Frou Frou Gypsy in Combat Boots

Its been a while since I have sat down to blog. Shame on me. As the year 2010 draws to a close, I realize that i need to wrap up some things here in the blog. one of the last things i talked about was the insanity that my house was going through. I wanted a computer armoire for the living room..... wellllllll not that easy. Couldn't fine anything in our price range that didn't look like office furniture. hmpf ! Then, hub had a GREAT idea....turn our TV armoire into one for the computer. Score! Now, what to do with the TV. Apparently all of America has nice flat screen TVs now...except us! I wasn't in the market for a new TV (sorry dear!). We looked and looked and finally ended up with something from the IKEA Hemnes series . perfect! Perfect that is until i brought it home from the store in ATL , about 3 hours away...and hub assembled it all, and though it fit...there was too much on that wall of the Living room. It looked like a wall of black wood!!!! sigh. crazy like...

I have a bit of a "thing' for Christmas trees. My "white" tree "died" this year and i happened to have a "spare green one in the attic....so I put it up instead. I don't like it. All the ornies were picked specifically for a white tree and basically look icky on the green one. so, now do i get a new white tree or new ornies? decisions, decisions! Well, this started out as a tree to go outside in a urn on the front porch, but then got way too fragile and cute for all that. it has ended up on the counter in the kids' bathroom. i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it! here's what you need: styro cone garland hot glue tons of plastic/vintage/whatever ornies Here is my cone: I hot glued, and wrapped the garland covering the cone. This particular garland i got a while back at the Thrift Store for less than $3 for a whole bag! I have enough left to make another tree easily. I love it... It is this really beautiful pinkish silvery patina that is just y...

well It's back... maybe i will be more successful this year. I had a scrapbook nightmare last week. i do so want to do this again this year. go check out the journal your Christmas post and i know you will want to join in on the fun!

OK, so my kids got some money for Christmas. This is two of the things my DS HAD TO HAVE! seriously? he's 7! He knew who they were....what they've composed, and which one is which! they come with a link for a printable paper model of a piano...of course we will be making those for him as soon as we have some ink for our printer! He loves them! They ride in the car with us, they fight with each other about who is the best composer...he even argues with his 4 yr old sister that they are composers not conductors ! Seriously. How is this child mine? I think it's awesome though!

Just WHAT can you do with Christmas clearance??? well you can make this spiffy New Year's Wreath! Except for the pocket watch, (thanks for the donation duchess) and the NYE tiara and blowers..this is ALL Christmas clearance finds bought at 50% or more off! I know it may look a little gaudy here, but hanging on my pantry door, it is just fantastic! and i need something between Christmas and Valentine's Day right??? always cyndi

I made a set of cards for my mom for Christmas. She send out a million cards a year and i thought it would be nice to give her some so she didn't have to buy so many..and we all know handmade cards are the best! this is the wedding/anniversary card, quite lovely! there were two of these... and this is a birthday card i think there were three or four..wait maybe only two. oh well. I'll show the rest later! always cyndi

We had a great Christmas, i hope you and yours did too! The kids got up at 5 a.m. Christmas morning...but it was worth it, they were so excited. We had three days of celebrations and now we are taking a breath before all the New Year's hoopla begins. I thought i would pause and share with you some of the things i like to allow myself to indulge in during the holidays..... Wearing Pajamas all day...and maybe even getting a new pair! Having several Christmas trees! all in one cozy house! apple cider, my mom always has it! New Calendars! yeah, i am a bit OCD and i love them!!! a whole new year to plan! watching Christmas movies!!! eating cookies for Breakfast!...or lunch...or snack...or anytime! baking pies and cookies and all sorts of yummy goodies! being lazy! SHOPPING! even better AFTER Christmas shopping!

Things i have LEFT to do: 1. make pecan pie 2. make cheese ball 3. make final batch of cookies 4. bake ham 5. clean kids' bathroom ...AGAIN 6. Clean off island in kitchen 7. vacuum one last time 8. wait for guests!

Dear Santa, All i want for Christmas this year is for my kids to enjoy the day and not get too wrapped up in all the presents. Help me, as well as them, to remember that we are celebrating Christ's birth even though we are the ones getting the presents. If there is room in your sleigh, i'd like a bone folder, and new blades for my paper trimmer. thanks cyndi These little goodies are what i sent to school with my kids for their classmates. I got the suckers at the Dollar Tree, 8 per package! I made the tags with SU! punches, ink and stamps. Added some glitter and ribbon! ta -dah! These are the gingerbread people i made for the playgroup kids. Here's a close up of the tags...SU! again as well as some stuff that's just been hanging around! hope you all are almost ready for the big day!

this is one of those treasures i have hung on to for quite a while and just last year found a truly GREAT purpose for them. OK, first i truly don't recall which Grandparent's stash these came out of but they are truly fabulous! there are 5 of these little girl choir angels: French, German, American, Spanish, Polish, and Swedish. On the fronts, they say "Merry Christmas" in their native language.... and then on the back it says "in German we say Merry Christmas" or whatever the language is so you know because unless you are fluent in those 5 languages or a linguistics scholar or the Big guy in Red himself...you'd never know what the languages are, especially the Swedish and Polish in my case! I have hung them from my chandelier over the kitchen table on lengths of chiffon ribbon. They all hang at differing heights because i am not foolish enough to think i could ever get them all to hang at exactly the same height! (so should have turned the light on fo...

this photo actually has two of my favorites! See those little clothes pin thingies? those came from IKEA several years ago. I was there and they were $1 and i figured i would find a use for them some day! Guess what? I did!!!! I hang them, one on each side of the doorway into the kitchen. Then i hang Christmas cards on them as they come in the mail. This allows me to enjoy the photos and cards as well as have a place to put them and keep them all together during the craziness of Christmas. The other thing is this wreath my DD made in her preschool class. I love the things the kids bring home from school. sometimes they don't make it through until the next year, but sometimes they do. I will admit to tossing a few things here and there because honestly who can keep every little thing made by those adorable chubby hands??? This year in fact my DS came home with 3 ornaments he made in 1st grade ( maybe I'll show you those later). So there you have it..my favorite things for today...

how cute is this little guy? i just love him! I rescued this from some of my Grandparent's things. A friend of my Mamaw's made it for her, i have no idea how many years ago. I don't typically have a lot of PINK Christmas decorations, but i just loved this! In the detail shots, i hope you can see how it's put together. The snowflake (there is one on the front and back) is a large sequin thing held on with hundred of straight pins with beads on them. All different sizes and sorts of beads. It is really beautiful! the little "feet" it stands on are oblong pearl head pins with and extra pearl added. Last year i put this in my Daughter's room for the Holidays, but i was afraid she would be too curious this year at 4 to handle it. She has a great capacity for getting into and breaking things! I chose a safer spot in the living room this year! always cyndi

Oh the joys of Christmas Dinner! The food lovingly and perfectly prepared. All the family gathered around one big table dressed up in their best Holiday clothes. The crystal and China is sparkling and there is a smile on everyone's face. That's what Christmas Dinner looks like, right? I suppose so in a Norman Rockwell or Currier and Ives painting. Certainly not in my house! We use to have a more traditional Christmas dinner, with Turkey and dressing and all the fab sides. It was certainly never all of us at one table, none of us lives in a castle! the kids were usually at the "kids' table" and the adults if they were lucky, all sat together in an adjacent room. As the years went by and we got larger and larger....the more and more tables we needed! so now we may be in any number of rooms at any number of tables. There were years when some china was used because we needed that many plates. I think one of the best stories is that one year my Aunt who was hosting Chr...