Wet Paint

 

Here is my Hoosier cabinet with a frest coat of ivory/white paint. It looks so much better than before! It was just the original finish from the 3o's but it was aligatored and cracked all over. Very dull and blah looking. It had been this way since my aunt gave it to me 20 years ago.

My husband nearly threw a fit when he found out I was going to paint it. "I can't believe you are putting paint on that! It will decrease the re-sell value!' What re-sell value I ask? I'm not SELLING it, I'm living with it and I am TIRED of that old finish! We've looked at it that way for 20 years. Besides, it's MINE! What is it with men and paint I want to know? Natural wood colors seem to be the HOLY OF HOLIES to them. Some things just need a coat of paint I say. The corner where this is was drab, dark, and boring. Now it is bright, open, and cheerful. My husband says it is ugly. I say it is lovely. He enjoyed his way for 20 years. Now I will enjoy it my way for the next 20 (Lord willing). Don't the Christmas decorations bring it out? I just love this corner now.

At my house there is a standing question/joke. It goes like this: "Mom, can I have this when you die?" I sort of take it as a compliment in a macabre way. Up until now I had never heard that question in regard to this particular piece of furniture. So far today after seeing pics of my updated Hoosier, I heard it once. And no, girls, I won't say who it was.

First Christmas decoration of the year.

 

My granddaughter Hilary inspired this. She had given me the little box the house is sitting on. She painted it and filled it with little bits that seemed important to her-scraps of paper she had written and a tiny little drawstring bag. I liked the antique color she had chosen so I covered a little cardboard house from A.C. Moore with some papers that matched and glued it to the box. Then I covered the whole thing with Mica. The Mica was in big chunks, so I put it in an old coffee grinder and Voila! perfect. The little trees with the house were green, but I bleached them and dyed one of them red with Rit dye. The larger tree beside the box is from Martha Stewart's collection at K-Mart.

Here is the last of the Thanksgiving

 

 

 

pictures. I finally got all my chairs covered. I had sort of bogged down on this project, but having company got me going again. I love this fabric. It was el-cheapo from Wal-Mart. The colors are perfect with my china and the stencil I have in the room. Isn't this cornucopia beautiful? Found it at Lowes. It has a thingy for hanging, but I liked it better sitting on my buffet on a tall cake plate. The napkin rings turned out great. I am going to try and save the acorn parts. I will probably think up something to do with them next year. Plus, I'll forget all about them and when I open up my boxes of Autumn decorations next year, they will be a nice surprise!

Sophia

 

I haven't posted a picture of this little love bug in quite a while, and I got some good ones this past holiday weekend. Isn't she precious? She really competed with the turkey for "Butterball Status". She smiles all the time (unless you are trying to take her pic) and is so cuddly. She spits up-a lot. I can't imagine how fat she would be if she kept everything she takes in. Upstairs, waiting to be washed, is a pile of my clothes emitting the smell of formula and sweet potatoes. That's o.k. though. I'll get 'em all washed up in anticipation of her Christmas visit and she can do it all again.

Thanksgiving Day Was Great

 

This is a picture of the centerpiece I made for our table. Non-traditional in color, but it matched my china, which belonged to my mother. I also made gold-leaf acorn and leaf clusters to tuck into the napkins. The idea was in the Martha Stewart November issue. It was a little tedious, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Our oldest daughter, her husband, and duaghter Sophia were here. It was Sophia's first Thanksgiving. She mostly slept through it when she wasn't being passed from grandparent, to aunt, to uncle, and back again. She is so cute and cuddly and smiles all the time. She is looking like her mother more and more. Whenever I would give her a bottle, she would stare at me with those blue eyes and it was eerie how much it looked like her mother's eyes whenever I fed her.

Our middle daughter, husband and daughter Hilary were also here. At 5, Hil is really into the holiday business and loves being with everyone. She provided entertainment just being a 5 year old who is full of herself. Since she lives close by and didn't have to travel, Brittainy did a lot of the cooking, for which I am grateful. She's a huge help when there is a big meal to cook.

Our oldest daughter's in-laws were also guests. They enjoyed being with all of us, but I think the real drawing card for them was getting to see Sophia. Her grandmother Judy held her during the entire meal while everyone else ate.

Of course, we had our youngest and her family missing since they are in Hawaii, but they are on a great adventure and that is how I tried to think about it whenever sadness tried to sneak into my thoughts. Maybe they will be here next year.

The food was great! I bought a free-range turkey, brined it according to a Martha Stewart recipe and it was outstanding. Everyone was oohing and aahing over, saying it was the best turkey they had ever eaten. It was very flavorful and juicy. The brining was very easy and then you cook it just as usual. It also made a very delicious gravy.

But boy oh boy-here's the best part! After Kelli's in-laws left, and everyone was sitting in a turkey-induced stupor, I slipped upstairs, got under the covers and took a nap. And when I came back down, guess what? My girls and my hubby had cleaned up the entire mess! Am I blessed or what?

At my house, it's gotta jiggle....

the cranberry sauce that is. I posted this on a bb I frequent and about half the resondants said the same-the cranberry sauce has to come out of a can, rings intact. My middle daughter B. calls these the cutting lines. Me, I have to have the homemade kind. So at our house on the Big T. Day, we have a dish of homemade cranberry sauce displayed proudly beside a burgandy cylander of jiggly stuff all sliced up evenly. In the interest of family peace, we pay homage to the tradition of the home-made and to that great American tradition the canned food. It works for us.

thanksgiving-less than 2 weeks!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is so close! I am looking forward to it and have most of my menu planned and have started filling the pantry. Today I ordered my turkey. I wanted a fresh one because I am going to try brining it this time. I hear that is very good when prepared that way. I also bought my fresh cranberries.

I needed a new tablecloth for my diningroom table and found one I really liked at Williams-Sonoma. For $170.00! Yikes! So today I made a trip to Jo-Annes and found some pretty home dec weight fabric and am making my own. I am using a non-traditional color scheme. I am using my Mom's old Franciscan Ware; it is a grape pattern with shades of green and bluish-purple on a creamy white background. I am emphasizing the green and the cream color. I bought a gorgeous blue-green pumpkin and lots of white ones and will make a centerpiece with those. My napkins are green and I bought some pretty grosgrain ribbon to tie them with and probably insert some little something under the ribbon along with a placecard.

The only thing that would make my Thanksgiving perfect is if my youngest daughter and family were going to be here. But that just got to Hawaii so that isn't happening. My oldest daughter and her family along with her in-laws and my middle daughter and her family will be here so I am thankful for that. I am sure we will have a wonderful time. And the next day? My kids are trying to talk me into going on the Day After Thanksgiving Sale. I'm not so sure.