Stage Left 2013

Exiting a Year brings about 365 days of memories. 

I think this year was packed with so many good times and good things

 that happened to me and to others in my family.

I want to re-cap it, but first I have to finish Christmas 2013.

Remember my narcissus I planted after Thanksgiving? 

They "forced" their way to find the light and matured into beautiful flowers.

We hosted Christmas dinner. We sat 11 people at this very large table. 

No one took a photo that day but 4 days later we had another Swenson party
 at my in-laws home.

Onto..my next recap post of 2013.

A Little Cat Cheer

I love this cat, he loves me only because I scratch his ears, 

brush his long furry body and of course feed

 him twice a day with a late afternoon snack.

Christmas Cat Cheer!

Christmas at The Scenesons

As we celebrate the Season, I have many small scenes 

around my home that remind me of family, friends 

and the birth of the Saviour.

Here are few...

Christmas cards are addressed and mailed out today.

A New Winter Wonderland scene in place.

So happy I have this vintage piece in my kitchen.

 I have a collection of Annalee dolls from my mother and

 from TJ Maxx. Thank you very much.

I almost bought a cat doll this year that looked just like my "buddy" (cat).

He had a red St Nick hat on his head...but I resisted because heaven knows

 I really don't need to add to anymore of my Christmas "stuff".

This is vintage abt 1990, my mom created this vignette upon
 a sprayed styro-foam platform.

These dolls were purchased in the last three years.
Annalee dolls all have the same basic painted face design.

The Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus are sitting chairs that my mom had collected.
She had an elaborate vignette at one time and some of these
 toy props are from her collections. The two elves are new.

It has been a tradition with me to force narcissus (paper whites) bulbs
the day after Thanksgiving.
Here we are in week 3 of December, hoping these bloom by Christmas. 

I love the smell of pine and when you have an artificial tree (heaven forbid),
I bring fresh cut pine boughs in.
This is in my entry of my home.
Christ in Red Robe
by Minerva Teichert.

Merry Christmas!

Giving..thanks

You could say that the 90 year women in the middle 

of these two, started it all (of course with her late husband Merrill..)

(L) Dallas Scott, Margie, the Swede

Our family

Hunter, aka..the pie man

delivered the most amazingly
beautiful and tasty pies.

Didn't you have dessert first, with your
 Thanksgiving feast?

I made these caps & hats for our Pilgrim family

Here is Ross & Brianne with....

Jada

Jett

Wonderful day with family and food!

Autunm Banners & Pendants

Once again....

This old china hutch has become a great prop for holiday decorations,
my kitchen never looked more festive!

Miniature pendants in fall colors

This banner string took me an hour to make..it was really a
 challenge of wits, having the patience with all the thread cutting.

Mr. & Mrs. Pilgrim are happier with the new additions.

~~

Next post.... Thanksgiving day 

Pre Prep..

Two weeks till the feast

Thanksgiving dinner is first and foremost about the food.

 I am hosting this years family gathering.

I really needed to update my table linens. 

I am not that inspired with this holiday to sew but I decided that 

a couple of new table runners would brighten up the atmosphere.

Multi colored leaf runner.

Optional gold rimmed setting.
(I only have enough for 4.) 

Orange print fabric I had in my stash, it was
barely enough for a runner.
I gathered the glass birds to see if that could
work as a center piece.

A potpourri of leaves, bark, mesh-mash of autumnal things.

The old bird gets center stage on this trial place setting.

I like the thought of using different print napkins at each place.

The china was inherited from my sweet 90 yr. old mother-in-law.

~
My next post will be props for my turkey day photo booth.

I Fall onto....

my couch this time of year to gear up for 

the long days that I will spend inside.

I took a short trip to the Provo Library, love this building. It used to be the 

Brigham Young Academy back in it's day.

The city rebuilt and renovated it to 

become a library and an event place.

That's Brigham Young in front statue.

Who wouldn't want to learn how American

 started their trade relationship with China!

The cover of this book was like a magnet to me.

The introduction is really informative, but I lost 

interest in its LOOOONG chapters.

This book is about a year in time in a small area that a biologists

will visit and document the change that occurs in nature.

I like it so far.

and so begins the transition from Autumn to Winter..........

My Front Door is Happy!

I have had a few Halloween Wreaths on my front door, 

but they always seem to look dated when I go to put

 them up the next season.

So, I once again, said that I was finished with crafting 

anything related to Halloween, and ended up making this wreath.

I bought a plain straw wreath and sprayed painted it black.

I made my festoon bunting
(see previous blog post titled : My version of orange and black to see how to make this,)

This vintage pumpkin head was on a broken body
 that I found at Hobby Lobby and got an extra 66 % off.
I then sawed the head off the body...
(No blood in involved in the dismemberment, but I did enjoy using a Hack saw!)

Here  is        "it's"        resting     place.

Time to get into character for the upcoming October 31st night!

Go Forth My Daughter and Serve

Dallas is going go on an LDS (Latter Day Saint) mission.

She came to this decision about 6 months ago.

Getting the letter.

sister kiss of excitement!

Dallas' good friend Jordan is going to the same mission.


Dallas opened her letter in front of 40 friends and family, the Swede and 
I were in California and were watching via SKYPE.

Her mission call is to Baltimore, Maryland.
She will leave in early March and will serve for 18 months.

I am so happy for her and especially that she will be in the USA.

Good As New

I love a project no matter what it is, I live in house that was built in 1994. 

That doesn't seem that long ago.. (especially when you are in your fifties!) but,

 it does have design elements that need an update occasionally.

Take for instance the below photos of the family room light/fan.

Bright gold chrome..and the 90's era of oak wood accent fan blades.

The cut glass was an elegant touch for a fan, not sure
 why people liked this sort of thing?

I have vaulted ceilings in this room 
so the fan is way up high.

I have wanted to UPDATE this fan for years and finally 
had looked at it enough in disgust and asked the "Swede" for his help.

I bought the new look that included 2 colors of 
spray paint and glass lamp shades seen below.

We disassembled the complete fixture and
sprayed the gold to a rustic brown.

The fan blades were easy...we just switched them over,
 on the upper side are the old oak ones.
This gave the a more updated look with lighter blades.

The total cost of this project was approx. $ 33.00 and our
time spent was about 6 hours.

Now the room feels more cozy and I am happy I didn't
 have to replace the fan.