Talented Time Travelers in Focus #24

If you're like me, you can never get enough Christmas cheer.

So let's revisit a few of the holiday projects from last week's party—before we ring
in the brand new year!  

Sandy @ Cottage Style Decorating filled her china cabinet with a lovely assortment

 of vintage family treasures—a beautiful way to reflect

on memories of holidays past.

Have you ever dreamed of spending Christmas in some far away land?

This image from Purnima @ A Creative Project was taken in a mall in Singapore.

Bet you never would have guessed it was taken in a "far away" place.

Mary @ VERY MERRY VINTAGE STYLE shared so much vintage goodness at her

holiday home tour, I had to take two tours to see it all.

This lovely festive holiday wreath was the creation of Kasthurisirajam @ MaNika.

She made everything herself—including the leaves and berries!

And these fun fuzzy frames reflect the creative talent of Julie

@ LEGACY OF LOVE ARTISTIC CRAFTS.

So if you want to hang on to the Christmas spirit a little longer, go visit last week's

party participants.  There's enough holiday cheer there to keep you

singing carols for a while longer.   ; )

Thanks to all the terrific travelers for bringing us so much party fun!

I can't wait to see all the super ideas

linked to this week's party!

 

Time Travel Thursday #25 - Sweet Dreams

CHECK OUT ALL THE DETAILS FOR THE PARTY HERE!

Welcome to the 25th Time Travel Thursday linky party at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Are you ready for our next trip back in time and into the future?

Then climb aboard!

A few weeks ago, I shared some photos of a bedroom from a model home I worked on back in the 1980s.

I thought you might enjoy seeing the master bedroom of that same house.

The springboard for the design of this particular room was the trendy, graphic wallpaper used in the vanity/dressing area and the adjoining bath.

It was a great choice for this master suite for a number of reasons—it packed a big punch, without being overpowering and had a coordinating fabric to match—which unified the three separate spaces.

From the coordinating fabric, I created a tailored bed skirt and a handful of simple throw pillows—of assorted sizes.

Though the colors in the fabric were fairly muted, the pattern was quite busy. 

To add design interest to the skirt, without getting too fussy, I created it as straight panels of fabric everywhere except the very corners—where I added extra-large pleats.

From this angle, it's easy to see how the fabric—though used sparingly—pulled the eye from the dressing area into the bedroom.

To keep the space light and airy, soft whites dominated the rest of the bedroom décor—the furniture, bedding, and window treatments.

Note the clean lines of the contemporary-styled lowboys on either side of the bed and the tall chest, set at an angle to it. 

  To preserve the serene simplicity of this room's design, handles were omitted from the furniture.

The gathered white fabric on the headboard added just the right amount of visual detail to wall behind the bed...

while the cushy-soft, down-filled comforter and plump pillows were an invitation to stretch out and dream the night away.

To give this room the illusion of even more space, the solid white window treatments were started just below the ceiling.

And to keep the look from being too stark and formal, I attached the panels to fabric tabs, which permitted them to drape loosely from the rods and puddle every so slightly on the floor.

I'll share a little secret with you about the rods I used. 

Though large wooden rods were part of the original design plan, they were quite costly for the size and lengths needed. 

So, I purchased PVC pipes—with the desired measurements—made tubes from the same fabric as the drapery material to cover them, and hung them on inexpensive wooden brackets that had been painted white.

And the rod finials?  Nothing more than Styrofoam balls, covered with the same fabric, then hot glued to the rod ends.

There's always a way to get "the look" for less! ; )

Another design trick employed here was to use the same style window treatments on either side of the bed.

What made it a design "trick"?  There were no windows there!

The bed wall was the longest in the room, and the bed itself would have floated aimlessly along the wall, without something substantial around it, to anchor it.

Not only did these pretty panels anchor the bed, they enhanced the overall dreamy effect of the room's décor.

Though this gorgeous room was designed over twenty years ago, it would work perfectly for a bedroom today—to entice sweet dreams.

Linking to Nichelle's for Talent Tuesday, Leigh's for Thrifty Thursday, Suzanne's for Vintage Thingie Thursday, Gina's for Transformation Thursday, Becky's for 100 Ideas Under $100.00, and Susan's for Metamorphosis Monday.



Let it Snow!

Be sure to enter my fantastic year-end giveaway here.  Just a few more days
until the winner is announced!

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of cold weather.  As a matter of fact, that's something you
 learned about me from my very first post—
way back in January of this year!

Really, the only time I even like winter is when there's snow on the ground.

On two separate weekends this month, Mother Nature teased me into believing

a winter wonderland was in the making.

The first time it snowed—during the first week of this month—it amounted to nothing

 more than a light dusting of the white stuff.

Then, about a week later, I watched snowflakes the size of large cotton balls

 fall from the sky.

Not only were the flakes gigantic, but the snowfall was so heavy, I just knew there

would be at least a foot of snow to blanket the landscape.

But when all was said and done, the accumulation was not more than an inch or so.

Well...

it is only December, after all, and good snowfalls don't usually arrive here

 until late January.

But...

 this year, I got an extra Christmas present—snow on Christmas Day!

And not just a flurry, but a good snow!

What constitutes a good snow, you ask?

One that keeps this Southerner indoors, near a warm heat source, sipping a hot drink,

 and reading a good book.

Hey, it's the closest I can get to winter hibernation!!!   ; )

Joining Kathleen for White Wednesday and Susan for Outdoor Wednesday.

Talented Time Travelers in Focus #23

Be sure to join this week's linky party—still in progress here!

Let's go back in time and revisit some of the creative projects linked to last week's party, as well.

If you like vintage, shabby, and French, you will love visiting Mikey @ Shabby French Cottage.

But hurry, before it's time to put the Christmas decorations away.

Trust me; you'll want to see the holiday treasures Mikey's cottage holds!

Star light, star bright...

okay, maybe this little star isn't light or bright, but it shines with "cuteness," nonetheless.

Suzanne @ Meridian Road offered a great tutorial for creating this little beauty.

If your decorating style embraces the colors of surf and sand, then boogie on over to Mary's @ Boogieboard Cottage to see her beautiful "beachy" vignettes.

A few months ago, I passed up the opportunity to buy a handful of vintage Putz houses, very similar to the ones you see here.

After seeing the adorable arrangement Roselle @ Seaside Rose Creations put together, I'm totally regretting that decision. ;(

In my many years of reusing, repurposing, and reinventing, I've seen a lot of unique remakes.

But I have to say, this "foiled" dresser by Debra @ DeJa Renew was a first for me.

Great way to think out of the box, Debra—literally!

Sommer @ Designer Garden was a busy, busy girl this year creating one decoration after another for the holidays.

It paid off, Sommer.  Everything looks fabulous!

I'm happy to introduce you to a new kid on the blogging block—fifteen-year-old Crafty Diva @ Fashionista for Less.

This young lady has been developing her needle-craft skills for some time now.

Be sure to go by and say hi!

Some people just have a knack for turning the mundane into something marvelous.

Good thing for her son that Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. is one such person—'cause he gets the goods.

When you were in school, did you learn how to multiply by dividing?

To see what I mean, be sure to visit Diana @ Blogging by Pictures, and see how she created an abundance of decorations for her tree—by doing just that.

It's always fun to see how old ideas resurface years later.

When I saw this cute, festive Christmas tree—created from magazines—by Jana @ Giggles, Glitz & Glam, I had a flashback to my past.

I remember seeing those in craft magazines when I was a kid—a looong time ago! 

Thanks so much to each and every traveler who took the time to join the fun last week.

I can't wait to see what creative ideas you link to this week's Time Travel Thursday party!

I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Christmas!

 

Time Travel Thursday #24 - Christmas Whites

CHECK OUT ALL THE DETAILS FOR THE PARTY HERE!

Welcome to the 24th Time Travel Thursday linky party at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Are you ready for our next trip back in time and into the future?

Then let's go!

My holiday decorating gets more and more simplified with each passing year.

And I'm finding I really like the look of simplicity.

This Christmas season, I used quite a few of the cones and branches from our Eastern White Pines to decorate with.

The pine cones are really very versatile decorations—with their long slender shapes and natural white tips.

And though I have quite a bounty of other natural elements to choose from, from around the farm, I still like to add several of my vintage Christmas decorations to the mix every year.

The 12" vintage bottle brush tree you see here is one of several I found tucked away at a thrift store, over ten years ago.

And the exciting part—besides the fact that there were three—was that I only paid fifty cent a piece for them!

This one is missing a few of its mercury glass ornaments—here and there—and quite a bit of the glitter, from the lower portion of its base, but I like its character, nonetheless.

Another of the vintage bottle brush trees—this one 13" tall—has a white wooden base and is embellished with the most gorgeous thick, glistening faux snow.

I love the way this flocked vintage beauty looks nestled amid the vintage buttons and tarnished silver—all atop the ironstone platter.

Pine cones, evergreen branches, vintage decorations—

"simple" certainly works for me!

Now it's your turn to take us back in time or into the future.

Just link anything you like, in any category you choose, showing us antiquity or modernity—when possible.

Publish your post, link to the Time Travel Thursday party with your specific URL (not your blog URL), and link back to the Brambleberry Cottage within your post.

Please leave a comment to let me know you visited.

Linking to Leigh's for Thrifty Thursday, Suzanne's for Vintage Thingie Thursday, Gina's for Transformation Thursday, Becky's for 100 Ideas Under $100.00, Cindy's for Show and Tell Friday, Betty Bee's Buzz for Buzz, Brag, and Bee Happy Friday, and Meg's for Everything But the Kitchen Sink.

As Quickly as the Turning of the Leaves

"As quickly as the turning of the leaves in fall...

so my little boy became a man."
~Author Unknown~

I remember, as though it were yesterday, standing over you as

you peacefully slept in your hospital cradle.  I contemplated nervously—but joyously—

what would be required of me as a new mom.

Even before you were ever born, I loved you.

But once you were here, I knew I would be willing to die for you.

To me, you were the most precious child that had ever been born.

And I watched, with utter delight, as you excitedly explored the

 newness of the world around you in those early years.

Every holiday—like Christmas and Easter—

became an occasion of even greater joy,

as I experienced them anew...

through your wide-eyed innocence.

From your earliest years, you loved fantasy and make believe.  And you totally

captivated me with your vivid imagination.

My sewing machine got quite the workout for a few years—

making all those fun costumes to

fuel your creativity.

Then, before I knew it, you were of school age.

You had such a zeal for learning, and I was frequently amazed

at how quickly you grasped concepts that were well beyond your years.

I really loved all the fun things we did while homeschooling. 

The special bond that developed between us—

as a result of all the time spent together—

is something I will always treasure.

From my viewpoint, those years passed all too quickly!

I sometimes wonder who learned more—

you from me...

or me from you.

You've always been such a caring, loving, and protective

big brother to your sister.  And to this day, you continue to be

one of her biggest heroes.

During all those years you played sports,

you know I was your biggest fan!

Did I ever embarrass you, Son—belting out my enthusiasm for you...

 from the stands?   ; )

Were you aware that there were many times my enthusiasm turned to

apprehension, as I watched some of your daredevilish feats?

I suppose you'll never outgrow your love of extreme sports. 

Good thing I'm a praying mamma, huh?!   ; )

Though you are much like me—serious-minded—

you are no stranger to fun.

Over the years, your quick wit and humorous antics have brought much

laughter and lightheartedness to our family.

And we have been blessed by your talents more than you realize.

As I reflect on this day—the 27th year since your birth—I am

blessed beyond words that the Lord saw fit to make

YOU my son!

I am proud of you, Joshua, and love you more than you will ever know.

Happy 27th Birthday, Baby!