Country Christmas Decoration Copy Cat

As I'm getting the house decorated for Christmas, I came across this little pitcher. Hmm, I wondered to myself: is this little pitcher just waiting to become part of my country Christmas decorations?

Then as I was browsing around Blogland the other night I came across Debbiedoos' Copy Cat Challenge. Great idea and enough to get me moving on an idea for that little pitcher.

But it had to be a copy cat! Hmm! Well I headed for my Gooseberry Patch Christmas book. (It never got put away after my last "inspiration!"). And what did I find! A perfectly simple idea for dressing this little homespun pitcher into it's country Christmas decorations finery!

Ta da... I added a checked bow to dress it up with a little more Christmas flair.

You could fill all types of pitchers, pots and vases with greeny and they'd look just as good. And I get to sneak in a photo of my beautiful grandbabies :)

Still working on the the rest of my country Christmas decorations between writing assignments. Should have those finished soon. In the meantime...

"It's beginning to seem a lot like Christmas..." Oh there goes that song again!



Photographs: copyright Home Made Haven 2011
Vintage Christmas Postcard: The Graphics Fairy

As I'm getting the house decorated for Christmas, I came across this little pitcher. Hmm, I wondered to myself: is this little pitcher just waiting to become part of my country Christmas decorations?

Then as I was browsing around Blogland the other night I came across Debbiedoos' Copy Cat Challenge. Great idea and enough to get me moving on an idea for that little pitcher.

But it had to be a copy cat! Hmm! Well I headed for my Gooseberry Patch Christmas book. (It never got put away after my last "inspiration!"). And what did I find! A perfectly simple idea for dressing this little homespun pitcher into it's country Christmas decorations finery!

Ta da... I added a checked bow to dress it up with a little more Christmas flair.

You could fill all types of pitchers, pots and vases with greeny and they'd look just as good. And I get to sneak in a photo of my beautiful grandbabies :)

Still working on the the rest of my country Christmas decorations between writing assignments. Should have those finished soon. In the meantime...

"It's beginning to seem a lot like Christmas..." Oh there goes that song again!



Photographs: copyright Home Made Haven 2011
Vintage Christmas Postcard: The Graphics Fairy

New Cheap Floor for the Holidays

What is it about holidays that makes you want to start a remodeling or home improvement job? It seems to happen to me all too often. Last year it was enclosing the third bedroom (the original owners never finished the remodel and it was open to the living room as a den). This year is was a new floor for the living room. A cheap floor -- laminate -- but new nevertheless. I can't say it didn't need it. We've been living on concrete ever since we pulled up the nasty old carpeting. And it's taken us a while, but ta da, finally a floor...

I even splurged and bought myself a cowhide rug. Pretty nifty, huh? I wrote a little more about the cost to install laminate flooring (nothing when you do it yourself!) at Cheap Floor Diva, so hop over a take a look if you're interested. Me? I'm heading off to the barn to get the Christmas decorations.

What is it about holidays that makes you want to start a remodeling or home improvement job? It seems to happen to me all too often. Last year it was enclosing the third bedroom (the original owners never finished the remodel and it was open to the living room as a den). This year is was a new floor for the living room. A cheap floor -- laminate -- but new nevertheless. I can't say it didn't need it. We've been living on concrete ever since we pulled up the nasty old carpeting. And it's taken us a while, but ta da, finally a floor...

I even splurged and bought myself a cowhide rug. Pretty nifty, huh? I wrote a little more about the cost to install laminate flooring (nothing when you do it yourself!) at Cheap Floor Diva, so hop over a take a look if you're interested. Me? I'm heading off to the barn to get the Christmas decorations.

Inspirations from Gooseberry Patch

Gooseberry Patch is one of those stories that inspires me on a lot of levels. Of course, the books are filled with lots of great recipes and craft ideas, but the history of the company is just as inspiring. It was started by two young moms over 25 years ago. One was an airline hostess and the other a teacher and both were looking for ways to earn money and stay home with their young families. They decided to start a mail order company selling the cute, crafty-style items they both loved.

Along the way, they started creating and selling small cookbooks. I have a couple in my library. It also started a community of readers who shared their ideas. More cookbooks lead to craft books and the mail order business fell by the wayside. Gooseberry Patch is now a major publisher and last year was bought out by a larger company. Inspiring story, yes?

Well, my inspiration starts with a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book I found a the thrift store for a couple of bucks. I love old recipe and craft books and when they're wrapped around Christmas, I love them even more.

As you can see it's Book #3. The current Christmas book is #17, so this one is about 14 years old. In publishing time, that's old, but the book is still filled with lots of cute ideas and yummy recipes that still work.

Now, like those two young mothers, I'm trying to make an income so I can stay at home, too. While I write for a variety of clients for upfront fees, I'm also trying to create my own income with other writing ventures. One of the places I've started to write is at Squidoo. It's a platform that allows you to share your writing and do a little Internet marketing on the side (or a lot of marketing depending on how good you are at it). In my case, I sell products through Amazon. The hardest part is coming up with ideas that readers might be interested in and that lend themselves to selling products.

Inspiration struck for me with this book. Why not a lens on Gooseberry Patch? So I set about writing a lens about 10 Reasons to Love Gooseberry Patch. And I wanted to re-create a couple ideas from the books.

One of them was for Nestled Bowels with Fruit. It's a very simple centerpiece idea for anytime of the time of the year, not just Christmas. And it's turned out to be a way to use some of my thrifty finds.

The problem was, my yellow bowls are waaaay too small for fruit. But I improvised.

Nuts work as well as apples and oranges. Besides, it was the first time I got to use these since I found them at the thrift store -- these two bowls plus a pie plate for $5 at the thirst store. And I picked up the red doily for a dollar at an antique mall. First time to use that, too. I added a few pieces of greenery and dried rose hips from the yard and a homespun ornament (another yard sale find) and voile... inspiration was born. And a crafty start to my Christmas decorating!

Thanks for stopping by,

Linking up with:

Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Gooseberry Patch is one of those stories that inspires me on a lot of levels. Of course, the books are filled with lots of great recipes and craft ideas, but the history of the company is just as inspiring. It was started by two young moms over 25 years ago. One was an airline hostess and the other a teacher and both were looking for ways to earn money and stay home with their young families. They decided to start a mail order company selling the cute, crafty-style items they both loved.

Along the way, they started creating and selling small cookbooks. I have a couple in my library. It also started a community of readers who shared their ideas. More cookbooks lead to craft books and the mail order business fell by the wayside. Gooseberry Patch is now a major publisher and last year was bought out by a larger company. Inspiring story, yes?

Well, my inspiration starts with a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book I found a the thrift store for a couple of bucks. I love old recipe and craft books and when they're wrapped around Christmas, I love them even more.

As you can see it's Book #3. The current Christmas book is #17, so this one is about 14 years old. In publishing time, that's old, but the book is still filled with lots of cute ideas and yummy recipes that still work.

Now, like those two young mothers, I'm trying to make an income so I can stay at home, too. While I write for a variety of clients for upfront fees, I'm also trying to create my own income with other writing ventures. One of the places I've started to write is at Squidoo. It's a platform that allows you to share your writing and do a little Internet marketing on the side (or a lot of marketing depending on how good you are at it). In my case, I sell products through Amazon. The hardest part is coming up with ideas that readers might be interested in and that lend themselves to selling products.

Inspiration struck for me with this book. Why not a lens on Gooseberry Patch? So I set about writing a lens about 10 Reasons to Love Gooseberry Patch. And I wanted to re-create a couple ideas from the books.

One of them was for Nestled Bowels with Fruit. It's a very simple centerpiece idea for anytime of the time of the year, not just Christmas. And it's turned out to be a way to use some of my thrifty finds.

The problem was, my yellow bowls are waaaay too small for fruit. But I improvised.

Nuts work as well as apples and oranges. Besides, it was the first time I got to use these since I found them at the thrift store -- these two bowls plus a pie plate for $5 at the thirst store. And I picked up the red doily for a dollar at an antique mall. First time to use that, too. I added a few pieces of greenery and dried rose hips from the yard and a homespun ornament (another yard sale find) and voile... inspiration was born. And a crafty start to my Christmas decorating!

Thanks for stopping by,

Linking up with:

Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Rustic and Refined

My neighbor Judith stopped by the other day to drop off these pretty little candlesticks. Nice and very much like Judith.

She comes across little treasures all the time and with them has created the most charming cottage for herself. She just has a way of pulling things together. I'd say her style is a little shabby chic with French elegance. Totally unlike my style, which is mostly rustic mixed with cowboy. After all, I'm the gal with a cowgirl on her wall and horse blankets on the hearth.

That happens when you live with three guys. Not that I don't like my pretties, but the overall style I've gone for here is a ranchy cabin style -- leather, woods, painted or stained and a lot of simple vintage decor. But I do love these candlesticks and how they contrast with the rest of my stuff. So onto the mantle they go, right next to log candlesticks the hubby made for me.

Well, maybe mostly rustic with a hint of refined!

Thanks for stopping by,

My neighbor Judith stopped by the other day to drop off these pretty little candlesticks. Nice and very much like Judith.

She comes across little treasures all the time and with them has created the most charming cottage for herself. She just has a way of pulling things together. I'd say her style is a little shabby chic with French elegance. Totally unlike my style, which is mostly rustic mixed with cowboy. After all, I'm the gal with a cowgirl on her wall and horse blankets on the hearth.

That happens when you live with three guys. Not that I don't like my pretties, but the overall style I've gone for here is a ranchy cabin style -- leather, woods, painted or stained and a lot of simple vintage decor. But I do love these candlesticks and how they contrast with the rest of my stuff. So onto the mantle they go, right next to log candlesticks the hubby made for me.

Well, maybe mostly rustic with a hint of refined!

Thanks for stopping by,

Trying Out Table Centerpieces

So many bloggers are getting ready for Fall that I'm inspired to make a change or two (even though its as hot as Hades here at the moment). Because of the heat I'm not ready to pull out all the Fall decor, so I thought I would start simple. A new centerpiece for the kitchen table.

This is the way it's been looking for a few months. A vintage style tablecloth with a yellow Bauer bowl with fruit.

Of course, I could change it out with an orange Bauer bowl... but that's not much different, huh?

A couple months ago I found a real vintage, 40's-style tablecloth on eBay. I love the blue and red and as long as you don't look too close, you won't see the tiny holes or specks of green paint. I got it cheap and I don't mind "old and used." But my table takes a lot of abuse, so I don't like to use this tablecloth too much. (See note below.)

The hubby likes to see the wood on the old table. It originally belonged to his grandmother and we spend a lot of hours stripping and refinishing it. If you look close, you'll see it's about time to do that again. Oh well.

I have a lot of dark blue in my kitchen, from the wall to the 70's floor, so blue it is. I like the blue check of the tablecloth ($2 at my favorite thrift store) and the blue vase (number #2 son gave that to me for Xmas a few years ago) and the sunflowers really say "Fall," (even though they're fake).

Note: A few hours later the tablecloth was covered in chocolate milk! Good thing it's washable! And I realize it won't be long before I do have to pull out some of my Fall decorations. The kids were talking about Halloween already. Yikes!

Linking to Tablescape Thursday at

Between Naps on the Porch

check it out because there's

some really great Fall tablescape

ideas over there

So many bloggers are getting ready for Fall that I'm inspired to make a change or two (even though its as hot as Hades here at the moment). Because of the heat I'm not ready to pull out all the Fall decor, so I thought I would start simple. A new centerpiece for the kitchen table.

This is the way it's been looking for a few months. A vintage style tablecloth with a yellow Bauer bowl with fruit.

Of course, I could change it out with an orange Bauer bowl... but that's not much different, huh?

A couple months ago I found a real vintage, 40's-style tablecloth on eBay. I love the blue and red and as long as you don't look too close, you won't see the tiny holes or specks of green paint. I got it cheap and I don't mind "old and used." But my table takes a lot of abuse, so I don't like to use this tablecloth too much. (See note below.)

The hubby likes to see the wood on the old table. It originally belonged to his grandmother and we spend a lot of hours stripping and refinishing it. If you look close, you'll see it's about time to do that again. Oh well.

I have a lot of dark blue in my kitchen, from the wall to the 70's floor, so blue it is. I like the blue check of the tablecloth ($2 at my favorite thrift store) and the blue vase (number #2 son gave that to me for Xmas a few years ago) and the sunflowers really say "Fall," (even though they're fake).

Note: A few hours later the tablecloth was covered in chocolate milk! Good thing it's washable! And I realize it won't be long before I do have to pull out some of my Fall decorations. The kids were talking about Halloween already. Yikes!

Linking to Tablescape Thursday at

Between Naps on the Porch

check it out because there's

some really great Fall tablescape

ideas over there

Whiteboard Flea Market Makeover

When I was working at the day job, a whiteboard was a mandatory piece of office equipment. In my company, every cubicle and corner office had one. And they were well used for keeping track of the 101 projects that were due or for brainstorming. Well, now that I have my own at-home corner office (in the corner of my bedroom, BTW), I need a whiteboard. But whiteboards are... no other way to put it than UGLY! Especially in a bedroom.

So what to do?

I was inspired by an article in "Where Women Create" (great magazine if you haven't seen it). One artist used French doors to cover an ugly wall in her basement studio. It was right up my alley and the inspiration for today's blog...

First, a couple of things about why I think this is such a great idea. First, whiteboard markers work better on glass than whiteboard. Really. The marker wipes right off the glass and doesn't leave those streaking, ugly marks that need a nasty smelling chemical cleaner. Then, they're just... pretty. I love old things and repurposing them. And besides, my hubby and I have hauled home a number of old windows and it doesn't look like we're going to be using them anytime soon for a studio/greenhouse/shed/??

Converting an old window into a whiteboard is a super easy Flea Market-to-treasure idea. It didn't take hubby and me more than a hour to complete and half that time was cleaning the old window.

 
Grubby, huh. This is the window we decided to use. Mostly because it fit in to the tight space I have in the bedroom. First thing was cleaning and that took a lot of Windex and paper towels. Next, I checked to make sure the windows were still tight in their frame. If not, I would have had to fix that with glass putty. Since you'll writing directly on the glass, you want to make sure it will stay in place.

I didn't do anything to the window, but clean it. If the paint were more chippy, I might have varnished to encase the paint (an especially good idea with lead paints). I don't have the kidlets up here that often, so I'm not worried about that.

Then it was just a matter of stapling fabric to the back of the window. I opted to go "white" with a hint of print. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the fabric is a paisley tone-on-tone. It's a little more than just plain white fabric, but it's doesn't distract from its purpose. I was afraid the writing wouldn't show up against dark or big prints fabric. You could use other colors, of course, or even paint the windows with whiteboard paint. There's many different options here.

I called in some support when it came time to hanging up my new whiteboard. Not only is a second pair of hands necessary, but I wanted to make sure it stays on the wall. Hubby searched for the stud locations, made all the appropriate calculations on the window and pre-drilled holes.

Then it was a matter of hanging it up. Sorry, I don't have photos of the actually hanging, because it took both of us to handle the window. It's hung with two screws at the top and two at the bottom into the wall studs. It's not going anywhere. The only thing I haven't done yet is cover of the screw heads. I just need to dab those with paint (or maybe whiteout, it is an office, after all).

I also hung up an old tin basket next to my new whiteboard to hold whiteboard markers and an eraser. Works well.

A whiteboard comes in handy for so many things when you work from home. It of course, helps me keep track of projects and tasks that are due.

Add affirmations I leave to myself (I try to change out the quotes and words often).

Or just doodle when I feel creative.

Overall, I'm happy with the way my whiteboard flea market makeover went. I repurposed an old window that was collecting dust in the bar and got a useful piece of office equipment (with a lot of style).

Let me know how you like it and what flea market makeovers you attempted.

Linking to Cindy's Show and Tell at

My Romantic Home

When I was working at the day job, a whiteboard was a mandatory piece of office equipment. In my company, every cubicle and corner office had one. And they were well used for keeping track of the 101 projects that were due or for brainstorming. Well, now that I have my own at-home corner office (in the corner of my bedroom, BTW), I need a whiteboard. But whiteboards are... no other way to put it than UGLY! Especially in a bedroom.

So what to do?

I was inspired by an article in "Where Women Create" (great magazine if you haven't seen it). One artist used French doors to cover an ugly wall in her basement studio. It was right up my alley and the inspiration for today's blog...

First, a couple of things about why I think this is such a great idea. First, whiteboard markers work better on glass than whiteboard. Really. The marker wipes right off the glass and doesn't leave those streaking, ugly marks that need a nasty smelling chemical cleaner. Then, they're just... pretty. I love old things and repurposing them. And besides, my hubby and I have hauled home a number of old windows and it doesn't look like we're going to be using them anytime soon for a studio/greenhouse/shed/??

Converting an old window into a whiteboard is a super easy Flea Market-to-treasure idea. It didn't take hubby and me more than a hour to complete and half that time was cleaning the old window.

 
Grubby, huh. This is the window we decided to use. Mostly because it fit in to the tight space I have in the bedroom. First thing was cleaning and that took a lot of Windex and paper towels. Next, I checked to make sure the windows were still tight in their frame. If not, I would have had to fix that with glass putty. Since you'll writing directly on the glass, you want to make sure it will stay in place.

I didn't do anything to the window, but clean it. If the paint were more chippy, I might have varnished to encase the paint (an especially good idea with lead paints). I don't have the kidlets up here that often, so I'm not worried about that.

Then it was just a matter of stapling fabric to the back of the window. I opted to go "white" with a hint of print. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the fabric is a paisley tone-on-tone. It's a little more than just plain white fabric, but it's doesn't distract from its purpose. I was afraid the writing wouldn't show up against dark or big prints fabric. You could use other colors, of course, or even paint the windows with whiteboard paint. There's many different options here.

I called in some support when it came time to hanging up my new whiteboard. Not only is a second pair of hands necessary, but I wanted to make sure it stays on the wall. Hubby searched for the stud locations, made all the appropriate calculations on the window and pre-drilled holes.

Then it was a matter of hanging it up. Sorry, I don't have photos of the actually hanging, because it took both of us to handle the window. It's hung with two screws at the top and two at the bottom into the wall studs. It's not going anywhere. The only thing I haven't done yet is cover of the screw heads. I just need to dab those with paint (or maybe whiteout, it is an office, after all).

I also hung up an old tin basket next to my new whiteboard to hold whiteboard markers and an eraser. Works well.

A whiteboard comes in handy for so many things when you work from home. It of course, helps me keep track of projects and tasks that are due.

Add affirmations I leave to myself (I try to change out the quotes and words often).

Or just doodle when I feel creative.

Overall, I'm happy with the way my whiteboard flea market makeover went. I repurposed an old window that was collecting dust in the bar and got a useful piece of office equipment (with a lot of style).

Let me know how you like it and what flea market makeovers you attempted.

Linking to Cindy's Show and Tell at

My Romantic Home

I'm Seeing Red... Decor That Is!

I was passing though my living room the other day and noticed... I have a lot of red going on. I don't ever remember making a conscience decision to add red, but there it is.

In a lamp shade I made years ago and the pitcher and candle that stands next to it.

I couple months ago I spray painted some picture frames (don't you just love spray paint). It made the gaudy gold 3-D roses of two of the frames look soooo much better. (of course, my three granddaughters look great in any frame!)

I painted this mirror, too. (I know, take the paint can away from the girl!)

Then there was this really cute rusty ranch tools collage I won at a silent auction. The red background was an added plus (oops, the photographer was a little crooked there).

Then I found a great rustic looking birdhouse... in red, of course.

And I already had a few things... like my red dressed cowgirl.

This great old lantern.

Oh, and we can't forget my laptop.

Like I said, I never started out to decorate with red. Of course, my decorating style is more "as it happens" and generally is never planned too far in advance. That gets me into a lot of trouble sometimes.

It's not just red that I love, but bright colors in general. I love looking at photos and all white and soft romantic interiors, shabby chic or otherwise. One of my favorite places to blogvisit is with Cindy at My Romantic Home. As beautiful as her home is, it's color that gets me going. So, you'll find me at blogs where color is reigns supreme -- Cozy Little House and Cherry Hill Cottage are two of my favorite blog du jours at the moment.

And as you'll notice... they're seeing a lot of red over at those two blogs, too!

Oh my, I don't even feel like I'm properly dressed 

(barely any posts here)

but I'm linking to 

Rednesday @ It's a Very Cherry World

It's all that Redilishousness!

I was passing though my living room the other day and noticed... I have a lot of red going on. I don't ever remember making a conscience decision to add red, but there it is.

In a lamp shade I made years ago and the pitcher and candle that stands next to it.

I couple months ago I spray painted some picture frames (don't you just love spray paint). It made the gaudy gold 3-D roses of two of the frames look soooo much better. (of course, my three granddaughters look great in any frame!)

I painted this mirror, too. (I know, take the paint can away from the girl!)

Then there was this really cute rusty ranch tools collage I won at a silent auction. The red background was an added plus (oops, the photographer was a little crooked there).

Then I found a great rustic looking birdhouse... in red, of course.

And I already had a few things... like my red dressed cowgirl.

This great old lantern.

Oh, and we can't forget my laptop.

Like I said, I never started out to decorate with red. Of course, my decorating style is more "as it happens" and generally is never planned too far in advance. That gets me into a lot of trouble sometimes.

It's not just red that I love, but bright colors in general. I love looking at photos and all white and soft romantic interiors, shabby chic or otherwise. One of my favorite places to blogvisit is with Cindy at My Romantic Home. As beautiful as her home is, it's color that gets me going. So, you'll find me at blogs where color is reigns supreme -- Cozy Little House and Cherry Hill Cottage are two of my favorite blog du jours at the moment.

And as you'll notice... they're seeing a lot of red over at those two blogs, too!

Oh my, I don't even feel like I'm properly dressed 

(barely any posts here)

but I'm linking to 

Rednesday @ It's a Very Cherry World

It's all that Redilishousness!