what's cooking in my kitchen

with the temperatures soooo cold, and ice and snow covering the ground this arty girl has had to resort to cooking up some artiness in my kitchen. 


many gifts to be given to friends and neighbors will be packaged in eco-friendly reusable gift bags. 

tie dyed drawsting bags.

for a few days, we will be leaving fabric soaking in a bucket of green dye. 



and just as bert insists on dipping his paw in to the still oh-so-warm wax of a scented candle, he stops by the bucket of dye doing the same.  he now has green tinted paws.

in a foil lined pie plate  steel nails are drying after soaking in some water for a few days.  love rusty-ness. 

since the nails are steel water and air alone will cause them to rust.  no need to force a rusty situation by using the bleach and vinegar method that some metals require!  my family is oh-so-thankful. 

the rusty nails will be added to the shrine that i am making. 

yup, as if i do not have enough on my to-do list, i am pushing myself to finish the shrine in time for christmas. 

last night i gave in to the hubby's pleading for cookies.  he could not wait just one more week when i started baking for friends and neighbors, and us of course, for my  dark-milk-white-semi sweet- chocolate chip cookies.  

i could not say no to the mostest wonderful guy in the world, so bake i did.

don't they look yummy?   you should smell them.....and taste them.....heaven!

for a girl that use to be teased about her cooking abilities...or lack of them.....they use to joke that i could burn water!   i have become quite the cook if i say so myself. 

saturday night as snow and icy-ness covered the ground steph and max took some photos as sam spent the evening with friends. 

i am off to add some sparkly goodness to more and more sea shells. 

with much love and holiday cheer to you,

smooches.

baby it's cold outside

tonight we attended the choirs madrigal dinner.

this is sam's 3rd year.  next year will be his last. 

we lucked out and the rain that was predicted did not show, so thankfully we did not have to worry about driving icy roads back home, but my-oh-my was it bone chilling cold.

sam just called home though to say he is spending the night at a different friends house than originally planned, as the black ice forced them to stay put at the nearest home from where they went to hang after their performance.  i am so thankful  for the parents of this friend of his for opening  up their home to several teenage boys. 

winds blowing at 40mph and the temps at 20 degrees with a wind chill of 3.....this arty girl is so totally done  with winter!

while i am snuggled up in my nice warm bed typing to you all, my youngest ran out and snapped a few photos of what is the beginning of what is suppose to be 1 - 3 inches.

one last rose still clinging to the rosebush.

 that rose and i asking the same question i am sure.....

how many days till the flowers and trees are blooming with new life and the sun warms you as a cool, gentle breeze blows while birds sing?  how many days till spring?


i am off to go forage for a snack as the food served at the dinner tonight makes hospital food taste like a 5 star restaurant.  mystery meat with a foo-fooed up ranch saucy mixture on top and mashed potatoes with unidentifiable scary brown  lumps, .  that left the green beans and dinner roll as the only safe option.  but i loved the performance, and watching my guy do something he loves made it all worth it.

until next time, stay safe and warm and ENJOY this season of abundant love and giving.

with much love and smooches.

all stamped up and wrapped up while the stars twinkled in the kitchen sink

steph and i had a blast putting these

packages together for sam for the madrigal dinner.

we can not wait to start on the larger shells to be given

to be friends, neighbors, and newlyweds celebrating their first christmas.

i am hoping to get the majority of them completed

over the weekend, as many of them need to be gifted by this time next week.

there is glitter  e v e r y w h e r e, everywhere in the house

and everywhere on our bodies.

there is probably glitter running through our veins

glitter sprinkled on the carpets

during the holiday season

is a must every year.

we adore glitter

well, at least us girls do

as for the guys in the house

they seem to have come to

 like it almost as much as we girls.

in fact it is the youngest who asked first

this christmas season

when the glitter would be sprinkled

on the carpet.

while adding the bits of sparkly color

steph said she had heard some one say

that glitter is like the herpes of the art world....

once you get it on you, you can never get it off.

i laughed till i had tears welling up in my eyes

 realizing  that not every one has the arty gene
and not every one shares the same love of glitter that we do
 at the very last minute
we decided to package our
sparkly ornaments.
i am usually taken by surprise when i see someone forcefully attempting
to remove glitter from their clothes as though they were covered in something totally
vile....if only they knew just how truly glorious life is with a bit of sparkle.

 with a change of subject, while doing the dishes this evening something caught my eye.
 i glanced at the cup in the sink and watched as this star appeared.
i love it when an angel lets you know that they are close by.
usually i seem to find hearts and pennies.
this is the first star.

if you are one of the 50 someones who bought a sparkly sea shell from a peddler...i am so happy you stopped by, and i hope you come back soon to see what we are working on next.

until next time,

smooches to you all.

nighty-night....sleep tight.

feeling elf-y

i know, i know......i still have a ton of pictures and stories to tell.  there are so many photos to go through and quite honestly i have been putting it off because i have sooooo very much to do during the months of november and december.

wanting to come check in and post has nearly driven me crazy.  driven me crazy because i told myself no posts until i catch up on the old posts i have been wanting to do. 

this year i have taken a vow not to over do it when it comes to commitments during the holidays and so i took it one step further and decided to cut myself a break here on my blog.

the photos and stories will have to wait until after the holidays to save my self-induced-sanity-compromising-to-do-list.

with that said....

here is a peek at what has been going on at our home........

 i love entertaining the thought of marching through a snow covered tree farm to go cut down our own oh-so-wonderfully-pine-scented live tree, this is the most economical and practical method.

 the tree plugged in aglow with the lights provided by the manufacturer.  are these enough....oh no.....

 600 clear lights

 400 multi colored lights

 140 twinkling clear lights, and 140 twinkling multi colored lights....go grab your sunglasses....

 the elves are in place

 the vintage glittered village that has been battered over many many years of use before it came to our home has been set up

 a mixture of vintage, newish and new bristle brush trees placed oh-so-carefully in the sparkly village

 each of the bird cages decorated

the feather boas added

 hundreds of ornaments

 and waaaa-laaaa....christmas is here.

 wooden rings have been covered with brocade, velvet, and faux gator ribbon.  necklaces in the making.  can't wait to take a moment to finish these. 

 well over a hundred sea shells of different sizes and types drilled for hostess gifts, first christmas gifts for several sets of newly weds, neighbors, friends....these, 50 in all, will be given a mini-ombre effect with glitter for sam to pedal at this years madrigal dinner his choir holds each year.   i am looking forward to this, i have to admit this is my most favorite of the choir performances we attend each year.

the inerds of the shells have been done, and by the time i finish this post i will be heading back to ombre the back sides.  i am considering these as practice for the larger shells i will be doing that will use 5-6 shades instead of just 3.

also in the middle of an assemblage project that i am having a blast working on, and each and every day i think of something new to do with this piece.  trying now to pick and choose the most neato of the  ideas so that i don't over do and booger it up.

i will post pics as this project progesses.


i will have more pics to post of elf-y projects that will be keeping me busy for the next few weeks.

see you soon.

smooches.


(the glittering of the shells zipped by this evening after my daughter joined in and helped out so thought you might like to see the finished product....this leaves me wanting to dig in to the other colors of glitter and shells tonight)