Decorating Tips

I always enjoy going to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), but the last meeting I went to was especially fun. Our MOPS president is also a professional home decorator, and gave us some wonderful tips for holiday decorating.
Although I'd already done a bit of decorating for the fall season, after I got home, I realized that what I'd thought was "decorating" was really just plopping a bunch of mismatched gourds into every available container I had. Not exactly aesthetically pleasing. It looked a bit like I didn't have enough storage room for the garden vegetables and decided to store them on my piano. And table. And sideboard. And counter.

You get the idea.

What I love about Nikki's decorating style is that she just recycles a few good pieces in different ways to embrace each holiday season.
I loved her birds. For some reason they appealed to me. They can work for spring, fall, winter, etc. I think I enjoyed them so much because they added a bit of whimsy to every different setting.

Her Christmas arrangements were especially inspiring. My grandparents Oma and Opa were florists, so I know the basics of arranging, but it's been awhile since I've been inspired to do anything like this for myself. Now I can't wait to start reusing (*cough cough* stealing) branches from nearby coniferous trees!
After being inspired by Nikki's fabulous tutorial, I made a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and the Dollar Tree and picked up everything I'll need to keep my house looking nice(er). (At least until the kids get to it. We'll keep our fingers crossed.)

Nikki's fall table decorations inspired me to create this little tableau. According to the Domestic Diva Nikki, feathers are always fashionable, so I borrowed (*cough cough* stole) Peter's collection of turkey feathers. The vase I got at JoAnn's on sale for $3, and the cake stand for $8 (75% off). The orange spray of stuff, the birds, the votive glasses, and the rocks I got from the Dollar Tree. The rest of the stuff was reconstituted items that I already had.
(The sprigs of greenery were from my own bushes, thank you very much. I haven't had to steal anything yet, so stop thinking so evilly of me. I'm innocent. Yes.)

I was tickled pink to find these birds from the Dollar Tree. Nikki's birds made such an avian impression on me, I knew I had to get some, but was thrilled to find a set for so cheap and so quickly!
The table arrangement I put on my large platter, so if we need to use the entire table area I can just pick up the whole bit and move it easily. Or relatively easily.

Okay, okay, I just have Handyman do it. I wouldn't want to show him up with my massive muscle power.
I had enough left over to make a small arrangement of fall things on the island countertop. (Please notice bird. I haven't named them yet, but I'm thinking "Larry, Moe, and Curly". Or perhaps I should get one more and go for "Eenie, Meenie, Mynie, and Moe"?)So what sort of holiday decorating do you do?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Fall Day with Daddy

After having spent several weeks playing Hot Potato with the flu, we were so ready to get outdoors once we were all relatively healthy again.
Handyman was working in a nearby town, so the kids and I packed up and headed to visit him at work.

He was building some sort or roof thing so that they could install some sort of metal roof on top of the wooden thingys. (Handyman gets his building expertise from me.)

The kids had fun playing in the colorful fall leaves and watching trains pass.
Those curls just kill me every time!
Peter even got to "help" a little bit. Grandpa seemed to appreciate having the next generation of workers around!

Shopping Lessons

When my friend Flipflopping Mama and I went shopping during our recent St. Louis Expedition, she gave me a quick tutorial on Mall Shopping. I've already posted my personal shopping philosophy before, so hopefully it won't come as quite a shock to my reader(s) (again, being optimistic that there are more than one of you out there) that I'd never before been inside an Eddie Bauer store.

Or a Gymboree.

Or a Children's Place.

Or an Ann Taylor Loft. (Well, we ran out of time, so I've still never been in there.)

At Eddie Bauer, I was shocked to discover that it is possible to purchase jeans that fit. I mean, jeans that fit over my ample Hawaiian hips. As any Polynesian gal will tell you, there's a reason why island people do the hula - it's not a dance, it's just the way people with ample hips walk.
Best yet? I picked up these beautiful jeans for $20! They were originally $70, but with the clearance and F.F.M.'s nice 15% off coupon, I got expensive jeans for a cheap Wal-mart price!

At Gymboree I was able to combine a $5 coupon with another 15% coupon to snag this dress for Miss Boo for $10. I realize that's not uber-cheap, but I thought it was a decent price, especially since this dress is usually $45 and she was in need of a church dress.
The yarn wasn't cheap at all, but we all must have our weaknesses.

I look at it as being cheaper than therapy.

Sort of.

If I had a really expensive $21 an hour therapist.
Two skeins of the luscious, scrumptious, practically edible Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn in Chocolate Mint and Jay colorways.
I can't wait to cast on a pair of socks! Then I can wear them with my jeans!

(Which is why I bought the yarn. Nice jeans require nice socks. Logic is my forte.)

Expedition in St. Louis

This past Monday I drove several hours south to visit my dearly departed friend, FFM (a.k.a Flipflopping Mama).

She lives in a beautiful old house with lots of character and very high ceilings. (No that's not her house. It's just a good illustration of the landscape.)
Since I had my usual order of priorities in place, I remembered to take a picture of the chocolate on my pillow, but completely forgot to get a picture of her lovely home.
After a restful night's sleep, we leisurely drove to St. Charles, a historic town on the banks of the Missouri river, and a stopping off point for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The buildings fascinated me, with their antique colors and beautiful brickwork.
It was rainy most of the time we were there, but it wasn't bad because F.F.M remembered to pack two umbrellas. The old streets were so pretty in the rain. (Only a blogger thinks to take pictures of streets in the rain.)
I resisted the urge to do a "Singing in the Rain" impersonation for several reasons; I am not as flexible as Gene Kelly, and I was afraid F.F.M. would leave me stranded in St. Charles.

We had a lovely time going into the quaint shops and exclaiming over the quaint items and equally quaint prices ("Oh yes, I believe that wallet is definitely worth the $300"). We were heartily amused by the number of "No Strollers, No Children Touching Anything" signs. I must admit it felt rather liberating to not have to threaten, "Keep your hands in your pockets and if you break anything I'll kill you!" every few minutes.
Our friend Nikki got sick last minute and wasn't able to join our Expedition, so her arch-nemesis the squirrel decided to come in her place. (Nikki has a phobia of squirrels. And spiders. And turkeys. And bats. And flying.)
When we found a yarn shop called Knit and Caboodle, I knew I was in heaven.
They had lots of pretty yarn to fondle and caress, but their selection of sock yarns was especially nice.
I had lots of fun trying to decide how much money to blow on socks.
Squirrel Nutkin joined us shortly before the yarn store, and helped me decide what colors I liked best.

When we left the yarn store to soggily slosh our way back to the car, I noticed this little soap opera going on in someone's front yard.
I am easily amused, apparently.

From St. Charles we drove to the Chesterfield Mall, where F.F.M. taught me the art of Mall Shopping. I think in my next post I'll have more pictures of some of the stuff I bought, because this post is already getting rather picture heavy.
I had to snap a picture of the playland.

See those kids playing?
None of them are mine. (Smug grin).

After we finished Malling, we went to Macaroni Grill to get a bite to eat.
We had a fabulous Italian waiter, and equally fabulous food. (Please tell Handyman that I want to eat here again. Soon.)
F.F.M and I changed into our Hot Mama boots, and then we drove downtown to see The Pioneer Woman.
Naturally, we couldn't see P.W. in frumpy shoes! Gasp, Horror!

The book signing venue had been changed from the bookstore to a beautiful old church (I think it was called Christ Church of St. Louis, but I'm not sure.)
The architecture was magnificent.
We were shocked at the number of people there to see Pioneer Woman. I don't think it's an exaggerated estimation to say there were at least 800 highly charged estrogen enriched bodies in that one room.

Needless to say, we had to wait a looooooong time to see P.W. Thankfully, I came prepared for a wait.
(Squirrel Nutkin is showing off my socks.)

F.F.M. evilly snapped a photo of me praying (*cough cough* napping). We were in church, after all!
F.F.M. took courage and managed to ask P.W. a question about blogging times and when she does it.
Two great women in such close approximation - the world is not ready for this yet.

While we waited in line to have P.W. sign our copies of her amazing cookbook (go get it, it's amazing), her husband Marlboro Man also let us snap pictures with him and autographed our books.

He was very, very charming, and nicely did what I told him and held my knitting for the photo. I just love his expression, don't you?
Woo-hoo, now I have TWO celebrities Kinneared! (See here for Celebrity #1, and here for an explanation of Kinnearing.)

F.F.M. was even more bold and had Marlboro Man sign a picture of his, um, chaps. (You have to read Pioneer Woman's blog to understand this one. Or maybe not. Marlboro Man is really hot.)

The Pioneer Woman was equally charming and gracious, and seemed to appreciate the handknit gifts we brought her. (I knit a scarf, and F.F.M. knit a matching pair of fingerless mitts.)(That's F.F.M's charming but evil sister on the right. She and her sister breathe in a similarly sadistic fashion, and tried to get me to believe that cars need blinker fluid as well as oil. Thankfully I discovered that they have a nervous twitch when they're lying, which saved me much more humiliation.)

When we finally got back to F.F.M.'s house that night, it was in the wee hours of the morning, but what fun we had! Definitely worth the bloodshot eyes and manic expressions of the next day. That's what coffee's for, after all!

Something Done!

I can't believe how long I've gone without posting something about knitting. This must be a record for me!

Never fear, though, my long-suffering blog reader(s) (I'm being optimistic and assuming I have more than one), we have knitting to discuss!

I've been putting my usual Christmas knitting on hold to get a few things done for the kids, and I just recently completed this Pippa Girls' Shrug for Miss Boo.
The pattern was pretty well written, but I did have to frog it a few times because I kept mistaking the metric measurements for inches (note to self: there is a sizeable difference between 10 inches and 10 centimeters).

I had visions of a wonderfully frilly ruffled shrug, and even went so far as to knit a ruffle around the neck and edging. My vision turned out to look like a horrible mop of a thing, so I frogged that as well and opted for a simple crocheted scalloped trim.
The crocheted trim thankfully turned out to be the perfect thing. It's nice and girly without being too much, and now Miss Boo has a layering piece to wear over her summer tops!
(For more specific pattern notes click here).

Taking Pictures the Flintstone Way

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my beloved camera Sony Cybershot finally gave up the ghost and died. Since being camera-less would bring out my more homicidal tendencies, Handyman let me borrow his Fred Flintstone camera until we could get a better one.I call this the Flintstone camera because it is roughly the size of a prehistoric dinosaur egg (think melons or basketballs), and it takes about a minute for each photo to load so I can shoot another photo. I think I could draw the image faster.

Still, the desperate cannot be choosy.

The weather this week has be unseasonably warm and beautiful. (It's Nature's way of lulling me into a false sense of security before she unleashes the full onslaught of Frigid Terror).
When my friend the Dearly Departed Flipflopping Mama left us for another region, she put out an A.P.B. that her old swingset was available to the first person who got to it. Twenty minutes after receiving the bulletin the swingset was in my back yard.

(I can move fast for free stuff.)
It's been wonderful having it, especially as we don't have any trees big enough for the kids to climb. Children aren't having fun unless they're putting themselves in harm's way. Since this is a swingset, they ignore the swings completely and monkey themselves across the top.

(If you're wondering, that pink glow is the ghost of my former camera haunting my current camera.)

Peter and The Next Door Buddies have gotten a lot of use out of this thing.
Ooops, there they go!
Peter's smart; he's the one on the top of the slide.
That's my boy!