An Afternoon with Tasha

Today a young lady friend came over. She's in my church ward. The other day she and her mother came over to deliver some gorgeous roses from their garden to me since I had my foot operated on. How nice!! Always a pleasant experience. Anyway, when they were here Tasha, age 9 in October, ooohed and aaaahhed at my house, along with her mother. It's truly a girly girly home. So I told her she could come back and make tags with me whenever she wanted. She had never heard of tags but was excited to learn as it turns out. So this morning her mom called and asked if she could come over after school and I said, "Yes, of course." She and I spent a delightful hour and a half making tags - her first experience. Eight year old girls love that sort of thing generally and Tasha was no exception. We had a delightful time. I forget to get a picture of her tags or her but I do have photos of mine.

Time for Tea!

Good morning! I love "tea parties"; although, I don't drink regular "tea." I gave it up years ago, but I do drink herbal teas now. But I thought I'd share with you my "tea party" today. How fun!!

Tea parties aren't about just drinking tea; it's about rituals and traditions also. I have some Old Country Roses teacups and saucers my daughter gave me to decorate and put up for sale on ebay and I have. But I always, always drink out of a china cup. I'm a china collector - plates mostly, but we eat off of china every single meal. It isn't just for show in this house. No, sirreee. It is used every single meal.

In my tea party above I have a lot of pieces that foster memories for me. The little sugar bowl was bought for me by my hubby at an estate sale for a neighbor many years ago. He thought I'd like it as a remembrance of her. He bought another bowl too, but it isn't in this picture.

The teapot is just one of several I have collected over the years. They all have roses or flowers on them in one way or another.

The plate in the background has real thick gold all around it. It is so shiny that is very hard to capture on photos, but it is absolutely gorgeous and stunning in person. I have 4 of them and love them. They cost a small fortune but I won them.

The teacup is, of course, OCR and has a teabag in it called "orange spice" and it is wonderful hot or cold. I always add lots of lemon to my teas because I like them weak and not strong with lots of sweetener. The teaspoon is a set of silver my hubby bought over in Japan about 40 years ago for us.

The little "honey pot" is one I found years ago and has a sentimental meaning for me. It has the requisite roses! :-)

The little pink plate is also gorgeous. I've put on it some faux pastries that I've made. I don't sell them but have given some away. Some of them were made by Natasha in Australia - a very talented lady who is very sweet herself! But I have lots of "eye candy" around my home. It's the only way I could live!! Love it.

The little pitcher is one of several I've collected also. I love pitchers. This one I've used as a vase and put some roses in and have it on my living room coffee table.

The vase of roses actually contains some paper roses I made and painted with watercolors. They are very time consuming so I don't make them a lot, but they are lovely when I do make them. It took me a while to "perfect" that rose.

I've used a vintage tablecloth and a napkin with a ribbon rose I made as a napkin ring........yep, I collect napkin rings also. Have dozens of them. I just put them in a bowl and sit them around usually, but since the move I've put them away somewhere and can't find them.

The little tags are some I printed out especially for hang tags which is my latest endeavor. I always have to be making something or I figure I'm "not doing anything."

So that's my tea party for you today. Enjoy and let me hear from you. I love the ritual of taking tea and chatting with friends about my favorite subject: decorating and creating beautiful things for the home.

My First Tags - Renewed!

These are my very first tags to make! I'm so excited. I just sat down today and spread all my supplies out over 3 continents and went for it. I have to say I actually loved making them. It took me hours to do it all. I'd have to scan and then print and then cut out and then go back and scan, print, cut again. How do you women ever do it all the time?!?!

I love love LOVE message boards because it is instant art in the home. Grab a frame and just start putting things you've got laying around the house for years and didn't know what to do with. I put in cute envelopes I've received, wedding invitations, my old birth announcements, packages of old french soap that I've taken the soap out of but the packets are too beautiful to throw away. I'm not a pack rat by any means but if I think something can serve a purpose down the road I'm saving it for just such an occasion. :-)

Below I've put in a slideshow of the ones I have in my home.......so far. There may well be more, ya know!

My Foot Has Been Tagged!

Vickie tagged me today and I'm only a couple of hours out of surgery! LOL Anyway, I've got to use my middle name initials and only 1 word to describe me from that. I then tag people. I'm tagging Rhea, Katie and Sharon. Oh, yes, that's my very numb foot today in that new chic footwear called "shabby surgery" but I've added a pretty rose flower to kinda "jazz" it up a bit. I'm thinking when the anasthetic wears off I'm gonna be in a loooot of pain. Yoooowww!!!

W - witty!!
R - radical
A - aesthete
Y - young

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

A Bar of Soap & Grandma Juanita

A bar of soap, you say??? Hmmmm, now why would this chick write about a bar of soap?! Well, it is a most unusual bar of soap.

My son-in-law has a grandmother, Juanita, who is in her 90th year and still travels the world. They have been to every single country in the world. They have a travel agent in the family and she gets them the most fantastic deals. I remember when Juanita was 75, she and her husband, Bill, went down the Amazon on a canoe trip. When they got back she said, "I had a marvelous time; although, I wouldn't recommend it for most 75 year old people." !! Yes, those are her exact words. What a pistol this woman is - tiny, always dresses to the "nines" and wears high heels at all the holiday celebrations and is the first one up from the table to wash dishes and put away food!! I hope I'm like that at 90. Heck, I'm hoping I just GET to 90!!! She runs circles around all of us! And that's the truth. I've never seen anyone with her energy.

Anyway, she always remembers us on holidays that we spend down in California with the kids. She gave me that bar of soap. It has a little snowman painted on it and I'm sure it is dipped in wax. Now, what is so unusual about that bar of soap??? Well, she gave it to me about 8 years ago! Yep, that is an old bar of soap. It has not just set around; it has been used! Yep, it is used. Oh, not every time I wash my hands, but it has lasted longer than any bar of soap I've ever had. It has been in a guest bathroom for use, in a hall bathroom for use and is now in my master bathroom and is used. I don't know why it has lasted so long. I sure would like the formula for that bar of soap, but I assure it is at least 8 yrs old!!