I Have Been Asked....

Good morning blog fans!

Hope you are having a fabulous week.

Enjoy the last day of November.

Very hard to believe that tomorrow is December

and that it is the last month of 2010!

Didn't I JUST get used to writing 2010!?!?!?!

Where did the time fly?

Too scary for me....

When people visit my home there are certain "things"

I have made that they always want to know

"HOW" I made them.

I decided to take some pictures of these "things"

and you can see for yourself...

If you want or need more specific directions just let

me know and I will try and help you.

Some of the things I just make with no directions

or rhyme or reason.

I do get asked often about my "printer's box"

which used to house my miniature collection

(that goes back over 35 years ago)

This is how my printer's box looks today

I cleaned it up, painted it shabby white

and filled it with all different kinds of flowers

It was "easy" to do and I had most of the flowers

(from the days I had a "card" business)

Just squeeze the flowers in tight and use a glue gun

This table i decoupaged with Anna Griffin papers

I did this about ten years ago and the table still looks great

(actually, Michael built the original parson's table and that

table is over thirty years old!!!)

Again, this is very easy to do and you can cover anything....

We bought this antique chest almost thirty years ago

and it was originally brown

When I redid the room it is in I also redid the dresser

I painted it white, changed the handles and bought some "add-ons"

Now it is a Shabby Chic Chest

I have seen dressers like this on-line and on eBay for

well over $500

The original dresser cost us about $130

Not a bad investment

This chair was a $25 investment at a flea market

over thirty years ago....

I painted it white and added a needlepoint I made

with nail heads all around....

This chair is used with my roll-top desk

(a true vintage antique I bought over thirty years ago)

I am always getting asked about this project...

It is a shadow box and the design for the box was inspired

by a "Sarah Jungg" piece

I adapted it to my "house" and things I had

It was lots of fun to make and VERY easy....

It has been hanging just like this for at least twenty years....

If I were making it today I would do it a little different,

but I will not change a thing.....

This was inspired by a Donna Downey canvas

I hope to do more like this

I LOVED making this one...

This canvas was from an on-going class where we

added a new technique or dimension each month

The picture does not allow you to see all the dimension

and texture, but it was a great project...

This is an embroidery project I made

and I loved every second of it...

I covered a canvas with vintage music note paper and then

attached the piece to the canvas with pins....

The original design was inspired by Teresa McFayden

I took her "map" and then did my own thing....

I want to make another one!!!

And this last picture shows the results of an

"encaustic painting" class I took

Again, it is hard to see all the texture in the picture

I loved this class and hope to incorporate

encaustic in a future class....

So, what inspires you?

What are some things that you have made

and ended up loving to pieces???

Send me some pictures or just let me know...

Have a great day

Until next post I leave you with this...

"CREATIVITY"

It has been said,

Consists largely of re-arranging

what we know

in order to find out

what we do now know!

Hugs and More,

Peggy

Sunday Ramblings...

I thought I would be inside all day working on cleaning up

"my room" and getting projects done, etc.

This morning I decided it was time to clean up all of the old

plants, shrubs, etc. outside.

It made me kind of sad when I looked at this

This was one of my hydrangea shrubs and this

was one of my peonies...

As I was thinking about how "depressing" it could be with

winter coming I saw NEW GROWTH coming out of

some of the plants -

How could that be at the end of November when everything

was "dying"???

It made me realize that there is hope and birth and new

and wonderful things to look forward to

And, the possibility that next summer's weather will not

be as hot as it was this summer so my

hydrangeas and peonies can thrive....

What a great thing to think about!

I guess because I was thinking about flowers, I decided to

check on the dates of the

Philadelphia Flower Show for 2011

and guess what!?!?!?!?!

The dates are all set for the week of March 6th, 2011 and you will

not believe what the theme is....

SPRINGTIME IN PARIS!!!

What a wonderful trip to look forward to.

If you have not attended I highly recommend it!

This will be my fourth year in a row attending and I love it.

I am VERY excited about the theme this year.

I am SURE it is going to be fantastic....

So after cleaning up outside I decided to put out all of

the Chanukah decorations...

This is on the front door...

This is the electric menorah we use in the window...

This is the menorah we actually use for lighting the candles...

I have had it for about fifteen years and I love it...

It is handmade by a company called "LESAL"

Mark bought me this menorah last year and it is by "Brighton"

They make some beautiful Judaic items

But my menorah award goes to...

This menorah is by "Mackenzie-Childs" and was bought for me

last Chanukah by my brother.

He ALWAYS buys me the best gifts

(with the assistance of my niece, Sari).

Danielle and I each bought one of these on our last

visit to Disney...

When we saw it we had to have it since it is so hard

to find decent Chanukah decorations...

I made this dreidel from scratch a few years ago...

This is supposed to be a menorah but I use if for decorations.

It is ceramic blocks with different words and pictures.

I love it and it took me a lot of searching to find it.

I had seen a picture in a magazine and it was not easy to find...

I made this banner a few years ago when the

"heidi swapp" cards were all the rage

and I still love it...

This is the wrapping I selected for this year

I wanted to use something recycled so I found this

polka dot kraft wrapping at Target...

I made all the tags!!!

I could not show you the table since many of the UNWRAPPED

gifts are on there....

Whatever holiday you celebrate may it be wonderful

filled with only good things...

Until next post I leave you with...

"Call it a clan, call it a network,

call it a tribe, call it a FAMILY!

Whatever you call it, whoever you are,

YOU NEED ONE!"

Hugs and More,

Peggy

Something I Forgot....

I meant to include this in my previous post

but there was so much I had to tell you

that I left it out.

On Thanksgiving, I had taken off my jewelry and put it

and my other "stuff" on top of my ipad.

Before we ate dinner Marlie says to me look what I did

with your jewelry....

She wrote "I heart you" with my

watch, bracelet, lip gloss and stylus from the ipad.

How cute is this?!?!

It is something I have always written to the girls

 even before they were able to read.

I would draw an "eye", then a "heart" and the letter "u"

so this has special meaning....

Gotta Love It!!!!

Hugs and More,

Peggy

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND - #4

Saturday - a lazy day!

Nothing planned!

Nothing to do!

It took until noon but we finally ALL got out of the house

(Jared left to go home to Delaware)

We went to a really cute store in Monroe called

"Country Hearts" (www.countryhearts.com)

to buy a Chanukah gift for someone

All of us and Danielle's sister were chipping in.

This is the girls while we were selecting the gift

Thank heavens for "DS" machines....

We all piled back into the car and then it was the big

decision...

WHERE DO WE EAT????

I had mentioned this place in the morning

It is in Westport and was always a little famous..

It was put on the map so to speak after...

I happened to see this segment and I mentioned it to

Noel in the morning

(Noel and Jared were watching the food network

and it reminded me)

I have to tell you, it was great

and worth the twenty minute wait....

This is the guy that can make you famous....

This is just one page of their four-page menu

Talk about not eating healthy....

We started off with a large snack attack

(loaded potato skins, wings and fried mozzarella)

and a chili nacho supreme with guacamole

The mozzarella was the best!!!!

They are really known for their burgers!

Michael ordered the "doctor proctor" bleu cheese burger

and was NOT disappointed in the least.

Noel ordered the "big top" burger which is covered with

bacon, fried onions and BBQ sauce.

He finished every morsel of it.

Danielle and I had the lobster roll (no butter) and it was

pure lumps of fresh lobster.

If you are ever in the Westport, Connecticut area

I suggest making a stop here....

Then I wanted to stop at Trader Joe's on the way home.

They now make white chocolate chips that are nut-free,

so Ellie will be able to eat ALL of the cookies I make!!

First we stopped into Pier One so Danielle could buy a few

more napkins...

Ellie is always the character....

and in Trader Joe's Ellie gets her own wagon

and went straight for the pita bread she loves...

We shopped quickly, went back to the kids house,

I packed up all my stuff and we were off...

It was a great weekend

I LOVE being with my family

The holiday was great...

As I said before, I hope your holiday

lived up to all your hopes and dreams.

Now I MUST start getting ready for Chanukah.

Chanukah begins THIS Wednesday night.

Because Marlie is in the "Nutcracker" from her ballet school,

I have a reprieve for two weeks.

We are not celebrating with the family until the

weekend of December 18th!!

Lucky for me.

Not ONE gift is wrapped

I still have more gifts to buy, but I am pretty close to being

"almost" done.

It is not easy to "decorate" for Chanukah, but over the

years I have accumulated a few things.

Check back tomorrow to see them...

I hope you have all started your holiday shopping.

From all reports the stores have been busy,

people have been spending and that is a good thing!!

Until next time...

"SCRIBBLE DAILY and have

RANDOM THOUGHTS"

Hugs and More,

Peggy

THANKSGIVING - #3

So now it is Friday.

Danielle had to go to Philadelphia with her sister, Shari

to do something with their Mom.

It was Me, Michael, Noel, Jared, Marlie and Ellie!

Ellie had a birthday party, so Noel and Jared took

her to the party.

Me, Marlie (Marlie's friend Elizabeth)

 and Michael went to see "TANGLED"

It was wonderful - we ALL loved it...

The story, the music and everything about it was great...

And even better was seeing at the end -

"Lyrics by Glenn Slater"

I always get so excited when I see Glenn's name!

After the movie we all met at Panera Bread for lunch.

Back at the house, Noel made a fire, the girls played

with their American Girl dolls for awhile.

Then Ellie came downstairs and Uncle Ja-Ja (Jared)

had a surprise for Ellie.

He bought her a couple of board games she had wanted.

When Jared was a little boy I think we played about

a million games of "Sorry".

So we opened the box and the three of us played Sorry.

I forgot how long one game could take,

but I have to tell you, it was fun.

Fair and square, at the last second, Ellie was the winner!!!

Then the "big" girls came down and they wanted

to play, so the three of them played again.

Then Jared called his friend and the idea arose to

go to a hockey game in Bridgeport at the Arena at Harbor Yards -

Bridgeport vs Hartford - big rivalry.

I have to tell you that I have NEVER been to a hockey game

and I love sports.

My mother told me that when she was eight months pregnant

with me she went to a game and she hated it

so that is why I never went

(great logic!!!)

So here is the ice after the "Zamboni" machine made it

nice and shiny

The girls loved watching it...

This is the Bridgeport mascot they blow up and the

players come out from its mouth...

I have to say they play GREAT music at these games!!!

Ellie found a great use for the cup holders while we were

waiting for the game to start...

Here come the teams.....

and an adorable boy scout troop brought out the flag...

 

can you guess what this is?

if you guessed cotton candy (pink) you are right...

when the men start looking a little bored you know it

is time to leave...

(Bridgeport was losing 2-0)

So we left after the second period!

It was fun and I can finally say I have been to

a hockey game.

Not that it was on my "bucket list" or anything like that,

but I am glad I went...

Here is the best part...

One of Noel's friends calls him the next morning

(he was at the game)

We missed the BEST period!

Bridgeport tied the game, it went into overtime and then

it went into a shoot out and

BRIDGEPORT won!!!

Oh well, what can you do....

We got the girls to bed and Danielle arrived home

around ten

Everything went as good as she had hoped for....

That's a good thing!!!!

Saturday's post will be next...

Hugs and More,

Peggy

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND - #2

Thanksgiving morning finally!

Danielle's favorite holiday of the year...

The cooking begins

The table setting gets finished

Noel goes out to the store

(how many times????)

He even goes to Starbucks for us

(and one spills in his car....)

The table looks amazing...

here is a closeup of an individual table setting...

Danielle really did a fabulous job...

Ellie poses for some pictures

Ellie is just so cute I cannot stand it sometimes!!!

There is lots going on and everyone starts arriving before noon!!!

Michael and Jared arrive

Richard, Mindy and Eric (and the two dogs)

(this is Danielle's family)

Shari, Mike, Jake and Mike's parents come a little later

(Jake does have to nap...)

Danielle is busy, busy, busy getting things prepared...

I even managed to get in a couple of pictures with

Marlie and Ellie which is amazing...

And the food begins...

There are so many appetizers

and EVERYONE is enjoying them...

OK - this is Noel saying

"do I get to approve this before it goes on your blog?"

I took a lot of ribbing from my family (sons) about my blog

I don't think they "get it"!!!

Marlie wanted to help baste the turkey

and she did a great job

(kudos to "Aunt Ilene" for the turkey recipe)

Mike and Jake...

Jake is just the cutest baby...

Danielle prepared the cheese bread

which was to be served with...

the delicious leek and squash soup...

it was wonderful!!

here is Jake playing with the microphone....

Here is Danielle carving the turkey

HAHA!!!

I always carve the turkey...

but notice who is in the background with

the Minnie Mouse ears on!!!???!!!!

THIS is what memories are made from....

The turkey was incredible

It was from Stew Leonard's - a "naked" turkey

which means no additives, no antibiotics, free range, etc...

One of the best turkey's ever!!!

Here are some random pictures of the children

while we are waiting to sit down to dinner

Marlie at the piano...

Ellie playing her guitar...

Jake just playing...

and Jake saying

"take this girlie stuff off of me!"

Aunt "Sha-Sha" (Shari) cuddling with Jake and Marlie

and picture of the day goes to....

RICHARD!!!

It was a fabulous Thanksgiving!

I, personally, have so much to be thankful for.

All my children were together -

We were with family -

Everyone had a fabulous time!

Kudos to Danielle and Noel who always

know how to entertain

Their home always makes you feel warm and welcome...

I hope to celebrate many, many more

holidays with my family

and keep the memories alive....

Hugs and More,

Peggy

p.s. Thanksgiving Weekend - #3 will have to wait until tomorrow!!

have a great night...