Christmas Blessings

Here we are, the weekend before Christmas and I am taking a moment for a few thoughts. As most of you know, I adore Christmas. When I start decorating for Christmas my heart flutters. This year I spent many days in the shop, also decorated for Christmas and it was glorious. This weekend we begin celebrating with friends and family, well actually it started Monday night with our first party!
  Today I am thinking about our girls. The three of them have had wonderful years and we are so proud of them. I have heard them saying how excited they are for Christmas...and I am hoping that their gifts will bring a sparkle to their eyes.
  I am thinking of the way my Mom celebrated Christmas, all the decorations and food...cooking and candy making and with such care she would try to get each person just the right gifts!
  Now it is up to my sister and my brother and myself to do the same. My home is ready, the candy is made and the gifts are bought. Don't get me wrong, I know that Jesus is the reason for it all...he gave His life for others and that is just what I am thinking of...dreaming of...working for....the Love of Christ. Those words that say..you have done a good job, my daughter.

I am nostalgic and dreaming and holding others dear to my heart.

We will be celebrating for the next two weeks and I am happy, I am sad, I am ready but I don't want it to end. Such mixed emotions. My heart is full of Christmas past and present...I am blessed beyond measure.
 My husband, my soul mate, deserves my time and attention. He will receive a present of his dreams as well..but I can't share that just yet. Yes, this is a Christmas that dreams are made of...a Christmas of blessings and family and friends. I am blessed and I thank God for each day. Merry Christmas, dear friends. May His glory shine throughout the season on you and your family!

Christmas In Small Bits

Now that you have seen the white cabinet I thought you would want to see the up close bits and pieces!

A much different look this year!

My Home Tour....the living room

Dear Friends,
  I wanted to share a few pictures of my living room but I am having a difficult time getting ones that I love. I wanted to start with pictures of the front porch and foyer and they were blurry and now with the rain I will have to wait. So I will share the ones I took today. They are not pictures that are staged..the coffee table and footstool have my magazines on them..this is how we live.

This is the cabinet that I painted a while back and I am loving the way it looks in the living room. At some point it will go to the shop.

I probably should have taken some close ups but I forgot.

It looks so very different in the picutes.

Apicture of my Mother on the piano.

The mantle I did take close ups and will share those tomorrow.

I can't get the entire room in the picture but I will share the other side tomorrow too.

This is just one spot on the other side. Hope you enjoyed my little tour.

A Porch Make Over for Christmas

We had an exciting and busy weekend. I redesigned the front porch for our Home for the Holidays weekend and I thought you enjoy seeing what I had done. I love the porch and the new look for the rest of the season. We have one more weekend and then we will close for the winter. Once we close we have one week before the family Christmas season begins...relatives and traveling and food! What a busy season it has become.
  I am looking forward to a little free time but I have enjoyed meeting so many new friends and greeting them each month! We have many new ideas for next year but for now I want to live in the season!
  Beginning next week I am going to have my own Christmas Home Tour. Each year the big bloggers invite other big bloggers to join their home tours and I really enjoy looking at all the pictures and decorating ideas. So next week I will begin to share pictures of my decorations for this season. I hope some of you do the same, I enjoy that so much. I will begin with the front porch and just go through the house, each day sharing a different room.I have many new items this year and it will be fun to share that with you. Enjoy your Sunday!

Furniture Needing a New Home

Hello Dear Friends,
  I have been working on getting the shop back into shape from our November sales. I am featuring some of the furniture for the sale this time. I have sold about 6 pieces in November and I would like to sell a few more in December before we close for the winter!

I have most of the displays done so now I can do the finishing touches.

I have a super cute desk with pink handles that someone is going to love...If I had room I might even keep this one! I am guessing it will be gone.

But I am in love with this one. I am hoping to keep if for the shop but I am guessing it will be gone as well. This one is such a beauty. I love the sparkle and white against the wood. I have a few others but I forgot to take pictures but if I do I will share those as well. If you are close by then stop and see us this weekend!

I almost forgot.  I wanted to share a picture I took this weekend...isn't this the most beautiful ceiling and chandy....LOVE.

Christmas Decorating Is Started

The Christmas decorations have been started. I think a while back I shared a picture of this cabinet when I was going to paint it in the foyer. Well, after painting it with two coats of the wrong color, I then had to paint it three coats of the right color. But finally it has been moved into the living room and I love it. I did not get a picture before I started but I guess you can kinda see it anyways. I am using a lot of black and red this year.

I love the way it looks even though I am not done yet.

I am enjoying decorating our home but it doesn't sparkle near as much as the shop. I am hoping to finish the living room this week.

Our tree is up and decorated...it is so much better in person. Won't you come for a visit?

Thanksgiving Blessings

Well, here we  go. Thanksgiving is upon us and there is so much to be thankful for. My family has been amazing this year. As I launched a new business and needed their help, they stepped up and helped me. They worked the sales, they brought things they had made. We have laughed and worked together in joy.
  I still struggle with the loss of my parents. They spent nearly everyday with me and when they weren't here we spoke daily on the phone. It has been a very difficult adjustment but with the help of God and my family I am making small strides. I still miss them so much that my heart hurts but I am learning to make my way without them. They would have loved my little business and I can almost hear my Dad giving me his advise, even when I didn't want to hear it. lol I sure miss that...I miss the way my Mom would do those little special things to make things easier for me. Her gentle ways continue in my children and that makes me so proud.
  I now focus on what they taught me and pass it on to my children. Our family has gotten much closer since my parents have passed and let's face it, once your parents are gone your siblings are all that is left of that era.
  My children are thriving and making their way. We have a wedding to start planning and so much more.

My blessings  have multiplied and my troubles have become less. The joy of family and friends has enlarged my heart with thankfulness. I am planning on enjoying every moment of a full house and a happy home. We will eat and talk and and laugh and remember my parents and this year we lost Dan's Mother...we can laugh about some of the silly things she said and did in her later years. We will trade our grief for chuckles of past memories. I am so very thankful for all the blessings that I have received this year and for those to come. I am more than thankful....I am happily thankful.....I look forward with expectation and praise. To God be the glory, great things He has done.

A Little Look at What is To Come

I thought I would share a few pictures of the shop. I am having a group come in tomorrow and I wanted to get things put back together. If it hadn't been for that I would have waited until after Thanksgiving, I have so much to do to prepare for our Thanksgiving celebration.
  Some of you know that I love barns. I have loved barns for years so when I saw this I decided to make it a focal point for the shop!

I can't believe that I have a barn over the fireplace too.. All I can say is I love it.

Snowmen are always a big hit as well and this is a collection of some of the ones that are available.

The tree is actually different now. All the owls have sold and I have revamped that area but I guess I forgot to get a picture.

And another barn.

I even started the foyer! This is a small taste of what is to come!

Remembering and Continuing

This is not a picture of our weather today. This was a few days ago before the snow.  I am sharing it because I am feeling nostalgic and sad. Today is my Mother's birthday. She chose  my little building for me back in 2008. She loved the porch and knew it was just what I needed.

The sky was just so beautiful and I believed I could see an angel in the left cloud. My Mom's love and devotion is always with me and I know that the day is coming that we will be together again. Until then I will continue to love my family just as she loved me. I will celebrate our victories and grieve the losses.
  As a believer in Jesus I know that our time on earth is just the beginning of our long journey.  I believe that our actions effect the outcome of our life. I will take my life lessons and teach  them to my children. I will love unconditionally just as my Mother did...no matter the circumstances. I am blessed by her and I have wonderful memories of all the time we were together. Happy Birthday Mom, we will meet again in Heaven.

First Snow

Our first snow and it was breath-taking! We woke up to a winter wonderland and I just could not resist taking a photo since my last post was a picture from the same spot. This is our driveway and at the end you can see the road...how lovely is that?

This is another picture out my back door towards my little store.

And then a picture of Vyntage Barn! Our Christmas Open House was so much fun. Now we are opening every weekend and enjoying that for a change of pace. I have not had much time to Christmas shop for the girls just yet but I guess it will all come in due time. For tonight, I am enjoying the weather.

November Days

This is what it looked like outside my back door today. It could have been Thanksgiving! This is what Thanksgiving looks like to me. My building was the site of Thanksgiving with lots of laughter and food. While those times are in the past this little building is now the site of new friends and family visiting on sale days. Tomorrow is our Christmas Open House and I am resting a bit. I think we will have a large crowd and we have prepared for that as well. 

Our new building will be open this sale and this is one of my favorite spots. I doubt if the door will be here for very long but I am enjoying today! I will take before pictures of the shop so I can share with you all the glittery items. So glad you always come along with me!

Dreaming!

Today it is 62 and sunny, another beautiful day! I am enjoying autumn so much! I used a few hours today to start to clean and organize the house. Since I have been working such long hours at VB the house is a disaster!  If you look to the left you can see that I started to round things up and put them in the archway. Next they will be put away.
   When I looked at my calendar and the VB open houses it occurred to me that there is going to be no time to get my Christmas out in time for Thanksgiving unless I start very soon. Our Open House is the 7-8 so that gives me about two weeks. I also entertained the idea of maybe this year not getting out all my Christmas stuff. I had to think long and hard about that...could I live with not putting my things about for another year??? Will I be happy when Christmas is here and I just have out a few things???
   Don't get me wrong, I will be happy as long as my family is here! I know that is the most important thing in the world but I adore Christmas. I love the sights and sounds and smells.  I love the way people look happy and smile....and I love decking my home out for the holidays!
  So, yes today I started taking down my fall decorations.
   I 
I am ready to prepare for the most wonderful time of the year and I don't want to miss a single minute of it! I adore Thanksgiving and it is at my home and I am thankful for my family and friends but I am going to celebrate it with Christmas cheer! So today, I begin to clean and organize because Christmas is important and my time before my sale weekends is so short. I am enjoying the leaves and the breeze and the sunshine but my heart is dreaming of Christmas!

The Open House!

Wow, it has been a crazy twenty days. Since our last open house I have been working like crazy to transform my shop into a Christmas wonderland. I had help from my hubby and my SIL and I am so thankful for that! This is the door that greets you come to visit us. I have the porch almost done with the help of my SIL and I will share it next time but for now how about a peek inside?

This is one of the mantles and I am in love with the woodys theme we have. The garland has the giant pine cones that match the wreath.

I added a touch of red to this little cabinet and in person it is stunning!

The natural theme is carried out in a few different areas throughout the shop. But now worries, there is plenty of glitter and sparkle. I will have many more pictures as the days go by.

  We had some ladies from out of state visit us on Saturday and there was much to do but with the help of family and friends we pulled off a wonderful day. The weather was perfect and the leaves were blowing and it was a perfect setting!

   Today I will relax and reflect...I have to decide on a theme for my home this year!