Simple Christmas Project Ideas - Saturday Sightings...

Its Christmas House Tour season...  I did a local tour today and am

sharing a few project and decor ideas that I found especially appealing.

This scene on the side of a barn greeted us at one property.  The old

 settee bench is an unexpected addition to this grouping. Was it

 staged just for the tour day?  Perhaps (as I can't imagine wanting to

 leave it outside in the weather)... but what a neat presentation.... 

Also outdoors - Planters filled w/ miniature tree/shrubs, white twigs

 and puffs of cotton that resemble snow balls... very clever!

Indoors - this banner of various wool fabrics & mostly just simple

 squares - surrounded a young boy's bedroom.  

And note the added pom poms.  Love this!

There are a host of things one can fill a crock or container with.

  Here there are faux berries, twigs, holly,  light branches... 

and burlap candy canes!  Don't forget a bow...

A little hard to see... but what struck me here was a piece of

 furniture simply laden with pillar candles on candle holders.  

Can't get much more simple than that - and it looked good!

Do you have a cake plate and cover?  

Creature a miniatures scene....

This homeowner put up a ladder over her sink - added fresh greens

 and ornaments and called it 'done'.  I asked how she'll decorate 

the ladder after Christmas - she didn't know yet! 

A little more advanced - but oh so neat - was this sunroom with a

 blue painted ceiling.  There were large branches hung from fishing

 line & adorned with LED lights in each corner of the room.  

Also loved the window shelves displayed with beautiful books.

  And of course the stained glass windows!!!  But the 

lighted branches are very doable if you have higher ceilings.

And finally - just one of the many beautiful country homes.

Hope something sparked an idea for you... I know I'm inspired!

   Thinking I just may spend my evening working on a fun banner.

What caught your eye?  ~Joyce  

Going Batty & Lesson Learned - Friday Finds...

It was a fun morning out at yard sales.  This guy though was half

 cute to me - and half scary!   ...picked him up anyway.  

His body is all furry and fuzzy and I'm hoping somebody 

out there will want him - as I don't plan to keep him!

Seems I've been finding dolls lately.  This Alice in Wonderland 

set is a Mattel Kibbles item - complete with story book.  

I'm thinking it was a pretty good find.

An overview of everything I picked up...  Looks like Christmas!

  Feather tree ornaments, village houses, a rubber squeak Santa

 and a few things for me.... like that $2 brand new candle...

And these blank kraft paper cards with the most awesome envelopes.  

I'll have fun including these in gift baskets and such.

But my best 'find' from today was really a lesson of sorts.  

I was struck by how friendly all the yard sale holders are to people

 when they're there to shop.  Then I encountered a lady whose yard sales 

I have been to several times.  But today she was just a shopper...

 and interestingly - not quite so friendly.    It occurred to me that 

we should treat everybody with the same courtesy and respect that

 we do when we're trying to sell them something.  And as a Christ-

follower - I am selling something (or rather someOne) - whether

I'm conscience of it or not.  Was a sobering moment for me.

Enjoy your weekend everyone. 

And give a 'seller's smile' to all you meet!  ~Joyce

A Valentine's Night In...

We have gone out for dinner a few times on Valentine's Day - 

but it's been the exception rather than the rule.  We've found

 we prefer keeping romance to ourselves.  Here is tonight's plan...

Inspiration struck with a Pier One red box I found at the 

thrift store yesterday (yes - only yesterday!) for $1.50...

But more on that in a bit.   Last night I came up with a simple 

dinner idea and this AM quickly went for groceries to make it happen.

  I work this afternoon - so simple it will be. 

So what's for dinner?  An easy Kielbasa & Pasta dish similar to this.

  Tossed Salad with a favorite dressing similar to this.  

Strawberry meringue dessert (strawberries were only 99 cents/quart)...

The meringue before it was baked

And a few special candy pieces that I  know My Love enjoys...

We'll eat on the floor by our fireplace which will be ablaze with candles.

Now back to that red box.  

I thought I should fill it with something.... but what?  

'Discussion questions' came to mind.  A quick web search found

these questions which I printed off and cut into strips.  

They weren't very exciting  laying in the box all my themselves - 

so I mixed them among some brown crinkle paper that I had on hand.  

Some of the questions are serious and some are just for fun.  

We'll see how it goes.  

And as always - we recognize that the author of Love is 

God Himself.  There is no true love outside of Him.

Here's to a lovely evening 'in' - just the 2 of us...

and a Happy Valentine's Day to you too! ~Joyce
Linking to Talk of the Town

Snail Mail Love...

I'm no artist - but I made an attempt to pretty up my snail mail today...

I figure the person receiving knows I'm no artist - 

so my feeble attempts will at least bring a smile.

And that would be the goal! 

Any day is a good day to send a 'thinking of you ' card to a friend,

 family member or someone going through a bit of a rough time.

And in keeping with that sweet bird stamp...

Here's a bird photo My Love was able to capture yesterday.

Notice his eyes here are 'open'...

A Downy Woodpecker on a winter day

But as he bangs his head into the wood they're 'closed'.

Makes perfect sense - but we still thought it was cute.

A Downy Woodpecker doing his thing... with eyes closed!

   Be a blessing this day!  ~Joyce

How To Come Up With a Unique Idea for a Project, Decor, Anything!...

So how do you get inspiration to do something 'different' or a little unique?  

Here's a plan that works for me...

1.  Consider what theme you're after.  

For the sake of this example/post - I was thinking 'Valentine'.

2. Look around and see what you have in that color scheme.  i.e. 'red'

    I spied these buckles and the red one stood out to me.

3. Play a game with yourself and decide you HAVE to use that item

 (or items) in your 'project'.

  I tho't a ribbon through the buckle might look nice.

4. Find items to make it work that also go with your theme and

 color scheme.

    Brown paper - no matter that it was wrinkled - 

seemed like a good fit.

5.  Something WILL develop - I promise!
I'm liking my little Valentine gift wrapped & staged package!    

Happy Creating!  

Let me know what you come up with.  ~Joyce
Sweet red buckle and more available right here in my Etsy shop.
Linking to Home Sweet Home Linky Party

Ticking Meets Fall Decor...

My grouping of recent finds included some old ticking.  

Authentic ticking seems to be desirable lately judging from how it

 is moving out of my Etsy shop.  So let's take a peek around

 blogland  and get some inspiration for incorporating blue ticking

 into our fall decor!  Ready?...

First up - just combine it with some fall berries.  

The orange and blue make a wonderful pairing...

Source

This tablescape in grounded on ticking and is almost spring-like.

  But the white pumpkins make it perfectly Fall in neutrals.

Ticking cut into strips makes great ribbon.  (As does most fabric actually!)

Add it to your fall wreaths.

Source

Stack it with tweeds and sweaters and it's coziness heaven!...

Source

Ticking and wool plaids... why not?

Source

Ticking makes great fabric pumpkins.  

These cuteys are unique and available on Etsy right now!

Source

I'm kind of cheating with this one...  See the ticking?  See the pumpkin?  

There ya go...

Source

Isn't this a great foyer or hallway greeting.  Can't paint a fancy sign?  

Try decoupaging a fall scene on an old board with your handwritten letters.

Source unknown

It's easy to make your own fabric napkins if you can't find 

what you're looking for in the store. 

 Just hem 4 sides of a square of cloth.

Source

And if you're looking for some old ticking - there are plenty of

 sources online.  Here's a piece that is currently in my Etsy shop...

Link to Ticking Listing

Oh isn't Fall fun?  ~Joyce

A Yard Sale and a Modern Day Healing Story...

I went to several yard sales today...and found nothing.   

But I found 'something' at the last yard sale. 

It was a 'whole house' sale again.  

But this time, the owner of the house was on hand.  

Curious as to why she was selling all her possessions - I asked.  

Her answer?  She was moving to Africa to help with orphans.  

The story continued... 

Africa was the country where she grew up.   Turns out she even knows Swahali (she was very 'white').  

As we talked more - she told me she had nearly died 4 times and had been recently healed of all her diseases 

(which included a very weak heart, insulin dependent diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.).  

Really?  I urged her to tell me more...

Well - she had felt the Lord's call to go to Africa when she had been single - 35 plus years ago.  

But she didn't obey (her words) and rather got married to a man who wouldn't go.  The marriage proved 

very difficult as he loved another woman.  Finally - the marriage ended.  As a newly 'single' woman - 

she asked the Lord to increase her faith for healing and that she'd go or do whatever He asked.  

She prayed, studied scripture on healing, etc. A time came when she felt her faith was strong

and she asked her pastor to pray for her.  She came home from that prayer and began to exercise for an hour... 

when previously she couldn't even do 15 minutes.  It had been an 'instant' healing of all her health issues. 

Soon - another pastor came to her church and talked about the orphanage he has in Africa.  

Would she consider going to help?  It was her 'answer'.  She is selling everything and going to be a 

'grandma' in the girls' dorm. She is loving telling everyone that miracles still happen today.

Indeed they do!  If you're in need of a miracle - may this story encourage you.

On my way home I spotted these mules in a field...

 

...all huddled together in close fellowship...

just the way the Lord wants us to be.

Oh the treasures we can glean from a yard sale...
Enjoy your day!  ~Joyce

Domino Sugar and A Toy Stove Display...

Recently - I sold a little sample box of Domino Sugar...

The happy buyer was Kim in North Carolina.  Her plan?  

To include it in her child's vintage stove display in her kitchen .

It fits right in!  That's one sweet 'Little Lady'!

I love it when customers follow up regarding a purchase.  

Makes my day!

And there's still one more little sample box left...

Gerber Oatmeal Sample sized box available here

Anybody have a kitchen display that needs a box of baby cereal?

Hope you're having an awesome day!  ~Joyce

Life Lessons - A Pansy Appears...

See this?

It's part of this...

And this is where I found it just yesterday.

A few weeks ago - this spot looked like this...

 

Amazing!  

There are many life lessons to be learned from this 1 little blooming pansy...

Wonderful things can happen in a short period of time.

After the weight of all that snow -- it came back for a second

 year and decided to bloom anyway. 

There were a bunch of pansies planted along that walk last year -

 but only 1 came back.  That part reminds of the lepers that Jesus

 healed and only 1 came back to thank Him.   

I too want to bloom - despite the odds.  

I want to come back and be thankful.  

I don't want die out from life's heaviness but rather grow from it.

And I need to just wait sometimes - cause something beautiful 

may be just around the corner.

  Yes - life lessons...

 

Always learning ~ Joyce