CHARLIE BROWN TREES!

HI EVERYONE,

I'm still here but been very busy with orders from my wonderful customers.

I had planned on getting my decorating done this week but it didn't happen - maybe this coming week if all goes the way I plan.

I did close all Christmas orders on my website so I don't get backlogged as Christmas gets closer and this is why you haven't seen me on your blogs commenting and looking at all your beautiful Christmas decorating and family happenings....I know I'm missing out on so much but rest assured I will visit you soon!

I did need to get out of the house yesterday and while out we went to a little local shop and I bought a 6 ft. Charlie Brown tree and today Doug tried to get it shaped up...but he couldn't understand why he had to 'shape it' - it looks like a tornado hit it so no matter what he did to it he said it didn't look much different - he did good though. Now I just need to adjust the branches where I want them.

I have a 3 ft. and 4 ft. tree like it and they fast became my favorite decoration for the season.
Anyway I wanted a larger one for my Mercury ornaments being the collection is getting bigger.
Hopefully after it's decorated it will look better.
One thing I'm not sure of is whether to put lights on t or not...any ideas on this?

So here's the 6 ft - still needing much work and I'm really not sure just where or which room it will go in - Doug says it is going to be our main tree...he's not bringing the other larger one up as long as we have this one. So I guess I had better work some magic here!
And YES IT LOOKS CRAZY and NO...IT'S NOT SHAPED THE WAY IT WILL LOOK IN THE END!

 My 4 ft. tree that held my Mercury ornaments last year...not sure what I will put on it this year.

And my sweet little 3 ft. kitchen tree in the Tin Dough Riser...my original Charlie Brown tree and my favorite.

So this my dear blogging friends is why I'm MIA and will be yet for another week at least.
Blessings,
Karen

Ornament Swap & Other Things

HAPPY MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER
…the time is going by so fast and I just can’t seem to keep up with it in my head. Thanksgiving will be here in just one week – goodness I’m still wearing Capri’s…but with turtleneck tops to make it look not quite so freaky – I look great in my long coat when I go to the store – I look like I can’t quite step into Fall yet.

This week has been so busy with sewing orders. I work on them continuously so my customers get them in a good timely manner.
Also this last week we got our closet almost finished. Just waiting for the carpet that will come after Thanksgiving. Thank goodness we’ll be able to repair the whole area and it will look like the rest in the room.

And….this was a great week for goodies arriving in the mail.

But first…the closet update. I know it’s not exciting to you but if you lived with the closet I had for 32 years you’d be jumping for joy at having all the extra room.
In my previous post I added pictures of the horrible closet (also shown below)….well after drywall, paint and new shelving and rods we ended up with what I envisioned – I don’t have things on the shelves yet but you can bet they will get filled soon enough.

BEFORE…DURING RECONSTRUCTION…remember I said there was a huge built in dresser, and a heat pipe taking up 2/3 of the closet.

AFTER…looking nice and clean

IT CAN FILL UP FAST CAN’T IT!
It may not be huge like the new home walk-in’s but it’s way more room than we’ve had for years…so I’m a happy girl.

BUSY WITH ORDERS…

Orders have been coming in like crazy since I had my sale – 13 orders in 2 days.
So I thought as long as several were the same I’d do an assembly line and cut them all out at the same time.
This actually takes as much time as the sewing part. And 3 more orders came in yesterday and that leaves me at 6 left to work on so it’s getting there.
I’m cutting off Christmas orders at Thanksgiving otherwise I won’t be able to enjoy the holidays like I want.

Some of them are kits – so they were a snap to finish up.

LOTS OF TREASURES

Earlier this week I received a fantastic box of ornaments from the Ornament Exchange hosted by Marie at  Primitives By Olde Lady Morgan http://primitivesbyoldeladymorgan.blogspot.com/
I sent in 6 Ornaments and received 6 wonderful ornaments back.
I want to thank Marie for hosting this fun event and she said she’s probably going to do it again next year and you can bet I will be in on it then. I hope she does!

Marie made this darling Snowman – he’s so puffy and rather large so you could use him as a decoration as well.
And she added a wonderful treat of Hershey Kisses of all flavors – they were opened first you know!!

Tammy at http://aprimitiveplace.blogspot.com/ sent this sweet little stocking filled with greens and candy canes.

Amy from Bumble Bee Lane Cottage sent a beautiful Cinnamon scented Santa head. http://bumblebeelanecottage.blogspot.com/

Rachel from Somewhere In The Middle made this adorable Snowman Head…and he sparkles too!

Carmen from http://primcats.blogspot.com/ made these adorable fabric wrapped Candy Canes.

Trace from Granny Trace Scraps And Squares made Two wool snowmen heads. http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com/

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS SWAP – I LOVE IT ALL.

SURPRISE PACKAGE!!

Now if this isn’t enough to receive in the mail…I received a surprise box yesterday from Cathy at Tolentreasures http://tolentreasures.blogspot.com/ sent me some fabric that I had loved when I saw it on her blog.
What a wonderfully generous thing to do Cathy…THANK YOU SO MUCH and I just can’t describe how beautiful this Green Wool is.
There’s such a pretty line of gold running through it and I will not CUT IT UP until after Christmas because it’s such a nice sized piece and it will make a perfect table square for the holidays – normally I don’t use Green except in greenery but this is too pretty not to show off.

I added this second picture because I cut off the ornaments that she so generously included in the package.
I heard the large bell just jingling away in the box when I picked it up.
Cathy paints just awesome…look at those sweet wood tags she painted…and the bell too.

THANK YOU CATHY!

HIPPIES…

Our son Dan and wife Jamie went to a costume party Friday night…they chose to dress as hippies of the 70’s.
And being we live in a little rather old town with some strange people in it – they figured if they went to our local thrift shop they would be able to find something…AND THEY DID…though it was no surprise knowing some of the residents here.
Dan found a Nehru shirt but it turned out to be too sloppy on him but he found pants and jacket and they got the wigs from Walmart.
Jamie doesn’t wear glasses and so these really changed her look.

Peace signs on the pants!!!!

So that’s my week…what did you all do?
I probably won’t post again until after Thanksgiving because I need to finish my sewing and then get ready for Thanksgiving.
It’s only going to be Dan and Jamie and us this year…Darren and Brett have other places to be. Hopefully Jesse and Alex will show up too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESSE OUR GRANDSON. He turned 22 today…HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS…LOVE YA!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE
TRAVEL SAFE WHEREVER YOU GO

KAREN

Closet Re-Do, Halloween Past, Old Friends

Hello fellow Bloggers and all others that enjoy reading our blogs!
Well I think I’m finally over my Sinus Infection…man that was a long one – I am especially glad the headaches are gone. That was worse than the infection.

I hope your week was wonderful…mine was okay – nothing to write home about but I’m still here and kicking, so I guess that’s a good thing for me huh?

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I know there are many of you that are on your way today to Ohio for the SIMPLE GOODS SHOW…hope you all have a safe and very eventful time….there should be lots of wonderful treasures just calling your name.  Guess my name wasn’t on anything this year as I didn’t get to go…but there’s always another year God willing.

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Oh, I have a wonderful sale on my website right now until the 15th of this month.  5 Christmas Penny Rugs have been reduced 30%…never taken that much of a reduction before so I hope you will take advantage of it!   kmprimitives.com

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We are in the process of re-doing our bedroom closet…needed many years ago but like so many things in an old home you just never can keep up.

Our closet started bugging me not only because of the small size but there was a built in dresser taking up 36 inches (width) and as high as the closet…and the wood was old and really smelled old – not good!!!!
So on Monday we started ripping it all apart…goodness you never know what lurks behind old walls. Lots of gremlins waiting for us – made the job a bit harder for my husband. Bad patch jobs on the plaster, holes in the floor (under where the dresser was), and a heat pipe going straight up the middle!!!!  So we had someone come in and tear out the pipe – it led to the guest room upstairs…but not anymore (there’s another heat pipe going up there on another wall so it will be just fine). 
Just look at all the different colors that closet was painted….green, blue and gray  (and I assume the room as well) . UGH!!!!
We will be putting in new shelving and hanging units…nothing fancy but way better than what we had before.

 

See what I mean about floor boards missing and that horrible patch job on the wall….

More pictures after this weekend when the drywall is replaced and painted and new trim

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Last Saturday we had a Halloween party here with our family and to draw names for Christmas. We had snacks first and enjoyed the evening and then had dinner of Pulled Beef Sandwiches, Mostaccioli, Ham and Cheese Sliders and all the goodies to go with it.
I made a Pumpkin Bean Bag toss and there were a few rounds of it throughout the night…along with some good ole fun.
I found the game idea from PINTEREST and made my own version of it…maybe for Christmas I’ll change it out and make it a Snowman Toss.

Aidan didn’t want to play a real game but he had fun just going up to it and dropping the bags in

The kids got Glow Sticks in there treat bags and had to try them out…Aidan couldn’t get a real spin going but he had fun just the same – he just kept giggling the whole time Joe was spinning his.

For our snack table….Heather made a wonderful Mexican layered dip, MaryAnn made the Mummy Hot Dogs.
I did a bunch of other things that aren’t showing on the table…but among these are String Cheese Fingers in Marinara sauce, Vegi Dip with Carrot fingers (Almonds for fingernails)….these two were from PINTEREST as well.
I made Chocolate Cup cakes with Fluffy frosting and there were candy Eye Balls on them but I didn’t get a picture up close.  And a Cream Puff Torte with a Chocolate Spider Web on top…no picture either.

 

Snack Bags
 


 

The bunch of us…Jesse was the only one missing.
 

Brett and Heather brought this lovely little Fall flower too!  After the party I set it in the carved out Pumpkin.
 

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I received a couple of wonderful little surprises in the mail this past week – both from LINDA’S…one was from my friend in Pennsylvania – we missed seeing each other a couple weeks ago and she had a gift for me and so she mailed it off – and it’s an adorable sheep (with real sheep’s wool for his body).
Thanks so much Linda…you always know how to brighten up a blue day!

 

And from Linda Parker over at Parkers Paradise Blog http://parkersparadise.blogspot.com/  I received a wonderful surprise package…she is just the sweetest Lady in Blogland…always thinking of others and I was one of the recipients of her generosity…look at these adorable Pillow Tucks she sent – just perfect Linda…THANK YOU SO MUCH.  You are a very beautiful Lady inside and out.

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I’m busy grunging some Warm and Natural today…I want to get some Primitive Ornaments made for Old Lady Morgan’s Ornament Exchange and I’m really pushing for time…I wonder what this will turn into!!

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GOODBYE DEAR FRIEND:
Phyllis Durrant 1930-2011
 
And last….one of our dearest friends passed away this past weekend…we have known Phyllis since 1972 when we built our house in Janesville. It was a brand new subdivision going in and we were the 7th home to build there…right next door to Phyllis and her family. We met during the days we went over there building our home…and have been friends ever since.

Long story short…we all became fast friends…if you saw them you saw us…what more can I say.

So we said goodbye to her on Tuesday…and I bawled like a baby when I greeted her husband – but not for her…she’s at peace finally and smiling and TALKING.
It was all the remembering of the laughs and good times and all those lost years.

I miss her…although the missing started 15 years ago. Phyllis got a horrible disease called Progressive Aphasia.

WHAT IS APHASIA?
Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that
impairs a person's ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence.
Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.

See why this is a horrible disease…she knew but couldn’t communicate!

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Going to our grandchildren's Church tonight for a Chili Supper…should be delicious!

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this long post…didn’t intend for it to be that way but as you all know I can be chatty!
Blessings,
Karen