Front Door of My Dreams!...

I'm not really into country hearts or hearts as a decor thing, but something about these doors just makes my heart skip a beat :)

If I could find one of these, I wouldn't even hesitate about putting it as my front door, I love the look of them so much.  And this first one done in distressed red is just perfect!

 Now, you may think that these are the same doors, but if you look closely you will notice the top one has two panels beneath the heart window, while the bottom one has three panels. So I'm thinking that because there are obviously at least two different doors out there, maybe there are more and it wasn't just a one of a kind piece.  Unfortunately the top one from pinterest doesn't give any info about it(other than town and state) and the bottom one doesn't even link to anywhere.  Does anyone have any info about them?

 What do you think of them?


Tiff

Goodies in the Mail...

It's always a treat when the mail carrier delivers fun goodies instead of the normal bills and junk mail. And this week's mail had some very nice goodies in it!

First came a package from my "spoolie" swap partner Trisha.  She loaded it up with all sorts of fabulous treasures!

 I absolutely love the little chick Easter box! and here is what it was filled with... I'm thinking that blingy "T" sticker may go on the cover of my hot pink laptop :)

 And here is the spoolie she created... perfectly festive for Easter, and a sweet little egg basket(which I may hang from a knob on my hutch).

 She also made a mini spring banner, which I thought would be perfect for the dollhouse. So I took this Valentine one down....

 And put this one up....

 Thank you Trisha for everything!!!!You were a great partner and very generous!

And then this little cutey surprised me on my doorstep today....courtesy of Tammy! She sent her to me as part of the Pay it forward 2013...

 Isn't she the sweetest little bear? My heart leaped when I unwrapped the tissue. She's made of burlap, but she's not stiff or hard, she is soft and floppy and ever so cute!

 When Mason saw me holding her, he immediately wanted her. I let him give her a hug but then told him that she was mine and she could live in the kitchen so that he could see her when ever he wanted.

 Love her dress!!!  Thank you so much Tammy, she made my day so much brighter.

 And last but not least, my Shutterfly order came. I can't tell you how much I love this place for getting prints. Ten 4x6" prints and two 8x10" prints cost me a total of $3.45($1.99 of that was shipping) because they emailed me a coupon for 2 free 8x10"s. They are always offering great coupons and discounts.

Don't you love this one of my Marine and Mason?!

Have truly beautiful weekend! We have Maine Maple Sunday to look forward to :)

Tiff

Last Class....

Last night was the last class for the Pot Holder quilt course and I asked everyone if I could take pictures of their work and share them in a blog post, they agreed :)  There were 10 of in the class and here is their handy work....

 It's always neat to see how we all had the same patterns, but everyone's blocks look so different because of the fabrics that were chosen.

 These are my friend Debbie's blocks, she had completed the most blocks of the class, 30!! and she was in the process of sewing them together. She is thinking about making some more to add so that it will fit her bed. A light and cheery quilt for Spring and Summer.

 These are the instructors blocks, she is using brown as the color to tie all her blocks together. I'm pretty sure she said her quilt will be used as a wall hanging.

I already shared my blocks with you so I won't bore you again, but as soon as I have the whole quilt done, I'll show you my finished project.   It was a fun class and I learned a few new quilting tricks. I hope they offer another interesting class again soon.

Today we are being hit by another snow storm so the kids are home and I'm in the process of rearranging the family room(yes again, but you know I like to move things around and it's totally Free!!)

Have a marvelous day,

Tiff

My Friday....

Here in Maine, 4th grade is the year that you study the state...learn it's history, memorize the counties song, investigate it's animals, etc.. March 15th, 1820 was the day that Maine became the 23rd state, so all the 4th graders celebrated by singing some songs about Maine and enjoying the state's official treat, the whoopie pie :)

This is where I spent my afternoon yesterday, setting up, enjoying, and then cleaning up. I made a center piece for the food table. Lots of parents brought in all kinds of whoopie pies(I was good and didn't have a single one, trying to lose some weight).

I had 8 tables set with simple centerpieces. I asked for the 4th graders to make drawings for the tables and then I put them in simple clear frames.

I then made large paintings for the walls. I wish there would have been a better place to hang them, but I hadn't really thought about that when I was painting them. I still think they came out cute and I'm getting better with drawing on a large scale... They each say a word of the state motto...

It was a nice little celebration and I know the kids enjoyed the treats!

Here is my March bulletin board for the school....

And another one I did for the 4th and 5th graders upstairs....

And a small poster for the hallway for reading month.(I made a couple others but forgot to get pictures of them).

So there is a glimpse into my school volunteering life. I'm starting to realize how much I enjoy drawing and painting, especially on a large scale. I enjoyed it as a child but somehow lost it as an adult...glad to have found it again.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Tiff

Bunnies All in a Row....

My growing faux chocolate bunny collection is back on the mantle this month :)  I don't have a ton of Easter decor, not really into cutesy fluffy bunnies, but I do love these ones....

I apologize for the poor quality pictures. My camera died over a year ago and I have been using my 12yr old's camera, but he has been busy with it lately. I ended up finding my oldest son's very old camera that he left behind, and as you can see, the pictures aren't great(or maybe I just don't know how to use it!).

 Hubby bought me two new additions to my collection this past Valentine's Day.... this one...

 and this one....

 I wonder how many different versions of them are out there?

 Oh, and I forgot to share with you a picture from our date night last week... this was how my dessert came to me :)  Sweet hubby had a few romantic things arranged for me at the restaurant.

I'm off to school soon to decorate for a party, I'll try to share pics tomorrow.
Happy Friday,

Tiff

Surprisingly Cute...

I was finishing us some of the decorations for school when Mason asked me to play with him.  I sat down on the floor and he wanted me to play "ISpy".  I had seen this came floating around the house for over a week now and kept hearing the bell ding, but I hadn't paid much attention to it.  Sometime last week we were out with all the kids and they begged us for Wendy's. We rarely go there(can probably count on one hand the number of times we have been). The little ones got kid's meals and in them were these mini ISpy games.  We have the full size game and the kids love it along with the books, but I hadn't realized how darn cute this mini version was.

 Of course after we played, I had to take some pictures and share them with you.  The game cards and playing cards are all double sided, so there is lots of play time, and the bell is actually decent quality. I put some markers in the picture for size comparison.

 I want to make a cute bag to put it all in for the car, but for now, it fits nicely into a travel size wipes container.

 A very surprisingly cute toy from a fast food place.

I'm now inspired to but a whole tub together for the car of games, toys, and travel stuff. And then clean out the car really well, organize it, and maybe get some new mats for the floor. Silly how one little thing can spark a whole big project!

Have a terrific day,

Tiff

Pot Holder Quilt Class...

Each Monday night, for the last three weeks, my friend Debbie and I have been taking a quilting class through our local adult ed program(only one more left).  The subject of the class is Pot Holder quilts.  If you have never heard of them, go HERE for a quick history. And HERE is a old example of one.

My blocks are all machine done, including the quilting because I just don't have the time(nor the desire) to hand quilt them all. But I do hand sew the bindings on.  I was going to do a dark color scheme of civil war reproduction prints, but the colors just weren't calling to me. I've always adored 30's era quilts with white backgrounds and feedsack prints, so that is was I decided upon.  And luckily, I had everything in my stash, the only thing I had to purchase was the batting.  The white is actually an old cotton sheet, so I'm keeping with the frugality of the era too :)

Each class she has given us 5 patterns for different blocks, we chose which ones we wanted to use.  A   pot holder quilt is made up of many patterns because they were made by several women at a time.  So far I have 14 blocks completed(couple of doubles in there).  The backing is white and I chose to do my bindings in varying prints.

 The last class was about applique, she showed us three different ways.  I think I will have 5 or 6 blocks of applique in my quilt.  I was originally planning just a 4' by 5' lap quilt, but I think it will now be 4' by 6' or even 5' by 6'(each block is 12").  The nice things about these quilts is that you can always add to them later.

 I'm loving the colors and the look of it so far. I won't start to assemble them until I have all the blocks complete so that I can see how I want them arranged.

 I love the feeling of accomplishment  seeing them all stacked and waiting for me :)

I won't be able to work on more blocks until the weekend as I have a big school party(Maine celebration for the whole 4th grade) coming up this Friday and I need to make the centerpieces and decorations for it(I have to remember to take pictures!!).

Have a glorious day,

Tiff

Easter Swap

Today I'm sharing my part from the Easter swap I participated in...  Warning to Trisha if you want to be surprised.. LOOK AWAY NOW.. don't read any further!!

So the swap rules were to make an Easter/Spring spoolie(a decoration created on top an old wood thread spool).  Well, I had plenty of old spools and was happy to put one to good use.  To be honest, I was totally clueless as where to begin and just couldn't get any inspiration.  I ordered some plain undecorated cardboard eggs, hoping that once they arrived something would pop in my head.

My partner loves girly things, Paris, glitter, pink, and princesses. And she, like me, doesn't have a ton of Easter decor.  So where do I begin.  I started with a print off of an Eiffel tower I found. Then it hit me... use half of one of the eggs for a little diorama.  Once I got going, everything fell into place, though I did repaint the egg a few times until I settled on white for the outside.  I'm really happy with the finished results and I think it came out pretty darn cute.  What do you think?

 The base is a heavy cast iron vintage cookie press of some sort(not really sure what it is, just had it in my collections). It works perfectly for supporting the whole thing so it doesn't tip over.  I'm not much of a glitter person, but even I like the way the glitter ribbon works with it all.

 I added another little spool to the inside.

 Another swap rule was to include an Easter box, whether it be a candy box or an egg shaped box or something else.  I made my own out of the other half of the egg and a box from the dollar tree.

 Then I stuffed it with craft goodies so she can make her own smaller version of the egg spoolie.

 And added some more goodies...

I hope she likes it all :)


Have an eggcellent day!!

Tiff