~Happy Halloween

Wishing You a Happy Halloween!

Thank you for your notes on my husband's painting. I love his art and I wish he had more time to paint now. But it was so much fun sharing it with you.

~New Art Prints on Etsy, My Sweet Husband's Art

My Sweet Husband's Art, now available in Prints on Etsy!

Of course I think he is an amazing artist. But it's really so much fun to be able to offer prints of his work on Etsy. We have discussed these for so many years. But most of the art shows he displayed at did not allow prints, only original work, so we never got around to having them made.

Looking at the slides brings back so many memories of all those years of art shows! What work that is. It's hard to describe the whole gypsy style of going town to town selling art. It's much easier when you are really young!

~Snickers, Pumpkinheads & Bears

Pumpkin Head Guy and his Sidekick Bear, who is guarding the Snickers.

It's about time to say Trick or Treat and then pack away all the Halloween decorations. Halloween was such a big holiday when I was a kid. I think it was because it was one of the few times we ever got any of that junk to eat. And it was free, just for knocking on the door and politely saying Trick or Treat!

I remember more how excited my daughter was. I wish she would still go out Trick or Treating, but at 28, she just won't go. But she still finds the Snickers bef0re the little kids get here. But that's kind of part of the plan of the Holiday.

Make it a Most Wonderful Day!

~Your Tears Are My Prayers, Create Beauty

There are no words to describe the heavy heart so many of us have seeing what has happen to our friends in California. Within a few years the scorched Earth will be more beautiful than ever from all the ash. But the loss of lives cannot be replaced. One of the most beautiful group of words I've ever heard or read is in Liz Gilbert's book Eat, Pray, Love, the Italian phrase "Your Tears Are My Prayers." I was surprised that words could so accurately describe how you feel someone else's pain.


Create Beauty, Everyday.... Each day we have the choice of which door to enter through. I love doors, windows and gates, they almost always lead to somewhere.

This is a fabulous photographer that I believe Creates Beauty in the World,
Leah, of Mia Bella Vita. Her photos will warm your heart.

Have a Safe and Happy Weekend.

~The Perfect, Crooked Silver Teapot

Most of the time I tend to avoid garage sales and thrift stores. But I've spent a few hours at them anyway. Consignment stores I actually like a lot and often find things in them.

When we bought our first house we checked out garage sales a couple of miles away where they were usually gutting beautiful homes just to make them larger and grander. Usually making them no longer look as though they were a part of the original neighborhoods. Since we were trying to make our little tiny place a bit nicer, we found windows, doors and things like that. But it never quite made our tiny bungalow grander, thank goodness.

This day we were in a messy little store that we found by accident. My dear friend Kim finds such interesting treasures at her Good Will store, we decided to look for one while visiting the antique shops in a nearby small town. We now try to get out for more day road trips in part because of sweet Pat, who first enticed me to look around for trips that were close to home. The Good Will was a bust for me, but they usually are. What might look amazing in Kim's home with her fantastic style of decorating, doesn't always translate as well into someone else's home. And then there is Rhoda who loves garage sales, and often finds things to sell in her store, and even found something I needed once!

So this day we found the messy store, consignment type, with boxes of junk. Not necessarily cool junk, that I love. This was just junk. Stuff that someone didn't want, and neither did I. However, moving things around and looking a bit harder did begin to yeild a special treat here and there.

Sweet Hubby was busy looking for whatever he thought I might like to use for art. He came over with the perfect find, a silver teapot. He knew that I had just brought home a proud arm load of tarnished silver pieces and had been so pleased when I showed them off to him. Now he found a new treasure.

I looked at it, and it had seen better days. Much better days as a matter of fact. The top was bent and didn't look like it was too easy to fix. It was a bit overpriced. And I didn't need it since I had just bought a few items the same size and shapes. It was however perfect, in every way.

Here is stands. The most perfect old, tarnished silver piece I own.
I often use it in some arrangement in the living room or entry area. Every time, it reminds me of the wonderful day we spent together. My kind and caring husband began going on these little excursions just for me. I think now he enjoys them quite a bit, just because we are together and he likes seeing me find something special. We no longer have to go to thrift stores and garage sales because we can't afford to buy things new. Now we go to find something special from the past and to make our own memories.

So here it is, my treasured gift, the perfect, crooked, tarnished, silver teapot in a wonderful, imperfect, little house, which happens to shelter my heart, my family.

Halloween arrangement: The Crooked Teapot, new vintage style Halloween Cat in a Pumpkin, Real Gourds, newer Silver and Glass

**Thank You! to dear Teresa at Plum Water Cottage for the Smile Award!**
Sorry I always forget to mention these things.

~Halloween Give Away Winner! is...............

Congratulations. Elaine!

You are the Winner of the Halloween Give Away!

Thank You
to each of you for coming by
and leaving such kind and sweet comments
for the Give Away and Everyday!

~Halloween Give Away! A Little Treat

No Tricks, Just a Little Treat!
You know how I love a Give Away and what better
time than when "Trick or Treat" will soon fill the
air along with the cool breeze of autumn!

It's a Double Treat.
A discount at my Etsy Shop and a Give Away here!
If you purchase anything at my Etsy Shop wait for me to send you an invoice and I'll take 10% off the price of the item. Everything is being sent out Via Priority Mail, so you will have it within just a few days and in plenty of time to enjoy of the Holdiay!

And....The GiveAway is this wonderful
little Boo Ghost Art right here!
I think you all know how to play the game
in Blog Land

Just leave a little note on this post by
Sunday, Oct 21st. The name will be picked then.
This will be mailed on Monday, so you will have it next week!

~Celebrate ~Autumn

It's a new season, and it feels a little bit like it today! I think we might stay below 90*. Now that's a cool down.

This pretty French iron type flower basket has been sitting waiting for its closeup. The other one you've seen and I've used it for lots of seasons. I found this one a couple of years ago and I am just now getting around to using it. Even with some old elements in it, it seems like a brand new look.

But I forgot to get Halloween on the door before the Fall Decor!

I got a quick picture of it as it gets the spotlight of the sun and falling leaves today. This will go back up after the Halloween decor comes down.

I hope you are having a wonderful day and that your weekend is a good one!

~Thursday, Re-Creation....Delightful Dolphins & Dessert Lady

Even though beach time didn't work out on Sunday, I had this adventure planned for mid-week, Discovery Cove. The plants are so spectacular. Don't you love how they have the walkways leading to the water areas planted?

Simply beautiful.

The lazy river is quite long and you swim most of the way. With a floaty thing, it's not that hard and you do have areas where it is not as deep. It works up a good appetite for the nice meals they offer as part of the admission. Kind of like cruise food.

It is way too easy to take all of this for granted in your backyard. It isn't until I hear all of the accents and listen to how much it cost others to come here that I really appreciate it. This is such a wonderful place to relax. We got annual passes to Sea World so we can come back to Discovery Cove at a discount for the next year. Yipeeeeee, sounds good to me.

We spent quite a bit of time just watching the dolphins and their interaction time with the humans who come to be with them. Funny, no other animals pay to spend time with humans do they? :)
I've done this twice and it was an amazing experience to touch these magnificent creatures. Oh yeah, we get a kiss, too!

So after spending hours and hours swimming, snorkeling and beaching, all I could think of was the fact that I had ordered chocolate cake at several places lately and none were really great. Somehow I came to my senses and instead of going to the "Dessert Lady" and eating 5 portions of different cakes, we went to one of the health food stores and got the best chocolate cake, by Just Desserts. It was worth every single calorie and bite of fat! After working all morning doing more gardening, it was easy to rationalize it anyway.

I think Saturday will be a great day to go visit Renninger's Antique Market. I wonder what we will find this time.

~Monday ~ Re-Creation...Believe

Saturday Adventure

I love the Sea and so many of her creatures. Although I did visit the sharks too, they don't quite hold the same place in my heart as the dolphins and the whales.

The theme of the whole Shamu entertainment is "Believe." First picture is "Shamu" swimming towards us, and then a shot with a human just for size comparison.

Sunday beach time was cut out due to extreme weather. But I have a couple more quick trips ready to go the rest of the week after a nice day of weeding and gardening. :)

I hope you are all having a great start to the week.

~October Already!

Soon the leaves will be turning even way down here. The color is just beginning to make a change. It so interesting how many people love the Fall. But by the end of winter, Spring will be the new favorite.

But for right now, we will relish the beauty of this season. Happy Fall!

The only larger art collage that will get done before Halloween I think. A little holiday next week. Maybe the beach, if the storms in the Atlantic let up a bit. We'll just have to see what will be good for re-creation next week.

Have a Great Day!

~Always Room for One More Boo!

I'm so glad you asked about how to do the back of the chairs and that I share that little tid bit of information of how I do it anyway. I always take things apart to see how they are made, and this is basically what it looks like.

Hope you are having a Kind and Bright Day!

New in Shop on Tues.

~Happy Monday, the Backside of a Good Tale (2 Chairs)

You know what? The backside it the easiest part! Oh you are not the only one thinking it was tough. I did it the hard way for a while too. The toughest was when I did the dining room chairs the first 10 times :P because I knew it wasn't forever and I did not want to do anything permanent. So I made fitted inserts and used velcro...no room for error. Oh that was work! The picture here is the way they are now, and it's done the easy way.

Now the secret.
If you look closely, you will see that the cane is actually installed on the front and then there is a piece holding it in place. Turn the chair around and look at the back and you will see the the cane is snuggly inside that area you just looked at on the front. Gently push the cane away from you. See, there is a tiny space.

That is where the fabric goes. You have about a half inch of room. So you do need to cut it pretty close, but this isn't that hard at all.

Get a larger piece of paper, newspaper works well, just messy on your hands.

Then lay it against the back of the chair and make a template for that area to cover the cane. I like to make an exact one first then cut the larger one.

So cut this a little bit larger at first, then put it up to the cane area, check to see how it fits and trim it a tiny bit at a time until it is the exact fit for that surface area.

Hint: Be sure to mark the FRONT as the side facing you, and mark Left & Right. The opening will be a different from side to side. And you may want to center a pattern.

OK, take the perfectly fitting template and make a new one by taking a ruler and just marking dashes around it about 1/2 inch larger. Connect you dashes and cut it out. If you are using very expensive fabric, make a test piece out of cheap stuff like an old sheet or muslin.

Take your final piece of fabric, center it so that it is 1/2 inch over the inset area on all sides.

Now, gently push it into the area between the cane and the back of the chair, with a blunt tool. A butter knife from your eating utensils works well, or a large flat head screwdriver.

Your are "stretching" this piece, which means that you start at the middle of on side and go to the middle of the opposite side, and top and back. Then you work your way in a little a time 3 or 4 tucks then go the opposite side.

Soon you will be done. Although you can use some glue, I have found that the area is usually tight enough that it is not necessary.

If you feel antsy about making the fabric so small, just start with a 1 inch extra border and cut it down as you feel it is a perfect fit.

**SOLD**THANK YOU**

New in the Shop, a Boo Cone & Other Goodies!