Christmas 2012 - Gingerbread Men & Little Red Farmhouse Table

 My son came in from playing hockey outside to get a drink one day when he was 12.....and i asked him if he'd draw me a picture of a chef making spaghetti..meaning ''when you get time'' but he just grabbed a pencil and drew that standing there at the kitchen counter!!.....then just went outside to play again like nothing happened!......his drawing ability was always incredible like that.......12 yrs old!.......he made the gingerbread ornaments that are hanging on the rod in elementary.....and he gave me the ''mother embroidery hoop'' for christmas when he was 6.............i made the big gingerbread men to go on our front porch posts one year..............now they are all together on my little red farmhouse table.......along with the vintage embroidered linen hanging on my oven......

 

Christmas 2012 - Pink 'n Blue Cherished Teddies, Bunnies 'n Critters on dee Hutch

blogger is broken, it adds pix i didn't ask it to add.....oh well...lol...till i learn how to use this dang thing, i may as well add a caption to this photo i did not intend to add!!! (old lady ditz here)...we use this hutch for all of our snacky types of food......i figure it's prettier than just using another boring kitchen counter, lol......

 my daughter made that gorgeous pink clay vase in high school and she let me have it...very generous, creative soul she has........my mama gave me the little mother/daughter baking together music box because she said it reminded her of my daughter and i........it's very sweet <3

 at christmas time, i tend to get out more cute critters........i started collecting "Cherished Teddies" about 25 yrs ago.....so far i have 2 ;)........the little bear mama in her little red dress & holiday apron holding the christmas cookies, and her little girl bear.....i added the ''off-brand'' bear boys....they remind me of myself and my kids.....actually i got the little pink girl bear for my daughter that year....hmmmm so far we both have one whole Cherished Teddy bear in our collection!!! hahahhahahaaaaaaaaaaa.......

blogger, why are you so dang bearoken, lolololol........i wanted a pink 'n blue tree to go with my Teddies 'n critters so i made these little pink 'n blue candy ornaments from pipecleaners....cute!

ridiculousness!....2 pix of the same tree i made the pink 'n blue candy ornaments for....and blogger splits up my captions.....THEN for heaven's sake,  what's that below???!! OH MY!!.....

more pix below that i did not mean!!......ridiculousness!!....

anyways......i made these little green trees for my sink window from the wrappers that came with the Florida Oranges my dad sends me every year........he passed in august,so this is my first christmas without my daddeeee.....i know.....terrible!!....all your childhood memories come flooding back when daddeee goes home to heaven, trust me, it's not easy and i will now never ever be able to toss away these silly paper trees i made last year!!!........

count your blessings....cherished memories are among the best ones we have.......<3

 i love that basket......i found that for $1 at a 2nd hand store in town.......cheap 'n gorgeous suits my budget just fine!......lol......

dami brought home those adorable little terra cotta pots, they had herbs in them......i placed them on my kitchen sill, nurtured, watered, fertilized and loved them with tender care.......they, of course, promptly croaked!!! lololool........hence the term: "faux paper trees susie had to make to fill up those dang empty terra cotta pots".........i refuse to be undone......''tenacity'' is another name for ''refusing to die like lame zee herbs on a woman's sill'' :)


grandmommy always said "bloom where you are planted''....which is pretty hilarious, considering she, her mother, her mother's mother, and on back forever in the generations of women behind me.....and her daughter (my mother) and my sis and me......ya......WE, the women of this family more than know how to create something when the herbs decide to move on outta our cute little pots......

my grandmommy grew tomatoes on the patio of her nursing home till the day she passed.....what a gem she was, i wish i had half her talents and green thumb.......:)

Christmas 2012 - Little Vintage ''Washstand"

I've always loved vintage washstands (a love which was instilled in me during childhood by my oh-so-talented mother, who one day found one, and brought it home from one of her ''infamous treasure hunts''.... she and/or daddeee refinished it, and it was always in the corner of our living room.... hanging over it, was another treasure find: the old bird cage she painted gold with the faux fern and little finch inside).....


so when grandmommy gave me this little adorable bookstand-table, and a friend gave me this adorable shelf, i teamed them up and made a "Lil Washstand" area for my vintage linens and dreams.........

ha...my cute little wooden house BEFORE i blew out those darn candles and spilled wax on the roof...oh my i'm such a dang ditz!!!........

 

my daddeeee's mother made that little white yarn wreath in her 90's....he gave it to me last year to go along with the crochet'd candle and candybowl holder she made me when i got married in 1980....born in the late 1800's, my first year married was her last christmas, and i treasure these mementos of her handiwork........ she used to crochet us vests and ponchos in the 60's so we could be groovy baby~! lololol.....

my mother gave me that adorable wooden house,  gazebo &  victorian greeting card behind it and the little tree......more stuff she found on her treasure hunts.

 i just found these 2 adorable watering cans for .25cents a piece at a yard sale last month....i love them......

part of my collection of vintage linens & crocheted doilies.....faux vintage signs......little round sweetgum pine cones from our yard........

for some christmas cheer, one day i made the glittery pipecleaner wreath,  and the wreath for the door from bread ties......i love simple easy ''found crafts'' like that.....whip 'em up and you're good to go....

 adorable....i love how the vintage crocheted placemat's scalloped edge looks against the dark patina of the decorative edge of the table.........i live for cute little decorative details like that that catch your eye, lol......

we are gonna ignore the fact that i always forget that when you pick up a candle to blow it out, it drips wax all over the place if you tilt it..............ergo: we will figure out how to get that dabbnabbit wax off the top of my dang wooden house!!.......incredible how dumb i am at times...over 50 yrs of blowing out candles, you'd think i could remember that by now!! lololol.......we live, god laughs :)

Christmas 2012 ~ Living Room Tree - #1

 ~Welcome and Merry Christmas~.....please excuse the rose topiary on the left of the doorway, our huge marmaduke sized labrador mixed muttster dog loves to stand in that doorway and bark at the top of his lungs at us to ''hurry up bark bark bark, and get done with your dang bark bark bark dinner, so that i can bark bark bark have your leftovers, bark bark bark nag nag nag wag wag wag my bull-inna-china-shop tail all over mommy's pretty red rose topiary till it flings itself petal by petal onto the floor and is now leaning over like the red-rose-topiary-tower of pizza".....lol...

 I love how the tree lights reflect across the room onto the dress of the renoir poster....so sigh dreamy....always such a treat when beautiful surprises like that happen.......makes you feel like the angels do watch over us always, to help you along in life & to see the beauty and light in the world.......

I wanted pink ornaments, so my daughter and i made these one year.... we pulled out all the pastel acrylic bottles we had, mixed some colors of our own, painted, and covered them with iridescent glitter and bobbles.....fun night crafting Christmas memories.....darlin', us girls do so love to paste and create, lol....

This photo below shows the bird painting to the right of my dressing table, i can't decide if i want it on that wall, or next to the paintings going down the hallway......so for now,  it sits undecided, like so much else around here that refuses to get into it's designated place....oh sigh, always up to me, poor lil susie all tuckered out and don't wanna decorate no mo.... lol.....where's my cookies on this post!?!. ;p

 I love this view into the warm cozy wood walls of our dining room....

 I made that shabby wreath (above photo) last year.....it adds the perfect soft accent to the other romantic decor....

I love how this grouping on each side frames the doorway entrance into our dining room...and yes, one day a christmas miracle will occur and i will finish painting the living room!!! glory halleluiah when that day finally comes! lol......it's a beautiful color of behr, uhmmm coffee something or other.......opps i know, so long since i trimmed it out, i now forget the hue! plus have to start all over or it won't match!...lol........i'm slow as molasses, lololol.......so for now, just enjoy the christmas pretties <3

 hello wonderful free wreath i made from stuff i had on hand...i love you, you are scrumptious and look divine, serene and softly romantic....the perfect touch and just what i needed to help complete this room.....

Thank you for stopping by.....Merry Christmas from our Hearts to Your's.....susie <3