November Daily Thankfulness

I have seen several posting on FB and blogs about finding something to be thankful for everyday of November. 30 days in November, 30 things to be thankful for in my life. 

I am sure I have many more than 30, as do others, but we often get so caught up in the "busyness" of life it is so easy to take so much for granted. 

So this month I will try and post something I am thankful for everyday. And since this is the 2nd of November, I am already behind!

November 1st. 

Sally and me in 1960? Sally is the one with hair :)

I am thankful for my sister Sally. Especially since the 1st is also her birthday! I gave her her gift last week and wished her a happy birthday then. I could wish her one here, but she does not use the computer and internet at all! I wish we could visit and chat more, especially as she is only 60 miles away in San Francisco. Time and work always seem to get in the way. Time to work harder to stay connected!

November 2nd.

The weather has been so good, the roses are still in bloom!

I am thankful today for the lovely weather we are having! I was able to tackle a painting project outside and it was so warm and sunny, the paint almost dried too fast! No signs of the cold and miserable weather they had in the east this week. Something truly to be thankful for. 

Halloween Ornaments

This past week while I was visiting my sis in Oregon, I took some time out in the evenings and on Saturday to craft some more decorations for my Halloween tree. 

One of my favorites was this simple music paper rosette with a glittery witch glued to the front. 

The rosette is about 6 in. in diameter. I trimmed my 3.5" strips of music paper with my jumbo scallop scissors (a $ store find, the best buck I ever spent at Dollar Tree) and pleated the paper at every scallop. The silver glitter circle was cut from glitter paper with my new pennant die from Stampin' Up. The glittery witch came from MS crafts at Halloween last year. Why didn't I buy TWO packages?

My ghost is an old Making Memories chipboard shape I have had for years. The "paper" is real birch bark I found on the ground at my sis's house, from birch logs she got when someone cut down their beautiful birch trees! More black sparkly glitter paper is glued on the back for his eyes and mouth.

My little "boo" owl is punched from Stampin" Up punch and he sits on an orange paper rosette made from a new Tim Holtz Sizzix die. It makes two sizes and makes making "rosettes" a snap! The black circle is from my new package of sewing pins. Too cool to toss, so it was saved and re purposed into this fun ornament. I even added a MM Halloween pin. 

 The new tree topper for my Halloween tree this year will be this paper mache hat form I covered with old book paper and stained with a "black wash". 

I made some roses from black crepe paper to trim the hat, along with my glitter polka dot ribbon from Michael"s. To get the ribbon to lie flat to the brim, I pulled the top ribbon wire until it gathered to fit the hat brim. A little black bird and a big bow top it off!

My last ornaments are from a design I saw at Vintageimagecraft and is a free download and tutorial. 

They are too cute.  

I need to find an online source for the "bumpy" chenille as I can only find it locally at JoAnn's and you have to buy a pack with 10 different colors. And since you need 2 stems per color, you need to buy 2 packages. Good thing I plan to make some Santa's at Christmas to use the red and green. 

I hope to put up my "Halloween Tree" tomorrow and add all the new ornaments I made and decorate the rest of my house. Why did the weather have to hit the upper 90's this week? It does not feel like fall! May be my fall decorations will cool us off? 

The Outdoor Beckons

Gardening is not my specialty. I like to garden, but when you work 40 hours a week, have 3 sons and a hubby to cook for and love to do a million crafts, well maybe not a million, but lots anyway, there is not much time to take care of a yard.

But when spring and good weather arrive, the gardening bug hits.

This last Saturday I had to head to town for a few errands and one of my stops was Michaels, to kill time while waiting for La-Z-boy to open. Bought a new chair for my hubby and when I picked it up at the warehouse Friday afternoon, the care kit, that I paid for was not there!!

I checked out M's clearance and found some Easter decor really cheap!!!

(Don't look at the weeds in the background, they are gone now ;-) )

I had wanted to buy some really big eggs at Easter to decorate the yard, but was not willing to pay the price they wanted at M's, even on sale. But I found these in their clearance bin grab bags. I bought two $2 bags and got all these eggs!! The orange egg is 12" long. I added up the original prices and got about $60 worth of eggs for $4! And a few other Easter goodies besides. I am not sure what I will do with the combination egg and feather boa garland??

My next stop was the Emerisia Garden Center. My deck was looking pretty neglected and I had an old vintage cast iron sink to fill and use as a planter. I picked up some succulents, petunias and a new rose.

When I got home it was time to plant. I replanted several pots and placed new plants in the sink. I have two old water troughs below the deck that were replanted too.

This is my new rose. Starts out a soft pink bud and opens up to this beauty.

This rose below is one of my old favorites, I love a yellow and pink rose. It is a climber by my deck.

A few weeks ago I dug this old table out of storage to use on my deck as a side table when we eat outside. It is at least 60 years old and probably much older. My hubby remembers his dad using it for years and his dad's dad before that. It has gone to Massachusetts and back. My hubby says they used it in 1964 on their trip back east in the tiny travel trailer. Four adults and four kids in a station wagon and 15 foot travel trailer from CA to MA and back! 

 It is made of redwood and folds up for easy storage.

It is looking really old and in need of care. I can remember my father-in-law Ray using it years ago when he was selling apples. I think the tally marks are the number of pounds he sold.

I gave the table a good sanding, it was rough, the old redwood was really dried out.

After I sanded it smooth, I put on a couple of coats of outdoor sealer. And now it looks beautiful.

And will be protected from the elements.

The outdoor sealer should wear pretty well, as two days later I was still trying to get the sealer off my hands! Then I remembered I had bought this a  few weeks back.

A hand scrubber to get paint and ink off your hands after crafting.

I followed the directions and it scrubbed the sealer off my hands. Hope it works as well on paint & ink!

Happy Spring and happy gardens to you!