A quick update on the back hall progress

There isn't a lot on the back hall but I haven't shown off the pictures of what we have done yet, so here goes...

There was a big window here between the dining room and the back hall that we removed.  That was a bit exciting, but we didn't actually break the window so it wasn't dangerously exciting!

This is looking into the dining room from the back hall.  And the lovely Miss V doing homework....

this is the east wall where I decided we (and by "we" of course I mean the big guy) should put some cubbies for storage and display.

And here we have one brick wall painted in our green choice.  yay!

Next I'll show some pictures of the bricking up of the window.  Pretty exciting huh?  ;-)  Hey, it's better than pictures of us watching the paint dry right?

Back home!

The Green Family is back at home!

I mostly have mountains of laundry, and instead of taking pictures of THAT mess I thought I'd share some nice camping pictures instead.  Cool clouds or what??/

Pretty yellow butterfly!

yawn, off to bed now!  I have about 12 more loads to do tomorrow. 

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

Vintage happiness........

Pretty appliqued linens

Miss V's vintage, and almost vintage dresses.

miss me yet?

oh you probably don't miss me because I've been so busy pre-posting for you! 

But I have to say I am probably missing all my blog friends by now!!!

well, here we go again........

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

A new project I started a few weeks ago.

I took an old cardboard kids book and painted the pages with Gesso...

Then I started adding things to the covers.  Things from my bulletin boards and my (hoarding) boxes...

I did some decoupage on the front so it (hopefully) won't peel off too easily.

Then I glued some more things to the inside pages to make a (nother) inspiration journal out of it.



WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

I love that even though I'm not the one at home taking care of the house and critters, I can still post by setting some of them up early!  So while you are reading about what is making me smile at home, I'm probably here....

 or here...........

or here.............

doing this..............

or maybe this? 

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

Cute mushroom zipper pull made by Miss V.

A New (to me) Doris Day movie!!  yay! 

It's so fun watching her movies again now that I'm an adult.  My oh my how I love the 60's way of dressing!!!

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

A black cat charm from my sweet auntie!  She got it in Germany at the little village where Zeller Schwartz Katz wine is made.  My sweetie and I love that wine!  We first spotted it years and years ago back in the dark ages known as college, the Katz caught our eyes because my maiden name is Kaatz.  My great grandparents came over from Germany and were told to change the spelling from Katz to Kaatz in the (incorrect) thinking that people would pronounce their name properly. It's Khaats not Cats.  Needless to say, it didn't work.

But I love the little black cat.  Incidentally, I named the big black cat in the house Zeller because of this wine!  ;-)

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

My vintage potholder.  How cute are these two fried eggs?

And the parsley garnish?  I ask you, does it get cuter? 

And I don't even like fried eggs!  I'll take mine scrambled please, or in an omelet, nothing runny or jiggly thanks!

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

Well I got it yesterday and it's still making me smile today!!

Is there anything better than coming home to find a totally unexpected package in the mail???

A lovely package from a fellow blogger?

With a pretty card and sweet thoughts?

oooooooooooo and the gifty wrapped in batting!!!

a FABULOUS water bottle with a gorgeous cover!!!  I love it!!!  I want an entire quilt out of those fabrics!!  (sorry about the kind of creepy cat eyes in the background, black cats can do that)

Isn't it great!  Red is one of my regularly favorite colors!

and oh my gosh!  look at the bottle inside that fabulous jacket! 

It is tooooooooooooooo CUTE for words!!!

Thank you so much Pat!!!!  What a great way to end my day!!!

If you want to visit my friend Pat and see what other wonderful things she is up to in her sewing room, go here:  http://bellcreekquilts.blogspot.com/

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

flowers

flowers and tomatoes

Igor doing some porch sitting

herbs drying over my kitchen sink

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

rain boot candle holder from daughter #3

 Funny vintage juicer, inherited from my mother.

rusty Eiffel tower to remind me of my Paris dreams.

Blue teapot, and blue patterned sugar and creamer.

Some Scrap Busting for Flori!!

Finally, some scrap busting at the Mares Nest!  A while ago Susan from http://quiltyindulgence.blogspot.com/ challenged some of us to bust some of our scraps.

I had planned to make myself a nice warming cozy for my French Press for some time, and now I finally did it.

Here is the back where you can see the pony tail holders I used for my button loops. 

How cozy does this look?

Pretty cozy huh?

and how about those pretty pink buttons?

WhAt'S mAkiNg Me SmiLe ToDaY!

BAGS!  Bags are making my smile today.

My crochet tote, a vintage straw bag that I found at a thrift shop.  It fits just enough cotton yarn to make some apple sweaters and not too much that I feel overwhelmed, plus it stands up by itself.

A tooled leather pouch my dad made for me years and years and years ago.  Dad was very talented at leather work.  I am fortunate enough to still have a few of his pieces to use and love.

The MOST adorable workbasket tote made by Flori of http://quiltyindulgence.blogspot.com/ 

Thank you thank you, I love LOVE LOVE it!