A Charming Noel

Today is our annual holiday charm swap...just a small group of great friends sharing a potluck lunch, laughs and charms...Heaven!

I created these charms from some pieces of metal probably from the front of a file cabinet. The bits of red paint were already on the metal. Bonus! I Mod Podged Midori paper on the back and printed out the NOEL on sticky-back clear paper (I use it in landscape design to label drafted plans on vellum) that I also Mod Podged over to protect the writing. Then I attached some bits of bling and a charm is born.

My fruit salad is made; hostess gift is wrapped; my charms are ready; now off to my charming day!

PS...I will post photos this afternoon/evening of the charms I received in return!

Holiday Goodness!

December Burger Day with the girls is always terrific....Burgers AND holiday gift exchange! This year I did my shopping at 2nd Saturdayz and I found the exactly right gifts. The Tree (for Beth) was from Lori of Cinnabarblue, the Mannequin (for Colleen) was made by Linda of Luluz and the Wreath (for Judy) was assembled by Deb of Garden Party.


Here is a close-up of the pretty wreath details.

Bunny always loves to help and is looking good in the Midori silk ribbon box.

I made some initial ornaments from wire and Midori silk ribbon as nametags. And I will post a super-simple tutorial on these next week!

Wrapped the gifts up in creamy dreamy pieces of silk sari, added some ribbon and the ornaments and the gifts were good to go. Fabric is a great wrap: recyclable again as wrap or can later be used in crafts and is very good for odd shaped items. And who doesn't need a piece of silk sari?

Happy girls with full tummys and full hearts!

Colleen, Beth, Me, Judy



2nd Saturdayz was #1

Loved being a vendor at last weekend's 2nd Saturdayz Holiday Show!

The lovely organizers, Linda and Deb, made us feel so special...even shared a beautiful and delicious dinner by candlelight with us...Ham and scalloped potatos from Geff and treats from some of the rest of the vendors. And the table was decked out, of course.

A few shots of my booth.

And some of my tiny treasures.

 I made the necklace from a drilled out serving spoon and attached the porcelain rose and added green rayon ribbon to suggest the stem.

The stockings were made from wire and then wrapped with silk Midori ribbon.

My friend Sara makes the best handmade soap...

This display by Dawn of Great Findz was breathtaking. She is so very talented.

Mom and Ophelia helped me set-up on Friday...Love them! And Doug was on duty for tear-down...Love him!

And a big thank you to all my friends that came by to say hello! Hope you had as much fun as I did!

Happy Holidays!

Hooray for Craft Days!

Tuesday was going to be an 'outdoor' project day, but Mom and I just didn't want to be out in the rainy rain. So we gathered up the shrunken, felted wool and a couple of cats and crafted all afternoon.

Spicy watching the thread go in and out...hard to resist.

Bunny just chillin'...

Mom has been working on these pretty 3-dimensional Christmas trees.

She hopes to have enough for a little forest on her coffee table this holiday.

I worked on pillows for the upcoming 2nd Saturdayz sale. I have always loved this wool blanket with its creamy dreamy background and soft rose flowers and holly leaves.

Now it has become some comfy cozy pillows.

Hooray for indoor craft days!

Dressing vs Stuffing

What do you call it? There are lots of websites that discuss this, for instance, Serious Eats. Entertaining to say the least.

Our family calls it dressing. Mom's Sausage Dressing to be exact. Ambrosia. I have made the dressing for my family for the last several years without Mom to taste it. She will be here for Thanksgiving this year (yay!) but I am still going to make the dressing. Why? Because I can finally have her fine-tune my attempt. I want to KNOW how to make this dish.

The basics are easy peasy with a simple ratio of 1:1:1:1

Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
large chopped onion
chopped celery bunch, including top
loaf of cheap bread, cubed
Cook sausage, add onion and celery, season with sage (lots!) and pepper and cook till done. Add to bread cubes in big bowl. Mix. Add chicken broth until all is moistened and combined really well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake in oven at 350 for 45 minutes or surround turkey with dressing and bake. We then love to crisp it up in a pan, folding the crispy bits into the dressing over and over. And we add turkey juice and chunks of turkey or the giblets (not the liver!) to the crispy dressing. And the next day...forget about it!...even better. That is why I make a triple batch!

Enjoy your family this week...and your food!

Drumroll please...

Thanks to everyone for entering my Domino Clock giveaway! I put the names in a bucket and Mom pulled out the winner. It was very exciting!

The winner is Susan Gillmor! Congratulations.

And because we couldn't stop ourselves, we drew another name for another Domino Clock...Jeannie, come on down!

So, if you both could email me your contact information I will get your Domino Clocks in the mail.

Thank you to everyone who entered.

Colleen's Cupie

One of my favorite birthday traditions is Burger Day with Colleen, Judy and Beth. We gather at the Ranch Drive-In in Bothell; grab a Ranch burger; and ooh and aah over giftwrapping and gifts. It is so delightful to give to (and received from) these fabulous women. They 'get' the good stuff and the glittery stuff and the French stuff and the repurposed stuff and the rusty stuff.

Birthday Girl, Colleen with gifts to unwrap.
Wrap is as important as the gift with these girls!

This fall it took us months to finally celebrate Colleen's September birthday. Colds, surgeries, vacations all coincided (or collided!) to keep us apart. But yesterday we made it happen. It wasn't burgers, but pizza delivery to Colleen's because we just couldn't wait any longer! She called me bright and early Wednesday morning and said "Pizza at my house and bring my birthday present!" Yes, ma'am!

I had picked up a slightly imperfect Cupie doll awhile back and altered her ala Colleen. She turned out so ding dang cute (as Colleen likes to say!) From her tulle-covered jello-mold tuffet to her typewriter key crown this gal just exudes cuteness. And so does Colleen!

Thanks for your help, Delilah!

I had put together a little Halloween favor for everyone. Vintage crepe paper rolls complete with stickers that I had found in a Frederick & Nelson box at the Everett Goodwill Outlet. Score!

easy peasy wrapping and instant festivity

And then, Beth had treasures for us from France...oooh la la. I received a Lady of Lourdes picture in my home's warm colors, a fabulous champagne glass, gorgeous knife and a mystery wood item that is so sculptural. If anyone knows what it might be, please let me know.

I am blessed with great friends who love what I love, love to laugh

and it really can't get much better than that!

A 'Timely' Giveaway

The reason for this giveaway is two-fold.

The first reason is that I am so happy to have 'gained an hour' this weekend...Yeah, I know, it is all in my head...but that is where I spend most of my time anyway so that reason works for me.

The second is I am so grateful to all of you for your support of me and Lisa's Little House.

So, one of my homemade Domino Clocks seems appropriate. The photo was taken by Kate Baldwin and is from our book, The Salvage Studio, Sustainable Home Comforts to Organize, Entertain and Inspire. It is one of the 35 projects listed in the book. Your clock will vary slightly. I have two to choose from and I haven't decided yet!

And if you don't win, and don't have our book (!?), you can click here to see me on YouTube showing you how to make one. TaDa!

Oh yeah, here is how to enter the giveaway...

• Leave me a comment on this post with a link to a mention of this giveaway on your blog. Easy peasy!
• Bonus points if you are on FaceBook and 'like' my FaceBook page.
• You have until Midnight PST on Sunday, November 14 to comment. I will be announcing the winner on Monday, November 15, probably after I have my coffee!

But seriously, thank you for all your kind words and support! I really appreciate you.

A Farm Chicks Christmas

Serena of the Farm Chicks is hosting a booksigning at Chaps in Spokane AND a virtual online booksigning this Friday...I ordered my book to be signed by Serena and friends...have you?
Order The Farm Chicks Christmas book from her website here by 1pm on Friday and you too can be part of the celebration! And there is also a giveaway going on to boot...so be sure you check the posts for details.

Mom is here!

Vintage stitchery on our mantle...a picture (with words) is worth at least 1000 words!

Mom is here for the month of November...we are so excited!

Doug flew over there last week and helped Mom winterize the house. And then they drove over together.

Hopefully we can convince her to stay into December.

Keep your fingers crossed!

We are having a baby!

Well, don't get too excited...it is the "royal" we...but exciting nontheless! My sister, Ophelia and her husband, Micah are expecting their first baby! We are all aflutter here. I FINALLY got the A-OK to tell the world.

Ophelia is through her first trimester, so felt comfortable with announcing it. It has been so hard to keep my mouth shut...and as some of you know (who 'knew') that wasn't easy. I was even telling strangers at the grocery store! That seemed alright...because 'they' wouldn't tell anyone we knew, right? And if you didn't know, don't feel bad...I must have been having one of my 'good' days.

Well, this is Mom's first grandchild so it is really big for our family. And since I was twelve years old when O was born she is kinda like my quasi-kid. No spoiling for this baby, huh?

I got out my scrapbooks the other day, looking at some early days photos...

Ophelia barely walking, waving to us 'big kids' playing outside 1976

O hanging with me at my first apartment. She loved coming over to spend the night! 1983



Ophelia and Micah on their wedding day, May 1, 2010



I got to hear the baby's heartbeat at the midwife appointment last Tuesday. Still takes my breath away!

Baby is due mid-May...we can hardly wait!

Ruffles and Rust and Resting

Ophelia and I on Blogger's Ball night...Thanks, Phil for making my lovely sash!

What a weekend!

Set-up went as smooth as silk...mostly.

Kay Mitchell of The Weathered Rose passing out delicious New York Cupcakes.

The Blogger's Ball was a glorious event filled with prom dresses, sparkly jewelry and laughter.

Julie Sotomura of Photomura in her blog finery. Love the sash made of photo slides!

Julie helping Cindy Pestka of Artgirl-Island don her sash.

Sale day on Saturday was non-stop shoppers, wide-eyed with wonder

for all that we had created to make this a special occasion to remember.

And tear-down took place at lightning speed...trying to avoid the rain

that had thoughtfully been absent for most of the weekend.

A big thank you to Timi and her Posse, my family and friends,

 the other talented vendors and the supportive shoppers who made us all feel so special.

And now we get to rest...until the next fun shindig!

Cheers!

A Family Affair

We all have family...some is by blood, some by marriage, some by some other bond...some other connection. 

My sister, Ophelia and my husband, Doug were my lifeline, support, minions and sanity before, during and after the great weekend adventure of Ruffles and Rust! I truly could not have done it without their love and support. Plus we had a ton of fun!

My junking family is my other bond and connection. They 'get' me. The love of the hunt; the creativity; the chippy; the treasures; the history of the junk. Like me, they see the potential; the beauty underneath. They don't judge...they support; smile; admire; accept.

I am a lucky girl!

My booth...warm and cozy!

So if you came to Ruffles and Rust, you know what I am talking about. It was a creative masterpiece. A great big room filled with hundreds (thousands!) of people with one goal in mind...to celebrate our collective creative process.



Necklaces I created from spoons and porcelain flowers.



There is still so much to process from the whole extravaganza. So watch for another post about this most marvelous weekend!

Hillbillies

The truck is loaded and ready for set-up day for Ruffles and Rust. Whew...

I feel like we should have Granny sitting on top in a rocker!

Here we go......

See you soon!

Of course I wood!

No, it isn't a typo or a grammar snafu. I really like things made of wood. One of the happiest days of my life is when my friend Susan and I discovered I had hardwood floors under my ugly carpet!

I have been so busy assembling, creating, repurposing items for the Ruffles and Rust event (in less than a week! Yikes!) and my favorite things are made of wood; simple boxes, table tops, benches. Maybe it is because I love nature and trees; maybe it's the many grain patterns and colors of wood; maybe it is the warmth and strength it symbolizes.

And plain wood is transformed when waxed. Here is the difference between two wooden boxes. The top one is waxed with the Beeswax Wood Polish I made from Amber Dusick's recipe. It brings out the natural warm color of the wood. Yummy!

Hope to see you at the Show. Don't forget you can print out a $3 off coupon for Saturday's admission from my blog sidebar. Come visit me at Lisa's Little House!

What is your favorite 4-letter word?

Mine is FREE!

What did you think I was asking...really people, this is a family show!

My buddy, Cindy Pestka is teaching a free workshop on

La Dia de los Muertos 

this weekend at the Kirkland Library.

Cindy is a hoot-and-a-half and an excellent instructor.

You can get all the details on signing up on her blog, Artgirl Island.

A boy and his new tricycle

My man is notorious for bike accidents. Three big ones in the past five years. First time he busted his arm; second time his wrist; this last one he was lucky but still two months later the swelling hasn't gone down in his knee! So we (I) decided training wheels were in order. He has dreamed of owning a TerraTrike for a long time. And he has been eating so healthy and has lost nearly 30 pounds this past year, so frankly, he deserves this reward.

Friday he worked from home so he could be here when his new toy arrived. This trucked pulled up (how big is this bike anyway?)

and Doug was grinning from ear-to-ear as he ran to help unload his new mode of transportation.

Of course all this activity got the neighbors involved (we have the best neighbors EVER!)

and the unboxing ensued.

Then the playing in the box ensued.

We took turns taking it for a spin. What a fun ride!

So Doug has already logged onto Should I Bike to see if the weather is suitable for his debut ride to work tomorrow. Hooray for sun! And wish him luck!