2012

yes... I have duct tape in my 2012 planner... what better way to start the year?!

Have I told you lately how much I adore and appreciate each and every one of you that comes to visit my single-wide?

Let me start this year by telling you how much I adore and appreciate each and every one of you that comes to visit my single-wide. I already think you are absurdly sensational... just keep being you in 2012!

Happy Happy New Year!!!

pearfect!

I needed a quick little wedding shower gift sew I cleared off the mountainous pile of JUNK cool stuff from around my sewing machine and got bizzy cookin' up some dish towels.

Fun, right? Floral for her, stripes for him... the perfect pearing for the perfect pear.

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I'm in "ZappHallspringshowisonly124daysaway" mode (thank you Retreauxgirl for keeping me in time-line!) and these just might come in to season there... wanna pear? hee-hee

whew!

How was your Christmas week-end?! Did you see Santy Claus? Hang out with friends and family?

Did you eat toooooooooo much?

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I ate way twotoooo many pieces of pecan pie. But luckily for me I have new fluffy jammy pants with a stretchy waistband. Luckily for my surrounding community I saw fit to change out of the fluffy jammies (under much duress) when I had to come back to work today. My New Year's resolution is gonna be:
buy more stretchy fluffy jammy pants.



What - you SERIOUSLY thought I would say, "eat less pecan pie?" ha!!!

no.

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Gift of Knowing You

By Joanna Fuchs

The Christmas season fills our hearts with joy;

Bright, happy days bring special kinds of pleasure.

We’re wrapped in the excitement of it all,

The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes we treasure.

Yet when we have some quiet time to think

About our finest blessings all year through,

We focus on our family and our friends,

And appreciate the gift of knowing you!

Have a Merry Merry Christmas filled with lots of love, family and friends, fellowship and laughter!

xoxo

tractor pull anyone?

hmmmm.... If I had this dress:

I would wear these earrings with it:

And because my teeth chatter the second it drops below 74 I would wear this stole with it:

Then, because I'm crazzzzzzy...

I would wear these boots with it.

all photos from my Pinterest board

We should go to a tractor pull on New Year's Eve so we can all dress up and watch the big tire drop... you with me?

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I'd probably even wear this dress while braving the Christmas shopping crowds at Hobby Lobby. hee-hee

keeping my eyes on the star...

okay... the neutral didn't last long...

you may have already guessed that it wouldn't last long. and yes, that is a Charlie Brown tree in the background. ;-D

my dining table is back to it's normal now (whatever THAT is)...

and yes! i painted the deer!

this Christmas has arrived fast...

and i'm not ready.

my normal "Merrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry Christmas!" is coming out more like, "*pfffffft* Merry Christmas".

Jill at Jill Ruth & Co. found the words that I couldn't.

"... the real meaning of the season is not lost, but found even in the midst of the stress. Keeping my eyes on the star."

i'm going to spend the week-end stargazing... see if I can't remember what Christmas is all about.


comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I just adore the memories - new and old - that Christmas holds... and the way that Jill finds words that elude me.


p.s. the "resident teen's" girlfriend brought me the peppermints 'cause she knows they make me smile... does that mean she likes me?

sparkles and shine!

We all know by now that I don't "do" neutral in the single-wide hardly at all ever never, never ever...



but a few weeks ago I came across these Pfaltzgraff "Brown Drip" dishes.... drug 'em home and SUDDENLY the single-wide thinks it's a "Christmas cabin in the woods"! Sometimes there is just no controlling the single-wide.

There are just bits and pieces of the set...

and go with absolutely nothing IN my house - but fit in with everything on "rancho del red.neck".

They aren't really my style.

But... uhmmm...

I couldn't help but play with them!!!

In my mind gold metallic, gold glitter,

silver metallic, silver glitter, mercury glass (new and old),

gold sequins...

they are all neutrals.
For my first foray in to "neutral territory" (and the single-wide's minor case of "i think i'm a log cabin"), I'm quite pleased! So much so that I'm going to go throw my duct tape roll in to Debra at Common Ground's Vintage Inspiration Friday linky FUN!!! You should go visit... EVERYONE is sooooooo inspiring and you get to visit Debra is just gorgeous AND inspiring!!!

Now, who's cooking?! I've got the dishes...

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I did some shoppin' at "the Mama's" for the bedspread and the brass deer... don't tell her though 'cause I'm smackin' those dear deer in the antlers with some chrome spray paint in about... 4 hours. ssssshhhhhhh...

silver and gold (again)

AGAIN I needed gold... but all I had was silver.

Cheap silverware
meet:
Gold metallic spray paint.
(you should DEFINITELY try this at home... imagine the possibilities! Pink, green... purple, orange... lipstick red... oh my! Tablescapes will never be the same again! What color do you need?)

Tape off the "eat-with-me" part and get to spray paintin'.

I added some metallic glaze 'cause gold metallic paint wasn't the right shade of metallic gold. (don't worry... i just confused myself with that one...)

Just WAIT 'til you see what I've been up to!

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I DO realize that red.necks are supposed to use the plastic stuff... but 4/$1.00 at the dollar store puts me in the "Chic" category, right? Seriously... one can NOT be seen eating out of the cool whip container with a plastic spoon... the horror! hee-hee

silver and gold

Mercury glass.

I usually gravitate towards the silver, but I needed gold (wait 'til you see WHY I needed gold! yeeeee HA!) and I didn't HAVE any gold...

so I ran a glass votive holder under the tap.
Shook out the excess water.
Went outside and sprayed the inside with gold metallic paint.
Swirled the watered down paint concoction around.
Let it dry.
Uh huh... that simple!
THEN "the Mama" says to try vinegar instead of water to get the "aged" effect.

So... I put some vinegar in a glass votive holder - shook it up and swirled it around.
Shook out the excess vinegar.
Went outside and sprayed the inside with gold metallic paint.
Swirled the vingegared down paint concoction around.
Let it dry.
Aged to perfection in seconds!

Hot glue on some ribbon, add some cedar pieces and a silver pinecone. 'Cause it's Christmas and finishes are meant to be mixed up.

Oh wait... I do that all year round. *shrug*

There you have it! "Fool's Gold" mercury glass. The silver works too! Here's some mood music for you... you can thank me later 'cause you're going to be humming this to yourself throughout the rest of today:



comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I have sprayed my way through many many cans of metallic paints, glitter paints... more glitter paints... I look best in a wild mix of silver and gold... with a lil' chartreuse thrown in...

quirky

In OCTOBER of LAST year I wrote about the "Quirky Heirloom Throw" from Anthropologie.

For THAT long I've had it on my mind. Things don't usually stay in/on/around my mind that long... just sayin'. It is GORGEOUS! And I want it! But... the Anthro throw is not an heirloom to me.

Sew I made my own that IS an heirloom to me.

Wanna know why?

Judi Spinetti (the GREATEST of cheerleaders!)

Kim (CEO of A Hillbilly's Life)

Sweet T (CEO of Garden Antqs Vintage)

Mindy (CEO of The Primitique)

"the Mama" (birthplace of the red.neck girl)

Sue (CEO of Vintage Rescue Squad)

Theresa (CEO and creator of AWESOME over at The Old White House)
Mr. Flannery (CEO and "furniture dancer" at Hogs and Roses)

Mama Debinator (CEO and Cat Daddy tamer over at Talkin' Trash)

Malissa (CEO (and secret pin-up girl) over at Pent-Up Photos)

They all spoil me rotten. ROTTEN! Like... canyousmellme ROTTEN!

Between all of these beautiful hearts (and a thrift store for the afghan (I tried to find a white one but it turns out... I don't do white very well and gravitated towards the green!)) I now have my very OWN special/quirky/totally fun heirloom throw!!!

Patches, doilies, vintage trim and buttons... all mixed in together...
from all over the United States...
all sent with love and friendship...
ALL of these things insure that each time I wrap myself up with my throw I will think of each one of you... and my heart will warm up too.

You can make one. You SHOULD make one! Find a crocheted afghan - grab up some doilies and get to stitchin'. If you are more patient than I am you could hand stitch them on... but I apparently need some instant gratification (well... it took about 3-5 hours to fix this "just so") and ran it all through my sewing machine. Easy.

Sew... now I have my very own "Quirky Heirloom Throw". And it's possible I will not come out from under it until next May.

comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide where I'm thinkin' I'm such-a-nerd... I was out photographing this thing in 27 degree weather - crunching through the frozen leaves... SHIVERING non-stop (in my jammies and 3 coats no less) when I SHOULD have been UNDER the blanket in my house - where it's WARM! Quirky my foot... I think I'm brain-frozen.