Painted Santa's

I promised pictures of Mom's Cypress Knee Santa's that she hand paints. These pictures were taken by Jason Anderson the Texas Country Reporter's photographer. He sent several pictures of the Santa's but none of the ladies painting them. I wanted some of them actually painting the Santa's but maybe he will send more. The episode will air in the Spring and I'll let you know when the exact date will be when we get that information. They are coming back to film the area where the cypress stumps are cut. My Dad goes to the river or creek and the cypress knees are along the bank area where the trees grow. He cuts them with a chain saw and then my mom brings them home and boils a large pot of water and places the cypress knees in the water. This loosens the bark so that she can remove the bark for a smooth surface to paint the Santa's. It's really a long process but so worth the results. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

I have been busy working on some of my small projects and my giveaway that is coming up soon. I will post pictures and instructions of those "little goodies" soon. The sun is out for the first time in a long time so I am going to take a walk and soak up a few "rays" and then back to the new sewing machine!

Christmas Get Togethers

We celebrated Christmas Dec. 20th with my Mom's side of the family. My Aunt has a beautiful home on the lake and we all met there and had a wonderful meal and we visited with relatives that we don't see near enough. And then on Christmas Eve we went to my Mom and Dad's and had another great meal.

I received the giveaway that I won from Bluebird Quilts and it was such a treat! I can't wait to make my Plum Pudding Pin Cushion. Lyn also included several cute pieces of fabric, a tape measure, really cute quilt labels, and an embroidery pattern. It was Christmas all over again. I am working on my giveaway so when I get to my 100th post I will start the giveaway so be sure and sign up when that day arrives. I hope you had a great holiday!

Kitchen Makeover

I am finally finished with my Christmas Shopping and I only have a few more to wrap. We are planning a family gathering tomorrow at my parents house. We decided to have Mexican food instead of traditional food. We will have chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice, Charo beans, salsa and chips, and creamy jalapeno dip. After eating Turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving and Christmas we wanted something different.

As some of you know we have been working on our kitchen for several months and we are coming closer to the end of this project! Mother and I made the curtains last week and I have decorated one wall with a shelf and art. I am shopping for a clock for one of my bare walls but haven't found the one I want yet. We still have to put trim above the cabinets and purchase a new refrigerator but that will come later. The man that was going to do the trim did not keep his word on coming and doing the job. I think my husband is going to do the work himself. I am going to paint my chairs black and probably the dining room hutch black. The weather has not been fit for painting. I am really pleased how everything turned out in the kitchen and I can't wait to completely finish the project. I bought the curtain fabric at "Interior Fabrics" in Austin and I also purchased the rings that I clipped to the top of the curtains from "Interior Fabrics". Each bag of Curtain rings comes with 5 rings in them. I thought that 10 rings would be plenty to hang the curtains but I had to go back and purchase 2 more bags. If you like to make your own curtains "Interior Fabrics" is a great place to buy fabric, lining, and all the hardware. I am posting a few before and after pictures of the kitchen. Have a Merry Christmas and a warm Holiday!

Hustle and Bustle......Christmas is just around the Corner!

I love this time of year but it always seems to get here before I'm ready for it. I have been trying to get all my decorations up and get the house ready for Christmas. I think we may get it all together before Christmas actually gets here. My husband is still working on the lights for the kitchen and I think he is almost done. The new light fixture above our dining room table is prettier than I expected. I ordered all the lights from Pottery Barn and I am very pleased with them. My mom and I made the curtains for my dining room but I need a few more rings for the top of the curtains before I post pictures of them. The only thing left to do in the kitchen will be the trim on top of the cabinets and a few decorations on the walls. Besides the busy schedule I won the "plum pudding pincushion" from Bluebird Quilts.. If you haven't visited her site I invite you to visit. She is very talented and has beautiful quilts and other hand made items.This is my first win in the blogging world! I am planning a give away when I reach my 100th post which will be soon. I need information on how winners are drawn. I know some of you print the entries and draw, others of you have various methods of drawing. Please share with me the quickest and easiest way to draw a winner? I hope to have more time to post when I'm caught up with the Christmas rush.

A lil snow, but only for a lil while!

We had a little snow today but only for a short while. Since the roads were icy they pushed school back to 10:00 a.m. and boy was I glad for that because I needed the extra sleep. There is a cute giveaway on the blog site Bluebird Quilts I have her link on the sidebar if you haven't visited her site you might want to take a look. She has some really cute things. You can go to her website and join the giveaway by just leaving a comment. She is giving away a cute "Plum Pudding Pincushion" kit.

We went to Lowe's tonight and bought a Christmas Tree. This is always such a chore for me. But tonight we found one that will fit perfectly in our den and the price was even better. I took some of the decorations out of the closet and started decorating this afternoon. So it's beginning to look a little like Christmas around this house. Last year my sister, me and Mom went shopping the day after Christmas and we decided to go to The Strand in Galveston. There is a neat shop that sells really pretty ornaments and we bought quite a few. I love shopping those after Christmas sales. Well have a great day and stay warm.

UT Graduation and a New Sewing Machine

We had a fantastic weekend of fun and celebration! Matt's graduation was really nice and the meal afterwards was superb. We ate at Fonda San Miguel. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. So if you are in the Austin area you should give it a try.

While I was in Austin I also purchased a new sewing machine. I bought the Bernina 730E and I can't wait to start sewing some of my projects. I took Mom to some of the quilt stores in Austin and we bought a few things to add to our fabric stash! We also shopped at Interior Fabrics which is one of my favorite stores when I'm looking for decorator fabrics. Christmas is just around the corner and I really need to get busy with gift wrapping and decorating. Have a great day!

Packing for the Weekend

After the big meal some went to sleep!

I just finished packing for the weekend. Mom and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon and my Dad and husband will be coming up on Friday. We are looking forward to good food and fun. The men are planning a shopping trip to Cabella's and the women will be doing their fair share of shopping but not at Cabella's! We will hit the quilt shops and thrift stores. And of course we will eat our favorite food....Mexican Food. I will take plenty of pictures to share later. I leave you with a few pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner.

Back to Normal

Well things are back to normal (whatever that is) here in our little neck of the woods. I had a great time visiting with my kids and family over the holidays. The girls and I went to Canton on Friday and had a fantastic time. The only let down was that it was raining and cold and I didn't get to look around on the grounds where all the good stuff is! But we shopped the Arbors and Trade Buildings and found some goodies. After a long day of walking and shopping we headed back home to rest up for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday we went to the movies to see "Four Christmas's" and it was hilarious. And then on Sunday we went to Church and enjoyed ribs and potato salad afterwards. This week is really going to busy because Matt is graduating from U.T. and we are going to Austin for the weekend to attend his graduation. I am really hoping to buy that new Bernina sewing machine this weekend. I haven't sold my Elna yet but I'm getting a little anxious! Santa may have to come early for me this year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We had fantastic meal today at my mom and dad's house. Our menu consisted of Fried Turkey, Cornbread Dressing, Broccoli Salad, Fruit Salad, Chicken and Dumplings, and candied sweet potato's. Of course, I ate too much but who doesn't on Thanksgiving. We are back home and getting ready for the A&M and Texas football game. We are taking a little trip to Canton in the morning to shop for a few treasures. I'll let you know what we find.....

Out for the Holidays

We had an early out today at 1:30! That's one of the perks of a teaching job. Today is my mom's birthday and we are having a barn cookout tomorrow night. We haven't had a barn get together in quite awhile so I can't wait to eat some of the great grilling my husband is going to cook. I haven't been working on too much this week but I did put together the black chair that I ordered from target.com. I struggled at first because I put the washers in the wrong place and it didn't go together right. So I took it apart and started over the next day with a little help from my husband. Once I had that little problem solved the chair went together fairly easy. I must say the two items that I purchased from target.com were much nicer than I ever expected. Very well built and a nice paint finish on the desk and chair. I am going to either buy a cushion for the chair or make one. I'm trying to decide on a color for the cushion. Haley and I went to Lowe's and I bought some 8 ft. long trim to go around my bathroom mirror. I am going to paint it black and then glue it onto the mirror. When we made over the bathroom I decided to keep my old mirror and put this trim around the edge to give it a different look. As soon as we get to this project I will post pictures. I hope everyone has great Thanksgiving! Try not to eat too much!

Quilt Shops, Food, and back home!

Haley

Texas Rose Antique Show
Honey Bee Quilt Shop

I had a great time in Austin. I got all the arrangements for Matt's graduation in a couple of weeks and found a few new shops that I will re-visit. I went to a couple of Quilt Shops while I was there. The first one that I visited was The Quilt Store on Anderson Lane. It's a little hard to find because it is behind the shopping center but it's really a neat shop. I found the prints by Heather Bailey that I have been looking for to make a lap quilt. If you like to quilt or do cute projects Heather has fabulous fabric prints that she designs and she has several patterns and instructions on her website. I also visited "Honey Bee Quilt Shop" on Hwy 183 North and Anderson Mill Road. This is a great quilt shop and I loved looking at all the beautiful fabrics and the people were so helpful and nice. Places I like to eat when I visit Haley are Santa Rita's - great Mexican food and the nicest people that work there. I eat breakfast at La-Madeline's every morning and drink the BEST coffee! We also eat there for lunch occasionally. On the way home we stopped by "Dirty Martins" and had a cheeseburger. We both agreed we prefer "Huts" over Dirty Martins but both have good burgers. We made a stop by the Texas Rose Antique Show in Round Top and we enjoyed walking through all the booths that were set up. They had lots of vintage Christmas ornaments and other decorations as well. It is such a pretty drive through Round Top. I must say it looks much different than it did when we were there a couple of months ago for the Fall Show. If you have time to spare this is really a beautiful drive and neat things to browse through. We are back home and settled in and watching Texas-Tech and O.U. game. I have a few pictures to post but I will post more later.

I'm in Austin

I'm in Austin getting things ready for my sons graduation in a couple of weeks. While I'm here I hope to hit a few estate sales and flea markets! The Jr. League "Christmas Affair" is also going on this weekend and I hope to stop by and purchase some of my Christmas gifts. Last night Haley and I got a pedi and mani and when we were done the weather outside was miserably cold. I will keep you posted on what I find in A-town this weekend.

Cypress Knee Santa's and Texas Country Reporter!

My mom and some of her friends paint Santa's on Cypress knees that come out of the woods near the river and creek beds. My Dad and Mom go to a place on their land and he cuts them with a chain saw and then she comes home and prepares them for painting.They meet at each others houses once a week and they have a large collection of the hand painted Santa's. One of their friends wrote in to Bob Phillips from Texas Country Reporter about their hobby and he is coming to film them next Monday and Tuesday. I'll let you know when it's supposed to air. I will also bring some pictures of the Santa's so you can see how talented these ladies are at what they do.I think that it's neat and exciting that they are going to be on TV for their artistic hobby.I posted a couple of pictures today of the large bulletin board that I spoke about yesterday. These are not the greatest pictures but you will get the idea.I've also added a couple of new blog sites that are really good, so if you have time please browse those sites. I am getting very close to my 100th posting and I am thinking about what I am going to give away for that event!Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Candles and Fireplaces

We are celebrating my husbands birthday tonight with Ribs and Potato Salad. He turned a year older yesterday but I had softball games and so we are having the festivities tonight with my parents.I am battling sinus sickness again and don't feel all that great. Stuffy nose, headache, and yucky feeling! UGH....We finished up our Fall softball season last night and the girls have improved since their first game but we have a long way to go.Season will begin in January so I have plenty of work cut out for me up until that time. My daughter called yesterday and said that she was in Hobby Lobby and she was buying a large frame for half price and buying cork board for the frame to make her a large "pretty" bulletin board for her home office. She said the cost was around 50.00 which is great compared to those really large ones in the Ballard's catalogue. When she is finished painting it and has it mounted on her wall I'll post a picture. She also bought several candles to decorate her fireplace and sent me a picture of how that looks and I really like it! The candles were on sale 1/2 off as well. She has a gas fireplace but it doesn't work so she decided to put candles inside. Good choice I think. I have some exciting news that I will share tomorrow. My mom is going to be on TV! More news on that later....have a great day!

New Sewing Machines and Cute Houses

There are so many different brands of sewing machines to choose from but I really think that I would like to buy a new Bernina sewing machine. I am going to sell my Elna machine and replace it with a newer Bernina model. My Elna is a really nice computerized machine but I would like one that does larger embroidery. Any advice from anyone on sewing machines is welcomed.

Today was a beautiful day and I had a great time working after church at the antique store. I did some work in my space and added some new items and visited with several friends that came by.This is such a nice time of the year for families to spend time with each other. I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead.I will be making a quick trip to Austin this weekend to pick up Haley. She is coming home for the holidays. She says she's ready for a break and a visit home. By the way, Jannie, one of my blog friends asked me, "Where is Buna"? Well Jannie it's a small Southeast Texas town about 30 miles North of Beaumont. The last time I went to visit Linsi in Dallas I took a few pictures of some of the cute homes in her neighborhood. I love to drive around and look at all the older cute homes.

Cooler Weather

I got up this morning and my parents and I went to an Estate Sale in Buna. We didn't find too much but I found a few small things. The weather was cooler today and it's supposed to get in the 30's tonight. We came back to Newton and grilled some delicious steaks and baked potatoes. Mom cooked mustard greens and sausage to go with it and we had a great meal. After church I'm working at the antique store tomorrow. The store has decided to be open 7 days a week until Christmas. I've decided to sell my Elna sewing machine with all the accessories and buy a new Bernina machine. I have a Bernina 930 that is a great machine but I really would like a machine that does larger embroidery. Have a Super Saturday!

Time Flies when you're having fun!

Wow! Already Friday again! Today is my son's birthday and he is 23 years old. He will graduate from UT in a few weeks and hopefully find a good job. Another big step in his young life. I remember the year that I graduated from college and I was so excited about my first coaching/teaching job. What an experience for a 21 year old. I wasn't that much older than the students. In the middle of that year I got pregnant with my first daughter, Linsi, and I decided that I would not be a working mom. I made the decision to stay at home and take care of my newborn and I've never regretted staying home for the next 12 years with my 3 children. I'm so thankful that my husband had a good job and we were financially able to make that decision. Matt doesn't like to get his picture made so I'm posting an old picture of him. He hasn't changed much though.

I bought three white pumpkins from Pottery Barn and I made an arrangement for the dining table. I put the pumpkins in a green charger that I also picked up at Pottery Barn and then I added some cute filler around the outside edges. I'll post a picture of that too.

I'm Back

Well I finally got my computer back today and I am posting pictures of my new curtains and some other projects. The black chest of drawers that I painted and put in my sewing room which also holds my new t.v. that I bought for that room is also in this group of pictures. We have had our share of rain the past couple of days! We are still working on the lighting in the kitchen but it's slowly getting there. My walls look really bare in most of the pictures because I haven't decided what I am going to put on them yet. I have a hard time deciding what to put on freshly painted walls but I will put something up soon and when I do I'll post those pictures too. Tomorrow my son, Matt, will be 23 years old. Man, how time flies, it seems like yesterday he was only a toddler. I used two pottery barn colors for the newly painted rooms. I used linen wicker for the kitchen and sewing room and then in the master bedroom and bath I used Oakwood manor. Both are very neutral colors but I plan to pull in color with accessories and curtains. If you go back to some of the earlier post you can see before pictures of the kitchen and some of the furniture pieces. I also included a picture of my quilt. I need to put the binding around the edges and it will be finished.