Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. A festive night is planned for us. The kids will be joining their friends and we will do the same. It's cold and icy outside - a good time to stay close to home.

Monday 2 of my 3 will return to school and my regular routine will resume. I have to get started on the Valentine swaps in which I am participating. Last night I worked on a few ideas for the Prim and Whimsy swap. It has to fit into a 5" box.

Tuesday I start my woodworking class. I have done it before and love it. Nothing easy for me - I have made 2 tables and a headboard. The headboard was copied from one I saw in the Pottery Barn catalog. This session I am making window valances for the den. I have been toying with the idea for a long time and finally decided to do it. More projects to photograph and post lol.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Post Christmas relaxation

I am home alone and loving the solitude. Just my Ipod with favorite tunes, a cup of java and my blog. As exciting and fun as the preparations are, it is nice to have time to relax. I don't know what it is like at your house, but here "Mom makes Christmas".

With the crazy weather we are having in the Midwest, we will fore go any travel staying cozy and safe at home. Last night I joined 8 dear women for an evening of champagne, dessert and close friendship. All of us have children within a few years of each other and we raised them together.
We have been thru the ups and downs of life together and have lived to laugh at most of it.

Katie, the hostess, was my next door neighbor when I was pregnant with my first. At the time she had only Emily. When Matt was a toddler, the two of them played together. Now Katie has 6 and Em is in Grad school! Katie's house was drop dead gorgeous with Christmas greenery and decorations. Her live tree was in an urn about 24" - 30" high. The tree itself was probably 5 feet. She filled the urn with pea gravel and water, inserted the tree, and voila! Instant charm!!!
It was beautiful.

My New Year's resolution is to post regularly on my blog and to add pictures. Easy enough, let's see if I can keep this one.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The BEST swap partner

I recently received my package from the reluctant farm chik. It was for the Very Vintage Christmas Swap organized by Heidi at Foxgloves, Fabric and Folly. Deidre proved to be the perfect partner.

We emailed a few times to get to know each others likes and style and she read between the lines! First there was my very favorite candle. How thoughtful to send it! And the cards that she made blew my socks off. They are creative, pretty, perfect and very, very useful. Then 2 ornaments - I always buy in twos because I have two children - that are large clear glass balls filled will iridescent shred and appliqued with white stickers depicting Santa on one and a snowflake on the other. So very cute. My favorite, a recipe box that opens to reveal a scrapbook for family memories be they recipes or photos. Of course, my new BFF did an excellent job of designing the lid and the accordion style pages inside!!!

I will post pictures as soon as I can get my hands on a camera.