Valentine's Scrappy Heart Craft Day

My fellow crafter friend, Kathy, discovered a fun and easy tutorial on "Little Birdie Secrets Blog". She was so excited to try the heart wreath that she made one and THEN shared the little secret with us. February was my month to host the craft day, so I jumped right on this craft...it was PERFECT for us. Above is my finished wreath....isn't it sweet?

Basically you need a Styrofoam heart wreath, a yard or so of fabric, some glue and a pencil or small screwdriver. The tutorial called for a pencil but I guess we are BRUT'S and kept breaking the pencil. So we used small Phillips head screw drivers.

Here is part of the group at my kitchen table, cutting and punching away. Basically, you cut 2 inch square pieces of fabric, wrap the fabric around the pencil, stick the tip of the fabric in the glue and JAM the pencil into the foam.

Here are some of the finished products....Fredna, on the left used a primitive fabric with a maroon background and tan hearts. By the time it was put together, it looked like Victorian dried roses. Jennifer, in the middle, used a fabric with a white background with red, and two shades of pink hearts; and Kathy, used red and white polka dots. We had fun seeing the color the wreath turned out to be.

My next project is to try and make a Valentine Garland. What kind of craft are YOU going to try this Valentine Season!?!?!?!

Colorful Place to Visit

One of my newest blogging friend, Maya at "Completely Coastal"http://www.completely-coastal.com/ has opened my eyes to a very colorful and hip hotel in the Bahamas. I believe I really need to go and check this place out. It's PERFECT for my colorful life. Can't you just picture us strolling or biking down these colorful paths!?Or lounging on the deck, overlooking the beautiful beach? Perhaps sipping on a colorful, fruity drink? Or, maybe reading a colorful, juicy novel?
Or, hanging out at the bar listening to colorful stories, told by colorful new friends?
Or, sitting under colorful umbrellas after a dip in the pool would be nice and refreshing............
Or, peeking into more colorful bungalows........
This big, colorful bungalow would fit the bill if you brought the whole COLORFUL gang!
So here I am dreaming of sitting by the beautiful turquoise water and pondering WHEN I'll be able to go on this COLORFUL VACATION!

Strange Bed Fellows.....

Thought you'd never see THIS in Houston, did you???? Last weekend Texas had record breaking frigid temperatures....below 32 for 4 days in a row. Although Carson and Riley get along just fine, it was unusual to see them curled up and sleeping together.
Thank goodness they don't read my blog....they might not be amused!

so fellow bloggers, do your dogs and cats get along?

Strange things in my neighborhood.....

Happy New Year everybody and thanks for visiting my blog! I notice something strange in the coffee room at work last week. Does anything look unusual to you....cream, sugar, cups and Tabasco Sauce!?!?!?! I know Texans like things SPICY, but, really???? Spicy Coffee? I don't think anyone at the office actually drink coffee with Tabasco, but the tray sure looked funny to me! I'm not sure WHAT's going on in this neighborhood near mine. These gigantic mushrooms made me do a double take and quick drive around the block to get a picture. They're cute, but I'm not sure why they popped up!

And the final straw, to make me realize I'm not living in a normal world lately....the cool Hippie Van. Check out the personalized license plate....Turn On!

And here's a front view. Don't you like that huge FLOWER on the tire cover. Gotta just LOVE my COLORFUL life!!!!

Christmas Decorations

Hi Friends....Come on in to my little house and help me welcome in the Christmas Season. As you can probably guess I like to use reds, green, silver and gold in my decorating. Anyway, come on in through the front door and the first thing you'll see is my double fireplace. Upon entering the front door you'll be plopped right into the living room. I moved the furniture around a bit but liked the tree in the corner. You'll also see Carson's crate sitting under the table in the bay window. He enjoys siting there and watching the world go by.

Go through the archway, past the fireplace in the den and is my dining room. Remember, I love all things Italian and this bright pasta picture makes me happy. The scale wasn't big enough for me so I painted a large red rectangle on the wall to make the picture seem bigger.

Here is the dining room fireplace and mantle. I used my snowman and more brightly colored trees in this room. I like the way they look with the red wall. Having dinner by the fire is a great way to enjoy a meal or sit and linger when it's cold outside and the fire is glowing. On the opposite wall I created this artwork from a poster, some modge podge, tissue paper and painter's canvas. My butler's pantry was created from of a bit of wasted space (we think it might have been the former laundry room/back porch). I faux finished the top to look like black granite.

Happy Holidays and try not to get so busy that you forget the REAL REASON FOR THE SEASON! Have a blessed week!

Ugly Ornament Party

Yesterday my office held our annual Ugly Ornament Party. My camera is "on the blink" and since I was a relatively new blogger this time last year, I'm re-cycling my post from last year. This year about a dozen ladies attended (both current employees and ones that have left but we still love anyway!). We all brought appetizers and sweets and had a feast! Everyone broke out their most delicious dishes and we all ate WAY too much....but TIS the season.

The picture below of the "disturbing" gnome/flying monkey/scary fairy combo are winners from a few years back. It seems we go in buying cycles and one year many of us brought similar type ornaments. We put a BAN on gnome like creatures....they were just frightening. LOL! These are now our tree toppers...pretty ugly and tacky, huh!

This is an ornament from a few years ago and we all laugh because it resembles and reminds us of one of our male co-worker. But "mum's the word" and we WON'T reveal who we think it looks like! HEHEHE! We've decided "what HAPPENS at the Ugly Ornament Contest....STAYS at the Ugly Ornament contest! Did I mention I work with a BUNCH of REALLY fun ladies???This puppy with a hat on his tail was from this year. It's CUTE but we thought it kinda looked like he was pooping out the hat and the look on his little puppy face is priceless. Oh well...I guess you had to have been there!
This could have been cute, especially on a children's themed tree but the colors were SO garish it was a bit spooky. My camera doesn't do the colors justice!
And what is it about a Gun Cabinet that screams CHRISTmas! However, we all agreed that on a manly tree or a woodsy themed tree this could be cute.
Here's a blush pink mesh crawfish/lobster. If you look closely the eyes are pink pearls and there is a smattering of beads and pearls randomly and haphazardly glued on. We decided this might be a good decoration at a Cajun Wedding.
And what doesn't make you think of evergreen Christmas trees, shiny tinsel and bright colored balls like a heart shaped cow; standing on a beet/radish/pink carrot. Again....he's cute, but CHRISTMAS!?!?
And last, but not least.....OUR FAVORITE! No comment necessary...she's just kitchy, funky, and fun!!!
After adding our favorites from years past, we stepped back and admired our handiwork and announced we had ourselves a FINE little tree....what do ya'll think?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FELLOW BLOGGERS! Hope all is merry and bright in your world today!

There's No Christmas Yet!!!

Getting into the Christmas mode this year has been difficult....but it's not because I'm blue or depressed. It's because I was in the Islands, Mon, and haven't quite gotten back in the swing of things at home.
With friends, I cruised out of Galveston to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

While chilling in Mexico, Christmas trees and baking cookies was far from my mind.

Beside relaxing we had some adventures....my travel companion, Fredna and I enjoyed traversing on a zip line over the Jamaican jungle! (and yes, her father's name was Fred and she wasn't a boy...so thus, the name Fredna...I think it's cute)

We cruised in jeeps and got to see a lot of the islands that most do not when they stick to the main roads.

We even tried Jamaican Bobsledding. It's sort of like your own personal roller coaster ride, but you have the options to brake (by hand). We all went FULL TILT and it was a blast.

We visited a cool Eco-Park in Xcaret....near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It was a cross between a zoo and a water park, next to a beautiful beach. We saw jaguars, anteaters, huge turtles and inner-tubed on an underwater ground river, Doing all this on the day when Houston had a freak snowstorm...but I wasn't too upset that I had missed it! And since I love all things COLORFUL, I thought this bus was cute. Do you?

Cozumel had put up a Christmas tree.....it took a while to get used to tropical versions of all the Christmas carols. :)

So....Feliz Navidad to all...(Merry Christmas in Spanish!). I had a wonderful trip but am now ready to make it feel like Christmas around here. My tree went up last night and today I'll do the rest of my decorating. So....It's FINALLY beginning to feel/look a lot like Christmas has arrive in "Susan's Colorful Life"! Happy Holidays to All my sweet blogging friends........Ya Mon!!!