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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Christmas Home Tour 2016

Well after many, many computer problems... I am finally able to share with you my 2016 Christmas home! (Sorry it took so long)
This is in the dining area of my kitchen. This vintage rocking horse is one of my favorite Christmas decorations but this is the first time he has been in the kitchen. He usually sits under my tree.
The saloon doors are a new acquisition and perfect for blocking some of the morning sun that beats into the windows.

 This is the family room. There is no tree in here this year. We got rid of the flocked one last year because the flocking had turned yellow with age. Normally I like a little natural patina, but not in this case!

 The mantle is different this year than in years past and I am loving its simplicity.

 No simplicity in my garlands though!!  I fill them with handmade ornaments and love to see them dripping with beads and crystals.
Thisphoto was in my last post, but I am so in love with my angel, I'm showing her again!!

I love my collection of ironstone and every year and Christmas it gets dressed up with real greens. They don't last very long because the air is so dry here, but enjoy them while I can.

This is the family room looking into the dining room. There is a sneak peak of my new sofa, which I will share in another post. :)

The dining room all dressed up for Christmas.

 I love these little preserved boxwood wreaths. I bought them at Target. They are Smith and Hawken and after all the discounts, were only about $15.00 each. That's a really good price for boxwood!

I have a new centerpiece this year. The dome is the top of a vintage birdcage. I just love it.

 This is the living room. It is is the brightest room in the house during the day, and where I sit every morning for breakfast and coffee. In fact this is pretty much my view as I sit in my chair.

This is my tree. Most of the ornaments are handmade. I tried to get a good shot of it, but this was was the best I could do. It may be time to up my photography skills!!

 My bedroom is one of my favorite rooms in the house. 

 These angel wings come out every year for Christmas and often stay for several months before I put them away.

 This fireplace surround is new. It was made my Bruce and Debbie Bjorna from Use-2 bee's Creations here in Phoenix. When I heard they were making them, I immediately put more order in! I have wanted a fireplace surround for this fireplace for about 15 years! (You can see what the mantle used to look in this post from May of last year. ) I needed the mantle done right away, (I'll tell you why in a minute) and they came through for me like champions! I love it. It adds so much drama to the room and looks great with the old doors headboard.

So... why did I need the mantle right away?? Because Staci Dumoski (the editor of Romantic Homes Magazine) and her photographer were coming out to shoot my home for next years Christmas issue!!
I was blown away and so honored to be asked. So, needless to say... the pressure was on this year for sure! Thankfully, the shoot went wonderfully and I could not be happier. I cant believe I have to wait almost a whole year for it to be published! (Patience is not one of my virtues!)

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah. May you all be blessed with loved one around you this holiday season.

See you in 2017!!!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Found Object Angels

 Perhaps some of you are wondering... "where the heck has she been???" (or maybe not)
In any case, I feel bad that I have neglected my precious blog for so long.  My New Years resolution is to be better. :)  I think I put too much pressure on myself to have fabulous pictures and/or wonderful things to say, and just need to let that go and enjoy sharing things with you all.

And so on that note... I would like to share with you the talent of my wonderful hubby. He got an idea on Pinterest, (Yes, I am happy to say he has become a Pinterest junkie!!! LOL!) and decided to create his own version from found objects.  Aren't they fabulous??? 

I kept the top angel because she was just too wonderful to part with...
 
This one is just as fabulous, but really... who has room for 2 giant angels??? LOL! So she is hanging in my space at the Tattered Nest waiting for someone to bring her home.

Now I know why hubby saves all kinds of things that I look at and think, "Great... more junk to store in the backyard." But he always finds uses for the things he collects. 

Here is my angel hanging in the family room. She makes me happy every time I look at her.


Very soon I will share my holiday home tour and some really cool news as well.
I promise not to be gone so long next time.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

How my $5.00 Thrift store find cost me $150.00!!!

If you know me, you know that I love to go junkin. It doesn't matter if it's a thrift store, a garage or estate sale, or an awesome flea market. I am a junkin junky! 
Last week I was at my local thrift store when I spied some delicious linen ruffles hanging amongst all the other polyester shower curtains. I ran over and grabbed it up so fast it would have made your head spin! (Thankfully, no one was injured in that epic "yoink!")

I looked at the label. Yep, Pottery Barn. Not that labels matter, but it does show a certain amount of quality. Then I looked at the price. My heart was pounding! $4.99!!! What???? That shower curtain is a hundred bucks at Potterybarn.com

I brought it home, washed it and hung it. Heavenly. That is the only word I could use. There was only one problem... The wall color. I wish I had a "before "pic to show you.  The walls werent terrible, they just werent "me".

You see, we have this peach tile all over the bathroom. When it was my sons bathroom, we did everything we could to counter balance all the peach. We settled on blue because there is a tiny bit of blue in the design in the sink. After my son moved out I decided not to fight the color anymore and painted the walls a peach color thinking that if I just embraced the color, I would grow to love it... NOT!

So the shower curtain was the catalyst to finally paint the walls again and go back to one of my never fail  and beloved whites. The beige color of the shower curtain actually looks really pretty with the peach tile.
 I love this room now. It doesn't get used much except as a guest bathroom, but I see it every time I walk down the hallway.

And that brings me to why the $5 shower curtain cost me $150....

You see.... I loved that hall bathroom so much I decided to redo my master bathroom, which I have hated since we moved into our home almost 20 years ago! It is tiny and has a very ugly step down shower in it. What was necessary for me to love this room too?? You got it... another Pottery Barn shower curtain. Unfortunately, this one was NOT $5.00!!!

Once again I tried to embrace the color of the tile that I was stuck with and went with a creamy yellow, grey and white color scheme. It actually matched my bedroom quite nicely!

 In addition to the new curtain, I painted the wood cabinets and added door casing around the mirror. And of course... I have to add pretty vintage details and architectural salvage to every room in  the house!

I am beyond thrilled with the results and still get a smile on my face when I walk into either room!

Monday, August 1, 2016

Thank you!!!

Since this years Where Bloggers Create party is now over, I thought I would show you all a pic of what the studio usually looks like when I'm working on a project. This isn't even as bad as it gets. I've just started creating the trees that I will have for sale at my shop this year and as I progress the studio will continue to get messier (and more sparkly!!!)

I would like to thank everyone who participated in this years party. It was small (as I thought it might be) but no less full of gorgeous, creative spaces and abundant inspiration! I would also like to thank everyone who left a comment while visiting all the blogs. You have no idea how much we enjoy those comments!! Myself included! I tried to leave a comment in every space I visited. If I missed you, I'm sorry. I also hope I responded to everyone who left a comment for me! (Although I suspect I may have a left a few of those slip by me too.)

It was so much to visit everyone this year! 
Thank you all!!!!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Where Bloggers Create 2016- Welcome to my studio!

 Hello my friends and welcome to another Where Bloggers Create party! One of the things I hear most often from you is how the party has been the catalyst for you to clean, fluff and organize your studio spaces and for me this year was exactly that. My studio was a mess a few weeks ago. Mostly because I had seriously outgrown my space and had no where to put things.

I have a hard time working in chaos, so I hadn't been doing much of anything in my room. That needed to change (I really missed being in there) so I did a major purge of anything that hadn't been used in a few years. I know that there are a lot of purely decorative things in here, but they make me happy so most of that stuff stayed!

 One of the things I removed were the 2 paper storage cubes that used to be under the window. They held scrapbook paper and since I don't do that anymore, I rarely needed to get into those boxes.
I had a 2 tiered table that was going to go into my shop, but it found a new home in my studio instead.
It is easily  movable and can be placed beside me at my work table to offer an extra surface for supplies while I'm working on a project.

 I love my vintage dress form. (One of those things that serves no real purpose other than making me happy)


 This was, (I believe) an old microwave cart. I picked it up at a garage sale for $5.00. All it needed was a coat of white paint on the wood top, and it was perfect for my studio. Because its a pretty small room, I like things to have wheels so they are easy to move around and out of the way.
Inside the cart is an antique basket that for some reason did not sell at the shop. I brought it home and it fit like it was made for it! Now it holds Christmas trees waiting to be turned into something glorious!
Inside this sweet little cabinet are all my glitters and glitter glues. I also love using vintage shakers to hold some of my favorites.

 This little cabinet holding the vintage suitcases in a new addition. I have all my encaustic wax and soldering supplies in one, and some of my Christmas stuff for making my trees and other holiday goodies in the other.

The cabinet above it holds assorted supplies and the little opening below it holds my seam binding on rolls perfectly.

I call this my bling box.
I assume it held hardware and tools for some guy years and years ago. Now it holds all kinds of blingy treasures for embellishments or jewelry making.



 My workspace... I like using a non stick sheet and a piece of poster board to protect my table. (That's because I am a messy crafter!!!)

  Embellished jars hold all my tools and this wall cubby is perfect for holding already antiqued and crickled seam binding.

 Another addition this year was this vintage ironing board.I painted the top to match the table. It provides  much needed extra work space for holding things like my trees as I finish them.

My fabric stash is pretty much at its max, but I keep buying it when I find great pieces! You never know what you are going to need for a project right???

 This is probably my favorite piece in the studio. The card catalog holds all kinds of metal doodads and the cubbies above are full of vintage lace. I'm pretty stingy when using it. Its so pretty I find it hard to cut up or let go!!!

 Cheese boxes are great to hold small pieces. Plus... I just really like the look of them!!!

 More stuff.....

 I think we all know where this came from!!! I wish I would have bought one of the cream ones when they came out, but I didnt. It holds more embellishments for the Christmas trees. I'm getting ready to go into full on production mode very soon! If I dont start now, I wont have enough time to make all that are needed without going crazy!!!

And last... (but definitely not least) my sweet baby boy and constant companion Cooper. He keeps me company while I am working and pretty much never leaves my side. (They don't call Welshies the velcro dog for nothing!! ) Jasmine comes in a visits from time to time, but she is usually sleeping on the cool bathroom floor.

Well that's all for this year. I hope you enjoyed the tour and have a wonderful time visiting all the party guests!! I know I will!!!

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Monet's Garden in Giverny, France


 Today I have some eye candy for you. I wish I could say I was lucky enough to have photographed these myself, but alas no. All of these gorgeous photos were taken in Monet's Garden in Giverny, France by my very talented Uncle while he and his family were on a dream vacation to Europe.

 He kindly allowed me to share these gorgeous photographs with you all, so sit back, soak up the beauty and dream....





















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