's one of the most active bloggers I know and has a wonderful blog always full of decorating tips and ideas. If you don't know Kathy...this would be a great time to meet her! She's having a week of giveaways to celebrate her 500th post and 3 year blogaversary! It ends New Year's Eve~ at midnight ~

look at the goodies so far...






Tara's printable memories from her etsy shop...Just Devine Style

A Willow house cookbook holder from Debbie at Love the Decor!

and....my Je t'aime sign ~ perfect for Valentines Day...(it's coming you know :)

Good luck to all!

New cushions for the patio...

...courtesy of Old Man Winter.

Some of them are 12 inches thick...what a guy!!

Just in case anyone's looking for me...I'm shoveling!

The Ghost of Christmas Eve Past

Another Christmas Eve is here, which means another visit from the ghost of Christmas Eve Past.
He comes every year, and brings me back to the Christmas Eve's of my youth.
Back to the late 60's and early 70's, when Christmas looked alot like this...


(now this could easily be my mom or one of my aunt's, but it isn't...it's a photo from google)



It was always at our house, on Grant Street, and everyone came- cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, second cousins and great aunts and uncles- the house seemed it would burst at it's seams! The tradional Italian Christmas feast would take place but I can never seem to remember what the main dish was. There were too many sweets around to be tempted by, penuchi fudge, Mom's mincemeat squares, Aunt Emma pizzelles, always dusted with powdered sugar...






I only remember filling up on Nana's brightly frosted sugar cookies- it was the one night of the year you could get away with such a meal!

But the most memorable and meaningful part of the night was what took place after the feast- we all got bundled up and paraded up and down the street visiting each neighbor's front lawn to sing Christmas Carols.
No matter the weather (and this was New England so there was usually snow) we went carolling every Christmas Eve. Off we'd go, this large group of young and old, with mittens and song sheets in hand, door to door and house to house.





I remember it all...we sang at the Brennan's, the Hjerpes, the Dion's, the Tinkham's and we never missed Mrs. McCrettons, where she'd always invite us inside for hot chocolate and another song around her piano! I remember it all as if it was yesterday, and remeber it with great joy. It's a lost custom today and I only wish that I could travel back there with my children and share this vision with them, I know they'd love it!

As I take this trip down memory lane today, it makes me thankful and sets the mood for the day. To be ever grateful for the memories the holidays season makes, memories with family and friends- because no matter what is, or what isn't- 'under the tree', what means the most and will stay with us forever is what's 'around' the tree- our families.

Wishing you all a safe and warm Christmas with the ones you love!

I'm back!

*completely exhausted*

I feel a little like I've just spent two weeks on a treadmill, well, at least my body does~ I shipped the last 5 signs on Saturday, at least the one's that "had to be there before Santa!"

I never dreamed I'd be as busy as I've been with my signs~ all a very good busy though! Just wished I had planned a little better, but that's what New Year's resolutions are for, right?

Here's my star I promised to show you....made with vintage sheet music and german glass glitter, modeled after the one in Pottery Barn...

without the flash...then with the flash... the tree is so hard to photograph!

Here's the whole tree...my husband loved the star but..."couldn't it be lit up?" he asked.

Yes, it could, I told him--next year!

Just use your imagination honey, same with the sign hanging there that I didn't get to finish...imagine it with beautiful script in the banner- 'Joyeux Noel' perhaps, some distressing and lot's of glitter....next year!

I spent yesterday doing some Christmas shopping...oh, the people, the traffic, the lines!!

Despite the Christmas music playing in every store and the employees donned in their 'santa hats' - everyone looked so tired and miserable. I kept thinking, 'why do we do this to ourselves?'

I finished, got what I needed and got home fast before they could infect me with the

"bah humbugs"!

This year we opted for a little different Christmas card. Usually we take a family photo, (since all our family is either in the midwest or in New England and we don't see them often enough.)

I had seen this on etsy and thought it would be the perfect photo for us since we spend so much time at the beach, even in the winter ---

not perfectly written but it's the message that counts!

Hope you all are having a good week with the countdown getting so close-

try to keep the 'bah humbugs' away!

The tree~ sheet music bird ornaments~and two winners!

The tree is up! A little happy dance ~ I'm loving the way it looks...


this year I decided on all silver and creams, with little bird sheet music ornaments...

and another paper banner~ ok, I'm a little obsessed with paper banners!

I made this one using what they call an "end roll" from a local printer. If you've ever ordered a sign from me, it came wrapped in this white paper~ it's basically newspaper without the print on it. If I didn't have this paper, I would of used a roll of 'cash register' paper, I've seen this at Walmart and it's relatively cheap. Anyways... I cut two inch strips, tea dyed them, then transferred the 'merry christmas' with graphite paper~ went over it with a sharpie~ then cut the edges with 'torn edges' scissors...

and voila!

The font is one of my favorite font purchases~ P22 Cezanne~

here it is in case you'd like to make one...

The sheet music bird ornaments were easy, once I got the bird shape drawn that is! I made a few one dimensional and a few three dimensional...just gluing two of them together, except for the wings, then folded down the wings so he could fly! I added a little silver german glitter to the edges...they sparkle and twirl! Thought I'd share this outline too for you to make your own sheet music birds...

I used the "Wreath Waltz" sheet music from Karen~aka The Graphics Fairy

{Thank goodness for fairies!}

I simply printed the sheet music on both sides of cream colored card stock. Traced the bird outline and cut...easy!
I'm thinking of making more of these, you could glue a pick inside the body portion at the bottom and add them to wreaths and arrangements...how pretty would that be?

A little burlap under the tree made the perfect natural tree skirt...I love it all but it's not quite done yet...I'm working on a star for the top~ I'll share that in my next post!

Now....Happy Birthday to me!!!

It's today! Look what I found this morning by the coffee maker...

Oh, I adore that man!

That card was the best birthday present I've ever received! We spent the weekend together, a not so very romantic weekend~ we installed a wood stove out in my garage workshop ~ to keep me warm while I'm creating the mess I make out there! Now, that is true love, isn't it?

Oh!!...last but not least... the two winners of my Peace~ Love~ Joy signs giveaway!

"She dreams big" & "Suzie Button"

....congrats girls!

A big thank you to all of you...your comments and support really 'keep me ticking' and I love each of you!

Let the decorating begin~and a link to a great tutorial!

with handmade paper garlands and music sheets! It always starts at the mantle in the kitchen. This years' theme is music sheets and paper garlands.

I'm loving the look!

Sometime this past summer I stumbled upon a stack of vintage church hymnals~I picked them up for a song! The woman at the counter told me that her husband ~ a pastor at a local church~ found them in the churches old piano. These two actually have dates in them of 1893-just imagine how many church services they've seen...the weddings, baptism's, funerals and holiday gatherings!

She was curious as to what I planned for them- at the time I didn't know, but I loved the typography and the old paper~just lovely! I think she thought that strange, but I wondered myself why her husband would be willing to part with such beauty that held so much church history-that to me was even stranger!

anyways, here are a couple of them in my mantle display~

As much as it hurt, I pulled out four of the pages from the Christmas section and wrapped them around my 'Sacred Heart' candles, then tied them with hemp.

The pages were just a little long and had to be trimmed...but naturally I couldn't toss those sacred scraps...they are now a little chain placed in my studio.

My favorite part of the mantle is the paper garland I made...edged with silver german glass glitter for a little sparkle!

This weekend we'll be working on the tree...I know I want more paper garlands ~ I'll have more photos to share next week!

Little update on these candles....

Diane, of Lavender Dreams has posted a wonderful tutorial on making these candles...she did a great job with her first tutorial and her candles came out fabulous! Check it out here.

A big thank you to Diane!!

If you haven't already scroll down and get your name in the proverbial hat for my sign giveaway...two winners this time & it's open to everyone!

Peace Joy Love ~ my two year blog anniversary giveaway!

This proves it...time really does fly when you're having fun!

When I think back over the last two years and all the new friends I've made it just amazes me. Who could of guessed the world could be so small?
It's a wonderful feeling just knowing we are always there for each other...giving and receiving
PEACE JOY AND LOVE all year round...and so my giveaway...two years - two winners!

Each will receive a set of my new signs...

PEACE JOY & LOVE...

~they each measure 9" x 5.5" and are embellished with silver german glass glitter...they hang with vintage black seam binding ribbon~

they are sparlking reminders of this wonderful blog world we live in aren't they?

Keeping this one simple...just leave a comment on this post- and, best of all...this giveaway will be international!! Anyone, living anywhere in the world can enter (just be sure to leave me an email address if you don't have a blog to contact you through).

I'll choose two winners via random.org on my birthday...Monday December 6th.

Lot's of love to all of you & a Happy Thanksgiving!

{adoring sweet paul}

Have you met Sweet Paul...aka Paul Lowe?? oh, you're gonna love him! Sweet Paul is a food and prop stylist living in New York...

his Holiday online magazine is just out...and it's swoon worthy...and it's free!!

(click the photo to go to sweet paul's magazine)


crafting....love this light...keeping my eye out for a vintage bakers whisk!!


recipes....Sweet Paul also shares his creative genius on his blog....

(click the photo to go to Sweet Paul's blog)

I'm hooked! Love every bit of it!!

Big day coming up!

I've been quite the blogpost slacker lately haven't I?

Well, I have to tell you that's one of the things I love about blogging....

I think it's a 'no pressure~just have fun' kind of thing and I hope you do to.

In my 'blogmind'*

*blogmind: a word completely made up by me, meaning the part of your brain that blogs all day long...you know, when you're riding in the car or in the shower, or washing dishes...you find yourself writing blog post after blog post, only to completely forget them minutes later, cause,

well, you thought of a new one!!

LOL...tell me this happens to you too, please!!

yes, in my blogmind lately it seems I've either had

way too much to say or, nothing at all to say.

So I usually end up deciding to spare you of both!

Okay...now onto the 'big day coming up'....

Here's a hint:

cotton.

Cotton is the traditional 2 year wedding anniversary gift. But it's not my 2 year wedding anniversary. It is however my 2 year blog anniversary on November 24th...

so they'll be a giveaway coming up soon! But, it won't be a bag of cotton balls, I promise!!

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas...

In the studio!
yes, I've been painting Christmas signs...but look closer... no, closer....

It's mistletoe!
Fresh mistletoe, picked fresh last week by my son...the arborist!
I had no idea that mistletoe grew around here...

and no idea where it grew exactly.
Turns out mistletoe grows 'on' trees!
The tree is it's 'host'...it feeds off it.

It arrives there from birds dropping the sticky berries on it's branches. I was amazed to learn this!

Now, on November 1st....there's fresh mistletoe around the house!!

...if it is too early for Christmas decor well it's certainly not too early for smooching right?

A big thankyou to all for leaving me great advice on my Saturday post...we've decided the best thing to do is go with 'no driving'. I am approaching it like....we are starting over, at square one, with the learning to drive thing. I really think kids are allowed to drive too young, especially with all the hand held gadgets they try to juggle. I was very touched by everyone's comments and they were very helpful in figuring out what to do...thankyou all from the bottom of my heart:)

Motherly Advice...

I'm always quick to give it. Now I need some back.

If you're a regular visitor to my blog you know I'm not one for 'long posts'....but today is going to be one of those long posts, know up front that I appreciate you hanging in there!! xo!

I find myself this morning at a very 'cosmic' place, for lack of a better word. It's as if all my thoughts, concerns, and fears have molded together in my mind and brought me here. It's not a good cosmic place-I'm not comfortable in it.

The best way to tell you about this is to go back a couple of days. On Thursday of this week, two teens (17 & 16) were killed in a car accident about an hour or so north of our home. Speed.
They were speeding on a highway, tried to divert lanes and lost control. The male driver (17) was thrown from the vehicle, the female passenger (16) was dead and trapped in the car for hours. They had just left school, her parents believed she was riding the bus home. I didn't know these two teens, but the story left me in tears, literally.

I spent my day in melonchally. I just couldn't shake the whole story and the pictures of it. Most of you know I have a 17 year old daughter-Hannah- who's been driving for about 6 months now and like alot of parents at this time of life, well-I pray alot.

Hannah is not one to make bad decisions. She makes me so proud all of the time I have to pinch myself. She's about a straight A student with realistic goals in life. She is always quick to dismiss herself from the 'wrong crowd' and I so admire this. Pretty much an all-around perfect child. Lucky mom huh? I think so too.

Yesterday, my dear friend PJ did a wonderful post about being a 'good mom'. If you haven't seen it you should go check it out....very thought provoking. I loved it because it so spoke to me, it's one of my favorite subjects. I commented about how being a good mom to me was about always being dilligent at it...be quick to learn from your mistakes and keep at it.

Okay...now to last night. I let Hannah go with a friends family to a Halloween haunted house- almost 2 hours north of us. I knew this meant she'd be home late, driving later at night than I ever let her before (illegal mind you) but I let her go. I didn't like it but it was one of those very few times I conceded. Big mistake, mom. Here comes the icky part of my story...at 1:30 am this morning I got a call from a State Trooper. He had just pulled Hannah over for speeding, he was very concerned, and rightly so...85mph in a 50mph zone. I was-am still devastated. I thanked him for what I believe was an act of 'saving my daughters life'. I've barely slept since.

I realize that some of you reading this have children that are older and grown, and have been through this in one way or another, and maybe think, well....'it's part of growing up, for parent and child-it will be okay.' I think that too, after all, my son is 22 and we did the speeding ticket thing with him and got through it...part of life. But for some reason...this feels different.

I feel lost, like I don't even know how to handle it this time, mostly because it was so out of character for her and so against all I've tried to instill in her. After all, like I wrote in PJ's comments, I believe that children live what they are taught. So which lesson did this teacher miss? Which chapter did I skip over? 85 in a 50 remember. How do I even approach this? If I missed that chapter -and didn't even know it- what else did I miss???

It is likely that she will lose her license...what judge in his right mind, two weeks from now and in light of the recent teenage speeding accident involving teens-is not going to take her license? I told her last night this was possible, and I won't be pleading for her in any way shape or form, under any circumstances. It goes against everything I believe to stand up for a child who was wrong in their actions. She's pretty devastated. I ended it with ...Hannah, I love you more than you know, and when we are in court on Nov 16th, I'll be thanking God that I'm only in court and not at the cemetary.

That is what the judge will do I'm pretty sure-what I am unsure of is what I should do. Do I let her drive from now till then-at all? Do I take the keys, make her take the school bus to school, which will devastate her? Do I ground her? I've never had to ground her before. Is what I'm pretty sure the court will do punishment enough? Or is this one of the areas parents must be the really bad guy, which amounts to ruining her junior year in highschool, at least in her eyes. I have to decide what to do-at least until the Nov 16th court date, at which time someone else will decide.

I'm honestly lost on this...and your thoughts will be so appreciated-I don't want to miss any more chapters.

Life full of Romance....

I'm so honored to be included in an Etsy treasury!
Life full of Romance by Vart....here are a few of the items included

I've been included in treasuries before, just never one that made the

front page

of etsy. But if it gets alot of clicks and comments...

it {Life full of romance}

just might make it to the front page!

Am I suggesting that you go there {Life full of romance} and click and comment away???

Yes!

but only if you want...I'm not begging for you to go there {Life full of romance} or anything...

but look what sign she chose for the treasury....

I LOVE YOU!!

so.........if you go

{to Life full of romance} I'll love you forever!!

Candy Cane with your hot chocolate?

Just a quick post today...still busy with custom orders but finding time for some new Christmas signs!

yes....I said Christmas...sorry, but it will be here before you know it!



Just listed in my etsy shop....



hope you are enjoying your day! I'm off to paint, paint, paint!!

The chocolate hunt....

it's nippy outside... 'nippy' ...that's the only word that comes to mind. I know, what am I going to do when winter comes? My dad used to, still does, always say that to me. But it takes a bit for me to get used to the change in temperatures...hopefully by the time winter comes I'll have acclimated. (Is that a word?)

Back to nippy...hot chocolate...that's all I can think of today. Hot-hot-warm-you-to-your-toes-chocolate!

Found some on etsy...(click on photos to go to their shops!)

from tetoncocoacompany

more warm chocolate tidbits on etsy...

from loveandknit

from donidodesigns

from yarnling

from loveling


I'm getting warmer!