Good Ideas, Best Intentions, Different Results

Thought I’d post about 2 different occasions that I ventured into lately. Both of them were ideas I copied & tried to put my own creative touches on. With certain visions in my mind, they both turned out quite different than I imagined.

The 1st one is this beautiful idea that I saw on Monica’s blog @ thehomespunheart, “Lunch For the Bride” http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/search/label/hospitality
She had made this simple but special luncheon for a wedding going on at her church. Monica had made mini, pop in your mouth, savory morsels for the bride & her attendants.
This looked like such a touching & thoughtful idea to “whip” together, that I decided to copy it.

My lil sis was getting married in September in my hometown. She had an early morning hair & makeup appointment scheduled the day of the wedding. However, she had a little buffer time between having to be at the chapel for the ceremony. She asked for suggestions on what to do in the area. Ooooo, I had the perfect idea mentally filed…Monica’s “Lunch for the Bride”!! I showed her the link to it & said that I’d love to put this together for her & her maid of honor!!! She whole-heartedly agreed to it, with reservation. (She knew that I had my hands more than full with wedding prep. I had to dress my boys, was hosting my sister & her family, plus entertaining out of town relatives.) As I danced in giddy ideas of “whipping” this luncheon together, I assured my sister that it wouldn’t be a problem. I had all the recipes & ideas mapped out for me on the homespun heart blog.

Well, as the special day drew closer-I realized a few key things. 1st off, my oven was not working & wouldn’t be fixed in time to bake all these yummies! 2nd, both my sister & her maid of honor are the pickiest eaters in Texas! Sis, doesn’t like eggs or quiche, she won’t eat vegetables or fruit (unless it’s banana chips). Maid of honor will only eat chicken nuggets & fries, also doesn’t like fruit or vegetables. What was I to do? I had promised this for my sissy & wanted to give her a pause in her morning, to relax a smidge before going to the chapel! This was the end result….

Chik-Fil-A chicken bisquits, waffle fries, wheat thins, cheese chunks, mini muffins, & locally bought scones, with devonshire cream. The drinks I provided were orange juice, champagne & herbal teas. I buy my teas from a local tea shop & selected only blends that had to do with love/romance. ‘Be my sweetea!’ (rooibos, red sugar hearts, rose petals, dried berries) & ‘Passion blend’ tea (green tea, black tea, pineapple bits, papya bits, flower blossoms). They are delish & so soothing!

It’s all about the presentation, gals. That’s what I always try to convince myself anyway. Just look at that spread, with some snazzy plates & fresh linens-could never tell it was a drive-thru/ drive-by special! He, he, he! My saving grace was the fact that my sister was too nervous & anxious to eat. Her maid of honor was thrilled with my Chik-Fil-A purchases & just kept saying “she likes me, lookey she likes me”. Simple southern girls, simple southern food & simple prep! Love it! Even though the result was quite different, my sister never even noticed & had a wonderful time with her best friend. The wedding photographer captured some of the best photos during the “lunch” & I’ll always cherish that I was able to make my sister smile on her special day! It meant much more to me than homemade scones or Nanny’s Tea Punch.

My 2nd latest venture was the cute idea copied from Family Fun magazine. The recipe was for mini caramel apples. http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/holiday-seasonal-recipes/fall-recipes/fall-snacks-appetizers/mini-caramel-apples-688916/

Isn’t she cute, isn’t that mini apple precious!? This looked like a fun recipe to conquer with my boys. A yummy way to get in their fruit allowance (a portion any way…).It looks & sounds so easy peesey!

The recipe called for melted butterscotch or peanut butter chips. We have peanut allergies & I’m a traditionalist, so went with the real caramel instead. O, my! After starting to melt half the caramels, I realized how messy this little venture was to become! I opted to dip the mini apple balls in the caramel myself & just have the boys roll that in candy confections.( I think I have control issues, honestly. That & I really don’t want to spend a Sunday afternoon in the ER with burned, caramel covered, little boy fingers!)

I took the test drive on rolling the caramel apples in sprinkles. Not so easy. As the caramel cooled, it pulled off the apple & into chunks. I decided to finish decorating a small tray of these delightful treats myself & then stick them in the fridge for an hour to cool. This is how they turned out…..

They hardened into gooey chunks. The boys each got to eat 2 mini caramel messies & then scrub up. Yummy!! The rest was thrown in the trash.

Once again it was a good idea, I had best Mommy intentions, but had different results! The homey pictures of us starting another fall tradition & making mini caramel apples-well, they will not be in the next scrapbook. Slightly, disappointed & disillusioned, I will whimper & sneak away to my corner of dreams. Live & learn is a great motto, now if I can only convince myself! He, he!

I'm Back!!!

I’m back for good & there’s no better way to get in the swing of blogging, then to jump in with both feet! So here goes….

1st thing in order is a little catch up. Back in September, I participated in Char’s harvest swap & was blessed with yet another wonderful swap partner-Brigit of Primitive Country Bug. She had sent me such a bounty of prim goodies! I’m continuing to relish & enjoy them all this fall season. Just had to share the treasures here.

She sent me a yummy smelling bag full of apple scented fixin’s. I have them in this little bowl above my computer armoire, so that I can linger in fall’s scents as I work. She also made me this beautifully hand crafted card! It was exquisite in detail & real thoughtful
Brigit also sent me her own specially scented candle mason jar. It’s a warm, homey scented candle simply called ‘Twigs & Berries”. Love it!

I already had the perfect little prim doll chair empty & waiting for this gem. I nicknamed her “Miss Brigit”. Isn’t she sweet? She’s been playing in my mini pumpkins.
Every guest of my home has commented on how gor-ge-ous this wool appliqué runner is! I absolutely cherish it & have it sprawled across my hearth to enjoy all autumn long. It warms my soul to look at.

I smiled a big broad smile when I opened this prim Candy Corn. I had been looking at several tutorials for candy corn & was blessed with the gift of “already done”! Gotta love that! Love this grungy prim stitchery too!! (Forgive me for the poor quality photos, it is still cloudy & gloomy here in Texas, which makes bad for bad lighting.)

Last but definitely not least Brigit sent me a fist full of brightly colored fall leaves, red maples & orangey/yellow oaks! I haven’t seen these colors in nature since I’ve been up north a few years ago. They’re scattered on my antique piano & thru out the house. The colors look so purdy & festive, reminiscent of my years in the north east!!!
Thanks again for everything Brigit!! Once again I’ve been truly blessed in meeting a new friend from one of Char Sethman’s swaps! Brigit and I have much to share in common & are sisters in the Lord. Love those swaps!!

Whatcha Working On Wednesday

I can only give you a peek at what I’m workin’ on, because it’s going to be a swap item for a good prim friend. Just a glimpse here…..

Ooooo, ahhh, can ya smell fall is in the air? The other weekend we got a look at some local pumpkins just beginning to turn orange… I can’t stand the anticipation! I love the fall!!!

I finished up sewing the valances & temporarily stuck them up in the family room. I’m real excited at how they turned out. Whatcha think?

The hubster also finished building my shelves

Ok, catch the vision I’m casting here….This is one long shelf that runs the length of both windows, just about 7 feet or over. I’m going to prim this up & use the rustic Briwax to stain it. Now imagine them flipped the other way with the stitchery/homespun valances hanging from underneath. Atop will sit a collection of vintage toys, old hardy boy books, game pieces & some prim game boards. I know it’s difficult to imagine. I hope to be able to show y’all the finished results real soon. I’m getting anxious also.

Back to school is going smoother. We opted to drive the boys to school & pick them up together. It’s brought peace to the situation, even though Jo misses his bus driver. This way I feel more involved & can get teacher contact more readily, if needed. We all get up together, bright & early. I enjoy this small time as a family & I’ve been trying to cook breakfast for us all together. It’s been a lot of work first thing, but I feel like a better wife & Mommy for it.

Have a blessed Wednesday what ever you worked on. If I don’t get to posting before the weekend, may everybody have a restful labor day weekend.

Part Time Empty Nest Updates

We made it thru the 1st day of school. Hooray! Ben did wonderful, but remains a little sad himself. He said he hadn’t made any friends yet & he played alone at recess. This makes me hurt for him, but I also know he is really hard on himself. If things don’t take immediately in the social process, he considers that he’s failed in some way. Last year, Pre-K, he gained a best friend within the 1st day. That is the usual for Ben & he adjusts well once all that is taken care of. About the only thing he said about the day was that he didn’t like what I’d packed him for lunch! (Well….ex-cus-s-s-s-s-e-e-e me, child! Cut Mom a little break kid, I’m just as new to the process! Whatever, I’ll try not to take personally.)

The PTA had a “Boo Hoo Breakfast” for parents after dropping the kids off yesterday. I didn’t stay because I felt the sting of tears about to flow & didn’t want to humiliate myself, or those within earshot. I drove home quickly & sobbed for a while. My home felt so very empty & quiet! Just who & why had they stolen my baby away from me this early in life?

I spent the rest of the morning & early afternoon running errands, away from the house. It was incredibly lonely & I figured if I kept busy it’d help. It did in some ways. Hearing littles crying was a trigger for tears. So, any time I heard that I’d quickly leave an area in the store or leave.

Jo had a wonderful 1st day in 2nd grade. He has the same teacher as last year & a few of the same classmates. He loves school & is an excellent student. He’s thrilled for the routine & structures of school. He’s bounced right back into the groove! I’m so proud of him.

The only thing that’s difficult in all of our day is the fact that the boys are both leaving & returning to the same home, going to the same elementary school, but riding separate buses! Jo must ride the special needs bus & Ben has to ride a regular school bus. The buses run over a half hour difference then each other, because the special needs route has to accommodate for lengthier loading/unloading times. It’s hard & I don’t like it at all. We may decide to opt for driving them both together. However, Ben has waited all this time to ride on the school bus & Jo loves his driver and aid. Time will tell what’s best.

Today I’m working on restoring order to the house. I’ve got some laundry running & planning on scrubbing the boy’s bathroom. I’ve already reorganized & clipped the coupons for menu planning on Friday. Later I will have a little sewing to do. I need to hem some shorts for Jo. I’ve also begun this project that I’m hoping to complete…


This is over 6 ½ feet of double rows of stitchery! The design is by Primitive Stitches & is called “Berry/Star Towel Band”. I’ve repeated the pattern across the length of my fabric. There are like, a bazillion French knots in this pattern for the berries. Not fun, but I allowed myself a few lumpier flawed knots, here & there. Especially since the length of the fabric won’t show minor flaws.

I’m working on tea staining the design today & then sewing each row onto the bottom of a homespun valance I’ve made. I saw these similar in Country Sampler & hope they'll look somewhat like this....

The top part of my valance is blue checked homespun.

These will be hung in the family room, which is turning into my most prim room. I’m having fun putting it together. (This is my favorite room in the house right now.) The windows extend the entire length of the room & look out into our backyard. I love to sip coffee & watch the birds, butterflies & flowers from these windows. I picked the simple pattern to tie the outdoors to the in & not distract the view. I’m anxious to get it done.

I’ve got a stack of projects I hope to tackle this fall. I just have to learn to time manage & keep things in balance. It’s all still a struggle & I’m adjusting. Thanks to all the folks that have been praying for all our new changes ‘round here. We need it. Blessings to all!

New Beginnings

I’m more than a little melancholy today. School starts back on Monday. We’re in the prepping of new beginnings in our house. Jo starts 2nd grade & Ben starts full day kindergarten. My nest is empty from 7:30am until 3:00pm now & I’m sooo very sad!

I’m reminded of one of my favorite children’s books by Karen Kingsbury, ‘Let Me Hold You Longer’. “Long ago you came to me, a miracle of firsts: First smiles and teeth and baby steps, a sunbeam on the burst. But one day you will move away and leave to me your past. And I will be left thinking of a lifetime of your lasts….”

“The last time that I held a bottle to your baby lips. The last time that I lifted you and held you on my hip. The last night when you woke up crying needing to be walked, When last you crawled up with your blanket wanting to be rocked.”

“The last time when you ran to me, still small enough to hold. The last time that you said you’d marry me when you grew old. Precious, simple moments and bright flashes from your past-Would I have held on longer if I’d known they were your last?…”

“Your last few hours of kindergarten, those last days of first grade, Your last at bat in Little League, last colored picture made.” “I never said good-bye to all your yesterdays long passed. So what about tomorrow-will I recognize your lasts?”

The story goes on, as the boy grows to a young adult & all his “lasts”, until he leaves for college. It ends with “Let me hold on longer, God, to every precious last.” Sniff, I’m trying hard to get past crying & write this now…..

I know I’m more than a little dramatic. The youngest of my brood is not going to college, simply beginning elementary school. Whew, pull it together here girl! I think it’s the anticipation of it all & the reality of things to come. If I had a dime for every time I was asked over the summer “what will you ever do with yourself, now that they BOTH will be in school all day”?!!! Let’s just say I’d have a little more pocket change on me! Lol!

I really take that question to heart, because it’s always said with this dangling questionable pause from the person. As if they already know, that of course, “you will be returning to the work force, you lazy woman”!! I find myself grasping for plausible excuses, as if I have to. It’s a short coming of mine, to not become defensive of that question, honestly.

Truth be told, I don’t really know what I’m going to be doing with myself! I don’t have a jumbled agenda of a calendar for the next year or my I-phone scheduled out with endless things. My social agenda hasn’t suddenly opened up to countless luncheons with the girls etc. All that I do know is that it’s once again, only by the Lord’s Grace, that I’ll rise again to face a brave tomorrow. Without Him, I would be a sobbing jumble of a heap by now!

I plan to actually have time to clean my toilets well. I plan to have time to actually clean my new wood floors, that have only been swifters quickly this summer. I plan to have time to actually bath & groom my dog. Most importantly, I plan to have regular time with God & a fuller prayer life. Then when 3:00pm arrives each afternoon, I hope to be a better & more refreshed Mom, then I was at 7:30am for my boys. I believe my highest calling in life is to be a stay at home Mom to my children. Only by His grace…

Please pray for us all during this new beginning in all of our lives. Hugs to all!!

Crafting Organization

Many moons ago, I once cross stitched. It was the perfect hobby for the fall & winter, when I typically become a "hunting widow". It also was a great craft to do late at night, to keep my hands busy & not in the cookie jar! He!

Almost everyone around me at the time, had the same obsession with cross stitching. I remember toting around my fabrics or sweat shirts to be worked on, a big bobbin box of floss & a cozy quilt to stay warm under. My spirl permed locks were piled high in a big 'ol scrunche atop my head, a baggy sweater on, leggings, big thick scrunched up socks & I was good to go. Me, circa 1992, he, he!! I loved me some big bows! Yowza, glad those hair days are done!

Not a difficult woman to please. The most difficult thing was when to call it quits for the night. "Just one more row, just this last spot..." I would tell myself. I spent many a late night wrestling my inner self to get the strength to just put the stitching down & go to bed already! I enjoyed those hours of stitching. Here's was one of my most time consuming projects. I made this sweatshirt for my Mom.

It's all counted cross stitch, all hand done by me. It took forever to finish, but my Mom loved this & wore it proudly. She showed, handled, groomed & bred Scottish Terriers. This was part of her self "therapy" during Parkinson's disease.

I still can't believc I did that. Guess I should've picked a more permanent media than clothing to do it on. After all, if I'd only known, I was never going to attempt that craziness again....I might have chose say, a wall hanging or something. Nutty girl!

Life happened & other priorities took front center. The hobby of crafting looked like it would have to be retired....possibly until my retirement!

Then along comes this new outlet of blogging & meeting so many cool crafting friends. I admired so many of the stitchery projects I'd see & think "how sweet". Well, then I tried my hand at it & let me tell you , a flood gate was opened! I'm really enjoying "stitchery"! It's quick, simple & not too expensive on the pocket book! Plus, you can make some snazzy looking home decor in a short matter of time!

After completing my 3rd stitchery, I've realized I need an organization system for this hobby. Otherwise, we all will soon be buried in sea of embroidery floss! This is what I use to do with all my floss "back in the day"...wind it onto these cardboard/plastic bobbin things & write the DMC # on the top of the bobbin. Then I'd stash all these bobbins of jumbled thread in my box of floss.... The true treasure was when a pattern called for a certain color #, then low & behold I already had it in my box of floss! Woo Hoo! Small thrill, but a little exciting in that I didn't have to go to the craft store!

I just found this wonderful system that DMC came up with called the "Stitch Bow". Who knows how long this little invention's been around, because I've been under a rock concerning these things! These are just fabulous!!! Instead of spending all kinds of time winding the floss onto bobbins, youn simply slide the floss onto these bow things. Unwrap the black paper on one end of the floss & slide it on the bottom, then unwrap the other black paper on the end of the floss & hook it onto the Bow top. The packaging portion of the floss that has the DMC # and bar code on, slides onto the side of the bow for easy labeling of the colors!! How cool is that? It's so simple & takes no time at all! I've also found that the floss doesn't get tangled nearly as bad as it use to on the bobbins! Yay!

DMC has several complimentary products to keep the floss bows in. I just purchased a few of these to start with.. Each insert will hold 15 skeins of floss. The inserts come 3 to a pack & I paid around $2.29. The inserts will then hook into a three ring binder system.

I love binders & find it's the best organization invention for my household. Seriously, I have all my coupons in a binder, all my recipes in a binder, all my cleaning product recipes & schedules in a binder, a camping binder, Family Fun binder, in the event of an emergency binder (crucial medical records, credit card #s, insurance card copies, passport info, etc...) I'm bound to the binder system. It keeps my clutter straight & visually ordered. I know, I have issues, totally OCD! He, he!

I'm so happy to discover this nifty little gem of a system. It inspires me to keep going with new projects. I can keep things tidy & tucked away with these. Which is wonderful, because my closets are spilling over with crafty attempts & products. Things that seemed like a good thing to start, that I gave up on "many moons ago". Hooray, stitchery is here to stay!!

Swap Goodies

I couldn't pass on Char's ( http://charsethman.blogspot.com/) latest textile swap. Once again, I consider myself blessed by the experience! My swap partner was Jacki over at http://www.hearthsidehappenings.net/ . Jacki is the proprietor of Hearthside Collection, a primitive country business that specializes in samplers, baskets & home decor. She is featured in Country Sampler magazine for her stick family samplers & other goodies. She has some fabulous pieces & is greatly gifted with her needle skills!

Just look at her gorgeous hand work that she sent to me....

I've photoshopped the stitching of our last name out from the Homestead piece. (For the purposes of anonymity, one never knows with the world wide web. I tend to be on the cautious side of life. He, he. :) )

I truly loved being apart of this swap & admire Jacki's work so much. Thank you much my sweet prim friend! I will treasure your pieces for years to come!

I ended up sending Jacki a small wool applique pillow tuck(purchased), a hand stitched / aged country sampler (I did), a set of stitched tea towels (I made), a flour sack apron from original/antique flour sack (I made), and a handwoven table runner(purchased). Bless her heart, for putting up with all my newbie attempts at the prim crafting! I tried my best & had fun with it. I enjoy challenging myself to try new things with all these swaps. What fun!!