A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

merry christmas!

 

Blessings to you and thanksgiving for every good and perfect gift which is from above coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change and in who there is no shadow of turning! Merry Christmas!

soaking it all in

Not much time for blogging lately as we're trying to soak up the last of the holidays before they slip away. So many good things going on that the computer doesn't have quite its usual pull on me.  Some baking, lots of gift making, more crafting, reading A Christmas Carol, trying not to be afraid of the ghosts, hanging out with friends, wrapping gifts, working half days, and wishing we had made time to put up a tree but making the best of it.

 

 

 

 

Hope you are enjoying every minute of this sweet season. Now get off the computer and go bake some cookies!

friends help friends do art

While I was working on making art journals recently, some friends stopped by and saw them. Since then, they've become addicted to journal making and even bought a sewing machine to bind them up! That's my kind of addiction. I couldn't wait to show off the amazing work they've been doing because I knew you'd appreciate it. First, Aaron's book.

 

The boy sewed right through the hard front cover of the book--yeah! As if that wasn't enough, he crocheted his own tie closure. How cool is that??

 

Did I mention the pen pocket in the front of the book? Take a look at those creative pages.

 

 

 

 

Are you amazed? Now just take a look at Lorren's book!

 

This simply elegant cover gives no hint of the intricate beauty inside...

 

 

 

 

Can you believe that this is the first time they've ever made anything like this before?? I am so proud of them, not just because of the excellent journals they made but also for thinking "I want to do that!" and then just jumping in and doing it. So many times we let fear of failure, of trying something new, or of not being good enough stop us from taking a chance with art and we miss out on so much.

Is there anything that you've always wanted to try but haven't because of that little voice telling you you can't do it?

another reason to love mexico

Some pretty fabrics I picked up just over the border. And I probably don't have to tell you how cheap these were compared to US prices. The brown and blue has a suede-like texture. It will be a tablecloth eventually. The yellow stripe makes me think I need new pillows for the patio furniture; and, maybe, some embroidery to make it shout out my name.

 

 

 

And my favorite: Mexican oilcloth. I got 4 yards of this first pattern for about $9 US. If I didn't love it so much, I might actually feel guilty about it. The pink was a gift from a friend. Does she know me or what?

 

 

These came from Matamoros, but I think we're going to try going over to Progresso this week to do a little Christmas shopping. It makes up for having no good thrift stores in town.

a little virtual tour

Welcome to my virtual home tour! This time, just a few of my favorite things so you can see some of the changes we've been making around here lately.

 

I'm madly in love with these Anna Maria Horner fabrics. I just want to drape them all over the house. And I did for a while. I chose Centerpiece in teal to recover my $1.99 thrift store chair. It may be painted eventually but, right now, I'm liking the worn wood. I'm wishing I had painted the embroidery hoops red, though, before I stretched and hung them, but I'm too lazy to go back now. Gotta move on to the next thing!

 

 

A random display of treasures: pretty patterns, one of my collages with an image of my grandfather and his twin sister, a photo of me and my dad when I was a child, John's grandfather's pocketwatch, my grandmother's glass pitcher with her handwritten note tucked inside.

And then there are birds and more birds. Here's another thrift store find, a metal hanging planter spray painted the perfect blue. It is happy here for now, but once I get the rest of the walls painted, I'll probably move it so it contrasts with the wall behind it, whatever color that may turn out to be. I'm also thinking about decorating the top of the basket with twisting crochet ribbons. The perfect tin star from Mexico was a gift from a friend.

 

And if you're starting to feel a lot like Christmas, check out the 12 Days of Xmas Exchange blog, Lelainia is posting a new wrapped gift each day until the 13th and then comes the best part: the unwrapping!

how to give your husband a heart attack in 4 easy steps

 

The living and dining rooms in our house are mainly open leading right into each other. We do have this modern-ish dividing wall setting apart the dining area that I've always wanted to do something with but couldn't decide on one thing. Then one day a couple of weeks ago, around the time I should have been cooking dinner, I realized I needed color on that wall bad. It had to happen right then and, if I hated it, I could always paint over it later.

Step 1: After rounding up all the paint you have on hand, quickly sweep on coat of blue latex paint with a dirty sponge brush.

 

Step 2: Dribble a bit of pink latex paint onto the wall using a paper cup and then spread it around with an old credit card before it hits the floor.

Thankfully, I had some left over paint from the rest of the unfinished house projects. And a stencil that looked about the right size.

 

Step 3: Pick out the biggest stencil you have without really thinking about what the design is, then begin stenciling plum acrylic randomly over the whole thing. After plum, do the same thing with red, blue, pink, green, then more pink and more blue until you're bored and ready to move onto the next project.

I worked on it for the rest of the night and most of the next afternoon and this is what I came up with.

   

 

 

Step 4: Admire your work!

I love it when inspiration and energy hit at the same time! You can see that I still have a lot of work to do arting up the rest of the house. There's still the other side of this thing. And I'm having a hard time deciding on a color for the living room behind the dividing wall. Definitely something bold. Any suggestions?