Mantels | February 2020

My goal this year is to design a new mantel display each month in a way that will remind us of bits and pieces of our wonderful life...and share those stories here on the blog.

February's display has a love theme and features pinks, reds, and white.

The centerpiece of this display is our wedding photos, framed by red bubble candle holders from Robbie's grandparent's 40th anniversary. The apple and larger red vase in this display were also gifts his grandparent's received celebrating their ruby anniversary.

The cute pink doll is my "sick dolly." Robbie brought her home for me as a gift the first time I was ill after we were married. The doctor had ordered that I stay in bed a few days to recover from a bacteria and a viral infection! So, Robbie gave me this dolly to keep me company while he was at work. Through the years, anytime I've fallen ill, he always makes sure she's by my side. :)

The bride and groom Beanie Babies were a Christmas gift from my parents the year Robbie and I married, and the red '69 Stingray Corvette convertible is part of Robbie's collectibles.

Over twenty years ago, I gave each of my nieces and nephews a pink piggy bank for Christmas. After my nephew was grown and headed into the Army, he gave his back to me so it wouldn't get broke in his travels. It always reminds me of finding FUN unique gifts for the kids...and I discovered when I picked it up that I had obviously been saving coin in it a while back.

Those two little heart candles were on the tray Robbie was holding when he knelt down and proposed to me over 18 years ago. The Bible and devotional books are reminders of our faith, and the "I'll never stop loving you" heart photo holder was a new purchase this year. I just couldn't resist adding something new to this LOVEly display. I square-punched two photos of us for this holder.

After the post about my January mantel, a few of you mentioned maybe changing up your mantel display. How's that going? Are you getting ready to put out some springtime pieces?

Scrapbooking | Grandy's Kitchen

Quite a few years ago, we came across the owner's manual for the kitchen stove Robbie's grandparent's purchased in 1959, five years before Robbie was born. He has many wonderful memories of his Grandy cooking on it, so I was thrilled when we found a photo of her standing in front of that stove back in 1975. I finally paired those two items with some papers from Authentique's Ingredient collection to create a two-page layout for Robbie's family album.

I made a copy of the stove diagram from inside the owner's manual to include on the left page, and placed the entire manual inside a clear pocket on the right page. Grandy had even tucked a few repair receipts inside the manual. She cooked on this stove until she passed away in 1986.

Robbie hand wrote the journaling, which reads:

Grandy in the kitchen! She loved to cook (and was superb at it). I suppose that's where my love of cooking comes from? So many  memories of her in her kitchen cooking something the whole family liked: "Little Pizzas" "Potato Salad" and homemade pickles, canned green beans, tomato juice, and others too numerous to mention. Tommy continues to can green beans in the same kitchen and we both make her same recipes. ~RFG

Do you have any old memorabilia lying around that you could pair with a photo and some memories?

Mantels | January 2020

Some of you may remember my post about the lovely mantels at Fall Farm last year. After that, I started changing up the seasonal display on our mantel to showcase things we love. It’s been a lot of creative FUN for me, so my plan this year is to change it up at the beginning of each month. My goal is to design each display in a way that will remind us of bits and pieces of our wonderful life...and share those stories here on the blog.

January's display had a sunflowers theme and featured yellows, greens, and browns.

Sunflowers have been my favorite flower for as long as I can remember. Robbie and I picked up the painted window frame many years ago on a day trip. It was a beautiful spring day, and we decided to drive out to Tyler, Texas, to see the azaleas in bloom. We stopped at several flea markets along the way; these sunflowers caught my attention!

The sugar and creamer set belonged to Robbie's great-grandparents and the green stemware pieces were one of Robbie's parent's wedding gifts. 

That FUN photo of us was taken on one of our anniversary trips to San Antonio, Texas. (And, yes, that is a live longhorn I'm sitting on!) Robbie has lots of collectible toys, so that's a huge part of our story - last month I included a school bus (I’m a teacher) and a yellow Coca-Cola station wagon (I drink Coca-Cola & this was a recent Christmas gift from my niece Nichole). The "Believe" sign is a reminder that our faith sustains us!

Both Robbie and I are avid readers, so I’m planning to include books in each display - January's included two Chronicles of Amber volumes. Robbie made that wooden candle stand in 8th grade woodshop, and he sent me flowers in that yellow pitcher a few years ago. The green bubble vase belonged to Robbie's family, and I included another favorite photo in a frame gifted to me by a local friend several years ago.

So, while visitors might simply see a nice display on our mantel...we see memories!

I'm looking forward to the creative challenge of curating a new display/story each month. (I'll be back to share this month's display in a few days!) How do you decorate your mantel?

Hello 2020

I'm back and waving hello to each of you and to 2020! 

The beginning of this year has been filled with busy times as well as slow relaxing times. I've also enjoyed quite a bit of creative time, which I'm looking forward to sharing with y'all in upcoming posts. For today, here's a quick peek at the past month and a half.

Family
I've especially enjoyed spending time with most of my family over the past several weeks. First, I went out to visit Mama & Daddy's one day, and Mama made a yummy batch of fudge! Then, my nephew, his wife, and my great-nephew stopped by for an overnight visit as they were passing through the Dallas area. My parents came out as well, and we enjoyed playing games late into the night. Earlier this month, we enjoyed a two-day road trip to celebrate my twin nieces' 15th birthday! We took Daddy with us and celebrated his 73rd birthday with a lunch out the next day. A couple of days later, my niece Pun'kin came to visit for a whole week!

Travel

Robbie's traveled for business to New Delhi (India), New York, and Boston. I'm so thankful for technology that allows us to stay connected when he's away!!

Cleaning/Decluttering

I've been doing some cleaning and organizing that's resulted in quite a bit of decluttering as well. After reorganizing our closet (to make a more convenient spot for Robbie's suitcase and other travel paraphernalia), I donated a large bag of clothes and shoes to our local community outreach. Once Robbie and I had scanned all our bookshelves, we took three boxes of books to Half Price Books (a store that buys used books). And, since I only wear toe socks now, I finally decided it was time to let go of the drawer full of happy socks that haven't been worn in a couple of years (or not at all). I packed four happy mail packages and sent them off to my nieces (with a couple of books included for two of them). [I forgot to take a photo of those packages, but my niece Nichole sent me this FUN photo with a thank you when her package arrived.]

Weather
As always, the weather here in Texas has been eclectic. We've had sunshine with temperatures in the 70s, cloudy and rainy with temperatures in the 40s and 50s, and even one day of snow flurries with temperatures below freezing!

Overall, it's been a pretty good start to the year. How about you? Is your year off to a good start?