Indulge Your Shelf

If you're looking for Show us your Best Handmade 2010, click here . It's amazing to think that the year is ending within two days; I do look forward to 2011 -- during this year I will celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary, my son will begin high school...and who knows what other wonderful things will come? We went grocery shopping and ran errands yesterday, so we're prepared for an oncoming storm which I am hoping will dump a lot of snow on the ground!  It sounds so cozy to be holed up inside with my husband and son, to ring out the old year and welcome the new one.  Believe me I have plenty of projects to work on if that happens! Here's the latest of my sponsored articles:  Great TV for antique and vintage treasure hunters .  Feel free to comment on the articles, even if you're not local.  I would love to hear what TV shows you've seen and liked on the subject matter! The sun is shining now, but who knows for how long?  I'm going to take advantage of i...

Welcome to Show us your Best Handmade of 2010 -- a look back on your creative year.  I hope you will blog about what you've created that you loved the best, and link back here to share the beauty! It really is hard to choose just one thing, isn't it?  But I think that this is what I made that I like best: I found this bird "plaque" at a thrift store, where it looked like this: I just really liked the shape and size of it, and decided it had potential if painted.  So I painted it all white.  But then it looked too "flat" to me.  So then I added color on the flowers. I used some of my Silver Bella skills to paint, shade, and "antique" the piece. It still needed something...so I added the collar and the crown, and glittered and embellished it with something like abandon (another Silver Bella-learned skill!) I was doing all this during the week after Thanksgiving, and it enjoyed working on it more than I can say.  I guess that's why ...

Incredibly, as I watch the news reports of monster storms and rare white Christmases around the globe, this California girl is envious.  There's plenty of snow in them thar hills (ski country) but not a flake to be seen around here, and none on the horizon, either.  Hmphf! Normally, it's plenty deep by now! Post your swirling white photos on your blog so I can have a look, okay? And, please visit my second article on Hidden Treasures: Vintage Christmas treasures at thrift stores now Only two more days until Show us your Best Handmade 2010 !

We had such a lovely holiday this year -- mellow!  Friends came over for a wonderful meal on Christmas Eve, and it was so nice to see them before they flew off to be with family the next day.  I can't believe how big the kids are getting! On Christmas morning our teenager let us sleep until 8 am; then we awoke to coffee and opening gifts.  We all got some wonderful things, including my new camera!  It's an upgrade to my Sony Cybershot, and I'm excited to begin using it!  Ben's excited, too, because it means he gets to use my 3-year old one.  I'll never tire of watching the surprise and excitement on my kid's face when he opens a box to find his heart's desire, will you? We lazed around the rest of the day, watching TV, talking on the phone with family, and snacking on some of the fantastic treats we have in abundance. In the late afternoon I roused myself to do some scrapbooking.  It was my kind of day! I'm up early, so I think I'll be headin...

Merry Christmas! I can't wait to hear about your holiday!   and, don't forget to take photos of your favorite handmade creations of 2010 to post and share next week! Right here beginning December 29!

It's Christmas week!  Ben is on break from school so I'm looking forward to some relaxing days between now and Christmas Eve.  We're pretty well finished with all that must be done, so, besides planning and shopping for Christmas dinner, some baking, and delivering gifts to friends, we'll just be puttering. Speaking of friends and gifts, I have to show you some things I've been gifted from blogging friends: Lori Anderson sent me this vintage alphabet book with the most adorable illustrations! Angela sent me the gift of a tiny quilted pillow made from the same beautiful fabric she used on my large quilt, along with these cute little hot pads! The little quilted hot pads have tiny magnets in the tips, so you can hang them on the 'fridge! Speaking of little quilts, you have to see these beautiful crazy quilted Christmas stockings that have been a part of my holiday decor for years now! They're made by Linda , my favorite eBay seller, from lit...

I'm excited to share two upcoming blog events with you: mark your calendars! First, I'm hosting a linky party called, Show us your Best Handmade!  I've noticed how many of us are blogging about crafting gifts that can't be revealed until later, and I also know how it is to look back on our productive year after the holidays, and take stock.  So, I've created this event where we can blog about what we've created that we loved best, and link back here to share the beauty. Show us your Best Handmade begins Wednesday, December 29, and runs through January 2.  Post about the handmade creation of yours that was your favorite, and then come back here where I'll have a post up for you to link to the party. Do me a favor: grab this button (just copy the html code in the box below the photo) and put it on your blog's sidebar to help me advertise this party.  And tell all your friends! <center><a href="http://indulgeyourshelf.blogspot.com/...