Loving the bit of sunshine!
Loving the bit of sunshine! A Dollar Tree find. A little Easter tree adds that finishing touch.
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How to preserve a memory of a loved one and also have a neat decoration for your home? What about a small memory box with a pair of shoes worn as a baby, a pocket watch used as an adult and a picture of that special person. I wanted to preserve these precious, little shoes, they are so very fragile. Aren't they adorable? I used a memory box from Hobby Lobby (size 6 1/4" by 8 1/2") a pocket watch and a picture of the owner of these special items. I placed the shoes carefully on each end of the box first, that way both sides of the detail of the shoe will show. Carefully placed the pocket watch with a glue dot on the side that would not show. Then with many tries of putting in and taking out the photo, placed the photo in the box with a small piece of double sided tape to the picture and placed it the box. Placing the back onto the photo box carefully and hoping everything looked good. Even if you don't have shoes worn by a member of the family, buy a pair at a vintage market and place in a small photo box. I will show in another post a pair of white shoes that I have done a similar placement too. Joined this Awesome Link Party:
What does it take to pull off a FABULOUS TEA PARTY? A sparkly, pink, gorgeous cake. A Venue- How about Billy Vanilly in Topeka, Kansas. They have a beautiful area for a party and as long as you order your cake or cupcakes from them it is FREE! Awesome! They also have GLUTEN-FREE CUPCAKES!!!! BEAUTIFUL CUTE LITTE GUESTS The Details: 1. Start planning early (2-3 months). 2. Contact venue for date and time. 3. Order invitations. 4. Order cake. 5. Obtain hats - I ordered hats from e-bay. I thought the brims were too small, so I ordered more of the same kind. I took the extra ones apart, I then sewed the extra onto the hats. See the hat above. (Contact me if you need more information) 6. Obtain, pearl bracelets, gloves and boas for the guests. 7. Birthday girl had a different hat and long gloves, along with a boa and pearl bracelet. 8. Order gifts for guests. Each girl received a bag from Oriental Trader with sm:)e imprinted on them. 9. Obtain a guest book, this can also be used to record gifts that were given. 10. China tea cups, china plates, tablecloth, voile for the chair bows, linen napkins, table decorations and real silver was used. This was provided by me the Grammi. 11. Entertainment- Miss Spider's Tea Party was read to the girls as they enjoyed their cake and tea. And a keepsake: A photo book from Persnickety Prints for the birthday girl with a muse written by her Grammi. Love those old photos of family! I want to leave a history for our children. Those old photos are getting pretty cracked and the pixels vanishing each year and who can even identify some of the people in the photos! This is a photo of my husband's family that I have scanned, photo-shopped and added a little pizazz. I am not sure his mother would appreciate the pink I added to the handker-chief headband. I am going to have the photo printed in a 5" x 5" print by Persnickety Prints. If it turns out well, I may have an 8" x 8" printed. The weather has cooperated for doing this kind of work, snowy and cold! After the photos are scanned, I will put them on a flash drive that is going in a secure lockbox. If you want a photo re-made and with a little pizazz, contact me. This little girl, who happens to be my granddaughter loves to dance. She watches Angelina Ballerina and Dancing with the Stars, so this new kit for my creative team was perfect for Cortlynn. Also, the song by Pitbull and Ke$ha was a perfect title for this scrapbook page! Twinkle Toes by Karen Diamond Designs Close-up of one of the many blooms on this pick-me-up January violet. I love lots of light in our home, helps with seasonal depression and making violets bloom like crazy in winter also. Photo of the many blooms with a Photoshop action by Florabella Collection. Love the play on light of these photos. Same photo as above without the Photoshop action. Can you say truly vintage? I am in the process of changing my home to truly shabby chic décor. I have always been a closet lover of chippy, white paint, give me a paint brush and I will paint everything white. My first home was a beautiful Victorian home, so several of my pieces are fitting perfectly into this phase of my life. So this special gal is looking pretty impressive on my newly painted wall on the sun porch. She was in pretty good shape other than needing some cleaning. The notepad and pencil are long gone, which would have been her original use. She has a slight crack on the very front where the notepad would have gone and the hole in the front where the notepad went was just not to my liking so . . . . . My original plan was to use chalkboard paint where the notepad had been and write in chalk something cute. I did paint it, but the hole was still bothering me. I decided then to try and use some black cardstock paper and a stamp with chalkboard ink, left over from my paper scrapbooking days. I cut the paper to fit over the hole, used a cute stamp with chalkboard ink and . . . . What do you think? A cute Vintage find repurposed! My Design challenge kit this month is Rooted in Faith by Karen Diamond Designs. A challenge for me, but it all came together when I thought of this giving and wonderful couple. Lieu and Helen are the driving force behind Loaves and Fishes, food pantry in Berryville, Arkansas. They were called to serve and they serve our community each and everyday. Helen was also the pastor who married our daughter and son-in-law. Thank you Lieu and Helen. This beautiful, female, pileated woodpecker added a sparkle to this cold and snowy, winter's day. This large woodpecker is native to the Ozarks year around and can usually be heard before being seen. Is she looking at me taking her picture? These birds make me think of the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker. A girl needs to look good even though it is snowing! A second chance for a clarinet that was stored under a bed for over fifty years. Yes, this mint condition clarinet in the original vintage box, but it is plastic! Does anyone know the history of such an instrument that actually sounds and looks like the real thing? Karen Diamond Designs digital scrapbooking kit Second Chances. Christmas Bell Ornament brought home from a trip many years ago to Czechoslovakia. Shabby Chic Christmas presents wrapped with love. White poinsettia on our tree. Merry Christmas Christmas Beautiful I remember my Mother making this salad but with strawberries. I love strawberries but lately the raspberries in the markets have been so fresh and pretty, I decided to try fresh raspberries, and it was delicious as well as beautiful. Added feature is the sugared raspberry and the touch of mint. Glutino Pretzels There are a couple brands of gluten free pretzels on the market now and they are all very tasty. I have never been a fan of pretzels, but gluten free pretzels are crispier and really good. GLUTEN-FREE Raspberry Jell-O Salad/Dessert Preheat over to 375 degrees Ingredients for Crust 1 1/2 cups well crushed pretzels 3/4 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar Crush pretzels in a food processor. Combine with butter and sugar. Pour into 9" x 13" baking dish, bake for 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool completely, Ingredients for Layer Two 1 8 ounce package cream cheese 1 cup sugar 1 container cool whip Blend cream cheese and sugar until smooth (4-5 minutes). Fold by hand cool whip into mixture. Spread evenly on cooled crust. Cover dish and refrigerate until mixture is chilled. Ingredients for Layer Three Raspberry Jell-O, 6 ounce package 2-3 cups fresh raspberries Dissolve Jell-O and stir until completely dissolved. Let chill (stirring every 10 minutes) until partially set. Fold raspberries gently into Jell-O mixture. Pour over cheese mixture and cover. Tips-Additions: To add that sparkle. Sugared raspberries (I used large crystal sugar): after coating raspberry lightly with egg white, pour sugar onto raspberries. Sugared raspberries can be frozen for later use. I used mint leaves for presentation with the sugared raspberries. Joined These Awesome Link Parties
Christmas luncheon table decorations. Snowflake glasses from Dollar Tree. Vintage tablecloth from my Mother with a little sparkle sprinkle. French pot with a The Graphic Fairy image. What fun I had decorating! Ironstone pitcher from my mother-in-law's collection. Oh my the way I had three tables decorated. Beautiful close-up of roses with red cedar branches cut from the woods with a little spray snow added. A fun, cold week with my blue-eyed, three year old granddaughter. PLUS +++ I have been accepted as a creative team member with Karen Diamond Designs at Scrap N Pieces. I will be posting my work at her gallery and also on my website under the tab passions then scrapbooking. Please keep checking back at these sites to see my latest digital scrapbook creations. SM:)e Banners made from burlap have been catching my eye on the blog sites for sometime now. I wanted shabby-chic pink to go with the white décor of my fireplace. Full instructions are here on my website for the banner. OH! One of my favorite artist's paintings are hung above the mantel in a collage, Kelly Rae Roberts. This is my faux fireplace with an old fireplace mantel that we placed on a wall in the dining room. Close up view of the Merry Christmas Banner. I look forward every year to the Rochester School Winter Program in Topeka, Kansas. Miss Anna Reb the music instructor puts on a fabulous production every year. Of course having my two grandchildren in the program make it extra special too. This year The Grinch made a special appearance and "WOW" what a Grinch he was! Marcus looking pretty handsome, waiting for his cue from Miss Reb to sing. Miss Reagan looking for her family in the audience. Two Boxes and Two Granddaughters If you have been following my blog for awhile, hopefully you have read my muse about my grandmothers. I wonder if my grandmothers have influenced my need to make sure my granddaughters have special memories of me. So. . . . . . I am starting a Christmas ornament collection of fairies and angels for Reagan and Cortlynn. The two beautiful boxes above I purchased at Dollar General for $10.00 each. I then wrote each granddaughter a letter from me explaining the Christmas Ornament Box and the collection of fairies and angels I will be starting for them. Every Christmas I will add to their collection and someday maybe they will want to have a Christmas tree decorated with the fairies and angels. The document shown here I made in Photoshop, is with one of the fairies. I placed both the letter and document (to be filled out each year) in a manila envelope to be kept in the box. Oh by the way, I have multiple themed Christmas trees in my home. I will be showing you at least one in the coming posts. The fairy wrapped in tissue, the manila envelope with the letter and log and extra tissue paper for several more ornaments. One of my goals with Minnie's Milestones is the support of merchants whom I feel make a difference in Shell Knob and the surrounding area. I will also be recommending restaurants that offer a gluten-free alternative. So here is the first one. A Barber Shop! Highway 39 Barber Shop is the ONLY place that my grandson Marcus will get his hair cut. What makes this even more remarkable is Marcus lives in Topeka, KS! Ron has furnished his 39 Barber Shop with collectible barber shop furniture and hunting and fishing gear that remind the customer of the 1950’s and 60’s. Marcus has a dollar bill on the ceiling above the barber chair with his name on it that he checks on every time he gets a haircut. If he can sit still then he gets a tootsie-roll. Repurpose you say? This beautiful swan has a history, and yes to my delight (now) a good one. I will call her a she, why I am not sure, I guess because now after many years I think she is so pretty. Maybe, with age you appreciate your family, special memories and life in general. Anyway, back to the story of the swan. She is well over 20 years old and has been on the chopping block (trashed) many a time and rescued by my husband and hidden from my site. I have trashed so many things and wish later I had them back. She is one of the lucky ones. I guess it is like family and friends in some ways, we wish later we had them back when they have passed to repurpose those times we have now lost. I love old linen white table-cloths. This one is from my Mother. It has a few ragged places, but to me it just makes it more beautiful. The not so-perfect leaning tower candle seems to go with the vintage linen. I have put two beautiful large white ornaments and several pomegranates in the swan after filling it with white tinsel and sprinkling white glitter rocks around the base. The final touch is the pretty white and silver ribbon. She is beautiful to me now. Joined These Awesome Link Parties
A New House New Home Every fall we look forward to this little jar of gold. A sweet little lady picks pears from a tree owned by my brother-in-law in Turon, KS, and puts together this sweet concoction. I had always thought Pear Honey should be called Pear Butter because the texture reminds me of Apple Butter. This is the recipe for Pear Honey, on the actual recipe card, in Evelyn's own handwriting that she has so graciously shared. I know I love to look back at recipes from my mother that are in her own handwriting. I think a recipe like this always should be treasured, especially one that has a sweet story behind it. Thank you Evelyn.
Sharon, my new friend and I checked out 2 Friends and Junk Market in Springfield, Missouri. What fun! Look at this little beauty! I bought from Junkin Sisters Vintage Market. These ladies were very busy with their cute little booth with so many items in white, it definitely pulled at my heart strings. Not sure which sister I was visiting with but she told me they usually travel to markets in little vintage trailers. How unique is that! Beth from Panther Creek Studio shows off her beautiful, what I call an oil cloth rug, BUT wait.... Beth paints her rugs by hand and seals them so they will last forever! They are absolutely stunning. |
The Lady behind
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