Last But Not Least

I thought I'd share a little review of my week with you. If you'd rather just find out who won the giveaway scroll on down to the bottom. 

Last Saturday my new sideboard was delivered. It matches my dining room set, even though I put it around the corner. I'm not loving my arrangement on the top now. It's all too scrunched together. I'll be working on that. 

I've been craving macaroni and cheese lately. I wanted to try a new recipe with Panko crumbs on the top. It was delicious!! It makes a lot and I definitely should've halved the recipe. You can find it on The Chow. 

Here is a snippet of what Fall looks like in Southern California. The grapevines out here are beautiful this time of year. 

I spent a little time and moola at Anthropologie on Thursday. There is so much to love about Anthro, except maybe their prices. 

Then on to Whole Foods for a few groceries. 

Yesterday I spent the day in a jewelry class at French General taught by Nina Bagley. More on that next week. It was wonderful and inspiring. 

Well I just finished making a Texas Sheet to take to dinner tonight at a friends.  Yum! 

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Okay, okay. Now on to the giveaway winner! Ann, the last to comment is the winner! Thanks for participating everyone!

Have a great weekend! 

Ann, I need your address or email so I can send you the goodies! 

Fall + Baking x 800 = GIVEAWAY!!

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This is my 800 post!  Good grief, I'm not sure I've said anything worthwhile in those 800 posts, but I have enjoyed meeting you and sharing similar interests. I've decided to have a giveaway to celebrate.

You will receive a Gooseberry Patch Harvest Table Cookbook, two adorable tea towels with recipes for Apple and Pumpkin Pies.

Also included are these turkey salt and pepper shakers.  Won't they be cute on your table?

 A Wilton set of cookie cutters with Fall leaves and acorns.

And Lemon sugar and Dark Cocoa sugar from The Spice Merchant.

All you have to do is leave a comment. I know!  When is the last time you've seen a giveaway that is so simple?  You don't have to follow me on Pinterest or Instagram, or even on here.  Any of that would be nice, though.  I'll announce a winner at the end of the week, Saturday, October 19th!
*If you are a no-reply blogger or anonymous, please leave your e-mail so I can communicate with you if you win!

We Have A Winner!

Thank you to all who commented on my Give Away blog post.  We drew a name the old fashioned way. HH didn't look, I promise. Dolores won the French General book.  I appreciate everyone of you that said hello and especially my new followers.  Please visit again and see what's going on around here. I'm working toward more creativity this year and less landscaping. Ha! I did something REALLY fun yesterday and will write a post about it on Saturday.  

Take care and have a GREAT WEEKEND!

Rainy Day Decorating

I guess I could be reading a book on this rainy day, or making my Valentines for my family. I have started them, which is early for me. Too often I'm waiting till I'm down to the wire and then I make them in a flurry. It's been unusually rainy and dreary here in SoCal. Today I decided to do a little more winter decorating. It's a mix of winter and Valentine's Day. I don't like to completely put away all the sparkle from Christmas, do you? So, I leave out snowflakes along with pine cones and some greenery.

I found these amazing hearts cut out of antique ceiling tile on ebay.  

They are covered with peeling paint.

I just bought myself this pretty yarn bowl from Christine at Red Hot Pottery.  

I think the handle makes it especially convenient to use. 

It works great!

My friends and I went antiquing yesterday at our monthly barn sale at Matilda's Mouse. Among the treasures I brought home is this velvet See's candy box.  It's in perfect condition. 

I used Rhonna Design's ChalkArt for my Valentine's Day message. You can even print them off and frame them, if you don't have a chalkboard or use them for your Valentine's cards.

There's more to do, but I'm hanging up my decorating hat for the day. Make sure you've entered into my giveaway for a book from French General.  I'll make the random drawing and announce the winner on Friday. Thursday I'm headed into LA to make Valentines for City of Hope with the girls there.  Make sure you read this sweet story. I'm looking forward to it and I'll be sure to take pictures!!!

French General Giveaway

I'm keeping my promise from last week to offer you a giveaway today.  If you haven't been to Elderberry Street before, here's what you'll find here.  Or not.  

There are plenty of antiquing and thrift store trips.

You'll see my ever changing decorating attempts.

 I've recently taken up hiking for exercise.

 I play around with Instagram, Photoshop and my new OlloClip lens.

Sometimes I walk on the beach.

I do cook occasionally.

And there's always something being created, with embroidery or knitting.

Speaking of which. . . you thought I forgot, didn't you? Made you look at all these pictures first.  It's kind of like having to walk through the ENTIRE grocery store just to get to the milk. Well, I'm giving away a wonderful book personally signed by Kaari Meng of French General, called "Home Sewn, 30 Projects for Every Room In The House". It's crammed full of good ideas, patterns and instructions. You'll love it.

All I ask is that you leave a comment.  I'm not asking that you follow me, although that would be nice.  I'm not trying to wring every last new follower out of this.  You won't find advertising on my blog.  I'm not selling anything.  I do hope that you'll come back for a visit and leave messages for me.  It's all about making new friends that have similar interests.  At least that's why I blog.  How about it? You can also find me at  or  This giveaway is open until February 1st. 

Linking up to the "Grow Your Blog" party at 2 Bags Full.

Intentional Creativity

My mind is full of random thoughts lately. None of which is probably interesting enough or cohesive enough to pull together into a coherent blog post. I've been doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  I've spent quite a bit of time with girlfriends lately having long talks over lunch. It seems we all are feeling very similar. I think the New Year brings it on. When I assess what the last year held, I find myself frustrated with time wasted. I want to spend more time creatively and not get distracted by the internet or television which becomes mindless entertainment.  

When I showed you the velvet cuff bracelet I made a month or so ago, I was so excited.  Not because it's the most beautiful thing in the world, but because I made it without a pattern or a class or even "copying" someone else's idea!  I just started and let it work itself out.  I NEVER do that.  I think I am so much prouder of the results because of how I did it.  I want to do more of that in 2013.  

Have you seen on several blogs that in place of New Year's resolutions that are rarely kept, people are picking 'One Little Word' to claim for the new year?  I had some ideas in mind, but after working through this great workbook, I found thanks to Pam Garrison, I whittled it down to:

So, on that vein, and because it was a Christmas present, I'm taking some workshops this weekend at Art of Craft!  I'm SO EXCITED!  Seriously, I may be a stalker.  I'm going to workshops by Rebecca Sower, Charlotte Lyons and Pam Garrison.  There are three others, but I didn't want to take the entire weekend away from HH.  On top of all that goodness, it's held at French General, which I've always wanted to get to and never have.  Whew, how is that for fun and an overload of links?  And, you can be sure that I'll be taking some pictures while I'm there.  I'm really looking forward to being surrounded by creativity.  You can expect to see posts about it next week and am planning on buying some goodies at FG for a giveaway on January 19th.  You heard me correctly, A  G I V E A W A Y!! Shesh, that's a departure for me.  On that note, have a great weekend and I'll "see" you next week! Oh, did you see that number over there on the left?  Only one more follower needed and I'll have graduated to 200 FOLLOWERS! Goodness gracious. That's another reason for a giveaway celebration!

Recycle/Freecycle

We have some electronics and a mattress that have stockpiled around our house lately. They are the victims of some recent upgrades. Actually some we've had for quite awhile. They are going to new homes for people that really need them and can't afford new ones.  Enter Freecycle.  Have you ever tried it? You can give AND receive. Just locate a Freecycle group in your area and join the yahoo group. It's free! I love to give away good things to people that need them.