My Heart's Ease

Blue Willow Child's Tea Set

2010-01-07T19:29:00.007-06:00

Welcome to Show & Tell Friday hosted by my sweet friend Cindy. I have been a bit of a slacker for the last few weeks through the holidays & I have not participated. But, today I want to share one of my Christmas presents from my dear friend Susan. There's a little history behind this whole story so bear with me.

MANY years ago as a child I wanted a Blue Willow Tea Set because my MUCH LOVED Grandmother had that pattern of dishes. One Christmas my dream came true & Santa brought me the doll sized tea set. I was 4 or 5 years old & had a cousin about 2 years younger than I. ALL day we played tea party & after supper we went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. Standing on chairs wearing Grandma's aprons we washed & played & were so happy UNTIL.......... Jane dropped the tea pot into the water & broke about half of my new tea set. MANY tears followed & I have thought of that set often. Once in Brimflield, MA at the big flea market there I found a boxed set just like mine but, the cost was prohibitive at the time.

And then back in November Susan & I were shopping in an Antique Mall in Dallas & I saw this Blue Willow child's tea set in a display case. I told her the story of heartbreak many Christmas's past. I thought of putting the set in lay away (it's Christmas & I wasn't supposed to buying for me I told myself) but, decided not to. Susan asked me if I wanted her to tell "Honey" about it for my gift & I said "NO! I wouldn't want him to know how expensive something like that is because he'd think I was crazy". Later "Honey" asked what do you want for Christmas? And all I could come up with was The Tea Set. I gave him the information & that was the last I thought of it because a few days later a SMALL jewelry shaped box appeared wrapped under the tree.

So, on the night before Christmas Eve, Susan came over for dinner & for our gift exchange (she was leaving to go visit family for Christmas). After a yummy dinner we sat down & as I opened my box I squealed with delight!!!!!!!!!! MY TEA SET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now this set is a little larger than the doll sized one I received as a child but, I'm just a bigger child now!!!! Isn't it simply DIVINE? THANK YOU SWEET FRIEND!!!!!!

I guess I truly am having a second childhood after all I have a new doll (Noel) & now a new child's tea set! Some day I''ll worry about what I want to be when I grow up but until then I want to thank you for allowing my wander down memory lane. Do you think Grandma smiled that evening as big as Susan & I did? Susan admitted that she had even been willing to ride over there with "Honey" to buy it & play DUMB to the whole "it wasn't there" game. Hee Hee she really got me this year! OK go see the other girls & see what they brought for Show & Tell! HUGS!

Resolutions of the Heart

2010-01-06T22:05:00.004-06:00

For my New Years List (I don't want to say resolutions because sometimes I don't follow through on resolutions) one of the key things I listed as wanting was KNOWLEDGE. In just a very few weeks I will be going back to Round Top, Texas to the old Haw Creek Church to take a class from the talented jewelry designer Diane Cook. I have never met Diane but, feel like I know her because I have followed her blog & emailed back & forth for quiet sometime now. She is also friends with my friend/mentor Diana Frey. They have taken classes together & will both be teaching at ADORN ME in Houston, TX in March (which I am very excited about attending this also but, more on that at a later date). Anyway... I am so excited about this upcoming class with Diane.

Today I made my reservations for this beautiful B&B outside of Round Top . This is where I will be staying & I can't wait to see this place which is much acclaimed in many magazines. Check out the site & see how wonderful it looks. ALSO, I JUST ASKED "HONEY" ABOUT GOING TO AN EVENT IN APRIL & HE SAID YES!!!!! LIFE IS GOOD & I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT ALL I WILL LEARN! For all of you who sent puppy hugs for my sweet Reba she is improving every moment!!!! Hugs

REBA IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-05T20:22:00.001-06:00

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE PRAYERS, HUGS & PUPPY LOVE SENT OUT OUR WAY!!!!! Ms Reba came home from the hospital today. We are not totally out of the woods yet but, she is sooooooooooooo much better. Her cPL number was 590 on New Years Eve & today it was 230(normal is under 200). So, with a special diet & rest she should recover. There is still a tiny possibility that there is an underlying cause such as an absess or tumor on the Pancrease beside just Pancreatitis but, all indications are that treatment has worked. So, we are into this for over $1400. & she is worth every dime. So, keep the prayers flowing & THANK YOU for all your love & support. It is so wonderful to have your friends when your world feels DARK & SCARY!!!!!! Friends do a heart good! LOVE YOU GUYS YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!

Hugs! Charlene & Reba

Silver Sunday Blog Event

2010-01-03T15:32:00.003-06:00

Beth over at Gypsy Fish thought it would be fun to do a Show Off Your Silver Blog Party for the New Year. She planned it to be every Sunday from TODAY to February 7th. I decided this would be something fun & different so for a start to the party I thought I would share my vintage Tipping Tea Pot.

Here is where she lives. On our antique hutch. Up there with photos of my sweet Daddy & Grandmother. Up on the shelf the tea pot reigns over the photo of Daddy in his uniform (Korean War era) & the photo behind that is him when he was a little child. Next to that is a sweet pair of vintage child's shoes with Mother of Pearl buttons. I just love baby shoe & I will share some of the others I have in another post. The items to the left are a teaser for you to come back next Sunday...

Here is this beauty up close. I did polish her for my Christmas Tea (December 20) but, the tarnish is already sneaking in. DARN!

And here in the left side of the photo is the tipping tea pot all polished up & put to use on my tea cart in the dinning room for the Christmas Tea I told you about. For more photos of that event click HERE otherwise click on the button on the sidebar to go visit Beth & the other girls playing today. Have a blessed Sunday!

I Need Prayers for My Sweet Puppy Reba

2010-01-01T18:36:00.003-06:00

I need the guardian angels (Dawn thank you for the above image) to look over her & all you prayer warriors to send your prayers for her recovery. On New Years Eve I had to put my sweet fur baby Reba back into the hospital. She has been fighting pancreatitis for over a week now. She had come home on Christmas Eve after being there for 24 hours. She was better but, took a turn for the worse on Tuesday. She will be turning 13 years old on January 29th & it is hard for an old girl to bounce back quickly.

Here she is a few weeks ago before this hit her. Laying on her favorite rug by the chaise lounge in our bedroom. Lisa from Puppy Love is a veterinary assistant & she says that if it is not too progressed she SHOULD make a full recovery. Yet Nan from Retired in Alaska lost her sweet baby to this. So, until Monday when we get new blood work she stays at the hospital on IV's & I walk around with a sick feeling in my stomach & missing my sweet puppy girl. Isn't it funny how these sweet fur babies are such blessings to us? How they can be like a part of own hearts. PLEASE SEND YOUR PRAYERS for Reba's recovery. This is not a happy way to start a New Year.

Happy New Year Dear Friends!

2009-12-31T10:14:00.003-06:00

Another year is gone & can you believe that a new one is upon us? This sweet image was shared with us by Dawn (thanks sweetie) I hope you enjoy it. Last night we went to a wedding of a friends granddaughter & it was sweet to watch young love & think of all the new things ahead of them & in that reflection we all have a new year ahead of us. What will it bring? What new adventures will we have? What do you want to learn? Me, I am looking forward to new friends, travels, learning new skills in jewelry classes I have already signed up for (& am thinking of signing up for) & I want to learn to use Photoshop! I have wanted to learn to do that for a long time but, it eludes me. Also, I will be learning Quickbooks because I will begin doing the books for my husbands company. So, looks like 2010 has a lot of learning & challenges as well as fun ahead. What do you want to do in 2010? Tell us in a comment & on your blog. I can't wait to visit & find out what 2010 has in store for you! Happy New Year dear friends! Be safe!

Creating!

2009-12-29T15:14:00.005-06:00

This is being created in my backyard right now. This is a photo from Christmas Eve but, it is snowing again here in Texas! I can't believe it! I'm not sure how much we will get tonight but, it sure is a pretty thing to see.
During the Christmas season I have been busy creating some things for our home & for gifts & I want to share some of these items with you. This is the wreath that one of the girls at the Christmas Tea spoke about. Yes, I decorate my bathroom too, so I wanted to carry the snowy theme on through in there. I bought these adorable children's ice skates at Winnie & Tallulah's in Athens, TX. They were so sweet & even said Lake Placid on the side. But, they were scuffed & needed some bling. White craft pain to the rescue! And then they needed serious SPARKLE & that was done using glass glitter. Simple to do & oh so pretty! What's not simple to do... replace those nasty old shoe strings with beautiful vintage seam tape AFTER applying the GLASS glitter. OUCH!!!! But, oh so worth it don't you think?
Last February I went with a friend to a needlework shop & while waiting for her I fell in love with this needle point stocking cuff. Mid December I went in for my first lesson thinking "I bet get started on this since the year is almost over". Seemed pretty silly to pay what I paid (needlepoint is NOT a cheap hobby to take up) for this & not work on it. Below is the progress made at the first class. I can say it is moving along nicely. I'll keep you posted.

Close up of Santa on the stocking topper.

More details...

A close up of my stitching at class. This really is fun!

Back in the fall I had taken a class to learn how to make rusched (ruffled roses) from Jana at Collected Treasures & I wanted to make something with this new knowledge. So, I started the search for vintage velvet. That is not an easy thing to find but, thank goodness for EBay! I made these 3 flowers for a hat that I wanted to give to my friend Susan. A pretty burgundy Christmas Rose with a couple of black velvet beauties to complete the hat. She loved them!

A close up of this little treat. When we went to lunch today Susan was sporting her new hat.

Just a few of the goodies that I have been creating. Now, back to the grind of balancing a checkbook that should have been done 2 weeks ago. Arggggggggggg creating is so much more fun. Have a wonderful week dear friends.

Pink Ice & Pan

2009-12-25T22:42:00.010-06:00

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!!! And I want to welcome you to PINK Saturday. Thank you Beverly for hosting us again today. Now I want to introduce you to a couple of new friends. Meet Pan (yes like Peter Pan)! Here he is in his hat made for him by his talented Momma Nan. Nan's talent doesn't stop there!!!! I am sharing some of her amazing photographs of the PINK skies of her home in Alaska. Enjoy these photos & then I encourage you to go to her blog Retired In Alaska & view some more amazing photos that I have not included(Please tell her I sent you). Be sure to see the one of Pan & the PINK ice!

Does this take your breath away?

And this?

Did I tell you this woman is amazing with the camera? When I saw her photos they simply spoke to my heart & soul.

I think Texas has some beautiful skies but these colors are amazing. What an artist GOD truly is!

THANK YOU NAN & PAN for giving me your blessings to share your wonderland with all of us here today! PLEASE go & visit Nan & tell her how much you enjoyed her photos it is SOOOOOOOOOOO worth the trip. Also, go visit the other girls playing Pink Saturday today.

Chirstmas Eve Snow in TEXAS!!!

2009-12-24T16:39:00.002-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS dear sweet friends. Bless each of you & those you love. Let us all keep the REASON for the Christmas Season in our heart's & minds EVERYDAY! Thank you Dawn for the lovely nativity image you shared with us! BEAUTIFUL!!! Don't you love the look on sweet Mary's face as she gazes into the face of her sweet baby? I do!!!!

Speaking of babies, here is my sweet fur baby Ms Reba. We just brought her home from the hospital after a scare yesterday. She has the beginning stage of kidney failure & I thought she had taken a turn for the worse. I just couldn't face loosing her at Christmas!!!! It turned out it was colitis. After IV's (see her blue bandage) lab work, $400.00 she is back home with us just in time to stand out & WONDER what this white wet stuff is.............................

I don't remember EVER having SNOW on Christmas Eve here in Texas!!!! Beautiful!!!!! I had so envied the photos of the snow in Monica & Vicki's post. And now I have a few of my own to share with you.

This is my back yard.

I'll share more another day. I hope each of you are safe, warm, with loved ones & enjoying this beautiful time. You are each a GIFT & BLESSING to me! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Marvelous Give Aways

2009-12-22T18:25:00.006-06:00

OH MY GOODNESS I FORGOT ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS EVE DRAWING AT LULU'S!!! Sorry girlfriend!!!!!!!! I think I have sugar overload on my brain!

Rebecca was told that having a birthday with Jesus was really special so she wants to share the wonder with 7 lucky people. Go see her to put your name in to be one of 7 winners on Christmas Day!

Andrea is having a wonderful birthday give away & I loved these little trees that are included in her loot for this wonderful celebration. Go see her... you know the drill!

Linda will draw the name of one lucky person on Saturday DEC 26 to win the treasure load of Robin's Egg Blue Goodies! Oh how I would love for it to be me to win... but, if not me I would also love for one of you to win. So fly right over & tell her Charlene is spreading the give away love.

It Was Like Santa Had Come Already!

2009-12-22T10:22:00.007-06:00

It felt like Santa had come to my Christmas Tea!!!!!! I want to share some of the goodies my sweet friends brought me. OK, this book is not from a friend but, I bought it for myself after seeing it at one of the Home Tours in Fredericksburg. I love the illustrations in it (I'll share some later).

This is the pin/necklace that Daniele found in an Antique Store in France. She wants me to make it into a necklace. I wish I had my friend/mentor Diana Frey close by to help me put something wonderful together for this piece. Diana I guess I will just have to take what you have taught me & "wing it"!

LACE!!!!!!!!! You all know I have an addiction to it! Well Pat brought me a whole bag of goodies! I also LOVE Pansies (Heart's Ease was what the Victorians called the pansy flower & that is one of the reason's I named my blogwhat I did)! If you look to the right of this photo you will see the pansy that Pat made for me. And then there is a burgundy & pink crocheted pansy in the middle of all the white. And a string of pink & purple crocheted pansies at the top of the photo. I am not sure where these will turn up but, Thank You Pat! Also, I LOVE mother of pearl buttons & if you look she shared a big one she found. Happy Happy Happy!

Reindeer...... LOVE THEM! Have always LOVED them. Once in Alaska at a reindeer farm dear Hubby promised he would buy me a pair of real ones someday... well that hasn't happened yet but, I LOVE reindeer. So, my sweet friend Susan found these pillows & said they had to be my hostess gift for the Tea. LOVE LOVE LOVE my reindeer pillows. This one is on my sofa &

this one is on the pink rocker! Aren't they beautiful? Thank you sweetie I will think of you every Christmas when these beauties come out!

This little coin purse looks a bit sad laying here on my Dept. 56 snow scene but, if you knew the beauty of the sweet vintage coin purse I saw at Tiffany's Open House last year you would understand what a gift it was when sweet Tiffany came to the Tea bearing this gift. I had asked her if she had any because I want to do something special with it. Stayed tuned to see what it becomes & Thank You Tiffany for sharing one of your vintage purses with me.

Then Lisa gave me the sweetest vintage flocked Christmas card with a IOU for the new 2010 Somerset Life Calendar. She says it's in the mail & I can't wait to see this. I had seen it featured in the magazine but, had not ordered it for myself. Now, I will enjoy it all year long & think of sweet Lisa & her gift each time I look at it. Thank you Lisa!

And Joanna brought me a darling box of chocolate covered pretzels but........ Hubby attacked them before I had a chance to take a photo. They were yummy & thank you Joanna! I think he knows we are both going to DIET in the New Year so he is eating as many treats as FAST as he can before dooms day begins. I may put him up for sale when the diet starts because he becomes CRABBY DADDY when he is hungry!!!!! Wish us luck with that!

Thank you again sweet friends for your gifts & the gifts of your friendship! Hugs!

A Christmas Tea For My Precious Friends

2009-12-20T20:27:00.007-06:00

WELCOME to my Christmas Tea!!! I had this today for my friends that live locally & now I am going to invite all of you to join us. I also thought I would ask Ceilo & all the girls(click on sidebar to see who else is playing today) at Share Your Cottage Monday to join us.

Here is the dinning room set with all of the yummy food. The lights shinning in my china cabinet & behind my vintage stained glass panels.

Another look at the table. I used my Saint Nicholas china from Fitz & Floyd. I don't get to use them very often so I thought this would be the perfect time to do so (otherwise my choice would have been crystal plates). The item closest to you was a bowl of shrimp for shrimp cocktails.

Here are some of the yummy desserts... a bowl of fresh fruit, a tray of fudge, chocolate covered cherries, & brownies. And then homemade gingerbread boys & Mexican Wedding cookies. Next a strawberry cake, a bowl of nuts & a plate of brie cheese. The BIG treat for me were those beautiful white iced snowflake sugar cookies made by my friend Lisa. She knows those are my favorite & she brought a tray of them for me. THANK YOU LISA! Below is another shot showing you the sandwiches which were chicken salad (bread cut in the shape of a snowflake) ham salad, egg salad & cucumber/cream cheese. I don't think anyone went home hungry.

And below is a view of the Tea Cart my sweet Daddy bought for Mother when they were in Germany. It is not one of my favorite pieces but, it sure came in handy today. I know the large silver electric pot is not very feminine but, I can tell you it kept the hot spiced cider pipping hot & it was TASTY! You can see my vintage sterling tipping pot there on the cart at the left back side... NO ONE wanted tea. And the coffee pot never had a drop used. My cedar chest (under the window) had all the tea cups & mugs lined up ready for use. Sorry I didn't take a close up shot of my china. It is DARN cute!

Being the typical bloggers we are... when it was time to eat everyone RAN to find their camera before we destroyed the table. Here Tiffany, McKayla, Daniel, & JoAnn watch Susan photographing the table.

Plates full & busy eating are Lisa, Joanna, & McKayla.

And JoAnn, Tiffany & Daniele with their goodies. After taking this photo I started filling my plate & the doorbell rang so, I hurried to let Pat in & told her to fix a plate & join us. We no more got sat down & started eating & Carolyn came in & I told her to fix a plate... DOG GONE IT... I didn't get any photos of sweet Carolyn & Pat because then we were all eating & talking so much & it never popped into my head that you missed the photo call. I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY MY DEARS!

Well, we all had such a good time being together & having a chance to visit & celebrate our friendship this beautiful Christmas season. For those who were not able to join us, we missed you. Special THANKS to my elves (JoAnn & Susan) who came early to help with all the prep work!!!!! My sweet friends you are all such a blessing to me! Friends are the best gifts of this season. So for the friends here & out there in Blogland, I want to THANK YOU for your love & support all year long.

Fredericksburg Home Tour Part Two

2009-12-17T01:16:00.008-06:00

Before we visit the other homes from the Christmas Home Tour please give me one personal moment to say...Isn't it funny how we don't feel old until a special event happens in our child's life? Today is my youngest son's 33rd birthday. Where did the time go? How does the part of your heart that walks around outside of your body get to be 33? I am so proud of him. He is an amazing young man & is the most wonderful father to his two boys. Here he is Halloween night taking the boys Trick or Treating on our four wheeler (so they didn't have to walk so far). Later in the evening they are still Trick or Treating & even my sweet boy has a sucker stuck in his mouth.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!!! YOUR MOMMA LOVES YOU WITH ALL HER HEART!

And for the continuation of the Home Tour (see previous post for Part One) this home is called Settler's Crossing & sits on a 35 acre park like estate. This is a Kentucky "mansion" built in 1790. It is a 3 story 13 room home. Originally it was a log cabin style but, upon moving to Texas the home continued to leak after it was restored. So they plastered over the log exterior & this is how it looks today. Very interesting to see how the were able to restore this home to be beautiful & current.

The home below is actually a very interesting story. This is the entrance to the home. It is new construction. To the far right where you see the limestone walls...that is the old rock home that was on this property. The first part of the home which you can not see in this photo (because it is incorporated into the limestone home) was a log cabin built in 1840. It was built by the 19 year old owner who had immigrated to Texas. As the family became more prominent a limestone home connected to the original log cabin by a breeze way.

Here is a better view of the old limestone home which is NOW the Master Bedroom Suite & 2 of the guestrooms. Loved the porch off the bedroom with that wonderful gingerbread trim all around the top.

And here is the other side of the house... A TWO STORY RED BARN moved here from Ohio. It has the original hewed timbers as the beams that shoot at least 25 feet into the air. AMAZING is the only word for this addition. They used the original siding from the barn to be beautiful wood floors that now grace these rooms. At the end to the right(downstairs) of the photo is a HUGE kitchen & then where you see where the porch begins is where their dining room begins. After those doors starts the doors that are in the GREAT Room.

A closer look at the barn/home. Again HUGE & AMAZING is the words for this!!!!! I so wish I could have taken interior photos for you. Upstairs on the kitchen end is more guest rooms. Over the GREAT ROOM the ceilings soar the full height.

Here is another one of the old building on the property. It has a screened in porch with yet more guest rooms. In total this home has room to sleep 32. I didn't show any photos of the property around this home but, it was beautiful. A creek with gentle slopping lawns down to the creek side property. A hammock in huge oaks... a tennis court, outside kitchen. AMAZING for sure.

And then a Christmas light photo of downtown Johnson City. Yes, Johnson like LBJ. It was the town where he spent his boyhood years (he was born on the family ranch about 10 miles outside of town) Here you see the Court House with the light streaming down.

Hope you enjoyed this little taste of Christmas & A Christmas Home Tour here in the Texas Hill Country.

Give Away Love in Blogland

2009-12-14T20:33:00.003-06:00

Karyn will be giving this beauty away on Christmas Eve. Wouldn't this make you feel like Santa just landed at your front door. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Karyn please pick my name. And the rest of you hurry over there & get your name in. Be sure & tell her Charlene sent you.

Fredericksburg Christmas Home Tour Part One

2009-12-14T13:40:00.011-06:00

I am so glad to join Cielo for my first Show Off Your Cottage Monday. And yes, I know I'm late to join but, I wanted to go ahead & share a home that we saw this past weekend on a Christmas Home Tour in Fredericksburg, Texas. THIS IS NOT my cottage but, a girl can wish!!!!!! Buy another LOTTO ticket hubby says. This old windmill stands watch over the house & has a strand of colorful lights strung at it's base. But, the colorful lights were no match for the beautiful Texas sky in the background! Here we are walking up the brick drive to this amazing home! The couple purchased the entire area & surrounding buildings then began remodeling & new construction. Fredericksburg is in central Texas in the hill country. The original area was settled by German immigrants that used the white Texas limestone for their homes. So this style is very typical of most of the homes in the area.

Below you see the old house to the front & to the left is a new addition. This home had soooooooooo many special touches. A media room with the drop down television screen complete with surround sound. The owner loves music & is/has been in a band so there is a recording/mixing room for his music. A huge indoor shuffle board upstairs... you are getting the picture.

The photo below is the wing to the right of the house coming out of the sitting area of the MASTER bedroom. The room was HUGE! The sitting area had a full size sofa & a couple of chairs in it. Standing in the doorway as I looked into the bedroom & said WOW he (the owner) said "Yeah you can sleep really good in there" with the most adorable little smile.

Following that rock path out of the Master will end you up at the pool area that sits next to this HUGE porch that has a full outside kitchen & has doors coming off the living room & kitchen of the main house. Words do not describe the inside kitchen. Too bad we couldn't take photos inside but, they had restrictions for security & privacy. So use your imagination... if this is the outside just imagine the inside!

The beautiful outdoor fireplace.

Standing by the fireplace looking back at the porch off the living room.

And the kitchen in the doors to the left in photo below. See the lights of the Christmas Tree twinkling in the windows below!

Standing on the porch & looking down the hill past the pool is the Guest House. Yes, the old building on the property was made into guest quarters since the house is only a mere 3 bedrooms (HA HA that is a funny word for this house.... MERE....). So the guest quarters has a kitchen, eating area, living room, 3 bedrooms & laundry room. Yes, the guest quarters are in the red building past that amazing pool & hot tub.

Standing on the rock path about to go down to the guest house you can see the fields below with another old rock building.

And this is what the pots sitting around on the porch & lining the paths looked like. There must have been 20 or more pots with poinsettia's, berries, greenery & herbs just dotting the landscape around the house.

A view looking back at the pool & patio from the guest house.

Looking out at the peaceful beautiful sky & field. I hear a noise... what is that I hear?

Yes, one of the owners planes (he has 2) has just landed on his pasture run way. He flies from Fredericksburg to Dallas to attend to business a few times a month.

A few more random shots of a shinning star of Texas Christmas Home Tour wonder.

See the flying G Brand done in metal on the back of the fireplace?

Another shot of the pool & pasture.

The sun is about to set & the sky is bathed in COLOR! Beautiful color from nature. I love the sunsets in our Texas skies.

As we are walking down the drive to go back to our car I again hear the plane & look over my shoulder to see it doing fly by's over the roof of the house( if you click on the photo it will enlarge & you can see it better) almost as if they were waving goodbye to us.

Thank you to Cielo for hosting Show Us Your Cottage & letting me take license to show someone else's cottage (if you haven't seen my Christmas decor please go to posts after this one to view). I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure & click the button on my sidebar to go & & visit the others playing today. And if you are not in Ceilo's group but, one of my friends or followers, thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope you enjoyed the photos & hope all of you will leave a comment to let me know you stopped by & come back for more Home Tour photos later in the week. Have a great week & good luck with all of your Christmas preparations. Hugs!

Show & Tell Friday Noel In Her Christmas Best

2009-12-10T22:42:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Show & Tell Friday where Cindy our hostess has us share treasures we have in our homes. Back before Thanksgiving (HERE) I showed you my new doll in all of her Autumn finery. I promised all of Cindy's viewers a delight in seeing her how I bought her from Marta. When I found Noel she was a display in Marta's shop. Sitting on her vintage sled with her white rabbit fur hat & muff. She is wearing a vintage Christening gown as a dress & sporting a winter white wool coat. Sharing space on her sled is a stand with a wonderful bottle brush wreath. And Noel is holding her Christmas Star. She is sitting up high on a large piece of furniture that holds a lot of my dish collection. So as you walk in the room you will see her sitting up in the soft glow of the lights off her white tree. The tree is bare of all decoration accept for some beautiful white doves that I sprinkled with a dusting of glitter. They make the sweetest addition to this vignette. There is one large dove sitting on the back of the sled with Noel.

Below is a close up of one of the glittered doves. Come back soon to see the beautiful children's ice skates that I found in an Antique store last week. I glittered them & think they will look wonderful on my wreath.

I hope you will go to the previous few posts to see some of my other photos of more of my Christmas decor. Also, I hope you will join the others over at My Romantic Home as Cindy hosts yet another Show & Tell. Hugs! Charlene

Ornament Party

2009-12-07T20:33:00.005-06:00

I had such good intentions today to finish my hand made ornaments for this Blog Party but, LIFE got in the way. The trip to Geriatric Doctor with the 87 year old father in law could not be put off & being at my 4 year old grandsons school Christmas Program I WOULDN'T MISS for the world so...... you will have to view close ups of my ornaments that were already on the tree. Thank you Kate of Censational Girl for hosting this Ornament Party. In my previous post you can view both my tree & some of the other Christmas Vignettes I have already shown but, let's look at the tree a little closer for today. To view the photos in a bigger scale double click on the photo & it will enlarge.

This is my tree topper. The theme of my tree is VINTAGE WOMEN, feminine items such as hats, hat boxes, signs saying Chapeaux(which is French for HAT), shoes, buttons & other wonderful girlie things. The tree topper starts with a fabulous metallic blue/silver WIDE ribbon that makes a HUGE bow. The ends of this then wind down through the entire tree. Stuck in the HUGE bow is a feathered fan, a snowflake and a black velvet shoe with beautiful silk ribbon roses. Also found through out the tree are little black velvet & ribbon rose heart & square shaped pillows. One of those is also stuck up in the topper. Coming further down you will see a blue satin beaded shoe, a cameo photo of a vintage lady, a clock face & right next to it is one of my paper dolls that I got from Marietta (I was lucky enough to win one set of 3 & ordered the other 3 from her) Sorry the paper dolls are not easier to see. To see a better photo of them got HERE

Below is another one of the black velvet shoes & a close up of a button card & button ornament.

And above you can see one of the pretty glistening snowflakes, to the left of that is a large button ornament & part of a blue hat. More button cards & in the left lower part of the photo is another little velvet pillow with ribbon embroidery flowers. And the blue bead garland runs through out the tree.

The above photo shows a closer shot of the vintage cameo ornaments of the beautiful women. At the bottom of each of those ornaments is a mother of pearl button that dangles so daintily. A better photo of one of the paper dolls, the clock & the gold & pearl button ornament.

Two more paper dolls, a large section of the ribbon shinning at you & at the top of the photo is part of a hat box.

There's that blue hat on the left.

And this IS a handmade ornament(just not made by me). I bought this pattern piece paper flower when I went to the Open House at Winnie & Tallula's in Athens TX. I just loved it so I bought one LARGE one & a smaller one which is shown below. I thought of Dawn at The Feathered Nest when I saw these.

I hope you could see some of the things I tried to describe. Again, I am sorry the photos were not better. The tree is sitting in a kind of dark corner & the room was dark due to cloudy skies so..... we had to do with what we got. Be sure & go visit the other girls playing.

I HOPE YOU WILL LOOK AT THE PREVIOUS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, TO SEE SOME OF MY OTHER DECOR. ALSO, I WILL GET THOSE OTHER ITEMS I'M WORKING ON DONE SO COME BACK SOON & SEE WHAT ELSE I WILL SHARE.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL SEASON!

Bellas Dreans Blog Party!

2009-12-04T21:36:00.006-06:00

Denise & I want to welcome you to Bella Dreams Share The Joy Holiday Decorating & Craft Blog Party! WHEW that was a mouthful! I think I need a little refreshment before we begin.

Welcome to my little coffee station. Every evening I prepare the coffee for "Mr Clause" & I in this little area. One of my favorite things to do is add a DASH of cinnamon right on top of the coffee grounds when I make it so, you see the giant COSTCO size cinnamon jar next to the coffee grounds all ready to go (also you can see the pretty glass jar with orange Tang Drink Mix to add to my cinnamon spice tea for my evening enjoyment)

A close up of the mugs I bought this year. Just made me smile! Don't you think Mrs Clauses shoes are a hoot? And that adorable old jar that has tiny ornaments in it & JOY on the top was purchased last year at my friend Tiffany's Open House & Sale. I just LOVE it!

Alright let's get started but, let me tell you that this Christmas I have decorated very different from my "normal" Christmas decor. This year we will not be hosting Christmas (all those little GRANDS will be going to their mothers side of the families for Christmas) so there will be no big showing of Santa, the elves, the candy tree, or any of the other things we would usually be hauling out of storage. On our off year we often don't decorate at all but, this year I wanted to have a Christmas Tea for my girlfriends & I have decorated for the girls & MYSELF!

Believe? Yes I DO!!!! And the sign tells you so (besides... I saw a pillow that said "FOR THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE....YOU GET UNDERWEAR") Here is my wonderful old vintage buffet next to my wing back chair that is right near my kitchen & breakfast nook. I decided to put the tree in that little nook by my Grandmother's old farm table. I used my 7' slimline tree to save space & it fit perfectly in that little area.

A closeup of the top of the hutch. It is a little hard to see but, I have a pine garland with tiny white lights across the top. Also you can see my beautiful beaded shades & some family photos. I will take a better shot of that during the holiday season & post it another time.

Here's my tree all done in blues & silvers. My theme for the tree is women & items we love. It has a WIDE silvery blue sheer ribbon bow topper that then winds down through the tree. There are beautiful shoes, hats, buttons, & wonderful paper dolls. I will share close up details of the tree with you on DEC 8th for yet another Blog Party. BE SURE & COME BACK (sign up as a follower & you will be reminded to check back... ALSO I am nearing my 200th Post & I will be doing a drawing for all FOLLOWERS) So, here you see the tree & my table which is set with blue snowflake placemats & there is a sweet Dept 56 scene with houses & children playing in the snow.

Moving on to the top of my refrigerator is none other than The French Bear which was made by my friend Margaret of The French Bear. He is nestled in a snowy pine bough & reigns high above near my vintage oil lamp with the most amazing fluted chimney. Also, you can see the magnet Margaret made me hanging on the front of the fridge. It say BELIEVE!!!!!

Isn't he adorable? Can you believe she made that sweet little thing? And his crown & his little box he is sitting on. LOVE MY FRENCH BEAR!

Stepping away from the kitchen we look into the Living Room. It is really all one BIG area. So as I look out of the kitchen I see across this room & look into the backyard & at one of our fireplaces. This one is a bit unusual because it does not have a chimney... it vents out the back so we have a big window over it. Also in this photo you can see "Honey's" much loved vintage bar (& into the back yard where you can see it still has green plants out there)

Over the fireplace I have put a beautiful poinsettia plant set among my crystal pieces, my bird feeder with the perky little red bird gazing out into the room (I love to change out the little birds on display on it). Also I love my stained glass angle blowing her trumpet. She really is pretty when the sun shines through her.

As you span around this area you come to a LARGE cabinet that holds bar ware & dishes. I took this picture from a distance so you could see the size of this piece. It is huge. On top of this piece is my prize decoration of this season.

Yes, meet Noel! If you missed the story of my finding her go HERE. For the post where I introduced her she was wearing a Fall outfit but, now she has her winter finery on. And she is riding on her vintage sled while holding her shinny star.

At the end of the big hutch is my vintage bird cage which I have changed up a little bit for Christmas. I did a sparkly bow on top & inside I added some silver stars & a sweet card showing Santa & his reindeer amidst sparkling snow.

A peek inside & you can see the card (& a tiny white candle).

Well, that is where we will leave off for today. I hope you have enjoyed my little peek into our home this Christmas. Please come back on December 8th for the next fun event which will be Kate's Ornament Party. Have a wonderful weekend & be sure & visit all the other girls participating in this event. Thanks for all the fun Denise!

2009-11-30T09:37:00.009-06:00

This year is NOT our year to host Christmas for the family. And when this happens I usually don't decorate much. But, this year I am having a Christmas Tea for my girlfriends so I am going to decorate for myself & the girls. Sorry Hubby dear... indulge us.

This being said I am going to join a few Christmas Parties in Blogland. I am sharing the list. Please join us it will be fun.

I think it will be fun to do a few hand made items for my tree so I will share them with you on DEC 8. If you want to join in this party with Kate & I click HERE
And another one that looks fun is with Denise at Bella Dreams click HERE to join us. I will have these parties posted on the sidebar of my Blog so you can see them & I'll be reminded. I found these parties at Karen's My Desert Cottage... THANKS for the heads up Karen.

Gifts I Made for Swap with Margaret

2009-11-29T15:54:00.005-06:00

In late October Margaret of The French Bear & I did a private Fall Swap. I showed all of you the goodies that she had sent to me HERE but, I forgot to do a post to show you what I made for her. So, here are a few photos of the items I made/got for her. I made her three pairs of earrings all in Fall colors. I put them on a card I made with an image I got from Dawn of The Feathered Nest (THANK YOU Dawn). Also, I made her a necklace with a charm that could be hung from either side. The first side is again an image from Dawn. I love the image of the girls playing in the leaves. When I soldered this charm (which is fairly large) & used a thick & textured look for the solder.

And the beveled side of the charm was a Fall image (again from Dawn) that I thought was very pretty. I used natural stones & strung them in a long necklace so that the soldered charm would hang low on a pretty sweater. I loved the colors in the stones that hung on the bottom of the charm.

Next I did an apron for her. I used a poem that she had written called The Needlewoman & did an image transfer & stitched this onto an apron. I then used part of a cute hankie that I had been saving (that had sewing machine, needles, thread & all sorts of sewing items on it) which I put at the top of the apron. I did a pink breast cancer ribbon & put Margaret's sisters name on it (in memory of Karen).

For pockets I used two vintage doilies I had bought from my friend Pat of My Tattered Elegance (she has some of the most wonderful lace) & I then used some wonderful charms of sewing items & stitched them to the poem & pockets.

Here's a close up of the bottom of the poem with the sewing machine & scissors charm.

A thimble charm tied onto one pocket with black & white ribbon.

Next, a set of photo albums & a journal in beautiful Fall colors & tied with a pretty ribbon. Again, that same photo used for her charm with some cute glittered clothes pins (with magnets for the fridge to hold photos or reminders)

And being a seamstress & having read her blog I knew that Margaret loved buttons. So, I made her a button jar with this wonderful vintage image of a woman dressed in a bat costume (after all Halloween was during the time frame of the swap). I then ruffled crepe paper around the image & glittered the lid with BLACK glitter.

The finishing touch on the jar was a little sign which read "BATTY FOR BUTTONS" which was tied on with black netting.

Here's a few of her goodies all tied up in black netting & ready for the box for mailing. I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my hand made goodies & Margaret did say that she loved all her things. Postal Love is a marvelous thing. Right now I have a few more things sitting on my work table waiting to be finished & mailed. Have a wonderful week my dear friends.

New Doll

2009-11-26T21:15:00.007-06:00

Today is Thanksgiving evening & Cindy at My Romantic Home is getting us all ready to play Show & Tell. I told you the other day that after visiting Amy at Bloom & Be Swanky we went on down to Belton, Texas to visit a shop Amy told us about. The name of the shop is Marta's Room. While there I fell in LOVE with this sweet vintage doll. When I saw her she was part of a Christmas display & she will be again soon but, in the mean time she had to be ready for Thanksgiving. I set her in the entry hall by the piano. She is perfect sitting in the rocker my sweet Granddad built for me when I was a little girl. Do you love her white wool coat & hat as much as I do? I simply added a sprig of fall colored hydrangea petals to bring in the season.

Below, you will see her sitting on the bed in the guest room prior to getting her fall flowers & finding the rocking chair.

In this photo you can see that Marta had dressed her in a vintage dress with wonderful lace on the hem.

A close up of the dress detail.

And here she is up close. Her eyes are the most beautiful green. Sorry the flash was a little bright but, you can see the sweet details of her face.

I want to thank Marta for letting me adopt this sweet girl. She had been in Marta's personal collection for a long time & I think she was surprised when I agreed to pay the price she asked. In fact, I think she almost changed her mind. When I got home she sent me the sweetest email saying "Take care of my baby". Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh I will. One of the first things I need to do is come up with a name. Since she was bought as the highlight of my Christmas display I am leaning towards something with that in mind. But, I would love for you all to send me ideas. Please leave me comments with your input.

Be sure & go & visit the others participating in Show & Tell this week. Also, I want to thank Tiffany Marshall for the banner I am using right now. I have not had a chance to get a Christmas one done & she had this one for free on her site. THANKS Tiffany! Don't SHOP too hard on Black Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T14:44:00.004-06:00

I want to wish each & every one of my friends at Happy Thanksgiving. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful to have my Blog which is a MAGIC doorway to so many beautiful, caring, fun, talented, generous, creative souls that I am blessed to call friends. Also, thank you Sara of Sara's Sweet Surprises for this vintage Thanksgiving image that she shared.

Art Exchange Goodies

2009-11-24T15:50:00.006-06:00

Gotta LOVE the mailbox LOVE that has been going around! I know there are a lot of you that have been involved with the Art Exchange. I got my invitation from Diana Frey while my mother was visiting from California for 2 weeks & I did not get my gift for my Exchange Partner completed in the week time allotment. Since my Exchange Partner was Diane Cook & she is my friend she understood. In the meantime I started getting packages in the mail but, just didn't feel like I could open them until I mailed mine. Well, I mailed Dianes goody yesterday so today was the day to open my goodies... A DRUM ROLL PLEASE! The package on the top is from Lisa Hessabi & the bottom one is from Tiffany Marshall.

Here is the close up of the ART WORK on the envelopes! Don't you LOVE it when a package looks like this? Why don't I make mine look like this?

Below is all of the goodies from Tiffany. A HUGE lot of treasures. A little of this & a little of that. And the amazing thing... Tiffany was one of the names I listed & she sent me a gift as well as the person she was supposed to send to. Such an amazingly generous soul. THANK YOU TIFFANY you are such a sweetie!

More Tiffany LOVE!

And a big bunch of Halloween Goodies from Lisa. I don't know Lisa & I checked out her blog. Also, Googled her & found her listed in a number of places. THANK YOU LISA! I would love to get to know you better. If any of you have posts on Lisa or her work let me know.

Next comes a beautiful stitched art hanging that says FRIEND & this beautiful treasure comes from Michelle May at Tales from the Raspberry Rabbits. I had just met Michelle last week when I found her blog while visiting another blog. She had the most beautiful stitched Christmas trees. When I commented to her that I loved her trees & blog she sent me a message that said "I just sent you a package" And here is my treasure (note & a little chocolate LOVE) from Michelle. LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

Michelle's stitching work is amazing. I have placed this treasure on my DREAM BOARD near my computer. THANK YOU MICHELLE! You are indeed a new Friend!

Another generous SWEET FRIEND that was on my list was LuLu & like Tiffany she was to send the gift to someone else but, with her generous heart she sent me one too. AMAZING, GENEROUS, TALENTED, FRIENDS live in Blogland! Here is the box within a box waiting for opening.

I am sorry I don't have a fresh manicure to show off with my treasure from LuLu but, I do so LOVE my white rose ring that she made for me. THANK YOU SWEET LULU!

Now, I'm off to write a comment or LOVE note to each one of these sweeties. Forgive me for being late to post & thank you but, as I said I just could NOT open my goodies until I mailed off the one to Diane. Check back to see what I sent her. Have a wonderful week preparing for Thanksgiving. HUGS!

A Wonderful Movie to see before Thanksgiving

2009-11-21T18:07:00.007-06:00

I just finished watching the movie An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving & it was WONDERFUL!!!!!

If you have not had a chance to see this made for television version of the short story written by Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)check out this post & then hurry to find it. As you will remember, this well renowned author of Little Women has had much said for her popular book but, I had never heard of An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving which is a heart warming story of family, survival, & LOVE. The story is rich, the cast did a wonderful job, & the costuming was very rich & romantic. For a bit of a trailer to the movie go HERE & then go get a copy (I rented mine from Block Buster) & enjoy this before Thursday. Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs~Charlene

THANK YOU, Give Aways & Send Your Wishes

2009-11-16T19:58:00.010-06:00

Linda at Robin's Egg Blue is having her 100th Post Give Away. I would love to have this box full of treasures wouldn't you? Rush over & join her... Good Luck!

Yesterday I had Pam Gray of CLUSTERS become my 100th Follower. Thank you Pam & welcome to my little corner of the world where I treasure each of my sweet blog friends. I want to send you a little gift for this milestone for me. Please email me your address so I can send off your goody. It is hard to believe that it is just a little over a year ago that I started out this Blog & have met so many wonderful talented friends. I treasure each of you. I love each of your comments, visits & shared hearts. Be sure & leave a comment when you visit & come back often. Now, on with at great couple of items... I found Donna & her fabulous Give Away at Brynwood Needleworks & I couldn't wait to share all the goods with all of you. This Give Away is chock FULL of wonderful stuff & Donna is an amazing fabric artist. Be sure & go visit. You won't be sorry. And speaking about 200th Post... I am getting really close. I better start working on a give away!

Just imagine if you did not have your lovely home to come to every night. Or your warm SAFE bed to sleep in every night. Or if you were far far away from those you loved. Or maybe you were in HARMS WAY EVERY DAY!!!!! How happy would you be? No matter what your views on the war is... remember our proud men & women are doing what they do best to keep EACH & EVERY ONE OF US SAFE & FREE! Please click HERE & send a card to a soldier. It's free & it's fast, easy, & means a lot. Please participate & PLEASE SHARE THIS POST!!! Let's get the word out & help make the holidays special for these special folks that do so much for us. And thank you Maggie at Grandma Yellow Hair for sharing this with me. GOD BLESS AMERICA!