Simple and Subtle Christmas

I absolutely love the juxtaposition of nature and glamour. It is so simple. Isn't this photo above GORGEOUS? I love subtle color, but somehow I just can't be subtle, in decorating, that is.  

{country living}

Now this I can do.  I love the beautiful time worn colors in this silver compote.

{ciel.d.range.canalblog}

Such a beautiful door.

{bhg}

More gorgeousness.  Simple and subtle gifts for guests.

{coastal living}

Maybe this doesn't fit under the subtle title, but it is simple and beautiful. It kind of fits with a natural room. I live fairly close to the coast. Maybe I could pull this off. But then, the rest of my living area would need to have a coastal theme. I just like way too many things! Very fun, isn't it?

Let the Decorating Begin!

{country living}

I REALLY started my Christmas decorating today. I think I have Christmas decorating schizophrenia. I love several different style of Christmas decorations. I love a little glam, a little rustic, a little traditional and a little retro. All these conflicting styles makes it difficult to make my home look cohesive.

I love these beautiful hand knit stockings.  That they're not in the traditional Christmas colors makes them even better.

This beautiful arrangement makes me want to go out and buy a bunch of bottle brush trees.  So cute!

Do you stick with one style or do you balance different styles?

Happy Thanksgiving

This little turkey is carrying quite a load.  I know most of you are buried by your To Do list for today and the upcoming weeks.  Although I'm not having Thanksgiving dinner here at my home, I'm basically cooking a dinner on Friday for us to have as leftovers. Looking at my calender for the next week has put me in panic mode and I'm characteristically trying to ignore it. I just wanted to tell any of you that come by for a visit that I wish you all the Happiest of Thanksgivings. May your moments with your loved ones be full of good memories.    

Virtual Thanksgiving Table

(bhg)

I thought I'd set a virtual Thanksgiving table since I'm not having one of my own this year.  

{country living}?

This is much easier and the tables turn out much prettier this way. I love this brown and blue combination. Oh right, I've always loved this color combination. My wedding almost 30 years ago was this combination. Ha, I just realized that I keep going back to it.  

{southern accents} ?

It is my virtual Tablescape Tuesday for those of you who are Tablescape fans. Isn't this beautiful in purple? I've never had purple in my home other than DD1's bedroom several years ago. It is very beautiful, isn't it?It's always a classic with a punch of green. Well, I'm off to tackle my long list.  I'm sure yours is too. 

Thanksgiving Floral Friday

{country living}

This is a beautiful color combination for an unusual Thanksgiving table. I think it would be perfect.

How Fun is This?

Check out this amazing video.  Love it!

Creative Flow

I've been working on something lately.

I like it.  I hope she does.

Felted Flower Scarf

I made this scarf on Monday from two sweaters that I bought at the thrift store and felted.

There is an Etsy seller that makes these and they're a big hit.

I guess after the Today show she is almost sold out. I thought I'd see if I could make one. I think it's pretty cute. I used up my stash of felted sweaters. Oops, looks like I need to thrift again. I can tell you that I won't be making these in large quantities. Check with That Funky Boutique for her pretty color combinations.  

Thrift Detour

On my way home from Jury Duty last week, I took a little detour and stopped by a thrift store that I'd never been to. It is near a retirement community so there are different items than the ones closer to me. I'm always looking out for really old sewing patterns. I'm not planning on sewing a wedding dress in the near future, that's for sure.  Although we did buy a pattern that we considered for DD1's wedding last year.  What was I thinking?

Wooden spools of thread are a favorite. Don't ask me what I'm planning on doing with these.

These are fun. Just in case I need to know how to make a dickie again.  

You never know, they may return.

I can never have enough knitting patterns.  You know, these might come in handy one of these days!

Honey Do Hints

From 1996 to 1998 I lived in another town here in Southern California. Many homes had manger's on their front lawns at Christmas. All you need is a little hay and a flood light and the message is clear. I've never forgotten that wonderful idea. I hinted around once a year.  

Well, this year, I was on a mission. I'm on a Christmas House Walk and decided that this was the year for a manger. I've explained it to my husband and offered to build it myself. That's seriously desperate girls. I think he was more afraid of me touching a power saw than anything. Last Saturday I was gone till 4:30 in the afternoon. Hunky Husband planned on getting down all the Christmas bins. Well, lookie here. I didn't go out into the garage until Sunday afternoon and what did I find?  MY MANGER! He actually used materials he already had. Isn't he the best? I really hadn't been nagging him about it, really I didn't. REALLY!

Wreath Fun

I love finding ways to change things up all the time, but especially at Christmas. This just adds to my already heavy duty decorating responsibilities at Christmas. I do it to myself. I know. I bet you do too, so no laughing or pointing fingers. Here are two fun things I've found recently. I thought I'd help you out.

Lindsay gives instructions to make this fabulous wreath here.

 I may have to try this.  SO CUTE! 

You can find this beautiful paper wreath at SimpleJoysPaperie.

It reminds me of the wreath my Mother made when I was little out of her keypunch cards.  I think we spray painted it gold.  Does anybody remember keypunch? 

I knew I bought these for a good reason. I had seen an idea somewhere. . . where oh where was it? Thanks to the blogosphere, the good idea showed up a couple of days ago again here.The original idea came from Ki Nassauer (big surprise) last year here. My only recall was that there was a good idea somewhere, but when the vendor offered them all to me for $1 last week at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, I nabbed them. Here is Ki's beautiful creation.

Mistake Muffins

I'm sure somebody out there in blog land has made a baking mistake before.  Surely.

My HH is working at home today so I decided to make breakfast. I tried something new and made Coffee Cake Muffins from my trusty old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I wasn't paying very close attention. Most of my staples are in coordinating Tupperware containers so they all look alike, except for the little label.  So, when I was to put in 2 tsps of baking powder I managed to put in two teaspoons of salt instead. YIKES! I wondered why the baking powder looked funny. Thing is, salt looks just like the sugar I had just added.  So, instead of throwing it all away, I scooped out the sugar without taking out the flour. Tricky, I know! I added additional sugar minus a smidge and didn't put any salt in at all. They actually turned out great. That NEVER happens after making a mistake. So, all was well at breakfast. What do you make for breakfast? 

Treasures

This magnetic chalk board will come in handy by the back door.

Christmas garland made out of cans.

I'm not sure why some things strike my fancy on any particular day.  I was told that these were high heel shoe display stands.  I'm not so sure.  I actually tried to sit shoes on them and it didn't work at all.  What do you think these are?

I love this darling purse and will use it this Christmas.  The sign is an award for some kind of Agriculture competition.  Some of the signs were about cows.  I'm not sure about this one.  

This is my favorite purchase.  It's a route sign from a double decker UK Bus.  These are very popular lately and you can find reproductions in common catalogs.  I love it.

* I'm adding this to Melissa's Beautiful Life Friday.  Visit other blogs who are participating here.  See more of our fun day at the Rose Bowl Flea market with other Southern California bloggers here.

Flea Market Fun

This is one of my favorite purchases of the day.  It's an egg crate that will be great to hold yarn, or magazines (of which I have a few) or a trash can with some kind of liner.  Can you think of any other possibilities?

Okay, I'm putting it all out there, wrinkles and all.  I'm so glad I wasn't wearing glasses when cat-eyes were in style.  My mother was.  Not me.  Whew!  I look cross-eyed! Please do not click on this photo.  

Nina loves vintage coats!

Super pretty.  But she held fast and didn't give in.

Amy Hanna likes to clown for photos.

The organizers of our lovely day, Jenny, Heather, Pam and Amy. Thank you ladies!  Check out their blogs to see more photos of all our fun.

Plumb Pooped

I just got home from a FABULOUS day at the Rose Bowl Flea Market with about 20 something other bloggers. It was so much fun to meet, share treasures and shop. I found some very fun things but will be showing you later this week. Remember that I have Jury Duty for the next 2 to 3 weeks, so please be patient with me. I guarantee there will be pictures posted around blog land of our day. I'll be sure to link up with the others. So, pretty soon I'm going to crash. I wish my bedroom was as beautiful as the one above, so I'll just have to pretend.  Have a relaxing evening. 

Ta Da!

Here's my little project I've been working on for the Flea Market tomorrow.

I used only materials that I had already. Didn't buy a thing. Not ONE thing. Just goes to show you how much stuff I have to use "some day". Well here you go, that day came. 

I used linen from my daughter's bedspread that I made here. The scraps of fabric are from pillows made for the family room below. I made the flower a few months ago from a felted sweater that I bought at a thrift store. It really didn't turn out for what I had originally planned, so I thought I'd add it to my tote.  I like it.  

I'll let you know how the tote works out at the Rose Bowl Flea Market!  

Come back to see what treasures I find.