Long Time No See

Wow, it has been a long time since I have blogged.  I haven't been up to much around here that is blog worthy.  But I have been busy the last week making things to decorate my house for fall.  
The first items are a couple canvases.  

I just adore fall colors and had great fun painting, layering papers and doodling on these two canvases

 

Next I printed out a fall subway art and placed it in a frame and that made for some instant art! Besides the ink for printing this is a free project. You can find a great selection of Subway ART  HERE

Next up is a Pinterest find.  As I looked at fall decorations, I kept seeing pumpkins made out of wood.  We certainly have a lot of that down in my hubby's workshop. 

 So I grabbed some 2x4 and had my son cut them into three different sizes.  Then we did a bit of sanding, chiseling, and drilling. I went outside to find the perfect stems from our kindling pile. I took them up to the craft room to give the wood a few coats of paint and added raffia and fabric.  This project cost absolutely nothing to make! 

My last project has to be my favorite.  I found the idea on Pinterest.  My daughter-in-law and I created pillows for our homes.  It was easy to make.  If you have fabric scraps you could make this pretty quickly.

I had some scraps in my craft room and we went and bought a few more at Jo Ann's.  Sarah also spotted a wood grain fabric that we HAD to buy for the trunk.

We used Wonder Under (fusible web) on the back of our fabric.  We traced the leaves and trunk onto the back of the web.  Then we cut them all out.  You will need about 40 leaves for the tree.  The size will depend on your pillow size.  My leaves were 2.5 inches. 

Notice the tree pattern fabric!

Cut the top of your pillow one inch bigger than the pillow size.  Lay out your pieces and arrange them how you want them to look.  Then peal off the back of the webbing.  I did this on the floor and then realized I couldn't move it to my ironing board.  So I slid it over and ironed them on the floor.

After you get them ironed on, bring it up to the ironing board and give it a good pressing to make sure they are attached.

Next I took some DMC floss and stitched around all the leaves and trunk.  I did this while watching TV and had it done in a few hours.

I made an envelope pillow case and slipped in a pillow from the couch.  I think it turned out super cute.  I posted a Youtube video I found on how to make the pillow on the post before this one. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I gave you some fun and quick fall decorating ideas.  Now go get crafting!

Spring has Arrived!

You know it is spring WHEN:  My hubby has hit the river! 

Magnolias are bursting at the seams.

Crocuses are in full bloom.

 The frogs are back out in our little pond.

Autumn Glory

I think fall is my new favorite season. We don’t get enough snow here in Virginia to really enjoy winter. At our new house we are surrounded by trees. They have turned bright yellows, reds and oranges. So pretty!

Since we live only an hour from the Shenandoah Mountains, we took a day trip to drive Skyline Drive.

Of course we had to take the top down and enjoy the crisp fall weather!  The roads curved from one side of the mountain to the other.

Along the road there are pull off places to take in the views. 

We hike the Stoney Man trail.  The trail was kind of boring.  Until you get to the end and see THIS:

We climbed out to the edge of the rocks and took in the view.  You could see for a few miles in each direction.  The colors looked fabulous from up here.

Another trail we took was Dark Hollow Falls trail.  This is a pretty strenuous trail (for me).  It took you along a small creek all the way to the bottom of the falls.  You get down there and then realize you have to climb ALL the way back up.  UGH!  I exercise at least four times a week and this trail kicked my behind.

Thank goodness I have an understanding hubby who lets me stop and rest.  Thanks BABE! 

We drove 50 miles of the 109 miles in the park.  Maybe next year we can cover the next 50???   On the way out of the park we saw this black bear.  It was far away, but I got a pretty good shot with my zoom! 

Thanks for stopping by………………………..

The state of Maryland is CLOSED!

Last night we got hit with a thunder SNOW storm. 

The lightening flashed and the thunder rolled

as snow covered our neighborhood. 

Of course we had to go for a walk!

This morning we woke up to a snow covered wonderland.

The snow was heavy and many branches fell. 

We had a hard time trekking

through the trails around our house.

Our dog Blue LOVES the snow. 

He enjoys running and playing around outside.

He is old, but he turns into a young pup when he sees snow.



Green Thumb????

I am a perennial girl. 

I plant things that come back on their own each year. 

Bulbs are my favorite. 

But this year my daughter talked me

into trying some herbs and vegtables.

So we planted oregano, two kinds of basil,

 chives, and parsely in one pot

and tomatos an peppers in another.

These plantes were tiny last week and look at them today. 

 It is a little miracle!

I have used the herbs in my spaghetti sauce

and on a pizza.

YUMMMM! 

I added a bird bath to my front yard. 

I can see it from the couch. 

 No birds have taken advantage of it yet

but it is still pretty to look at.

We also put some bushes on the side of the house on the hill.

I love all the new garden/yard additions!

Winter 2010

Snowmageddon is what the weather stations are calling this winter's storms. We have been bunkered down in the house for days.  Trees are falling, icicles growing  and snow is falling/blowing sideways. Good thing I can just sit by the window and watch the beautiful snow.

Snow Play

We took an overnight trip to western Maryland.  We stayed at a resort that had all the activities we love to do.  Michael and I went cross country skiing.  I found out how out of shape I am, sigh......  I was huffing and puffing around the trails.

We had a nice dinner and Christopher was able to eat his favorite food SUSHI!

After dinner we hit the snow tubbing hill. 

This was a really nice hill with great flow!

The next day Chris and Michael hit the slopes for some skiing.

It was a fun little trip to the mountains.

3X Wow!

It has snowed THREE time this month.

Here in Maryland we are lucky if we receive three snows a season.

Great way to end the year.

Have a great NEW YEAR"S!

Winter Wallop

I began to snow around 10pm Friday night and didn't stop until midnight Saturday.

We received around 22 inches of wonderful SNOW!

Michael put the blade on the mower. This saved time and our backs many hours of shoveling.

The birds really hung out at our window feeder. 

Then the sledding fun began.  We have a nice hill right across the street.  So I blew up the sled and we probably spent at least 5 hours outside on and off during the day sledding and playing in the snow.

 

This last picture is looking out our sliding door onto the deck. 

I guess this one counts!