I love my wall color.....

and my furniture - but the room is bare. The next time I buy

living room furniture it will be a small sectional and it

will sit in the area where the little sofa

is at. I will be changing the drapes to white.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS??

by Hopblogger

Getting tired of red....

it is time to REPAINT my kitchen and dining area. I was thinking

about painting my cabinets black and the walls the same color of tan/brown

color that is on my living room walls. The first 2 pics are the view from my foyer into

my breakfast area. I dont really care for curtains in either one of these

rooms - I dont know why perhaps I just havent found anything that

suits me yet. No matter how many times I have placed curtains up - eventually

they come back down. It would help if I knew what kind of style I wanted!

I plan on changing the counter tops and the flooring. The last photo is the view

from the half bath and the garage door.

SHOULD I GO COTTAGE OR WHAT???

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

by Hopblogger

One day I happened

upon the blog and met a sweet lady named Lynn. She has some of the prettiest

things that she has made. I looked thru her blog

and noticed - no Biscornu! So I asked Lynn if I could use her little pillow

design from her boxed set to make one. She agreed.

Her design is on the right and I designed the back which is on the left. No, I didnt

run out of the pink. I didnt want to make a patchwork design and I didnt want my design to conflict with Lynn's pretty design so I opted to give the stitches a modern patchworky feel. The stitches are deliberate and the colors are in a rosey pink and aqua. I added Swarvoski pearls at each corner. I can never get a good picture on a pretty background,

so minus the background I think that the Biscornu turned out lovely! It turned

out so pretty that my sis took it home with her. To

go to Lynn's blog to find her pattern just click on my profile then click on

'Happiness is cross stitching'. It will take you straight to her blog.

by Hopblogger

For those of you that

are making the detergent. My husband has found an easy way to mix.

Its so quick. Just buy a squirrell mixer & attach it to your drill.

Painters use the squirrell mixer for mixing paint inside of their large buckets. But in

our case it mixes the detergent just fine while making it & whenver we open

the buckets up to stir before putting in our containers. Be sure not to use a high speed on the drill as some of your detergent will get flung out.

by Hopblogger

30 minutes TOPS....

Imagine buying a piece of cross stitch from the thrift store. Thats

exactly where this cute rectangle came from. It was only 50 cents &

clean as a whistle when I bought it - never used. Of course it

was a fresh new piece - I added red felt to the back, trimmed off

the excess aida cloth, turned & stuffed it. Then top-stitched it in white

floss with big stitches. On the back I stitched a small triangle piece to hold the

scissors to hide the point. I like the plastic round ring that

holds the scissors but it can hold anything.

If you will click photo to make larger you will see that it is a curtain ring in which

it is slitted at the bottom. These types of rings are

used in fabric shades that attach to other rings to billow or gather

up the shade. Use to attach floss - there isnt any need to take the bands off of the floss

to attach it to the ring - it would slip on at the bottom & then snap shut.

If it ever breaks which I am sure in time it would - just sew on another one -

alot of these rings comes in a small package. Pins & needles can still be stuck

on the front side or the back side of the pincushion. The handy needlebook

is just 2 pieces of felt sewn together by the white floss. No need to turn under

the felt because it doesnt fray. Tie the rest of the floss into a bow. A makeshift

house pattern (with an uneven roof line) gives a coordinated touch. Then sew

a line down the middle of the book to indicate the line of closure. The pins

are stuck on a piece of red felt with a piece of the excess aida cloth behind it. I didnt

even sew this piece down - no need - the pins hold it in place. The other side

could be used for most anything that you choose to place there. Most likely the

next time that you see it open - I will have another piece of matching felt

& aida cloth to hold needles. If you have noticed - the aida cloth behind

the red felt is not cut even nor hemmed the reason is because I

wanted it to look like the front - quick & easy - no need for perfection on this

little needlebook. This pincushion & needlebook took only

a few minutes to make. Now if only I could find my snaps!

by Hopblogger