Bead Soup Ingredients I've Sent

Another Bead Soup Party is coming up. This time there won't be a blog hop. We are just going to swap beads, and if anyone wants to, then they can put them on their blog. I plan to do that.


I gathered some ingredients for my partner. Here is what I came up with.

Since I've been so much into buttons, the first thing I picked out were these cute things. There are three of them that I just stacked and wired them together with this wire:

This is some old telephone wire I've talked about before. You really can't tell in this photo, but it is white and gray.

For my birthday last year, my sister sent me some fun stuff. I had a couple of these lockets, and so decided to share. Besides I think they go very nicely with some of the other ingredients I'm sending.

Like this chain.

And these flowers.

And this wooden flower.

Here are some glass hearts.

Then I threw in a little bit of black.

Then stir with some fiber.

Not sure if she'll use this bow, but I made her a card and tacked it onto a card. I think I might make some more of these bows, there were fast and easy to make.

Then I threw in some e-beads

This is one of two clasps I'm sending. The other one is a small one to match the chain.

Let's see what kind of soup she comes up with.

Foto Friday Rain, Rain, and More Rain

When I saw that this week's Foto Friday was Rain, I was wondering why it couldn't have been last week or the week before, I had had that challenge. Both weeks we got over six inches of rain. Meaning more than a foot of rain in the past two weeks. It was hard to get out and get anything done in the yard when we get that much water. The rain had not only flooded most everyplace, but also had given such nourishment to our lawns that everything was overgrown.  Last Saturday, it was finally dry enough, and everyone was out getting their lawns mowed, weeded, etc.

Yesterday, I heard we were suppose to be getting some more rain. Joy! I'll be able to get some pictures, but then oh no! We need to get out there and get that lawn mowed.

Well, we did not beat the rain. We are suppose to be in for some more water each and everyday for the next five or six days. Welcome to Louisiana!

We heard small rumbles of thunder in the background, and all of the sudden!!!! It let loose. It poured! So, I was able to get some pictures.

Some ripples from the water dripping off our roof.

Droplets everywhere.

Wet streets and yards.

It gave me a chance to water my plants....For FREE!!!

A VISIT FROM THE BIRDS

Seems like everyone is enjoying the nice weather we have been having. Even the birds are frolicking in it. Just the other day, I was on the phone to my friend, when all of the sudden we had a flock of black birds land in my yard. 

It was actually pretty entertaining to watch them.  I watched for a few minutes thinking they would only be a few seconds, but I soon saw that they were taking turns in the fountain, so I ran and got my camera.

I thought for sure I would scare them off.

But they pretty much ignored me.

After everyone got their drink and freshened themselves up, they were off.

I was grateful that they stopped by for a visit.

French Country?

Had a Realtor make another comment about my home. Obviously, she did not like my decor. Well, sorry!

Her comment was that since we have a French home, we need to do French style, or French Country. 

So, what is French Country? Well, I Googled it and this is what I came up with.

source 

First,  I Googled French kitchen chairs (noticed I did not say French Country), this is one of the pictures I saw. Guess what? These are exactly like my chairs.

sources 

Then, I Googled French kitchen table. This is a picture of one of the tables that popped up. OH! Well, that's my table, except it's not as worn looking.

Here's my table and chairs...very similar, wouldn't you say?

source 

Then I Googled French Country bedrooms. Voila! That's pretty much my bedding! AND my bed! Except I have a foot board. The pictures I have above my bed were done by a French artist. A really good website for French Country bedrooms is here. 

Actually, I think their bed looks more "country" than mine (because of the gingham). You really can't see too well in this picture, but the red and white comforter on my bed is toile. Below, I linked to a site which explains about French Country. This is a little of what they had to say. Click to read the entire article.

Toile is the most popular choice for a country french bedroom. Toile usually consists of a white or off white background overlaid with a repeated scene. It can be used in bedding, window treatments, chair coverings, lamp shades, rugs and you can even choose Toile wallpaper, if you like. Toile can be used as much or as little as you like in a room.

Now if the Realtor had REALLY looked at my home, she would have noticed that my decor was NOT any "country" but rather beachy, or tropical.

Here is one of the pictures hanging in our home. I loved it because it reminded me of my three sons and one daughter. We've been to the beach many times, and this looks so much like them when they were younger. 

Here's another picture that reminds me of my two youngest boys. I even have a picture I took of them that looks just like this!

Here's one of three colorful fish mobiles I have hanging in our home. I have one cool one that is made of coconuts. I really couldn't get a good picture of it.

I have two of these fun tropical pillows on my couch. Notice the monkey and toucan?

This doesn't look anything like Early American Country...does it?

One of my tables I have beside a couch.

Here's another tropical end table.

We got this when we lived in the coastal area of North Carolina. Looks just like the area. I sure miss North Carolina!

Anyway, as you can see, my house is more like "Coastal" rather than Early American Country. In doing this research, I have found that maybe I would like to have  French Caribbean style.

T-shirt Quilt

Christmas 2008, I embarked on a new adventure. I had been wanting to make a T-shirt quilt for a long time.  Having four children, all of which were involved in many activities, they each were able to accumulate a boatload of T-shirts. All were special, in that they held some nice memories of the time.


After taking my oldest daughter out to school at BYU, I had been inspired! You see, her roommate had one of these quilts. As soon as I got back from Utah, I dug out all of my oldest son's old T-shirts, surfed the net for instructions, and set out to work. It was a lot of work, and thanks to my sister-in-law, we were able to get it tied at Thanksgiving. 


I now need to do three more....ugggg! I have started on my daughter's. I would have really liked to have had her quilt done so she could use it at school, but alas, she has graduated and now is married. Oh well, better late than never. And, it will be very late, as I am not going to be getting it back out until we get moved and settled. Maybe I'll have it done before her kids start college, hahaha.


Anyway, here is Miles' quilt on his bed at this point.

I think it looks nice. Wished I could have thought of this much earlier. Maybe I would have been able to do one for each of my kids for their high school graduation...hey! Ben graduates next year, hmmmm. Maybe?

Doggie Spring Cleaning

We now have our house on the market with a new Realtor. So far, so good. When I asked our last Realtor about a Realtor caravan, I was told no one does that anymore. Funny, it had only been four years since we sold a house. Well, maybe they just don't do that here in Louisiana.


When speaking with our new Realtor before signing, one of the first things she mentioned was a Realtor caravan. Ah HA!!! So they do still do that, and even here in Louisiana.


So. Now I had to get my house beyond perfect, and get every living creature out of the house. Of course the day that they were coming, my son had a doctor appointment. Sure can't take the dog to that! I decided to take Sox to get her Spring cleaned. Normally, we give her a bath, but she needed her undercoat brushed out, nails trimmed, etc.

Isn't she pretty with her bows? By the way she HATES getting her picture taken. 

Here's the back view. She actually left the bows in for awhile. Today I noticed just one was left though.

*Sigh*, she says. "Take my picture if you must." *Roll eyes*

WREATH OR NO WREATH? THAT IS THE QUESTION...

I have people from all over the world read my blog. I am so glad you stop by to read. Since I have such a vast audience, I would like to ask a question to all of you.


What is your opinion on having a wreath on your front door?

I have lived all over the United States; mostly the Southeastern part. Since I've been married, we have pretty much always had a wreath on our front door. Even when we lived in Utah and Indiana (neither of which are in the Southeastern United States). I was always told it was a form of "Welcome." I also like to see a bit of color on the door.

I like to change out the wreath with the season. During the Spring and Summer months, I like to have bright colors. During the fall, I will have a harvest type wreath. Christmas, I bring out my Christmas wreath. This year, I had a Mardi Gras wreath, and recently, I spruced up my wreath for Spring time. For a tutorial on how to make these wreaths, click here.

With the house on the market, we painted our front door black. I thought about putting the wreath back up, but for some reason I felt maybe I should not. I asked our Realtor, and she told me no. She said she had just recently shown a property to a couple from Oregon, and they asked her about all the wreaths. They thought it was weird. My Realtor said it was a Southern thing. I never thought of having a wreath on your front door as a Southern thing. 


So, what do you all think?  Do you have a wreath on your door? Do you think it's weird? IS it a "Southern" thing?  I would really like to hear from you.

Personally, I think our door needs something. But I guess that's just me.

Oriental Style Jewelry

There is a lady at church that is always admiring my jewelry. Last Sunday, she came up to me and asked about my necklace. She said, "I bet you made that one too!" I told her that I did. She then asked if I had ever sold any of my jewelry, and I told her yes. 


When I lived in North Carolina, I actually had a small business that did pretty well. It at least paid for me to buy more beads. I had named my small business Treasures by Terry.  

She asked if I had ever done Oriental jewelry. She loves the Oriental look. I told her that most my stuff is one of a kind, but that I was sure I could come up with something. I would like to share a few pieces I've been working on.

I had asked her what colors she liked. At first she mentioned she liked red and black, then she said, oh and turquoise, and well, she just likes all colors. So my first piece I made black and red. She also mentioned she likes longer necklaces. You really can't tell in this photo, but it is pretty long. It is quite easy to just put over your head. No clasps to mess with.

Then I made these earrings to match. 

My next piece I really like. I used fans and glass beads that look like crystals and Jade.

This one has no clasp either. Just slip it over your head. You can either wear the piece with the fans directly across from each other, or wear it where some of the chain shows. 

I really like the fan earrings.

Well, since I had some beads left over, I decided to make some more stuff.

This piece is very feminine.

While I was shopping for Oriental stuff for these necklaces, I came across something I fell in love with. I just had to get it and make me a necklace.

Isn't he the cutest?

I just bought me a new dress a few weeks ago. It is the same color as this necklace, and has palm fronds all over it. I believe I might be wearing this with my new dress on Sunday.