Saturday, December 31, 2011

The final blog highlights

The final blog highlights from
September through December are varied
but continue to delight me...

I recreated this lampshade-
quick and easy
I went to Marthas Vineyard
 for my daughter's best friends wedding
-we had a fab time!

I added shutters to my garage doors

bejeweled pumpkins


Adding abit of holiday fare
to my coffee filter wreath!

My kitchen table redo
made a huge impact in my kitchen-
amazing what a can of paint can do to
create a fab transformation!
 
A goodwill table -
my 1st attempt using Annie's chalk paint
Pier 1 lampshade copycat!
Christmas chandelier
This concludes this program-
hahaha
Hope you enjoyed this year as much as I did
and
I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for me!!
Thanks as always for your kind words
 and encouragement-
It's heart warming to know you are enjoying this blog too!!
Take care, gotta fly- Claire
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Friday, December 30, 2011

The year in review....

                   April and May were relatively slow months for me
so I can quickly speed through them.....
these pretty little topiaries were simple
but they had quite the punch!


As you can see, hydrangeas have always been
 a favorite of mine!


The summer brought lots of visits to Club GW
as well as garden fun...

My garden brings me endless hours
 of outdoor creating..

June, July and August were big
thrifting months
and did I have fun!!












Hope you enjoyed these recaps-
Tomorrow I'll show you my favorites from Sept-Dec.
Until then, take care, gotta fly- Claire


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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Recapping First Quarter revisited

This post is a reprint from the beginning of 2011
but it seemed silly to rewrite
my favorites from the 1st quarter!!

January was a month of firsts-
the first month of the new year-
the first January that I ever blogged-
February found me celebrating
 the big Love day more than ever before!
March came in like a lion and out like a lamb!
These are the highlights of my 1st quarter in Bloggyville

 coffee filter wreath-January
felt topiary-March
paper rose topiary-February
toile ruffle pillows-March
toile trays-March
bee frame-March
frenchie coffee tables-March
burlap and felt love day pillow-January
paper roses heart print-January
keep calm and carry on pictures- January
distressed mirrors- March
foyer re-make-March
birds- March
"new" chest- January
ruffled mirror1-February
ruffled mirror 2 - February
love shack-February
wooden tray- March
monogram box-January
feather love tree-February
burlap cones-March
valentine wreathes-January




Enjoy the walk down memory lane-
Gotta fly- Claire

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Most popular post

My most popular post of 2011
was my paper roses-


there were 2,971 page views
 for this project-wowza!!

I got the idea from Kim at cheap chic home
and it was time consuming
but worth it!!

I initially designed it as
wall art for Valentines Day

I decided to add to my collection
 of paper roses
 so I could create a topiary ball with them-
I still love it!

Thanks for checking it out!!

Gotta fly- Claire
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My 2011 blog

As I reflect on this past year,
I am truly loving what
my blog has become..

It's not the biggest
or the best,
it's not the fanciest
or the most tech saavy,
I make no money off of it
 but I do
I get daily satisfaction from
creating and recreating
 from the amazing blogs I follow
the best part of this blog is...
it's mine

Over the next few days,
 I plan on highlighting my favorite creations
of this past year!

Please enjoy the show!!
Gotta fly- Claire

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

That was fast....

Wow, how fast the holidays fly by

all the work, all the prep
and
it seems that in the blink of an eye

it's done!

No matter what we do,
we can't truly prolong
 the magic of the holiday season...


Take care, gotta fly- Claire
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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve


my favorite night of the year!

The magic excites me

 as I wait with anticipation

for the arrival of the jolly old man himself!!

I host my family that night-

it's a tradition

I will be hard pressed to ever give up-

although my 10 year old nephew, who lives across the street,

is always begging to swap!
(Little does he know it's a help
 for all my sisters with little ones,
 not to have to host the night
when the real guest of honor
 will arrive after midnight!!)

So, as the wonderous night arrives-

I want to wish you and your families

a magical holiday
filled with the hope and joy
found on all the kids faces!!



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Working in an elementary school
 gets pretty crazy around holiday time!
 The kids are bouncing off the walls
 and so are all the adults!
It's a very busy time of year
 and little kids are waiting for the big guy
 to arrive on Christmas Eve!
 So what was I to do but join in on the chaos!!!
 We were in school until the 23rd
 which makes it hard for all-
so last week I began the ornament extravaganza -
 over the past 5 days the kids have made 10 ornaments
 and by the end of this week they will
  have  about 14 ornaments
 to present to their families
 as a holiday gift-
 they are all super excited
 and in the midst of it all
 we are trying to teach!!!
I thought I'd show you the ornaments
 they have made
 but I can't show you their
cute and very excited faces- 
you understand!
I also had to rework some of the ideas I had -
 you forget what a little 6 and 7 year old
 can actually do when it comes to crafts
 so some ornaments
 have been revamped for a 1st grader!!
  We began with an easy reindeer.
 It included 3 Popsicle sticks,
 2 google eyes,
 a brown marker and
 brown pipe cleaner,
 2 red pompom balls
 and a green foam holly leaf-
 the kids colored the sticks in with markers
 and happily glued away!!

 Another reindeer we made was with their hand print.
 They dipped their palms in brown paint
 and pressed them onto blue card stock-
 after waiting overnight,
 they decorated them with ribbon,
 a bell and a pompom-
 what parent won't love a remembrance
of their child's hand at that age!
 On the same idea,
 they dipped their pointer and thumb into white paint
 and then pressed them onto red card stock
 forming a wee little snowman-
 we added arms and a little foam black hat-
 adorable for the tree!
They decorated trees made from Popsicle sticks
 and the sparkly jewels made them smile.


  Next came a little felt mouse
 and an added plastic candy cane

will hang them on the tree.
We made Santa bellies,
 Hershey kiss mice,
 foam gingerbread men,
 plastic spoon santas,
 coffee filter angels,
 styrofoam cupcakes
 and
 they'll be making one more felt Christmas mouse
 with a real candy cane!
  It's so much fun to see their little eyes light up each day
 when I show them what they will be making
 and by Friday
 they will be spinning like tops!!
 But, this is what life is really all about-
putting a little delight in all their little lives!
Oh what fun it is!!
Take care, gotta fly- Claire
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