Haviland china bottlebrush TREE...

A dear friend gifted this tiny Haviland teacup and saucer...from France...

after bleaching the green bottle brush trees, (previous posts) to white I sprayed this one with Metalic spray paint. Glued the base to some floral foam in the cup and lined the base with some eyelash yarn...and a little metalic pompom as a topper.

spent most of the morning making 6 others all different....I'm officially over the moon with tree making this year.
This evening some friends are coming over for the Chefs Pumpkin Cheesecake and an evening of crafting...ONE guess as to what we're making!!!!!
xo, Kathy and the Chef.

go make a tree!
more to follow...

THE REAL CUPCAKE WAR !!!

 Three hours of fun with our friends children...

 and their parents...

 intense concentration...

 a lot of girltalk...

 and boy fun...

 Three very memorable hours...

with some of our favorite "Little People"...
the "First annual Cupcake Wars"...
accomplished and ENJOYED!!!!
Happy Sunday...Kathy and the Chef.

TODAY...

Held hands and went for a walk around  the lake...
Took advantage of the last gorgeous fall day and
"put up our Christmas lights"...
Prepared our MENU for Saturday...hosting "Cupcake Wars" at our home with 10 little ones...
Enjoyed the Chefs delightful squash bisque for lunch...
Planned an outing with friends for next week...
Re-arranged the house...to get ready for the holidays...

and all the while being thankful we have the other...

heading downsairs to watch a movie together...
love these kinds of days.

enjoy, Kathy and the Chef.


 

My latest OBSESSION....Oh! la-la....

Remember last weeks tree...

 and then the recent pot discovery...

 I knew that pot would be a wonderful base for a soft "Shabby" tree.

Same idea as the little trees...just a larger scale....I used printer paper for this one and a much larger dowel which the Chef whittled the  top down to a point with his trusty carving knife.
Of course you don't have to have a Chef, just makes tree making more fun.
Cut your squares starting from large to small ...8,7,6,5,4,3,2 inches.
I used about 15-20 squares for each size.
Find the centers and poke a hole through the centers. 

 Then crumble up each sheet !
This was my latest brainstorm to come up with a more "Shabby " looking tree.

 Then flatten the sheet out again... using a ruler is helpful.

 Start fitting them on the dowel and slightly twisting each sheet as you go.....For the first few layers I used white textured scrapbooking paper to create a firm base.

 Keep layering.....stacking loosely...

 OH MY!!!!!!

 I was pleased...

 with the results...

 I had this cute star bell,,,,but it was GOLD.
Not anymore...

 You must try your hand at one of these...
I am over the MOON with the results...

I shall dub this year..."The Year of the TREE'S"
Give them a try ...let me know if I can help.
xo, Kathy and the Chef.

Monochromatic nesting...

 Changing over to winter...
more monochromatic.

Putting the seasonal colors away while the snow falls...

Relying on TEXTURES instead of more color...

I find it calming...
clean...
peaceful...

Simplifying for the Holidays....
starting with a cleaner looking base to highlight the Holiday Decorations soon to appear.
This always seems to happen about this time every year...goes along with that "Nesting" instinct...that "settling in for the winter" feeling.
How goes your "Nesting"?
xo, Kathy and the Chef...

ps. the Chef is "sweating" onions and wiping tomatoe paste off his recipe....we all have our "Nesting" techniques....xo.

A Worthy Cause and a FIND!

 My friend Vicki over @ "Two bags full" is sponsoring a project focusing on Breast Cancer awareness....A worthy project, an important project.
I've decided to be a small part of her endeavor....today I've purchased the yarn and tonight I'll sart my scarf.
Click on her button on my sidebar and she will so eloquently give you all the information...the bonus is you'll get to see her FABULOUS blog and get to know her!

 You know the paper trees from my last post....Today I found this "PERFECT" colored pot @ a local resale and I believe I heard the words...."Please build a "Tree" in me"...
I've bought things for crazier reasons then that...so I laid down 5 big ones and brought her on home.

another project in the making...
xo, Kathy.

Vintage Paper Trees...A Christmas Prep!

I saw an idea for these Vintage Paper trees in a Holiday mag...and tried my hand at it...tweeking as I went and putting my own twist   on them...

 Picked up some cute little glasses @ the GW...filled them with "dry flower foam", (walmarts, Michaels,) etc.
Stick a long skewer with a little glue on the end in the middle of the foam...pointy side "UP". I used two pieces of card stock cut 51/2" square and measured from corner to corner to create an "X" in the center of the card stock.
Poke a hole and gently place the stock cards down the skewer to create a sturdy base.
Now create your tree using whatever paper producs you'd like for the desired effect.
I used vintage books, that I had already removed the covers from for a previous project.
Using a paper cutter I cut approx., 30 squares each, (you may use more) of 51/2",
5", 41/2", 4", 31/2", 3", 21/2", 2", down to as small as you'd like.
and depending on your base size....start as large as you'd like.

The origional directions said to fold each piece of paper to find the center but the vintage pages are too fragile for that so I marked them with a little "X" in the center with a ruler and pencil.
Which worked just fine...
As you pull the papes over the skewer..., just twist the pages.

I added some antique music to my base to cover the flower foam and also added some vintage color ribbons as a topper .
Debating glittering this one...really like it just the way it is, maybe the next one.

 Some of the edges I left rough...I like that...

 The aged patina on these old pages worked magic in creating a very vintage effect...

 OOOooohhhh....my.

 Feel like trying one?...

I KNOW !!!!!!!!!!!
I REALLY LOVE THEM TOO!
Let me know what you think!
xo, Kathy.

Our Kitchen Dance...

 Some days we both awake and want to create in the kitchen...

 I decided to make Dessert...mixed- berry pie with "falling leaves crust" to match the outdoors...

 the Crust being the most creative part... 

 While...the chef sashayed through the kitchen building this amazing...Asopao de Pollo.

 which he's been yearning to make for quite some time.

 recipe for Asopao de Pollo..."allrecipes.com"

I think I'll just FILL my Dance Card with the Chef...
Love your day today....that's an order.
xo Kathy and the Chef.

Shabby bottle brush trees...

 Made a trip to our favorite craft store... Yeah, you know the one...Michaels.
Looking for these bottle brush trees of our childhood.
All these were in a package for $21.00 but on sale for $16.00...not a huge bargain but will have to do.

I wanted to try changing these from green to antique white..soo here we go! 

 Filled the kitchen sink with warm water ...enough to just cover the trees and added a couple cups of bleach...I don't think it's an exact Science, so just go for it.
Took about 20 minutes for the little cuties to turn white...the Chef and I both very impressed at the powers of BLEACH!
Rinsed them off and let them dry!

Once dried...just fluff them up a bit and your good to go!
I plan on spraying these and adding a little "Sparkle".
I couldn't be happier with the results...go ahead, give it a try!
xo, Kathy and the Chef.

Little Chairs & Herbs...

 Come into the back porch...

 and see the newest little one...
Found her @an auction...she was well loved and I did like her that way ...but she fits in here better with a New Coat.
the same color we just had our bedroom painted...Mmmmm.

 Do you "Winter" your Herbs too?
We have a three season porch and the heartier Herbs survive well through the cold until spring.

A Gift...

this little pink pot below...

just transplanted the flowers today hoping they'll come back next year.

washed my pretty pot and she now stores onions for the winter in the pantry.

such a great day...

love, Kathy and the Chef.