Fall Wreath for My Friend Megan...

Good morning...I hope that you had a nice weekend! I had lots of plans to get all of my fall decorating done, which included planting a flat of pansies and some mums, but failed to get any of it done due to the rain that we received all day on Saturday. Granted, I'm not complaining about the rain because we REALLY needed it, but I couldn't get my plants in the ground because the ground was too wet to work in even on Sunday. On the upside, I did take a nice loooong nap while it was raining on Saturday - ha! ha! ;)

One project that I did accomplish yesterday afternoon was creating a fall wreath for my sweet friend Megan F.:

I think the pretty fall colors in this wreath will be a nice addition to her front porch. I am giving it to her today...hope she likes it!!

Thanks for dropping by this morning! Wishing you a TERRIFIC week ahead!!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Justin is Buying a Home!

Good morning! WOW! The last few days here at the Brown home have been kinda crazy! Justin has been looking to buy a home of his own so he can move out of the apartment that he lives in. Well, he found one that he really liked, put an offer on it last Friday, and the owner accepted the offer - WOOHOO!!! He will close on his new home on Oct. 24th.

Here are a few pics of his new home...it has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, attached 2 car garage, beautiful hardwood floors, all the kitchen appliances, and a FABULOUS detached workshop out back!! The owner is even leaving the washer and dryer for him too - sweet!!

Here's a photo of the front of the house...pretty, isn't it??

Here's the living room...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those hardwood floors!!

Up next is the kitchen, which comes complete with the appliances shown:

This is the back view of the house...nice sized back yard with a privacy fence all the way around. I love the awning on the deck which has a ceiling fan in the top of it - so cool!

Last, but not least, is a photo of his new workshop...he and Mike are already planning all of the fun projects that they'll be working on in there - LOL!

In closing, I also want to share a photo of Justin and his 8-week-old sidekick, Scout, who has grown SOOOOO MUCH in the 3 weeks that Justin's had him. Scout is going to have a blast in his new backyard!!

Thanks for letting me share our happy news with you! Wishing you a WONDERFUL week!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday: Happy Fall Ya'll!

Today is the first day of autumn, which just happens to be my favorite time of year! Wishing you a glorious fall filled with lots of cool, crisp weather, delicious hot cocoa, beautiful foliage and warm fires in your hearth!

Have a blessed day!

Silly Saturday

...and dessert is even better when shared with great friends and family!! :)

Wishing you a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Good Reads: "The Wild Queen" and "The Other Queen"

Hi, friends! As many of you know, I really enjoy reading historical fiction, particularly royal historical fiction. One of my favorite writers is Philippa Gregory. (NOTE: If you've ever watched the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl", then you will know who Philippa Gregory is...she wrote the book that the movie was based on.)

Anyhoo...I've been reading several of her books lately, one of them being "The Other Queen" which is based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Before I read "The Other Queen", though, I read "The Wild Queen" by Carolyn Meyer, who is a great, young adult author of historical fiction. When I started reading "The Other Queen" I realized how glad that I was that I'd read "The Wild Queen" first! "The Wild Queen" goes through the childhood years of Mary Stuart, where "The Other Queen" focuses more on her adult life. I believe that I would have been amiss on details of her life if I hadn't read Carolyn Meyer's book first, and I really think that these two books work well together even though they are written by different authors.

If you love historical fiction as well, I highly recommend these books and authors to you! Let me know what you think if you read them!

Have a SUPER day!

"Good Times" Scrapbook Page

Happy Monday! I hope that you all had a nice, relaxing weekend! We didn't do too much at the Brown house, but I did catch up on some laundry and ironing - woohoo!!!

I didn't get any new crafty projects made over the weekend, so thought I'd share a scrapbook layout with you instead! The photos from this layout were taken at a cookout that we had at our home about 4 or 5 years ago. (My little great nephew Ian was so small then...he's a big 1st grader now!!)

I titled this 2-page spread "Good Times", because every time that the Brown's get together we always have a good time!! Here's a close-up view of the left-hand page:

Here's a close-up view of the right-hand page:

And lastly, a close-up shot of the title block...the corner accents were made by tying a knot in a narrow piece of ric-rac, and then attaching it to the corners with a Glue-Dot:

Thanks for dropping by my blog today!! Wishing you a FANTASTIC week ahead!!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on internet)

BAHAHA!! This made me laugh out loud!! Hope you have a terrific weekend, friends!

Cute Little Box for a Crafty Little Friend

My fun friend Megan F. has an adorable little girl named Heather who LOOOVES to craft almost as much as I do! Heather is in the 3rd grade at the school where I work, and it totally makes my day each morning when she drops by my office to say "Hi!" to me!

Anyhoo...last week she mentioned to me that she would like to make some bookmarks, so I decided to get her all set up by making a cute crafting box to hold her craft supplies:

Here's how I made it:

I started with a white recipe box that I purchased a while back from CTMH. I measured and cut bright, cheerful paper to fit the box and lid:

Using Zig 2-way liquid glue I attached the paper to the box...I even added paper to the inside lid flap to give the box a finished look:

Using my Crop-A-Dile, I punched a hole on each side of the box so that I could thread some jute rope through to fashion a handle. I tied a knot on each end of the rope to keep it in place:

Next I went to work personalizing the box for Heather by adding a name block to the top of the lid:

The plain rope handle was fine, but I decided that a "foofy" handle would be even better for Heather!! That led me to tear coordinating fabric strips and tie them to the rope handle, which formed this fun accent for the craft box:

The box was finished off by adding a glittery pink heart accent to the front flap; some coordinating variegated ric-rac and a piece of Velcro to keep it all contained:

I then filled the box with some fun craft goodies for Heather...blank bookmarks tied up with ribbons and charms, pre-cut 3"x3" cards, stickers, mini ink pads, a mini stamp set and a 1"x1" acrylic block:

TADAH! Here's another photo of the finished box:

I gave the box of goodies to Heather on Monday and she LOVED it!! She even made me a sweet little thank you card with some of the craft supplies from the box, and I have it proudly displayed on my desk at work! :)

Wishing you a blessed day and a fun and safe weekend ahead!

In Remembrance...

Please take a moment today to pause and say a little prayer in remembrance of those who endured the horrific terrorist attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001; as well as those that continue to fight for our American freedoms.

God Bless America!!

Hunting Season Begins and Justin's New Hunting Buddy...

Hi, folks! Just a quick post today to share a couple of fun family photos with you. Dove hunting season opened on Sept. 1st, so Mike and Justin have had a great time hunting with friends! The photo of them above was taken on opening morning - they are two very happy fellas!

The photo below is of my son's new 6 week old yellow lab puppy, Scout. Justin had taken Scout outside to play for a while, and when Scout came in he was so tuckered out that he collapsed on Justin's boots for a little nap! He's such a cutie!!

Thanks for dropping by today! Stay tuned for a cute project that I'll be posting later this week!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Man, I hate it when I do this, don't you??? So glad to know that I'm not the only one, though - LOL!