Tuesday At Blue Moon

Is this not the cutest witch? It is part of the Halloween outdoor decor at Blue Moon Gardens.

My friend Nola and I had a grand time yesterday. We always meet at Edom Bakery and have lunch, which consisted of quiche and their famous strawberry fields salad.

Nola is that speck of blue shopping in the background.

A black cat hanging from a tree.

We always have so much fun together. We met blogging about three years ago. And we've been fast friends ever since. We talk on the phone most every week day. She lives a few hours from me. So meeting here at our favorite nursery is our regular gig. 

Yesterday was just what I needed.

Just Bumps In The Road

It has been a week of household calamities. 

Last week I had an electrician come in to make sure things were up to code with the pond. And add some outlets to the pavilion. With that came the discovery that the pond filter was defective. 

Which could be why my dogs have had Montezuma's Revenge (what you can get from drinking water in Mexico that you're unaccustomed to) the past couple of weeks. Poor Charlie was sick all over my car one day. (Naturally his vet was out of town at a conference.) They'd been drinking, as pets will, from the pond. Though of course I keep fresh water outside for them. 

So that meant we'd have to do something about the filter. Which led me to discover there may be a leak in the pond. Which further led to figuring out there may be some hefty work to be done there. Recently cemented layers of stone to be lifted. Groan.

Oh, and Friday evening at 8:30, our sewer line became clogged, and we rushed to find a plumber willing to come out before morning. It was backing up into the tub. 

That's what the proliferation of greenery growing in East Texas will bring you. Roots that tear into your plumbing with astonishing regularity. As a gardener, I love it. As a homeowner, I groan and bear it. Cha-ching!

Thus I found myself helping a plumber, bless him, to spend much time trying to find the clean-out in front that had mistakenly been covered in mulch.  And then remedying the situation. At an hour when I'd normally be tucked away into bed. 

Oh, but it gets even better. We needed a heater put into the guest bath, where I shower. But the hole in the ceiling where the fan had been placed was too big, the electrician tells me. So I will have to hunt down a carpenter to be there when they actually put one up. Or I'll have insulation falling to the bathroom floor.

People in and out of my house all week and yesterday. Which does not make my fretful dogs happy campers. I carry them around, one in each arm, as Abi yaps continuously because strangers dare to enter her home. And my back aches. 

The church down the block has had their parking lot torn up and they're laying a new one. Which means I listen to beep-beep-beep from morning till night as the machines move about, doing what massive machines do. After a week of that annoying sound that I cannot mask with television or sound machine, I am really on edge.

No, nothing earth-shattering. Just little nit-picky things that mount up into nerves up-ended. So much I'd planned to get done in the past week, and not much of anything to actually show for it but a diminished bank account.

Oh, but today I'm meeting my dear friend Nola, who I met through blogging, at Blue Moon Nursery. I have been up since 4 a.m., looking forward to escaping the sounds of the city and driving into the countryside. 

We will have lunch in Edom, close by, and then stroll the grounds of Blue Moon. As she lives a few hours from me, we do this about three times a year. And enjoy ourselves immensely. Her birthday was last week, but things got in the way of our actually celebrating it together. And my delivering her gift.

So if I haven't been around to visit you, now you know why. Life does indeed get in the way. And conundrums over pond safety, and noises of the city that pound away at your nerves. Little things that don't amount to much. But still tap-tap-tap at your composure until you're snappish. 

Dear pets that get sick and look to you to make it right. Toilets that back up at the beginning of a weekend, as they always seem to. 

Just things that gnaw away at you and take up time you hoped would be allotted to other things. Oh, but life itself is precious. And these little blots of irritation are just bumps in the proverbial road, aren't they?

Handmade Winged Bird Ornament Tutorial

I haven't decorated any of my trees yet. But I've finished making my winged birds. So I thought I'd show you how I made them.

I drew a simple bird shape and made a template. If I could get my printer scanner to work, I'd have given you the template I drew. But it's very rudimentary and simple.

Then I got out some cardstock to use as the birds shape for strength. Then choose patterned scrapbook paper to cover your shape with. Draw your template on the front of the scrapbook paper. Using a pencil, go around the bird shape first on one side, then turn the shape over for the other. You will have two bird shapes going in opposite directions. Cut out your bird shapes.

Then, using the glue of your choice (I used photo splits), glue patterned paper bird shapes first to one side of the bird, then the other. It's hard to get them to fit the shape perfectly. That's okay. You can take your scissors and shape it up after you glue it on so that none of the cardstock shows.

I used a circle punch that is 2 1/2 inches in diameter to make the wings. I had not intended to make wings for the birds. But then I got the idea to try this, and liked the effect. If you don't have a circle punch, you can draw around a circle shape from something around the house. Make your template with cardstock, as with the bird shape. My actual bird shape ended up being six inches from tip to tip, to give you an idea of how big to draw your bird.

Cut out four circles. You will be making two wings, and gluing them to the front and the back of the circle shape.

As with the bird, glue your patterned paper circles to both sides of your circle cardstock. Then fold in half.

These photos aren't of the best quality, I will warn you. Because I had to hold the camera with one hand and the bird with the other for display purposes, to show all dimensions.

Then position a folded circle on each side of your bird. You can match them up by pinching them together on either side.

Using a stapler, staple just under the fold of the wing onto the bird, first at one end and then the other. For a total of two staples. Since it will staple through to both sides, you don't need to turn it over for the other side.

As you can see, I'm using a variety of patterned scrapbook paper. And I didn't think to take a photo during each one. So you will see differently patterned birds in various stages of completion.

Your bird ornament should look like this, below. Sorry for the blurriness. Having to hold it and the camera, you know.

Then I took a hole punch (I happen to have different sizes, and used the smaller one), and made a hole for hanging the bird ornament on the tree.

I used jute for this ornament to see how it was going to look.

I may use lace or ribbon for the others. I tied a knot just over the top of the bird to hold it in place. Then another knot at the end of the hanger where I wanted it to hang on the tree.

Sorry also for the mess. I had paper all over the pets and underneath my feet. When you have glass desks, everything shows!

I had some of those sticky rhinestone embellishments in my stash I'd picked up in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby. I used these for eyes, one on each side of the bird's head.

I used gold for some of the birds' eyes, light blue for the others. Just what I had on hand.

Now I have a dimensional bird. So should you desire birds to hang on your tree, this is my version.

When I have all the ornaments finished, I will show the decorated trees about my house. I'm still busy with all sorts of ideas for ornaments.

There you have it. Happy decorating!

Anatomy Of A Vignette

Having just created a new decorating vignette in the corner of my garden room, I thought I'd show you.

 

When I begin a furniture decorating vignette, I start with a base. In this case, I needed a place for this red bench. And it went from there.

That looked rather empty, so I added the black bench on top.

I was then faced with what to do with the space. So I started adding books and favorite things to display.

The big black bird didn't show up well against the blue wall. So I added a square red plate to give him some contrast.

Stacked books are great to give you lift and a bit of diversity to your vignette.

I wanted to put the starfish in my display. But they looked plain and also didn't show up well against my  blue painted walls. So I place a platter behind them to emphasize them.

When faced with a blank wall that just needs something, just start building up. And then filling in the spaces.

I utilized the space underneath by adding a blue basket of inspiration-filled notebooks for decorating, gardening, and crafts.

  

 Even the teddy bear in the chair serves a purpose. I am covering up the electrical outlet.

 So there you have it. I filled up an empty corner with furniture that needed a place to go. I didn't have to spend any money. And I found a place to put knick-knacks that were cluttering up other places.

Easy Rubber Stamped Ornaments

I finished decorating one corner of my house for the holidays.

I used green ornaments on my red tree, and added measuring cups and spoons from the kitchen, two stamps I stamped with red ink onto manilla cardstock, and my vintage cookie cutters.

I grouped some visually different trees together. And started layering onto my Christmas vignette.

I never really know what I'm going to do when I start out with something like this. I just start with a gut feeling and add and subtract and add some more. Until it feels right.