Orchids, such a splendid flower.

I know I promised a photo of my Valentine's Day Orchid, but my camera was just NOT cooperating! Or could it be the operator? Oh dear me, it couldn't be, it just couldn't be little ole' me :)

Low an behold, I did manage to get one photo last evening, before my hubby came home. Well, let me back up I think I may have gotten quite a few, but I didn't have in the camera card, LOL. You guessed it that was little ole' me :). Then, everytime I went to focus in and take a shot, some kind of "jibberish" would pop up on the screen???? Well, my husband asked me "Did you check the battery, honey?" I turned around and looked at him like, battery??? What is a battery and whatever would you need one of those for,LOL?????
So Photography 101 repeated:

1. You need a charged battery.
2. You need a camera card, you know it kinda works like film, from the old days :)
3. You need the right lense adjustments or lense changed.

You guessed it! It was all just little ole' "me", having a "duh" moment.

Well, I hope this made you smile and this one photo didn't turn out too badly after all :)
Come back again,
Chrissy

Meet Me On Monday Party

Hi Everyone I am joining Java over at Never Growing Old today http://nevergrowingold.blogspot.com/search/label/Meet%20Me%20On%20Monday: Questions:

1.  Did you get any Valentine's Gifts?
   Yes, I received a purple orchid and a red enameled cast iron dutch oven :)

2.  What is your favorite topping on something toasted?
    Honey or Strawberry Jam

3.  Do you pick out your outfit the night before?
    Most of the times I do, but if I don't, I usual have an idea in my head before going to bed.

4.  What food item do you absolutely despise?
     I can't think of anything I absolutely despise? If I had to pick something it would probably be liver.

5.  Righty or lefty?
    I am a righty now, but when I was younger I used both hands. Mostly because my grandmother was left handed and I spent alot of time with her. Plus,  I broke my right arm/wrist a number of times and you all know, you have to get the homework done. {this was before computers, of course}

Well, this was posted before I could get photos this morning. I'll see if I can get a good photo of the orchid :)

This is my first posting here, so I am looking forward to meeting/getting to know all of you.

Thanks for visiting and please let me know you stopped by,
Chrissy

Thinking of warmer weather and France

Well, today was really super cold here,  it started at 6 deg and went up to 20 deg, but the sun was oh so bright and warming :0 It made me start to think of warmer weather and started plotting out a Potager (french kitchen garden). This made me start to think about some of the lovely things of France, and thought I would share a few photos from our trips there.

Walking along the water, it was just so calming and peace. I can still feel the warmth and exhiliration of actually being in France.

 The photo above is a carousel, just out in the town centre, no other amusements were there. They are so beautiful and still quite a few around France.

 This is just a closer shot of the carousel. Can you see the little boy peering up over the horse with his sunglasses on ? 

 This was a little farmer's market, it was not huge, what  it lacked in size (vendors) it made up for with selection. Look at all of these gorgeous colors.

This is just the other side of the same little market. I think they had mostly fruits?

This was just a little stroll through a town called Metz, France. It was such a beautiful place to visit and walk around.

I hope you enjoyed your visit, do come back soon,
Chrissy

Things you probably don't want to know?

First, let me thank 2 great ladies and bloggers for nominating me for the Stylish Blogger Award.  Please be sure to visit them :

Melanie (who has 2 blogs)  Lucky 7 http://mylucky7design.blogspot.com/  and Momma J and the Fashionistas http://mamajandherfashionistas.blogspot.com/ .

Terrie at Terrie Smiling http://terriekwong.blogspot.com/

I think this is a great way to get to know new bloggers. However, I am still working on the "Stylish" part of blogging still, so if my posts seem somewhat not right, please let me know and feel free to give me "help" :)

7 Things about me:

1. I am a Type A Personality. Which is good and bad, but lately more "bad". You see for some reason   lately, it keeps me from finishing something (if I don't think it is perfect), for fear of failure???? However, if I have a deadline, then it gets finished.
2. I worked for a big corporation for 10 years, and also received a certification as a CPM. Everything changed after babies and I left to stay home with my children.
3. There have been days that I wish I still had a corporate job. Although most day I am grateful that I don't :)
4. I love to shop, especially for "bargains". Shopping is "therapy" to me :) Not for my husband though?
5. I love Interior Design and have been trying to finish an on-line course. However, this proves difficult for me (Type A), not having a teacher to physically ask and look at your project. I am definitely a classroom learner in this type of class.
6. I have bins of craft stuff and interior design stuff. I am constantly looking around to see what I can change. It drives my husband absolutely crazy at times. Especially when he knows I may want to, Ummm........PAINT??? 
7. When I am determined and have a plan....Get out of my way :)

Well, I hope that wasn't toooo long winded :) Now maybe you have TMI, as my daughter would say.

I am supposed to pass this on to other blogger, but at this point everyone I know has received it or do not do awards?

So here's what I think? If you are a blogger and have not received this award, but would love to share 7 things about yourself, let me know and I will post it here for everyone to visit. I know your thinking "Oh, I could never do that."  I am telling you "Yes you can.", because how else do we get to know each other, right??? Also, if I see someone doesn't have it I may nominate them in the future:)

Thanks for stopping by and please do come back again,
Chrissy

Green Acres, is the place to be?

Joining Debbie today for the Newbie Partay, won't you come on over: http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2011/02/lets-get-it-started-again-lets-get-it.html

First off, I probably really showed my age with that statement :) Second, oh how I wish/pray the acres were green around here :( but soon enough they will be. Well, at least that is what I keep telling myself, LOL.

I know I should have posted this sooner, but what can I say..........

Anyhooo, IKEA seems to be the place to be! I forgot my camera, but it was soooo packed I don't think I could have used it anyway?  We went to the IKEA in Baltimore. Let me tell you something "It is a great way to pass a dreary day!", but with just a few less people. It was really difficult at first to get acclimated to the store, since I have NEVER been to one before? I know "Where have you been?"

Let me just back up a minute and preface this with "my teens had to come along", yeah, imagine that, but it turned out okay. They acutally ended up finding something they want to go back and get in the Spring {grin}, means another trip for me :)

Also, remember to look at the materials being used, if you want wood {my husbands' preference} you can find some things, but you need to read how they make their furniture and see it to appreciate it. My husband came home with a different perspective on funiture.

Although I didn't get to take photos, just click on the following link http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom, rooms are set up like a furniture store and then downstairs you can find all of the "accessories" {could spend alot of time in this section}. Here are a few little things I bought:

First off, I had to buy one of these IKEA tarp bags, literally made from tarp material.

The first thing I saw, but had to wait until I got downstairs to find it, was the wooden lazy susan at $7.99.

How cute are these colorful and cutout cake plate liners. Can you guess what the silver handle gizmo is? It is a milk frother and yes it work really well, honest.

 Here is a closer pic, can you see the corkboard trivets behind them, a set of 3 for $2.99.  I have also  been looking for a sleek pair of tongs for nonstick cooking, I just love how these fit in my hand.

 I couldn't believe these cute "cupcake" liners, although their cupcake pan was deeper and skinner, I think I can use them in my regular pan??? We'll see and if not they are cute enough for a craft project at .99 cents.

This plastic bin was the second thing that I didn't find until I went downstairs. It is just great at $4.99, you can use it without the little plastic seperators or with them. I also love the top latches on the lid, you can always tell that they are securely latched.

This will give you a great idea of the store, at least the one at Baltimore, MD, next to the White Marsh Mall, which by the way is an awesome mall. Hint: Will be dropping the teens  (19 and 16),off there, so I can continue my shopping at IKEA.

Due to space being limited on this trip, because of snowboarding equipment, I am definitely planning on taking a truck for the next trip.

I am joining Debbie at Debbie Doos, for the Newbie Partay, please click here to come meet some newbie bloggers and maybe a your next BFF: http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2011/02/lets-get-it-started-again-lets-get-it.html. I can't seem to find/figure out the button? Sorry

I want to apologize to the three ladies that have nominated me for the Stylish Blog Award,, for not acknowledging the award and participating yet. I have been hit with the flu and will post that as soon as possible.  Also, what kind of things do you all want to know about me, don't want to bore anyone :)

Thanks for visiting,
Chrissy

Hooray! I think I found something?

Well, I think I am excited, anyway? Everyone seems to be finding all of these great things while thrifting about, and I never seem to find much of anything? It all happened by accident, you see, my cousin and I went grocery shopping, in our little "rinky dink" town, while we were there we decided to have a piece of pie and coffee. As we were sitting there eating and talking we both, at the same time said "I wonder what is in that "Resale" store, because you see around here everyone usually takes all of their "junk" :) there, especially clothing.  Since we were real close to it, like next door, we decided we would sneek in and have a quick peek.  I couldn't believe all of the actual "junk", but also some treasures if you wanted to look and dig :)

Here are some items I found: 

I am pretty sure this is not vintage, but it was only .25 cents, and I thought I could make it look old.  Hey for 25 cents, painted white and distressed with a flower or two perfect in my eyes.

Now, I am not sure on how to tell real silver, but the details on this tray are just gorgeous (click to see details). Anyone else know the test for real silver? Plus, it was only $2.00, so I figured I could put a bowl in the middle for dips and crackers or use it for display.

These candle sticks where just to pretty to pass up, my daugther and I have been looking for some nice clear one too. The 2 smaller ones are a set with octogon bases and the post is like a pillar ridge - $1.00 for the set and the taller one in the middle was only .25 cents. They are probably now Crystal, but they are cute and cheap :)

So with all of my treasures put together, I spent a total of $3.50 plus tax, not bad I don't think :)

I have photo with them all together, but for some reason I can not get it select??  I did it , yeah. One less blogger things for me to figure out, like I don't have enough already :)

I am joining the Frugalicious Friday Party at Finding Fabulous for less click here to join us, there is also a great giveaway:  http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/2011/02/frugalicious-friday-giveawayswizzlestix.html

Thanks for visiting and following along on this great journey called Blogging.
Chrissy

First Mod Podge Project

My daughter had to do a memory box for "To Kill a Mockingbird", all she really had to do was use a shoe box and put 5 things about her character in the box. However, she loves to be creative (when in the "mood"), so she asked me what she could do and that she wanted it to look "old". Also the more creative your project was, the better your grade would be.

 So immediately I said "How about decoupage,?", of course her response was "What?" 
Once I showed it to her and explained what you do........

 She said "Okay, but what do we have to use for this?"  Hmmmm... I think I have just the right thing (if I can find it?) so out come the supplies.

Here is a close up:

If you look closely at the photo above, you will see the decoupage tissue that we used.  It was just like decorative tissue paper. We pulled them all out and picked out the ones we thought would give us the look she wanted. Next, we tore them in to all different sizes and mixed them up for randomness ( is that a word?) you know what I mean, right?  My daughter started to go to work on her box:

As you can tell , to right we poured the Mod Podge into a plastic cup, made for easy clean up. She used a sponge brush to apply the Mod Podge to the box and then laid her tissue on top of it.

Then she would go over the tissue pieces again with the Mod Podge.  Oh as I am looking at this, I just remembered, we thought it needed something other than the tissue. So immediately, I thought of the Graphics Fairy, click here: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-lm0ZsrXVngNzBhNTMyODYtMWYzYy00NTFjLTg3ZDctOTkwNTQzNDQ5OTRm&hl=en&pli=1, for vintage sheet music. I printed it onto beige paper and presto, just what it needed.

We painted the inside of the box black, but it just wasn't working, so she decoupage the sides and put the sheet music on the bottom "perfect touch".  She also needed to personalize it some how?

Since her character was Mayella, she really needed to think about what (5) things to put in Mayella's memory box. So she picked the famous verse about a Mockingbird, the word Hope, because the girl did have hope in the beginning and the bird symbol.

Now for inside the box she decide the first item would be a box that held the (7) nickels. The same nickels that she sent the children to get ice cream. We used the same technique to do this box, as the big box.

In the finished box you will find the rest of the items, red flower from her "garden", picture of Tom Robinson, newspaper article about the trial and a journal entry written by Mayella of how she might have felt at the end, about what she had done and how awful she probably felt.

Finally the outside of the project looked like this:

She finished it off by personalizing it a little more with an "M". We sprayed it with a thin coat of sealer

to seal the paint on the "M", it just would not dry.

Her teacher just loved it! She received the highest grade in the class :) We had some great mother/daughter time and made our first Mod Podge project together. I am repurposing the box for myself as a memory of time spent with my daughter, may be my sewing box :)

 I will get the hang of this Linky thing soon :) I know it is late in the day but I joined the following Linky Parties:  (if these links don't work try their buttons on my sidebar)

TUES: Gettin' Krafty with It at:  http://kraftykat76.blogspot.com/2011/01/gettin-krafty-with-it.html

Show Me Whatcha Got at: http://happyhappyhousewife.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-me-what-ya-got-9.html

WED: Savvy Southern Style - BTB Party at: http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

 Won't you come over and join the party with me :) even if it is just to socialize.

FRI: Sassy Sites - FFA Party at: http://sassysites.blogspot.com/2011/02/ffafriday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SassySites+%28Sassy+Sites%21%29

I hope you will come back again soon to viist,

Chrissy

What is a Swap Blog Party?

Actually, it is called a "Swap Following " Party, but I had the same question, when I came across the blog Homemaker on a Dime, not only did I enjoy her blog, but she was hosting her first Swappy Blog Party. It was like a candy store, which blog to look at first, plus you quick exposure to other blogs.

Well, since I am new to blogging, just started in December 10',  it is great to find a party like this one :)
Now, don't get me wrong I love all of the other Linky Parties, but this one let's me find new blogs to explore and get them to find mine easily. Since I am new, I don't have to ponder as much about what to post so it fits in with the Linky Party, hopefully I will get better at this, especially since I am feeling better :)

So would you like to join me at this great party or learn more about a Swap Following Party, please click on the button on my sidebar. I cannot seem to get the button to appear in my post, going to have to figure this one out??


Thank you SJ, for this great party, and thanks to everyone for visiting and following my blog.
Chrissy