Another Day, Another Apron!

Okay, I admit it. I've gone crazy for pretty aprons. Here is one I made today. I'm going to try selling it but if not, I'll give it to a friend. It really is adorable for kitchen use or just "hanging" it around.

I've been thinking lately about some of the pretty blogs I've seen. There are thousands on the web and I've only seen a few of them. (I don't have a lot of time to browse.) But anyway, I've come up with something I'm going to start doing because, mainly, I love it. I'm going to start doing some vignettes on this blog. I have several decorating books of stunning homes I could feature and I could also picture some of my own vignettes around my home. I have a lot of them! But starting tomorrow I'll be looking for pretty ones to share.

I might even share a very special chili recipe with a picture of the chili. You probably don't want to miss this one. It is the best chili ever.

Newest Shabby Apron

This is one of my 5 top all time fabrics. It's a Cyrus Clark shabby roses fabric and I have very little of it left. And since they are out of business it is no longer available. Sighhhhhhhhh.........

So I made this little apron and put it on ebay to sell. If it doesn't I won't be unhappy because I love it so much. But I might also give it as a gift to some deserving person.

I love aprons and wear one when I cook. (Haven't I told you before how I feel about aprons?) Hmmmm....... But my favorite is an old butcher's apron that is sturdy canvas. I wear nice ones when someone comes over to visit. But I just love flowery roses ones.

Most of the pictures I have of my grandma and great grandma have them wearing aprons. Aprons were used to dry dishes, kids hands and faces, carrying potatoes in and green beans picked out of the field just to be snapped for the night's meal. Yes, I remember them. I make mine pretty but utilitarian and useful.

But I've even been known to put them on a peg in my kitchen to just stare at because they're so lovely - "eye candy" for me and my friends. Try one. I know you'll fall in love with them also.

My Daughter's Shower!!!!!

About a year ago I decided to add some "pretty pictures" to my bathroom. I couldn't find the shabby chic border I wanted so I improvised. I emailed and received permission from a well known artist, who paints fantastic roses, to copy her art onto some card stock and use as a "border" in my bathroom. I didn't want to buy frames and put up pictures - way to expensive these days - so I just used that "Fun Tack" and put them up there with no frames. It turned out really well until my daughter came to visit. ;-)

She and her hubby came for a couple of days. She was cold and decided to take a hot shower in the guest bathroom. Well, when I went in there afterwards the cards were either off the wall on the floor or countertop or the ink had run on the card distorting some beyond salvation! Well, I told daughter about it but it wasn't a big deal so I removed them.

Then I found a pink toile border that was very inexpensive and looked like it was a Waverly so I grabbed it up from the internet. (Hah.....Let's see her steam that off the wall!!) Jack and I put it up last week but I still had some of those pretty cards left over and I loved them so I stuck them back up with some more "Fun Tack" - easy to use and removes without a trace of it on the walls.

This is the end result for those who may want to do it also. It really is a cheap and pretty way to decorate the bathroom.

Oh, and ignore the shadows on the photos. I'm not taking the pictures over again!!!

Birdhouse for Someone Special

I've been making this little birdhouse for my daughter in law. She is probably the best daughter in law anyone could have. She loves my son immensely. And she gave us 2 gorgeous grandsons! What else could you want? Plus she is very generous to me. When down there a couple of weeks ago she gave me a new bottle of Burberry perfume and it is wonderful. So I decided to do something special for her. She's a "PINK" also - just like me. I have a group on ebay that we call each other "PINKS" because we like, no LOVE, pink. We talk about each other's grandchildren in terms of Pinks and Blues - girls and boys.

We also love roses and just about all of us paint or try to paint roses. I'm the saddest painter of the bunch but I'm trying to learn. Hardest thing I've ever done. But most of us have "pink" houses and some are bolder than others with the colors. But for my daughter in law I decided to be bold and subtle with the colors for this little house. I made the clay roses also. My "icing" didn't turn out as well as it can but oh well, she'll love it because I'm putting a plumeria scented sachet in it to smell up her home.

Winding Down and Memories

Ahhhhh, the holidays are over and pretty much everything is back to normal. I've been crafting and reading but for the most part I'm pretty much laid back lately. Not been posting much, but hopefully that will change with the new year.

I made this little pin cushion as an experiment to see if I could do it. And yes, I can! I used some vintage chenille and some roses fabric (of course) and even put on a vintage piece of an old handkerchief as an antimacassar. Antimacassars are an old touch I remember from my grandmother but I still love that "old touch" and decided to incorporate it into my little cushion.

I love the modern conveniences we have today to make our lives so much easier. Consider yourself "dead" if you try and take away my computer!! But I do love those old times we spent at my grandma's house and the trips she used to take me on. It was a fun time for me.

Once when my father was overseas we went to live with my grandmother in Ohio. She and my grandpa had built a house in a peach orchard. It was a lovely house but my mother told me to not tell anyone it was built in a peach orchard. I never could understand why. It's almost as if she was embarrassed by it. Today if we could build a house in an orchard we'd be considered "upper class"! Anyway, my grandpa would go out and pick a peach and give it to us "fresh from the tree." He'd slice it with his pocket knife and we'd eat it with the juice running down our chins inhaling that lovely peach fragrance and that luscious color. I think I "overdosed" on peaches because to this day I won't eat peaches. I love the smell of them but I just cannot bring myself to eat them any more.

Oh, and the little couch pin cushion???? Well, it just might go to someone "special"!! Ya never know!! Hah