Hostess Gift...With Style!

Ok...you and your spouse are invited to a Halloween/Fall party and you want to bring the hostess something, but a plain bottle of wine just looks....well...Plain! Here is how you dress it up and show everyone your "style-ish " taste. Go to your area home improvement store and head on over to the plumbing department (stay with me here) get one of these fitters and cut it in half you don't need it to be super thick. Then find some feather trim (I get mine at Hobby Lobby but only with my 40% off coupon) hot glue it around the base of the fitter (I realize this is not the proper name). Then for the show stopper.....The Dollar Tree crow to top it off! I just twisted the metal prongs from the bird around the bottle but I suppose you could hot glue it too. (I just wanted my hostess to be able to reuse her new crow) Then if you really want the crow to look like she is a guest of this dinner party you will need to make sure she is wearing her pearls. This is were all of the broken costume jewelry you keep lying around comes in handy. I just threaded some of my daughters jewelry making beads onto some wire and twisted it onto my crows feathery little neck. The way I look at it anyone can go out and buy a wine bag or bring an "undressed" bottle but why would you want to? Have a Great Day!

Weather Predicting....

My children and I saw the neatest thing on T.V. last year and decided to give it a try. You take a persimmon off of a tree and cut open the seeds. If the shape inside the seed appears to look like a fork your winter will be mild, if the shape resembles a knife, then it will be so cold it will cut through you like a knife, if the shape is of a spoon you can expect an abundance of snow....well I'm off to buy a snow shovel. You know what they say "The early bird gets a cleared walkway" or wait..is that the worm?

Fall Organizing 101...

The infamous closet project is almost complete! I got hubby to hang my crown knobs (Hobby Lobby) for my jewelry and I got may hang tags made for my canvas totes. (still need to add rub-ons so I will know what is inside each one) I need to make my earring holder and paint my grandmothers jewelry box and I will be done! The mirror that catapulted it all was given to me by my dad. He picked it up at a garage sale and my mother told him to get rid of that ugly thing. Being the kind person I am I decided to help him out and take it off his hands. (needless to say...mom was rethinking her request to rid herself of it) Too late! I'll post finished pictures soon. I am having way fun!!! Smiles, Paula

I Heart Joe Spencer!

I love artist Joe Spencer. He is a folk artist who designs and handpaints his characters. He uses tulle and whimsy in all of his designs (with two daughters who dance we are the queens of tulle). Oh and did I mention glitter? I only have small pieces from his collection because he can be quite pricey (even at wholesale) but you can sometimes find pieces on ebay. My Halloween ornaments were pretty affordable at $8.00 a pc. My friend Amy (The Andreani Family at the left under friends...wow I really do need to learn the whole linking thing) also has a heart for ol Joe, check out her collection. I think my favorite are my witches legs..Amy has the hands too! Here's to a spooky Halloween with style...way to go Joe!

Religious Artifacts....Love Em!

I scored a giant rosary this weekend at a local shop. I have had my eye on it for some time at 30%off ...that baby was mine. I photographed it on one of my tables, but this is not where it is staying. If you guys have any ideas of how to show this treasure off let me know. Do you ever pine away for something and then you get it home and think "Now where am I going to put this?" I also photographed my Dollar Tree pumpkins on my dining room table...Thanks for the tip Susie! Gotta love the ole Dollar Tree. I am hoping to go "House Tour Hoppin' " this week ,if I make it I will take lots of pictures, it is supposed to be phenomenal! Smiles, Paula

Seeds of Kindness...

My 10yr. old daughter and I approached the cash register at the grocery store to hear the cashier tell a young man he owed $3.26. The young man who was mentally disabled said sweetly "Okay, I'm not very good at this." He proceeded to count his change one coin at a time with much difficulty. The one thing I noticed is that the young cashier was overly patient with this man who at this time was holding up the line. I thought how unique it is in this day and age for young people to show such patience and kindness. She helped him count $2.14...$2.15...$2.16...$2.17 this is where he ran out of coins and where the man in between us ran out of patience he was looking around for an empty register and showing his disgust in having to wait. The patient young cashier never faultered. The young man asked if he could put one thing back and that is when I looked to see what he was purchasing...3 kits to make necklaces out of the dollar store department. Something came over me and I imagined him threading a necklace with pride perhaps for his mother..God spoke to me and I reached past the impatient man and asked the sweet cashier if she would kindly ring all 3 things on my debit card. She accepted my card with a smile and the young man turned to me and said "Thank you, you did not have to do that." Oh but I did I thought because when God speaks to me, I do not argue. But this is where the real gift takes place, my 10yr. old daughter looks up at me with her big blue eyes filled with tears and says, "Thank you mommy, I am so proud of you, that was a wonderful thing you did." I thought to myself I have spread the seed of kindness to my child and one day she will help another who needs it. I wish I had told the cashier how proud I was of her, hopefully she knows. This post is not a boastful one, but I would love for everyone who reads this to leave me a post, I would like to see how far my seed travels. I challenge everyone to do something kind for someone else today even if it is just a smile or a kind word, it could change their life. God bless you all, Paula

Oldies First...Then We Shop!

I know this is early for fall decor but I have to get all of my oldies out before I can even think of starting any new projects or buying anything new so here is a peek at some of the oldies I have collected over the years. My favorite is my witch legs that my best friend Amy sent me last year... I love them! I had to find a use for the 3 packages of skeleton garland I had left over after my candle sticks so I "creeped out" my dining room chandelier, I can't get enough of that creepy gauze. (what is wrong with me?) I visited Cherry's Jubilee (listed under my favorites) and I have a whole arsenal of ideas for this weekend. Blessings and Smiles, Paula