~See you in the New Year~

  Right about now I am longing to be sitting on one of these lovely balconies

 with a cozy throw over my lap 

and a hot steamy cup of cocoa.  

Why do we all complain about how early Christmas celebrations start

(often before Halloween)

yet every year it seems we still are never really ready for it.

Maybe we all really do need three months to prepare?

As for me

I am feeling just a bit frenzied and stressed

Mr. Secret Agent and I have agreed not to exchange gifts this year.

He was a bit worried about that, 

but I am sooooo OK with it this year.

I would love Christmas to become the type of holiday Thanksgiving is..

Relaxed and laid back

with the company of family and friends being the 

best gift to each other.

I am so ready for that!

With that said,

I am taking a holiday break from blogging

until 2012.

I plan on enjoying my time with my three men

and visiting my very big family in New York.

So from my home to yours

The Reason for the Season

Merry Christmas

&

 Happy Holidays

Best Wishes for a Healthy 2012

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

~Barcelona Baby~

Hello friends....if you are a new visitor from Miss Mustard Seed, 

Welcome!

Happy to have you visit!

Want to see my newest ASCP 

furniture restyle?

A new friend gave me this great wooden chair. She was taking it to Goodwill and thought maybe I could work some magic on it.

THANK YOU!!

Don't you love new friends like that?

sorry for the quality..cell phone pic at night!

So here is the before chair.

Solid..well made and it has a great 1/8 in insert in the seat.

I immediately thought

DECOUPAGE!

While at Luckett's this week, I ran into 

Miss Mustard Seed and 

Karen from The Graphics Fairy.

First I must say

LOVED 

the surprise of running into them

and we had a fun conversation about blogging 

(of course)

Anyway, while browsing Karens space I found some gorgeous vintage looking

wrapping paper depicting the city of 

London.

The colors in it were perfect for what I had planned for my chair.

So I stayed up until 4am Wednesday night

and painted.

I watched 'White Christmas' 3 times in a row!

Want to hear "Sisters"

I know it by heart.

Ready for the change?

*

*

*

I love the 

POP

of Barcelona Orange

and when you add some clear and dark wax...

WOW

My chair really has personality now.

The insert was just begging for a little graphic detail.

The wrapping paper is perfect.

Isn't this color scrumptious????

The paper had all the right colors and the vintage design is so great.

Street names and notable building indicators..I love it.

Little poems scattered here and there.

See the little insert..it made it so easy to add the decoupage.

The dark wax really warms up this bold color,

so please don't be afraid of it's initial brightness.

I can't wait to add some white and see what kind of 

wonderful soft sherbet tones I can achieve.

I am so pleased with this piece.

From basic black to 

BARCELONA BABY!!!!

So are you an 'Orange' kinda gal?

If you are..tell me, where would you put an orange piece in your home??

Until next time...be kind and stay creative!

PS...I will be a vendor Sat Dec.17th at Past Reflections at the Shumate Auction House

here in Warrenton,Va

10am-3pm

If you are close by...come say hello!

Sharing with some lovely blogs:

Miss Mustard Seed

Serenity Now

Common Ground

~When Little Gypsies Take To The Sea~

Hello friends....thank you for taking time out from your hectic holiday schedule to visit.

I have a little story to tell you today 

I just completed my latest Annie sloan chalk paint

dresser restyle

and decided it was begging for a story

I hope you like it

Here is the old dresser before

Very dull and dried out looking brown wood

*

*

*

*

** After**

Once upon a time

two little gypsy boys named Billy and Sean,

yearned to see the world.

They wanted to explore the lands beyond

their little striped gypsy tents.

They knew that to do this, they would have to 

set sail and travel by sea.

Now everyone knows Gypsies are expert at land travel

They can travel the unknown back roads of a country

with precision and expert knowledge of 

direction.

But the sea???

Billy and Sean knew nothing of the 

SEA!

They thought long and hard about this 

and as they had no boat ,decided they would

have to attach a sail to their wooden dresser

and sail away in it.

They painted stripes on the sides so they would always be reminded of the striped tents

they had lived in.

They needed a compass to help show them the way on their adventure,

 so they painted a compass rose on the front to help guide them.

The N/S/E/W indicators where marked on the knobs.

They were sure that they would never get lost sailing this vessel.

For good company and so as not to be too terribly lonely

on their travels

they took along their friend Oscar the devoted gypsy elephant.

Oscar was very excited at the prospect of traveling to India.

He had heard of the many relatives he had there and longed to meet a few of them.

So with Oscar, a globe to guide them and a compass rose for direction

off the went!

They would sail around the world and have many many adventures and write many stories about all they had seen and done.

I hope you enjoyed my little tale of a 

dresser restyled for an adventure

If the boys and Oscar ever grow weary of a life at sea, they can always

anchor their dresser's sweet legs to a cozy parcel of land.

The little castors will roll so smoothly through the countryside, 

as gypsies never stay in one place too long.

Remember the Shiny Brite glass ornaments I found last week?

Well I found another box of 8  gold balls at a

 Fredericksburg antique shop for only $5.00!!!

Aren't they sweet?

Connie gifted me with the most delicious Quince Jelly she had made!

I was in Fredericksburg to meet up with a fellow blogger whom I had never met before.

Built in 1848!!

Connie from Hartwood Roses and I met at her FABULOUS old pre Civil War home in Falmouth, Virginia.

I fell in love at the chippy white painted front door!

Talk about character...this house is overflowing with it.

Check out Connie's blog

Hartwood Roses

Be sure to pull up the renovation links on her side bar...incredible!

Connie...if you are reading this, I LOVED meeting you and your husband

and look forward to another vintage shopping adventure.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sharing with a few friends this week:

Hope Studios (see side bar link)

Savvy Southern Style

Dittle Dattle

Transformation Thursday

Shades of Amber

Miss Mustard Seed

Common Ground

Kammy's Korner

PS...My Gypsy dresser will be going to the Fox Den and my shop and looking for a good home.

Must be ready to sail away at a moments notice!

Our Traditional Tree

Tis the Season!!!!

I hope you are all enjoying 

all the decorating

baking

shopping

reflecting on the season

all that the season means to you and your family.

I finally got my Christmas tree all trimmed out

and here it is

We have always decorated a very old fashioned traditional 

Christmas tree

Almost all our ornaments are handmade by my children or myself

the remainder are gifts from loved ones.

It is always a Frasier Fir

I shopped a new local antiques mall, Past Reflections, here in 

Warrenton and look what I found

gorgeous vintage 

glass ornaments

at a real bargain price!

Note....never try to wash your delicate vintage ornaments under running water in the sink

See the clear glass ball at the top of the photo...

Yup, it used to be red!

Oh well...I can always glue a tiny bottle brush tree inside and add glitter snow.

I was playing around with graphics from Karen at The Graphic Fairy

and an empty Marie's salad dressing jar and mini trees.

cute..huh?

I panicked a little this year

I thought I had lost my very cool snowflakes

I sprinkle these around the house each year

They are large and made of rusted metal

with lots of glass glitter.

I love them!

Very happy when I finally found them

Last thing to share..

I went to an auction last weekend at Shumate Auctions.

Look what I bid on and got for only $7.00!!!!!

I have wanted some vintage glass door knobs for so long.

My sister Joanne has a house full of them and I am sooooo

Jealous!!!

Now I have some of my own

I came home with a couple more finds

but they will be getting a chalk paint makeover

That's a post for another day!

So that's it for now

Almost forgot......

If you are looking for some fun last minute holiday shopping

Come by Shumate Auction House on Sat. Dec 17th

for a Holiday Vendor Sale

I'll be one of the vendors and I will have Annie Sloan chalk paint

along with lots of other handmade lovelies.

Come say hello!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sharing here this week:

Hope Studios(see side bar)

Savvy Southern Style

Dittle Dattle

Transformation Thursday

Cat's Eye View.....

So this is what my cat saw when he looked at our Christmas tree...

No wonder he felt the urge to climb it every year!

Sharing the holiday feeling here:

Dittle Dattle

Hope Studios

I'm feeling the Season......

I couldn't help myself...had to make a bunch of these sweet little ornaments.

I tried to resist,

but to no avail

I was smitten!

Such is the life of a blogger.

Darn you Craftberry Bush!!!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Am I the only one who decorates at 2am?

Hello friends and Happy Holidays to all of you!

So I'll ask again...

am I the only crazy person who decorates her home for the holidays

at 2am?

Mr. Secret Agent was out of town for a night

so I took the opportunity

to stay up half the night and get going on my decorating.

As you can see I didn't make an effort to hide my light wires,

but hey...remember, it's 2am!

Remember the beautiful wooden stars made by the 93 year old crafter?

I love it!

Lot's of antique sheet music wreaths and ornaments

They are so darn easy to make..

I got caught up in the frenzy

I'll fill these with mini candy canes anad greens

I just love the look of the sheet music and glitter!

My favorite Santas are on display.

The little guy is a stuffed mini (only 5in) that I made many years ago.

He has a tiny burlap sack filled with cinnamon sticks

 and twigs and a tiny bottle brush tree.

This santa is my all time favorite piece I have ever painted.

He is actually a wind up music box and plays 

'I'm Dreaming of A White Christmas'

He is magical

I call him my Bob Hope Santa.

Look at that nose of his...

I think he looks just like Bob Hope!

Do you see it?

Same little ski slope of a nose.

This is a picket fence of Santas that I painted,

they sit inside a green wreath.

So easy to do.

I have quite a few birds and nests 

Give me a snowy bough and a bird nest

and I'm a happy gal.

Poor reindeer...seems to have lost his antlers

Anyone have a spare pair of sticks??

I adore this little paper mache box with a folk art snowman.

I bought this at a craft show from a lady named Sherrie. 

I have quite a few holiday painted pieces from her.

Happy to say Sherrie now has her own brick & mortar shop right here in 

Old Town Warrenton, Va.

Sherrie's Stuff

Congrats Sherri!

My kitchen got in on some holiday action also.

Hey Gretel...see anyone you know?

I currently have an  antique window pane from my brothers very cool

and very old cottage in NY.

They updated the drafty kitchen and gave me the windows.

For now it sits on my way too tiny mantel..

os I just made it part of the holiday decor.

Isn't this little guy sweet?

His body is made from spun cotton batting with lot's of clear vintage glitter and lovely feather wings.

My cute snowman in a basket is a new addition to my mantel.

On Shop Local Saturday he was purchased at one of my favorite local gift shops

Rhodes Gifts& Fly Shop

right here in beautiful 

Warrenton, Va.

Amy has some of the prettiest holiday decorations this year.

If you are local...pop in and tell Amy I sent you!

I saved one of my Holiday Forest bottle brush trees for myself and she sits on my mantel.

I decided to do multiple flameless candles this year instead of a string of lights.

It looks so pretty at night when they are flickering and Costco sells the remote control pillars.

How cool is that!

Like I said..I love a snowy bough!

So that's it so far.

Now Time to tackle the tree!

Ok...so this is not really my decorated tree.

I got carried away with Picnik

;->

I promise to show you when I finish decorating with real ornaments.

I will leave you with a few sneak peaks at a current project

 and of course a couple of very cool

sky photos

You know me...always looking upward!

I think you will like this one!

 Beautiful Virginia sunset the other night.

See the moon up in the top left corner?

Yeah...it was spectacular!

Have I told you how much I love the moon??

It simply amazes me.

 Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sharing with a few fun Blogs

Serenity Now

Funky Junk Interiors (Sat 12-10)