Everyday Beauty

Making Magic

 
Such a magical time this month of December is. I try not to rush through the season and really enjoy the process of each little thing. It's actually a little mantra of mine for everyday life.

 
I've been slowly bringing boxes in from the garage and placing decorations here and there, sometimes with no real plan. I like it best this way, and Mario has been my little helper elf. So far only one broken ornament!

 
During all this hustle and bustle, don't forget to slow down and enjoy the actual process of decorating, baking, wrapping, singing, tree trimming (preferably while sipping hot cocoa, please and thank you.}.

 
It's not a race to see how quickly we can get our houses decorated or who can bake the most cookies. For every decoration I've got out, there are 3 more still in boxes. As for cookies....I haven't even begun, and I've got some serious visions of sugarplums this year!

 
It's about having fun, being with family, and really stopping to take a deep breath, look around and be in the moment. 'Cause we all know how quickly the moments pass.

 
Find magic in the little things this season....if you pay close attention, you will see that it's everywhere.

On the Floor, Looking Up

 

I was laying on the family room floor and loved this angle of the Christmas tree so I asked Mario to get my camera.

 

Now, if he could only help me get up!

Hey, speaking of Christmas trees, I have been wanting to flock our tree for years now and finally bought this Tree Flocking Kit a few weeks ago. As it turns out, with George's travel schedule this month we didn't have time to get to it this year. Maybe next year....if I'm still into it. One never knows! I'm actually loving the natural green of the pine right now. Anyway, I wanted to pass along the info for anyone else who's been thinking of adding some wintery white flock to the tree!

Another Wreath {or 2}

 

I don't know what it is with me and wreaths. Seems like everytime a holiday rolls around I'm inspired to make another one. There's always a wreath on my front door and often you'll find them inside the house as well.

Remember this one I made last Christmas? I used mini bulbs and berries and bells and stacked 2 wreaths together. I used minis 'cause I just can't bring myself to hot glue my full-size vintage bulbs that I display in bowls, baskets and on the tree. I love them too much!

   
 
A couple years ago I gave a little tutorial on how I made this tulle wreath for Valentine's Day. {simply by tying knots of tulle all around a styrfoam wreath base}

I've glittered pinecones and made pinecone wreaths,  put together Autumn leaf wreaths and Easter wreaths with speckled eggs. They're all hanging on a poll contraption George suspended from the ceiling of our garage, waiting for their respective holidays.

Well, now that it's Christmas time, I got the itch to wreath-ify the house again. I have two windows in the breakfast area of my kitchen and have always hung wreaths on them for Christmas. I took them out of the garage this year and they looked so boring. So, I gathered some basics and started pulling the trigger on the glue gun.

They started out as basic evergreen wreaths that I strung with lights.

Then I added an inner "wreath" of this wonderful laurel leaf garland. It's not really silver and not quite gold. I love this color!

 

I glued some cheap-o brushed gold mini bulbs on here and there.

 

And covered some millinery flowers with mica.

 

Glued those on and then made a couple of wide ivory satin bows with 2-foot streamers.

I was going for an all-neutral look in this wreath and found most of what I needed in my Christmas stash.

 

Somehow, for such a basic project, I managed to trash the house and leave mica trails throughout. I have vacuumed 3 times and I'm still finding mica everywhere. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!

Anatomy of my Kitchen Table

 

Our company has come and gone. We had fun!

This is what the kitchen table looked like a couple weeks ago when Hope was here. Evidence of 2 women who like to make things and share ideas.

Exhibit A:

 Isabella Smith Maison Belle Cinnamon & Jasmine laundry detergent I had brought downstairs to show Hope.

Great packaging, but more importantly, good stuff without phosphates or bleach.

You can get it at Beauty Habit {a highly addictive website}.

 

Exhibit B: Adorable pouch Hope brought me as a belated birthday gift. The work of the creative felt queen, Julie Collings.

Exhibit C: This old tobacco tin was tucked inside that cute pouch.

 

Hope embellished it and filled it with all of these bits and pieces. She knows me way too well.

  

Exhibit D: The cover of the guest book that Hope made for her upcoming wedding. She used all of my scraps and random things I had in the craft room. I didn't get a very good picture of it, but it turned out so pretty.

 Exhibit E: Our current journals side by side. These are fun to draw/doodle/write/paste in.

 

And the other stuff on the table includes glue, pens, rulers, papers. You know, all the essentials.

I'm happy to say the table no longer looks this way. Now, it looks like this:

  

Exhibit F: Some totes I'm making for my shop. I should have them listed this week sometime.

  

Exhibit G: My purse.

  

Exhibit H: This basket purse came in the mail as a surprise from Analise. Needless to say, it is really beautiful and I LOVE it. It deserves a much better picture than this one.

 

Exhibit I: Superman jammies, complete with cape.

 

Exhibit J: Mario's balloon art.

And now I think I need to go clean off the table!

Company's Coming

Hope is coming to visit today and she's spending the night. I love slumber parties, don't you? So excited to see her and do some shopping and lunching and crafting. Then, on Thursday my mom is coming to spend a whole week with us!

The beach quilt {which is really a bed quilt} has been laundered and has added a nice splash of color to the guestroom.

Fresh flowers have been placed in a vase on the nightstand.

A small dish of candies is sitting on the dresser.

Banana Cream Pie has been made. Chicken salad and croissants have been bought. Lots of fresh berries are on hand for breakfast. House is vacuumed. Laundry is all done. Bathrooms are clean.

I really do love having house guests. I love the morning when they come downstairs and you talk about how well you both slept {hopefully}. And I love the morning coffee time together. Mario usually holds the guests hostage in the play room until he's shown them all of his trains. And, not for nothin'.... it gives me a good reason to clean really well.

Yay! Company's coming!

Well, Hello There!

Gosh, I've been gone a while, haven't I? Thanks for all of the sweet birthday wishes in my last post.

I hope all of you mothers had a beautiful Mother's Day. I picked these Lily of the Valley from my garden to wish you a happy day, and then never got around to blogging on Sunday. So, here are some belated wishes. If only you could smell these...

 

These vintage "Mother" charms are store stock I've had since last October. Never listed them....kinda missed the boat for Mother's Day, didn't I? And the wrinkled pink silk ribbon is from Heather's shop. She hand dyes them and sells out as soon as they're listed. Because they're THAT beautiful!

 

So, anyway, I got so much accomplished in these past few weeks. It feels good. And lots of family fun was thrown in the mix as well. We spent a Day Out with Thomas:

And someone was so excited he could hardly stand it!
We also visited family in New Jersey {where I neglected to take any photos, 'cause I was too busy gabbing and eating...and eating...and eating.}

We went on some bike rides together. Sam is loving his seat. The whole time we were riding he was yelling, "Go! Go!" It was so funny.

 

And I found a little time to make myself a new necklace from old bits.

George hung up my birthday presents in the foyer and hallway. It was nice to get rid of the  octagonal brass ones that came with the house. I can't believe I lived with them for 5 years!

And tomorrow I leave for Jenn's event! Very excited to spend time with all of these girls and craft and shop and chat. It's going to be a true retreat for me. I made some goody bags for everyone and I'll post tomorrow or Friday and show you.

It's nice to be back. I missed you guys!

Sunday Kitchen

I was in the kitchen this morning photographing some new products, and I just got a little carried away. I knelt down on the floor next to kitchen table and took a picture of my morning cofffee and journal. And the hyacinths I cut from the garden. A simple centerpiece that perfumes the whole house.

A pile of our napkins.

A stack of teacups on a shelf. Along with an egg I kept for myself. {since I didn't keep any last year, my basket was looking pretty sad!}

Looks a bit fuller this year.

These are the ruffles on some prize ribbons I have to put away with inventory. Still sitting on the kitchen table. I WILL put these away today. The goal is to clear off the counters today. It's a tall order!

Aprons hanging on the wall.

Let us not forget the beautiful refrigerator art. W is the letter of the week, didn't you know?

I made some more bookmarks and I think I'll sell a bunch. They, too, are on the kitchen table. It's a wonder we can eat there.

I'll package them in One Hundred Wishes cotton pouches.

I'll spare you the other kitchen photos... {dirty dishes, bananas smashed in Sam's high chair, etc.} You're welcome!

I hope your week is off to a lovely start!

Broken, Tarnished, Rusted, Frayed, Corroded, Dingy and Lovely

 

I know you guys share my love of old things, right? There's a just a certain something about them that draws us in. These are some bits and pieces of less-than-perfect details around my house. Corrosion produces the best shade of aqua!

 

A favorite old Venetian box from a flea market trip a few years ago. The chipped paint makes it all the better.

 

Frayed, pleated flowers on a hat.

Pretty chipped pearls.

A dingy old cube of pins. I like that some are missing.

I have no problem loving old rusted bits or jewelry with stones missing. I don't generally incorporate them in to the pieces I sell, but once in a while I do. I like the look.

Love this antique pendant with the Opal heart stone, even though it's lost most of it's other stones.

 

This is a new {but made to look old} sconce I have on the wall in the hallway. Pretty rusty flowers!

 

A good dingy shade of pink velvet, with a ripped veil.

 

We can never have enough old laces and trims. The more dingy the better. If it's too white for me, into my leftover cup of coffee or tea it goes! George always asks, "should I dump the rest of this coffee or do you want to dye something?"  ha ha...

 

Old doll shoes to be used in an upcoming project with some friends. I love the frayed edges!

 

A 1940's wedding cake topper with discolored flowers.

Well, I can hear that Sam's just woken up from his morning nap, so I'll sign off now. Time to go be Mama! :)

Greening my Cleaning

I try to do all the "basics" like recycle, grocery shop with reusable totes, use only cloth napkins and generally try to avoid being wasteful or using disposable things. I consider it the least I can do to spare our landfills from filling up any more than they already are. But I would like to do more. For my family. For myself. For the environment. For future generations. Is it just me or has the amount of "disposable" products gotten to be ridiculous? 

So, little by little I've been trying to think of changes I can make in my daily life. Nothing major, but every little thing can help.

Inspired by my mom and sister-in-law, I crocheted a few of these cotton dishcloths. They work great and can be thrown right in the washing machine and used over and over again. Buh-bye disposable dish sponges that harbor bacteria and other yuck.

For this project, I used Lily brand Sugar 'n Cream yarn. Because it's 100% cotton, the cloths absorb and wash up well. The color shown here is Taupe Twists.

This book, A Guide to Green Housekeeping is a wonderful resource if you're interested. Did you know you can clean most of your house with nothing more than baking soda and vinegar? It's true! No nasty, toxic chemicals or irritating dyes and chemical fragrances needed. This book has become my housekeeping bible, and I refer to it time and again.

         

It was written by Christina Strutt, the owner of Cabbages & Roses. On a side note, she's also the author of this book, Decorating Vintage Style. One of my favorites on vintage-style casual decorating and living. No fussiness here, just down-to-Earth decorating with vintage fabrics, furniture and accessories. I like it lots.

 

I'm very interested to hear from anyone who has other book recommendations or tips for "greener" cleaning. It's good to share tips, sources and ideas so we can all learn things from each other. Let me know!

This is Why I Don't Dust

Because something usually gets knocked over and broken in the process! Does it mean I just have too much junque sitting around?

Somedays I long for a very minimalist, sparse, zen look...and then I come to my senses, remembering that that is just not me. At all.

I think the fingers on the hand are trying to send me a message. Isn't that the universal symbol for Rock On? And it also looks almost like I love you in sign language.

Well, I know this: it could have been much worse if other fingers had broken off instead! Yikes.