Frou Frou Gypsy in Combat Boots

I really do love this color and i wish i had actually finished the room by now and could show better photos...but this is all I have. I hope it helps a little at least! I had someone ask about photos of my bathroom that I repainted in January. I used Sherwin Williams Tidewater. I have STILL not finished this room, so i haven't posted photos, but here are a few shots so you can get a bit of the idea.

so we finally decided on a color for the Master bed and bath! bought the paint on Friday...and have been painting ever since! Still not done! {HUGE shout out to my parents for helping us paint!!!} We ended up choosing Sherwin Williams Tidewater for the Bathroom and it is so LOVELY! I can't wait to show you pictures once the room is back together. I will have to find some before photos too if i can. We went with Sherwin Williams Wool Skein in the bedroom and so far i LOVE it! I got a coat of primer and paint on the walls today...tomorrow the GIANT Vaulted {?} Tray{?} whatever ..ceiling!

As promised, here is my "other" wreath for Valentine's made from Christmas clearance items. I got this wreath at the thrift store for 75 cents. Add a little spray paint... and some "christmas" glittery picks.... and you get a sparkly Valentine wreath for your pantry door! Those little white cherubs that are all over my Valentine decorations, are actually a Christmas ornament that my Grandfather had {for some reason} and entire box of which i inherited! works for me :)

well, here i am in my first ever linky party! the Valentin's Mantel Linky Party to be exact! Sponsored by The stories of A to Z and her wonderful self! Enough already...here's my Mantle... That cute little lion is Braveheart, be sure to wave hello to him! {yes, i am thiry something and i play with Webkinz !} Those darling little topiaries on the left I made several years ago and you can find a tutorial for them here . The hearts and bow I've added to my candles are all Christmas clearance I've picked up in the past! gotta love that, right? Speaking of Christmas Clearance, this wreath on my front door is also made from stuff I found at JoAnn a few weeks ago at 90% off! go me!!!! Here is my Buffet that sits in my entryway. Again, mostly Christmas Clearance, including the Pink Pears {LOVE THEM!} and the red hots {TEN cents a bag!} Yes, more webkinz, because what says Valentine's more than pink poodles???? Here's a close up....scored that Cupid at the Thrift st...

Since rearranging my living room, i have found that i have all these new surfaces to decorate seasonally. Since i didn't really have everything 'set' before decorating for Christmas, once i took that all down, my house looked pitifully bare! This is what i cam up with for the buffet that is now in my entryway.... i think if you click the pic you can see it bigger. I got that design in the frame as a free printable from a blog i stumbled on...sorry i don't remember who or where. the two photographs are of me and my sweetie on 2 separate New Year's Eve's. Guessing I need to frame a pic of the kids on NYE now that we party together! The little honeycomb centerpiece i got in a "kit" on clearance after new year's for $1.25 ( included a banner, which is hanging from my mantle!, confetti (?) and a plastic table cloth) the blowers were less than $1 also bought after New Years! the welcome snowflake is a clearance ornament :). I am enjoying building m...

I went thrifting today...i hit on a gold mine! or at least had a good day shopping! I found all these beautiful sheets to cut down for crafts...quilting probably. I am just sort of starting a collection since i have the costuming of two Presidents to work on....and then a Blue jean quilt to make for my son..... I found a few other cool things, but no pictures yet.

Here is a little glimpse of the Webkinz party. All the kids had a great time and My DD loved it! It really was chaotic and fun! you can click on the pics to see them larger! I won't bore you with the details....but if you have questions, just ask!

Back at Christmas we let the kids make Gingerbread houses and they had so much fun with it that i just couldn't resist when i saw this kit at Wal-Mart. My DD, who is the one much more interested in cooking and crafts, assured me that she and our DS could share, but that they could decorate it "anyway we want." Her subtle way of saying, "you have to back off Mom and let US do it!" The day finally came and i was going to assemble the house prior to decorating, as the instructions direct. Let me just say that all those little doors and windows sure would be easier to decorate on a flat cookie rather than on the plane of a house, but whatever. As i am taking out the cookie parts, i realize that my roofs are cracked!!!! deep breath. No worries, a little "glue" will fix that. Then the peak of one of the side walls cracks, but i finally got the thing standing and all we had to do was wait a bit for it to dry...... It DOES come with this groovy little stand...

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!

Everyone in my family has a stocking. Me, DH, and both kids. Even my parents have stockings...they hang at their house, but we fill them up! I don't think you ever out grow stocking! Stockings are fun!!! We put a big combination of things in our stockings: food, silly things, fun things, anything that will fit, and sometimes things that don't! Growing up when i had pets, even they had stockings! Also i had a "special stocking" that would be on my door. When Santa came, he would slip a candy cane filled with M&Ms into it...so if i woke up during the night, i would know if he had been there or not yet! i had a BAD habit of getting up at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning! I know my parents loved that! My kids thankfully, don't get up so early! i usually beat them up in fact!

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