Gilded Christmas Box

 

When we were in California last month visiting our daughter #2 and her family, the visit happened to coincide with a class

that the talented Paula Cheney was teaching. So daughter #2 and I signed up for her Gilded Christmas Box class.  Paula is a designer with the fabulous Tim Holtz!   It was held in the

adorable little shop, Paper Tales, in San Diego. 

 

It was so much fun visiting with Paula and her niece Courtney!

We've known them both for a zillion years.

 

And it was so much fun having a craft day with daughter #2!

 

The visiting with our friends was fun but this was the end product of this fabulous class. 

 

 

 

It started out as a plain brown chipboard box.  I'm pretty sure you can find them at any craft store that carries Tim Holtz products.

 

 

 

Look at all the details.

 

 

We embellished the heck out of every single adorable piece.

 



 

 

It even has a little lantern that lights up!

 

 

We learned some new techniques like how to use alcohol inks and we met some nice

ladies who also took this fun class.

 



 

 

Super fun day!

 

Super cute project!

 

If you ever have a chance to take a class from Paula do it!

 

She travels all over the world teaching different projects featuring

Tim Holtz products.   So maybe she'll come to a paper store near you!

Home Made Wedding Reception

Who says wedding receptions have to be expensive?

 

 Last week my darling friend and neighbor's daughter got married.

 

She asked all of her friends for help.

 

So we did.

 

This is just the top layer of the cake, the rest of it had already been eaten!

 

It's sitting on a wooden, handmade box that has cute little messages burned into it.

AND  the birds on top are made of balsam wood.

 

 So adorable.

 

They had the reception in an old barn just west of town.  The farmer let them

have their reception in it for free.  He just asked that the family do some sort

of community service instead of paying him.  Great idea!

 

See that mower hanging from the ceiling?  It's decorated with grapevine

and little lights and chandeliers.  That middle one is from my

entryway.  The mister was kind enough to take it down and haul it

over to the barn for me.

 

The mother of the bride made these fabulous garlands out of coffee filters.

 

Loved that look.

 

The flowers were done by a friend.

 

Borrowed old doors for the photo booth backdrop.

 

 

Lots of presents for the newlyweds.

 

My friend Janet and I made these little three inch pies for the reception.

 

Apple, berry, and cherry.  One hundred and fifty of them.

 

It was such a fun day and with everyone helping it wasn't a huge amount of work.

 

And it didn't cost a huge amount of money.

Plate Flowers

My darling friend Janis made me this cute plate flower for me for Mother's Day.

Various plates and a bowl glued together with waterproof epoxy.

A  bent spoon from the Dollar Store for the hanger.

Painted PVC pipe and green electrical wire for the stem and leaves.

Embellished with beads and those melted marble things.

Soooo adorable.  It makes quite the statement in my garden.

Creative Gifts from Creative Friends

I have some adorable and creative friends who are always bringing over

a little something that they've put together just for me.

My friend Janis made me this darling cakestand.

A clear drinking glass painted white and with red polka dot

stickers make up the base.  Then glued onto a red plate. 

 I love it. 

She also made me this candle holder. (It actually holds one of those little

battery operated tea lights.)  It's a page out of an old book with a heart

cutout in a thrift store jar.  I'm wanting to make a few of these with star cutouts for

the 4th of July.

Another handmade gift from Janis... a metal chalkboard painted heart on

a stick.  See the little spoon magnet?  Isn't it cute?

My friend Sue made me this adorable gift. 

Two old books with covers removed some vintage lace

and a ribbon all tied up like a pretty package.

And an old key adds the perfect touch.

I so love these fun gifts from my fun friends.

Thank you again, ladies!

Tole Trays

Sometime last year my darling friend Diane from California came to visit.

She noticed that I had a little collection of black metal trays.

Diane said she thought she had one in storage and she'd try to find it for me.

Well, I guess she found it cause

 look what came in the mail last week!

 It looks like it's hand painted.

Don't you love the colors?

It's such a unique pattern.

THANK YOU Diane!!

I love it!!

I have a few others.

Some are wood and kind of new.

Some are metal and old.

 Some are stamped and some are hand painted.

 This one's made out of paper mache?  Or some kind of cardboardish material.

 I've found them on Ebay, picked some up at garage sales and thrift stores, and bought a couple at cute little shops.  But it was so much fun finding one in my mailbox last week.

Trashy Pumpkin Novels

 My darling friend Janis made me these adorable pumpkins.  They're made from old romance novels that she cut on her band saw, tea stained the edges, stuck a stick and leaves in the appropriate spot, then glued the covers together to make a pumpkin shape. 

You need to go to her blog and see the ones she made, then go to Craftberry Bush blog where Janis got the inspiration.  Don't you love all the creative ideas out there in blog land? 

Wedding Reception

The mister and I went to a fun wedding reception last weekend. It was for the son of some friends of ours and his beautiful bride. I loved the colors they used. Lime green and hot pink. So fun for an end of summer wedding.

The "candy bar"... Along with wedding cake they served sherbet and cookies...

Street tacos with salsa and lime...

In a beautiful yard with a lovely gazebo.

We had so much fun. Congratulations to this adorable couple.

Fun and Not So Fun

Janis, Sue and I got together for a little boutique shopping this past week. Had lots of fun and went out to dinner too. Janis brought us these adorable little Mother's Day bouquets that she made with her Cub Scouts. They're made from recycled water bottles, pompoms, wire, and a thrift store teacup and spoon.

Filled with birdseed and stuck on a long pvc pipe to adorn your spring garden. Thank you Janis!

Sue brought me Mother's Day candy in an adorable little container. Thank you Sue!

Now for the not so fun. Mimi's been moving furniture, lifting heavy 2 year olds, and working in the garden and her rotator cuff didn't like it. So she ended up wearing one of these...

And taking lots of these...

So if I left a comment that was incoherent now you know why...
The shoulder's doing a lot better. Hopefully by next week all will be back to as normal as it gets around here.

Birthday Blooms and a Lunch

In October, for my birthday, a friend gave me this beautiful Amaryllis. It was supposed to bloom for Christmas. But instead it bloomed this week.

And it looks like it's going to keep blooming for awhile.

It's got six blooms on one of the stalks.

And another stalk getting ready to open. The flowers are a beautiful salmon color.

So thank you Barbara for my beautiful birthday, Christmas, Valentine flower.

OK, now for some fun news. Kelly, who has a cute blog, Monarch Post, is putting together a blogger's lunch on February 16th at 12 noon at the Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah. So put it on your calendar and save the date. Go on over to her blog for all the details. The more people who come, the more fun it'll be don't you think?

This and That

We had a wonderful anniversary yesterday. We spent the day in Salt Lake City shopping and wandering around. We had a light lunch at a cute little cafe and then went out to dinner last night. Very relaxing, no pressure, and just fun. After the hectic holidays it was a much needed day of rest.

A few odds and ends for todays post. One of my cute friends and neighbors gave me this old postcard. The postmark is dated 1911. I color copied it and made a few tags. Glittered it up a bit. Wish I'd remembered to take a picture of them when they were finished. Duh!
I got a few cute things from my friends for Christmas. A handmade bookmark and lace plate from my friend Sue. Love these.

Janis, over at Grams, made me this cute garland. You've probably seen these made out of coffee filters? Well Janis made this out of cupcake papers. It is adorable. Love this.

Ignore the untrimmed door.

My friend Kay's husband is a fabulous artist and he painted this picture of their house. Then he made cards from the painting. This house is down the street from me. Aren't I lucky to live in this neighborhood? Yes I am!

Janis also made me these embellished clothespins. All of them are so cute. AND practical.

Our holidays were wonderful. We enjoyed spending time with our family and friends. Our Christmas decorations are all packed up and back in the basement. Our anniversary is over and we've been making to do lists. Daughter #3 got engaged at Christmas. There's going to be a wedding at Mimi's Cottage in June!