A huge Thank You to Bev at How Sweet The Sound for hosting our weekly celebration of all things Pink. Make sure to check out all of the other sites she has listed.

Today I have one Home Good find, another angel from QVC, and an intruder who just would not take no and had to be included in my Pink Saturday posting.

First is an adorable bunny teapot. It matches the larger pitcher that I got last year at Home Goods. My guess is the teapot has been sitting in a wharehouse since last year just waiting for me. I’m thinking that the small cookie jar that’s the size of the teapot really needs me to go back today and get it – before it goes home with someone else. lol Any excuse for a trip to Home Goods.

Next is a Jim Shore Easter Angel called “He Is Risen” that I purchased from QVC. I have one like this that’s for Christmas as well. The angel has an rotating diorama in her skirt. It’s also a music box and plays “How Great Thou Art.” There is a very small seed light bulb that shines on the diorama. The three images in the diorama portray Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and then Mary witnessing the risen Christ.

And lastly, I couldn’t resist him when I saw him on QVC the other day during one of their garden shows. It’s the Travelocity Gnome! He’s designed to be used indoors or outdoors but I won’t be using him on the patio or small terrace outside my condo. It would be one thing if I had a yard, but the area is wide open and I’m concerned that someone might “help him walk away” so to speak. I think he’ll look just adorable in front of the fireplace.

He’s not as big as the one that you see on The Amazing Race (one of my favorite tv shows) but he’s big enough and cute enough to make up for that.

He told me that he just had to appear in my Pink Saturday post. He did point out that he has a rosy pink color to his cheeks and nose. lol

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday!

Sandra

Happy Valentine’s Day – with a touch of pink to it of course.

A huge Thank You to Bev at How Sweet The Sound for hosting our weekly celebration of all things Pink.

To celebrate St. Valentine’s Day I’ve gone through some of the images I’ve got and found a few that fit in with our pink theme. Enjoy!

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day with someone you love. I’ll be spending the day with my son, Dave, and the “greand puppy” Bootsy watching the Nascar race at Daytona, the premiere of The Amazing Race, and of course the Olympics.

Sandra

It’s Pink Saturday again! And as always our Hostess Bev has collected a list of great blogs that want to participate in the celebration of all things Pink. You can find more blogs listed at How Sweet The Sound.

Friday night I decided I’d had enough of being cooped up in my home and needed to get out – even if it was in the single digits – I needed a shopping fix. lol So, I headed over to HomeGoods. It was so nice walking in and seeing what I hope is just the beginning of the Easter and Spring items they will have.

Here’s my “goodies” that I purchased tonight.

I couldn’t resist this adorable pink bunny with a wreath of flowers around its neck. It goes perfectly with the other bunnies (Fitz and Floyd) that I’ve got in the hutch in my kitchen. I purchased one other bunny from HG last year and guess I’ve started a tradition.





Here’s a close up of my new bunny. Such and adorable expression!





At first I wasn’t sure what these were. I thought they might be candleholders, but they are a bit too big. I think they are egg holders. Will have to see if I can find wooden or paper mache eggs to go in them – or make some out of polymer clay.





Here’s the four egg cups out of the package. A pretty blue, yellow, light pink, and a little bit darker pink.





I also picked up a set of towels to hang on the over door. I’m going to try to keep my son from messing them up when he decides to do the cooking.

So, even though it’s cold as can be outside, by putting out some pink and other pastel items I can at least feel that Spring is on its way.

For this week’s Featured Blog here’s a link to Sweet Finds by Joanna. It’s her post from last week featuring something I think looks fantastic – pretty pink dishes combined with things like vintage silver jewelry, buttons, or other decorative items. Lots of other neat things to explore on her blog.

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday and a great week!

Sandra

It’s Pink Saturday again! And as always our Hostess Bev has collected a list of great blogs that want to participate in the celebration of all things Pink. You can find more blogs listed at How Sweet The Sound.

The winner of my giveaway from a few weeks ago is Tina from Beansie Babbles! Congratulations. The package will be in the mail to you soon.

This week I received the Spring part of a collection from Jim Shore that I got from one of his appearances on QVC. I love his work and the way he incorporates quilt patterns into his sculptures. I think that this egg is just adorable. There are two very tiny bulbs in the diorama section – that don’t show up in the photos – that illuminates it. The bunnies are so cute and so is the quilt pattern on the back of the diorama. The other two in the collection that I’ve received are a pumpkin with pilgrims in it and a star with a nativity scene in it. I’ve forgotten what the Summer selection is so in a couple of months when I receive the next installment it will be a surprise.

Bev has asked us to feature another Pink Saturday blog each week. This week I’ve selected a blog that is filled with some fantastic crafts. The blog is Glitter and Roses by Ginger – and she’s even having a giveaway this week. Make sure to check out her blog.

Lastly, thank you for the many kind wishes for my son. He’s now back to work and is doing very well. He even went on a job interview yesterday. The contract with the current company is over and now he’s looking for something permanent. My hope is that he gets the job that’s right for him. Fortunately, he’s in IT and has a lot of great experience so he should be able to find something good soon.

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday and thank you so much for all the great comments – they mean a lot.

Sandra

It’s Pink Saturday again at Cottage Dreamer! Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for once more hosting this fun day of sharing all things Pink!

It was a very nice Christmas for my son and me. Bootsy was all excited with the wonderful scents drifting out of the kitchen. We had a Prime Rib and it was great.

For Christmas my son bought me something I’d told him I would like – an iPod Touch. It’s like his iPhone, but without the phone feature. I already have a cell phone – one without any features just for emergencies.

The photo below shows the wallpaper I selected for the iPod Touch – a pink lotus. Now I get to explore “apps” for the Touch.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.


Also, my son just sent me a huge file of images from last night. I’ll probably work on the later in the day and make another post with them. It really was a great night of Christmas magic.

Merry Christmas to all! I hope you’re having a wonderful Christmas. Last night my son and I took our traditional ride through Naperville looking at the decorations. This year we found two houses that had the lights coordinated with music where you tune into an FM station and can listen to the music in your car while watching the light show. I’ve seen this in videos on YouTube, but it’s so much better to see them in real life. I told Dave, next year we’re bringing his video camera.

For the first time that we can remember it rained for almost the entire four hours we were out. Course we were a bit slowed by the fact that Dave stopped at about every three houses to take pictures. lol

Last year Bootsy was good for almost the whole “tour” but this year he was fidgety from the start – so about an hour into the excursion we decided to take him back to Dave’s place. I guess he was a lot happier there since Dave was trying to handle the maps he’d printed out and his camera and couldn’t let Bootsy ride on his lap. Dave said when he got home Bootsy was snuggled into the big bed watching the Discovery channel. lol I keep the Cartoon Network on in the living room when he’s spending the day here. Yes, the dog is spoiled.

Below is a photo of my two “boys.” Dave sent this out as his Christmas greeting. Poor Bootsy, he just doesn’t look real happy. I think Dave took so many pictures of him when he was a puppy that he got sick of the camera. That’s why Dave is holding him while I took the picture.

Once again, Merry Christmas and I hope you have a Blessed New Year!

This is the third Saturday that we have a theme for our Pink Saturday thanks to Bev at How Sweet The Sound. This week we are recalling a Holiday or Christmas tradition.

Each year for about the last fifteen years my son and I have gone out on Christmas Eve to see the decorations around town. We used to go out and guess at where to go. Now our local paper provides a list of homes that have great decorations and breaks it up into north and south sides of town. This makes things a lot easier. Plus, my son is a techno-geek so likes programming all the addresses into his GPS. We tune the car radio to one of the Chicago FM stations that plays Christmas songs and take off on our adventure – with Bootsy (Dave’s Chihuahua) cuddled in a blanket on my lap.

Here’s some pictures that show off our town:

Naperville’s downtown lights create a beautiful canopy.







We haven’t found another house that is decorated as extravagantly as any other in town. There are always a dozen or so cars parked around this giant display. We always get a laugh at the house next door. Their one decoration is a large arrow made up of white lights pointing toward this festival of lights.







This is one of several Trolley’s that give tours of Naperville. At Christmas they take folks around at night for an hour tour of the best decorated homes in town. Several times we’ve run across the Trolley on Christmas Eve and have found a few houses to add to our own tour.










Another wonderful house with a fantastic light displays. It’s always one of our “must sees.”


Now, in keeping with the Pink Saturday idea, I thought I’d show off a new tradition for my home – 4 foot trees. Rather than one big tree that I never seem to get set up – mostly because I don’t like bugging my son to do it and he does work hard. So, now that I’ve got one tree set up in my bedroom, I realized how much I like these smaller trees – even got three more this year at JoAnn’s for fantastic savings. But they will have to wait for next year to be put up – but oh what fun I’ll have through the year search for “treasures” for next years theme trees.







A pretty pink tutu graces my Pink Themed Tree.







My pretty pink ballerina dancing on my White Christmas Tree







My ballerina and beautiful painted rose ornament.







I’ve had this ornament for a long time. She’s a Joan Walsh Anglund angel.





Handpainted rose ornament by Debi Coules.







The entire four foot white tree that sits in the corner of my bedroom. My bedroom has such a wonderful glow to it.







And lastly, there’s my ceramic nativity that I made about thirty years ago. Just one of my five nativity sets.


Thank you for sharing an old and a new tradition with me this year. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to everyone!

I thought I’d come up with a great idea – only to discover that others were there before me. Taking online house tours and such I found that many people were doing the same thing. What is it? Giving up the big tree in exchange for the a bunch of smaller trees that had a specific theme.

It took me awhile to come to this realization. Last year I went out and purchased a great six foot tree – but didn’t get my son to put it up until the 30 return policy was over. Sure enough, the center part of the tree didn’t light up. We did put some other lights on that section, but it was such a hassle to put up the big tree and then take it down. The year before this I was living with my son while my condo was remodeled and he got a real tree. It was beautiful, but he didn’t get to enjoy it very much since he was in California on business most of the month. I was in bed most of the month recovering from a serious fall I’d taken just after moving in. The year before I was quite sick and didn’t get a tree up. I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever see a tree in my hom again.

This year I got a very nice 4′ white tree at JoAnn’s and it’s in my bedroom and is decorated with some pink ornaments that I will add to each year. I’ll be posting pictures of it this Saturday.

The other night we were sorting through decorations – going over the ones we wanted to keep, some we felt would be good to donate, some for Dave, and some for my special pink tree. We were discussing putting up the big tree and I just wasn’t up to it. It takes up so much room in my living room. I said I’d like to put up a small one, like my tree in the bedroom – which lead to the decision to donate the big tree and replace it with a smaller tree. To be honest, part of the reason for this is then I can do them by myself and don’t have to bug my son to put up the big tree. lol Plus, with the smaller trees I can take a day or two, get it set up and then move on to the next.

The tree in the living room will be the “traditions” tree – with the ornaments we’ve accumulated over the last 30 or so years. This will be a green tree. In front of the small entry way landing I’m going to put a white tree and just might make that a “tree of the year” with new ornaments – or preferably with ones I make myself. Then in the corner of the kitchen I’ll have one that will be decorated with tea chps and silverware (thanks to Debi at My Romantic Home for that idea.) In my studio I’m going to have a tree with ornaments that are based on the things I do in there – doll making, embroidery, and sewing. And I’m even thinking of putting a tree in the bathtub in the front bathroom. lol

All of these trees will be something I can do on my own and will give me something to work on throughout the year.

As I said, I thought I’d had an original idea – but even my Chiropractor who I saw yesterday said that they had given up their big tree and had small trees spread out through their home.

Oh, and now I’ll have a place to put each of my nativities – and an excuse to buy one or two more. lol

Hmm, do you think it would be going overboard to put a small tree in the laundry room?

Once again this week, Bev at How Sweet The Sound has suggested that we do something a little bit different. This week we’re asked to share a special Christmas or Holiday decoration. So, here’s something that has been a part of my Christmas since I was about five years old.

This is my paper-mache Nativity set from Italy that I began collecting when I was about five or six. Each year around Christmas time I would go with my Mom and sister to the “Dime Store” – remember those? I’m pretty sure it was a
Ben Franklin. I might not remember the name, but I do remember that it was next to the Jewel where we shopped for groceries and I can remember the aisles in the store filled with all kinds of merchandise to wonder over.

I think it probably took a few years to collect the entire set. Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus one year, the Wise Men the next, then the shepherds, and along the way picking up the animals.

Each year I would unwrap each piece of the Nativity and place it under the tree. It was always the focal point of our decorations – or so it seemed to me.

Even though the figures look a bit worse for ware (might have to take a paintbrush to some of the scuff marks next year) it’s still one of the most important things I use to decorate for Christmas.

You may notice that I only have two Wise Men. Sadly, a few years ago one of them fell off the sideboard and broke. I was hoping to find his missing part, but never did. So, I’ve begun looking on eBay for his “twin.” I’ll give it a year to find him, but if I don’t, next year I’ll see if I can recreate the head to go on the main part of the figure that I have. Either that or might have to buy an entire set to just to get my one missing Wise Man. But that’s ok. I’d like to see my set complete again. Also, this year the stable looks a bit worse for ware and I think it’s time to replace that next year.

click for larger image



This Nativity will always be the most important thing I can put out each year. I have several more Nativity sets that I’ll be posting about this week – but this is the most special one.


Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your time today with me and my Nativity. And just as a tease for a post to come this week. Here’s a picture of the tree in my bedroom and just one of the ornaments that adorn it.

Welcome to a very special post of Christmas Memories. This week, and for the next two weeks, Bev at How Sweet The Sound has suggested we have themes for our Pink Saturday posts. I love the idea. This week the theme is A Special Memory of a Holiday. For me, that has to be Christmas. December is always a very important month because of my birthday, my dad’s birthday, and Christmas.

But, to start things off with a bit of a current memory I’m starting, I thought I’d show off my “finds” at Home Goods this week.

These are adorable little teacups and saucers for the small tree I’m putting in my bedroom. I should have pictures of the tree starting on Monday. I had been taking a “House Tour” and fell in love with Cindy’s full-size Christmas tree filled with cups, saucers, and even silverware at My Romantic Home. I plan to spend the next year gathering items for a similar tree – but in pinks and blues.

Got some small mirror ornaments for the “pink” tree. Shades of the 70s and the Disco era.

Christmas Memories

While going through the boxes of pictures I’ve got I was reminded of so many great memories but the one that always sticks out in my mind is from when I was three. I’m not sure that I have any actual memories of this specific year, but I do remember the many Christmas days spent with my Grandfathers and other relatives. Often we would spend Christmas Eve with one side of the family and the Christmas Day with the other. But I do remember several times having both Grandfathers at our house for the holiday.

The photos that I want to share are from Christmas 1949 when I was three.

Me at three with my new baby doll.

Here I am with all the presents that I got when I was at Grandpa Thompson’s and Auntie’s. A baby doll, a train, and what looks like some new clothes. I believe that the pleated skirt was made for me by my great, great grandmother. And don’t you just love the dark shoes. So charming. lol

Here’s my dad giving me a horsey-back ride. But as you can see I’m not letting go of my new baby doll.

This is my mom and me. Isn’t she pretty? Oh, and excuse the bit of the undies showing. lol

This is a photo of my Grandpa Thompson, me, and my daddy. I was named after my grandfather. His middle name came from his middle name which was Sander.

This is my “Auntie.” She was my mother’s great aunt. She and my great great grandmother came to America from the “old country” of Norway when they were in their teens. She helped to raise my mother and uncle and was an absolute fantastic cook. Dinner at Auntie’s was always wonderful.

And once more Christmas comes to an end. Most likely I’m thinking how tired I am but that I just don’t want to go to bed and have Christmas really be over. But a year later there will be wonderful memories to make of Christmas with my Grandfathers and the rest of the family – but my Grandfathers will always hold a special place in my heart.


Thank you for visiting and sharing these memories with me. I hope the joy of this time of year fills your home and heart.