My Final Post for 2010...

Tonight we celebrated a very special event...

my oldest Grandlove's 5th Birthday!!!

This is Cole Hayden. Those of you who have followed

my blog for a while may remember when he came to

live with us a few years ago while his Mommy and

Daddy were both deployed to Iraq. 

Can you believe how he has grown? 

About a year ago, I made the decision to give up

blogging temporarily, as I felt it was taking away

from my family, job and well....my life in general.

I am back to blogging, but have found that I need

to blog on my own schedule.  I would love to join

in some of the many bloggy parties - but unfortunately,

I found they were just too time consuming.

So....I wanted to share with you some pics which

 are worth a thousand words...they represent "the why"

 I exist...they represent my life!

The following pictures were taken on Oct 29th, 2010 -

the day my other Grandlove, Devin Blake, turned One.

Grammy, Grandpa, Cole and Devin

Cole and Grammy

My son, Blake, and DIL, Amanda

My precious, little family!

Grandpa and Devin

Isn't this beautiful?

The Birthday Boy and Grammy

Blake and Amanda

Oh..oh...is that a balloon???

Mmmmm....cake!

At the end of the shoot, my "loving" son thought

it would be hilarious

(hardee-har-har) to "feed" me some cake...

.... like mother like son.

I think I gained five pounds from this incident.  :)

So, now you see why I took such a long hiatus....

because there is no way I could ever forgive myself

if I felt I had missed out on one single moment of this. 

I'm sure you all understand.

I wish each of you a safe, happy, healthy and properous

New Year and 2011.  I look forward to spending more

time with you, as my life allows....and being parts of

YOUR lives, too.

All My Best....Barb

Talk about being late for the party...

For someone who has is habitually looking at her watch and is generally five minutes or more early to all appointments, I seem to have totally missed all the Christmas Decorating Parties. 

But, in my family - Christmas isn't officially over until "Old Christmas" on Jan 6th...so technically I'm not that late.  :)

I just wanted to post a few pics showing just some of the decorations around my home.

Compared to last year's decorations (see the side links to the right), they were understated - to say the least.

While the fresh greens have lost some of their...well,

freshness... hopefully you still get the idea.

First...here is the Dining Room Fireplace Mantel...

For anyone who knows my home, you may remember

that the fireplace brick was red. 

(*Was being the operative word here.) 

Just before Christmas, on a whim, I added a coat of primer.

I have further plans up my sleeve, but decorating for

Christmas put those plans on hold for a while longer.

Cedar, pine, magnolia, wild holly and camelia stems...plus

 dried hydrangea, red berries, green apples and pears and pheasant

feathers. I used a faux-greenery garland as the base.

I used my French-Countryside oil painting and two lamps,

which were added several months ago.

I love the natural feel of the garland, and would love

to create a year-round version. 

Most of my home was filled with containers of fresh

greenery...such as the Pink and White Staffordshire

pitcher, seen above on my sideboard.

In the kitchen....

Paperwhites were placed inside a tin ice bucket

and adorned with berries.  My favorite Christmas

platter features the North Carolina State bird....the

cardinal.  I bought this last year at Cracker Barrel.

A glass cannister is placed on a small cake stand,

resting on a ring of pine, and filled with pine cones.

A homespun-style bow and red berries add color.

A large wreath hangs center stage on a bank of

windows in my breakfast room, surrounded on each

side by Mr. and Mrs. Ginger. I ,also, added garland and

berries to the top curtain rod. 

***Don't forget...you can see my Kitchen and Breakfast

Room decorated for Christmas, as featured in Country Woman Magazine at...

http://www.countrywomanmagazine.com/

Click on Kitchens!

Next - let's go into the Family Room...

I placed two black lanterns on each end of the mantle,

and in between...

... I added a container overflowing with soft green and white

hydrangeas, green pears and assorted greenery.

Here is a close-up of the arrangement in the

center of the mantle.

More hydrangeas, pears and greenery is tucked into

the garland...along with white lights.

I love the soft green affect.

The Family Room mantle just glows.

Our tree...white lights and an assortment of red

and white ornaments, berries and grapevine "garland."

I wanted to create a one-of-a kind tree topper...

so I used my large, grapevine sphere...

...and filled it with various sizes of red and white

ornaments, surrounded by lots of red berries.

I hope you enjoyed my mini-tour of some of the 

Christmas cheer that filled my this year.  Maybe next year,

I will be on time.  :)

With Love, Barb

Winter Wreaths....

After I take my Christmas wreath off my front door (see below) -

I am always torn as to what wreath I should replace it with. 

We all know that Spring is several months

away, so something with pastel flowers just doesn't

seem to fit the "occasion."

What "occasion" is it exactly?  Why it's "Winter."

(snow is still on the ground for many of us even now)

For some reason, I have never had a "Winter Wreath."  With all my florals available, you would think it would be an easy solution. 

 But after digging thru my stash-o-stems

in my floral bins earlier this eveing, I was dismayed

to find I really do not possess enough florals to create

a wreath which I would consider worthy of the season.

So woe is me....I must make a trip to Michael's tomorrow, and

 hope they are having a sale.

What about you?  What do you hang on your door

after Christmas?

Here are a few pics which I hope will provide

some inspiration.

By the way....(minus the gold bow) the latter pic is my fave.  I think the white spray-painted pinecones and other natural elements look very Wintry. I think a white-ish bow would look better.  I could even see some of faux snow applied here and there.

I am thinking I might try to work in my antique ice skates.

They are heavy, but I think it can be done. 

Pics to follow soon....  :)

Sending you warm thoughts this

cold, Winter

 night...Barb



Thirteen Days and Counting....I'm Preparing!

January 8th!!!!    Atlanta, Georgia!

That's the date! 

Between the hours of 10am-2pm, I am positive that I will be a bundle of walking, talking nerves...

at least on the inside.

On the outside... I hope I am able to hold it together long enough to impress the 

HGTV folks to give me shot at the next HGTV Design Star show.

I am attending the walk-on audition.  aaaaagh

So - today I started back on my diet!!  What were they thinking having auditions this close after Christmas????  Are they sadists?  LOL

I have to lose at least 10 more pounds. So its salad, water, running and a slice of courage.

Trying not to let negative Barb sneak in.... so please send me your positive thoughts.

I'll keep you posted!   :)

North Carolina...land of Magnolia and PINECONES...

I have thoroughly enjoyed my decorating projects these past few days. 

(I promise I will post some pics tomorrow nite)

As I stated in an earlier post, I came home about a week ago armed with bags and bags of Mother Nature's best....

pine, magnolia, cedar, camelia branches, and pinecones. 

Later this week, me and Cole and Devin have a craft day planned

while Mommy bakes cookies.  We're going to make Pinecone Bird Feeders with peanut butter and bird seed.

Who hasn't made these, right? 

The perfect Grammy-Grandlove crafting project.

I also love that pinecones are so versatile and can be

used in a myriad of ways.  Look at these projects...

A simple project, but look at the impact it creates when grouped together.

Ornament, courtesy of Mother Nature...

Instead of moss, try using pinecones at the base of a plant.

While these are not actual pinecones, I have a weakness for pinecone candles. 

Have you ever created pinecone firestarters?  Its an easy project and they make great

gifts when presented in a pretty basket or burlap sack.

I absolutely love this pinecone door swag.

This was one of my fave inspiration pics this year.  I created something similiar

and will share tomorrow night.

Imagine a row of windows embellished with these hanging beauties. 

Love the added beading.

Shiny, red ornaments with sparkly, gold mini pinecones.

Love this topiary, pretty enough to keep out year round.  I helped my Mom make

one of these several years back using an upside down tomato cage and wire.

Love the frosted cones. Easy to make with paint-on snow from the

craft store and glitter.

These giant cones are harder to find around here, but look at how dramatic they look

when used solely with white lights on this tree.

More mini topiaries grouped together.

A cute name card at a placesetting.

Love the plaid ribbons.  Sometimes "simple" makes the prettiest statement.

I look forward to sharing with you my "Mother Nature" inspired decorations tomorrow night.

Blessings, Barb