Seven Embroidered Dishtowels full of Love

 Good Morning! This Monday has me feeling well rested after the weekend and thinking ahead to the coming weekend.  It's almost here y'all!  Valentines is Sunday!  Are you ready?  Do you have all your treats for your sweets in order?  Are you even celebrating? 

Today I am thinking of all I need to get in order to make the day special. Admittedly I'm not quite ready.  I am inspired but not quite sure how I'm going to pull it all together yet make it special.  I was thinking about the years past and all the different ways I've decorated to make it special.  It occurred to me it might be kinda fun to showcase some of the beautiful and fun dishtowels I've embroidered for my home over the last few years.  Please keep in mind I do not pull every towel out each year and most likely would not use these in every setting shown.  One things for sure though, no matter how many I have I will likely embroider more.

My first picture is proof, that I love creating beautiful embroidery.  I made this towel just this year after digitizing the design myself.  I'm trying very hard to get my weight back under control so having lots of real cookies around just isn't a great idea.  There was a time when I enjoyed baking and decorating beautiful sugar cookies.  This year I decided I wanted to decorate some again, only these are so much more Keto friendly, don't you think?

Even though this is an older towel, it is one of my favorites.  I made this one by painstakingly moving each letter around to create the heart.  This was on a sign I saw in a store one day and just knew I had to duplicate it on a towel.  I just love the sentiment of this towel!

This is another favorite.  I don't use the Roosters for decorating in my kitchen as often as I used to but I do still pull them out from time to time.  I made this towel to complement my roosters that year.  I came up with the idea for the wording on this one.  I have a few items in my kitchen that also have the diamond pattern shown on the rooster.  I think the diamond pattern especially in black and white is so classic.  When I saw this design I knew it was going to show up in my kitchen eventually, and it did!

Is there anything more Valentines-ish then this little cutie?  There is just something so enjoyable about nostalgic decor for Valentines.  I loved everything about this design when I saw it and knew she had to find a way into my home even it was seasonally.   

I confess the year I made this towel and a for a few after, I have taken lots of beautiful pictures with it. I just love every single detail on this one from the beautiful flowers in the wine glass to the border fabrics I used to line the towel.  This is definitely a towel worthy of decorating with.  Just look how easily it pulled together this little wine vinette?  So inviting!

Along those same lines, this is yet another beautiful towel worthy of decorating.  Makes you just want to slow down and serve up a nice cup of joe with a friend, doesn't it?   I created this one as a hanging flour sack towel because I absolutely cannot get enough of those.  I'm a bit obsessed with flour sack towels y'all!  Anyway, looking at it here it really should be on a tea towel too.  It's way past time to bring back tea towels and teal time with friends!

Last but certainly not least is this dish towel I made a few years ago.  I created the design layout of this towel all on my own using purchased fonts I own as well as design elements I own from other designers.  One morning I had vision of what I wanted this verse to look like so that's when I opened up my software and began to pull it all together moving everything around until I found the look I wanted.  I love, love, love this towel!  I think this will be the years that I stitch this out to go in a frame.  After last year, this is just the encouragement I think I would like to see on my wall year round.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit.  I'd love to hear which one is your favorite, because I certainly cannot just pick one.  LOL!  I hope to share a little more LOVE again if I can pull it all together by next weekend.  It's always fun to share my work and maybe some of my ideas too.   I hope you'll come again soon, have a great week! 

Mary

 

Will you be my Gnomie for Valentines?

 Hi friends!  I can't believe I'm doing this again, but here I am!  After last year life has shown me not to neglect doing the things that I love.  I am absolutely sure 2020 has shown many of us that life is so short but more importantly so precious.  I am blessed to have many hobbies which helped ease the transition of social distancing.  I don't know what I'd have done if I didn't have hobbies to keep me occupied.  Blogging is one those hobbies I have missed, so here I am, once again.

Last year I found myself combing through many blogs I used to follow.  With everything going on in our world I wanted to find things that were pleasing to look at as well as inspirational.  I realized I am very fortunate that I am able to daily create a beautiful environment for myself, my family, and my friends to enjoy.  So it was with that focus that I decided to share my home, my embroidery, my tablescapes, my seasonal decor, crafts, gardening and all the enjoyable things in my world with others once again.   I don't have an endless budget, or a designer home but I do have a desire to create something enjoyable to see.  So with that said, I hope you will enjoy coming here again if you are an old follower or consider following along if your new to my blog. 

 Welcome everyone, to The Decorative Dreamer!

I love seasonal decorating!  Do you?  If you do, will you be my Gnomie?  LOL!  

I made this little dishtowel last year.  I am especially proud of this design as it is one of my very own.  I personally digitized the gnome design with the heart balloons, ect.  Every bit of that is design is my own work, with the exception of the font. The lettering is a purchased font I own.  Digitizing is another one of my favorite passions now as it has allowed me to be creative in a whole new way. 

Have you noticed a trend with decorating with Gnomes for Valentines?  I sure have! 

I got on board with the gnome trend last year when I found the kissing gnomes applique design and knew it would be perfect for a sweet little pillow.  I added the wording to make it even more fun.  This year, I added to my gnomes after finding this design for a stuffed gnome. She was fun to make but not so fun to stuff with those skinny legs.

She is sitting here on the shelves in my kitchen.  I have pretty much limited my Valentines decor to the kitchen.  Its one of those holidays I tend to do more groupings with either one location, or only a few items here and there.  This year I focused on the kitchen sitting area.  It's so fun to see this every morning and brings a smile to my heart. 

When I first set up my shelves I just had the hearts hanging there without anything on them.  One morning I looked at the shelves and thought now wouldn't that be cute to have mine and my husbands initials on them with arrows pointing at each other.  Sooo, I made some decals with my silhouette machine and put them on there.  Isn't that so sweet?  I think so!

 

Can you tell how much I love personalized decorating?  I made sure they were placed centerstage to the rest of the valentines decor on my shelves.   Also centerstage are the cute little Pioneer Woman salt and pepper shakers that remind me of my dogs.  Even though these are meant to be labs they really, really, look like my two Cavachons to me.

Speaking of Pioneer Woman products.  I decided to pull out the first pattern of dishware that I bought of hers and the matching accessories pieces.  I thought they had enough red on them to to work well for Valentines decor.  

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my kitchen sitting are all decked out for Valentines.  I'm so glad to be back sharing and recording the pretties in my life.  If you enjoyed your visit please feel free to drop me a comment if you wish.  I'd love to hear about what you are doing for Valentines as well. Otherwise, thank you for stopping by, please drop in again sometime.  

Have a beautiful day!

Mary

I am joining these fun and beautiful beautiful blog parties;

Sundays on Silverado

My Very first Homemade Doll

 Hi friends!  This post is to share my very first doll that I made for a very special little girl.   What makes this little girl so special to me is that she is the grand daughter of my late best friend who was born just after my friend passed away in 2019.  I feel very blessed to be able to still connect with her even though it's been far too limited in 2020 due to this horrible pandemic.  I finished this doll just in the nick of time for her very 1st birthday.  What a joy to be able to deliver this little cutie to another adorable cutie!

My doll making began when I found a pattern online that I could use to make the doll on my embroidery machine.  After searching locally I found this material at Hobby Lobby for the skin.  I liked the way it had a texture as well.  

After carefully following the instructions for a doll with sewn in limbs, (arms and legs) the doll was read for stuffing.  I got to choose the face from several designs.  I am in love with this face!  Just look at those adorable eyes!

The pattern I used had the option for a doll joint for the head that I chose to use.  I didn't realize at the time that I should have waited to stuff the body and the head after I had the doll joint in place.  I had to wait for some time for my ordered doll joints to arrive and thought I was being ahead of the game by prestuffing the head and body.  I knew not to sew it together yet so I could insert the joints but I hadn't thought so far ahead to realize I couldn't get the joints in with the stuffing inside.  So I had to unstuff them again.  Ugh, lessons learned right?

Another fun adventure on my first doll was finding different types of fur to use for the hair.  I first purchased a few different fur types from Hobby Lobby but they were shorter lengths.  After seeing how big my doll was I knew I had to get some longer fur.  I found a great little shop on Etsy after reading about them in a Facebook group.  I decided to let Mom and Dad decide the color of the baby dolls hair.  They chose blonde after deciding it might be the closest match to their daughters hair.

At long last the neck joints came in and I was able to complete the doll.  Isn't she just too cute?

I was able to find this adorable little outfit for her at Walmart.  The size of the outfit is for a newborn.  There are different sizes you can use to make the doll.  This was the next to largest size.  It might be a bit big for a one year old but its big enough for her to grow with. 

And finally I was able to deliver the doll just before her first birthday.  I received a photo tag later with these photos of her loving on her new baby.  Isn't that just the sweetest?  I think so!

This makes my heart smile!  What a joy!

I'm not so inclined at this time to start selling homemade dolls as there is so much involved with compliance laws that I would need to sort out even though I was very careful to make sure everything I used for this one was safe.  I can see making a few more gifts though, as this was such a fun and enjoyable project.  This one especially because it was the very first one made with love!

Mary

A sampling of my earliest Embroidery creations

Hi followers!   This page was updated to share one of my passions, the love of embroidery and sewing.  My blog will share tablescaping, seasonal decorating and my embroidery and sewing projects.  Much of what I do is on a more personalized, homemade and decorative style.  Here's a little sampling of some of my earlier embroidery projects, it's a peek at what you'll get to see on the embroidery side, as I reopen the blog and jump back in to share my life passions.

  My love for Embroidery has allowed my creative spirit to flourish and I cannot wait to show you what I have been up to over the last few years. 

New Color in the Bedroom

Hi Friends!  I am hoping this post will serve dual purposes here today!   I am conducting a trial post on the new blog to see how I like it and I get to update you on my master bedroom.

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Well I have to say as far as posting goes, I am struggling quite a bit but I am optimistic. Figuring out how to add pictures to a post is easy, figuring out how to get rid of duplicates in the Media picture file is a challenge.  Would love a tip on that if anyones out there.  Anyway, enough of that let's get to the good stuff.

I wanted to share my new bedroom color with you today because well, I love it!   What a change from the parakeet green I had in here.  I still have some very dated furniture and a few unmatched linens now but we will get there eventually.  The new color is called Breaktime from Sherwin Williams.  It is a bluish greenish color that is just so perfect in this room.

I am not sure why, but I am guessing it has to do with the exposure from the light of all the windows certain colors can be really off in this room.  I tested at least five different colors in here before this one hit the mark for me.  Most colors came out either to blue, too green, or too gray.  Blah!  I will have to show you a color that I tested in here that is in my sons bedroom.  It was so gray in here and in his room is a tranquil blue-green.  Weird!

I also went on a search for a new quilt that would compliment this new color. This one works though it's a little bright. I really wanted something with a pattern but couldn't find what I wanted that would pull in the coral from the cornice boards. They are definitely staying.  I have a beautiful very large quilted white bedspread I normally use but since Maizey has decided she loves our bed I didn't want it getting ruined.  It wasn't cheap so in the closet it went until winter when we can use it under another quilt.  Oh the sacrifices we make for our pets right?

I certainly don't mind though, she is my heart!

I have kept the white pillow sham out that has our initial embroidered on it.  I love this idea I had to do this back when I worked at the embroidery shop.  I am thrilled that I can now do this for others as well on my machine.  I decided to just put one large last name initial on the sham instead of having two different sets of initials on shams.  With my white bedset I used three standard shams instead of the two king sized ones.  This blue quilt set sold the king shams with the quilt so that was that but the white still works here. Eventually I may get a white bed skirt as well, or something with some white in it.

 For those who want to dress up their linens without spending a lot on embroidery this single initial is a great option.  Even if you were to do both shams with a single initial it's a great choice because lets face it, most men really don't care if their initials are on their shams or not.  I have listened to so many ladies struggle with whether to put their husbands initials on the shams or just theirs. Then there is the whole font issue.  Hubby doesn't like script but wife does, he want's his masculine she wants hers feminine.    I know to each his own, but here's a nice compromise just in case!

I think this shot shows the best real shot of how the color actually looks in my room.  The camera and outside lighting in here is doing funny things to change it up a bit, but this is pretty dead on.  It is such a relaxing and tranquil color in this room.  I cannot tell you how much I love our room.  As you can also see I've been very hesitant to put anything on the walls in here too.  I want to keep it breezy and light and uncluttered.

I would love to hear what you think of the new color?  In fact I would just love to hear from any of you in general.  Just drop me a quick reply to let me know if your here, that would be great.  If you're so inclined I would love ideas on what color to repaint my hutch in here.  My dream is to one day replace the furniture with soft white washed or grey washed furniture but that's further down the road.  Tips, ideas, suggestions, I would love to hear them all!

Thanks so much for stopping by y'all!

Hugs and Waves,

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's an Eggstra Special Easter Tablescape

Psst!  I have a confession.  I wasn't going to do an Easter tablescape this year.  I really wasn't, I even told myself you don't have to do one.  I wasn't going to because I am not hosting Easter here at my house, instead we are going out to dinner.  In fact, I've not even done very much Easter decorating this year.  Horrible I know!  One reason is that I have been so enjoyably busy with Spring cleaning, repainting and practicing my embroidery that Easter decorating has been on the back burner of my priorities.  Another reason is that I didn't want to get pollen all over my outdoor spring and Easter decor.  It's been wickedly dusty here this spring and it's everywhere!

I finally talked myself into doing a tablescape anyway for my own enjoyment and for all of you as well my fellow tablescapers, at:

 Tablescape Thursday.

  I decided I wanted to have at least something a little more Eastery around here to look at inside.  Then, I decided to start with making some more embroidered napkins.  

So, I got busy on my machine and stitched up four different designs of Eggs.  These are called Mendi Eggs from Designs by JuJu.  Much like last weeks four leaf clovers these designs come with 12 different patterns of eggs.  So fun!

I found the yellow napkins at Ollies, have you ever been there?  It's a retail chain that buys closeouts in all kinds of things.  It's very fun to go in there and see what you can find.  These napkins were originally marked at $1.47 for the Ollies price but were on further discount and I only paid .47 cents each.  I know, that was a steal.  I would have bought more then four but that was it for the yellows.  I had to dig and dig to find the fouth yellow napkin.  They had other colors so you can bet I will be going back real soon!  They are a very nice quality weave and stitched up really nicely!

This morning I got busy and put together my Eggstra Special Easter tablescape in the kitchen.  There are very few new items that I used for my setting other then the napkins.  I will fill you in on what's new.  Everything else I already had on hand.

Much like last week, I am using some similar and some different elements to create a more relaxed tablescape.  I started with woven placemats again, this time in a round straw weave.  Then I used my Lenox Butlers Pantry dinnerware again, this time using the Buffet patterned dinner plates.  I just love this whole collection of Butlers Pantry.  It is so versatile and goes so well with so many other patterns.  I would love to add more serving pieces to my collection.

Then I topped off my dinner plate with these yellow checked salad plates.  I have had these for a few years now.  I had hoped to find some adorable Easter plates this year and actually saw quite a few I liked very early into the season.  I waited and guess what...they all disappeared really quick!  Oh well, I can't complain though, because perhaps the plates would have been to much of a distraction from my Eggstra Special napkins.  LOL!  Here they all are again shown with the place settings and each one is set in a different colored polka dot egg napkin ring because they are eggstra special too. 

 For my silverware I chose this bubbly looking hammered stainless pattern from Gibson.  I thought it would be a nice compliment to my new glassware.  Ladies, I can't tell you how excited I was to finally be able to get these clear seeded glass goblets.  I have wanted them for years and have kept my eyes open for sales on them for years too.  I even almost bought some a few years back online but they ran out before I could place my order.  I got these about a month ago at Dillards.  They are a substantial weight and very well made from Art Land.  Shortly after Christmas I saw them go on sale for $4.97 each.  They also had the colored seeded glasses on sale as well.  I wanted them that day but was already buying other things so I decided to wait.  I waited and waited and then one day I decided I was going back to see if they still had them.  I told myself if they did I would get them but I would be good and only get four since I really didn't need them, just wanted them.  Well when I walked in and saw they did, and realized they were also having a 50 percent off clearance sale, I was thrilled!  Not only did I get my glasses but I got a set of eight for what I was going to pay for four.  Whoohoo, it was my lucky day because that was all that was left in the clear.  Don't you love when that happens?  It's like it was meant to be!

  I paired them with my pink wine glasses for a little more pop of pastel color.

 Each place setting has an egg holder and small plates green plates that actually have apple names on them.  Yeah, I'm giving away all my secrets today, aren't I?

The hurricane candles are back with small glittered eggs, very easy transition here.

 For my centerpiece I brought out my porcelain bunny and added bits of faux greenery and flowers.

These cute little Easter tins came from Targets dollar bins.  Inside each tin is a burlap wrapped faux lavender from dollar tree.  

And because we are all about the eggs this year, I brought out my little salt and pepper hen from Cracker Barrel.

I wasn't planning on doing anything to my side table either but then it looked so neglected I decided it really needed something fun too.  

I came up the idea to use my Salt and Pepper roosters on each plate and add my marble eggs to make nesting plates.  Sooo cute!!! Now can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture?

It's an Easter quiz to see who's really paying attention. 

Wink! Wink!

There you are my dreamer friends!  I hope you enjoyed this peek at my Easter tablescape this year.  The one we will not be using but the one that just had to be done because it is

Eggstra Special!

Thank you so much for the visit and I do enjoy your comments too!

Most importantly, I would also like to take this time to wish each and every one of you a very Happy and Very Blessed Easter!  

Wherever you are may you enjoy and know the blessing of our Lord and Savior, 

Jesus Christ!

Hugs and Waves!