My Swap Goodies :)

I participated in a swap through Amy from BUMBLE BEE LANE.....my swap partner was Sandi Allen from the The Primitive Skate.....all I can say is WOW!!!!! Sandi sent me some AMAZING goodies! She does fabulous work and she really took great care and time into every piece. THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this swap so special for me, Sandi! :) I am a little late posting my fantastic new treasures because my daughter has been in the hsopital lately. Something totally unexpected as she is a SUPER healthy child.

OK so here are my goodies....

This guy is adorable....You saw just a quick glimpse of him at the beginning of my post but look at him in his full glory!!!! What a cutie!



Then she made me this Sweet Annie wall tuck....how did she secretly know that Sweet Annie is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE scents....


Sandi cuts all of her own wood and paints all of her own creations....what a great job she does!!!
Here are a few more wooden items she made me and check out the sweet little jack'olantern bucket....this is going to be so cute on my tree....I think I may even have to make some more of them. :)




love this wooden sign too....


Sandi and I got to kow each other a little bit this past month and she knows my love for BEES. :) She made me these precious bee bowl fillers and a prim bee....




She also went BEYOND her normal comfort level and did some sewing for me :) I feel her pain because I do not sew!!! But she did AMAZING!!!! SO precious...


and these tarts!!!!! I mean one of them is called AMISH QUILT (enough said, right?)!!! :P YUMMY!



Many of you know I used to be an avid SWAPPER...but in the past year, with my recent divorce, that all came to an abrupt hault. This was my frist swap in awhile and I just want to thank Sandi & Amy for making it so special for me!

So what are you waiting for? GET BUSY and find a swap partner! You may just make a new friend in the process! :)

On to New Beginnings

It's a fresh new school year, a new Fall season approaches, I have a new look to my blog, and I have a new life! :) I am so happy to be back with everyone! I have really missed blogging and all of my Blogger buddies!

Many of you that Facebook with me may already know that I got a divorce June 1st of 2011. It was a LONG, HARD year last year and things are really starting to reshape themselves around here. :) I won't bore anyone with the details, but I will say that when my x husband and I first split up I was forced out of my beautiful home. He took lots of my treasures and hid them away. He even took some of the ones that he thought I loved the most. It took me some time to be able to rebuild myself and my home but I am happy to say that I found many of my old things and have acquired many new treasures as well. :)

I am a VERY involved parent in my childrens' schools as well. He kept me busy in the court system most of their school year last year and I am sorry to say I missed out on things I would have NEVER missed before. Well, this is a NEW school year! :) I have three children and two of them have started new schools this year. Moving up into Middle School and High School as they get older. It is sad for me to see them get so big but I am gratefull to have such wonderful children.

I also have a new boyfriend and he has two little girls! Which makes me even busier these days! :) His children are just starting GRADE SCHOOL! So, it looks like I get to do it all over again! :) I couldn't be MORE excited! :D

So to celebrate my NEW BEGINNING and my children with their FRESH START to the NEW school year! I have dedicated this post to EARLY Fall decorating. That time between the red geraniums and flags and the corn stalks and pumpkins. When we should pay tribute tp the Apple orchards and the "good old" school days! We should appreciate the new colors forming outside. The deeper reds and the golds.

It can be hard to not be tempted to go ahead and put out those pumpkins. If you live in a southern state then it's still just too hot for pumpkins. I am looking forward to the fall but it's still 100 degrees here and my pumpkins would sure to be pumpkin mush before October arrived.

So here are some easy "transitional" solutions......

Wooden blocks remind me of school days gone by....



and how about an old woodens school desk with some early readers stacked on top....





and apples.....this time of year we take apples to our teachers and visit those apple orchards before those pumpkin patches to make fresh Fall Apple Crisp....place apples all around your home. You can even make apple jars and fill them with dried apple chips or fried apples....mmmmm. Even make some "fake" carmel apples to set out.

I made this jar....



grungy apples....





apples in a bowl...



If you notice I even wrote a apple message on an old slate board. Slate boards are a great addition to your antique finds. They are perfect for "back to school" and can always be used at ANY time of year for a cheery message. :)





Signs are a cheap and easy way to SWITCH up the seasonal atmosphere in your home. I had these apple signs made and place them through the house....Apple orchards, Apple muffins, Hot apple cider....









You may have left over reds out from the Summer "Fourth Of July" season...if so, GREAT, that's less you have to do. But if red wasn't your thing then, consider bringing out some deeper red touches now. Like this checked red towel hung over the side of this old tote.



Don't forget to change the theme of your dough boards as well. This one that sits on my oven is ready for making that hot apple crisp. A bowl of little pine cones and cinnamon sticks with a school house cookie cutter tucked inside and a deep gold colored spoon are just the right touches.




So what are you waiting for? GET BUSY and give your home a NEW look this September :)

Jenn :)