These are a few of the beads I bought today at a bead show in Dallas. Technically, these are supposed to be part of my Christmas present from my hubby. Which would mean that I should not be using any of them until after Christmas....
Shannon
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
Comfort in the Chaos
This makes me happy
because a lot of my house still looks like this
Shannon
Monday, September 19, 2011
Moving Again
Well, we come to the next stop in this transition from being a military family to settling in to a permanent home. No, not the final stop. Just the next stop.
It would be nice to leave all our stuff in permanent storage till we build, but, alas, the military won't house our household goods for that long. So we have now rented a house...a real house...in the north Dallas area. This will be a year-long stop (or so) while we look for a piece of land and build our final stop. So only one more week to go in this apartment-hopping we have been doing. My son will possibly be the happiest. He has been sleeping in the dining room... I think he just might be looking forward to having a room of his own again... And we will all be happy to get our stuff back. Although, I will say this -- it's amazing what you realize you don't need when you only have the absolute BARE necessities for 7 months.
To keep myself occupied, I have spent much time on Pinterest. Who hasn't?? Many pictures in my Pinterest of the farmhouse I want to build. If you're on Pinterest, let me know so I can find you if I haven't already.
Gotta go throw a few things into a box now...
Shannon
Monday, June 27, 2011
4th of July Ideas and Recipes
First of all, I wish I lived in the house above! How fun would it be to live there? And to host a 4th of July party there?? With streamers and lights in the back yard!
Right now we are in a little apartment, looking for a place to build a house...all of our stuff in storage...so my 4th of July party is not going to look like the above! But here are a few fun, easy ideas that I can manage...
How cute are these flowers and flags in a can!?
I'm not gonna paint my fingernails like this...I wish I could...but I would promptly ruin it. Maybe I can get my daughter to do this with all the little girls that will be here, though!
Here is a cute presentation...your silverware, napkin and glass all together.
I'm going to make this patriotic taco salad!
I don't eat hotdogs, but I'm going to make some sub sandwiches for one of our meals and tie them up with string and scrapbook paper! What a cute idea!
And this sparkling punch in one of those great glass beverage dispensers! Going to Garden Ridge for a couple of different dispensers next week.
A great fruit dessert!
And cheesecake in a jar! Well, I might do instant pudding in some of those clear plastic disposable cups. And I think I will make some blue jello topped with cool whip, and red jello topped with cool whip, both in clear plastic cups. A tray full of red, white and blue desserts that are kid-friendly!
If you go to my Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/silvertrappings/4th-of-july/, you can see some more ideas for the 4th of July. And each picture links to its source, so you can get the how-to and the recipes! Have fun planning your 4th!
Shannon
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Town Square
We are living in a wonderful little town in Texas with a charming little town square. It kinda has a Mayberry feel. The whole weekend of the 4th of July there will be celebrations in and around the square -- art shows, craft and food vendors, vegetable growing contests, musicals, a dance, a rodeo, a parade, outdoor concerts, and fireworks. The square is gearing up for the weekend. Here are a few pictures for you...
We have family coming out for the weekend. Gonna party all weekend!
Shopping and eating, here we come!
This building below is for sale. It's on one corner of the square. Every time I pass it, I wish so much I could buy it. I would love to have a store in the front corner and live in the rest of the building! How fun would that be?? Oh, how I wish. It's a far-cry from the colonial farmhouse we want to build out on a few acres. But those two choices would be equally as fun to me. Not sure I could sway my hubby on the thought of living on the town square and being one of the town square merchants, though...
I'm collecting ideas and recipes for the weekend. I'll be back soon to show you some of the cute ideas I've found for the 4th. People are so creative!
Shannon
Thursday, June 02, 2011
House Hunting
Well, we've made our move back home to Texas. (*insert loud cheers here*) So now begins the process of finding our new home. Our plan is to find a little bit of land and build our dream house. A white farmhouse with black shutters. I can see it in my head. But while we were driving around today, we spotted this Victorian. It was interesting enough that we scheduled a time to see inside.
The entry definitely can be wonderful. The tile on the floor and the burgundy carpet runner were all wrong. But they could go away... This house really needs to have all wood floors.
This gallery around the top of the stairs is kinda neat. Most rooms had a mixture of dark stained trim and white painted trim. One door would be dark, the next painted white. I liked it.
And I liked the front door.
This little girl, with her lighted tulips, is guarding the bottom of the stairs. Or maybe welcoming you? I couldn't figure out if I really liked her, or really didn't...
Several of the interior doorways had transom windows above them. All of the outside doors and windows had transom. I love transom windows. But, umm, not with bright, red, shiny grapes. And bluejays. But...I recently took a stained glass class, so I could make some stained glass windows that, uh, went a little better with the rest of the house.
And see the pocket door below the red grapes? There were several sets of pocket doors in the house. Like.
And see the pocket door below the red grapes? There were several sets of pocket doors in the house. Like.
There is some Victorian trim in a few of the doorways. See the fireplace through that door? It is one of two mantels that are nailed to the wall, have a plastic sheet of faux brick..yes, a plastic sheet of brick...and, oddly, a pipe for running gas to these two fireplaces. Maybe they had plans to create real fireplaces with gas logs someday?? Only one of the maaaany very odd things that this house offered.
More bright, red, shiny grapes...
But see the double french doors? Several pairs of these around the house...yes. Like.
A back stairway. Like. New carpet, and maybe paint the wood white to lighten this area.
This is one of the two (yes...two) places that a chandelier is hanging from a mirrored tray ceiling. But...you could just sheetrock over the mirrors, right? The second one is in the master bedroom. Ahem.
I really liked some of the chandeliers. There were several. Just about every room had one.
The kitchen had great cabinets. Most of the uppers had glass doors. The, uh, shiny, faux green marble countertops. Well, those could come out. Fast. Very fast. Oh, and the country wallpaper border that was stapled to the wall halfway between the countertop and the upper cabinets - it could come off fast. And the lights in the kitchen could come down. Fast. And the table part of the island could come out. And the appliances. And the floor. Ok, so the kitchen needs a lot of work. But I liked the white cabinets.
The porch wrapped completely around three sides, and part of the fourth side of the house. The railings and columns need to be replaced. But it could look pretty. And most of the downstairs rooms had a door leading out onto the porch.
Both bathrooms upstairs had a clawfoot tub. Yes, this one is pink. But it could be painted black!
This one sits in a space with a lot of windows.
So, we realized today that we might do a little bit of peeking around at some homes that need some TLC. Because what if there is some magnificent beauty around here? I'm just gonna keep this house rolling around in my mind for awhile. It has some definite possibilites. And some definite conversation starters.
Shannon
There are multiple problems with lights, definite siding issues, seeeeveraaal really odd things that I didn't show in this post because it is already a really long post and blogger was taking for.e.ver to upload pictures. But all of the really weird things could eventually be ripped out or covered up. Eventually.
These guys were lounging next door right by the fence. They'd be fun to have as neighbors.
These guys were lounging next door right by the fence. They'd be fun to have as neighbors.
So, we realized today that we might do a little bit of peeking around at some homes that need some TLC. Because what if there is some magnificent beauty around here? I'm just gonna keep this house rolling around in my mind for awhile. It has some definite possibilites. And some definite conversation starters.Shannon
Monday, May 23, 2011
My Dream Bathroom
Ok, I think I could take a bath in this room...what about you?
I wouldn't mind having this bathroom either! Yes, please. I'll take it just like it is.
I'm collecting pictures on Pinterest for the house we're hoping to build next year. These two bathrooms made it to my Pinterest. Now, whether my bathroom ever looks like one of these...well, that might be another story.....but in the meantime I'm just gonna play like, 'kay?
Shannon
I wouldn't mind having this bathroom either! Yes, please. I'll take it just like it is.
Shannon
Photos: BH&G
Monday, April 11, 2011
Indie Business 3.0 Launch Party
I took the wonderful online class Indie Business 3.0 taught by Leigh-Ann, Jill Murno and Lisa Leonard. It was so inspiring and helpful. I still have a lot of material to work through. I am in the middle of a move from KS to TX, so my shop is not fully stocked. Sooo, now is not a time for me to launch new products, but a lot of my classmates are launching new shops, new products or new blogs. There are some really cute places to visit in this list!
Happy clicking!!
New Shops!
Sew Indy
Asymmetrical Joy
Stitched in Faith
New Blogs!
Sew Indy
My Simply Great Life
One Man, One Wife, and Our Life
Random Gypsy
Just Because
Blissful Creations
Pieces of Me
Sweeter Lemon
Remarkably Domestic
My Happy California
Asymmetrical Joy
Operation Stitch
Nola Love
New Products!
Little White Chapel
Froggy Girl Designs
Karis Kisses
Modern Republic
Fawn Over This
Kamika Kraftz
Some Odd Girl
Eleventh Monkey
Bonita Rose
Lou C's Designs
Pulp Sushi
Heart & Soul Pieces
The Luna Tree
Green Dandelion
Eef-Ink
Random Gypsy
Zuma Lilly
Lollipops
The Busy Bean
Linkel Designs
Funky Faith Designs
Buggle and Boo
JanMary Designs
Whew! That's quite a list! Hope you have time to visit a bunch of them. There are some really cute items, pretty jewelry, fun things!
Good luck to all my classmates!
Shannon
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Artifacts Jewelry for my Scientist Daughter
I made this necklace for one of my daughters for her birthday. She is not a girly girl, and doesn't wear jewelry that often. Really the only time she wears jewelry is when she is dressing up a little for church or for some particular event. So I tried to tailor this necklace to fit her and her interests. She got her degree in biology with a chemistry minor. She wants to get her masters in a particular biology discipline. She works at the zoo. She wants to get into research. She loves biology, astronomy, geology, creation science, physics, ancient history, politics...yeah, conversations with her are sometimes just a wee bit over my head.
I ordered a stack of books for her (that she picked out) from the Creation Research Society - books about cosmology and creation, natural limits to biological change, the genesis of germs - sounds like fun reading, huh?
Sooo, you can see why I chose the items I did for this necklace--
The first two items are freshwater pearls (elements from nature...)
Then an old typewriter key for her initial (she likes old stuff...)
The little black button is a vintage shoe button. (...old stuff...)
The little white disc is an antique African ostrich bone bead. (antique, artifact...)
The tiny copper bead with the ostrich bone bead is an antique African brass bead.
The large white bead is an antique African yak bone bead.
The blue and red disc is an antique African trading bead.
The blue and red disc is an antique African trading bead.
Then I hand stamped the word "Artifacts" on a nickel tag I cut out...
The little blue disc below is an antique Venetian glass bead used in trade to the Africans in exchange for spices, peppers, etc.
The brass charm below the Venetian glass bead is an antique African handmade brass charm that they use as decoration on their little babies' hats.
I made the copper bezel and inserted a "nature-y" line drawing.
The button with two holes is from the Civil War era.
The blue and red disc is another antique African trading bead, and coupled with it is a tiny antique African nickel bead.
Then there is an antique African brass bell.
And, finally, an antique African water buffalo bone bead.
Hopefully, this will be a piece of jewelry that she enjoys wearing because it is a little bit of history....
Shannon
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Pinterest Obsession!
I recently discovered Pinterest. I had never heard of it until people in my Indie Biz 3.0 class started talking about it. LOVE! It is one of those places that you can waste spend many hours discovering and drooling!
Shannon