HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I Love Home Sense

From time to time (week to week) I find myself visiting the Home Sense store. Each week their stock is replenished so you always see something new. The other day I was waiting for Costco to open (they don't open until 10:00am) so I had to kill some time and what did I see? Home Sense opens at 9:30am so I paid them a visit. I especially love this time of year there because they are putting all of their Christmas stuff out, and I don't know about you, but one can never have enough Christmas decorations or stuff!

Needless to say, I did find some things to fill my already jampacked house, but I couldn't resist. They just kept calling my name......Rochelle.....Rochelle.....Rochelle......wouldn't we look so cute adorning your home this holiday season??? We are so lonely here on the shelf and we want to be part of a family.......

Well, I couldn't not rise to the occasion and leave them there all alone so they came home with me! Don't you think they will look so good come Christmas evening with the table all decorated and festive? They will make the Christmas dinner taste so much better...more appealing.....more tempting.....at least this is what I kept telling myself when I was debating whether or not to get them!

Here's a look........

And yes I had to get 12 place settings because you never know how many people you will have coming to eat!

And here is a close-up of the picture on the plates.....

Aren't these two cute? They are a gingerbread man and a snowman with the ingredients for a cookie mix included in the glass bottle. They will sit on my kitchen windowsill come Christmastime.

Well, today is my errand day so I better make a move on things! Have a great day!

Gettin' It Done

I am so proud of myself that I actually finished a couple of projects that had been looming for me to do around the house - no, the chandelier from Italy is still not finished! I was determined to finish up my craft room so that I could have a counter space to work at to finish my chandelier and other crafts/scrapbooking that I may have to do. Now, you all know that my most favorite color is red, but in close second is the color turquoise. I had painted this room a couple of years ago this color and have been slowly adding and sewing things to match. It is such a cheerful color and a great space to work in. So, here are the pictures of my finished room in all its glory.........

Look at all that great spacious crafting area.....

And more.....

This used to be the only area in my craft room that I could sit and scrapbook at - talk about confined spaces. So glad to have the new counter!!

I didn't want just a "normal" counter so I glitz it up a bit by laying down dollar store paper doilies and using spray paint to paint these on - when I installed the counter top I realized that they match the flowers on the curtains and storage tower! 

This is one of my most favorite etsy purchases......an old train case in the most perfect aqua color. It is modge podged with old vintage sewing pattern pictures.....love it!!!

And this is another piece I love - an old cupboard filled with lots of goodies....

I just love having this space to work in and I love having the white storage compartments underneath - I don't like looking at a messy workspace and these really help keep everything organized. Now my daughters and I have a space to do our scrapbooking together!

The other project that I have been wanting to do was this.....

I failed to take a before picture, but if you could imagine this piece with just the clear glass doors with shelves full of DVDs for everyone's sight, it was just ugly. So, to hide the view of the DVDs I went out and bought some poster board and measured and cut it to fit the cabinet doors. I then took old hymnal pages out of some books I had and "voila" no more DVD view. It now looks great in our hallway and doesn't have the cluttered look it had before. I covered both sides of the poster board with the hymnal pages because I plan to add vintage colored pictures, ruffled crepe paper, velvet flowers, etc. to add the element of color to match our home interior. One side is going to have Christmas things and the other side will be everyday. This way when winter comes I can flip the board around to showcase the Christmas side!

While I was busy "doing" my little Lola found a warm spot on the hardwood floor and just relaxed.......

In a few weeks I will be traveling to my parents home in Oregon to enjoy the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday with them and my sisters. Unfortunately no one from my household can go with me as they are in school or working, so me and Lola will have to travel by ourselves. I am looking forward to seeing my family and spending time with them. It has been a few months since we have gotten together so we have lots to catch up on. I always enjoy "bazaaring" with my mom and sisters since here in Canada where I live there are only a few good ones to attend. The Christmas bazaars that are in my parents location have just the right stuff I am looking for to decorate for the holidays. I especially love those "vintagey" items that rekindle memories of the 60's from my childhood. It's funny how these things mean so much to us when we get older and reminisce about when were growing up - my children think I'm crazy when I go ga ga over some old item or antique that I have found in a store. They just don't get it! Maybe they will when they are my age.....

Happy Crafting!

Doin' Some Scrapbookin'

After selecting some of the photos that I took from my trip to Cortona, Italy, I then went to Michael's and picked up some supplies to make these.....

These are for the two women that I met at the workshop - the robins egg blue one is for Milliande in London and the brown one is for Christina in Ontario. I think that the colors I chose for each of them suit their personalities and hopefully their homes. I enjoyed making them and the memories of the trip it brought back. What a fun time we had!

Here are some close-ups of the finished project......

It's Raining Again

Yes, once again it is raining in this northern town I live in......I guess it is destined to become a record rainfall year the way it is going. I should have taken advantage of those few fall sunny days we had to get out into the yard to do some cleanup. Instead I fear I might be doing that fall yard cleanup in the pouring rain! I've been too preoccupied with doing things inside the house that I neglected to think about outside and all that is involved this time of year! Somehow the pretty fall display on my front porch is overshadowed by the dismay of the front yard......

With living room renovations almost complete, I have started on a new project in my craft room upstairs. My girls and I scrapbook a lot but just don't have the room for all of us to work at the same time in the same place. So, I came up with a plan to build a work station counter against the walls with storage units underneath to "hide" all of the supplies and such. When I was at Michael's the other day I saw these and thought that they would be the perfect solution.

My idea is to stack two of these blocks on top of eachother and then have my husband cut me out a counter from plywood to go on top of them. I purchased six units so that I would have ample storage space. I've assembled all of them and now all that needs to be done is the counter. Then I will paint or stain it and "voila" we will have the perfect work station! I can't wait to finish it - I will be able to use this area for a multitude of projects, including the chandelier from Italy that still needs to be finished!

Happy Crafting!

Some Red Transferware

I haven't been collecting these plates, bowls, and platters for very long, but I seem to have enough of it to showcase. From visiting lots of blogs out there and seeing many home decorating magazines and books, I have seen various ideas displaying your collections. I was getting bored with my dining room walls so I decided to display my transferware on the wall. Wait, I still see some open wall areas......I think I need to go antiquing for more!

And this is a unique chandelier that I got at a store in Granville Island in Vancouver that showcased local artists - I love the quirkiness of it!

Here is a close-up.....

And I forgot that I had never posted any pictures of our upstairs bathroom after the new tile floors were installed. I got a few pictures of the bathroom just before my camera fell and hit the ground hard.......now the lens won't retract back into the camera......that cannot be a good thing. Now my camera does not work at all - only taking blurry pictures - not good at all. I guess I will try and see if this is covered under the extended warranty I got on it. I will be lost without it......

An inside view from the door.....

A view of the sink area......And the clawfoot bathtub.......

Hope you are enjoying your fall......and if you are living in Canada, I hope you had a really nice Thanksgiving!

Found: Piano Stool

Just found on Craigslist! Remember the piano found on Craigslist for $50 on a recent post? Well, found this stool that will match perfectly......and would you believe it cost MORE than the piano? This stool is $80! Still, a perfect match! I pick it up this Friday in North Vancouver.

Ta Da!!

Here are the finished window treatments in our living room. I am happy with the outcome and with the brightness in the room - especially on these gloomy fall days!

The finished room!

Here is a close-up of the blind material and lace curtains......

Give Thanks

This just says it all....

What I've Been Up To

For the last couple of years my living room has been bugging me. The wood shutters in the windows are pretty to look at but they do not function. Half of the slats don't open and because of the furniture placement in the room it is impossible to swing them open to allow the sunlight in. So, off to our local Home Depot to solve the problem. Once there I spied on display these blinds in exactly the type of fabric pattern that would match our room and style. I am so happy that they open from both the top and bottom for privacy. I am also so estatic that they let so much sunlight in to brighten the always dreary room. So, even on a gloomy day there is brightness here!

This is the room before......I know that the wood shutters are so nice looking and really suited the room, but it was time for a change and time to let the sun in!

Another view.....

And now with the new blinds and sun! I had also ordered some lace curtains to install as well. Yesterday I got one side done and today I will finish the other. It really adds to the window and I will post the new room once I've finished.

Here is that piano that I got on Craigs List for $50....that open space to the right above my chair will be where I will hang my chandelier that I made at the workshop in Italy - still a work in progress!

See those two sconces above the piano? They were my splurge item from an antiques market in Arezzo, Italy.

A close up view......

More of Rome....

As I spent the first three days of my trip with my son in Rome, we spent countless hours seeing all that you should see while there. One of our stops was at the Vatican. I was amazed at all the old marble statues that still existed and how many hallways were filled with them. There were shelves and shelves full of them. The murals that covered the ceilings were very exquisite and such detail too. There were also crowds and crowds of people so you had to dodge here and there to see everything. The Sistine Chapel was amazing, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures in there so I have none to share.

Here is one of the hallways with the endless statues.....

More busts and statues......

And again......

Still more......
And more........

Another stop we made was the visit to the top of the dome of the Bassilica. My son failed to let me know that there would be countless climbing of stairs to reach the top - I thought there would be an elevator. These stairs.........

Were only part of the 320 that we had to walk up to see the top of the dome......
But once there, the view was incredible.......
See what I mean??.......
You could see the whole city of Rome......

The famous "Spanish Steps" in Rome....

A random elephant statue......Brandon in a view from the top on our walk to the Galleria Borghese....
In the distance you can see the Vatican.......
The fountain outside of the Galleria Borghese......

The long walk back to Campo de Fiori.....

We stayed in an amazing part of town called Campo de Fiori. It was a central location to just about everything and it was very quaint. Only problem with our apartment was that there was no air conditioning and we were right above the street where there was a bar. At night it got quite loud and you could here bottles being broken everywhere. But, once we woke in the morning, all the broken bottles and garbage were already cleaned up and the streets were as good as new. Our apartment window at the Campo de Fiori hotel......

The front entrance of the Hotel Campo de Fiori.......

Check out the views from our terrace of the Hotel Campo de Fiori.....

More views......

And more.......

A man painting a frieze on the side of a building near our square....

Bringing life to an old building........

This was the daily market in the piazza near our hotel....fresh vegetables, fruit, pasta, etc. every day!!

The lady vendor who helped us pick out fresh fruit every day from her booth......
Some nuns shoppin'....
And the most fantastic cappucinno we had every day at the restaurant in the piazza....
Ciao for now.....I hope you enjoyed a peek into Rome!