Would you like a quick tour of Queens House? (Ahem, that's my house. I want to name it something more exciting and am open to suggestions!)



The tree is lovely this year. Instead of doing my standard bead garland I went for a ribbon wrap style instead. I found the Noel music score ribbon at Michaels.



The mantle over the "fireplace" is a silver theme this year.

 

Check out Victor with his adorned antlers (which have seen better days thanks to a spectacular fall earlier this year).



Vintage ornament collection. Enough said.



Our festive libations. (Scotch tasting set made by my Dad!)



The hutch might be my favorite part this year. I hardly use my holiday china but I am loving it just stacked up on the side board. And way up there on top of the cake stand on the left . . .



A tiny Christmas village on a green glittered witch's hat. More on that later. ;)

Happy Holidays and a big thank you to my friend Nina for her help with the decor this year (and many others.)

Cheers - Rebecca

It's a Christmas Miracle . . .

I'll skip the part where I make a million excuses for my lack of posting and get right to the holiday spirit . . .

One of my favorite places to visit during this time of year is Tinsel Trading Company. The windows were gorgeous but a little tough to photograph:





Everything is adorable and you can't help but feel jolly. I will say that some (most) of the prices of things are a little scary but the inspiration is free!



I LOVE these vintage inspired cone ornaments. I've made a cone or two (or fifty) in my day and these are just screaming at me to make something similar. There is a whole line of these circus themed items and I am lucky to own a most adorable box with an elephant that was a gift from my dear friend Nina.



There are tons of Wendy Addison designs to enjoy like these glass glitter pieces as well as the cones.



All of the displays are just charming. I could have bought every single thing but controlled myself.

I've got my own place decorated nicely and will share photos soon. Now that my big work project is coming to an end I have more time to get back to crafting, blogging and general merriment.

Until the next . . .

Flea Flicker

I can't believe it is already Friday. I took pictures on Sunday of all my flea finds and I stil haven't gotten them up here. Yikes. Too much to do and most of it work. No fun.

Sunday was the perfect day to wander the Elephant's Trunk Flea in New Milford , CT.

The trees were in full Autumn spectacular mode and the weather couldn't have been nicer.



There were tonss of vendors this week.





And of those PBS/HGTV/DIY network shows were there filming. I still don't know which one (I don't watch so I didn't recognize the people) but I will say that the hosts were kind of pushy and rude when they wanted to get by you but the camera people were very good at apologizing for them.



I bought one of the $5 mums shown above. It is gorgeous.



And who doesn't love a place where you can get mini donuts AND clam chowder. I'm having a bit of a love affair with Connecticut these days.

So what did I buy?



I'm loving this ram planter I snagged. I've been wanting to dig a few of the plants out of the garden to bring in doors. These are habanero peppers. Sorry it is so dark. I didn't think to take a picture until the early evening.



This hand made wool felt kitty was my favorite fnd. I just love her!



The details are great, especially these vintage millinery flowers on her ear.



Another dog portrait for my new collection. One more and I think I'll have enough to get them up on the wall. I also found something that will be a gift so no pictures until after the holidays and a cute hand made vintage ornament that is impossible to photograph well. It is a bottle brush tree inside a cloche and was an adorable $1 find.

We are thinking of heading back up on Sunday depending on the path of Frankenstorm. Sigh . . .

What did you find this week?

Tempus Fugit

Wow, where has the time gone? I am working on a few things (all of them gifts of course) but have no real progress to report. (why does that always happen??) So how about some new-to-me favorite must read blogs?

Tea Rose Home - Sachicko is sweet, funny and talented. Her sewing and jewelry projects are divine.

Crayons & Milk - this is a knitting blog with cute projects, an even cuter doggie sidekick and lots of laughs.

Pintester - she tests all those questionable or too good to be true pins. The language is very salty but the humour is divine.

Wild Olive - embroidery, cute projects and book reviews.

A Clockwork Lemon - fabulously fun recipes. Go see.

National Arts & Crafts Examiner Page - Ahem, this is me. I'm trying to write more and I'm working on my style. I share crafty ideas and tutorials and love to feature blogger projects. Contact me to be featured! (and please subscribe!)

And because what post is complete without a picture . . . .



Take time to stop and smell the flowers.

Cheers
Rebecca

Bring on the Fall

Fall is in the air here in NYC. The temps have dipped to the 50s at night and the humidity is low. I love it. I feel energized. All of a sudden there aren't enough hours in the day to craft, bake and just be outside. So long oppresive summer heat and hello falling leaves, pumpkin flavored everything, apples and holidays. Of course we'll probably see another a few days of 85 plus but I'll enjoy this for now.

Cooler weather also means a return to my craft room which is much too hot and stuffy to inspire any creativity in the summer months. Several of the holiday crafting magazines are already out and two I picked up both featured paper houses for Christmas. I've made these before (check them out HERE, they are a bit cuter than I remember) but I thought to shake it up this year by making a haunted version



These pictures are terrible, the house is much cuter than it looks here.



As with the sugar plum houses I made the patern up as I went along and it is extremely crooked. Luckily that works for a haunted mansion. I got black glitter on everything. Including in my coffee across the room.



I put a fun little trim around the eaves made of crepe paper punched with a continuoous icicle punch from Martha Stewart Crafts. Again, much cuter in person. I'm still working on it and hope to find some black bottle brush trees (or make my own thanks to a suggestion from Sarah) and something to make a fence and gate from. Ooo and maybe some tomb stones . . . .

I really enjoy making paper houses and think I'll whip up a whole village of spooky abodes. Yeah Autumn.

Silencing the Inner Critic

I've been harsh on myself this summer. We are our own worst critics, right? In May I was diagnosed with early Graves' Disease which is apparently quite common in Type 1 Diabetic women my age. GREAT. I'm in the early treatment stage which means blood work once a month and medication daily. Said medication makes one gain weight. Like a pound a week. EVERY week no matter what you eat. Good times. So like I said, I've been harsh on myself and spending way too much time looking in the mirror and being critical.

The rest of my time I spend feeling blue and achy and tired. I'm so over feeling meh 24-7. So enough is enough. Yesterday I had my first ever accupunture treatment. I have a dear friend who swears by it and after speaking with her recently I decided to go for it. I told the therapist I needed relief from my lower back pain and to rid myself of the general malaise that has settled on me. She told me she would need to target my stomach as that is where my energy flow was a real mess (not her exact words but this is what she was getting at.)

I'm not needle shy. I take about 6 shots a day on average and have blood drawn once a month. Even with that said you cannot feel the needles. I know everyone says this but it's true. Like, for real. I had 10 needles inserted, 1 in each hand, 2 in each calf and 2 in each foot. Take that STOMACH. I could feel it working. I felt little pulses at each point and a general shudder a few times. It was very relaxing. Once I had the uncontrollable urge to laugh like a maniac (I didn't) and I have no idea why. Afterwards I felt great. Lighter, even. More energetic. Certainly better. I'm going back for more next week.

So here I am. Not being critical (mostly) and not being meh. Hopefully this leads to more blogging and more creating. Oh and more maniacal laughter.

Getting Ready for the Annual Christmas Craft Party

I'm dreaming of fall and one thing on my mind are the projects we will create at this year's Annual Christmas Craft Party in November. We've been having this event for a few years now and the ladies are getting quite crafty! Here are some of the things we are currently considering for this year's get together:

Cute styrofoam ball cupcake ornaments -



pinned here.

Felt ornaments -



pinned here and here.

One year we made felt birds and everyone loved them! There are so many options for these, too.

Crepe Paper Trees -



pinned here.

I LOVE these but I know they may not be everyone's style.

Snowman boxes -



pinned here.

These have long been on my list. If we choose this project it will most likely be the only one we do (usually we make at least two things) and I'll need everyone to chip in $7 to purchase supplies.

Decisions, decisions. If anyone from the craft party group is reading, please speak up about what you'd like to make this year. If you are interested in following our ideas you can check out our Pinterest board HERE.

Country Fair Bingo

So I went looking for where I posted about our first Annual Bingo Party last summer and couldn't find it. Hmm. Really? I never showed the goodness that was Beach Blanket Bingo? Sigh . . . my blogging needs work. Anyway, LAST year we started a new tradition of a summer bingo party. You know we need a theme right? Well as I said we did Beach Blanket Bingo last year with a beachy 60s theme. When it was such a success we decided to do it again this year with a new theme. We tossed a few things around and landed on Country Fair Bingo. Who doesn't like gingham, corn dogs and watermelon? Here's a quick visit to our fabulous party . . .



Grab a mason jar for your drink. Topped with a cupcake liner and a paper straw these were a huge hit. Found HERE on Pinterest.



Fill your jar with Sangria Flora, a delicious recipe from St. Germain found HERE.



Don't forget to grab a cone for a chance to win! Created by my mom, these adorable cones contained old fashioned candies, little carnival style prizes, a scratch off lottery ticket and . . .



Fake mustaches. Here are a few of my cousins. I'm sure you can tell why I adore them. :) And because no post is complete with out a sweet picture of my nephew:



Baby with a mustache, need I say more? (I'll pause here so you can laugh and coo about how funny and cute this picture is.)



Everyone got a sweet fan designed and made by my sister. Most ended up using them to announce their winning bingos so the thoughts are next year to make some that say bingo or winner perhaps.



We set a table up with all the bingo supplies and this is where I spent a good part of my day. That is until someone else took over . . .



Yes, that is my husband getting into the spirit. He even wore a Winner Crown I made for bingo last year.



Here is the other crown I made. These are a blast to create and I'll get into more about them later.



No party is complete without cupcakes. Based on THESE by Bakerella. Yes, ours aren't nearly as cute. Funny how that happens.



Another fun dessert, this time handpies from Country Living. We used empanada shells instead of making pie crust in the interest of time. They were good though I think more sugar in the filling next time, they were a little tart.

I hope you enjoyed Country Fair Bingo. There was a request for International Bingo next year to give us the excuse to make a lot of yummy food. Bring it on.

Finds & Fun

Last weekend I was lucky to host two of my best girlfriends for a fun weekend in New York City. We dined al fresco in the back yard (in the rain), shopped until we dropped on Fifth Avenue and drank enough St. Germain to choke the entire French Foreign Legion.

On our excursion to our favorite places we also hit up a few new destinations including the lovely Laduree.



Now, I know macaroons are all the rage but I have personally never had one. To me they look like meringue which I don't care for. I know that is not what they are made of but still, I'm not supposed to eat a lot of sweets away and this was a good excuse to stay away. Well . . .



Pardon the fuzzy on this, we were delirious with happiness. (and the camera was on the wrong setting) These are probably the best treats I have ever had. Those above would be green apple, pistachio (my personal fave), black current and violet & rose. OH. BOY. I'm a true convert and an addict now. It is good that Laduree is not too close to my office or I'd be sneaking over there at lunch. I can taste the pistachio now . . .

We also happened by MacKenzie-Childs. It is like walking into the Mad Hatters ome. I was in love.



I only managed to take this one photo of a chair but I about died when I saw this cake carrier:



Pricey yes, but divine. Now imagine all that flower enamelware mixed with black and white check pottery adn those divine brightly striped chairs, pillows and foot stools. That is what is like inside the store. :)

On Sunday we went to the Elephants Trunk Flea Market. Here are my finds:



A sweet pair of Japanese Kokeshi for my collection. There are about 6 inches tall where all of mine are only 3 inches or so. I love their colors.



Vintage books including two Bobbsey Twins and this one:



I love the cover. I also snagged another enamel flower pin for my collection and feww doll house goodies.

I hit up the flea the week before, too, but never got around to posting the goodies:




Two sweet satin flower dresser boxes, I always pick these up. Both pretty and functional.



And a lovely 1950s pink bird pitcher. I know I spotted this on a blog recently and I was tickled to find my own. So far I've been enjoying my trips to Connecticut to dig through the junk but this weekend will be a scorcher so I think I'll take a week off. :)

I was sorry to see my girsl go but the weekend was divine. Until the next time mes amies!