Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Random Thoughts

It's a dreary, rainy, windy and cold evening here in Ohio.  I'm waiting to go get my youngest daughter at the airport later.  We are hoping her flight isn't cancelled.  She is flying in from Miami, FL and she is in Baltimore right now and she called to say "It's Cold!"  Wait till she get here.

I just have not been relaxed enough lately to write anything of interest and my photos have not been good either.  I wish I could buy a new small camera.  Please excuse the images in this post.  I am going to just write some random thoughts that have been rattling around in my head lately.

I was working on some paper garlands for my Christmas craft shows.  While I was threading the ribbon through the punched holes I remembered those sewing cards I had as a child.  Did you have those?
My mom was a professional seamstress and I never understood the point of those cards until now.  I was training to make paper garlands when I turned 50!

I have been using a lot of skills people learn as children finally in my older years.
I used a machine to cut the window blinds at work.  You had to fit the top and bottom rails into perfectly made cutouts or the machine would not work.  Every time, I was trying to get these metal rails to fit exactly in the slots I would think of the shape blocks that have to fit into the opening in the ball my kids had.  Who knew that would be a necessary skill?

Remember the matching game?
Well this is kinda like that.  We draw names for Christmas.  I put the papers (face) down somewhere.  Then I have to remember what was on them and where they are.  Only thing is the table is my whole house!
We found them tonight and we were close.  Only missed 1 person and my husband does his shopping on Christmas Eve anyway!
Another skill I used in school was how to pass notes or talk without the teacher catching me.  Well we had to use this skill at work when we (the coworkers) wanted to talk to each other.  Hide from the cameras, talk in abbreviated conversations between dept. managers walk bys.  Needless to say that place just wasn't for me.
I finally got my tree up.  I just don't feel like redoing my whole house any longer.  I like it now that it is up but it's just so much work.  I read on another blog and on FB all these people doing this Elf on a Shelf stuff.  I am SO GLAD my girls are older.  The one blogger was cracking me up pointing out all the work some of the over achieving moms are making for themselves. 
Maybe I'm just lazy....yeah, that's it.  Oh Well.
Well I am not lazy if it involves craftiness and fun for me!



I wanted some of those bottle brush trees for my vintage farmhouse look so I decided to try making my own.  I needed pink and blue and white.  Good old Youtube.  I found a few tutorials and got the bleach, dye and trees and made my own.  I love them.
I did good with the bleaching and dying but the glitter was pretty messy.  I wasn't good at glue and glitter in grade school either.

One more topic.  I can't remember if I have posted about my neighbors dog Remmi on here before but I have some images of him I took recently.  He is a German Shorthaired Pointer and is very spastic.  He spends the night sometimes because he likes us!
 He is very sophisticated...Not!
Our cat has finally gotten used to him.  He realized he's not going anywhere soon.  At least not soon enough.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday!  My girls are going to be here and I plan on spending as much time with them as I can so I may not post for the rest of the year. 
I'll make notes and write about it later.
Maybe

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Vacum a Christmas Tree?

This holiday season has been long and busy for me at work since I had to let my office manager go. I have not had time for decorating and wasn't much in the mood for it. My youngest daughter (the chief) wanted to have a Christmas/Birthday party for her friends. (Her birthday is Dec. 27Th) So as usual I waited till the last minute to finally get the decorations out.

I have a large Santa collection that I have not gotten out for the last 3 years so I decided I missed them so I started with them. I finished everything but getting the tree out. 2 days later my daughter and I go to the closet to pull out the box with the tree. The box had popped open sometime during the last year.

As we were carrying (dragging) the tree to the living room, I noticed some pink stuff on a branch.
Huh, wonder...is that insulation? ugh, mice? I pull it out and lay the tree on the floor. As we were preparing to put the bottom in the stand, Coooper had his coonhound nose buried in this one spot on the tree.

ewe.. LOTS of pink insulation! Then LOTS of baby mouse poo fell to the floor.
I should have called Mike Rowe, he loves poo!

Anyway, I got out the sweeper and began to suck out all the STUFF in that part of the tree. What a mess I had! Thank God the mouse family had moved on! All I could think of then was, I hope they didn't chew through the light cords.

I must tell you,I love live trees but this tree is special. It is the perfect size, is prelit and has microfiber lights also. I have never seen another one like it since I bought it. Up until 8ish years ago we always had a fresh, from North Carolina, Frasier fur. (My all time fave!) but when I saw this lovely tree I knew I had to have it for my nice living room decorated in girly pinks and white! We would continue to get the live tree for the family room.

Sorry I digress...anyway while holding my breath I plug in the lights and...


They were OK!!!!!!!!!!!






As you can see I have a lovely (clean) Christmas Tree this year! It did take me till the day of my daughters party to put the ornaments on though. I thought about just telling the kids I like my tree's natural. Then my daughter pointed out "It's a FAKE tree". That really hurt my tree's feelings. It is a Special tree not fake! Another friend suggested I hand each guest an ornament and let them decorate it. Uh, I don't think so. This is my tree with beautiful glass ornaments and it has to be done right. To controlling? Oh well, I guess that is why I put it off because once I started, it becomes like a work of art for me to place each ornament in just the right place. I really do enjoy doing this but like all creative endeavours I need to be in the mood.

I have a few favorite decorations I want to share with you also. A couple of my old Santa's and a newer snowman.
Have A Merry Christmas everyone!