Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Last day of 2019.  The end of another decade.  

The beginning of fresh new things...learning to be a better photographer, continuing to scrapbook and hopefully be published again, working on my counted cross stitch, finishing some quilts and getting rid of fabrics I won't be using again and writing.  I enjoy all these things but want more of them in my life.

So here is a brand new year to plan activities and holidays, change my home decor to match the seasons, and watch new Hallmark movies of course! I love Hallmark and I have since I was a child shopping with my Mama for cards and stationery.  I can't wait to get my Valentine cards!  I think they are already in the stores so I better make a trip to get first choice of the cards for those I love.  Be sure to get your stationery for thank you notes for Christmas gifts and stock up on cards for birthdays and Valentine's Day.  I love to look at the cards and read all the sayings inside before I choose.  I can spend a long time getting just the right cards!  

I still have all the trees up!  Yes, all of them are still dressed in their Christmas best.  I know the Coke tree is staying up through Valentine's Day because we are in love with Coke!  And well let's face it the colors are perfect-red and white.  I know we will leave the gingerbread tree up as well as those two flank the large white hutch.  It makes a beautiful backdrop for the sweet candy bar.

Well, a new decade is beginning!  What a fabulous time to make things new and go after bigger goals and dreams.  We are learning life is too short and health is unpredictable and family is all we have in the end.  We want to spend as much time together as possible!  We will be watching the Waterford crystal ball drop in New York City while we cozy up on the sofa.  At midnight we will bang the pots outside and shout happy new year to our neighbors.  We hope your family is blessed with good health, good times and love in this new year!

Be sure to check my Pinterest page for great Valentine's Day cards, scrapbook layouts, and decorating ideas!

Have a wonderful day and Happy New Year to all!

Staining our new staircase!

New Oak Staircase!

We finally found the staircase we love.  We purchased the staircase components at Lowe's of Washington.  The brand is RetroTread by Young and is made from solid red oak.  

The hand rails and baluster and newel post came from Keim Lumber in Charm, Ohio.  They are custom made from solid red oak.  It is the staircase of my dreams!  We have been staining them for days now...three coats of Old Masters gel stain in American Walnut #81808 from Colorize of Pittsburgh.  We are finishing with three coats of Old Masters Interior Water Based Masters Armor in Satin finish #72104.  It is designed for floors but can be used on furniture, cabinets, etc. and is for use on interior wood surfaces.  

We have been working on this project since October 29, 2019.  We started outside as it was warm but we had a rain shower and had to run with all the pieces to the garage to protect them.  The next day we took them to my Daddy's home to finish the staining and finish coat.  

I'm taking a tea break!

Buster enjoyed being outside with us.

It has taken a week to sand and stain the stairs.  Then it took more than another week to apply the three coats of the clear finish.  In between, we had the Hallmark event, shopping, the Martha Washington Quilt Show, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!  Deep breath here...it is closer to being done now.  We have the stairs complete and down...and are working on the handrails and balusters and newel post after the wall is painted.  By the time we are finished a job that could have taken possibly three weeks will have taken three months.  But the result is worth the effort.  I can say that if I ever decide to do a home remodel project in autumn again I hope someone stops me!  If you are in the market for wood parts for your staircase I recommend the two stores that helped us find exactly what we needed.  

Day After Shopping

Shopping the Day After!

We don't shop on Black Friday anymore.  Well, let me qualify that...we don't shop at brick and mortar stores.  We did do a lot of shopping online from Black Friday until Christmas Eve.  It was fun to get all the boxes on our front porch at first but after awhile they just became a pain to check for rain damage and haul them inside.  We got to the point that we were not even opening them.  About a week before the big day we finally got them all opened, reordered damaged things and wrong sizes and put into piles to be wrapped for Christmas.  We added our in-store purchases at Kohl's, Macy's, Dollar Tree and Walmart and we worked in the loft at my Grandma's kitchen table that my Daddy refinished.  My daughters and I and sometimes my granddaughters wrapped all our presents in our pretty Christmastime in the City themed paper and curling ribbons along with matching tags.  Some days it was fun and some days we felt like we would never get done! 

However...we DO shop on the day after Christmas!  I choose 3 stores that i definitely want to get to as soon as they open.  This year my first choice was Marshall's at Washington Crown Center Mall.  Since we were there the day before Christmas right before closing I got to see all the goodies that would be half price the day after Christmas.  So we arrived there shortly after opening.  I grabbed all the goodies I wanted.  

We raced across town to Target in Washington next.  I bought gift wrap for my Christmas theme next year which is Christmas in Evergreen (LOL!), bows, curling ribbon, tags, ceramic house, two outdoor timers and who knows what else!  Ha!  We stopped at Eat n Park for lunch in Peters Township.  



We went to Target at South Hills after lunch and they didn't have a lot to pick from but it was fun with the girls!  Oh wait they did have my Chobani yogurt in flavors I've never seen before!  I stocked up!

Barnes and Noble was our next stop of the day.  We found quite a few books to look at and some new authors to keep in mind.  We ordered cookbooks from Martha Stewart and Paula Deen.

We forgot to stop at Starbucks to use our gift cards for a holiday drink.  We'll do that another day though.

Our last stop of the day was Market District.  We love walking around in this grocery store.  They have so many different items than our regular store.  We found some needed groceries and candy.  

It was a very busy day that ended with a great Hallmark movie snuggled on the couch in our jam-mays!

We had lots of laughs and good times being all together.  The grandchildren were so excited to help find the bargains.  I hope your shopping trips were as successful and enjoyable as ours were!

He came! Santa really came!

Christmas day was wonderful with the children opening all their gifts and laughing with one another.  My big surprise was my table pad for the dining room table.  It was 2012 when I bought the table and I never got the pad for it.  John surprised me with an envelope that said it was ordered and would be in for pick-up in January.  I also got a huge box of Echo Park scrapbook kits and papers and an Amish fiction book from Lauren and new rubbed bronze register covers for all my register vents from Karina!  The girls and I all got new telephones and new long cords for our Apple devices, 2 Lands End tote bags and 2 pairs of slippers, and diamond cocktail rings.  Our entire family spent Christmas Day in our new Land's End jam-may pants and shirts from Southern Style On Fifth Avenue!  We had our traditional Cracker Barrel ham along with Papa's mashed potatoes, Ham gravy, creamed lima beans, corn, green bean casserole, a relish tray, stuffing balls, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and cherry and pumpkin pie for dessert. Our chef Isabella enlisted the help of her cousin Caroline and Nana and baked 40 dozen cookies!  Her favorite is Lady Locks and we had many dozens of them!  You can see the lady locks recipe here.  They are delicious.  My favorite is the candy cane cookies sprinkled with crushed candy canes and sanding sugars.  Yum!  She also baked the cupcakes on the front of the December issue of Food Network Magazine.  Look at how beautiful they were!  We divided them in half and froze them without icing and enjoyed the other dozen on New Year's Day.  

December Daily 2017

December Daily Album from 2017

I wanted to share a passion of mine on my blog so you will all be able to see more of the celebrations we share during the month of December.  

Please enjoy the photos and memories I have captured in the album. 

The album is from Ali Edwards HSN collection.  A lot of the decorations in the album are from my scrapbook stash. 

Created the calendar page with my Cricut, using Cricut pens and fonts.  Each day lifts up and shows what we did that day.

I get all my photos printed from Shutterfly.  I also buy all my Christmas cards and special 6x8 cards made from Shutterfly.  I like their website the best.  Their quality of prints is phenomenal.  I partnered with Shutterfly for this album!  These Christmas cards are fabulous with our Walt Disney World photos on them.  

More Disney photos in the album, I just love making the 6x8 cards on Shutterfly.  I can add text and get the back printed as well. 

Bradford House tree donation from our company Southern Style on Fifth Avenue.

JFK Catholic School Cabaret

Walt Disney World photo cards from Shutterfly.  I used the Cricut to make the Mickey head and the journaling card.

Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie guide and a bag from Starbucks!

My favorite Christmas drink is the Toasted White Chocolate Mocha!

Watching Hallmark Christmas movies all winter long!

A not so merry day when I ran into the rack at Kohls.  UGH!

Had to spend the day in Pittsburgh because I was diagnosed with kidney disease the night before.  But I did get to see this tree at PPG Place and the house with the big red bow.

Lunch with Mary Lou at Cracker Barrel and a great journaling card handmade by Lauren and Karina, they used the Cricut for the writing and and some AC foam dots to pop it up.

Jolees accents on the back.  My parents tree!  I hope they loved it from Heaven.  I miss them so much at this time of year.  We still decorate their house.

Snuggling watching Christmas movies in our jammies.
I got to meet the author who wrote the book about Kaufmann's at Barnes and Noble South Hills.

Believe in the magic of Macy's at Christmastime.

All the trees in Sugar Hill (our home) for Christmas in 2017.  JW with his Frosty Friends spiral tree in his room and Isabella with her Princess Dreams tree in her room, all the signature Sketchbook ornaments from Walt Disney World, she loves them!

Home Depot donated a tree and ornaments to a needy family in Washington.  Southern Style on Fifth Avenue facilitated the donation with Home Depot of Bethel Park, PA. 

Snow day!

My Mama's birthday complete with the poinsettias like she always liked.  We took the sleds to the cemetery.  Yes, even I went down the small hill a few times.