Chevron once again…so many memories!

They always say if it was in style once in your life you should not wear it again but that doesn't mean you can't decorate with it again!

Oh, how many of our grandma's loved to crochet those chevron blankets.  My grandma made me a bright yellow one before she died when I was only 7.  Over the years I forgot about the one that she made that adorned her couch at the farmhouse.

Just this past week, my uncle, my dad's only brother passed away and we found among his possessions that blanket!  It was like finding gold.   I am a believer in fate and as it turns out just a few weeks prior I had all of our old family slides turned into photos for my parents for Christmas….and among those pictures was the chevron blanket.

Here is the blanket on the couch with Grandma and Grandpa Thoen and my brother Lance

&

 our dog Bridget.

Bless all of their souls.

The blanket in my home with a "new" pillow 

(by the looks of the previous photo we know where my pillow obsession came from!)

No matter how old we get the comfort we get from the love of our parents and grandparents never goes away.  This blanket gives me much love and warmth on these cold winter days.

Thanks Grandma……love you!

Merry Christmas!

A White Treat Christmas

Love, love my sweets this time of the year and thought it would be fun to put together a plate of White Christmas treats.  White candy cane chocolate bark and sugar cookies cut with snowflake cutters and white frosting are good standards to start out with.

Next I started with an Easter bark that I just love and made a couple of changes for Christmas.

This is the link to the recipe:

http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2013/02/easter-marshmallow-bark.html

Follow as written,  however I substituted all white mini marshmallows instead of the pastels and sprinkled with white sparkling sugar.  I cut them into small bars and they looked just like mounds of fresh snow in the sunshine!

Enjoy!

Mason Jar Christmas Gift

Mason jars are back! 

 There are so many creative uses for these ever lasting jars.  For a little home decor or a great gift you can embellish any size jar you have at home.  (Don't have any? craft stores or thrift stores are a good place to look.)

For these I cut a burlap band and  a strip of velvet and hot glued them in the back.  An inexpensive rhinestone brooch added the bling!  Just clip off the pin and glue it to the velvet.  You can also use burlap or velvet on the top of the lid to finish it off.  A battery operated tea light adds a little shimmer.

The possibilities are endless with different fabrics and ribbons.

Finishing up the bathroom…..Yeah!

We started on a bathroom remodel a couple of months ago and felt no rush to finish until the holiday season was upon us!  All we kept original was the whirlpool tub, and if we did keep other items they received a do-over.

One of those projects was a wall hanging.  The original was a vintage piece of wallpaper (still attached to the wall it came from!) that was placed in a new wood frame from Michaels.

 The color scheme was being transformed so the wall piece had to change as well.

First, I downloaded a graphic from Etsy:

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/AntiqueGraphique

 and printed it out on fabric.

To print on my fabric I ironed on a piece of lightweight fusible(I used Heat-n-Bond Lite) web to muslin, cut it to 8.5x11 and printed directly on the fabric side.

Since I used a lightweight fusible web I just removed the backing and ironed on the printed fabric to black burlap.  The frame received a quick coat of paint, a little distressing was done and I added glass to protect the fabric.

Here is a quick peek at the home made finished vanity, so happy how it all turned out.

Thankful for My Own Farmhouse

What a nice Thanksgiving we had with our old farmhouse filled with family and friends.

The turkey and fixings have settled and now it is time to start dreaming of 

A White Christmas and all of the loveliness that entails!

An early Thanksgiving

We celebrated today with my parents.  Once again my mom prepared a delicious and beautiful feast.  The meal started with the antique turkey plates.  They bring such joyous memories to us all.  I remember when my kids were little and I was scared to have them anywhere near the table!

The meal was completed with a homemade apple pie (and pumpkin cheesecake)!  A wonderful finish for a blessed Thanksgiving meal.  We are so lucky to have family to share with.