A Gift Wrapped Up With You In Mind

I wish that I was one of those people who shop early and then wrap their presents and place them under the tree like perfect decorations. But the truth is I wait until the last minute and then I spend hours grabbing the right paper and the ribbon and decorative sprays.

But my favorite gifts were the ones that my children gave to me. They were jaggedly cut and taped but wrapped with so much love. Here is another Gift that came wrapped.

Wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Wrapped with so much love.

I hope you have received this gift.

Merry Christmas

Wanna Be Cindy for Christmas

Her home dazzles me, Her talents amaze, Her creativity is astounding and everything she touchs turns out georgous. I make my way like clockwork everyday to her blog with coffee in hand to see what she is doing. I am on her list of followers....it's a cult I'm telling you. And try we do to create whatever she has posted for the week.

I wanted to make her cookies. So I set out to do just that.

I cut them out and they were looking pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I was all giddy with excitement when I placed them in the oven.

But what the heck happened to my georgous cookies? They swelled up into big sunflower looking blobs so I recut them on the sheet and then they wouldn't lift off the tray.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

I even tried to carve them out using my skills as a whittler..

I managed to get 4 cookies out of the whole mess and so I decided on blue icing. Not having a couple of the ingredient's she had given in her recipe, I remembered how to make icing the we as kids use to put on graham crackers. However it was a bit runny.

I filled up my icing bag and laid it down for a minute to answer the phone and when I came back it had run out all over my counter....oh for heaven sakes!!!
And I did have some of those French thingy's that she talked about that you can't get in CA because they are illegal. Mine are gold.

Does that mean there are traces of gold in them and I could cash my box in....?? I had better save them as they may get me out of a pinch if this economy doesn't pick up.

So having said all that....this is my solution to your problem in CA Cindy...

B B's
Merry Christmas Everybody.

Becky...love ya Cindy

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

I Won I won I won Happy Happy Me

I almost had to pinch myself as I opened this box from Kimberly Ryan.

I won her giveaway and I just can't tell you what a wonderful gift it was.

I think it came at just the right timing too as I have been a little blue with the passing of my Uncle Hughie. Sometimes God just uses people to give us hugs and He did exactly that with Kimberly's Gift.

It seemed like I kept unwrapping and unwrapping and each little pretty caused me to do just what her beaded letters say. LAUGH!

Kimberly Ryan is a wonderful artist. The pictures just don't do her artwork justice.

I couldn't believe the painting that she sent to me. It was a perfect match for my Rose Lake Cottage Suite as it is done in lavender. It is exciting to own a piece of true artwork.

But the beauty in this one is that I feel like I know the artist by visiting her blog.

If you haven't been to see it please go visit. She has lovely items for sale and if you love pretty and feminine items you have hit the motherload by visiting.

Her site is listed as one of my favorites and a visit there will have you placing her on yours.

Can you believe how beautiful this picture is.

Thank you so much Kimberly.

I will treasure it and all of the pretty things that you sent to me.

To see more of Kimberly's art go to

http://kimberlyryanart.blogspot.com/
She is amazing!

A Wonderful Man

My Uncle Hughie left to be with the Lord this week.

He left behind his wife of 60 years, 2 Children and a lot of people who will miss him very much. I am one for sure.This man touched lives and if you could sum it up his life it was love in action.

Everybody could count on Uncle Hughie.

When I was a 5th grader I worked all summer to get contact lenses. I dropped one down the sink and not wanting to tell my parents I called my Uncle Hughie and he came over and took off the sink pipe and found my contact. He saved my day.

He was kind to his nieces and nephews and we all loved him. He was our fun Uncle.
They had a lake cottage and each weekend in the summer they would go up and the fun we had with him there are memories that will forever be in my mind. He taught me to water ski. When everyone else wanted to give up on me trying to get up on skis Uncle Hughie jumped out and swam to me and gently encouraged me and you know what?
I got right up and I have been water skiing ever since.

His children excelled in life. Jimmy who passed away was a wonderful piano player.

David was a track star in high school and Annette did well in everything she put her hand to as well. He was just so encouraging and kind!

Aunt Rosie and Uncle Hughie were high school sweethearts. And I never remember an unpleasant word spoken to her. He was a good husband.

We were blessed to have Aunt Rosie and Uncle Hughie come and stay at our Happy House in Florida. They stayed for the winter running from Indiana Cold.
We played card and games and went to the beach and they even came to church with us.
Uncle Hughie sang the songs at church with such joy in his heart.
He knew the Lord.

My dad use to tease Uncle Hughie about always getting up early. We are talking 4 a.m. early. He told me that he would get up early and take walks and just talk to the man upstairs. His life showed that he did!!
When my father was in the hospital and I stayed at their house at night he and my Aunt would come in and tuck me in and kiss me good night. I was in my 40's but he knew I needed that kiss and hug.




So is it any surprise that he would also be Santa to my children when they were young.
I will miss you Uncle Hughie. You were the best Uncle and a wonderful man and a great example to your nieces and nephews. We love you dearly.
May God Reward you well.

My Christmas Wish For You

This is what I wish for you my friends. Peace, Joy, And Love.
May your eyes and heart be open to the Love that Came down at Christmas Time

May you see all the signs of God's Love

And may you never drive to a darling shop like this and find it closed!!!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Merry Christmas

Becky

This Guy Shows Up Every Year

Need I say more? lol

Pink Saturday

I am happy to be back joining all my other Pink Saturday, aka, Pinkie friends.

Aren't these pink poinsettas just beautiful.

For more pink you can visit our wonderful Hostess Beverly at www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com.

Enjoy your day and please come back to visit.

Becky

A Hint of Christmas

We went to Eufaula for Thanksgiving to work on the house.

I started to decorate.

This was just a plain stocking and so I added a decoration that I got from Michael's Craft Store.

Poinsettas always add beauty to a room or shelf.

And you haven't decorated unless you are covered with glitter when you are done.

Happy Thanksgiving

I Give Thanks for my blogland friends. You have blessed my life with your friendships.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Becky

Always a Favorite with Me

This is one of my favorite booths at Rennigar's in Mt Dora FL

Peggy has been doing the Shabby Chic style before Rachael Ashwell claimed the name.

She actually started out in CA with a friend. When I had my shop, she and I would bump into each other early every Monday at another Flea Market.

The secret to great finds is being the early bird. Probably the only time in my life that I actually enjoyed getting up before dawn were those Mondays. Ahhhh....the thrill of the hunt.

I don't know what it is about bird cages but I couldn't keep them in my shop.

Now along with the white and cream painted furniture is black.
Thank you Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs!
Your prices have made our finds soooo much more appealing to our customers. And we can give you that designer look for a fraction of the cost.
Another great place to shop is Craigslist.
Wait until you see what I found there for a song. My heart actually skipped a beat.
I will post it later.
Until then.
Remember..... the early bird gets the worm!

It's A Chili Night In Tampa

There's nothing like a bowl of Chili to warm you from the inside out.

I'll Have a Blue Christmas....please

Let's start from the top!
You can almost hear the song, "I'll have a Blue Christmas," playing, can't you?
But I can assure you this a Blue feeling is not what you will find in my friend Kathleen's home. Her holidays are filled with family and friends and if she saw it being otherwise she and her husband Scott would drag in the homeless to celebrate the Birth of our Lord!

I had a wonderful time decorating her home. She bought her decorations from Michael's. They have beautiful things there this year. She was funny as she collected her 40% off coupons and back in August started picking up this or that.

So now my friend can enjoy her holidays hosting her little heart out!

Her tree is filled with blue and silver ornaments with enough glitter to cover a small child. I looked dazzling when I arrived home, sparkling from head to toe.

Waiting for stocking to be hung by the chimney with care. I know that Santa will surely be there!

Oh Deer!

Don't you just love the mercury glass? She has been collecting that as well.

Kathleen wishes you a Very Merry Christmas.

And may you find the joy of the Lord filling your days!

God Bless You!

Finding Balance

My life is a bit out of balance right now.

I am taking a short break as I gain that balance back.

I will be posting in a couple of weeks.

See you then.

Big Hugs

Becky

Pink Victorian Shades for Pink Saturday

I was on a search for pink this week when I discovered a beautiful booth in Rennigar's in Mt Dora Florida. I was so drawn to these beautiful Victorian Lampshades.

I hope you enjoy looking at them. Be sure to click on them to enlarge as the detail is wonderful.

And when you are done make sure you go to http://www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ to enjoy another Pink Saturday hosted by the wonderful Beverly.

The fabric and the fringe and the beadwork are amazing and each one is a true work of art.

Beautiful don't you think?



The fringe is hand dyed to match whatever colors the artist pulls from the fabric.


At first I thought this was a print on fabric but they are actually painted by another local artist from Florida.


It isn't hard to see the care that is put into each shade.
Sigh....

And this is where it all began. The framed picture is a shade that was made by the artist's Great Grandmother. She passed away when she was 3 but she passed on her talent to her sweet Grand Daughter. Donna Ladley.


Donna has been making Victorian shades since 1972 and as you can see she has mastered her craft.

If you see anything that you would like Donna's e-mail address is :
donnaladley@embarqmail.com

I am dreaming of the day that I can own one of these beautiful shade.
Can't you see it in my Shabby Old House ?

But the trouble is , Which One?
They all would look fabulous!
Like the shade in the picture this is a larger version of Donna's Grandmother's shade.
I think Grandmother would be proud don't you? Ever wonder what you will pass to the next generation? I guess we need to remember, LITTLE EYES ARE WATCHING.