Colored Pencil Wraps

I saw this on Pink Chalk Studio a long, long time ago and now you can find the pattern in Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, which I've really enjoyed and recommend to others.

My nephew Hay Hay is getting one and maybe some other children if I'm in the mood to finish them. :) My things to do list is long and time is getting short.

My tip for this pencil roll is to use the walking foot as is suggested. I can't find mine since we moved and I thought I could get by without it. I did, but it doesn't look near as pretty. Hoooo Boy! Hayden won't care, in the end. :)

 

Robin's Egg Blue Kitchen

We're not quite finished with the decorating but here is a late evening snap shot of the eating area. We were exhausted after painting all day but I was so excited over how it turned out, I had to take a picture before bed. It's a spa blue paint from Home Depot.

When I first began with the cut in work, I thought, "oh no...what have I done???...I hate it!"....wishing I had gone yellow or something else for the kitchen. Robin's Egg Blue is my favorite color (it's already in the master bedroom). It works almost as a neutral, as everything seems to go with it, especially browns, yellows and reds...especially reds! Yummy! In this picture, it goes nice with the greens I set out for Christmas.

It turned out so pretty and it's sweet during the day when the sunlight hits it, giving it a peaceful, cozy glow.

I love allowing my inner rebellious child write on the walls of my house. I wrote a quick blessing behind the fridge. Now I have to go and hunt down more secret places to write more messages. LOL It's so much fun.

Vintage Stitchery in the Hall Gallery

I collect stitchery. I have a mixture of things I've done and what I find in thrift stores. Usually I have them spread all over the house, but this time I hung them up as friends.

I'm working on unpacking and decorating before my perfect sister gets here. She thinks I have too much junk and I think her style is cold and boring. LOL We used to share a room. She used to be dirty and I was the neat freak. Now guess who is the neat freak?

Awwwwwww....sweet memories of sitting with my grandma while stitching this one up. I spent the night with her on Friday nights and she would always teach me something domestic. This was my first cross stitch. I had already crocheted my sister a sweater by this time. I started it when I was 6 and finished when I was 7. If you look closely, you can see where the 6 was erased and the 7 replaced it. This picture makes me a little sad too, because I see I'm a Craig by now and no longer a Woodruff, meaning my step dad had adopted us and my Daddy was no longer allowed to see us. Long story for another day...or maybe never. I don't like to think about it.





This one was in my mother-in-laws house forever. It's a P for our last name. Since my husband is the only son, guess who got all the "P" stuff. LOL I love it. I think it's the only needlepoint I have.


This was on my mother-in-law's dishwasher forever too. The kids grew up with it there and always wanted to turn it back and forth telling us if the dishes were dirty or clean. They asked for it when going through her things, and they got it. I thought it was so sweet...of all the many beautiful things they could have asked for (and they did get some cool stuff) this was the sweetest request. I think if you give a child a choice over gold or memories, they usually pick the memory. My kids didn't ask for anything valuable...just stuff that reminded them of Grandma.

Blue and Yellow Lusterware

I have an old corner hutch covered in white peeling paint that I cherish. White makes every color of dish in my china hutch pop out, so we can enjoy it. I change it out at the beginnning of each season.

I'm in the process on unpacking my green depression glass. I think I'll go green and white here this December and leave the ruby glass for February.

This was my mother-in-law's lusterware, which the kids and I have always loved. We lived around the corner from her for years and we would go over for morning or afternoon tea. The tea cups are petal thin.  Maybe it's my imagination or the love we shared during our tea parties with the kids, but I never had such a wonderful cup of tea in my life.