Second Annual Womens' Brunch

Our Second Annual Womens' Brunch:

..... was a success by anyone's measure.  

The table hostesses were gracious and warm.

The food was fantastic!  Thank you Jennifer (of Cox Culinary Arts).  I'm sorry I missed the before pics - the presentation was so lovely....

Lots of ladies shoes!

So many came, despite the snow.

The music, the presentation, the speaker..... all of it was well done.  A special thank you to Julie for opening up her home and giving us this wonderful respite in the middle of our Christmas rush.  
                            Merry Christmas Ladies!

     If you are looking for a place to worship this holiday season: 

 www..westbrookonline.org

A Holiday Boutique that took me by surprise

"Would you come be a vendor at my neighborhood Holiday Boutique?"  she asked me.
"Uh, sure.  What did you want me to bring?", I asked.
"Anything!  I LOVE your stuff!" she exclaimed.

wow.

"Okay.  I can do a few things.", I think to myself.  So, I tell my friend, yes, I would be honored to be in her yearly Holiday Boutique.
So, I tinker around, gather some things I had already made, create a few new things.  A week later,I get to her house and begin the set up.  She is ahhhing and oohing over everything and I find myself in tears of gratitude.  I am so overwhelmed by her words of admiration.

The evening event was so much fun.  Vendors of all kinds, yummy holiday "horsey-durvees" and of course, lots of laughter.  I had not had that much fun in a while.  I got caught up with my "bestie" and made new friends.  I sampled, I did my own oohing and ahhing over other products.  It was a great evening.

I am still taking orders from that night.  So, I best get back to my glue gun and paint.  Enjoy a few pictures I was able to grab from that night!

Glittered pine cones in a silver dish

An old cigar box I painted and glittered up.

Sheet music wreath with red burlap

Sheet music wreath all glittered up for the holidays

Large Sheet music wreath with burlap

Large sheet music Christmas tree

Small sheet music tree - and an old movie tin all glittered up

Hand crafted rocking horse (by the wonderful Mister!)

Rag balls made with old ticking.

My dear, sweet friend Vicki (who lives entirely too far away from me) asked me a question recently.  Here is an excerpt of that question:

"I'm redoing my curtains in my living and dining room - taking down the old chunky lace tablecloths I had swagged and gathered and tied and draped and replacing them with bleached drop cloths hung over old hangars ala Funky Junk Interiors (I'm a huge fan too, Vicki!) ...anyway, do you have any ideas about what I could do with all these old tablecloths. They're not in great shape - some holes, some rust stains and a bit misshapen now that they've been hung in weird ways over the years. Any ideas at all - of course, I'll have to check pinterest, but you came to mind and I thought you'd be the perfect person to ask."

Well Vicki, since reading your note to me, I just can't get your question out of my mind.  "What to do with old lace table cloths that are in "less-than-perfect" shape?  Well, I came up with a few ideas.  I hope you enjoy and get inspired!
                        (WARNING:  photo-heavy!)

Old, ripped, stained, lace tablecloth that I had just washed.

IDEA#1

What about using that old tablecloth as a table runner?  Here, I went for a mono-chromatic look.  I felt the tablecloth added softness and texture.

 IDEA #2

 How about taking an old suitcase (notice the rips and stains - ewwww.....)
and turning it into:

 A drink station!  For the holidays, it's a pretty simple thing to pull together.

 

 IDEA#3

What about a simple, romantic bunting on the banister?

 or a simple cover up for a chair
 (that-I-got-at-a garage-sale-with-dreams-of-recovering-some-day-soon)

 IDEA#4

A tree skirt?

 Or filler for a vase.
  I think the tablecloth gives this display a lot more presence.  A few twigs, Christmas balls and an old tablecloth in a (chipped) vase!  Not bad....

 Well, there are just a few ideas I had.  Some of them might be new ideas, some you may have already done yourself.  However, I have to say, it was a lot of fun to play!  Thank you Vicki, for the great question you asked me.  I sure would love to see what you ended up doing with your old, lace tablecloths.

Oh, and I do have one more idea.  I'm not sure Frodo likes it though.  He says it's for girls.

Please don't mind the stained carpet.  It's getting cleaned next week.

A New Lease on Life (part 2)

My little chair

All she needed was to have the old stripped away so we could see her true beauty.  Simple evergreen, a handmade flour-sack pillow, and a small star pillow.  This little chair sure looks beautiful to me. 

Isn't this what we are all kind of going through as women?  Call it finding yourself, finding your passion, stripping away the inhibitions, becoming a woman of God....

Sometimes, it's painful.  Sometimes we can wonder why.  We wonder why it has to be this way.  Why is this the thing I need to do?

Because He is the Master Artist.  We can trust his chisel, paintbrush and even the sandpaper.  We don't see the vision He does.

He sees our beauty.

Our usefulness. 

 

A New Lease on Life

It's been quite a while since I shared my thoughts, ideas and projects with you.  

  Would you agree with me that sometimes life has to turn our head to get our heart in the right place?  These past months have been a time of taking a step back.  To weed out what is unnecessary, what encumbers.  But instead, cling to what is good, true and lovely.  

Find what is beautiful and gaze at it.  

Sometimes beauty can be difficult to find.  When life is relentless with it's demands and unfairness, we can feel like this:

             Worn down.  Ripped up.  Stained (did someone have an accident?) and just...... OLD.

              But wait!  We must remember that we ARE beautiful.  That we DO have a purpose.  

               Sometimes, we can feel hidden, and not appreciated and we wonder why we are here. 

                If we can just allow this sometimes cruel life to shape us:

Tear away the ugly stuff

Clean out our nasty old stuff (see how old this stuff is? That's actually Straw!) and allow HIM to adorn us and make us beautiful.

(And ask your beagle to help hold down the fabric while you cut out the pieces.)

Then I think that we would find our intrinsic value.  Our inexpressible beauty.  Our worth that cannot be compared.   

Or at the very least, a new lease on life!
(stay tuned for part 2...)

My next project

I have no idea what it's going to look like when I'm finished.  It will be something summery, fun, colorful, whimsical....

beyond that I don't know!

What do YOU see in this box of goodies?

Wow! What a Party!

The graduation party is over.

(thank you Jesus!)

It was a huge success....

...according to my BFF and the graduate.

This is where our guests were greeted.

Then directed to a beverage of their choosing...

They could then choose different seating areas with treats to munch on...

or play Foosball or ping pong

or sit in the shade and smell the Jasmine...

Cate's school is the Southwest Stars....so stars were everywhere....

"Mom!  Stop taking pictures and help me with this video!"

(youngest son)

All the plants were lovingly donated for the day by our friends at themustardseedinc.com (Cate's and BFF's employer and our friends!)

I didn't get as many pictures as I really wanted   However, it's ok.  I was more concerned with enjoying and celebrating with friends and family.  

We had such a great time.  

Thank you all, for sharing in this journey with me!