Happy New Year-Favorite Projects of 2009!

Last year I did a top 10 favorite projects post. Actually, I did it in January, (which you can see here), but since this is the last day of the year, I thought I would just go for it. After looking at my posts from the year, I realized that I was pretty lazy about taking pictures of many of my completed projects.

So, here we go! In no particular order, here are some of my favorite projects of 2009!

Lined shopping cart trio.

Vintage wallpaper clipboards

Vintage wallpaper jewelry boxes

Another shopping cart trio

Barkcloth and vintage floral pillows

Display cabinet with vintage wallpaper

Shabby sewing drawers

Shabby buffet

Fancy blingy belt buckles

Cute vintage minty dresser

Soldered Collagey Christmas Ornament

Ruffley pantaloons

Reflector ornaments

Soldered charms

Cute apron

I forgot to include the project craigslist furniture I got this year and transformed, but you can check it out if you want to, on this post.

Wow, what a slacker I've been. ha ha Seriously, I do feel that way a lot. I always seem to have so many ideas for projects I want to do, but like some, I struggle with what to do first and waste a lot of time doing nothing. I don't like to make New Year's Resolutions as I always break them, but if I were to make one for 2010 it would be to spend more time being creative. That sounds like a fun resolution, don't you think?

As this is my last post for 2009, I want to wish you all a wonderful New Year. Here's hoping 2010 will be a great one!

Happy Holidays!

I finally got around to taking some pics of my holiday decorations. After I took the pictures, I realized that I was missing some of my favorite holiday items and my husband informed me that there was another box of decorations in the garage. Great! So, I still have a few more things to put out, but this will give you an idea what I have done so far.

Remember the ornaments I made recently? Well, I decided to make for one for myself out of my last vintage metal reflector and some fun bits.

The completed tree. This year I kept it very simple using only silver, gold, white and crystal ornaments. I spent a few hours in front of the tv making the paper chain out of an old dictionary. Kind of blurry, but I found these old metal tea strainers tucked away in a drawer and glued on some vintage tinsel and a little bling. Love how they turned out. I also took my collection of vintage rhinestone buckles (13 of them) and hung them on the tree for a little more bling.

Here's another one I made. I didn't, but you could fill them with some dried lavender for a cute and good smelling ornament.

Love this little bird that was a gift from my sweet friend Martha. Another of the buckles.

I got this adorable ornament from Debbie at Monticello. She had several for sale in her space at the Holiday Sale (still going on) and it was tough to decide on just one.

This lovely was also purchased at Monticello in Vicky's booth. Love the sparkle!

Another make-do idea I stole from my good friend Mitzi. I loved how she hung vintage chandelier crystals on her tree so I dug through my collection and hung a bunch too. Most of them are like these with three crystals. I like them because they kind of remind me of snowmen.

Here are a few more shots from around my house.

Some of you have probably seen this advent calender before. I made it at Joy's house a couple years ago and I just love it. I used a lot of my favorite things on it. It was really easy and a fun project to do.

My favorite antique mesh purse with some faux holly.
Candy cane I bought from Kathy at Colby Cottage when I was down visiting her shop in Eugene awhile back.

And finally, a few snowmen.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little of my holiday spirit. Today the hubby and I spent the morning doing a little shopping. We came home, I took a nap and then took both my kids to the dreaded mall. It's a good thing I had that nap. Actually, we had a really nice time and everyone found what they were looking for. I wish I could say I was completely done with my shopping, but unfortunately I still have a few things to buy.

I hope you are all enjoying these last few days before Christmas and are not getting too stressed out. I'll be back soon with another "dreaming of Paris" post.

White Wednesday-Another Simple Project

Several months ago, my sweet and clever friend and biz partner, Isabel, posted a tutorial on making easy pillows out of button front shirts. You can see that post here. Last week while out thrifting, I came across this little shirt. White, lace, buttons. Too small for me to wear, but...ah ha! It would make an adorable little pillow and I had recently bought a feather pillow form that would work perfectly.
This project was so easy and took less than 30 minutes to complete. If you have been reading my blog for while, you know I love me some easy projects. I am all about the instant gratification. Probably one of the reasons I stopped making quilts. Took too long. I will make quilted pillows which can be completed a lot quicker. But these shirt pillows take the cake for a cute, and quick project. Now that I made one, I will definitely be on the look out for some more shirts that can be made into pillows.

I had hoped to show you pictures of my completed holiday decorating, but unfortunately I'm still not finished. The tree is mostly done, just a few more things to put on.

I just noticed that I have reached 100 people who have signed on to follow my blog. Wow! I'm so touched that you all care enough to stop by on a regular basis to see what I've been doing. Thank you so much! I'll be back soon with those holiday pics I keep promising. Until then, I hope you are all having a great week!

Holiday Fun

I have been busy this past week spending time with friends, making visits to my mall spaces and getting ready for the holidays.

Last Sunday was the Christmas Cookie Exchange Party at Laurie's house. This was my first year and let me tell you, these ladies were no amateur cookie makers.

Isabel made her yummy Palmiers with chocolate drizzle this time. Yum!























I made some Spicy Pumpkin Cookies. (Recipe at the end of the post)























Sweet Natalie made her awesome Coconut Lime Bars which won the Barn House Flea Market Cookie Competition last year, so it was no surprise that they won again as best, non-chocolate cookie.

Overall, it was a really fun time and I met some amazingly talented women including this gal. Have you checked out her blog yet? She is a fabulous photographer and such a fun person.

On Tuesday, I hooked up with some of my old friends from college. Paul, who I recently connected with through Facebook is currently "between jobs" and is housesitting at an incredible, almost 6 million dollar house directly on Lake Oswego. I was lucky enough to get the jaw dropping tour and fortunately it was still light enough to witness the fabulous view of Mt. Hood. Here is a link to the house if you are interested in checking it out. Paul assures me that if I help sell it, I will get a cut of the commission. ha ha

After the grand tour, Paul and I drove up to see Stephanie in Camas. She was recently married and it has been years since we last got together. I even got to meet her adorable 5 year old daughter, Sydney.

Here are Stephanie and Paul.

The three of us.

Sydney

It was hard to get a picture of Syndey as she got a little tired and grumpy as the evening wore on. But she did entertain us with her Hulk hands. We had a great dinner and visit and made tentative plans to have a pizza party with all of our families at "the mansion" in January.

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to be invited to the adorable Sheila's house to craft. Remember Sheila from this recent post? Isabel, Joy and another sweet lady named Jan also came to work on soldered houses.

Here's a picture of the one I made already hanging on my Christmas tree. It was fun to do both sides so I can turn it over if I want. Almost like having two ornaments in one.

I still have to finish up the tree/house decorating, but promise to share some pictures when I do. Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll be done. Until then have a great weekend and here's my recipe:

Spicy Pumpkin Cookies

1 c. shortening

1 c. flour

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 c. all purpose flour

1 T. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1 recipe cookie glaze (below)

chopped nuts (optional)

In an extra large bowl, beat together shortening and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy. Add pumpkin and egg; beat until combined. In a medium bowl, combine flour, spice, baking powder and baking soda. Beat into pumpkin mixture until combined. Spoon by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool on wire racks

Spread glaze over cookies and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired. Makes 42-48 cookies.

Cookie glaze: In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 c. packed brown sugar, 3 T. butter and 1 T. milk. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in 1 c. sifted powdered sugar and 1 t. vanilla. (If frosting becomes too thick, stir in a few drops of hot water)

Fun Weekend

It has been a really fun weekend and it isn't over yet. On Friday I loaded up my posse (Isabel, Adrienne, Kate, Jean and my Mom) and we headed over to Kathleen's sale in Mt. Angel. I didn't get any pictures, but you can see some of her adorable things on her blog.


We then headed down the road a little further to attend Joy's Holiday Open House. This is the third year that I've gone to her Open House and it gets lovelier every year. Joy's eye for detail is just remarkable. I was too busy looking at all of her cutie decorations that I didn't get any pictures, but Isabel and Adrienne took lots, so I know they will be posting about it soon. You can check out some pictures of Joy's Open House a few years ago here.



As mentioned before, here are the little Christmas ornaments I made and took to Monticello. I think they turned out pretty cute. I've had these tin reflectors for a while and just decided to add a little jewelry to them. Simple and sweet.


Today we will be going to cut down our Christmas tree and the decorations will be coming out.


I have a fun cookie exchange party that I will be going to as well, so I better get baking. Have a lovely Sunday!

White Wednesday-A Fun & Easy Project

Ever since I saw Isabel's pantaloons at Farm Chicks, I wanted some too. Then last summer when Linda was visiting, she had some cute ones too. I definitely had pantaloon envy and have been looking for some to call my own. I think they are just too adorable poking out from under a skirt or dress.

I decided if I was going to own some pantaloons, that I would probably have to make some for myself so that's what I did.

First, I found a pair of cute linen crop pants at Value Village a few weeks ago for $4.99. I thought I would just add some rows of lace or ruffles to the bottom. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them so they just sat there while I did other stuff (like watch netflix movies on my computer.)


Yesterday I was in my very messy sewing room and I picked up a Shabby Chic curtain panel off the floor and spied the ruffles running along one side. (Insert lightbulb moment here!) I had bought that panel at a thrift store awhile back not really knowing what to do with it, but hello, it had ruffles, it was white, it had swiss dots and it was cheap. Enough said.


I decided that I would just cut off the ruffled part and sew it on the bottom of my pants and voila!



Instant adorable and super duper easy! I think I will just have to wear these to a Christmas Potluck I am going to tonight. What fun! I even have enough of the ruffles left to put on a cute apron so that will be another project to work on later.
For your viewing pleasure, here are some more White Wednesday pictures from around my house.

Hope your week is going great! I'll be back soon to show you those Christmas ornaments I made.