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Lalalalalala. Sick on the couch. Lalalalala. Trying to be positive. Lalalalala. Bleah. At least the tole trays are nice to look at. :-)

Guess what I am doing today? (And tomorrow. And every day for all of eternity, um, I mean this week.) Oh, you guessed! LOL! Someday this “whirlwind” office project will be done. Someday. :-)

That moment when you realize you've painted all the desks the wrong color and are going to re-sand and re-paint. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It's true I could leave them as is, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But I've decided that I really want to take the opportunity to have this room really be an expression of my vision (to the best of my ability). So, back to the.... sanding.... board. LOL! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What are you doing today?

It's Day 9 of our whirlwind office remodel. This is not from that. That is a giant mess, so I thought a pretty picture might be nicer. We're in the final push to get the build done so that life can get back to normal while I do all the little decorating projects and finish it off. That will take awhile. But hopefully this weekend we'll finally be able to at least start moving back in. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Meanwhile, this picture. So, I may have mentioned that I am making baby quilts now? I want to make 1,000 quilts total, and every 10th one is going to go to charity. I've already donated one quilt to charity and I'm plowing forward with the rest. It's in fits and starts since I work on it between other things. But a few days ago we had some sunny weather and I had a chance to take a few pictures and wanted to share this one with you. They're cute all lined up, aren't they? I'll list them as soon as I can get this crazy whirlwind office remodel done. :-) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Anything fun brewing for you???

We're on Day 6 of the whirlwind office remodel. This is what we do to celebrate major holidays, right? :-) Cleared the room, put up the wainscoting, plastered the walls, painted all the woodwork and wainscoting. I wanted to get the walls painted, but that will have to wait until tomorrow because I am wiped!!! And yes, that is paint on my neck. #wearitlikeapro #diy #diylife

#diylife #diy #wearitlikeapro

Happy New Year!! This is such an exciting time for me. There's something about a fresh new start, a fresh new year, a fresh new calendar that really energizes me. Which is good because we're in the middle of a one week whirlwind office remodel and I am painting and painting and painting and painting..... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I really appreciate everyone chiming in and letting me know what they'd like to hear from me. I've got a whole queue of projects ready to publish, and my weekly newsletter is ready to go. It's called Magpie Letters and it's from me to you once a week. This week will be all about fresh starts and some behind the scenes of the office project. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So, whatever Winter Festival you celebrate, I hope it was a good one, and I hope that the New Year brings you peace, joy, health, prosperity and abundance. May the lengthening days warm your homes and all of your promises and hopes for this year be fulfilled. Happy New Year!!!

The end of the year wouldn't be complete without a best nine, now would it? :-) Here you can see some of my biggest accomplishments from this year: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ * Admitting my bookstore was failing and deciding to make quilts (both baby and custom) instead. * Letting go of perfectionism and letting myself just make the family room a happy cheerful place to be, even though it's not exactly the way it will someday be. * Letting go of wondering what other people will think and just doing a project without regard to the result and then enjoying the delight of it turning out beautifully ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And also some of my favorite things: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ * The blooms of the neighbor's Kwanzan Cherry tree * Vintage tole trays * Fields of dahlias at golden hour * My Pioneer Woman canisters (I couldn't resist them). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I hope your year has been filled with amazing things, too!!! What's your best memory from this year?

Hello friends! How goes the holidays? I know for many of you the holidays are still in full swing, and for others they are over already. For us they're just winding down, and of course I'm already antsy to get going on planning for 2018!! Woo hooo!!! We have some biiiiig remodeling plans coming up and (dun dun dunnnnnn) I've decided to start actively blogging again. So I could use some feedback to help choose which projects I work on this year! :-) Here's a list of the top contenders: * Writing the whole story of what happened when we renovated our previous home (oh, the humanity!) * Doing a video series documenting our upcoming ginormous remodel * Creating a mini-course with a pro painter friend of mine on how to use pro tips to paint a room DIY-style * Writing a bunch of free home-dec sewing tutorials (basic skills, pillows, pillowcovers, curtains, napkins, linens..... the works) * Creating more tutorials for vintage-inspired architectural-salvage-style pieces and maybe some printable art. * Something else entirely??? I want to do ALL of these things, but I can only pick one (maybe two), so I'd love to know: which one would be most interesting / entertaining / useful / helpful for you????????

Oh, friends! I am a bit overcome tonight at the sight of our tree and the smells in our family room. The sparkle-y lights, the delicious smells, the pretty music. It's all so beautiful. I'm filled with joy this season -- because the days are getting longer, because my faith fills my spirit, and because I know that world-wide, billions of people are celebrating this beautiful season, each in their own way, with their own culture, their own beliefs. We are all doing it in our own way but we are all doing it together as one human family on this little blue ball. That moves me to tears, truly. I hope that wherever you are, and whatever Winter Festival you celebrate, you are surrounded by love and light and warmth and people who love you. My heart is full and open and I hope that blessings overflow your cup today and in the days to come. Much love from me to you! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Kwanzaa! Blessed Be.

So by now (if you've known me for awhile), you're probably getting the idea that I'm constantly fighting my fear, self-doubt and uncertainty. You would be absolutely correct. But guess what I learned the other day? This is NORMAL. Nobody told me it was normal to feel this way when you're breaking new ground in your life. But, of course! You've never been down this road before, how would you know what comes next? Not knowing this (I can be a bit dense about these kinds of things), I've been so completely confused about everything in my home. Decorating styles & colors. Everything. And about holiday decorating, too! As I mentioned, we celebrate both Mid-Winter's Day and Christmas and the traditional red and green have never appealed to me. So I kept trying to do modern things like red and lime or red and aqua or pink and aqua or something. Then when we were decorating the tree, I was just unwrapping the ornaments and putting them in a bowl and they looked so pretty. If it looked pretty in the bowl I left it in and if it didn't I took it out and this is what I ended up with. Guess what? Now I know what I like! Red, pink, white, silver and gold. (The green from the tree and Jadiste of course plays, but these are the biggies for me). Nice to know! Of course, now I need to make myself a new quilt. LOL!

Happy Mid-Winter's Day. We made it! We made it through the longest night and now the days will get longer. I thought a picture of this ornament was the perfect way to celebrate. I made this from a vintage bulb reflector and a vintage earring several years ago. I made dozens of them. I couldn't stop. I think I had some idea I would list them on Etsy but never did. I didn't know what to charge for them and wasn't sure anybody would want to pay for them. You know, the usual self-doubt and fear. I think I finally gave them away last year. You know, I'm not sure what I was so afraid of! I should have just listed them and let other people decide whether they wanted them or not. So, my lesson for today is: go ahead and share your gifts with the world, whether they're things you make or things you say or things you do or things you love or whatever it is. Because really, there's no downside. We all need each other, especially in the wintertime.

Let's have a conversation about red. Because honestly, I’m not a fan. Usually. Most of the year I don’t use it, and everything is fine. I stick to my pink and yellow and orange situation and the world goes on along about its business and I go along about mine and we’re all good. Until (dun dun DUN) I start getting that itty bitty holiday kind of feeling an then WHAM. I start craving red. Suddently I’m wanting to buy red trays on Etsy, and put red pillows on my couch, and find red ornaments for my tree. I can’t get enough. And then, usually by about a few days before Christmas, I’m completely overloaded with red and green and I want to run far, far away to a land where only pink and mint live. It’s weird, I know. But meanwhile, I’m enjoying it. And here’s my new addition. I’ll try to remember not to get rid of it next week. ;-)

I have a lot of nostalgia for the 50s and 60s, which is funny because I wasn't alive then. But there's something about the sweet innocence of the time (at least it seems that way from over here) that appeals to me. I bought these adorable ornaments from Leslie's Etsy shop @brookhollowlane . Aren't they cute? They're the kind of thing that I always envision making but never actually have time for. There's bunches more in her shop including some adorable little fabric houses I might have to go buy before you all snatch them up!! Go to Leslie's profile to get the link, and have fun!!

We definitely needed a new tree topper this year. Our old one was an angel that I've had for 20 years and while I loved it, it was getting soooo ratty. It was time for it to be donated. We decided we wanted something simple -- a star of some kind -- to represent our joy at the return of the light this time of year (both literally and spiritually). I found something I liked at a big chain store, but we ended up leaving it. I just couldn't do it. I feel like I just can't buy plastic anymore. So it was looking like I wasn't sure we were going to have a topper this year, and then my husband found this wooden one at the grocery store of all places. He wasn't really looking for one, he just happened across it. It was the very last one, all forlorn on the shelf. I had thought I might paint it or glitter it, but actually I think I like it just like it is. It's a small thing, but I still feel blessed by it. Do you have a tree? What's on the top of it?

I can't believe we still have so many of these vintage button ornaments! I think I must have made a zillion of them when I made them years ago. I didn't have much money at the time and was craving something new to add to our tree. I found some plain white balls at Goodwill and hot-glued vintage buttons and then dotted with glitter glue. Easy and cheap and I still love them. I don't know if this is my absolute favorite, but it's definitely in the top 10. What's your favorite holiday decoration?

Hi everybody! Are you having a great holiday season? What winter holiday do you celebrate? My family celebrates Christmas and Mid-Winter, both. I am a mix of German and Irish and Iove honoring those ancestral traditions. Lately I've been thinking that I wish we had some kind of Winter Festival where we could share and learn about all of the various cultural and religious traditions from many people. Can you imagine all the interesting, beautiful and inspiring stories there would be? What a way to get through the long, dark nights and wait for the light to return. Meanwhile, we've been getting out our decorations. It's always fun to see what treasures are in there that you've forgotten about. Like this cute little Santa train that we found at the Goodwill a few years ago. My kids are still not too big to appreciate a good train. (Although, just between you and me, my son has graduated to more sophisticated train setups than this.) Where does your family come from? What is your favorite thing to celebrate this time of year?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!! I hope that you have a lovely holiday with some special people, eat amazing food and get some relaxation in. I've been busy over here making new things for the upcoming holiday season, and I can't wait to tell you all about them!!! Soon! Meanwhile, I wanted to share these tiny suitcases. They are not real or vintage. I found then on eBay or Amazon a few years ago - they're just made out of cardboard. But they're cute and they have a bunch of my sewing trims and notions in them. The curtain fabric is vintage, found at a garage sale several years ago. I can't bear to cut it up. What are you doing for the holiday?

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