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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Transferware Mosaics

Hello everyone,

I just popped in for a few minutes to share some mosaics of some of my transferware china that I thought you might enjoy.

Black and white toile

This red and white transferware is my friend Heather's. Someday soon I will do a Christmas tablescape with my red and white china.

Brown and white china.

Teal green and white tranferware

blue and white transferware

This one is a mix of green and white toile and tranferware china.

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely week.

Thank you so much for visiting me,

Carolyn

a little sneak peek...

A few things you might find at this First Fridays' Flea Market....

And much more!

Hope to see you there!

Whenever we travel I am always on the hunt for the next greatest fabric store. I think it is so fun to check out new places in other cities besides where we live (Chicago). So, this past week we were in Texas for my Mom's wedding and Thanksgiving. My Mom had mentioned to me that there was this giant fabric store only 5 minutes from her new house with over 5000 fabrics. What?!?!?! The thought of this place got my heart racing.

So the day after the wedding, after all the relatives had said their goodbyes, Mom and I headed to "Fabrics and More" in Houston, Texas. Wow, this place was a decorators dream! They had more upholstery fabric and trims than I had ever seen in one place. And the nice part was they were all arranged in a pretty organized manner (unlike my other fabric hunting adventure in Chicago).

How adorable are these nursery decorator fabrics? I can just see these in a little designer baby room - SO cute!! I especially love the giraffes!

And the trims, oh the trims..........

The trims ranged in price, but overall they were a really good value. I just wouldn't even know what to choose if I was redecorating my house - they were all fabulous!

But if I HAD to choose, it would have to be this one (above). The delicate little lace with ric-rac and sweet little buttons. Just too perfect!

Above was the clearance section, so you definitely had to do a little more looking through that section, but if you were shopping for a deal, this would be the place.

You could also take your old furniture to this store and they would recover it for you there. It was pretty neat because they had huge windows where you could watch them re-upholstering some really great pieces of furniture. I'm not too familiar with the cost to re-upholster furniture, but my Mom said is was really reasonable in comparison to some others she had seen out there.

Personally, I was a little disappointed in the fact that they had barely any apparel fabric whatsoever, but oh well, it was still fun to look. I am always on the hunt for new and exciting prints for The Cottage Mama, but that didn't happen this trip. Maybe I'll find some in the next city we visit.........

What is your favorite fabric store where you live? Have you discovered any hidden gems?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

While in Naples, Florida last week, I went shopping at a place called Waterside Shops. It is very upscale, with a Tiffany's, Coach, Hermes, Burberry, Ralph Lauren and more.

I really wasn't shopping, just ogling all of the amazing stores and Christmas decorations.

I have not started decorating yet. I am a little behind, due to my trip.

So, I thought I would show you some Florida style decorating. Isn't fun to see, how different areas of the country decorate? You really need to double click on the pictures to see how fun these trees are!

I will be decorating over the next 4 days, and will post some photos as I go along.

Welcome Home,

Penny

Ready... set... track Santa!

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]

From feasting on a turkey dinner to singing carols around the fire, there are certainly plenty of traditions to enjoy during the holiday season. Much to the delight of the child in each of us, the ritual of gift-giving continues today, and I know I still find cheer at the bottom of my stocking every Christmas morning.

Another tradition that brings joy to youngsters everywhere is the one started in 1955 by NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which every year counts down to Christmas Eve and tracks Santa’s whereabouts as he delivers presents across the globe. Google similarly started tracking Santa in 2004 and has been partnering with NORAD on this fun project since 2007. Keeping the tradition alive, today marks the kick-off of this year’s countdown at www.noradsanta.org. On the NORAD website, kids can play holiday-themed games (a new one is released each day) and get updates from the North Pole as Santa prepares for his big sleigh ride.

If you haven’t tracked Santa in years past, we hope this is the year you’ll start a new tradition of visiting www.noradsanta.org and following Santa’s journey all around the world. Starting at 2 a.m. EST on December 24, you’ll be able to track him in real-time on Google Maps from your computer or phone as well as on Google Earth with the plug-in by searching for [santa].

So this year, along with my family’s usual tradition of gathering around to hear my mum read “Twas the night before Christmas,” we’ll gather around the computer to see when Santa might be coming to our neighborhood. In honor of the occasion, I wrote a new opening verse:

'Twas the night before Christmas, and Santa was near
According to NORAD, he would soon be right here
So we hopped into bed and dreamt of new toys
And awoke in the morning to much Christmas joy

Happy holidays to all, and to tide you over till Christmas Eve, enjoy this video with highlights from Santa’s journey last year!

Posted by Bruno Bowden, Software Engineer

{ Simplifying the Tree }

This year I borrowed an artificial tree for my dining room.

I wanted to complete the tree by spending as little money as possible.

With a trip to my local thrift store, & some quiet nights with the hot glue gun, here's what I came up with...

And you can too.

Vintage Paper Ornaments

so simple to make.

And these paper chains by the mile...

I found mini canvases at A.C. Moore, decoupaged paper to them, them added some farm animal silhouettes to them along with a ribbon.

Next, I stopped by my local thrift store and picked up small pitchers, creamers, & pretty much anything little, pretty, and white.

I even picked up a kid's Raggedy Anne tea set & spray painted it white.

Attached a few ribbons, and bingo, ornaments.

I also found some gorgeous silver, that I attached ribbon to.

Another easy ornament...

So, with some luck at the thrift store, & some hot glue, you can have a simple, elegant, inexpensive tree.

{ H a p p y H o l i d a y s }

Christmas at Mom's (part 1)

Happy December!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, filled with friends, family, and good food!

I had what you might call a "working holiday," but I wouldn't have it any other way! My dear mother is in very poor health, so while I am with my parents, I try to do all the things she can't do any more. In particular, this Thanksgiving break was the time for me to do the Christmas decorating!

....and my mother doesn't believe in doing anything half-way....

EVERY surface in five rooms gets decorated. My parents have been living in that house for about 40 years now. There are a LOT of surfaces!

And my mother has also collected a LOT of Christmas decorations. When I was a little girl, we had one deep closet dedicated to Christmas decorations. When the children moved out, my mother also commandeered the basement bedroom...and not just the closet! There are decorations stacked in boxes in a heap on the floor, and wreaths in bags hung all over the walls! And last (but certainly not least), several years ago my Dad put up an 8' x 5' shed specifically to hold more Christmas stuff! Suffice it to say, decorating my mother's house is not a task for the faint-hearted...or time-pressed!

There are three bookcases in the hall. One of them gets a simple garland and a stuffed snowman and penguin (this was probably the last one I did, actually, and I may have been getting tired ;-)).

The next one is little more elaborate: two garlands, and more stuffed snowmen! Oh, and a couple of candle holders with berries.

Some are focuses less on cute-sy, and more on the reason for the season.

I love the gorgeous pink and silver poinsettias.

This gorgeous bookcase is in the living room. It has these amazing spindles on the back and sides, that you can't see right now! The tall glass candleholders are hand-etched with pinecones. Two bronze deer, more garland, some snowy pinecones and sprakly poinsettias complete this vignette.

This antique cabinet in the entry way gets gussied up with crystal and glass. There are reindeer, polar bears, and skating snowmen!

More to come!

It is the time of year that things get busy and crazy sometimes, if we are not careful. I am not an exception either. I feel like the things I need to do are piling up, calendar filled with parties, functions, and get-togethers. There are so many projects that I was supposed to finish this year... really? It is December already?! Hopefully I can share the project that I am working on (or at least have been trying to the last week or so) soon.

Meanwhile, if you were able to work on some projects, I would love to see them! Here are the rules:

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.

<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHA1Y3e8436nZvEAbFSLbjc96IlUlfua-zm3HLrEk8wOcmDu7rtB5aUbeM7KHX-A3lxmUNWmy0NtsfO-IXrRZ1GUEKB68Eib49R0FPw0jq81WBxGYcLCIkv_yT_UGQyCysfRkz7wH3S08/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a><br />

Thank you all for linking, I hope you can go through this busiest time of the year safely and enjoy every minute of it!

P.S. I'm trying something new with the link party; you can now add a picture!