A Little Holiday Inspiration

For Holiday Decorating and There I am working my way through the 12 days of Christmas. This year is 3 French Hens.

I am struggling to come up with a color scheme. I would rather do "French chic" and not something like red, white and blue.

Any suggestions??

Martha Stewart has a New Decorative Paints Line

I walked into Michaels this morning to find this.

New Paints and all the tools to go with it. The paints come in 4 finishes: satin, pearl, high gloss and Martha's famous glitter.

The paint works on all surfaces and is made for indoor and outdoor use. So no more buying multiple kinds of paint.
And there are so many tools.

Many of the applicators actually fit on top of the paint bottles.


Sheer genius! I cannot wait to see all the amazing crafts that are created with these.

The Best College Town in the South

Although I live about an hour south of Charlottesville, at least a little piece of my heart still lives there. Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia, Monticello (the home of our third President Thomas Jefferson), vineyards, culture, scenic beauty and many other amenities (One of which is a world class teaching hospital that until this week, I did not realize is an essential).

Southern Living has named it the Best College Town in the South. You can read the article here.

If you have never traveled there, it's worth the trip.

Quote of the Week

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away.
~ Sarah Helen Whitman

Keys to My Kingdom

I got the idea for this from the cross stitch design from Rosewood Manor called Keys to the Kingdom. I hope to one day stitch that and have it hang beside this piece. Someday......


I took a 12 x 12 canvas and covered it with burlap.

I used Modge Podge on the front and then stapled the fabric on the back.

I then looked for old keys at antique stores and found they were $5-$10 a piece. Luckily, I found these keys in the scrapbook section at AC Moore. $5 a package and they are metal.

I then positioned the keys and used E6000 to attach them to the burlap.

Here is the finished piece.


Maybe someday I'll get the cross stitch piece done, but then again I have a whole drawer of finished pieces that need to be framed, turned into ornaments etc.

Sorry I've Been Away

Tried to grab one last bit of summer before school starts next week! Hope you are enjoying the summer!