Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I had to post this photo of the wrapping paper I found at Ikea this year. It is the cutest paper ever! The gnome tags really make it.

I also got this green paper there too. You gotta love the folksiness of it.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I wish all of you a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Cookies

I made these cookies last week and I loved them! I don't normally gravitate towards a chocolate-based cookie, but I am a sucker for any cookie with icing. If you would like the recipe send me an email. Happy Baking!

Ikea Bird Ornament

This was one of my favorite new ornaments this year. I got it at Ikea. The thing that surprised me about it was that when you hang it the thin white glass looks and feels like a light bulb. It made me laugh and like it all the more.

Candy Cane

The other day I bought these candy canes for a cookie recipe and I just threw the extras in this cup. I was totally struck by how pretty they looked so I had to take a picture. Don't you love it when something accidental turns out so wonderfully?

JOY!

I had been eyeing these letters at Hobby Lobby for a long time. You know how every time you go to a store and you see something and you want it, but you don't allow yourself to get it?

Well, one day this summer everything came together perfectly. I had just gotten home after a trip to Hobby Lobby where I had been ogling the letters as usual, when my friend Lori called and asked me what I wanted for my bday. I told her I wanted JOY!

So there you have it...the story of JOY. I hope your holidays are filled with it!

Look at the great shapes cut into these letters! It fills me with joy.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to say that I am thankful for each and every one of you. Thanks for supporting and encouraging my blog habit. I find such joy in thinking about it and working on it.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wood

A couple weekends ago we went to Deep Creek Lake in Maryland for George's Dad's 70th birthday. We had a great time and stayed in a big house on the lake.

Walking down by the lake was fun because there were all of these big old tree trunks that had great weathered-looking wood. I took about a million pictures of all the wonderful lines and wrinkles, but don't worry I won't bore you with all of them...just a few that stood out.

This one reminds me of Yoda.
Click on the one below to see all the great texture and detail.

Falling Water

We visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water house this past week and I loved it! Everything was so custom-made. My favorite part of the house (besides the fact that it sits on a waterfall) was the fireplace pot. He built a fireplace where a gigantic spherical red Asian pot can swing over the fire to boil water. When it is not in use it sits in its own custom half sphere carved out of the stone wall. Totally awesome! I wish I could have attended a party there and sipped hot cider with Frida and Diego.

If you ever have the chance to stop by and see it you really must. It was wonderful.

Pumpkin Carving

OK, so I wouldn't exactly call it "carving"...more pumpkin "drilling." My arm got tired drilling so many holes so George had to finish it off.

Happy Halloween!

Moon Photos

When we went to put our pumpkin outside I noticed the moon looked great through the branches of the trees. It was also super windy and warm.

The exposure on these photos was like 20 seconds and the clouds were moving so it gave an eerie effect.

Happy Halloween

I found these little beauties at World Market. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. They totally remind me of Mexican Day of the Dead skeletons and I thought the gold tooth was a nice touch.

I had them in the kitchen for a while before we put them up and they kind of creeped me out. But I love them on the porch. They will look super spooky for Halloween...I can't wait!

Striped Pillows

I made these striped pillows a couple weeks ago. I love love love the fabric. It is a Ralph Lauren fabric from Calico Corners. Next spring I am going to reupholster the settee these pillows are sitting on. I am either going to do a nice grey blue or butter color. I am not super crazy about the choices from Sunbrella so I am putting the decision off until spring.

Halloween Cookies

My friend Mary makes the best halloween cookies. They have cream cheese icing and are irresistable. I think I ate about 5 or 6 that night.

The photo below made me laugh because it is kind of a sad little happy face.

Kitty on Candlewicking

I got this wonderful tablecloth at the flea market. It has candlewicking all over it. What is candlewicking you might ask? It is a form of whitework embroidery that gets its name because originally women used the cotton twist yarn used in candle making. Also, knots were often used because they could be felt as much as seen under poor lighting conditions such as candlelight or fire.

I totally love the white on white. It is subtle, but beautiful. I liked it so much I just got 5 books on candlewicking from the library. I may have to try this.

My grey tabby Sunshine decided she loved the beautiful textured candlewicking too when I laid it out to dry on a bed. I couldn't shew her off of it because she looked too cute.

Here she is annoyed at me for waking her from her nap. Silly girl!

Milk Bottle Vase and Vintage Tablecloth

This milk bottle is another Springfield Antique show purchase. I really like the texture on the glass. It says it is from Ridale Jersey Farm, Oneonta, NY.

I thought these flowers from our CSA looked great with this vintage tablecloth (also from Springfield).

Antique Pulley

OK. I have to admit I am now buying totally miscellaneous objects from the flea market that I do not have any plans for...but I just couldn't resist this awesome pulley!

George and I had talked about buying a pulley to put a bird feeder on, but now that we actually have the pulley, I am not so sure. I think it might just be easier to hang the bird feeder directly off the porch. For now, the pulley might just have to live on this weird piece of metal protruding from the bricks. That way I can see it all the time.

Here is a close up. I am such a sucker for pieces that have both metal and wood...especially beautiful worn wood with cracks in it!

Pumpkin Love

I am super excited this is the one year anniversary of my blog so I thought it was time to change my blog header.

I bought pumpkins at the Springfield Flea Market and I fell in love with this one. I saw it earlier in the day and I couldn't get it out my head. When we went back I was nervous that it would be gone, but there it was in all its pumpkin glory. I love the way the color goes from orange at the base to yellow and green at the top. Beautiful!

I also loved the way these pale beauties go together. It makes my heart go pitter pat...true pumpkin love!

Cafe Curtains

The weekend before last I went to the Springfield Antique Show and I loved it! I went with my Dad and my friend Mary. You should have seen us when we pulled out of there...we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. The truck was full to the brim with 4 tables, 2 chairs, 3 millstones, vintage tablecloths, sheets, vases, pulleys and glasses, numerous pumpkins and mums, and three very tired shoppers squeezed into the cab. What a day!

The photo above shows the sheets that I made into cafe curtains for the bedroom. When I bought them I thought they were tablecloths, but they turned out to only have the trim at one end...so I decided they were sheets. It made me feel less guilty about cutting them up to make curtains.

It was harder than I thought it would be because I had to use my seam ripper to get the bottom trim off the edge of the sheets. I also had to rip seams out three times! Aaaaargh! I don't believe in ripping seams unless I really have to. I think I was tired. By now I know that things are never as easy as they might first appear, but in the end I am very happy with them.

Cinnamon Squash Rolls

George has really outdone himself this time. These rolls were delicious! And they use up the butternut squash we get from the CSA. It couldn't get any better than that.

The recipe was adapted from a Family Circle Pumpkin Bun recipe that you can see here. George halved the recipe (it makes 12 if you halve it) and substituted squash for pumpkin. He also added nutmeg and a handful of oats (that George- always trying to make it more healthy!).

Probably the tastiest way you will ever eat squash!

Stone Wall and Plants

When we added the screen porch to the house we had to get rid of half the flower bed below it. So Tim Hodge (the mason who made the stone columns) just built us a beautiful wall to hold up the remaining flower bed.

This left me an empty flower bed which was quickly remedied at the Natorp's sale this past Friday. Seven dollar perennials and three dollar mums... I was like a kid in a candy store!

BTW...those lime green beauties are heuchera.

Porch Curtains

Getting curtains for the porch was more of a project than I had anticipated. Originally I thought I would buy Sunbrella curtains for the porch. But when I figured out that I needed 12 panels and they were $80/panel I decided to rethink that idea.

So I bought 83'' sailcloth panels from Target. I washed 2 of them as a test and they shrank about 6'' and were then too short. They looked ridiculous...like my porch was wearing floods!

So then I returned those and ordered 96'' panels from JCPenney and figured I would hem them. But then I realized those panels were only 41'' wide and they might shrink too much in width.

So I returned those and ended up buying the 96'' panels from Target that were an inch wider. I washed and dried them but they were still too long. So I ended up hemming 4 of the 12 panels to about an inch above the ground.

I was very pleased with myself until I woke up the next day and they were all dragging the ground because they had swollen with the dew. I was so mad! But my mom suggested washing them again. And lo and behold...they shrank the perfect amount! So I hemmed the rest and am now done with it!

So if you actually made it to the end of this story, I'm not sure what the moral is. Perhaps that sometimes the problem is the solution.

(Please visit NessyPress.com if you are interested in viewing my botanical linocut fine art prints!)

Porch Pillows

I have had the fabric to make these pillows for months now and I finally found time to make them. At first I was going to make the whole pillow out of the rose fabric, but then I had the idea of just using a stripe of it and I think I like it much better.

I used the instructions on Cottage Magpie as a general guide. The instructions were great. Now I think I want to make some "hot dog" pillows to go next to the arm rests. Ooh, the possibilities!

Vintage Flower Tray

I was super excited to find two of these flower trays at the Burlington flea market. They are perfect for catching fallen petals from flower arrangements.

If you look closely you can see the surface is scratched and worn. It is so wabi sabi and I love it! I am now addicted to vintage flower trays!

Orange Vase

I just had to post a photo of this cute little vase. I got it at Jungle Jim's a couple years ago and I love the smooth feel of it. There were more pieces that matched it, but when I went back for more they were gone. C'est la vie.

Guest Room Ceiling Color

When we bought our house 6 years ago I remember thinking the first thing I would do is to paint the guest room ceiling. The bright yellow is just not me. The only reason it has existed this long is because my mom gave me those cute pillow cases from when we were kids and they have a great 60's pattern with yellow in it.

But it is finally time to change it and I have photoshopped several choices. Please let me know what you think.

Pale Blue
Pale Green
White