Christmas Tablescape

This is our breakfast table now. I've been building on a gingerbread theme for about ten years but never had much (gb) on the table. I had a collection of the Sledding Characters dinnerware by Debbie Mumm (mentioned here) and I never got brave enough to mix other stuff with it. Most of the gingerbread accessories around were things in the kitchen. This year I added to my collection....

First, I found these snowflake salad plates at Wal-Mart of all places. I brought one home, thought they looked good and then went back for another 3. Later on I was at Pier One and found the gingerbread shaped plates, bought the last four right on the spot! Two weeks ago I was at Dillards and found the gingerbread house napkin rings, of course had to have them too. The rest of the stuff just came together.

Dinner Plates: Sledding Characters by Debbie Mumm, purchased in 2001

Snowflake Salad Plates: Wal-Mart 2010

Gingerbread Plates & Napkins: Pier One 2010

Gingerbread House napkin rings: Dillard's 2010

Big Bowl in Center: Hobby Lobby 2010

Cupcakes: Kohl's 2009

Placecard Holder: Kohl's 2009

Gingerbread Man: Kirkland's

Here are pictures of a few more things around the kitchen area:

Thanks for stopping by!

Kitchen Gingerbread Decor 2001

A couple of days ago I posted pictures of my kitchen table at my Bonham house. Here are some pictures of the gingerbread stuff in my kitchen. Now remember this was back in 2001, light green and pink were my kitchen colors. Oh my how we all evolve!

I love this gingerbread train, my dear friend Debra gave it to me! The star Longaberger basket one of my favorite things too, it was from my friend Mary Beth.


I had a little tree on top of the fridge. All the ornaments were gingergread things... Corny, I know!
Oh, how I loved my Bonham House! Thanks for stopping by!

Kitchen Table 2001

Here's the Kitchen Table in my Bonham house (1919 Bungalow) back in 2001. The dinnerware is Sledding Characters by Debbie Mumm. I absolutely had to have it. Remember this was 2001! I bought it piece by piece and then when I the stores ran out resorted to Ebay for more pieces. In the bidding process I met a girl who was bidding on the same stuff. I got brave and sent her an email to figure out what she wanted so we would not keep bidding against each other. (This is back when the user name on ebay was your email address and it wasn't astericks like it is today). Found out the girl was from Texas and around my age. Long story short, we became friends! She and her husband visted me that year and I visited them in 2004. We're still friends ten years later and keep up with each other on facebook. In the end, she got 12 placesettings and I got 8!

I am not as crazy about these dishes now but the story behind them touches my heart so I won't part with them. Micaela thinks they are cute and says she wants them for when she grows up! I am going to find some accessories to go with it for this year's table. I'll be sure to post what I come up with.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas in Bonham

Here are pictures of my Bonham living room Christmas 2001. I had so much fun decorating this house.

This was the tree that replaced the one in my master bedroom (previous post). I had really tall ceilings in that house- 12 ft, I think. I had to use a ladder to decorate the top of the tree. Well I have to use a ladder to decorate all the trees but but this tree I had to get on the top step, lol.

Ahh, the fireplace... I always wondered about the family that originally built the house in 1919. I was told they had many children so I imagine many stockings were hung and lots of family photos were taken here. I was too scared to use the fireplace so I just filled it with lights and glittery stuff.

It was fun to decorate this mantle because it was deep. This year I put the Christmas village on there. I don't remember how many buildings and people I had but they fit pefectly in this long narrow space. I haven't used this village in 8 years, I still have it in boxed up-- maybe I will pull it out this year since Micaela is old enough to not break it.

Hope you've enjoyed my stroll through memory lane, hope you are having fun decorating your house for the holiday season. Thanks for stopping by!

Cowboy Baby Set

Here's a baby set I made for a friend to give as a gift to one of her co-workers. The baby's nursery is cowboy themed and the colors are red and brown.
I love cowboy themed stuff, so much that we have our little bathroom powder room downstairs decorated in authentic western stuff. Wish the room had room for more stuff because I would make something with this red rope fabric!. Thanks for stopping by!

Flashback Christmas 2001

These are pictures of my bedroom during Christmas in my Bonham house back in 2001. Please keep in mind this WAS 2001, I would not necessarily decorate like this today. I took these with my very first digital camera. I would have never dreamed of a blog back then so there is no professional staging or anything. This is a room I slept in for several years before relocating back to Dallas and eventually getting married.

I look back on my five plus years in Bonham fondly, mainly because I enjoyed living in an old 1919 bungalow so much. I had more space than I knew what to do with and filled the house with things I loved. I enjoyed every minute of it. I am going to start sharing some of those old pictures every now and then....

I always wanted a pink bedroom as a little girl and finally got one when I was 29 a few years before getting married. The color turned out darker than I anticipated and it looked very PeptoBismal when the painters were done. I had to deal with it even though it was alot darker than I wanted.

Back then I set no limits on Christmas decorations and buying stuff. One of the coolest things about my Bonham house was the fireplace in the Master Bedroom. I was too scared to use it but I had the best time decorating the mantle for the different seasons... Here it is....

This was the tree! Quite large, the diameter was six feet at the bottom branches and it was like 8 feet tall. I had this in the living room several years but when I got a bigger one, I could not bare to part with this one so I put it in the master since I had plenty of room.

I wish I had close up of the ornaments, the balls were all different shades of pink, pearl white and green. The door behind the tree lead to a screened in sun room. I had access to the sunroom from the living room so I blocked this door for the holiday season.

This was the other side of the room facing the dresser. I only had a double bed at the time-- The canvas above my bed is by Angie Strauss from Niagara on the Lake Ontario. It is signed by the artist, it was my five year anniversary gift from the company I worked for at the time. I have that print in our guest room/sewing room now.

This was the other side of the room. I bought those chairs at Goodwill for $9 each and recovered them myself. I also made the curtains.
Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed my flashback to 2001!

Princess Stocking

Found this adorable stocking and just had to get it for Micaela. It matches her bedroom perfectly. Of course I wanted to embroider it. The tricky part was I had to take it apart, embroider the cuff, and then re-sew it. It took alot longer than I expected but I was pleased with the result.

Hope you are having fun decorating for Christmas!

Santa Towel

Here's a Santa Dishtowel, I embroidered with of course our daughters name on it. I am making these for everyone I know...neighbors, teachers and friends... LOL. These are available in my Etsy store.

Thanksgiving Table

Just barely managed to take a quick picture of the table before packing up all of the fall decor and pulling out Christmas. Sorry it's just a placesetting picture, the rest was already packed before I realized I never took a picture this year...

Big Mix of dishes here....

• The chargers are embossed with fall leaves, new-- got them this year.
• The red scrolly plates are actually oversized dinner plates I got about 13 years ago when I was setting up my first townhouse in 1997. Only have four, wish I had at least 8. They were $20 at the time and I only managed 4 and a large serving bowl before the store sold out.
• The bone china with gold rim is from my Dad's 2nd Mom and is nearly 100 years old. It's Pope Gosser China manufactured in the US in the early 1900's. The pattern is Washtonton and the back says "coin gold"-- something I have never seen before. My Dad says these were some of Mrs. MacDaniel's favorite plates and I am happy to have them.
• The embossed plates are from Hobby Lobby... I have had them for about 10 years and luckly have several serving pieces in the same pattern.
• The individual covered soup bowls I have had for about 10 years. I love these on the table and enjoy using them every year. I had the matching toureen and it broke during a move-- still recovering from that :(.

Thanks for stopping by....

Thanksgiving Program

Friday we had Micaela's Thanksgiving Program at school. Here's a snapshot of 120-something Native American Kindergarteners and 6+ Pilgrim teachers singing Thanksgiving songs...

Our Little Native American, we are so thankful!

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Daisy Scouts

Micaela is now a Daisy Scout, we are excited. I think I am more excited than she is. When I was little my Mom did not let me join Girl Scouts because she just didn't understand the concept, the language etc... I've been looking forward to this for a long time because part of my job involves presenting to Daisies, Brownies and Girl Scouts. Just listening to the girls recite their pledge brings tears to my eyes-- I am such a sap!

So anyway, Micaela just joined and I volunteered to embroider the girls names on the tunics.

Pop Monkey Yet Again

This is the most popular of all the sets I have made, available in my Etsy Store.

B & B for Noah

Made this for a co-workers new baby boy Noah. This is the first time I do two fabrics on a set.

Aggie Burp & Bib Set

A very special little Aggie named Reid was born recently. He had a difficult time during his arrival and first few days but Praise God he made it and is doing quite well. I thought he needed a very special burp cloth and bib for his feedings so I went on a hunt to find Aggie fabric. Luckily, I did not have to go far, I found some at Happiness is... Quilting in downtown McKinney. Sending this to a friend of a friend. Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to Skip to My Lou's Made by You Mondays

Halloween Witch Dish Towel #2

Here's another witch towel I embroidered. The first one is posted here. These are so fun and easy to do, I have enjoyed making every single one!
Linking to Made by You Mondays at Skip to My Lou.

Backyard Evolution Continues...

As I have mentioned before, our back yard is a work in progress. The latest thing we added was some wood posts and hanging baskets. I saw something similar in a magazine and decided to adapt it to our back yard.

We started with two 4x4x12 foot cedar posts. My husband dug a 2 foot hole into the ground and set the posts in 140 lbs. of concrete. We used bricks to hold the posts in place while the concrete set.

After the posts were set in the concrete, we stained them with the same stain we used on the fence. I then purchased some wrought iron hooks to hang plants from. Troy drilled holes and hung the hooks. Next was the hunt for hanging baskets. I went to several nurseries looking for premade baskets but did not like any because they were in those plastic pots with plastic hangers- yuk! For a couple of weeks, we just had a lonely pumpkin chime hanging on one of the hooks.

So I had to go the long route to get the hanging baskets. I purchased empty wrought iron baskets with coco fiber liners and a bunch of plants and put the baskets together myself. I kept reminding myself about what I learned at a container garden seminar... gotta have three types of plant in a container: tall plant to "thrill", another plant to "fill" and a third plant to "spill". Because the pots were only 12 inches, I went with good ole marigolds to "thrill" and and pansies in different colors to "spill".

The baskets have been hanging ten days and seem to be thriving in our beautiful autumn weather. I hope this inspires you to dig a hole, plant a post, drill in some hooks and hang a beautiful basket, thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:

Metamorphisis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Mother & Daughter Halloween Party

During my single days I used to host a Halloween Party for girlfriends. After I got married and had a baby it was difficult to continue the tradition. After much thought and consideration (plus some encouragement from my friend Virginia) we decided to bring the tradition back with a twist by making make it a Mother Daughter Party. Here are some of the highlights!

The backyard was somewhat decorated already. The morning of the party we added tables and chairs to the back yard. Here's what it looked like before everyone arrived


Here's what it looked like as everyone was arriving. Needless to say the weather was picture perfect and everyone enjoyed the back yard. I found out 35 people very comfortable fit in our back yard.
Here's a picture of a grandma witch and aunt witch.

Here's a picture of more cute mothers and daughters.

Some of my girlfriends brought treats to share... My friend Jennifer made these super cute monster squares, the cake part was pumpkin and chocolate chips, they were really yummy.

These are some of the treats on the kitchen bar. I forgot to take a picture of the food table!

Here is the picture of the super gorgeous cake my friend & co host Virginia purchased. It was giant, we could have fed another 35 people. She ordered it from The Cake Stand in historical downtown McKinney, it was incredibley delicious.

Here's a cute picture of a few of the girls having a good time on the swing set!

All in all the party was a huge success, could those little girls look any happier? We definitely will have another party next year! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful Halloween!

Halloween Witch Dish Towel

Here is a dishtowel I embroidered. I purchased these and added only the embroidery, I thought about duplicating them but figured it out was more cost effective to buy them already made. . I made nearly 15 of these for teacher gifts, friend gifts and even sold a couple.
Linking to Made by You Mondays at Skip to my Lou

College Day Shirt

Our daughter had College Day at school last week. From the moment I heard about it, I knew I had to make the drive to my old college town to get her a shirt (about 35 miles away). Time just got away from me and I never had the chance to make the trip so the evening before I sat down and made her a shirt using my embroidery machine.


This was my 'first' attempt at a shirt. Shirts are harder than just plain flat items because you are working with the shirt inside out on a hoop. This took me several hours. In the end I could have made several trips back and forth to Denton in the time in took me to make this but I was very pleased with the way it turned out.

I love it but I won't be mass producing these anytime soon! Thanks for stopping by

Phase II Fall Decorating

Once mid October comes around, I start putting out the Halloween decoratings. I am especially fond of cute witches. With a Mother & Daughter Halloween Party around the corner here's some snapshots...

Move over birdies, the bird bath is going to be a pedestal for a pumpkin.

Garden Witch keeping Croton company...

I hung my garden flags on the fence...

Another Croton in the front porch.

I love fun wood signs...

I'll keep adding pictures, thanks for stopping by.

Halloween Apron

Here's a Halloween Apron I made for a teacher, Mrs. Stober. Her favorite color is purple and she loves Halloween. You can see a close up of the embroiderly and what the full apron looks like. I have more of these if anyone is interested.

Phase I Fall Decorating

I decorate for Fall in phases. Phase I starts right after September 16 (Mexican Independence Day)and is just the regular fall stuff..

Here are pictures of a few things....

New plants by the front door... Celosias and Marigolds. Never had Celosias before so we'll see how they do. I could not resist the bright orange color. Thought the frog was cute at Ross and just had to have it. My favorite Aunt on my Mom's side of the family always likes frog things so it's a cute reminder of her. The other pot... Owls on this side. The big one was from my MIL, thought he needed company so got the little one, reminds me of my Aunt Bettye who collects owls...

Fall leaf wreath for the door...

This guy has been hanging out on my porch for the last ten or so autumns, need to figure out what his name is... I've had him longer than I have known my husband!

First new mum...

Have been wanting a monogram door mat for a long time but it's hard to find a good legible F. Finally saw this one at Kirklands and had to have it!

Then I saw Fall Monogram F Flag and of course had to have it too...

Still have some spring and summer zinnias that look good so stuck the pumpkin in the middle of them...

Front flower bed...

Ok Autumn temperatures, Hurry Up and Get HERE!