It's Time for Snow Angels in South Carolina!

What?  Did I say that?  Shut my mouth!  Girl, you know that ain't gonna happen.  LOL!  

Sorry folks, just having a little fun this morning and sharing some very common phrases or comments you might hear when mentioning snow in our state.  The weathermen are saying there are parts of SC that might get a little snow but I do think it is going to be further north then where I am.    Snow in SC is such a rare thing that we all have quite the strange love hate relationship with it. I think for the most part we love it temporarily at best.  We love short lived storms with very little ice where people can get out and play for a day or two and then it's life back to normal.  Right???

Gurrrl, you know it's true!  One of our most favorite things to do in the snow is make snow angels.  I often wonder if its more of a southern thing or do they enjoy doing this up north too?  When ever there is snow my Facebook is lit up with pictures of snow angels.  It's not uncommon to hear people say, we had so much snow we able to make snow angels!  Wow, now that's a lot of snow!  LOL!   

Now friends our winter has been so tame this year I wasn't going to do a winter mantle.  I just wasn't going to do it.  Honestly, I wasn't, noooo, not me, scouts honor!  In fact just thinking about it seemed so ridiculous to me because our winter has been so very warm this year. But then I got to looking at blogs on the internet and oouuing and ahhing and such.  Then the weatherman was on TV (every hour) suggesting that we may be getting some flurries, this weekend, maybe.  You know where this is going right?  Yep, one thing led to another!  

 I'm not exactly sure how it all came to be, but somehow I remembered these pretty little metal angel wings I purchased a few weeks ago from Hobby Lobby.  I guess my little old pea brain just put two and two together and decided I wanted to make a snow angel even if we didn't get any snow.  So I did!

I realize some of you might find this quite comical, but honestly, I love it! 

 I bought these wings because eventually I want to hang them in my bedroom.  But first, I want to attach them to some wooden boards.  I haven't had the time to finish up that project yet so they were still sitting in the bag on the dining room table collecting dust.  But not anymore!

Love, love, love this!

I am even sitting here now just adoring these beautiful wings with a great big old smile on my face. 

 After remembering the wings, I went and found the one small little bag I had of a few things I have collected for winter decorating.  I felt like the little white star wire garland was perfect for making wisps of clouds around the wings.  Maybe it's just my imagination in overdrive, but it's just so magical for me!  I can see it!  Do you see it too?  No?  Here, take another look!

Oh, now you do, that's better now, right?

Next I added just a few snowflakes here and there because it's all I had on hand in my little winter bag.  I suppose I could have gone out and bought more but remember I really wasn't decorating for winter this year.  Nooooo siree!  Not meee!!!

I then scattered a few snow balls here and there and I was done.  The cute little white sparkly styrofoam balls and white sequined balls were all purchased a few years ago at Michaels after Christmas sale.  I've used them once before.  They were all sitting there in my little winter bag too.   Sooo, I guess it's a good thing I CHANGED my mind.  

There's that word again.  My word for the year, CHANGE.  It just keeps poppin up over and over again.  I think it's going to be a great year!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I really do appreciate your visits.  If you live further up north where the snow storms are please be safe, I'll be praying for you.  I hope you all stay warm and if you get a chance to get outside and play, maybe you could make a few snow angels.

I promise it will be fun!

 Enjoy!

Hugs and Waves!

Mary

Hurry Up Spring!

Yeah, I said it.... Hurry Up Already!  Right????  This has got to have been one of THE slowest arrivals of Spring I have seen in awhile.  My poor trees and flowers are just so confused. 

Thank goodness for Michaels and faux flowers or I'd have no flowers at all this year!

Yesterday we finally had a nice normal spring like day (hope it lasts) and I set out to my favorite local greenhouses to collect a few ferns and early bedding plants for all my pots around the house.  Guess what?  Can you imagine my frustrations after getting out the car at the closed gate and reading their sign that they have closed shop and retired?  Oh man!!!

So I tootled around a nearby antique store, came on back home, took a few pics of my den and spring mantle to share with you and went sailing with the hubby.  Love when he has Mondays off too!

I finally got the entire den repainted so I thought you might like to see.

The table here is new.  I recently purchased this at the same place I have my booth.  It was in pretty good shape but I did sand down the top and give the entire table a new stain and several clear coats.  Love how it turned out!

Speaking of new, you probably don't remember the curtains because they are fairly new too.  I got them from Kirklands.  I did like the brown and black plaid and the gold and cream plaid before them but I love, love, love, the turquoise.  

The new paint color is Muslin by Sherwin Williams.  It's the same as I used in the kitchen.  I just love how neutral it is and will look great with all three different colors of curtains should I want to change back.  

Here is a picture of my den from when I had the lighter creamier custom yellow color that I'd had for years.  I loved it but was ready for something new.

And here's the den with the Lucent Yellow that I had repainted not too long ago.  It doesn't show it here in these edited pics but it had a tendancy to put off a glowing color from time to time especially more so in my kitchen.  

And finally, here it is now!  All were great colors and just a tad different from each other. This one should stay awhile since it is neutral enough for me to change out the rest of the rooms elements as I want to and it's so easy on the eyes.

Since you have been so patient now, I will finally show you my spring mantle.

I've had it decorated for awhile but have not been to keen on showing you yet because I kept thinking it needed a bit more something.  

More bunnies maybe?

More eggs maybe?

Finally, I just decided I was done with it already since like outside it will most likely be very short lived this season.  LOL!  Sometimes you just gotta roll with it and move on.  Right?

On the other hand, I do love this little look down here!

Oh how I wish these were all over my yard instead!

Come on Spring!!!!!!

We're ready!!!!!

Have a great week Y'all!

It's a Very Berry Christmas!

Hi Friends! Are you ready for Christmas yet? Hard to believe it's only in a few more weeks, isn't it?  We are nearly ready as far as the decorating goes this year, with the exception of a few final touches.  

This year I created a very berry look with using much of what I already had on hand, only using it in different ways.  Speaking of using things differently, once again I've created a whole new look on the mantle simply by swapping out a few things from the fall vignette and adding in a few new elements for Christmas.  To see the fall mantle, you may jump back by click HERE.    

And...Wallah!  Here's my Christmas mantle!  

What?  You want to see color?  Sorry!  I just couldn't resist playing around with Picasa's photo editing.  I just absolutely love seeing black and white photos this time of year.

For those of you who want to see a little color I've included a those as well.

Don't ask me how I did this, that's the first time I've seen this happen, but I love, love, love it!

Much of what I used here is a combination of what I already had on the mantle, like the wreath and the willow votive candle holders. I simply added berries to the wreath, changed out the garland and added the reindeer and additional candlesticks.

Also rather then having a large bow here in the center, I decided to bring back this clock to balance it all out.  I love that it is the perfect color too!

Before I show you the tree, I wanted to show you how I carried the berry theme a little more throughout the house.  In the guest half bath, I hung a berry candle ring on the small iron gate.  

The coffee table has a simple votive candle surrounded by berries on a tray.  I love all the layers here that keep it from looking puny on the table.

Okay, now on to the tree.  This year I am all about layers!

Although this is old school to many of you, I finally added a burlap ribbon to my tree this year.  I actually purchased the burlap last year but never got around to using it.  I brought back the willow garland that I used last year.  It looks great with the burlap and was the perfect addition with all the other garlands I used.

You heard me right friends, I said ALL the other garlands.  This year I added several strands of garland that I have never used on my tree before.  I had three long strands of berry garland shown here above that I have used on my stairway and mantle in years past.  I don't know why I have never thought of putting on the tree before, but I am so glad I thought of it this year.  I cannot tell you how much depth it gave the tree.  I guess this is just one of those tricks you learn over time, huh?  LOL!

The top of my tree got a new addition too.  I found this willow star at a thrift store this year and new it would be perfect on my tree.

I still wasn't ready to part with my copper star trio though, so I simply added them to the top as well.  Love the combination here!

More twigs and berries add to the overall effect for a very dramatic topper.

And that is how it all came together for a very berry Christmas!

I'll be back again to share my other trees with you soon.  I've made a few slight changes to the tree in the kitchen this year so you may want to pop back by again later, okay?

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

From our house to yours, 

Wishing all of you,

 a VERY BERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Fall Mantle Decor - 2013

Hey All! Yesterday, I added a few fall decorations around the house and this morning we woke up to cooler temps.  Wow!  I should have decorated sooner.  LOL!  

I thought you might like to see my fall mantle and few other simple arrangements.  I haven't gone all out this year.  I am still searching for a missing a box of my fall decor.  I am sure I will find it eventually.  Despite the missing decor, I knew I didn't have many fall leaves around to decorate with so I made a trip to Michael's last week on my lunch break and pick up a garland and a few bushes of colorful fall leaves and a bush of berries.  It's always amazing to me how just a few simple leaves make such a difference in creating a cozier and more fallish look.  I took lot's of pics to share so you can see all the different elements I used to get this look.

So what do you think?  I just love how the mantle turned out this year!

I  already had some greenery tucked in this vase, so I simply added a few cattails and leaves from last years fall decorating to get this look.

This arrangement was from last year too.  I only added two fall arrangements in the kitchen.  This one and the one on the breakfast table below.

Let's take a closer look...

Such warm colors will be so nice this fall when the temps stay cooler.

I can't wait until it's cool enough to have a cozy fire in the fireplace too.

What about you?  Are you decorating for fall yet, or at all?

Let me know if you are, I'd love to pop by and see your decor as well.

Have a beautiful blessed Sunday everyone!

And....

Happy Fall Y'all!!!!