2014 September Girls Celebration.......

..........For many years five friends have gathered on a day in September to celebrate all our September birthdays. Several times we have gone out to breakfast or lunch and many other times we have met at our friend Lynda's house. That is where we gathered this year.............

 

First I'm showing the assembling of my little gifts for the girls.

 

 

 

 This year I chose pear plates for them and their mates to eat some special autumn deserts from.  Also, two fall dish towels and a little "pot" of pumpkin candy kisses.

 

 

 

 

There is always something to be thankful for.

 

 

 

 

I decorated the starter plant pots with a fall leaf and used a burlap leaf to secure the bag.

 

 

 

All bagged up and ready to go.

 

 

 

Me arriving at Lynda's beautiful house.

 

 

She always sets a very special table for us and the food is soooo good. The towel napkin and placemat was part of her gifts to each of us, along with the fall sugar cookies.

 

 

A cute centerpiece arrangement.

 

 

Here we all are with Lynda on the far right. Lynda was the one who started this special time many years ago.

 

 

This is her kitchen table where the serving dishes were placed. We all have many weavings of sweet memories from our September good times through the years.

 

 

Here are all the presents that I brought home. So many neat things.  I look at the picture and see one little gift missing. I think I had already placed it on a shelf and was enjoying the glow of candlelight. 

 

 

Here is wishing you the glow and comfort of warm friendships during this Autumn season.

~~~~~

 

Fresh Cuts - Fall

 

I live near some almost country-like roads and any time I head south from my house I choose one of these to travel.  I have been noticing some goldenrod       growing along one of these. That's something not seen just everywhere around here like it is farther north. I remembered to put my clippers in my car and helped myself to five stems.  I am sure that is against the rules but considering the nature of the area I doubt if anyone cares and I know that no one would notice it missing. I found out one thing - it sure does attract love bugs!  If you are not familiar with love bugs I will let you look that up yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stuck the goldenrod in a mason jar along with some fall colored coleus.  I love  the combination. It is on the back porch and I brought out the white pumpkin and crow.

 

 

 

This crow is about as close to anything with a Halloween look you will see around my place. I don't like or "do" Halloween, although I think the things of nature and the cute fun things for children are fine. With this done I was still not satisfied with the total look.

 

 

I brought out these two pears and that was an improvement but, knew the vignette was still lacking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three books was what it needed to change the level and also balance the size of the pumpkin on one side and pears on the other.  Everything is a bit closer together than is best but it works better for close-up pictures.

 

 

I declared this good enough and started photographing..

 

 

 

 

 

 

After finishing this post, I decided to make another change, bringing the crow to the front and that's where he remains unless he has decided to move himself.

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Autumn #1

It's time to surround yourself with Autumn. I have been surrounded with the look of autumn for a few weeks already. Now, I begin to share some on here.

 

Before, I have methodically gone from room to room sharing on each post. With this post I am going to just skip around and show a few pictures from different rooms. I may go back to being more organized by the room next time, we'll see. This is a wreath from yesteryear, leaning on the bench on the back porch.

 

 

 

Some hydrangeas in a rustic basket. It is sitting in my living room.

 

 

Taken with a flash and showing truer colors.

 

 

 

The nighttime look and a bit more fall looking, I think.

 

 

I love the torn fabric ribbons especially those with script print. And keys are good for any time. Since the picture was made I cut off that one stray thread.

 

 

Just one section of one shelf in the white bookcase. Doesn't the fall bird look spiffy with his acorn hat and autumn colors!

 

Very cozy!

 

I decided to bring the big slab of cedar wood in off the porch for a different look here on the kitchen island.

 

 

I like it here for fall but, it is drying out and the cracks are widening so it will go back to the porch before long.

~~~~~

 

So, dive into fall and pick apples, gather colorful leaves, carve a pumpkin, meander down a country lane, make cinnamon toast, stack firewood........

 

Fresh Cuts.........

..........It is so amazing how little things of life can come together to bring such pleasure.  Of course I believe much of that comes from God. Special things delivered to His people......

 

 

 

I can't remember whether this "fresh cut" post series came to my mind when I saw this metal container Sunday at Bed Bath and Beyond on the marked down table. I just know I liked it and it was cheap!

 

I know that I really liked this big bundle of eucalyptus for $2.99 at Trader Joes yesterday.

I am hoping it will retain it's color when it dries.

   

 

 

I am not sure whether the flat leaves with berries are eucalyptus but, I think they look like what I saw in a neighbor's yard at my former neighborhood. The wind here is very hard on eucalyptus trees and I have not seen them in our area lately like I once did.

LATER: after taking time to do some research I came to the conclusion that all of this is eucalyptus - two types. There are several types available, including the typical with small round leaves near the stem and the larger round leaves that are more branched and mine have the berries and then there is a kind with long narrow leaves and more.

 

 

 

 

It was difficult to find a good place for this large arrangement in my little house but it finally came to rest here in the kitchen.

 

 

 

There is no place in the house to photograph without shadows, etc.  I possibly could have improved them with some editing but some days there is just no time for that. In fact, most of my posts are done with unedited pictures.

 

 

 

My house sure does smell good! I am a long way from where they are right now but can smell them.

 

 

 

The overall look fits in with my autumn touches. Although these branches are fresh and natural they give the feeling of drying fall foliage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new little bundle of pleasure that I am glad to have to share with you.

~~~~~

 

Forget Me Not........

.......Ever since I saw the very first one, I have intended to make some paper roses.  Last summer I took rose bouquets to a local library in June (rose month) and while there, was shown a book with a corsage of paper flowers placed down the middle of open pages - loved the idea and signed up for the up-coming class. Forgetting to write it on my schedule when I got home, I let the day go by without showing up for the class! I was reminded of this again a week ago and finally, I made my paper roses.  I veered off from the exact look of the one I saw and made my own version. And, will have to say, I love the results.

 

The first thing to do was to decide on the book that would be the resting place for the corsage.  It didn't take long after looking through just a few of my books to find the perfect one! It is a very special book to me because it was a birthday gift sent to me by my sister, not a long time before she passed away.  I still had the card inside the book with a short letter written in her beautiful hand writing. So, this project has turned out to be a real treasure for me and I will love having it on display.

 

 

 

 

 

Her hand-made card I had glued just inside the cover.

It didn't take long for me to decide which opening to use - rosebuds and forget-me-nots.

The one I saw did not use a ribbon like I have but, I think it adds a lot and also kept me from gluing directly onto the book pages.

 

 

I selected one of my brooches to pin onto the ribbon. It helps anchor it and I think is a nice added touch. The picture of roses on the page does not look as prominent when you look at the book as it does in these photos. The sample I saw didn't have any pictures or color on the open pages - just print.

 

 

I also added just a touch of white flowers to represent the forget-me-nots.  I have blue ones which would be more realistic but, I think they detracted from the total look.

 

 

If you are like me, you don't like being shown pages without being able to read at least part of it!

 

 

 

 

 

I thought you might like to see the other end of the ribbon. It could be finished off with the V cut but I almost always like the angle better.

 

Now, those of you who have no interest in making one of these can exit now if you wish but, since I will pin this to Pinterest I have no doubt that some will open it hoping to find directions. Here you see everything you will need, except sissors and of course a book that you don't mind tearing pages from. Let me make it clear I didn't use the pretty book from my sister but, found cream color pages with solid print in a novel that I didn't mind ripping out.

 

 

I used my paper cutter to trim off the plain margins. Then I folded what was left in half and then folded that again. This gives you a size you can cut a petal shape from and you then have four petals. I just kept adding petals to each rose until I liked it's size.

 

 

This shows the approximate size but it can vary. For smaller roses/buds just cut smaller petals and or use less petals. Leave enough length at the bottom to be able to glue and grasp.

 

This thick glue is what I find easiest to work with. And, don't try to squeeze through the small cap!  Open the bottle and use a skewer or something similar to dip it out. Do you see the glue on these petals?

 

Before you put the glue on make a fold in the petal and open it back out. This helps when it comes time to "cup" the petals together.

 

 

Before assembling the petals, you need to make a little rose center.  Use a small square of a page, fold it like the top above, fold again and mash and twist until it is similar to the smallest above. This can be left a little too long (it is easier to hold) and then trim the bottom after the petals are all glued on.

 

Before gluing the petals to the center, take a clean skewer and roll the top of the petal around it at the top, backwards.

 

 

This shows the center with two petals glued on. And, I just thought of another tip. I found it good to clip a clothespin around the glued end if you need to lay it down to make more petals or whatever.

 

Hopefully, this will give you enough to get started and you can do like I did, figure it out as you go.

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I really am glad I finally got my paper roses made and the project ended up being far more than I expected not knowing I would run across this very special book from my sister.