I WON! I WON! I WON!

Rebecca Sower had a giveaway this past week and I entered it, along with 154 other huge fans of hers, and I just found out this moring THAT I HAD WON!! The 'prize' is this fabulous autographed art book by Tracie Lyn Huskamp!

I am just chuckling to myself, because (for those who know who Beth Moore is) I attended a simulcast of her conference over this weekend. She spoke on Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." I have counted 3 desires (that were more noble and spiritual) than this one, that He has given me just over this weekend. Then to wake up to find I had won this book just made me feel like He's delighting in giving me fun and frivolous treats, too!!

Speaking of fun and frivolous....I am going over to Judy's house today...and we're going to paper-craft today. She is so very talented~she has mentored me over the years spiritually and artistically.(I've known her since I was 7 and she was best friends with my mom) .

So I made her a couple of 'fun' gifts to thank her for the frivolous day we're going to have!

I embellished a bottle for her of vintagey images

along with a little ditty...

Covered a matchbox and slipped a little magnet inside. The flower was made by punching out flower shapes from sheet music. I layered three shapes over each other, folding the top two layers of petals to give it dimension.

I stamped the inside of the matchbox for her to discover when she removes the magnet.

Well, just wanted to share the latest....I'm off to Judy's now. Have a fabulous day!!

P.S. Can anyone please tell me how I do 'spell check' on the new blogger format?

Tablescape Thursday~My Dad's 87th Birthday

This past Sunday we celebrated my dad's 87th Birthday! My mind had been working on how to decorate for it for a couple of weeks. I went to Joann's Fabrics to look for a remnant that looked "masculine" and found this plaid fabric~only $1.79 on clearance!! THEN I thought of the tie idea (see my Met Monday post) for the napkin rings.

I 'shopped' from my house and gathered up vintagey-masculine props for the center piece.

Here is the back side of the centerpiece. I have a collection of cabinet cards, and gathered all the pictures of men...

Close up of the backside...

At first I had pictures of men under each fork..Steve thought of the bright idea to use women's pics for the women's placesetting!! Brilliant man, my husband!

For place cards, I just typed out everyone's name in a cool font, printed it out on card stock and cut 'ribbons' with decorative sissors, then looped them thru the forks.

My dad was just tickled~ my step-bro and step-sis were able to attend, along with our friends of many years, Bill and Judy. And my step-mom, Leilani, of course!

I had such fun putting all this together!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

To check out more fun and fabulous Tablescapes, visit  Between Naps on the Porch!

Cute Hostess Gift from Judy

Well,  I got a suprise when I uploaded these pics! Blogger has changed the  format! I've got to figure this  out...anyhoo, I wanted to share  pics of  the 'hostess gift' that my friend, Judy, made me when she came to the 'event' that I'll be showing tomorrow. (Hopefully, if I can figure out the new uploading and writing thing)! It's taken forever just to get this much typed out!  Anyone else had problem? Any tips would be apreciated!!

Metamorphosis Monday

For today's Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by the lovely Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.
I'll be doing a little tutorial of an idea that came to me when I decided to host a small event.
The 'event' I'll be sharing on Thursday for Tablescape Thursdays!

I have a collection of my father's old vintage skinny ties.....

I measured 8 inches and cut them that length...

then curled them to make a loop..(gee~I need a manicure!)

inside of loop....

Then I sewed a vintage button to attach the loop together. I used quilting thread because it's strong and I only needed to use a couple of stitches to hold it...

TA~DA! Neck-Tie Napkin Rings!!!!!

Stay tuned for the reveal of how I used the napkin rings on Thursday for Tablescape Thursday!

Isn't the suspense just too much ?!? ;-)

Our Balcony Bedroom

This is the balcony off the master bedroom upstairs...

and this is what it usually looks like. But the heat of summer has gotten to me and I was longing for cool, fresh air. I decided to surprise Steve for his Furlough Friday weekend and turn our balcony into a romantic bedroom!

I wanted a light,romantic cottage look~different from our dark Victorian bedroom. First I looked thru my vintage pillow cases and ironed these darling embroidered ones..spritzing it with sweet smelling linen spray...

a close up of the beautiful embroidered work...I love the sweet birds!!

Then blew up our queen size air mattress that we normally use for camping...put the umbrella behind it, threw mosquito netting over it, pulled out a cute comforter I had packed away~haven't had a place to use it since we've moved here, but haven't wanted to get rid of it either. Then grabbed some pillows to match and ta-da!

Roses from our garden~I could even have a lamp outside because there's and electrical plug to use (which made it easy to inflate the mattress!!)

Not knowing what I had "cooked up" (pardon the pun) Steve called offering to pick up Greek Salad to bring home. I casually said "Great! We'll eat on the balcony!" :-)

I know, I know, I should save this for Tablescape Tuesday, but I just couldn't wait...and it goes with the whole "look" ya know?!

So Steve came home and I pulled back the curtain of our sliding door for effect and Steve said "Wow! Neat! This looks really romantic! Now, where do you want me to put the food?" :-D

You know...a way to a man's heart is thru his stomach!! ;-)

Here are some pics after dark. I gotta get the hang of my camera and learn more about taking better pictures. Anyway ..yellow roses from our garden in a vintage Ball Canning jar...

And how our 'room' looks at night. It was lovely, sleeping out under the stars, fresh, cool breezes wafting about. Dreamy!

I have so much fun creating a romantic life. And I am so grateful Steve appreciates stuff like this!

Have a lovely weekend!

Tablescape Thursday

This week's Tablescape are pictures I took at the closing ceremonies Bar-b-que in Texas last week.

Simple, but elegant...

The dessert buffet~ Peach and Apple Cobbler that tasted homemade!

Here is the bar-b-que buffet~ Green Salad, Potato Salad, Fresh Green Beans, Grilled chicken and beef~delicious!

Look at that lovely garnish on the Potato Salad~ It's a red pepper carved into a rose!!

That's my entry for Tablescape Thursday~'twas the easiest one for me, as all I had to do was take the pictures!! ;-)

Check out other fabulous Tablescapes (and more original and home-done) at Between Naps on the Porch.

Have a great day!!