Everybody loves a nut.

While most of you are gearing up for Halloween, we just celebrated
 an early Thanksgiving/Oktoberfest with my extended family. 

  Holidays that aren't celebrated on the holiday have become the new tradition in our family.
  It's all about family gathering together, so to me, the day (or month)
we are able to do it doesn't really matter.

Normally, I think of the weeks between Thanksgiving and

Christmas as the Eating Season.  Goodies are served up everywhere,

from the workplace to the places we shop.  Food galore!
To top it off, I found out we're hosting the real deal on Thanksgiving Day with
our immediate family, so double  oink oink.
If you think about it, we've extended our Eating Season by a whole month!!!

Since I'm a utilitarian cook at best, I've been whipping up some simple
 low calorie treats to fill our candy dishes.

Knitted acorns.

They are knit with fingering weight yarn and size 1 needles
and you can find the free pattern at Pea Soup blog.
(I bought the glittery yarn at Michaels.)

I have absolutely no self-control so it's impossible for me to
 walk by a candy dish without grabbing a piece.....or 6,
(I couldn't possibly have eaten 4 bags of candy corn, could I?!!! )

so this is my wooly solution to avoid all that sugar.

Popping one of these in your mouth would be about as tasty
as eating a cotton roll at the dentist's office.  Gag.

Pictured below are felted acorns, but if I knit one acorn a day for a month or so......

source
I'd have enough to make this cute garland!


The colors can be changed out to make Christmas ornaments, too.

Wouldn't they look festive tied on a package?

I knit the acorns below last winter with worsted weight yarn to try out

the pattern, but I like the smaller acorns better.  Why?

I used a boucle yarn for the cap and to me it looks

a bit like Mrs. Acorn is wearing a really bad wig or an ugly hat.

Oh, well.  I only knit 4 of them.

I needed to step away from my unruly curtains for a few weeks, and this
is one of the projects I've been working on.  So....have the synthetic curtains
grown on me yet.  To be honest, no.  They are looking more and more
like this year's Halloween costume!  Maybe if I leave the windows open
they'll be sucked out by the wind.  As in Gone With the Wind.  hehe

I think I'm beginning to see a pattern here.
Nuttin' I do works out the first time around!

Thanks for stopping by and

Happy Thanksgiving, Halloween, Oktoberfest,

or whatever holiday you're celebrating!

Vickie

Everybody loves a nut......

the whole world loves a weirdo.

(Does anybody remember that song by Johnny Cash?  And why
didn't I think of it when I was trying to come up with a name for my blog 4 years ago?!)

This nut is joining the party at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olson Share Your Cup Thursday
Thoughts from Alice Sundays at Home

Oh, fiddle dee dee.

I think if Scarlett O'Hara was in my place, this is what she'd have to say:

source

"As you fellow bloggers are my witnesses, I'll never
make floor length curtains out of synthetic fabric again!"

My 100% cotton dining room curtains were a snap to make, so I thought
 making floor to ceiling curtains for the bedroom would be easy, too.

How very wrong I was.

JoAnn Fabrics

The only fabric I could find in the shade of yellow I wanted
was an indoor/outdoor Better Homes & Gardens fabric called "Daffodil".
  It was on clearance for 60% off and I needed about 14 yards, so that sealed the deal.

I cut the fabric, finished the edges and hung the curtains.
That's when the problems began.

The biggest problem was the lightweight quality of the fabric.
  It didn't have enough heft (even with a 5 inch hem) to drape nicely,
so I tried a few tricks of the trade to train the curtains to behave.

I steamed the folds, which seemed to be about as effective
as taking a sip of hot coffee and blowing on the fabric.

I tied them in position and left them overnight.
The next day my curtains woke up with ponytail dents.

I'm skimming right over the fact that I haven't
 finished painting the windows yet.

source
Then I clicked my heels together 3 times
 and wished I'd never bought the fabric.

The darn fabric has the memory of an elephant,

and no matter how hard I coaxed, it sprang right back to the shape it 

wanted to take!   Just like my hair on a humid day.

In the end, the curtains won the battle, so this is the way they will look.........

for all eternity.

Because I am NOT starting over.

Thank goodness there isn't room for floor to ceiling panels on 

the other 2 windows!  I'm hoping the window treatments I make
for those windows won't be such a pain in the patootie.

Pinterest/source unknown.

Inspiration.

Eventually we'll install plantation shutters on the bottom
half of our double-hung windows, and I think the window treatment
 pictured above pairs well with shutters.


If all else fails, I can always make myself a
synthetic ball gown out of the curtains.

source
Next year's Halloween costume?

I can only hope my next project goes without a hitch.

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Thanks for stopping by!
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Ivy & Elephants What's it Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olson Share Your Cup Thursday

Autumn, past and present.

I didn't go overboard decorating our house for autumn this year,

as I've been known to do in the past.  In fact, I hardly did a thing!

I kept the dining room mantel very neutral.

A new wreath from HomeGoods replaced my sheet music wreath.

Of course I brought out my old pumpkin lamp, which, believe it

or not, I rewired!  Pam (House of Hawthornes) inspired me with her

 easy to follow tutorial.  Thanks Pam! 

Photo from last year on the left and proof that it works on the right!

The lamp is now home to the one and only compact fluorescent light bulb at 911.

Hmpf!  Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!

I found a new spot for one of the hats I bought at the thrift store. 

My tool caddy centerpiece is filled with brown bottles, candles, and scented pine cones.

I love the spicy smell of cinnamon in the fall.

This little farm girl comes out to play every autumn.

I found the orange heart vase for just a few dollars at an antique shop

and the colors are perfect for our dining room!  I've had the figurine so long

I can't even remember where I got it.

Now, prepare yourself for a frightening sight of autumn past.......

Before & After

Eeek!  The photo on the left was taken...oh, about 6 years ago

when I was still trying to make our old furniture work in this house.

Truth be told, that dining room table and chairs we purchased way back in 1980
 never worked for us, so we gifted it to a needy young couple.

The furniture is still going strong, but unfortunately their marriage isn't.

That's it for the dining room.

I cut the last of my black-eyed Susans to fill canning jars on the
living room mantel.  After trying every mirror I own (and that's quite a few!)
 I settled on the oval mirror to offset the straight lines of the fireplace.

I replaced the old wicker rocking chair with this chippy
 turquoise chair to lighten up the dark brick.

A basket of old quilts covers up the black gas insert

when the fireplace is not in use.

My Limelight hydrangeas really took off this year and provided

plenty of blossoms to fill baskets around the house.

There are a few updates in this corner, like our new clock that actually keeps time.

Imagine that!  I love the color, but it's one more dark element in the room, so

I'm going to paint it a lighter color.  I also changed out our old

lampshades with new linen shades and what a difference it made!

Before & After

Yikes!
The photo on the left was taken 2 years ago, and I'm not missing that dark trim
one little bit!  Now I'm rethinking my decision to leave the fireplace as is.

Looking back, I realize I've made quite a bit of progress in lightening up the rooms
and also in practicing the Less is More design theory........sort of.
  :o)

Well, that's it for now.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Ivy & Elephants What's it Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson Share your Cup Thursday