Have a Sweet Sabbath Rest

(Appalachian Trail in Maine)

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Good Morning Dear Hearts,

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How are you this morning??

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Hope this find you well,  and full of anticipation

for the day ahead!

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"Come and listen,  all who fear God;

let me tell you what he has done for me.

I cried out to him with my mouth;

his praise was on my tongue.

If I had cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened;

but God has surely listened

and heard my voice in prayer.

Praise be to God,  who has not rejected

my prayer or withheld his love from me!"

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Psalm 66:16-20

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Have a Simply Sweet Sabbath Day!

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Blessings, love and hugs,

Nellie

Inexpensive Fall Decorating Ideas

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Afternoon Sweet Friends,

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Hope your Friday is going well,

I know those of you that work outside the home, as well,

are probably singing the Halleleujah chorus cause it is Friday.

I don't blame you one bit!!  I remember those days!!

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Promised to give you some inexpensive ideas today,

so I will just show you a few since my daughter is

coming for din din,  I have to get busy soon.

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The first tip is to purchase some silk floral bouquets

that you love.  I always cut them apart and then you

can stick them inside any container practically.  That is

what I did on the header pic.  I had a white pitcher

with leaves on it,  so I just put a small bush of greenery

in their first and started sticking flowers wherever

I thought they looked good,  if you don't like a spot

just take it out and put another flower in it's place

till it is eye pleasing to you!  Very simple really.

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My sister in law gave me the cute lil pumpkin,  and I just love it.

The table runner I made........about 4 years or so ago,  I happened

on this pretty check fabric,  it is really a gold and red color but

hard to tell that!  Anyway,  the first napkin I made I hemmed it,

the one in the magazine basket,  but I found that if I just pulled a

thread that it would unravel and give me that fray edged look,

so I did that to the table runner and other napkins,  it was so

much easier.  I use the runner on my dining room table some

years.  I also put a Thomas Kincaide book on the table,

cause it has pretty fall colors.  And the bowl,  I have

to show you some close ups and tell you about the candy

bowl.  Oh Yea,  my coffee table is the kids table that we

used to have in the kitchen,  I had it redone in the white

and oak,  it was all oak.  Hopefully,  one day a grandchild

will be enjoying it and making crafts there,  in their mom or

dad's house of course!!

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Want to tell you about my candy bowl,  cause it is very

special to me.  It was my Mom's and she passed away

a lil over 4 yrs. ago,  so it is one of the first things I take

out.  I always use those dark chocolate Hersheys candies

cause they have the nice Fall color wrappers, and  it's
heart healthy too..  They are yummy!

 Back to the bowl.........It was the most

important thing my Mom wanted to give me that being

because my Dad won it for her at the Fair back when

I was just a baby.  My parents were divorced when I

was 3 yrs. old,  so it is the one thing I have that I can

remember that is connected to both my parents since I have

 no recollection of him ever living with me and my Mom.

That is why it was so important to her,  and to me as well.

The bowl is made of what they call "Carnival Glass"

and is a very shiny irridescent orangy gold.  Next

picture will show you what it looks like underneath,

I think it is very pretty!

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Isn't it neat how there are flowers embossed in the glass,

think they are daffodils.  You can't see them on the topside.

My Mom always put fruit in it!

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Well,  back to the ideas....................Just had to share

it with you tho!!

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I love pillows for the sofa,  they add such a nice touch of color

and warmth.  They sell these solid colored pillows at walmart  for just

 $5.00 each and the have all sorts of colors.  The ones with the fruit

I found by accident at a store called "Fred's" ,  it is like a "Big Lots"

if you ever heard of them.  I just fell in love with these pillows.
 The main thing to remember is that you

don't have to get all the stuff at one time.  I usually get 1 or 2 things

every year and before you know it you have stuff everywhere, 

and once people know you like it,  they also give you things as gifts,

which makes it even better.

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Here's a shot of our big chair with more pillows and a throw.
These lil touches are the jewels that help make a home more
cozy and comfortable,  and adds that color that really makes
it pleasing to the eye. 
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Thought of one more thing today.............
Gift bags.........they aren't just for presents at my house.
They have so many really pretty ones.  Somebody gave me
a gift in one that matched my home very well,  so if I need
what you call a filler pc. somewhere,  like a corner or under
a sofa table or counter top or the hearth,  I put a gift bag
there with a silk greenery bush or some flowers in it.
Looks great and is an inexpensive container,  you
probably have one  in your closet or drawer right now!
You can also use them for trash cans,  I have done
that many times,  and they are really cute if they match
the decor, of course!
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Well,  see ya Sunday,
and then next week I'll have a few more tips for you!
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Have a Great Weekend Everyone,
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Blessings and Hugs,
Nellie

Welcome to Thankful Thursday - Sept. 17, 20009

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Hello Sweet Friends,

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Hope today has been a great day.

Mine has been good,  can't remember what I did today

I am so tired,  I do remember making Parmesan crusted

Tilapia for din din and a nice Romaine salad with strawberries

with raspberry/walnut vinigrette ( compliments of Ken's

steakhouse dressing).  It was delicious too, if I do say so myself.  

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Well,  hope you have been thinking about what you are

thankful for today,  it is a really great habit to get into,

like my friend Bonnie @ one Designing Woman says,

hard to be unhappy when you are feeling so grateful,

and that is very true,  we have both found!

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Well,  lets get on with our Thankful List

#1

I am very thankful that an old friend of mine

that I got to see on Tuesday night (she lives in

Tallahassee, Fl.)  was okay after being in an

accident on the way back home.  It was so great

to see her,  and I was so sorry to hear about the

accident,  but so thankful she is okay.

#2

After hearing on "a place called Simplicity" blog

about a 21 yr. old that was killed while hiking,

I have a renewed thankfulness that my son is

home safe and sound after 5 wks. on the trail.

My heart just broke for those sweet people

who lost their son.  I can't imagine!

But I am so thankful they and their son

know the Lord and that they know where

their son is,  and that they will indeed she

him again.  What a hope we have in Jesus!

#3

I am thankful that I got to go see a precious

friend yesterday.  We had such a nice time

together over a special lunch she made and

such great conversation.  Her house was all

guzzied up for Fall,  and it was such a visual

delight.  It was just an all round delightful day.

#4

I am thankful that we got some business

accomplished on an Ins. policy that we have

needed to take care of for some time now.

Yea, it's done!!  And in the process we met

the most precious young christian woman

who is about 30 and she is a single Mom,

and had the same thing happen to her that

my son did.  We just clicked and we have

had some great conversations together.

What a blessing she has been already!

#5

I am thankful that the tile is all cut for the

step in our shower,  and hubby will be laying it

tomorrow.  Yea!  then all we have left is the

bottom of the shower,  maybe we will get to

do some more this weekend. 

#6

I am thankful that Joey and Rosie got along

better this week than we thought they would.

They have had a few skirmishes however,  cause

they are jealous lil children in fur coats!!

But it hasn't been bad at all!

#7

I am thankful that I heard from DeeAnna today,

She is in Gainesville and will be home tomorrow,

but has to go to work at 1:00,  but she is coming over

for dinner tomorrow night.  It will be nice to see

her and have a long conversation with her after

a  week of being gone.  She sounds like she had

a very good time.

#8

I am thankful that no one has used Scott's credit

cards as he lost his wallet today.  We are hopeful

that he might have it returned after they check

the laundry at the drycleaners where they send

his uniforms for work.  He just took the dirty ones

in this morning.

#9

I am thankful to have gotten to have Rosie here

for the week,  cause like I say,  we are in love

with her,  she is such a sweet,  cuddly cutie!

Course, if you would have seen her with Joey,

you would never believe that! lol

She is our grandaughter dog in case you don't

already know that!!

#10

I am thankful Molly (that's our kitty, whom the dogs love to chase)

 didn't have as bad a week as I thought she would.  Actually,  that has

gone pretty well too.

#11

I am thankful for blogging cause it brings me so much joy,

and gives me a chance to chronicle parts of my life that

might be precious to my children later in life.

Also because one of my spiritual gifts is Exhortation or

Encouragement,  it also give me a chance to use that gift,

and it feeds my spirit and brings me joy to know that I

might just bring some joy or encouragement to someone

else today or maybe even everyday!!  That would be great!!

#12

Most of All,  I am thankful that I am a child of the true

and Living God,  and that He made it possible for me

to actually have a personal relationship with Him,  and

that He is concerned about any and everything I am

concerned about!  How neat is that!!

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Well,  please leave me a note and let me know

what kind of thankful thoughts are floating

around in your head,  it is good to share,

you might just encourage someone else's

 heart

as well as your own!!

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God Bless You,

Thanks for coming by,

Nellie

More Fall Ideas

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Good Morning Dear Hearts,

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Hope you are having a Wonderful Wednesday!

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I have plans to go to a friends house today for

lunch,  and I am really looking forward to it.

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Last night we got to see our Children's Pastor

get officially ordained,  it was a very sweet service.

We are so proud of he and his wife,  and so glad

all that hard work of studying is behind them.

We are very blessed to have them at our church.

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Wanted to share some more ideas today,  that

I think are mostly 0 $$ ideas.  On Friday I will

 share some more ideas, but those will be inexpensive ideas.

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Thought I would tell a little about each thing because

I know when I read things sometimes it spurs an idea

in my own mind of what I can do.

The thomas Kincaide pic in the back was cut from a

puzzle box and I happened to have that matting so

I just taped the picture to the matting and put it on

the easel.  See where the fall colored plate can be

used to put your potpourri on. See the napkin used to

just bring some extra color and texture.  Many times

 you can pick napkins up on sale in discount stores to use

 all over the place. I have had the hummel for almost

40 years,  my hubby bought it for me when we lived

in Germany way back when we were still newlyweds.

  Isn't he cute with all the bunnies.

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On the header picture you will see the welcome

basket on the wall,  I crossstitched  that basket

years ago to go in my old kitchen,  but now I just use

it for Fall.  Also the lil Thomas Kincaide house was

a gift from a dear friend.  I love decorating with

items that I have rec'd from loved ones and friends,

cause they give me a case of warm fuzzies!

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You can always raid your children's rooms

for  inexpensive decorating tools as well.

This was my daughter's bear and doll baby

high chair.  I made the scarf for his neck,

from fabric that I also made a table runner

and napkins.  A sweet friend gave me

the lil book,  so I placed it and the apple there.

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Since I don't have lil ones or grandchildren yet,

I like to keep things around for when I do have

children visit our home,  so they feel special

and at home, and they can also be a fall or

Christmas or anytime decoration.  I need to move

some of the white and pink ones out for Fall.

Oops,  forgot about that!!

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Another idea in case you haven't thought about it,
 is to put magazines in a basket with a napkin or some fabric,
 and put the magazines with Fall colors on top,

or whatever color for whatever season.  Easy but just adds

that lil bit of extra color of the season.

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Now  this looks a lil dorky cause it is too small,
(just thought the pic would show you what I mean)

but if you have a large napkin or can take some

material and make a big enough square,  it adds

 color to a lamp shade or you can also tie

some wide ribbon around a small pyramid style

lampshade and let the tails hang down and it

looks quite nice.

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Or maybe you have some sort of statue

you can add a floral pick or some flowers

onto it to bring some color.

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This isn't a real clear picture but hopefully

you can get the idea of how you can just

add some berries and maybe a candle

to add just a lil color of the season to

your china hutch or shelves.

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Just a few touches with a pumpkin knife spreader

and a card that has fall colors.

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Just tied a ribbon onto this little planter thingie

and filled it with potpourri and it hang on my window

It just loops over the window lock.  Love the way

it looks.  Tried to take a picture of it but it was

to glary from the outside light,  maybe I will

try again,  and do it on my next post.

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These are just a few more china hutch or shelf ideas.

See the greeting card.......believe it or not it was a

Christmas card I have kept for years,  but I keep it

with my Fall decorations,  cause it doesn't look

Christmasy to me,  but it is beautiful!!

Also,  the little pumpkin looking gravy boat

I think it is,  I got 2 at Target in their $1 area a

few years back,  I have put tea light candles in

them,  and cream and you could put butter, syrup

 or really whatever you want.  I just thought they

were too cute to pass up.

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Well,  hope maybe I have given you some inspiration

to get started if you needed it,  or just brought a lil

fun to your day!  If you get stuck always remember

to ask The Greatest Creator for some inspiration

and fresh ideas............He never runs out!!

He is my biggest Helper!!

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Happy Home and Hearth Decorating,

Have fun !!  That's the point!!

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Love, blessings and hugs, 

Nellie

Part 5 - of the "Flooded House"

(Another reminder Photo)

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Good Morning Sweet Friends,

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Hope you had a great day yesterday,

and are ready to face Tuesday with anticipation.

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Well,  I am gonna tell another part of the story

today................... I have no idea how many more

parts there is gonna be to this thing,  hopefully,

only a couple more,  but guess we will see!!

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Well,  I left you,  with us now....... having new floors,

and so I am into the next week and the carpeting

people are coming,  it is Oct. 15th, 200l, to be exact.

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Oh and I have to tell you.  That somewhere just before

I found out they were coming,  I found out more surprising,

but great news.   The lady I had worked with at the carpeting/

flooring store had called to tell me she had been talking with

the Insurance Company,  and they had given them the go ahead

to carpet our bedroom and closet too.  Remember the carpeting

was still in there,  and they dried it out. ( See pic below)

 The lady at the carpeting store ( she is a christian) 

 said because our house was a split plan and since you couldn't

 see our bedroom from the other parts of the house

 typically Insurance wouldn't recarpet that area,  since they

 had  already dried  it out.  She was very excited about it,

 and of course,  so was I, and she said,  You know,  this almost

 never happens,  and I think it's the Lord, 

 and I was thinking I absolutely know it's the Lord, 

 but I knew what she meant,  and  wholeheartedly agreed with her.

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(That carpeting is a lot wetter than it looks,  it is just because

we hadn't walked on the other areas yet)

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So the fellow arrives to do the carpeting and he is going in and out

bringing in his tools and stuff,  and I keep opening and closing the

door for him,  and I noticed someone else was in his car,  and

he would talk to them when he went out but they didn't seem

to be coming in,  so I asked him if whoever was in the car

wanted to come in,  cause it was hot out there.

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He said well,  it's my Mom,  and she came to help me move

furniture because my helper didn't show up this morning,

and she can just come in when I need her,  and I said,

 absolutely not,  you go get her and tell her to come in,  that is no

problem at all,  it is too hot for her to sit out there in the car.

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Secretly,  I think he was really hoping I would say that,

cause he seemed relieved and went right out to get her.

It probably didn't seem like the job appropriate thing,

 to just bring her on it without asking or something.

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She  was a lovely woman,  and turned out they were

both believers,  and she and I had a delightful time

having coffee and cookies and chatting when he didn't

 need our help,  which was pretty much most of the time.

She was a bit older than me,  and seemed to be discouraged,

 but she was so genuine it was like I had known her my whole life.

We had some great conversations about the Lord

 throughout the day. 

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When lunchtime came, they had brought their own lunch,

so I made a sandwich and we all had lunch together.

He was probably in his late twenties to early thirties,

I am not a great judge of age for some reason.

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Anyway,  as we talked over lunch he revealed that

his wife had just divorced him,  and you could tell

he was having a very difficult time with it. 

He seemed like a very genuinely nice fellow.

 I asked if he was attending church anywhere,  and he

 said No,  but I want to go back,  so I was able to tell

them about a sister church of ours that was in

their area,  and to explain that it was a bible based

church,  and they did their preaching and teaching

from the bible,  he seemed very excited to try it.

Never found out if he did or not. 

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As he worked laying carpeting all day,

I had a truly delightful time with his Mom,

and think our time together cheered his Mom up a bit,

it certainly did me,  she was great company!!

and so was he really!

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He did a fantastic job on the carpeting,  it looked

just wonderful,  and so beautiful and it was so great

to have carpeting again,  instead of concrete with paper

rugs!!  Our house was finally looking like a home again!

Oh The Joy of it all!!

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Well,  he packed up his tools,  she and I said lets

keep in touch,  I sent her off with my phone number,

and  she gave me hers,  but I never heard from her

again.  I did try to call her,  but never got anything

but an answering machine.  Guess it was just

meant to be a one day friendship.

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Next week,  they begin to work on the kitchen, at last, 

 but actually way quicker than we had  expected since

we knew it took 6 weeks just to order the cabinets.

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Will pick up there next time

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Stay tuned for next Tuesday's,  Part 6

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Hope You have a truly great day

and Evening!!

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We are going to an Ordination Service at our

church tonight.  Our Children's Pastor has finished

his schooling, and has gone thru all the steps of the

liscensing and Ordination Committe,  and is going

to be officially Ordained tonight.  We are so excited

for him,  He is a great man of God,  and truly loves

children,  and he is doing a wonderful job with the

 children of our church.  They just love him too death!

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That's All Folks,

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See ya tomorrow,  thanks for dropping in,

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Hugs and Blessings,

Nellie

Some Fall Ideas

(The start of my Fall transformation)

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Hello Sweet Friends,

Trust you had a nice weekend,

and hopefully you are having as good a

Monday as you can, since it is Monday!! lol

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I have decided to do some posts on sprucing

up your home for Fall. I think that most of us

ladies, love our families and our home and really

desire to create a warm, inviting envirionment.

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I also know that sometimes you just don't know

where or how to start. So thought I might share

some $$ free ideas, that I have picked up over

the years and years and years!! lol

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I had a friend when I was in my twenties when

I was still working full time, and she was a stay

at home Mom, who simply inspired the pants

off me. This girl, macramed, she sewed curtains for

her bedroom out of pretty sheets,she shaker shingled

her kitchen, she stripped and painted her kitchen cabinets,

she had a compost pile for potting her plants and I could

go on and on about her. I asked Barbara one day, how in

the world did you learn to do all this stuff, and her

simple reply was "I just tried",

she said, you would be surprised what

you can do if you just try!! I was "wowwed"

by that, and decided by George, I think I

am gonna try some things myself, and I did,

and I am happy to report, she was right as rain!!

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So here's to you Barbara!!

The first thing you need to do is take an inventory

of your home. Look and see.......

any and everything that has fall colors in or on it,

as a possible decorating tools.

Things like books, vases, glasses, cups and saucers,

mugs, napkins, candleholders, plates, potpourri,

anything clear; like candleholders, jars, bottles, or containers,

green topiary trees, ribbons, pictures, pillows, fabric,

greeting cards, tins, or baskets. Think you might be

getting the idea.

Next visit your yard and see what you might find.

Things like pine cones, berries, grapevine, dried

leaves. If you don't find them in your back yard

ask a friend or family member if they have any

of these items, or drive around to wooded areas,

with someone else along, of course, we want to

be safe as we decorate!! It is amazing what you

find when your eyes are atuned to looking

specifically for those items. Some of you

may have pyracantha vines, which have

beautiful orange berries. I just spotted some

dark burgundy berries on a china berry tree

in my back yard a few days ago, which I will

be harvesting soon.

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My header picture is of my fireplace, and this is a close up
of the mantel. You can see I used books, some fall potpourri,
pinecones, and berries, a wooden pear I can use anytime,
and the lacey cream colored containers have candles in
them. They are actually candleholders I got at Ross for
$7.00 for all 3 of them. I adore them, and use them for
all sorts of things in any season.
Whatever I find to use out of doors, I keep in ziploc
bags for years to come. Most of these items I have
had for years.



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More books, pine cones and berries, and a drizzle of potpourri.
A Home Interiors Eagle
I got hubby for Fathers day one year, I only use it in
the fall mostly, occasionally for patriotic holidays.
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I don't know if you are familiar with them or not but
there is a Christian Company that does Home shows called
"Home Interiors and Gifts", I used to work for them
years ago when my son was young, cause you can
work your job around your schedule and work as
little or as much as you desire. I learned a great
deal of my decorating skills from them and the
nice ladies that also worked for them.
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I was also inspired by my Aunt Lydia. As young girl
she had gone thru the depression and was very poor,
but had a desire to better herself, and she was always doing
projects and stuff. I remember her painting a bookcase
red once, and also tiling a coffee table, with lil small tiles.
She liked pretty things, and she put nice pictures on her walls,
and had a flair for decorating, I liked going to wherever
she lived, it was pleasant and fun.
*


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Sorry about the glare but just couldn't get one without it,
but what I wanted you to see was what came out anyway.
Brass Candlestick, candle oil burner for fragrance,
and more pine cones and berries. Forgot to say these
are fake berries, I got them before I found any in my
yard, so keep them and use them wherever, also use
them at Christmas time. So they are dual purpose berries!! lol






This is a mirror tray I used to put my perfume on,
I have had this baby for 30 years at least, a dear friend
Arlene, gave it to me and I always seem to find some
neat use for it. The last few years it has housed my
candles in the fireplace. Since large pillar candles can
be expensive, you can buy tea light candles to fill in
with and it is much less expensive and you can use
them in other candleholders as well, then you aren't
always having to clean the wax out. I really like
to burn my candles in the fall/winter. Creates such
a nice warm ambiance in the house.
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Found some of these pillar candles at the
dollar store a few years back and they were about $2-3,
which is better than $5-6 or more.

*




This is just a topiary I found at Ross for
$5.00 years ago, I have 2, I bought
them to use on either side of the fireplace,
but have used them all over the place.
They are typically just green but for
fall I add yellow ribbon and the berries.
Pretty simple, yet adds that lil
touch of fall color.







This is from our trip to New Hampshire,
when we stopped to buy the Maple syrup,
I specifically bought one of the syrups in this
clear container knowing it would be a Fall
keepsake from now on. I can make it any
color I want with just a bit of food coloring
and water!!
See I told you I was a simple girl,
course, simple doesn't mean stupid!!









Hid the ugly white top with the berries.
Eventually I will probably paint it, but didn't
feel like doing it at the time, so berries
worked just fine. Added it to a grouping
with a picture and a small pumpkin.
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Well, hope that gets you inspired and searching
out some ways you can add color and fun to your
home. I will show you some more pics and ideas
on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will probably share
Part 5 of "The Flooded House".
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Think I am gonna make a nice pot of Chil today,
and since it isn't quite Fall yet, I will summerize
it by making a taco salad out of it, you know,
like they do at Wendys. My chili tastes very
similiar to theirs. I have had this recipe I got
from a friend when I was first married, and I
have been using it for almost 39 years now,
and we still love it. If anyone would like the
recipe let me know, and I will share it.
It is easy and delicious!!
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Well, that is what's cooking at my house!
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Hope you have a lovely evening,

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Blessings and Hugs,
Nellie