Daily Painting 6

I am challenging myself. A painting a day, every day.

Here is Day 6:

Daily Painting 5

I am challenging myself. A painting a day, every day.

Here is Day 5:

Halloween 2015

This Halloween we wanted to create a spooky haunted forest but still keep it light and playful enough that it was still warm, inviting and not too gloomy.  

Some dead tree branches from the yard were perfect for making a huge impact - and the best part is that they cost NOTHING!

When you bring lots of natural elements into the decor everything falls into place. Sea shells, leaves, branches, pine cones and any other natural element can cover your decorating schemes for all the seasons and holidays.

"Creepy Cloth" is a very loose weave gauze-like fabric that can be draped from almost any surface to create a delightfully creepy look. Here we have draped it on our picture frames (two professional artists in the house and we have EMPTY picture frames....we're cuckoo!).

A simple branch in a flower pot with some floral foam and a centerpiece is born!

Birds perched in random places makes it feel as if they have landed there themselves, and that we are being quietly outnumbered by some spooky guests.

Orange and black is such a traditionally Halloween color scheme, but it can feel a bit tacky at times. With the right balance and some natural elements some Halloween elegance can be attained.

A bird and some silk leaves on each place setting helps tie the buffet decor to the table. We found our birds at Dollar Tree.

We like to bring out the ornate silver charger plates and accessories for a Halloween look because it feels like they could be right out of an old haunted mansion!

We found some lovely salad plates with a subtle embossed leaf pattern covering the entire surface of the plate. The natural leaf pattern makes them ideal for autumn decor and because they are plain white instead of fall colors they will fit in beautifully with Spring and Easter decor as well.

Here is a look back at last Halloween with our buffet in burgundy and black. 

As always, thanks for stopping by! Likes, shares, pins, follows and comments always greatly appreciated!

Happy "Bird" Day Celebration - Our Evie Bird's Birthday and Mother's Day Celebration.

Happy "Bird" Day Celebration - our Evie Bird's Birthday Celebration.

You may have noticed that we love giving each other nicknames (Evie, Feather, Peggo, etc.).

We also love personalizing every celebration and playing with words. 

When we needed a theme for our little Evie Bird's birthday, it just seemed natural that we would have a bird-day party instead of a birthday party!

As soon as we saw these beautiful plates covered in birds, lace, tea-cups and flowers we knew they would be perfect for her Springtime bird-day party, as well as Mother's Day!

The bird plates and napkins are paper (from Dollar Tree), so we pressed the paper plate between a silver charger plate and a clear glass plate. 

This is our new favorite way to dress up a place setting and create a custom looking party theme. We did this for Feather's birthday party as well. 

We added a grapevine wreath on top to give each place-setting its own little "nest." 

The table was decked out in a pink tablecloth with a white lace overlay and silver candlesticks wrapped in delicate spring blossoms. 

We added a lovely antique bird cage as the centerpiece.

Of course this birthday party would not be complete if we didn't serve all of the birthday girl's favorite treats(no matter how peculiar a collection of food items they may be!). 

We whipped up one of her favorites -- Rice Crispy Treats!

We made a batch of our family recipe for macaroni salad. 

Our family recipe brings me right back to so very many childhood memories. 

We used to have family gatherings so large that we would make the family macaroni salad and potato salad in such large quantities that we made them directly in the crisper drawers of our fridge!

Of course we had a birthday cake for blowing out candles and making birthday wishes. (I didn't get any pictures of the delicious Chocolate Sundae cake before it was cut, because we all gobbled it up before I could snap a single picture! Here is picture of the very last piece)

We also picked up some fresh ripe strawberries, shortcake and whipped cream for making strawberry shortcakes. 

Evie often tells the story of how she would have strawberry shortcake on her birthday when she was a child, and how it was extra special because strawberries were not available year-round like they are now. 

Strawberries were a springtime treat that always made her childhood birthdays extra sweet!















So there you have it --  Evie's 88th Bird-day party full of birds, berries, blossoms and blessings.

Happy Bird-day to you Evie!

I Don't Like Delicious!

Illustration by Jennifer Hickey.

Oh hi! Good to see you again! I was just in the middle of posting this new quick painting turned meme that was inspired by a direct quote from my grandma who was having a grumpy day.

This phrase may or may not have been uttered during a conversation about apples.

However, outside of it's original context, this sentence is grumpilicious. It's a great way to snap yourself out of a negative mood.

Instructions:

When feeling the overwhelming and uncontrollable need to list everything that is wrong in your life, and everything that you do not like, please add this phrase (if only to amuse the loved one to whom you are venting your frustrations).

• Say out-loud in an overly dramatic and exasperatedly grumpy voice for full effect.  
• Apply liberally 
• Repeat as needed.
• Discontinue use and consult a physician if it does not produce a smile within 5 minutes.