Welcome To Our House....

Once the door was decorated it seemed an easy plan to decorate the entry….well not so fast.  As always from year to year I did not want things done just the same way.  When will I understand that makes it more difficult?  So…..I took the hat boxes off the top of the bookcase and replaced them with the bird houses and cardinal from the porch.  Now, I was on a roll.  The greenery was a quick addition, this year all fresh because I had a plan for the all the garland in the box.

                                                          

 With that done I could move on to the stairway….don’t tell, but I wanted this house just so I could decorate the 2 story foyer at Christmas.  Artificial garland has always been the base I’ve used; next I wrap it with lights.  STOP….first attempt....both strands dead…burned out.  My dear hubby volunteered to get more clear mini lights, wrong....seven stores, no lights.  He called me to say he had one more thought….bingo, he had found them…shelves full (remember this, it’s important).  Once in hand I put them up, well sort of…halfway down the home stretch the longer length burned out.  You can imagine what I said.  The next morning he went out and exchanged it, once again I put them up.  They were beautiful, I could proceed, but first I needed to process some online orders.  Next thing we knew there came quite a howl from our puppy that had gone down to the first floor.  As we raced to see what was the matter…..I noticed something  amiss…the lights were burned out.  Guess who had chewed through the wires and received a bit of electric shock therapy. Yup!  This time I bought 2 boxes!  She looks innocent enough, right?

 It took me 2 ½ days to do the stairs….maybe next year they will get a bow on the newel post.  By this time I went for simple…fresh greens, a paper ribbon, pine cones and cotton bolls.

I absolutely adore handmade things…imagine that, so many of our decorations are items made by various artists I have admired or know.

                                                                
 The Nativity scenes range from vintage to newer.  In the bottom right is one that my sister in-law sent home from Israel one year.  There are many more pieces but I just don't have room for all the pieces, not even the sheep.

Come back soon to see where the elf goes next…I really needed him this year.

Let the Magic Begin.....

This Christmas elf is just a tad behind, by the first of December our house is normally wearing all it's holiday finery.   The "North Pole" sign,  funny enough is pointing directly at the door to "my new favorite room".
                                                
Since the hand-dyeing was wrapped up for the moment I did use "my new favorite room" to stage all my decorating.  I used the dye tables to work on because the extenders made them the perfect height to unpack, stage what was going out to all the rooms and create all the greenery pieces.
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 Somehow we have accumulated quite a few bells.  Our front door wreath has a very cheery ring when the door is opened...welcoming all who stop by for a holiday visit. 
                                                                                        
Even the door to "my new favorite room" rings with the seasons sounds.
                                                                                          
Santa and his elf not only left their hats, but someone forgot their bells.

Stop back for more peeks into what the elf is doing.

McKenna Ryan Patterns and Kit 25% off!

This week has been spent decorating for the holidays.  Slowly but surely each room has been transformed.  I'm pretty sure mom will post pictures on here in the next few days.  In the meantime, the sale of the week is McKenna Ryan Patterns and Kit 25% off.  You can find them at

Patterns

Kits

Holidays and Schedules

Today got me thinking about the saying, "best laid plans of mice and men often go awry".   Oh if only we weren't just beginning the holiday season...I am already behind.  I was standing in the "dye studio", "my new favorite room" of the house amid all this wonderful color and texture, thinking this stuff should already be dry, it should be shipping right now, but my plans took a huge left turn.  Here is a quick peak at a corner:

There are more lines full, all around my head as I try to spread out silk hankies to dry, must admit it probably is the prettiest garage in the neighborhood.

Oh well I did have a fantastic holiday weekend with family and that is worth so very much to me.  I bet this stuff will still be hanging there tomorrow.

A Fabulous Problem to Have!

I have heard this phrase from Kristin so many time since July, I decided that a blog entry just needed to have that title.  The shows for this year are over....but the work is not.  Since returning from Houston and West Palm Beach we have been trying to get things re-stocked; however exhaustion and colds have slowed us down.  This is all we have managed to get done this week.

Caught Kristin at her folding table ready to fold and package during the Atlanta Falcons game....notice there is cheesecloth behind her, so I asked her to pile it all on the table.

This is what happened...she has to stand in order for me to see her. 

All I can say is yummy, look at all the luscious colors. Every time I see this I just want to dive in.

The Last Day of Houston

If you looked down the isles in any direction for most of today at Houston you knew that it was the last day.....compared to the last 3 1/2 days they were empty.  For many attendees from far and near left late yesterday or had flights to catch sometime today, sadly that means the fun of Houston is done for another year.  See what I mean....

 Kristin was even knitting....which for those who know her she can usually knit, talk and run the cash register all at the same time...not this show, until today. 

Good-bye Houston for another year, we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...maybe a bit too much...think my jeans were just a bit too tight today.  Thanks everyone.

Houston-A Quick Peak at our Booth

We have been so busy here in Houston at the International Quilt Festival that we hadn't taken any pictures of our booth, let alone anything else.  Here is a overall pic of our great corner location on "Main Street".  It is so easy to tell everyone that we are under the Row 1400 sign.

 Our new hand-dyed perle cotton threads are displayed on a vintage window shutter that Kristin found at the Hillsville, VA Labor Day Flea Market, it compliments our "shabby chic" curtains and overall look.  She also found a vintage collapsable ruler that we fashioned into a star...very appropriate don't you think since we are in the "Lone Star" state.  Notice the "Create" pillow, Kristin made it using a freezer paper stencil on burlap...literally hours before we left for Houston.

 Here's a close-up of our corner island from a different perspective, shown below is the "ole Crow" pillow I screenprinted using thermofax screens.  The branches are from a photo Kristin took of the sidewalk at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, VA in February.  We were walking from the building and she couldn't find her camera fast enough.....maybe I'm wearing off on her just a bit.  She certainly finds some interesting things to photograph.

The booth didn't exactly look like this when we finished setting up on Wednesday, but by the end of Thursday we had sold out of some things, had to rearrange and find some new items to put out.  Will have to do the same thing again tomorrow morning.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, your business and encouragement are greatly appreciated.

Another fun part of Houston is getting the chance to see old friends you only see once a year and make new ones.....oh and the quilts....which we haven't had a chance to see yet...that usually happens on Sunday morning when we open a tad later.