It's in the genes

There are certainly some things that you inherit from your mom and your grandmothers. That is the case with me. I have so many things that my home can NEVER be without. To me, I find great comfort in the familiar when I am home. For example, I have crocheted doilies all over the place. They are end tables, tops of shelves, dressers, everywhere. I love my doilies.

Yarn. I learned to knit from my mom when I was younger and I still love doing it today. Especially with warm scarves for winter. I just love a knit scarf. I don't do it much anymore and it can take me 7 years to finish a scarf. But I always have knitting needles and yarn for when I am ready to pick up and knit awhile.

Tablecloths. Mom and I are so much a like. We rarely do placemats. We love our tablecloths. And if it has roosters on it, that's even better.

Aprons. Enough cannot be said about the wonder of aprons. I have about 8 or 9 myself. A woman can never have enough aprons. Seeing this picture also reminds me how we always had things hanging on the line. Not very many people still use a clothesline today. 

Lace curtains. Oh how I love pretty lace curtains. 

And thanks to my Mom and my Mamaw Eden you will always see artificial poinsettias in a vase somewhere in my house from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

Embroidered scarves. I love to embroider. I remember mom making doilies, pillow cases, scarves, dish towels, tons of awesome stuff. I haven't done this in years. I need to do it again. 

A crocheted afghan is a must in any home in my mind. I have one like this that is oranges, browns and golden yellow for fall. Mom and Mamaw Eden made these a lot. I have never learned to crochet so I can't make them. But I do love them.

The primary set on the Pyrex mixing bowls. Mom used these so much. Me and my sister can remember what she used each one for. To me the yellow one always brings back memories of homemade peanut butter cookies where she had to cover the mix and put it in the fridge for 3 hours before making them. The red always was used when she made her homemade chocolate cake icing. I have a set like it and I ALWAYS use the red for that same recipe of icing that she handed down to me. 

So many wonderful memories just from walking around my house and seeing some of the same things that Mom and Mamaw Eden had.

Fall fever around the corner...

I don't know why, but I get fall fever around this time of year every year. My mind has jumped ahead to craft ideas for fall. I want to make some things in Children's Church with apples and pumpkins. My craft helper at church, Ms. Hannah, who is a tween that is fabulous at helping me, was sweet enough to make me some apples and pumpkins for whatever craft I want to do. She made me a whole stack of each of these.

I used to have a pumpkin for my door that I did out of plastic canvas. I don't know whatever happened to it.

This little pumpkin would be so easy to make. I think it is adorable.

Happiness is Homemade has a recipe on their blog for Pumpkin Spice Soap. I would love to try this.

Every year I see these and want to make them. Every year I post them on my blog and say I'm going to make them. Every year I forget. Well, maybe this will be the year.

Yes, I am definitely in  a fall state of mind.

A little re-organization and a few new products

I am constantly getting organized. Maybe one day I will actually make it there. But I did change a few things up in my craft room/office yesterday. I got my new Felt Storage Bin from Thirty-One as part of my add-on kit for the fall line. I really liked it, but couldn't decide what to do with it.

Then a light bulb went off and I decided that finally realized I had a place to store all my yarn.

And it fit nicely under my craft table where I can get to it easily. 

The little craft chest is full of church craft supplies and the drawers look so bad being clear. So I simply cut some scrapbook paper and slid in the inside front of the drawer to make it look neater. I love it.

The yarn had been in my storage closet in a little wire rack that barely held it all. So I now had a free rack to use. So I put it under my Thirty-One home organizer in the office part of the room.

It is perfect to store my catalogs, order forms, monthly specials, mini catalogs and invitations. 

My catalog stock is low because my new fall catalogs arrive today. I can't wait to get them. 

My add on kit included this new storage tote. I am going to use it for some craft supplies, but just not sure what yet. 

I love the new cross body purse.

This is just a small style perfect for those days when you need just a few things with you and want it to be a hands free day.

Yes, yesterday was a great day.

Weekend Wrap Up

Between hubby being sick, moving offices at work, and getting ready for Thirty-One National Conference, I am so behind on my blogging. I started this post late Sunday night to post it on Monday morning and am finally getting to it on Tuesday. Ugh. I hate my schedule being thrown off. Going to have to set an alarm to remind me to blog. Now for my weekend wrap up. I actually went to a yard sale on Saturday. It was for a daycare and had several booths set up. I found this little tea for one that I fell in love with. It wasn't priced. I asked how much and the lady asked what I thought was a good price. I said, I would pay $3.00 for it and she said that is what she was thinking. I should have said .50 cents. LOL.

I love cats and I couldn't resist this cat figurine which was only .50 cents. Did realize it till she went to pack it up but it actually holds a scouring pad in the back. But I will put it on a shelf in my office, not in the kitchen. 

I loved this little swan so I bought it for my bathroom. I have one like it only bigger. So they will make a perfect set.

This little sea turtle was too cute to pass up for just .25 cents. It was plastic, but I liked it for the beach bathroom.

After the yard sale, I went to Kohls to try to find some jewelry for Conference. I love these little rhinestone earrings. They will go good with all my silver jewelry for the glittery, glitzy awards night.

But my bargain of the day was this watch. I wanted a new silver watch that was kind of blingy and in a bangle bracelet style. I found the perfect one and it fit my tiny wrist just right. But the price was $24.99 which was more than I wanted to spend on a watch. But I looked at those famous Kohl's discount signs. And low and behold it was on sale for $11.99. So that was definitely a yes. Then when we got to the register, she handed me a scratch off card that was something special for that day. I scratched it off and got another 15% off. So I ended up getting it for $10.19. Now that is the kind of bargain I like.

Finally Friday

I can't believe Friday is finally here. It has been a challenging week with printer, fax and phone issues. I for one am ready for a couple of days off. I hope to hit some yard sales tomorrow. I am in search of a tea cart. Something similar to this.



I love the white one as well, but have a couple of chair in my new office that I am trying to match up.

This is perfect for what I want, but I am sure it would be hard to find.



Once I find the perfect cart, I need to find the perfect tea set. I have some at home but I am not willing to part with them to take them to my office. It will be hard to find one at a yard sale. Most people will have the teapot or the teacups and saucers, but not the actual set. The search is on.

Repurposing furniture

It is July and I haven't hit but one yard sale this summer. That is going to have to change. I am looking for a little table or tea cart for my new office. I love finding furniture deals at yard sales. Today, DIY Facebook's page had some ideas for repurposing those old dressers and chests you see at yard sales. These are unique.

French

All things French

I am obsessed with France lately. I am not sure why. My maiden name is Garretson and we were able to trace our ancestors back to Guillame de Garrison from Montebaun, Guyenne, France. He was born in 1545 and died in 1582. According to what my cousin found in archives, one of Guillame's descendants came to the U.S. in the 1700's and Americanized the de Garrison to Garretson. Maybe that is why I love France. It is just funny the things that I have liked over the years that are French. One is Arcopal France, which is the France version of Pyrex.



And I love things with the Eiffel Tower. I posted a necklace that I bought this weekend on yesterdays blog. But check out this adorable pair of scissors.


And look at this cute embroidery pattern for machines.



Here is another cute necklace of the Eiffel Tower.



And for years, I have loved the paintings by Monet. This is one of my favorites.



One of my favorite romance novels was Tangled Vines by Janet Dailey. Even though it was written about a vineyard in Napa Valley, the vineyard history was from France so I loved it.



And to me, the French country side is breathtakingly beautiful.



You will see a lot of roosters in a French Country designed kitchen and I have had roosters in my kitchen for years.



The French furniture designs over the years are usually with a lot of flowers. And that is one thing I love in my decor and it is flowers. I would love to find a chair like this for my home office.



I would love to visit an authentic French bistro some day.



I would also love to visit a French pastry shop.



Maybe some day.