Nothing Happening here..............

With all the Christmas preparation over with, all the baking done. I am setting myself some new chores for this year. I want to redecorate. I have no money to do that and so I am going to try to do as much as possible as cheap as possible. I will take pictures before and after. For now though I am not doing a thing. Christmas is over, I sent as much of the treats away with people as I could. I do not need to be eating them myself. I made fudge, cookies, zucchini bread and much much more. I even made my CHristmas berry jam. That turned out well. I made green jalapeno jelly and one I have not made before, a peach red jalapeno jam. I made Salsa and cheese balls. Brandy balls .............oh boy. Now it is back on the diet again.
So what can I do to change my look without spending a lot? I bought some covers simular to this one but in burgundy.

I wont paint the walls. They are a deep burgundy colour. I need to dust them down and wipe off a few spots and that will be good to go. My theme at the moment is Native American. I have a large picture that is the focal point. That needs to go. I was in Pier1 and loved some of the things they had. So if I replace that with something colourful that will bring in several colours to add to the room. I am thinking I will put some pillows on the couch with some of the colours out of the picture.


I saw several pictures I liked but cant afford more than one............will have to choose wisely. I want to get to more of a modern or cottage look. With the burgundy walls and sofa's I have a golden beige carpet. I need an area rug, with some floral sort of design that opens up the room. then with the colours I bring in with a rug, I want to get pillows to complement that. I think another pattern might be good along with some plain ones in bright colours. I am thinking I will then frame some of my bird photos and make a display.
Then the other thing I want to do is bring in some of my floral plates and cups and saucers. Well that's my idea.......we will see what unfolds.

Outside decorations...........

We do not have much in the way of snow at the moment. I am happy about that, except my outside decorations would look much better with some snow to cover cords and wires.

View from the front porch above. I finally got the hubby moving. He and Tristen got the trees out front. That was rather a fiasco but it's done. I can not expect more. The lights on the porch......well, no comment there. Thrown around is an understatement, but when they are lit up at night it doesn't matter. I guess one of these days I will get out there and redo.......for now it can stay.
We finally found the outside snowman too

I like this picture of the rocking chair. Almost the same as the first picture but close in

I didnt spend much time out there. It was really cold when I did it. Now I am into baking so I really need some snow to cover up all the junk haha.........ah well, its getting warmer so maybe one day I will get out there and sort it all out.

Have not done a lot out the back but did put up a tree. We had bought a smaller one last year because we couldn't get to all the stuff that was packed away. So that went on the back porch along with an old sled and a couple of wreaths

I would like to put some lights out there too but will save those and maybe do the ally. Everyone on our street decorates the back ally because they have a get together. We don't go because we have Tristen in bed and cant just up an leave him alone. Still I would like to paticipate in the decorating one of these days

Decorate without spending a fortune...............

Christmas that is...........to decorate for Christmas involves, for me, putting away everything I have and redo with Christmas things. When my Granddaughters lived in the south, and would all come home for Christmas, then I would put little lighted trees in their rooms. I would decorate bedrooms as well as the rest of the house. I don't do that anymore.......... I keep everything, if you follow my blogs you know I am a pack rat.
Well I did give a lot of my ornaments to my daughter because I had so many. The ones that meant something I wanted to pass along.
There are so many pretty ornaments out there that I always want to buy more. OMG I went to Pier 1 to buy some Christmas gifts........I could buy that store.

Over the years I have collected snow men and santa's and angels. So I have a lot of things. Some are hand made but most are not. Some I bought and some came from thrift stores. Never overlook the Thrift stores.

My house plants get decorated with Poinsiettas fake ones and Holly. That way the house plants blend in without me having to put them aside.

I have bought as gifts Christmas tree balls but then not given them. So I have a lot extra. The balls that go on the tree are now made of plastic and not glass. They don't tarnish or break like the old things did. This year I found some nice crystal bowls at the Thrift shops and they look great sitting in those. They really twinkle. I also use things like candle holders, the glass ones, fill those with balls to sit on a table.


I have a whole slew of fake trees. I just sit the plain ones around to make it look Christmasy and then I have some small ones that are lit and some just decorated and those can go in every room. I have some tiny ornaments I got years ago and so those sit on the small trees. It really costs me nothing now to decorate because I have all I need. I bought more things last year because my husband missed all the boxes in storage. Well I think we have found most of them this time. At least he thinks so, he found another box today.........I also know I am still missing at least one more box. I will have to look for that myself.

I have Christmas cushions that I use in the other rooms, and I also use candle wreaths instead of regular wreaths that are so ridiculously expensive.


I set the candle wreaths around lamps or let the snowmen stand on them, or put them on the wall.

One year I bought two little snowmen wrapped in a quilt. I didn't notice the price till I checked out and wow.....I couldn't believe how expensive it was. Then I noticed the little quilt was actually a mini quilt. So now I am more careful and make sure that its not expensive when I buy things because there are some really nice things out there without paying a lot.

This little tree I made many years ago when I took ceramics classes. Do people still do that? It was so popular years ago I also made the little choir boys.


I did paint some glass balls one year. I gave the best ones as gifts. I did Cardinals and Chickadees.......I kept the pinecones

Remember Macrame

I think I will paint some Christmas pictures this time so that I can swap out some of my other pictures next year.

Loves Old Boxes..............

I love old boxes. I collect them. Well of course I do don't I, what don't I collect right?.......well I have two old trunks to begin with. My friend Nancy loves to finish old furniture and she will finish anything she gets her hands on. Me, well I leave them "rustic". That means I don't want to mess with the smelly stuff and do all that work. So........thanks to Nancy I have a nice collection of nicely finished off boxes. The two trunks came from her. The one in the bedroom is full of my dads old army blankets and souveniers.


I find the boxes (and baskets) very handy to store things in. Better than plastic boxes and I can keep them out on display. This old tool chest I have yet to find a use for but the other one is now a laundry cupboard. Looks a lot nicer when I don't have all my outdoor plants inside.


I like crates, used for vegetables and other things. Good for magazines and books. Toy boxes in Tristens room and for storage under benches.


You can see the ones Nancy had her hands on, they are nice and shiny and polished. The ones I find are just rough. I do like painted ones though and like those in their original condition. This one (and my English box) have bird seed and supplies in them.

Small cheese boxes I use for pencils, colouring pencils, patterns and just about any little thing I want to be able to find. You can see the wooden barrel, yes Nancy polished that too. That holds a collection of walking sticks and my Dad's old cane fishing rods. I also see I have some dusting to do. Don't look OK.

Picnic hampers and whicker baskets are handy too for storing things. Of course if I were to get rid of all the stuff I need to store I would have a whole lot more space.

I also like small useless boxes too.

This is an egg crate that Nancy finished and well, all the things Nancy does not want ends up at my house because I cant bear to see them go in a garage sale. I always get first dips. Some day I will just have to go through my entire house and get rid of things. Sigh!!!!

Some crates make wall shelves, I have an old Coco cola crate and this Pepsi one and they are on the walls in the kitchen.

Well I know what I will be doing tomorrow.......polishing.
Sharing with Ivy and Elephants so you can all see my dusty house.
Also with Inspire Me Please
I am also linking up with Inspire Me Wednesday

Last Sketch Book...............

It is taking much longer to fill this sketch book but I have enjoyed it just the same as the first. However, I think I need to be done. I now need to actually do something constructive. I have a few more pages to fill and will take my time with those. I would like to try to do some ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) or Artist Trading Cards. I am not sure about selling them but that will have to be seen what I can come up with. I will get some ideas from my sketch books. In my sketch books I have used or drawn on other artists for inspiration. When I begin now, with ACEOs they will all be originals.
So for now I will post some pages from this last sketch book.On this page, the girl is copied from and advertisement if I remember correctly. I was trying to get the pose.



I enjoyed myself by drawing a few horses, I was in the mood for them for some reason.





Another thing I have enjoyed doing is Sunflowers. They are such happy flowers and a delight to draw and paint. I will be doing more of those, and bees, I love doing bees.

I also like fairies and think I will paint some of those after this. All my sketch book things were done quickly with no skill, I will have to do better when I begin again.

My naked lady got painted. I like her.

This one is an experiment in trying to get a masculine face that looks like a man. Hmmmmmm its difficult for me




I also enjoy drawing animals

Well thats just a few from this sketchbook, but I think thats enough. This really is just for my record when I print out my blogs. If someone enjoys them then that is a bonus for me.
I am sharing this with Adorned from above with thanks
Also with A Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday
Going over to Ivy and Elephants to join those fine folks
I am also sharing with Inspire me Monday at Create with Joy
and with Inspire me Wednesday