Southern Lady's Market Monday

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Southern Lady's Market Monday for December 6, 2010

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Here's mine!

My Visit to the Painting Parlor

This is Bernice - isn't she cute!
I painted her today at The Royal Canvas Painting Parlor in San Antonio.

You should know that I cannot paint at all - the teacher for this class is fabulous!

This is the original painted by Gina at the studio.

And guess what, she also has a shop on Etsy - Too cool!
I love her Crows On a Line painting!

I'm hoping to go back and paint Fred the Rooster next week - I can't wait!

Market Monday

Southern Lady's Market is having Market Monday over on her blog!

Tons of Christmas goodies
and more!

Add your link to your shop
and
go shopping, too!

Here's a sneak peak at my entry...

Autumn Harvest Thanksgiving Wreath

I'm a little late, but I finally have a new wreath for Fall this year!


I thought I'd give a quick step-by-step for anyone who doesn't know how to get started but wants to make one of her own.

I gathered my supplies
-glue gun and glue
-grapevine wreath form
-foliage (separated from bush if necessary)
-flowers (separated from bush if necessary)

I usually cheat and buy a pre-arranged bush when I want an elaborate looking wreath but don't want to have to work really hard. All of the flowers on my wreath were on a $20 bush that I got for 50% off. The fern was also a bush and I think 50% off of $13. (I hate paying full price!)

I'm sure there are many ways to design a wreath, but this is the method I use most often because it's fast.

1. Lay a base of foliage, sticking over the edges however you would like - I chose circular in the same direction. It doesn't have to be perfect because much of it will be covered and extra can always be added (I always save a few bits of foliage just in case.)

2. Separate the flowers into groups, larger to smaller.
3. Arrange larger flowers in groupings that are a pleasing distance apart. (Dark orange) Nothing is glued yet, so this is not permanent.
4. Arrange next larger size/group of flowers until all of the flowers have been used. (Taupe and then cream)
5. I had a bunch of tiny flowers, ivy, and tiny berries that were also included and I spaced them out to fill any gaps. The extra foliage comes in handy now to fill in any other gaps!

6. Hang up your wreath, make sure everything is securely fastened and still looks "balanced" now that it is vertical, add a few bits of foliage if needed (I needed!) and admire.

London Eye

Some days it seemed like the London Eye was in every single one of my photos!

We rode it one evening and it was amazing to look out and see all the lights!

New Ornaments for Christmas

When I was in London in September, I saw the cutest embroidered pear ornaments. I just knew I had to make some tin ones! I bought a couple of pounds of Bradford pears, studied the shapes, and came up with this fabulous (I think!) ornament.

It was harder to make a pear shape than I thought it would be!

I hope to find some more "curvy" tin so that I can make some more.

Vintage China

I am hopefully linking up to Vintage Love Saturday with Southern Lady's Vintage. This week is Vintage China!

My grandparents received this set from their church for their 25th wedding anniversary. It is from Lynmore and is the Golden Rose pattern. The date would be circa 1956. I have plates, cups, saucers, small bowls, and serving dishes. I never saw them use it, but it has a few chips, so I know they must have when I wasn't looking!

I found this set at an estate sale and I just love the colors - plum and turquoise! I haven't been brave enough to use them for eating, but I get to see them every day in my china cabinet. They are an American-made Knowles pattern called Chalet. I think from the 60s, but not positive.

Our Hotel Room in Paris

The weather was beautiful when we were in Paris (September) - views looking up and down from our room.

And our room was so cute! Doesn't it remind you of these yummy macarons (that we bought at Laduree)!

It was small, of course, but not too small, and really close to where we wanted to be.

Here are some more architectural and random photos!

Brass Heart Garland

It's been forever since I showed y'all this tray - It was harder to cut than I thought, but I finally managed to get it done and cut hearts avoiding most of the blemishes. I think it's sweet! Of course I'll never be able to replicate it, so it's one of my few truly one-of-a-kinds!

I just listed it in my shop!

What do you think?

Just a few photos from my trip

I mostly have "typical" photos from my trip, but I do have some more architectural-type ones that I really like.

Obviously, the Eiffel Tower. I never knew the edges were almost like lace!

Cobblestones, windows, and tunnel siding in Greenwich. I meant to take more cobblestone photos, but there was so much to see everywhere we went I didn't take half of what I had planned! And then my camera really doesn't like taking low light photos.

Remember These Journals?

I just wanted to show you the finishing touches!

I couldn't find any Paris or London scrapbook paper to line the insides, so I added a bit of Texas instead!

And the elastic and eyelets worked out great with a little help from the ladies at my local scrapbook store - and some tools that I've never heard of!

I can't wait to see if everyone enjoys them!

Look What I Found Today

I had a few extra minutes before meeting my husband for lunch, so I thought I'd pop into the thrift store for just a minute....

I found this super cute trunk!

It even has a movable rack for hangers! It has some condition issues - scratches and dents, the latch is a bit sticky, and the inside needs re-lining - but it's perfect for my little one's doll outfits! It's 16" tall and 8"x8" wide.

Does anyone have any suggestions on redoing the lining? The outside of the trunk is metal, but the inside of the trunk is wood, so I don't want to get it very wet. I was thinking just peel off what I can, sponge it lightly, seal it, and then apply a new paper lining. I'd love any advice!

And if you have any info on the age or the doll that went with it, it would be fabulous to know!

I wonder if I can find similar star paper?!

Lunch Time

So, Sunday night before school started, we realized that last year's lunch bag, was just not going to magically materialize like we had hoped - it's in one of those "kitchen" labeled boxes I know it is!
Anyway, my little one finally agreed that I could make her one like her big sister's. They are both made from denim - the blue one is my oldest's and I made it from an Old Navy spaghetti strap dress - this will be it's 3rd year, so it's holding up nicely! The black/gray one is the newest one and is from the brother's outgrown jeans and a dress that had seen better days.

I used the bias trim from the sleeves of the dress for the straps and the jeans leg for the body of the bag. The ladybug and buttons were from the front of the dress - I had just cut off the buttons 2 days before to recycle them and thrown the dress away - I was lucky that my sewing scraps hadn't been discarded yet!

I used the skirt of the dress to make a lining and pocket (for the icepack) and the snaps of the jeans to keep the bag closed. My hand-sewing could have been better, but I only had an hour till bedtime and my little one wanted to make sure she had a lunch bag!

I made fabric "baggies" last year, but the crumbs would catch in the velcro and peanut butter and jelly made them kind of yucky. Maybe I should try that fake oilcloth fabric and just flip the tops of the bags over?

Paris and London Journal Notebooks

I am getting ready for my trip and wanted to make a small hostess gift for my friend who has invited me to visit her in London. Also, I needed a small birthday gift for a new friend that I met when she came for a visit over Easter with my cousin from Sweden. We will be staying in London and making a short 4-day trip to Paris - and meeting up with my new friend who will also be visiting London - small world!

After weeks of searching - I knew what I wanted, just didn't know if it existed - I found these beautiful papers online (they are from Cavallini). Of course, you can buy the journals already made, but what fun would that be?!

I found journals on clearance at Michael's and mini-notebooks at Target. I just used decoupage glue to attach the papers and a spray sealer to make them a bit water resistant. Tomorrow I am going to figure out how to attach elastic to keep them closed -I already have the holes punched, I just have to figure out how to use eyelets!

Any ideas about airport legal, non-crushable packaging? Maybe those clear fabric gift bags?

Cupcake Mosaic Tray

I just have to share my first completed mosaic project!

I found the sweetest mosaic tiles at ChipofChina on Etsy! You have to check out her Marie Antoinette and Peter Rabbit!!

Aren't these cupcakes the cutest!

I found this tiny tray - just big enough for 2 mugs or 1 mug and a cupcake! - with really ugly tiles and couldn't resist transforming it with these super cute tiles.

I love the bright colors don't you!

Even the grouting wasn't so bad since the tray is so small! I just have to seal it and it will be all ready to use!

Just For Me

One of the things that I really dislike about my kitchen is the huge window at countertop level right behind my sink. It is set back and almost every time the sink gets used something splatters on the window or the counter and I can't reach it to clean it - unless I get a stool.

My custom made piece from TheShabbyChicCottage doesn't really solve the problem, but it makes me much happier just to see it!

She makes votive and tealight holders in her shop, and I was so excited when she agreed to make this bottle holder for me!

I love it!
(The flowers are called Eryngium if you're interested.)

She has so many other fabulous things in her shop, you have to check her out!

Mosaic Fun

Our family is doing something a bit different this year - we are having summer camp at my mom's house!

My oldest is working on a firebreathing dragon.
The middle one is making Sonic the Hedgehog (apparently a video game character!).

Even the little one is getting in on the fun - I cut up paper squares and she made a combination maraca/tambourine.

My mom is making this for a friend - I love the outline colors!

I didn't think I could concentrate on an actual design, so I am "filling in the spaces" on this tray I found.

I think I could easily want to begin to mosaic everything - it takes a long time, but it's so fun!