garland show and tell

One of the many benefits of having the Nester for a sister is getting first dibs on all her great ideas. The most wonderful Christmas garland ever is one of her best. She has been doing her mantle this way for years so I adopted some of her tricky garland ways several Christmases ago. I guess it's time to find a photo to put in that frame. Maybe that will be my New Years resolution.

This is our first Christmas in our new house. I've been looking forward to decking this mantle out with garland galore.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Thanks, Nester for the great ideas!
Oh. And one more thing. I can't publish this post without showing you the truth behind the beauty: the casualties of my garland after a fire.
This is only a portion of what fell out as The Man repeatedly jostled it every time he moved the screen to poke the fire. The nerve.
And while I'm confessing things, here is our fireplace flue. I think we could market this and sell it online. Genius.

those creative women in living color

Those Creative Women had their show on Saturday and, since I have no goods to sell, I did my best to capture the work of their creative hands.
Kendra at My First Kitchen sold her homemade spices. Just look at these tiny jars. They were my favorite.
The Nester celebrated her birthday by selling her lovely tassels. Doesn't that chocolate lab tassel look like a real chocolate lab? As in, let me bite your head off on Easter?
Kendra's mom of Imagery Limited was there with lots of stained glass lovelies. I wanted all of them.
Here are some of the necklaces Melody makes. I wanted to buy one but guess what I left at home? That's right. ALL MY MONEY. Who comes to a show like this with no money? The tagalong little sister, that's who.

As much as I loved all the creative goods, my most favorite part of the day was mingling with all of the women who came to the show, both new friends and old.
Here's Sissy from Out on a Limb getting a quick consultation from The Nester. Yes, she brought photos from home. And she wasn't the only one who did this, by the way.
Look who else came. It's June from Bye, Bye Pie! She had a tassel on her head within 25 seconds of entering the door. Full of laughs, that one. And she evidently she can't keep her hands off her chest.
Students came too. See that one there in the middle? She reads Bye, Bye Pie during school hours and then calls her classmates to gather round the computer and laugh. So June, don't be surprised if you are nominated for a senior superlative because these cool kids are totally into you.
These girls may get the award for who traveled farthest (furthest?) for the show. Pink and Polka Dot and Everyday Grace (who has a private blog) drove from out of town to chat, mingle and browse. They may or may not have bought tassels. They may or may not have brought us presents. It may or may not have been my favorite part of the day. I just love the blog world.

In closing, let me leave you with some of the families involved in the day:
Here's Kendra with her beautiful sister Hannah and their uber talented mom, Cindy.
Look! It's Lauren with her lovely sister Amanda. She also brought her fiance Justin who was semi-famous among the women at the show as he was A. one of the only men in attendance and B. we've all seen his photos on her blog.
Kristin and her mom smile for me just after making their purchases. Don't they look happy? If you missed out on the show but would still like to buy a few gifts for Christmas, all these girls have Etsy shops so check them out.

I felt compelled to share these photos, as it was my craft for the day. Thanks for reading and happy shopping.

bliss for the little sis

Warning. This post has a lot of links and I am sorry. I am also sorry if you inadvertently revert back to seventh grade when everyone went on that weekend retreat except you because your Great Aunt Patsy Lou was in town and your Mom would NOT listen to reason and let you go. And then all your friends came home and talked about it and were BFFs. I really hope this isn't like that.
I spent the weekend with my sister in Nashville for BlissDom '08. If you are unfamiliar with Blissfully Domestic, you should check it out. It is an online magazine that covers a variety of topics including marriage and family, home keeping, frugal living and fashion rules - to name only a few.

Karla and Alli are the co-founders of the magazine. With the help of some fabulous sponsors (Epson and One2One Network) they hosted a conference completely free on Saturday in Nashville. That is a big deal, y'all. There was swag. There were door prizes. It was pretty much awesome. And free. Thanks to the sponsors who think those of us who blog have an influence.

The Nester was on a few of the speaking panels and I, in true little sister fashion, tagged along: completely decked out in an outfit that came directly from her closet. She has a big 'ole post on her blog that you should check out. Everything she said about everyone she met, I pretty much feel the same. And she posted stolen photos, so that's kind of exciting.

The first time I attended an event that included other bloggers was at She Speaks back in June. That is where I first met Robin of Pensieve. The Nester and I were blessed to have her as a roommate (as well of Karla, who I also met at She Speaks).
This is Robin. She is grounded and funny and has a great accent. She is the editor of Inspired Bliss and also the Religion and Philosophy editor for Blog Nosh Magazine.

If any of you are bloggers who have never met another person who blogs in real life, let me encourage you to do so. Even if it is simply someone you've been reading who you know lives close. Arrange to meet for coffee. I have discovered that the women I connect with through blogging are women I connect with in real life. Seems obvious, but you know there's always that question in the back of your mind: is this woman for real or typing from jail? In a man's body? It is the creepy Internet, after all.

Speaking of meeting other bloggers: THANK YOU for your responses to my question from Monday. I enjoyed hearing all the reasons why you write and read blogs. Overwhelmingly, we blog for connection.

I asked the same question of the women on one of the panels during the conference because I believe it is vital for us to remember the purpose behind what we do. Honestly, blogging takes up space in my psyche and I have to remember the purpose for that space. It is valuable real estate, after all. It is replacing something that previously existed in that space and without a clear purpose, I feel like I'm wasting time. I'll save that purpose for another post, though.

One last thing about the conference, I was blessed with another spontaneous surprise:
I got to meet my Fairy Blog Mother. In case you don't know what that means, she designed my blog. She did not attend the conference but she lives in the area and she and her friends Kim and Rachel got up early Sunday morning just to come have breakfast with Nester and me. I was so touched that they would go out of their way to do this. When she was designing this layout for me, we emailed a lot and kind of got to know one another. I always wanted to meet her but never EVER thought I would. A sweet gift that I didn't even know to ask for.

So that concludes my spontaneous adventure. It was a lovely, unexpected thing to be able to take off in a car with my sister and drive many hours and drink lots of coffee and eat Blizzards from DQ and laugh until we...well, you know. Speaking of underwear, I am glad to be home with a full supply.

poopie party

There is a POOPIE party going on over at Nesting Place today. You haven't heard of People Opposing Objectionable Pretend Plants In the Environment? (I know, it's should be POOPPITE, technically. But you know, whatever). Everyone who considers herself a POOPIE is linking up and posting photos of our fake plants: both our favorites and our fiascos.

Let me first say that the POOPIEs are not opposed to fake plants as a whole. Merely the fakes that look waxy and unnaturally bright and, well...FAKE.
This is my first favorite. I picked out these stems at Hobby Lobby using the Nesters' criteria: pick fakes that look as though they could be real, or at least could have been at one time.
Here's another favorite. These are the only fake flowers I have in the house. They have fooled a few people from time to time. I think it's because of the fake water in the bottom. I really like these. I know they are fake, but they are tasteful fake. And if you disagree, they were a gift from the Nester so take it up with her.
And here is my fiasco. I know it is wrong. It is all wrong. Previously I had a pot of real rosemary in that space. But real rosemary needs inconvenient things like light and water. So when it began to shed its needles like a Christmas tree, I set out to replace it with something. Hence this fiasco. It was a temporary fix. Inevitably temporary.

Do you have any fakes in your house? Are they fabulous or fiascos? Link up at the Nesting Place and let us see!

the next step: FABRIC

As promised, here is what we did with some of that fabric I bought last week. I am amazed by what that Nester can do with a hot glue gun and 5 uninterrupted minutes. Here is what our half bathroom looked like before we moved in.
Notice the custom made cornice board over this window. They were on nearly every window in the house.
And here it is today.
We haven't changed the floor, the tiled wall or replaced the counter top and sink. I have begun to clean the grout on the floor in the far left corner, but I can only do it in small chunks. There is a lot of grout. We also haven't gotten around to replacing the clam shell toilet seat, either. Though after seeing it in a photo, it has climbed several spaces on the priority list. But don't you think it looks better already?
The fabric on the window was $5/yard and I had 4 yards of it. The ribbon was about $3 for the spool. The hot glue stick was about a penny. And The Nester, well...she works for 2 large pieces of chocolate cake. She did this window mistreatment in about the time it took me to walk upstairs, and take 1/2 a shower.
Here's what I did with the leftover fabric. This one I actually did myself, though you and I both know where the idea came from.
See how hard that was? I already had that little tension rod and all I did was drape the fabric over it and fluff. Too bad our A/C vent is under that counter top. Who needs to be cool when you can be cute?

the most important ingredient

I forgot to mention in my last post the fuel behind all the creative work that has been going on at my house.
I'm not saying that stems and fabric can't be arranged without the chocolate. I'm just saying why risk it?
Look how happy we are! And look how difficult it is for me to know where to look when taking a photo in a mirror.

the next step: STEMS

Thank you all for your encouragement on the baby steps I've been taking with the extras in my home. You will be glad to know my sister has arrived in town and she has been encouraging as well.
Here are the stems I talked about yesterday. This is what happened when Emily walked in the house from Hobby Lobby. I saw a vase, I put them in it. Done. I kind of knew it was not the right size, but I didn't have anything smaller and wanted to get a feel. The Nester pointed out that they actually don't look bad there, but the vase is a bit too tall for this space: tall lamp, tall vase, tall lamp. Too much tall.

So this is what happened when The Nester came over and saw what happened when Emily walked in the house from Hobby Lobby.
She got out the glue gun and went to work.
And she shot out all that hot glue all over my black hat box that had been on my bookshelf. I had also bought those green things when I went to Hobby Lobby. Again, didn't know what to do with them, but thought they might come in handy with stems.
Turns out I was right.
The key to this project is to buy what you love. Buy what looks real. And buy a lot of it. I did all that right. You don't have to know exactly what you are going to do with it all. If you love it, you will use it.
Or you will get your sister to use it for you. Either way, you win. Or in this case, I win. And I feel a lot more confident on what to do with stems.
So much better. Stay tuned for what we did with that $5/yard fabric. I will be using the term "we" very loosely from here on out, just so you know.

the shameless promoter of sisters

As many of you know, last week I did a couple of guest posts over at Nesting Place because her computer was in trouble. It has been running slow and loud for some time now and over the last few weeks, it began to present symptoms of an incurable disease. Hospice showed up towards the end of the week and by Friday, they paid their last respects and laid that fella to rest.

My sister has been open on her blog about her and her Manly Man Husbands' desire to get and stay out of debt. They are committed to buying their computer with money they already have rather than putting it on credit. She has been working her little bird tail off making tassels and other goodies to sell in order to raise money to buy another computer.
So she's hosting a giveaway. All you have to do to enter is buy something from her etsy shop and you can win this basket of lovelies. For those of you who have compassion towards the cause but don't think you have any use for something made from ribbons and fringe, allow me to try to change your mind.

Enter: The Tassel.

According to The Nester, this is the prettiest thing you'll never need. I completely agree except for the part about not needing it. I saw this bird tassel listed in her Esty shop and couldn't buy it up fast enough. And I'm her sister. She would have given it to me for free. But still, I was willing to pay for the birdie goodness.
Look, she has a birdie bustle with her trademark Nesting Place ribbon peeking out from underneath. I just love this bird. I look at her every night before I go to bed. And since The Nester fussed at me for buying a tassel when she could have just given me one, she threw this surprise in the box with the birdie when she shipped it out.
A bonus tassel. A church for birds. My bird tassel loves Jesus. And she goes to church in this little church house. For bird tassels.

The bird was the first tassel I bought, but it isn't the first tassel I've ever had. When the twins were born, along with the garland she made for them, she also made several tassels to put in their room. Here is a close up of one of my favorites.
I am beginning to realize I am somewhat partial to the tassels that have an animal as a topper. The dogs are to die for. My girls love the rabbits. And the horse. Oh my. The horse. I saw one on her blog yesterday and I nearly spilled my coffee for all the lurching I did toward the screen to get a better look. Then I clicked on the image to make it larger. Then I just left it up there on my screen and gazed. Oh, that horse.

I know not everyone can afford to buy something they don't need, no matter how pretty it is. I respect that for sure. But if you have had your eye on any of those tassels and have been meaning to get yourself one, I would encourage you to do so this week. And be sure to pat yourself on the back for contributing to a worthy cause.

a link and logs

Thanks for all your ideas about the gas logs vs. real logs fireplace question on my last post. It helps me to hear from you who have had both, as well as you who have strong opinions on the matter. If you have any more ideas, I'd love to hear them.

As I said before, the man loves to make a real fire and I like to look at a real fire. But a wood burning fireplace is useless to me without a man. They should sell fire-making men along with the logs at the grocery store for when the man of the house is at work. I guess they kind of do. They're called "gas logs". I am an embarrassment to my gender.

In the meantime, I did a guest post over at Nesting Place today. Her computer is still on the blink, but she wanted to be sure people had a nest to read about even if it wasn't hers. I showed some photos of the nursery, although I'm not sure I can still call it that since our baby is now two.

Oh well. I'm just glad I finally had a reason to use "on the blink". It's gonna be a good day.

calling all birds

Consider this a bird call for all you birds who love The Nester. In the middle of her Tour de Rental 2008, her computer came down with a chronic illness. She asked me to post a note to her readers on her blog, which of course I did...adding a little link of my own because I'm the little sister so what did you expect?

Since I am the keeper of all things Nester for at least another 24 hours, I decided to take one of her commenter's advice and post a few updates of my house that maybe Chatty and Nester readers alike can enjoy. Besides, since she was posting house photos this week, I'm keeping with the theme.

Let me start by saying I'm the worst at remembering to do this. We've been at this house for 2 months and still, no finished fireplace wall to show. Some of you have reminded me, saying "HEY! We wanna see that fireplace wall!" Nicely, of course. Well, today is the day. After all, you helped me get there. This was our living room before we moved in. Remember all that brown paneling?
I've posted about this room a few times. I asked for your help in knowing how to paint it here. You can see the progression if you follow that link. This is what it looks like now, complete with a cute little four year old girl coloring on the floor.It is hard to get a feel for the wall color here, as I didn't use my flash in this photo. It is Tobacco Road. Here's a closer view to give a better idea. This is the room where we do life, for the most part. The Nester came up a few weeks after we moved in and did the mantle, basically. I took the suggestion of many of you and removed the doors from the built-in shelves.
We haven't decided what to do with the fireplace. It is wood burning now and that's what we've always had. The man loves to build a fire and I really like having a real one. But we have a guy who has offered us a great deal to run a line for gas logs. It would be nice to flip a switch and have fake fire. Any thoughts? Real or fake?

As soon as I find the boxes containing all my favorite hardback books, I will put them on some of those shelves. For now, it's fun to look at all the black and white photos of the family.
Speaking of photos, this is the wall opposite the fireplace wall. I love having a table in the family room, as our house was built in 1963 and the open floor plan was not yet invented. So our kitchen is at the other end of the house. But having a table helps it seem more hang-outy. I've started a photo wall of white frames here that I may add to as time goes by. I can't get enough of the white frames.

Thanks for stopping by to peek into my world. I hope those of you who flew in from my sister's place got your nesting fill for the day. Here's to hoping she comes back soon.