Out with the old…

In  with the new!

Well, some of the old has been packed

away.

No, I don’t mean Leon. I am referring

to some of my decorations.

Time to get out the Easter ones.

 

I had forgotten that after Easter last year

I had picked up some items at

Hobby Lobby for 75% off.

 

I have placed all the Easter

things…but that does not

mean they will stay in that

location.

 

Coffee table – nothing new.

The bunny in the middle is new. Check my other blog

to learn about the transformation.

The tall skinny bunnies are yard sale finds from

a couple of years ago. I used them last year

too.

 

This was one of the Hobby Lobby purchases.

This blue bunny joined our Easter

 

decorations a couple

of years back.  

Full view of the mantle.

 

The bunnies in the front – left and right – are part of the

Hobby Lobby purchase. The other ones  (left and right) are old and

they came from yard sale shopping. If I remember correctly

the one in the middle came from Hancock's.

This area will probably be changed. I am not happy with it

at the present…will have to live with it for a day or so

and see what strikes me as to making a change.

 

Spring decorations are popping up in other

areas of the house too!

 

Speaking of spring, my outside flowers

are starting to show signs of life.

This makes me one happy woman.

 

Love all of you!

 

♥Amelia♥

Red and Yellow

Not normally two colors used together

in decorating.

 

But in a bouquet – why not?

We received these from our Sunday School Class.

They were delivered by one of the ladies

from our class on Sunday who had just received the

news about our health issues along with trips to

the hospital. She went to either Wal-Mart or the

local grocery and selected these beauties.

The colors were playing well with each other

so just arranged them in a vase.  I happened

to remember I had picked up a pair of yellow candle

sticks recently (Goodwill) that would go along

with the red/yellow theme.

As you can  tell there are still some red and white items

left from Valentine’s Day decor.

♥Amelia

Quilting

Having scraps from the last quilt

led to this string quilt.

The piecing is complete…the hand quilting

will take place later on in the year.It is too small to be used for a lying

down snuggling quilt

on the sofa.

Perhaps it would work as a quilt

wrapped around your legs

while sitting.

The size is 58 inches down and 43 1/2 across.

Most of the fabric has

a valentine theme – not all – but used

some others that were in the same color

(shades of red) with a small pattern.

 

I have another idea as what

to do with it…

how does using it as a table cloth

next February.

White dishes with red napkins would

make for a pretty setting.

Then maybe a white pitcher

with red tulips for the center piece.

 

Most of you readers know what a string

quilt means…but those of you who

do not – just let me know.

 

 

Amelia♥

February – Hearts, candles, and Flowers

The month of February not only has my birthday but Valentine’s day. I am too old to do much celebrating for either. I know I am loved all thru the year – so don’t need a big celebration on either day to tell me. I am spoiled – that is Leon’s fault – he tells me if we can afford it (what ever I want at the moment)  to buy it.

 

I still have the mantel done in silver, white, and cobalt blue…for a snowy look. Same way with the coffee table. I posted some pictures back at the first of January. Yes, I have made some changes along the way.

 

But this is a new month – a new look for part of the house.

 

Here are some pictures depicting the “Love” look. Some of the items are new, some are old, some have been painted to give a new look.

Made special for my honey…he counted up the points and thought he was worth more than 14 points!  He is worth his weight in gold!

This  tree was Christmas decoration I got at Hancock’s last year for $2.00. It does not look Christmassy to me – with the addition of the hearts it looks great as a Valentine item. Painted the Dollar  Tree birds white and added Cricut swirled cutouts for the candles – place on a red linen  cloth on a white tray completes this setting.

   

Added white paper lace doilies to soften the look…looks more romantic this way.

The bears and sign have been around for several years now.

 

Added some white milk glass and red salad plates to give this area a completed look. Some how the cobalt blue just did not look right at this time….but it will return…you can be sure of that.

 

Another repainted bird…Dollar Tree item. I like the birds better white than the original tan color…at least for this month. 

Found this vase last week at Good Will for 50 cents…I knew it would fit perfect with the Valentine theme. Added the white roses and red sparkly heart picks…great look I think. These  scalloped vases were clear…painted them red. I think they originally were candles but can not remember for sure.

 

That completes the Valentine tour.

 

Amelia♥

New Year ~ New Looks

All the red, green and gold Christmas decorations are down. They have been packed in the totes and carried to the shed to remain until the end of November.

 

Not wanting to go to earth tones and springy items I have opted to have a winter look. I have been planning this for several months – even back during yard sale shopping…looking for items that would fall into this category. Did not find a lot – but a few items. Also made up a couple of decorated candles for the mantel a couple of months ago. Here is the link to those:

http://decoratingmystyle.blogspot.com/2010/11/still-creating.html

 

Went through my collections of white and cobalt blue  - added some silver  - some bling-bling looking items…arrived at the look I was aiming for. Also got out my snowmen to add to the winter look. Just heard from one of the local weathermen cold cold weather with snow is predicted starting Sunday. If that is the case there will be snow on the outside and winter snowy items in the house.

 

Here are some pictures showing my winter wonderland!

The dining room table has this new tapestry table runner.

Silver and white – on the dining room table.

 

Snow flakes  - ignore the bright spot on the glass…the flash

from the camera caused it.

Layered look on this arrangement.

Started with a silver charger (was gold and then spray painted to silver).

Added the white milk glass plate that is scalloped with the inside of the scallop

cut out.

Next came the cobalt blue salad plate.

Added the candle and the silver picks.

I went ahead and left these two winter white St. Nicks out.

 

This cute snowman was one of my yard sale finds…doesn’t he have

a happy look!

Mr.  and Mrs.  Snowman

Gave them a deep blue background as they were lost against

the white wall. These are rather old – had them for several years

Used silver tinsel with snowflakes.

The small candles would look better if they were a white white instead

of an off white…but these where what I had…so just

used them! Mantel – can not really see anything real clear

but you get the idea.

We are kicking around the idea of painting the fireplace – any experience in this dept?

Love the color combination!

Some more of the “winter “ look in the living room.The candle is one of those battery flame kind.

It was a gift this Christmas.

When not turned on it has a  silver and glittery look.

Turn it on   - then the lower part turns a pretty blue.

 

As you can tell from the date of the pictures – they were taken yesterday. When in Wal-Mart today I found some blue velvet  poinsettias – have not decided where I will use them.

 

I suppose I will leave my winter scenes out for several weeks – or at least until I decide what will take it’s place. When in the shed the other day and looking at the items stored there – not many of them looked interesting. Seems like they have been around forever.

 

Where ever you live – stay warm and safe!

 

~ Amelia  ~

Cricut Machine – another use

 

I keep trying to think of ways to use my Cricut machine – other than scrapbooking layouts.

 

The following pictures show the latest project.

 

In order to use the paper I had I needed something that  gave thin paper some body and to give a sheen to the paper. Answer to this problem – cover the paper with clear adhesive paper (brand name as we know it – Contact paper). Had to make some extra settings to the Cricut to cut it properly. I had a new Christmas cartridge that I was wanting to try out – there were a couple of cuts I wanted to try on it.

 

Last year I had bought (after Christmas) a couple of boxes of the gold chargers – not knowing what I would do with them – as I don’t use them  on the table-  guess we are not “fancy” enough. Anyway, I thought one would work as a Christmas display unit on a easel type stand. Here are the results:

This is in one corner of the kitchen.

Still had some ideas churning around in my head – why not put some cut outs on candles – to spruce them up a notch or two.

 

Got out  some old candles that had not been used in the current decorating whirlwind for Christmas. Of course, had no idea if the plan would work – or where I would put them if the plan produced something useable.

 

Added some ribbon to the middle one for an extra pop.

The one in the middle is silver – but the flash sort of destroys the true color.

Trying to get the paper to stick to the candle proved to be a difficult task…used several different methods – none were real successful. The above candle was a stinker – don’t know why – so had to go to another plan. Being in the sewing room for these craft designs I spotted my straight pins that have different colored heads. I picked out the white ones ….cut part of the pin off and then used the rest to hold the cutout in place….sort of adds still another dimension to this.     

 

This might be an idea to use different cutouts for the different seasons – who knows!

 

 

 

♥ Amelia ♥

Christmas 2010 Decorations

At this point in time I feel like all the decorations as complete – can not think of anything I plan on changing. Now don’t hold me to that statement  - because I could get a wild idea and have to try it.

 

These pictures are inside only. We do have some things going on outside – mainly just lights…nothing out of the ordinary – just what can be done easily – with no major ladder climbing. Hopefully, I will get some pictures of them.

Lots of pictures – and that is not all of them.