Floral Frenzy

One of my favorite creative outlets is to build floral arrangements. I love to mix and match colors and textures, and I wish I could do it all the time! It's funny that my florals typically turn out as well as they do, because I have zero ability to work with color and texture in clothing. Total fail area for me. To each her own, I suppose. Some of my arrangements challenge me; others come together quickly.

Challenging...

• Fall

• This little guy, built in a container shaped like a drum. I am still not sure I like it. What do you think?

Not so much a challenge...

• Florist in the making?

• I knew I had to do something with this adorable owl vase Lefty brought me from a trip to Colorado last summer with her dad. Does she know her Mama or what?

•  I happened upon a terrific sale at Hobby Lobby one day in the floral department...80% off! WHAT?!?! This is the result of that little retail therapy session.





And here are my most recent creations. We have been updating the color scheme in our living room since we took down this year's Christmas décor. I redid the arrangement from the above-mentioned post, because it needed a container that was a little more sturdy than the original. I like the new one oh-so-much better!

Our fun new color 'pop' is called saffron, and I adore it! I have always been a huge fan of yellow in all shades, but was never able to pull it off in a room. This time, SCORE!!!

And finally, I had come across some smoky lavender vases that had been packed away for a rainy day. It was a rainy day, and I was bored out of my gourd. This beauty is what happened.

Linking up today with Karen for Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways.

SAHM (only for the summer :-( )

When the girls were little, I was a stay-at-home-mom. I loved it. EVERY MINUTE. They were my life, and that is how I wanted it! I would give anything to be able to stay home again. To have dinner prepared more often than not; to have after school snacks ready; to be able to pick them up in the car rider line; to take them lunch on occasion; to not worry about who would get them where they need to go after school or to appointments; to be able to take care of wifely things that get neglected now; to be involved in community things and school groups; get my drift???

As it is now, we eat out during the school year more than we are at home for meals; the girls ride the bus or stay after school (with hopes that someone is able to bring them a snack); they eat sack lunches every day; doctor and dental appointments send me in a tizzy because I have a hard time finding someone to get them there for me when I can't get away from work (it doesn't help that I work 30 minutes out of town); the house stays a wreck except for the day after the cleaning lady comes (so one or two days every other week); I never get to stop by to visit Hubby at work or have lunch with him; PTO? What's that? I have hinted and asked, but no luck. Anywho...

So summertime is a tease for this SAHM wanna-be. I stay busy doing things with the kids and trying to get as many appointments in as possible so that I don't have to worry about them during the school year. For the month of July, we have Loo and The Boy, so that makes it extra fun. We have been trying to cook new foods, so each kiddo gets to choose a meal a week. Some of the things we have tried are...

French dip roll ups and poutine (steak fries drenched in gravy and topped with cheese)

Sweet and spicy bacon wrapped chicken with twice baked potatoes

Loaded baked potato pancakes

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad (served with burgers)

3 Cheese Chicken Penne, Green Bean Casserole, and Baked Zucchini Chips

Summertime pretend SAHM time also lets me get a lot of this done...

And it's never far from my thoughts that my time as a SAHM is just a dream and I have to get back to this...

The Stockings Were Hung...

but it is the first year that we have no one at home that believes in Santa Claus. Kinda strange. We knew it was coming. Soon. But now that it is here, it feels odd. Do we still write 'Santa' on some gifts? Just for the sake of doing it? My mom always did. Do we even mention it? They haven't really SAID anything to us about it, but enough comments have been made...we asked around, confirmed our suspicions...and now it just feels weird. Truly, it will make some things easier...but still. It's SANTA!

We put up the stockings anyway...and still, they haven't said the 's' word...

We decorated the trees...all seven of them...and still nary a word...

Chris's Hog tree

My purple tree

Kiddo's traditional tree

Lou's random colors tree

The Boy's fishing tree

Boo's Angels of Dance tree

Lefty's musical tree

We set out the Christmas dinnerware...and you guessed it...no mention of the jolly big guy...

Our nativity scene is set up in the entry again...I know they believe in this!

The set is from Home Interiors, circa 1981...a relic from my childhood !

Even amidst the annual making of ornaments, door decorating, paintings, Christmas shopping, and present wrapping...no one has said a word about St. Nicholas' existence. Maybe for our own sake, nothing will be said and we can continue to pretend that they believe...

A Deco' I Will Go!

This is becoming an obsession in my mind. I find myself thinking of all of the different things I can create with it. I see it everywhere. On doors. Mantels. Entry areas. Wreaths. Swags. Banisters. Trees. Pinterest. I need more. The best part? It is so easy peasy to work with. Decorative mesh. It comes in an array of designs: plain, sparkly, striped, rainbowed, camo...you name it...it can be found. I found a ton of it at DazzleDaze. Unfortunately, I was fighting a migraine, so I couldn't make a decision on which ones I wanted to buy. We left with only lime green and red. No funky stuff. I made note of one of the stores that carries it though, and I will go back for more! Soon. 

This looks orange, but I promise it really is red!

This is what I have done with it...

I used all of the green on the door! 

The centerpiece that I keep changing...

And of course, it is on two of our Christmas trees...but those are for Wednesday's post! In the meantime, check out these awesome displays of deco mesh I have been seeing on Pinterest!

Yes, I know this isn't Christmas...but it shows deco mesh is good...all the time!

Click on the pic to check out an awesome new blog I found, by Southern Fried Gal!

Check out cbdesigns too!

The Wreath Artist

Christmas before Thanksgiving?

Ladies and Gentlemen I have an announcement. Wait...here it comes...

Christmas has arrived.

I know. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet. This weekend has been a massive flurry of activity. It all started Friday night with my Kindergarten Thanksgiving Program. Uber cute. On Saturday, we all got up and headed to Conway to watch Lou perform with her elementary school choir. You don't even have to guess what the performance was. Christmas music...a week before Thanksgiving. They sang about seven songs, including a few with variated parts to highlight the voices of the altos and sopranos. It was really cute.

The choral singing was held to get the kiddos some practice in before the holiday season is in full swing. They will be performing at the State Capitol next month. How cool is that?!?!

The venue that Lou sang at was called Dazzle Daze. It was a shopping event for small business vendors to showcase their wares. There was some fabulosity there!!! I got some amazing crafting ideas and can't wait to start working on them. Trees, centerpieces, refurbed picture frames, wreaths and swags...I could have spent all day and a lot of money there! Some of the vendors had even traveled in from other states to participate.

There was a lot of tulle and deco-mesh. It made me all tingly and stuff.

Um, this is pure terrificality!

They were even giving away this baby! For a $100 raffle ticket!

So today I was inspired and threw this together. Literally. 5 minutes.  

It isn't finished, but looks pretty fun anyway!

We grabbed a burger for lunch before leaving Conway because we had to get to Lefty's basketball game. She was cheering at a tournament all day, and missed out on the fun trip. There wasn't much of a break this year between football and basketball...it seemed as though one rolled right into the other! This was how we spent the rest of the day...

I didn't know we were at a gunshow!

Halftime!