Silhouette Goat and Bean Pots...

1. I got inspired by three silhouette animals I saw on pinterest, one of which was a goat. But instead of doing it out of paper or even paint, I thought I would try it with cross stitch. So while I watch tv in the evening I have been working on my little billy goat. I drew the pattern myself from the inspiration picture and when I get him done, I may add a cow and sheep for him. I hope to find some oval frames to finish off the trio. BTW, I forgot how long cross stitch takes.

And here is pic of my bean pot collection, I moved them from the fireplace mantel into the front foyer.
Have a beautiful day,

Tiff(ps, I have no idea why that #1 is there, it wouldn't let me take it out in the editing either, strange)

I've Got You Covered

Yes, I'm coming out about my baby blanket hoarding :) I love baby blankets and actually use them all when my babies are babies.
Mason is going to be TWO in less than 2 weeks(can you believe that?!) so I was sorting out his closet and decided it was time to pack the baby blankets away :( The two stacks above contain 63 blankets! The stack on the right is all Gymboree ones(yes, I had a problem there for awhile, but ended a few years back). These don't even include the girl baby blankets stored in the basement. I did keep out about 6 large toddler size blankets for him, so he won't be without. But these are all in a tub now headed for storage in the basement. Mind you, I didn't buy this many with each baby, this is an accumulation of 7 babies, and some of those blankets in there are from my oldest who is 18 years old now(carters blankest last).

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I no longer need all these, hopefully there is one more baby in our future.

Have a cozy Saturday, we are off to buy a new vacuum,

Tiff

Heart to Heart Swap...

I participated in Sarah's(Makin Projiks ) Heart to Heart Swap again this year. I always have these brilliant ideas in my head, then when I go to make them they never turn out the way I want(I think I have perfectionist problems). So after several fails, I finally came up with these girls. Not quite what I had in mind, but they are cute and festive for Valentine's day. I needed to make 15 of these gals, and let me just say, they took much longer than expected.... I hope the recipients like them and I can't wait to see all the lovelies that I get in return :)

Thank you for all the encouragement about joining WW :) I had no idea how much I was really eating until my first full day yesterday using the points. Holy Cow! Know wonder I am fat!!! Anyway, I made it through day 1 and onto day 2 with no cheating, Yay! Thank goodness fruit and veggies are zero points, otherwise I would feel hungry. And just in time for my weight loss journey, my favorite oranges(Cara Cara) are in season!!! I stocked up on these this morning at the grocery store. The one thing I am finding hard, is trying to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day, I only made it to 5 yesterday. I'm just not that thirsty. Of course I was up 3 times to use the bathroom last night from it. Maybe I've been dehydrated for years and didn't even know it.
Have a marvelous weekend!!,

Tiff

Here I go...

Well, I did it last night. I signed up for Weight Watchers online. I couldn't do it by myself, I needed guidance and rules to follow, plus if I'm paying for it, I'm more likely to stick with it :) I'm tired of being tired, I need to lose weight and get in shape. I don't expect to be tiny, I never have been, but I don't want to be this big anymore. My long term goal is 70lbs, but right now my tiny goal is 12lbs.

I hate having my picture taken, so hopefully that will go away once I feel better about how I look. No more hiding behind babies when the camera clicks!(though I don't mind babies and would really LOVE one more(sending that hint up to Heaven!)).

Here are two before pictures, and these are the only ones I'm willing to share right now! The others make me shudder.

In a few months, I'll update with a more recent picture and keep that up until I reach my goal. I really think I can do it this time because I NEED to do it.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Do You Like PaperWhites?...

I walked into my kitchen this morning from the family room and noticed an awful smell as I passed the kitchen table. It reminded me of an old wet diaper, sorry, I know that is gross but that is the best way I could describe it. I looked around and found nothing. Then I noticed this in the corner, just beginning to bloom.....

Ah! I found the culprit! How could such a sweet little flower smell so bad? Is it just me or does anyone else think they stink?
The last time I grew paperwhites was about 10 years ago, and at the time I told myself never again because I had about 20 of them and the house stunk! But lately I have been reading blogs and everyone had paperwhites(this was just before Christmas) and were commenting on how they love them so and they smell so sweet. I thought, "huh, maybe I just had a bad batch". So a few weeks ago when I was at a floral shop, I picked a 6 bulbs up and thought I would give them a second chance. Well, I tried, and still the same result, YUCK!!! They are pretty, but I'm going to have to move them out of the kitchen so I can eat dinner at the table, as the little high chair they sit on is right next to my seat!!

So what do you think? Do you like the smell of paperwhites?

Have a great day,

Tiff

Revisiting Fall...

I'm sitting here today with a bad backache from shoveling a ton of snow on Friday and falling on the ice while doing it. The only thing that seems to relieve some of the pain is a heating pad my youngest daughter made me(she sewed a two pieces of fleece together and stuffed with rice, pop in the microwave for a minute and it lasts for at least an hour). So I've been looking through old pictures that my dear hubby transferred from my old lap top to my new one(thank you dear!) and came across this past Fall's decor. I realized I never shared it on here so I thought why not do that today :)

I was inspired by a photo on pinterest for my wheelbarrow display... I think it came out pretty nice...

Here is a shot of the front porch. I made Martha's paper silhouette mice into weatherproof wood ones for outside...
The other front door..
And I was inspired by another blogger, Misi over at 1890 gablehouse musings. She had a witch and crow silhouettes by a white out building(her store I think) and I just fell in love with the crows. So I drafted my own and cut them out of plywood and spray painted them black. I just perched them on the fence but you could put them on sticks too so they stick in the ground.


Here is Mason enjoying an apple after a day of apple picking. I found the old wall paper ladder this past summer at a yard sale for $5. The pumpkins on it were grown by my youngest daughter.
And here are two dolls that I made for a doll swap this past fall.
I hope you enjoyed revisiting Fall :)

Have a fantastic day,

Tiff

Want to hook up on Pinterest?

I gave up Facebook(don't need to be big brothered) so I can't look up pinterest friends that easily. So I thought I would make a post and share my pinterest address and if you want to share yours for other prim bloggers, leave it in the comments.

Mine is... http://pinterest.com/tiffaneyc/

Have fun pinning,

Tiff

50th Anniversary Red Work Quilt

Remember the red work quilt I was making for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary? I DID actually finish it!! They did get it a few days after their anniversary back in September, but I don't think they minded that it was late.

It consisted of redwork blocks with their birth dates and places, their children's, and their grandchildren's, along with all the states they have lived in. It was many hours of time stitching, but I think the finished product is pretty nice.

This is the center square...
If you look at the red squares below the bird, you will see two set of angel wings and halos, those are for lost babies.

Each person's square had some sort of picture that could be associated with that person. This one happens to be my mom's, a ball of filet crochet thread and a hook.

I think it will be awhile before I tackle another one of these, but maybe someday.

Have a love weekend,

Tiff

Make your own Blue Canning Jars...

I can't take credit for this idea, I found it through pinterest. There are quite a few fails on pinterest, but I wanted to give this one a try and was happily surprised with the results. I apologize for the crappy photos, I just can't win lately when it comes to taking pics, but hopefully you can get how great this project is despite the bad photos.

It seems like around here, blue canning jars are getting harder to find and when you do find them they are pricey. I have plenty of old clear canning jars that I use for decor or craft storage, so why not turn them blue! First off, no, these are NOT food safe and you can't fill with water to use as a vase. But you can use them for decoration and craft storage.

It was hit or miss with the recipe, I added too much water to the batch so I had to keep finding more glassware to turn blue. How much modg podge you need depends on how many things you want to create. For one or two jars, take about 2tblspoons modge podge and add just a few drops of water, just to make it a bit more runny. Then add blue, green, and a tiny bit of yellow food coloring to the mix. I only had gel food coloring on hand, but any kind will work. I mixed the ingredients right in one of the jars I was turning blue.

Mix the ingredients well, adjusting the food coloring to the blue green color that you want. Then swirl the mixture all over the jar(hold a lid on with a wash cloth over it, because this can get messy. Wipe off drips that get on the outside. Dump out the excess mixture into the next jar and repeat. When you are done, dump the remaining mixture out. You don't want a big pool of it at the bottom of the jar. The jars will look like this....
When dry they look like this!.... now at this point you can bake them at a low heat for an hour or so, but I really don't see the need for this because it will NOT make them waterproof. I'm not really sure what it would do, but that was in the original instructions. The photo does not do them justice, they really look authentic in real life and I am so pleased with the results.
Now, while we are on the subject of blue canning jars. I want to warn you that their are reproductions out there posing as the old thing. The one woman on pinterest has a set of these reproductions I'm afraid, but she doesn't realize it. About 10 or 12 years Walmart sold a line of blue canning jars that had the glass top and wire bail. There were 3 different sizes I think. The color is a bit darker than the old ones, and they have "Ball" across the front and an eagle on the back. I had several sets of these myself(not sure where they all went!). THere is nothing wrong with these and I don't mind reproductions, BUT I just wanted to warn you all so you don't pay big bucks for what you think is an antique. Here is one of the walmart ones, I have it filled with mini pinecones.
Here is a true antique one... notice the lighter color.
And here are all three side by side... reproduction, my creation with an old jar, and the original old blue jar.

I like the color they add to the upper cupboards...

And they are pretty in the window.
If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I will come back and answer them in the comments.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Better Late Than Never...

Thank you all for the comments on my last post, I'm still smiling from my finds. And I promise, as the time approaches, I will share more on the whole moving thing.

For right now, I'm just adding two pics to my blog for a family record of our Christmas morning traditions. We always have a huge breakfast before any present opening starts, this year I went with a green glass theme with red and white fabrics....

And our traditional picture of the kids coming down the stairs in their matching jammies!
Yes, it's already Jan. 19th, but better late than never :)

Have a wonderful day,

Tiff

Found my OWN Treasures....

Anyone still out there reading this poor neglected blog? For those who still look occasionally, I have a good story for you to start the New Year. Happy New Year btw!!! I'm praying that 2012 is a better year than 2011.

So here is the story.... my parents were here for 2 weeks right after Christmas. When they come, we always go to a certain antique/junk store. Out in the barn section, there was this gorgeous tiger oak sideboard for $175, a real steal and I could see it in a dining room with my vintage glassware on it. I didn't buy it. But is festered in me for 2 weeks. Yesterday was hubby and mine's 19th wedding anniversary, so this past Saturday he took me up to the store to get the sideboard(they are only open on the weekends). When we got there, I saw the "Hold" sign on the piece. Boo hoo! But I let it go and figured it wasn't meant to be.

That evening(Saturday) I did a bit of surfing on Craigslist and typed in sideboard. In the next town over I found a tiger oak sideboard with mirror(not quite as fancy as the other one) but still gorgeous and huge and are you ready for this?!?!?! It was only $60 . My girls and I picked it up on Sunday. It's still in the back of my van, but I'll share it with you when I get it in the house(after I figure out where it is going, lol). Can you believe that? I was so happy, still am. But that's not the end of the story.....

After my good luck over the weekend, I decided to look again today at Craiglist. I usually stick with my town or the ones right around me so I don't have to drive far. I typed in my town under the for sale section and started reading. I saw a light fixture(I have a thing for chandeliers and lights that I can makeover to look old). It was a cute hurricane punched tin light for $30. I thought, "wow, that looks like the kind I put in our old house". I looked at the next listing, by the same seller, another punched tin light for $30, and I thought again..."wow, that looks like the old light over our kitchen table". Then I looked in the background of the photos and noticed some other light fixtures that looked familiar. I emailed the seller and said I wanted both lights. He called me back and we started talking and he said he recognized my name from the closet in his house....where I wrote hubby and my name when we bought the house!!! It turns out that they were MY LIGHT FIXTURES!!!! We sold that house 7 years ago and we still all love the house and have fond memories of it and refer to it as the "red house" even though it is gray now. My 14 yr old daughter and I went over this evening to pick up the lights and got the tour of our old home. I was so nervous to go see it, but when we got there, I wasn't sad at all. The family who lives there now(they bought it from the people who bought it from us) seem very nice and they love the house too. The inside was different(painted) and seemed smaller than I remember, but it was fun to see it. And most importantly of all , I have my lights back!!! The husband was very nice and asked me about things in the house and told me that he will let me have the other lamp(one that matches the hurricane one) when he gets a replacement. He was going to let me just have the lamps for free, since he said they were mine anyway, but I gave him the $60 and told him to put it towards things they need in the house. So I have two new old lights and another one coming. I'm over the moon!! And I have some of our history back.

The one light has to be wired into the ceiling, so I'm not hanging that right now, but the other just plugs in, so I hung it over my daughter's new doll house that she got for Christmas.

I looked up the lights on Irvin's and forgot how much I originally paid for them, the one above now retails for $168!

Here's hoping that this is an indication of how good this year is going to be!!! Now let's just pray that we can find a farmhouse to rent this summer. Yes, we are moving, but that is a whole other story for another day.

Much love,

Tiff