Meet Gus and Ginger

Gus and Ginger are my "doogers".  They are very happy basset hounds, they enjoy a busy day that consist of eating, sleeping and eating.  Gus is 2 1/2 years old but has the personality of a 50 year old grumpy man.  Ginger is 2 years old and is the sweetest thing you will ever meet.  They both love to go bye-bye and 3 of their favorite places to go is Petsmart, the dog park and In-n-out to get a delicious hamburger patty.  Here are some pics of each of them.  Enjoy.

Gus.

Gus stole this Hello Kitty purse from my 11 year old daughter, and to this day it is one of his favorite things to carry around the house.

Ginger.

A blowfish for Halloween.

I could post millions of pictures of them, in fact I have as many pics of my dogs as I do my kids :)

Until next time.

The Battle I Won!

I found out through my mom that my brother was throwing away a hideous looking hutch.  So I decided to do what I do best....drag it home!  My husband HATED it!  The hutch was oak, with brass hardware, and had  lead design glass in the doors which were broken and a 70's type mirror glued to the inside of the cabinet.  It was ugly.  My husband and I argued about it and I thought for sure that we would definitely not be on speaking terms within no time.  I saw something in this piece of furniture that he couldn't.  I became stubborn and frankly didn't care if my husband hated it!  I didn't hate it, in fact I loved it :)

I was in such a hurry to start working on it, I didn't take any before pictures and I'm kicking myself for it.  I had to hurry and waste no time because for all I knew my husband was waiting for me to turn my back so that he could murder it with a sledge hammer.

I removed glass, sanded, painted, and stapled (without help from Victor) I did it all on my own.  Yep, it was all me!

After it was all said and done....Guess who LOVES it??????  That's right MY HUSBAND.  He said to me "looks great,  we really needed something in that space!"

Whatever!  All I know, is that I won the battle and that is all that counts!

Welcome Back......To ME!

Its been quite awhile since I posted anything.  Honestly I have no good excuse or reason.  I have just been plain lazy!  I have been doing nothing really with my spare time except stressing/fantasizing about my wood floors that I want to put in downstairs in April.  I have been stalking websites, stores, and other peoples blogs about how to install the flooring myself, the price ranges, and ohhhh the many colors and textures that they offer.   More on that later.

Before Christmas I promised to share with you two custom dolls that I ordered from Michelle at A Pinch of Prim, you can  find her here: http://apinchofprim.blogspot.com/

I ordered them for my 2 girls for Christmas gifts and they came out beautiful!  Michelle was super easy to work with and may I add that she never saw a picture of either girls.  With my descriptions only via email and Michelle's imagination the dolls look almost exactly like Alexis and Gabi.  Below are pics of the dolls and the girls so you can be the judge!  Lets start off with my youngest daughter Gabi.  Isn't she just beautiful?

There....I got your attention....This was Gabi on Halloween :)

Alexis is 19 years old and on the left, Gabi is 11 years old and on the right.

Gabi and Ginger.

Alexis.

Now here are the dolls:

Gabi is the princess/brat of the house and she loves all things sparkly!

Alexis is our personal "cat lady".  She wears cardigans, loves cats and anything floral.

SOOOOO....what do you think?  I know, I know, I'm totally right!  The girls LOVED them and so for that, I would like to say THANK YOU to Michelle!  The detail is outstanding and the dolls are beautiful, they were totally better then I imagined!

PS
My 15 year old son was never considered for one of these.  Actually he probably would kill me, in fact....he would kill me.  So since I could not find anything "special" for him for Christmas he got the usual video games and what not.  I felt bad at first...but my sister reminded me that since my son Joseph considers himself "a gamer", then at this point in his life the video games are "special" to him.  (sigh)  I guess shes right....... (sigh)

Until next time....
Josie

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to drop in to say Merry Christmas to all of you!  This is the first time in several days that I have had  "down" time!  All of the gifts are opened, the kids are happy, everyone enjoyed a ham dinner and I get to relax for the evening.  Yay!

Here are a few pictures of some of my ornaments around the house.  I decided to  post tonight because I am "that" person that takes down all of my decorations the day after Christmas and declare my life back to normal :)

This is the baby tree in my kitchen.  I decorated it with vintage Christmas cookie cutters held on with twine, a set of vintage measuring spoons and a super cute star Christmas ornament that looks like a cookie.

This is our Christmas tree with a couple of close ups on some of our ornaments.

Here is the mantel in the video game room where I hung my kids stockings.

A gingerbread house that the kids made a few years ago.

A Santa door knob hanger.

I made the wooden coat hanger that is behind my front door.  It holds my baptism dress from when I was a baby all year long and during Christmas time I add some greenery.

Some Christmas garland randomly hung around the house.

Christmas decorations on the front porch.

A snow shovel (I will never need to use this thing being I live in Southern California, I guess its a good thing....I wouldn't know how to use it anyways)  hanging out with my grandfathers canes.  

And lastly....Meet Ellen.  My beautiful niece that is in high school always thinks of me while making things in her ceramics class.  Ellen was an amazing gift from her one year and I adore her.

Thanks for stopping by.....Enjoy the rest of your evening and have a Very Merry Christmas!

Some new things to share

I love Christmas but can't stand the hustle and bustle about it!  I wish things just happened on their own with no effort on my part so that I can sit back and enjoy the important things in life....like spending time with my family.

Between decorating, shopping, and wrapping gifts I have managed to have spurts of time to attend Christmas functions at my kids schools.

Here is my youngest daughter Gabi.....this pic was taken just minutes after her dance routine in the school Talent Show.....trust me she has more guts than her mom :)

So on Saturday I made it to a newly opened antique shop in my area.  I'm very happy with my finds.

I got this wire/wicker lantern thing for $10!  Its hanging in my bedroom, and it looks great!

I also got this mini candle holder for $3.  The dealer told me that back before we had Christmas lights, people actually used the clip part to attach it to their Christmas tree branches. They would then lite the candle that it held to achieve the beautiful glow on their Christmas tree.

I have it clipped on top of a ribbon holding a roll of burlap together.

I collect the letter "D"...This one is in my bedroom on top of a roll top desk.

This "D" is one of my newest ornaments.

This is my big trunk that sits in my living room.  I use it to hold black and white family photos.

This is my bakers rack that is in my kitchen.  I like the simple look for the holidays.  I also have a cute tiny Christmas tree in my kitchen that is not quite ready to show.  As soon as I am done with it, I will post a picture.

And  lastly....do you remember the vases I got at a yard sale for $1???  Here is how I used two of them along with a candy dish Gabi gave me for Christmas last year.

Until next time,

Josie

Fishtail Cottage Giveaway.....Featuring A Pinch Of Prim

http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/2011/11/fishtail-cottage-giveaway-19a-pinch-of.html

If you already aren't acquainted with Fishtail Cottage please check it out!  This blog is one of my favorites and inspire me quite often to keep on keeping on!  Also....I plan to do my own post about A Pinch Of Prim as soon as Christmas is over because Michelle has just finished two absolutely beautiful pieces for me!  They are gifts for my two daughters for Christmas!

Fishtail Cottage is celebrating their 1 year blogaversary and are  featuring Michelle's Blog " A Pinch of Prim" and Michelle is offering a super cute Christmas Bird as the giveaway!

Good Luck~

Thanksgiving day count down...

If you read my last post, you probably already guessed that I am "that" person that prefers to just skip over Thanksgiving and dive straight into Christmas.  I have never really been excited about this holiday and it still has not grown on me.  But....there are a couple of things about this holiday that excites me.  First of all I truly enjoy the time off from work that I get to spend with my family and secondly......wait for it......this needs to be capitalized....THE SHOPPING that follows!  I LOVE to shop!  Although purchasing "new" gifts as opposed to vintage or antique gifts is not on the top of my list....its still shopping!  So good luck to me and all of you out there that will be on the thrill of the hunt black Friday.

This past weekend I made it to a couple of yard sales.  Nothing too exciting to post, but I did get all four of these glass vases for $1.00!  I can use them for anything, right now I have glass Christmas ornaments in them.

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe holiday!  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Josie