I have a very dear friend, her name is Kathryn and she is the  talent, creativity and love behind her blog -The Dedicated House! She recently had a giveaway and I won!  I am ready to fast forward to Thanksgiving and put on this darling detailed apron, pull a pecan pie out of the oven with this matching hot pot  holder and  set a pretty table with my decorative  pumpkin  and t urkey. Watch out Target because I am coming in full steam ahead with this $50 dollar gift card!! Whoo Hoo! Be sure and visit Kathryn at The Dedicated House , she is a doll!  Thank you again-xoxo!

As always, our Texas Summers seem to take a toll on the best of  gardeners.  Most of us brace ourselves for the Summer siege, much  like a warrior preparing for battle. Extra iron, fertilizer and various  tonics to protect our beloved plants and gardens. I love to garden,  I live to garden, I  am inspired when I garden.   This is my pride and joy, the dragon wing begonia.  She has been a  real trooper this Summer.    She is about 3  feet  by 3  feet with shiny  deep green leaves and loaded with coral  blooms. And fortunately it is that time of year to begin gardening again! Am I thrilled?  You bet!  The elephant's ear ( Genus Colocasia) love  their water, they  drink and drink and are happiest when it is about  80 degrees. My plants are looking a little "tired," but they are getting their second wind and I am helping them along with a lot of TLC. I have several container groupings around the pool.  I  keep them  going by lots and lots of fertilizer and watering twice a

Melding French and Western decorating themes creates an inspiring, interesting, eclectic blend of my personal love for all things French and my deep and connected roots to growing up on a farm in the  West.  So much history and romance surrounds each of these  regions.  It is here that I have discovered the joy of crafting creations from the humble element-chicken wire... My inspiration for this chicken wire pumpkin came from my  farming  roots.  My Mother and Father worked side by side  working the fertile soil.  Father  would repair many a fence with wire  ( mostly barbed- wire) but nevertheless my inspiration came from  the  glory of  those days, and the satisfaction of working  with ones  hands. Should you decide to create this craft these are the supplies which you will need.  If you would like instructions just email me and I  will  send them to you. 1. Chicken wire 2. Real wire cutters (not florist wire cutters) 3. Natural burlap 4. Twine 5. Pipe cleaner 6. Silver florist wire I

Decorating with Pumpkins day 4-  Must they be orange? Absolutely not! Pumpkins may be any color you choose and this is where the decorating fun begins.  For this wreath I chose bright  purple pumpkins  with  oodles of glitter. ( I adore glitter, one of the  things in life that  makes me smile...) When making this wreath my inspiration came from the Addams family.  I am sure you are familiar with the adventures of this  blissfully macabre family.  I wanted to create a wreath that they  would proudly hang on their front door!  I began with a grapevine wreath, in order to make it a bit more festive for the Halloween season I spray painted it a light gray. Keeping with the Addams family theme I remembered that Morticia  did  like black roses and she also had a certain flair about her so I  added  some black daisies with bling centers.  I do like big bows and deco mesh just seemed like the perfect  material for the colorful theme that I was going with.  Since I was envisioning more of a fem

This time of year is just fun and what better way to have  some whimsical fun than to decoupage some pumpkins.   Decoupaging is such an inexpensive way to decorate your pumpkins  and also to make them last throughout the season. With endless choices of scrapbook paper the sky's the limit for  adding decoupage pumpkins to your vignettes. These are the basic supplies you will need to decoupage pumpkins. Supplies for this project: 1.  Two pie pumpkins 2.  Four sheets of scrap book paper 3.  One jar of Mod Podge 4.  Parchment paper 5.  Glitter glue 6.  Twine 7.  Two small burlap flowers 8.  Scissors 9.  Measuring tape 10.Paper towels 11.Paper plates 12.Paint brush Directions for this project: Approximate time to complete this project is 45 minutes per  pumpkin with a drying time of 45 per pumpkin before moving. Place on parchment to dry-this way the decoupage strips will not  stick to drying surface. 1. Measure and cut scrap book paper into 1" x 7 3/4" strips. 2. You will nee

Welcome to day two of decorating with pumpkins. This little Fall vignette is on the mantle in our family room. I have  chosen to keep the colors more muted with a bit of a natural feel. I have shopped my home for most everything placed here, including  the pumpkins.  Those on the wreath I have had for years.  In order  to  give them a little glow and cover up some imperfections I painted  them with metallic acrylic paint-a  soft champagne color. I have inverted two rustic, chippy pots and placed natural burlap  pumpkins on top of them,  I like the simplicity of the burlap on the wreath and pumpkins.     In order to add  some  height  I placed  some  beloved antique books underneath them.    A few weeks back, on a Saturday afternoon I went to one of our  local antique shops and was delighted with this window!  I had been looking for one with panes, but this one had the best asking price of 15 dollars, so I just could not pass it up.  After a good washing a  little sanding and some lette