cushionry

 After a week of a malaise,

 I just MAY be on my way out of it!

 This morning,  I had desire and "spark" enough 

 to cut out two sides of fabric to cover this cushion

whose previous cover was ragged..

 Using the old one as my pattern,

 I simply stitched around the outside edges and called it "DONE"!

 This is the chair I sit on at the table to eat, play games, and converse.

 Without the cushion, the seat is hard.

 With it - PERFECT!

All is Calm; All is Bright

The book mentioned in my prior post was begun--

AND finished already.

Our Christmas season is quite simple this year.

A combination of choices and circumstances

has resulted in a most relaxing week thus far.

I'm thankful.

down time

 With my father and brother on their way to board a train 

for a Cousins' Reunion in Kansas,

 Gary and I spent some time doing a few of our favorite things--

 a thrift store stop (nothing for me; 3 shirts/sweaters for him)

and an hour or so at Barnes and Noble.

These four images from the magazines I chose were especially attractive to me.

(I guess you can tell I'm no minimalist!)

I'm thankful for a relaxing afternoon and a lull in activity this evening.

I'm looking forward to browsing some blogs and beginning a new book...

easy but messy

 Easy...

...but very messy.

(And quite delicious!)

'tis the season

'Tis the season

and winter scenes are our favorites right now!

 This Will Moses one caught my eye in a thrift store recently...
Since it cost only fifty cents, I shouldn't be so bummed that it was missing a piece,
I guess.

christmas homes tour

One of our Christmas "traditions" is taking in the annual Christmas Homes Tour

in an old, stately neighborhood in Fort Wayne.

Nine grand homes of previous generations are being (or have been) lovingly restored

and generously opened to an appreciative public

in all their Christmas splendor.

After dropping my cell phone several times early in the afternoon,

I gave up taking photos and just enjoyed the Walk.

Refreshments were served in this Carriage House

behind one of the homes on the tour. 

Large, expansive bathrooms with the most modern equipment

were obvious trends on this year's tour

(as was the color gray--in many shades and tones).

Even with many elegant and expensive furnishings and finishings on display,

simple things and scenes brought me the most pleasure.

I'm hoping my husband will make me a wooden star like the one in the window here...

 I'm a simple girl at heart, I guess.

I returned from the tour
to our own old house to see it with fresh eyes and appreciation--

and a few ideas to implement as well!

christmas pillows

 Christmas pillows --

mine are at least twenty years old 

and accompanied by fond memories

of stuffing and stitching them along with a friend who stitched her own pair.

They still "fit" my simple Christmas decorations.

No need to get new ones...

(I enjoy seeing all of YOURS, too--

old and new.)

old games

Rummaging through the game cupboard,

I found this one - an old one.

Suitable for two to play, it filled some "down" time 

over the past holiday weekend.

Sometimes OLD games are the BEST games.

another one

 This smaller tree sits comfortably beside our vintage couch.

I chose to decorate it in blues to pick up the various shades of blue

that appear here and there in the room.

I especially enjoy the gentle, quiet light of this tree

in the evenings when darkness descends so early.

already

For a couple more seasonal scenes

and an brief explanation,

come on over to my other blog.

in praise of inexpensive lipstick

 

Dollar General carries wet n wild lipstick. 

I've found it as satisfactory as much-more expensive brands

(not that I'm an expert, but I've tried several others).

It seems to last longer on my lips than some others,

doesn't dry them out,

and I'm pleased with this color.

"Why not?"  I ask myself!

talking turkey

 Spent an hour or so bringing out turkey

and figuring out what part of Halloween to keep out!

 Actually, I don't have so much to add

and very little to subtract.

 Here are a few of the additions..

 Mostly, I enjoy the colors and the season..

(Oh...yes.  That IS dust you see here and there!)

necessity and invention

Necessity is the mother of invention, someone has said.

Well, I've done this before and am sure it is not MY invention,

but when I needed a larger envelope to hold some picture postcards

I wanted to give to Joy,

I pulled a page out of a magazine.

Stick glue sealed the edges.

I always enjoy the customization possible when I remember

to pull out this old trick that costs me NOTHING!

in with the old

 Seemed like the right time to figure out

 where I'd stored the early autumn decorations.

 Having found them,
 I was pleased with the ones I'd chosen to keep last year at the end of the season.

"In with the old," is my motto this year.

All but the white one with a lid (which I made in a ceramics store)

were thrift store finds.

I doubt that ANY of them are in the same place this year as last...

I'm enjoying the small change of scenery.

this & a salted caramel mocha latte

 If you guessed Barnes and Noble,

 you're right!

 

 As usual, it was a relaxing afternoon.

 I went alone this time 

leaving my hubby to watch football.

 I came home with a head-full of ideas

 and a list -

 hastily scratched out on the only paper I could find

since I'd left my little notebook at home.

That's how I roll!

next...

I couldn't wait for the second coat of paint

to show your our current project!

The pedestal had sat in our garage for a LONG time.

(Found curbside, as I recall.)

Last week as we drove to a house walk in West Central Neighborhood of Fort Wayne,

I noticed a round table top sitting at someone's trash can.

I told my husband to back up and check it out.

It fits.

And the paint is a quart of blue we'd picked out for the cupboard 

we just completed.  

We thought of using this color, but at the last minute 

I changed my mind.

I DO think it's perfect on this table,

don't you?

By the way, there were also 4 legs sitting by the round top.

I already have a plan for them!

better than i expected

 I'm glad we chose to paint this old cupboard white!

 It fits our space beautifully

 and fulfills an important storage function in the dining area of our kitchen.

SO happy we lugged this cabinet home from a garage sale!

just imagine

Well, now that you've seen how we restored the (free) vintage stereo,

just IMAGINE how this cabinet will look restored!

Seen here lying on its back, it stands up beautifully 

and has several shelves to its credit.

I can't wait to show you how it looks when my husband is finished with it.

(It was discovered in the very back of a garage of a house uninhabited for nine years

as friends conducted a garage sale before auctioning the house.)

the diamond

The "Diamond"

(See previous post for the details.)

Suffice it to say that we chose the safe and sophisticated color of black

to finish our stereo.