Some Holiday Pics

 Here are my two little sweeties on Christmas Eve.....   Aren't they AdOrAbLe?  One has curls and one has straight hair, one has brown eyes and the other blue.....

 My middle child Bryan just loved the Moscato.........  So now I call him Hey, Moscato.  LOL

 No Louisiana Christmas is ever complete without some LSU gear........  Kaitlyn is in her sophomore year at LSU....

 Here she is with Amanda, Bryan's girlfriend, opening their monogrammed pink and brown slippers from The Royal Standard.....

 The perfect sentiment........ Live Well, Laugh Often, WINE Much 



My 89 year old mother with the scrapbook I made for her.....



Johnny and I in front of the Christmas tree.........  Can't figure out how to rotate this photo.... HELP!



Waiting for Christmas....

Blogging has seemed to take a back seat in my life lately. I'm in the midst of remodeling one bathroom and changing the flooring in the other. That'll have to wait 'til a later post though... For now I'm linking up with Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch to share my holiday table. I've had my Christmas decorations up a while now but just haven't stopped to upload any pictures. I kept my table simple this year, used my Noble Excellence Night Before Christmas dishes with my everyday white china. The chandelier is decorated with shiny Christmas balls and my apothecary jars are filled with the same balls in a smaller size... Doubleclick on the photos for a close-up view... I searched high and low for some nice Christmas napkins but came up with nothing. Guess that's what the after Christmas sales are all about. Ha!

A friend gave me some adorable wine charms that add a festive touch, don't you think?

Not sure just yet what I'll serve in that huge Noble Excellence bowl..... a nice salad? Homemade banana pudding??? I would just LOVE to purchase the entire set of Noble Excellence china.... Hmmmmm, a girl can always dream, right??? :)

Here's my Christmas tree in front of my nicely cased windows. I'm getting my house in order little by little and it feels so wonderful..... Stay tuned to see some major bathroom renovations!

Merry Christmas, my friends!!

Terri

Lots Happening Round Here

I put my Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving this year. I guess going over to decorate my mom's assisted living apartment put me in the holiday mood... I love the look of my mantel from this angle! I bought some of those battery operated votive candles to give them a try.... My daughter can't have candles in her on-campus apartment so we bought a pack for her. I love love love them and went back for more for me! When they're turned on in my JOY snowman candleholders on the mantel, you'd swear they were real votives. The light flickers just like a real candle. The lights on the left side of the swag have decided to go out on me since this picture was taken. Just can't figure out why all my light strings tend to do that! Here's a view of my tree.... Doesn't it look nice in front of my newly cased windows?

And a closer view.... My grandgirls are coming over today. I'm going to have them write a Christmas list for Santa to slip into the LETTERS TO SANTA ornaments. Trying to start a tradition with that.... Hope to pass those ornaments down to them for their own children one day....

But the best news of all is that I'M GETTING NEW TILE TODAY!!! I'm starting with the master bath and will tackle the hall bath next weekend. This is something I've yearned to do for years and years. When my former husband and I built our home 18 years ago, our budget was lean by the time we got to the flooring. So we put sheet vinyl down instead of tile, which is what I really wanted. It's coming up and there'll be 16 by 16 inch ceramic tiles laid in its place. WOOHOO!!!! Stay tuned for updates....

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Xmas.....

My parents never had a nice Christmas tree..... For years they had the silver kind with the rotating color wheel. My kids were FASCINATED with that tree..... And then they bought a small artifical tree that usually got set up the day before Christmas. They just didn't get into decorating for the holidays like I do.... So I decided that this year my mom needed a nice tree that would make her smile when she looked at it. Her assisted living apartment is small so it couldn't be a full size tree... Here is what I came up with..... I love love love the combination of bright red and lime green! Doubleclick on the pics to enlarge them.... I ran over to Walmart and picked up some cheap garland and used the limey green ribbon to tie it all together.... Wish I had strung lights through the garland as well..... Sorry for the quality of these pics, I took them with my cell phone camera. Merry Christmas, Mom!!!

Today I'm tackling my tree!

What a Difference Five Years Can Make.....

Here are my two precious twin grandgirls wearing their momma and daddy's Air Force BDUs in honor of Veteran's Day. Aren't they just DIVINE? Five years ago they were wee babies and their daddy was fighting cancer. Today they are happy, healthy kindergarteners and their daddy remains in remission. Life is good. Happy Veteran's Day, all!

It's Starting To Look A Lot Like...............

Happy Sunday, my friends!!! You may remember way back in June when I blogged about some neat Christmas resin ornaments I found for a song on the clearance aisle at Tuesday Morning.... I loved them so much that I visited every Tuesday Morning in town to scoop up as many of those 29 cent babies as I could. Click here to go back to that post. I hid them away in the spare closet to await the holiday season.

Fast forward five months and take a look at the first of my gifts wrapped and adorned with those sweet ornaments..... Doubleclick the pics to enlarge the images.....I fell in love with the gold polka dotted paper and got it 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby. I tied the ornaments on but they kept sliding across the paper and marring it, so I bought the white netting and tied it tightly over each ornament to hold it in place. The netting is sheer enough that the ornament shows through.

I'm pretty proud of my gift wrap theme for Christmas 2010...... I love the contrast of the whimsical ornaments against those shiny polka dots.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back today! Check you later; I'm off for more gift shopping!

Terri

My Garden Redo

I'm linking up with Kim over at Savvy Southern Style for her very first blog party and sharing photos of my newly redone front garden. It was a JUNGLE, I kid you not..... Scroll down to the previous post to see the before pics.... I hired a tiller guy and with the help of my man Johnny, they ripped out the old plants and brought in top soil to build the beds up. The sagos had been planted way too close together so we dug them up and potted them. Doesn't it all look wonderful???? The holly plants will grow to three feet high and three feet wide so we placed them accordingly. Can't wait to see them once they grow a while. Take a glance at those small lights out front..... you'll see the replacements in just a bit.... The angel has been temporarily replaced with this rusty scarecrow that I bought at the Canton Craft Fair a few weeks ago.....

And once that garden got done, the front door looked so very SHABBY.... So we sanded it and painted it a dark mahogany red, scrubbed the tarnished brass handleset shiny once again, and finished it all off with a nice brass kickplate.... Be sure to doubleclick on the pics to enlarge them.... I haven't yet decided what to plant on the right side of the house in front of the kitchen window.... I want something that flowers.... Any ideas or suggestions???

And here are my new lights........ They put out a beautiful glow at night. My sagos are looking a little rough but I'm praying they will make it. I added a nice fall wreath and a grapevine garland to welcome my guests.

Here's a nice night shot................. Isn't the glow lovely? The large picture window on the right has remained shutterless but I'm thinking of having matching shutters built.... Any thoughts on that?

I can't wait to cover those beds with net lighting at Christmas time...........

Front Yard Redo Before and After

It's AMAZING what two weekends and a little sweat equity can do for a front yard.....

Here's a "before" shot. My yard was a mess, a real mess. I love working out there and regularly maintained my flower beds until my daughter was accepted at a wonderful high school that happened to be 45 minutes (on a good day) away from home. Despite carpooling with another family, I spent many an hour on the highway until she was old enough and experienced enough to make that drive by herself...... and my yard suffered. DOUBLECLICK on the pics to enlarge them. Pretty disgusting, huh? Those sago palms were planted WAY too close together and the border grass was encroaching into the bed.... And the Japanese magnolia had not grown an inch in five or more years. I originally had beds on both sides of my front walkway but I let one of them grow over and neglected the heck out of the other one. And I planted things piecemeal without any real master plan. When I'd pass those houses with gorgeous yards, I'd dream of what mine could become.....

All summer Johnny and I talked about how we might redo the yard..... But we decided to wait until cooler weather to put our plan in motion. Our original plan was to rent a tiller for the day but when I found out how expensive that would be, I decided to see how much more it would cost to hire someone to do the tilling. One call later and I had a very reasonable offer from a guy named John that was too good to pass up...... Are you ready to see the complete and total transformation???????

Isn't that about the prettiest raised bed you ever saw in your life? My entire house has a completely different appearance now. After much debate, we decided to pull up and pot the sagos. They are showing slight signs of shock but I really think they'll make it.

We alternated Japanese Yaupon Holly with Indian Hawthorne and accented with variegated liriope. The hollys will grow to three feet in both height and width so we spaced them accordingly. Didn't John do a wonderful job with that tiller? Not to mention his very hot looking assistant... tehee... We plan to put in another crepe myrtle at the stucco corner to balance off the other one.

Here's another shot....

Home Depot has a new ground cover called Mexican Salsa that I fell in love with.... It's currently their Plant of the Month. Weeds are always a particular problem around those roots so I thought that ground cover might help stave them off..... I'm not sure what I want to plant down the side of the house so you can see it's left bare. Any suggestions?

Just in case you forgot how awful that yard was, here's another before shot....

Next dilemma....... The front door is worn down to the bare wood from that blistering afternoon sun. Johnny suggested that we paint it a pretty glossy red. We narrowed down the choices to two.... And I painted a little sample of each on the door because I need your input. Which color do you prefer, burgundy wine on the left or sweet spiceberry on the right?
Thanks for visiting. Please take a moment to stop in and say hi and DO come back now........

Napkin Rings Made of What???

Back to school is always a busy time for me and I've been coming home and crashing on the ole sofa......... I think I'm becoming a sofa ornament. :)

I've been collecting wine bottle corks for years now without nary a single idea as to what to do with them. Suddenly, VOILA! When I started putting this fall tablescape together, an idea popped into my head. What about cork napkin rings???? What do ya think of these? Double-click for a closeup view. The corks have that earthy feel that goes so well with fall foliage. I shared my inspiration with my man Johnny and off we went to Lowe's. After looking at tubing and PVC pipe, we selected a short length of PVC in just the right diameter for the rings. One hacksaw later (I love that gadget) and we were in business.....

We sliced the corks in half lengthwise and cut half inch rings from the PVC. The flat side of the cork halves were then glued around the outside of the PVC rings. What an easy project! I picked up the orange and green leaf dishes at Ross for $1.99 each..... I love the way they bring out the colors in the centerpiece. That old crow couple came from Big Lots years ago. They make me smile everytime I look at them.

Don't forget to hop on over to Susan's sweet blog Between Naps on the Porch to see more beautiful tablescapes.

The placemats that I picked up at Pier One over the summer have completely lost the beachy feel now that they are used with fall decor. They make me think of a cornucopia. Here's another view of one of the napkin rings.....

They need something inside to cover that ugly PVC pipe, maybe a strip of burlap or a earthy toned ribbon. Still working on that....

Here's a birds eye view of the entire table.

Those two are some quite contented crows, don't you think????????

Here's one last view...... May the fall colors bring cooler temps here to hot and humid south Louisiana.....

Happy fall, y'all!!!!!

Goodbye, Sweet Lazy Days of Summer

It's back to school time here in Louisiana..... Grrrrr......



In an attempt to sttttttttrrrrrreeeeetttttcccchhhh out the last few days of summer vacation, I'm posting a pic of my starfish chain that I copied from one I saw in a high-end gift shop in Orange Beach, Alabama. It was easy-peasy to make.... Just start with a long piece of jute and tie shorter pieces along the way. Then wrap the opposite end of each shorter piece tightly around a starfish leg and apply a little Tacky Glue to the backside. I attached some seashells for interest and VOILA.... a little taste of the beach to bring home and enjoy...... And no, I had NOT been drinking when I took this shot.... :) Even though summer vacation is ending, I'm not going to take it down until this ferocious heat starts to slack off...... Somehow colorful fall leaves just don't mix well with 100 degree temps.

Paint N Party and A Little TLC

It's Saturday afternoon and I should be washing and cleaning but it's just way TOO HOT! How's that for a plausible excuse? :) It's soon to be BACK TO SCHOOL time and my cohorts and I got together for a painting party last Monday night. What a fun group of people! That's me on the bottom row, second from the left. Don't you just ADORE my masterpiece? Bet you can pick the art teacher out from this group.... Hers was very Picasso-like and just beautiful. I'm going to hang my canvas in my office to remind me of the lazy days of summer. Doubleclick on the pics for a better view...
Here's a close-up shot. The purple paint was a little runny so I decided to kick things up a notch and add some detail.... Zinfandel brings out my creativity. LOL

Here's a shot (a lousy photo shot) of my new cased family room windows. Don't you just LOVE the way they look? I bought the wood with a primer coat on it and it hasn't been painted yet. I'm going to use the high gloss white that matches the rest of the trim. I'm a little undecided as to whether to leave them the way they are or put up a nice rod and some valances. Suggestions would be welcomed...... I had valances that I made from a Waverly fabric on them for years but grew tired of the navy, burgundy, and hunter green print and took them down. The room definitely looks larger and more open without them....

I NEED A NEW CAMERA!!! My DIL figured out when I got this one and told me that she's had THREE cameras in that time frame. LOL Cheap old me. Do you see my outdoor wicker chairs on my back porch? I've been watching the sales on outdoor wicker all summer and finally caught a good one, 30% off at Big Lots. Will post pics later once I find a cute table to go between them.....

Happy August!!!!!!

Terri

100th Post and Tablescape Thursday

It's time for Tablescape Thursday once again. Special thanks to Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting this weekly event. Today's post is my 100th and I can hardly believe it..... Oh, how does time fly.......

On my last trip in to Old Time Pottery, I found this beautiful red and yellow quilted table runner marked down to $4.39 and just had to have it. I looked high and low for coordinating placemats and napkins, but they were all gone, every last one. There was just something about those sunny colors that hooked me and it made its way into my buggy. When I got home, I started looking around for objects that would complement the runner. I had totally forgotten the red canape plates I scored at TJ Maxx for $5.99 a few months ago. They match perfectly, don't you think? The yellow tulip arrangement that usually resides on the side of my whirlpool tub was bought at a garage sale for $3.00...... My only new purchase was the golden yellow napkins from World Market Imports, 6 napkins for $9.99. World Market has just gotten in an assortment of gorgeous colors from yellows to reds, purples, blues, and greens.....and I want em all! That store is quickly becoming my favorite.

I used my Southern Living at Home glass-topped tray to ground the flowers on the colorful runner. The fleur de lis napkins rings came from The Royal Standard a while back. Lil Brookie broke one of them but luckily they were still in stock when I returned, so I was able to replace it. Pllllleeeassse ignore the messy countertop in the next picture. I have developed a severe case of the late summer lazies.... happens every year like clockwork....

The little birdie topiary came from Tuesday Morning. Isn't he cute perched up top of that imaginary bush? Here's a close-up of one table setting....

And here's one last view of my thrifty red and yellow tablescape..... Doesn't it just SCREAM fajitas, chips, avocado slices, and sour cream??????? Ummmm, I think I know what I'm having for supper tonight...

Thanks for visiting and do leave me a comment, please........

Terri