HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY TO MY OLDEST DAUGHTER

I need to apologize.  I thought that I had sent this posting out prior to leaving on our annual Sister's weekend, but it obviously did not go through.


So..... here's to my adorable eldest.  Happy Belated Birthday!


 

I  cannot believe that my oldest turns 19 today.  It just seems like yesterday she was running errands with me, then starting school and now in college.  Where does the time go?

 

We are very proud of her.  She has taken the life lessons that we  taught her and  become the independent person we always hoped she would be.

 

Here's to you Sweetie!

 

 

Happy Birthday

(my little autumn baby)



A PROJECT TO HONOR TERRI ON HER BIRTHDAY

My sister Terri would have been 67 years old today.  Hard to believe it has been a year since she became sick.  The time seems to have flown, but her memory is still so close to the surface.  I want to take you back to a happy memory.

After Terri became sick, I was going through a chest of drawers and came upon a Ziploc bag with an uncompleted project.  But this wasn't just any crosstitch project.  This project had a lot of memories attached--and they were memories of my sister, Terri.
 

The story begins back in 1989, when my sister Terri drove the two of us down to Rockhome Gardens near Arcola, Illinois where the annual Quilt Show was held.  Along with some of the most amazing quilts I have ever seen were booths filled with crafts of the latest rage--counted cross-stitch. 

We first found this newly revived craft a few years before when again,  Terri and I spent vacation days in Raleigh-Durham, NC.  The bug bit both of us, but on this day in Arcola, the fever grew when we saw booth after booth of cross-stitch artists and their designs.
 

I was drawn to a booth that had a square French blue striped tablecloth sewn with rich, red apples and French phrases.  The name of the booklet was French Country Breakfast. This blue striped cloth is all the rage today and who would have thought in 1989 that this design would be timeless.
 

 

   For those of you who knew Terri, she insisted that I approach the designer in the booth and ask for her autograph.  Of course I did.

 

 

When I returned home, I immediately started the tablecloth and finished about 75% of it.  I then put it in a zip lock bag and time went by.  I got married, raised two daughters and moved 5 times.

 

Now, there was something inside me that pushed me to finish this cross-stitch.

A few years ago, Terri being the generous soul that she always was, gave me her lighted magnifier to ease my cross-stitch sewing.  I stashed it up in the craft room and realized that with my eye sight these days, I was going to need a little help.  I found the light and proceeded to complete this project.

This next picture shows exactly what I see through the magnifier.  What a difference the magnifier shows!

 

On two sides of the cloth, the French 'tarte aux Pommes' translates in English to  'apple pie'.

All four corners have an apple in the corner.  The remaining two sides have a design of smaller apples.

Once the stitching was completed, I wanted to ensure that there would be no raveling on the backside of the tablecloth.  I purchased some light weight Pellon at Hobby Lobby.  It is easy to apply as it is an iron-on textile. All of the underside of the tablecloth was measured and Pellon was ironed on to the sewn surfaces only.

This following picture shows the Pellon before it is ironed on.

All four sides of the Pellon are now ironed on to the back of the tablecloth.






 The round oak table was a perfect setting for the latest completed project.

I wanted to make a side note on Terri's influence on my own crafting skills.  When I was finishing up this tablecloth, I felt a calmness fall over me as I was stitching.  It was as if Terri was still here with me, and I believe she really was.

Happy Birthday in Heaven Terri.

 



AUTUMN MANTLE 2016

I wanted to do a very simple Autumn mantle this year.  I collected a bird nest from outside and placed it under a cloche.  The silver plated pitcher filled with wheat kept the look  monochromatic.

 

And then, I just couldn't keep the simple look without adding some color.

The height of the orange pumpkin blossoms extend the ceiling.




I love using the pop of orange color in the Oriental pottery.  A classic look, no?



SOFTBALL GIFT

I am posting the last of my softball posts today.  I promise we will be jumping into fall on the 17th. When I walked outside this morning, it was the first time the air was really cool enough to walk. 

During the softball season, my daughter was mentored by 6 amazing seniors.  These upperclassmen spent every practice and every game giving the underclassmen an example to follow.

We just needed to make sure that these young individuals were given some recognition for a job well done.  I approached the head coach and asked if I could come up with some gifts to give these seniors for their last home game.

I found a cute idea on Pinterest.  It seemed pretty easy to replicate.

I took a trip to Michaels and picked 5 wooden frames up and some spray primer and softball neon yellow.

I also purchased small red clothespins, some red acrylic paint and adhesive  glittered red stars to decorate.

I began by lightly sanding the wood boxes with grit 220.

After setting up my spray paint 'tent', I sprayed both sides of the boxes letting the paint dry  in between coats.

The next day, I spray painted the primed boxes with two coats of the neon yellow paint on each surface.

Using a plastic cup, I stenciled out a circle out of paper to use as my lacings on the 'softball frame'.

The circles are cut out.

They are placed on the corners of the frame and traced.

A regular red sharpie will create my lacings.

Red mini clothespins are glued onto the box to hold the team photo.

Gifts boxes with the teams forest green ribbon will hold the frames.

Using scrapbook paper, I printed off each of the girls' names on a light green damask pattern to make them a bit more feminine.

Well, at this time, I realized that I had forgotten to make something for the team manager, who just happened to be a boy.  I had to pull something quick out of my brain.  Knowing that his name began with the letter B, I took off to Michael's and found a wooden B.  I did basically the same steps with his frame as I did with the others.

I did distress his frame a bit more.

In the end, everyone enjoyed their frames and the special team picture which will have such memories of their softball playing days.

EASY CHOCOLATE TRIFLE

I wanted to share my easy, go to pot luck dessert with you today.

I make a box of Ghiradelli chocolate brownies. After they are cooled, I cut them into small cubes and place them in a freezer ziplock bag.  Toss into the freezer until the day you make the dessert.

The other 3 ingredients are as follows:  1 large package of Chocolate instant pudding made up, 1 large or 2 small whipped toppings and a Skor bar.

First, place a layer of the thawed brownie cubes in a trifle bowl.

Then place half of the chocolate pudding on top of the brownies.

The whipped topping goes on top of the pudding.

Repeat the three steps one more time.  Crunch up the Skor bar and garnish the top.

People go crazy about this  dish and it is sooooo simple!



SORRY

I just posted my September 1st posting.  For some reason the transfer from writing the post to publishing it went haywire.  The entire posting is there but just spacing was an issue.  I have no idea why this happened.  I hope it was a fluke.

Have a great day!

FALL DOORWAY DECOR 2016

The basis of this latest wall art has been one of my favorite finds. I was in Illinois walking with my sister one morning when we came upon a load of trash.  I eyed this jewel and grabbed it.  My sister liked it too, but being so gracious, she let me haul it back to her house. 

Both sides of the door are unique.  I used the side shown below for an Autumn setting a year or two ago. But the front of the door is enchanting too and I will be using this side for the wall art.

As I walk through Hobby Lobby, I see pieces like this for outrageous prices.  I have seen similar wall art on Fixer Upper, one of my favorite shows.

Let's show you what I have done.








After drilling two pilot holes, I attached a screw on both sides of the wood.  Then framing wire was wrapped between the two to attach a hanger.

Once hanging on the wall, it needed some help.

I found this mirror at Hobby Lobby this year.  I was planning on using it for my next Valentine's Day blog, but I thought it would look well here.

I removed the two blue transfer plates with something autumnal.

I used this basket of wheat sheaves last year.

Even though this window has lots of light coming in, the pictures that I took don't do it justice.

I might still add something to the lower part of the wall, but for now--I like it.

Welcome Fall