Saturday, March 31, 2012

Sweet Cheeks Birthday Party Girl

Nana,
comes the call.
Do you want to see
me (SweetCheekss) all dressed
up for a birthday party 
being held at 
Build-A-Bear?

Well, of course I do!
Ria is along for the ride, too.
Can you guess by the 
background 
WHERE we met?
Can you?
If you guessed Starbucks you
are smart.....or addicted like me.
She informs everyone 
that will listen there
where she is going and what
she is doing.

And you can see
SweetCheeks loves her sister, Ria,
and likes to get up close and personal.
She also loves her 
Korker hair bows.
You look beautiful, I tell her.
Well, I knohw that, Nana
and so does my sister, Ria.
But do yohu knohw whut, Nana?
What?
My sister, Lulu, dohes NOT
look beyoutiful!
SweetCheeks! That is NOT a nice
thing to say.
Wehll, Issss true!
She stihll has her pajhamas on
and she doesn't look beautiful
until she gets drehssed 
and combs her hair!

Nothing will do but take a
drive to her house to see
for myself.
Well, let's just take a
little look-see,
shall we?
Hi Lulu-
Open the door~
Ah...I see you hair
DOES NEED COMBING.
Well, aren't YOU pretty?
Ummm...Hmmmm..
Maybe SweetCheeks was right after all.....
Oh...don't it make a
Nana proud?;>)
BUT
You will ALWAYS be beautiful
to me!

I will be gone for the day
for our friend's memorial
service and then
down to Milwaukee to
habysit my grandsons for
the evening.
I will see you all tomorrow.

Does ANYONE know
why some comments
are not being processed
through our email addresses
like most are?
I am having a hard time
replying to some comments.
Thanks to anyone that knows
how to FIX this problem!
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Friday, March 30, 2012

Talking Furniture- Black Called Me Back

I redid this piece a while ago.
I WAS going to paint it white.
However, 
after looking at it I
decided it needed to be black.
Some pieces just talk to me,
you know?

Kinda like my husband
except I listen better when 
it is "bench talk"!;>)

I
am sorry to say that I don't have
a BEFORE picture.
It was a dull mahogany color,
battered and beaten.
It had a 
PLEATHER tan colored
seat covering.

I added the applique to the back
with gorilla glue
before I started painting.

This is coated with some
black paint I had on hand.
I covered the seat with 
a greenish grey angel fabric that
I had hoarded saved for years.
I suppose you don't want to know
that somehow I managed to
put a staple in my finger?
Do you know any good words
to use in a case like that?
If not- I can recommend a few
of my own favorites!
After painting two coats of black,
I used some gold
Rub & Buff
on the applique,
on the top of the stay across
the back,
and on the legs.
I distressed it slightly on the 
legs and along the edges.
Then, I topped it with
 a matte poly finish.
Please ignore the flipped up fringe on
the rug below.  
I hate when that happens.

This cute little piece is in
my sitting room now
until it finds a permanent home.

And here y'all thought all I did
was sit on my butt and 
play on the computer.
I'm not as lazy as I look!

Hope you find some sweet
projects to do that make you
smile.
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Thursday, March 29, 2012

I Won A Giveaway

BEFORE
I started blogging,
I don't think I ever
won a thing in my life.

Well...being the lucky 
stiff I am
I won another giveaway.

This one is from
Marti.
Thank you SO much, Marti.
I really appreciate everything.
It was a fun package to open.

Her blog is 
subtitled
Pop over and see her.
As the title suggests
she muses on things
both past and present....
memories of her childhood...
and things that are happening
around her now.

Here is what was in
the wonderful package I received.
There is a 
microwave blanket!
I guess I am out of it because
I never heard of these.
You can bake potatoes,
or corn or warm tortillas.
I made baked potatoes
and they were light and fluffy inside.
What else was in that sweet package?
A funky little knob...
A sachet kitty...
And a wonderful pack of 
6 handmade cards.
I thought this one was 
especially fun!
I already have a recipient in mind
for THAT card!

It is always fun to find 
a little something in the mailbox,
isn't it?
Watch YOUR mailbox...
YOU may be getting the card above...
from 
ONE TOUGH OLD
BROAD BIRD
to another-
Me to you!

Hope YOUR day is
full of sweet little surprises, too!
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Spring Secrets

Short and Sweet
today.
My favorite Spring time
picture of these
3 little girls.

I call this 
SECRETS.


Sweet Cheeks, Ria & Lulu
in the dresses I made for them.
Hey- What's the big secret, SweetCheeks?
Don't you love it?

I hope you have someone
special in 
YOUR LIFE
to share a secret with...
~Blessings and Happy Wednesday~
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

OH FUDGE! WHAT? SPRING FUDGE

I think just about
EVERYONE
associates
FUDGE 
with Christmas.
I know that I always
make several batches
of all different types
of fudge during the
Holiday Season.

I give them to my
enemies friends to 
MAKE THEM FAT-
that way I look thinner 
enjoy.
Pretty smart for a blond, huh?

Anyway,
I have a recipe for
LEMON FUDGE
for Spring.
I'm not sure where it came
from but I have used it for
several years.
It was probably the old
Taste Of Home magazine.
It is so good that you
will be licking the pan.
You will bow down
before me because
I am 
The Fudge Queen.

This is NOT a recipe
for those 
weak-willed people
that cannot refrain from
eating the whole pan...
Nosirreeee..
Here you go-

LEMON FUDGE
1/2 cup REAL butter (no oleo)
One 4.5 oz cook & serve lemon pudding
(do not use instant pudding)
1/2 cup milk
3-3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Line a 9" square pan with foil
bringing it up the sides.
Use butter and heavily butter the foil
In large saucepan combine:
Pudding mix
Milk
Butter
Cook and stir over medium heat
until mixture has thickened.
Remove from heat.
Beat in confectionery sugar & lemon extract.
Pour into buttered pan and refrigerate.
Use tinfoil to lift fudge out of pan.
Cut into squares and store in fridge.

Serve to family and friends
and your skinny enemies.
Trust me-
You will have a new
Easter candy tradition.
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Monday, March 26, 2012

Setting A Spring Table

Well, whilst I was
dragging the Easter stuff out 
of the basement bins,
I was also moving things
around in the china hutches.
Why?  Well, because
 we all know that
ONE THING LEADS
TO ANOTHER,
don't we?

Why-oh-why-
in the midst of all that is going on
do I do this to myself?
Anyway,
I thought it was time to 
bring out a couple of
bunnies to 
dress up the center of the table.
Look at their cute little faces!
They looked so cute there
I thought they should be surrounded
by other lovely Spring pieces.
So~ then I dragged out my old dishes
that I haven't used for several years.
Garden Party by Pfaltzgraff.
You know I have had these for almost
20 years and I still love them.
I always used them in the 
Spring and Summer months.
The ruby thumbprint glasses
belonged to Gramma Hazel.
And another little sugared bunny 
jumped in to join the fun.
It is fun to see the table all set.
A little close up of the florals.
Now-Here is 
QUESTION #1~
HOW LONG DO YOU THINK
it will take 
SweetCheeks to discover that
there are 
M&M's in the flower base
that rests just below the bunnies?
QUESTION #2~
When do you think I will discover 
that they have all been eaten 
unbeknownst to me?
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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Easter Bunny Alert Or Scare-You Decide

With everything that is going on here
I had decided I wasn't going to
decorate for 
Easter this year.
But....I am one of those people
that keeps busy to avoid
having to think about
things sometimes.
I call it 
"working therapy".
Busy hands-Occupied mind-
or something to that effect.
So--down to the basement
and up with the bins
of Easter fun.

First I want to show
you a sweet little
tin that my mother
received for Easter in
1924.
Isn't it cute?
There's also a "hat"
storage box that was full of
hand decorated eggs that belonged
to Gramma Hazel.
I put it in my hutch on top of
my china.  It is so old and fragile
that I don't want the grandkids
handling it.

This "tree" was made 
by Gramma Hazel
back in the 50's.
It's about 2' tall and 
sits in my kitchen window
that faces the bay.
Gramma Hazel
 also decorated these eggs
This is one of about 15 of them.
There's also this little egg
being pulled in a chick wagon
from the 1950's.
The base of the tree is surrounded
by some eggs that 
the kids have made
and by some from a
Polish friend.
I found this sweet little 
blown glass bunny a few years ago.
The little pink hat is also
one of Gramma Hazel's creations.
And this one I found in a Hallmark store.
(sorry he's a little blurry)
Can you see these little fuzz ball chicks?
They have a single feather tail 
that sticks up their back.
They are only about an inch tall.
I have two of these 
musical eggs that came from Germany.
I cut out and painted Monsieur Hare in the 1980's.
I kept one out of the many I sold.
This one, too, one of many
bunnies that went home
from craft fairs in the 80's.
These little bunnies
hang on the stairs that
lead up to the guest rooms
the kids sleep in when they visit.
And THESE bunnies look
like they are on the run!
But WHAT, pray tell,
are they running from?
OH MY!
I never SAW a money bunny before.
Did you?
What's REALLY scary is
he seems to keep moving around.
I hope he doesn't leave
coconuts instead of 
eggs come Easter morning...
cuz 
Ms.Pouty
wouldn't like that
now would she?!



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Friday, March 23, 2012

Princesses And Cupcakes And Stories- OH MY-

SweetCheeks & Company
picked the winner 
of the giveaway
yesterday.

She had a little friend,
Miss S, over for
a play date.
She got all dressed
for the occasion, too!
Aren't they cute together?
They are both in 4 year old pre-school.

Lest you think 
SweetCheeks works for free
she drives a hard bargain.
She does NOT work for 
peanuts.
No, indeedy!
She works for 
CUPCAKES!
Now these might not be the
prettiest cupcakes you ever saw..
but they do taste good..
or so I am told.

2 of them were gobbled down,
on the front porch,
immediately after the
Giveaway Session
filming
 by 
SOMEONE .

Did SHE eat them?
No! She says SHE
didn't eat them...or did she?
Here is the 
"story"
(only a 35 second clip here)
Daddy is an even bigger
sucker than I am...
and THAT is saying
something!
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