You are Gnome Around Here

This post is in honor of my sister who has recently gone bonkers over the designing and making of fairy gardens. (We differ in a number of ways, however, FAIRIES have always been quite mesmerizing to us both.)

Since it's been two years since I helped with the retirement reception (pics below) for a teacher friend and I honestly can't remember doing a blog about the entire affair...my sister's recent preoccupation with the fairies jogged my memory and I thought you might enjoy some of the pictures from the Roaming Gnome reception. (I like themed events...themes are a great jumping off point from which to dive head long into the pre-event planning. I relish this phase with great abandon!)

Theme: Wherever You Roam, This Will Always Be Your Home...may sound trite to you (and now that I've retired, it sounds a little wonky to me, too, )but at the time, the Roaming Gnome was hot on TV and I used "his hotness" for the feature of our event. (This adventure took no less than 10 months to plan...that's the part I love..the planning. I'm not too much on the actual day, maybe it's because I'm so exhausted from living with the theme for so long beforehand. After that length of time it's sort of like company that won't go home.)

 Here are a few items that made the day special:

(Pic 1) Marzipan mushrooms for the cake,

which was to be furnished by the Air Force.

(I still don't know how the armed forces got involved,

 but I am never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.)
Marzipan is great fun...
sort of like the clay I used to spend hours playing with.

 

(Pic 2 A&B) Centerpiece: large twig double basket with two Boston ferns,

Queen Anne's Lace and assorted Gnomes,
mushrooms (see pic 5 below), and tin flowers.

Oh, yes and red birds, butterflies and birds' nests.

 
Close up of basket handle.

(Pic 3) The "autograph" book featuring the Roaming Gnome

was filled with pictures of the faculty and sweet little

ditties written by  them  to the sweet retiree. (She plays the guitar..

if you wondering why the Gnome is in guitar mode.)

(Pic 4) Close up of the centerpiece.

 (I still haven't gotten the hang of this new blogger system..

can't rearrange the HTML very well,

so the picture below is out of order.)

I accidentally broke a flower pot and it ended up housing

the bird's nest. I found the gnomes at a very inexpensive

store and re-painted them to suit our color theme.

Moss bows came a la Dollar Tree!

(Pic 5) I needed small mushrooms

and naturally I couldn't find any,

so I made them and had them

fired. Then I painted them with acrylics and

sealed them with polyurethane.

(Pic 6 A & B) Another twig arrangement.

(Pic 7) All tables were covered and featured vases of

Queen Anne's Lace and fern.

(Pic 8) Another vignette featuring moss mushrooms from

Paul Michael's in Monroe, La and

a cross canvas (my gift to my retiring friend.)

(Pic 9) The two fairy godmother decorators.

You can tell in this photo how large the centerpiece was.

I sort of overshot it...but it filled the table nicely.

We had a really fun day and it was a great remembrance for a favorite friend!

Bippity Boppity Boo!

"I Told You So" and Paul Michael's

Went to Paul Michael's today...the Monroe, LA one. Here are some things I found..the books above are really the boxes that open...lots of black and cream was featured...still loving the roosters that were scaped with the books.

Now, prepare yourself...the hubster almost had a fit...

"Why?!" Why, indeed...

I can just see this old wooden pitchfork in an autumn setting...can't you?

And then I spied them...

all three of them sitting in Alley Cats

(which is the part of Paul Michael's where all the unloved stuff is sent)...

today things were reduced to 1/2 of 1/2....love it!!

These mercury glass candleholders are HUGE!

They are beautiful and will make a wonderful centerpiece.

I purchased all three for less than what one would normally cost!

NOW That's what I'm talking about!!

Switch gears here...a before and after from this week...

This old folding chair used to sit in my grandmother's hallway by her phone..it was dark brown and had a dark green leather seat.

I painted it white years ago and the paint had begun to flake off.

Out with the Rustoleum Hammered Brown and let me introduce you to Miss Polka Dot!

My new "makeup" chair!

This post is a little like herding cats...but on the way to Monroe, the hubster and I were very involved in a deep discussion concerning the difference in "opinion" and "advice".

The more we discussed, the more my "opinion" shifted.

Let me let you in on our thoughts. This is a summary of our discussion.

1. Everyone can have an opinion (duh)...even if it's wrong.

2. Opinion based on fact can be extremely useful when giving good advice.

Opinions based on feelings are a little trickier.

3. Opinions are your own...like noses...everybody has one.

4. Advice can be good or bad.

Some advice is given based on faulty advice originally given to the advisor.

5. You don't necessarily have to have experienced something first hand to be an expert but it probably gives you a broader perspective if you have indeed had experience. (Ex. a cancer doctor doesn't have to have "had" cancer to treat his cancer stricken patients.)

6. You can learn from people who have failed at something just like you learn from a successful person...sometimes even better.

What started this discussion was the fact that I was recently asked by a younger friend how I always had the right answer to questions. (I chose to believe that she was asking that sincerely and not sarcastically)...my answer was that the answers came from life's lessons learned.

I didn't get where I am today by NOT listening and learning. "WHAT?!" Exactly WHERE are you, Miss Know It All? (That's what you are thinking, I'm sure.) Unfluff those feathers...by virtue of the fact that I've lived over six decades makes me further down the road than most of those I work with everyday. Just living longer doesn't necessarily make you smarter (but it should). What makes you smarter is listening to others, continually learning and growing and being able to discern good advice from poor advice. Personally, I like my advice served with a side order of personal experience.

Nothing's worse than the sentence, "I told you so". The reason these words cut so deeply is because based on someone else's life experience...advice was offered....you didn't follow it because in your opinion, it wasn't good or it wasn't what you wanted to hear at the moment and you made a poor decision.

If you really want advice, let it marinate for a while before throwing it out. Sometimes following advice when you really don't want to is like taking bad tasting medicine...it's awful for a short while but the results are good long term.

(I didn't sleep well last night and I'm sort of grumpy...can you tell?)

That's all from the soapbox today,

Holiday Vignettes

Just enjoying photographing little vignettes inside and out. Wreath in front of old black tray with "rescued" moss green ribbon....wire green basket filled with cedar and gold matte ornaments. The electricity company had just trimmed the cedars and pines across the road when I drove in from work...so I made a beeline over there and collected the fallen branches...great thrifty greenery for the season!


During the spring and summer, this rusty Baker's rack holds my gardening items and a few green plants and birds' nests.

I found the plaque at Hobby Lobby on the 80% off rack. I refinished it and added the scrapbook paper background. I used the Cricut machine to cut a set of flourishes and then cut them apart to compose the Christmas tree. Added sparkles and the word Peace and it looks just right with my carnival glass vase!


Even the garden tub ledge gets the "holiday" treatment with the addition of a coppery mesh bow. My family of Peter's Pottery frogs reside here year round and like the company of the McCarty pottery pinched vase.

Counter top vignette adds color and texture to the kitchen area. I love the glass and iron tray and use it in various ways year round. It contains items neatly but is light enough to be unobtrusive.

Arthur Court tiny cake plate is topped with a Southern Living At Home glass topper.

I found this $17.00 wreath in the Alley Cat section of the Monroe, LA. Paul Michael's store for $4!! I bought two! Love the color and the tinsel look. I added $ Tree ornaments, mesh bow and an old gingerbread man ornament and viola....sweet little wreath above my sink.

Every year my mother thread counted everyone of us a new ornament for Christmas...it was always dated and had our initials on it. Many were tiny stockings and sometimes we received little mittens. I gathered our stockings together and placed them in an old blue bowl. I love seeing them and remembering my sweet, kind mom.