The Great Pumpkin!

Tonight there was a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on my front door. I just knew that it was UPS with my wedding shoes because they are due in any day now. I ran to the door and opened it but there was not a box on my doorstep. I look for the standard UPS post-it note on my door...nothing!

Then I saw it. It was round, brightly colored and perfect! It was sitting right there on the bench by my front door. My first piece of fall...a beautiful pumpkin! My sweet, sweet fiance - I love that man...and that pumpkin!

Does Size Really Matter?

Size never really mattered to me. I do not need the biggest and best of anything. I'm perfectly happy with my living room TV. It has done well by me - always there when I needed a diversion from everyday life. Yes, me and my TV have been the best of friends. Meet my faithful friend!

I came home from work today expecting to see my fiance at my apartment. No fiance. I called him and our coversation went something like this:

Me: "Hi honey, where are you?"

Him: "Are you home? I thought you were working late."

Me: "There was a bad storm coming so I left a few minutes early. Where are you?"

Him: "I didn't think you were going to be home this early so I'm at the store."

Me: "The store? Grocery store?"

Him: "Uh, no, just a store. I'll be over in a few minutes."

So, I waited. And waited. Finally about an hour later he called me and asked if I wanted him to bring the TV to my place or take it to his. TV? I have a TV. What TV? Our new TV? Huh? I have since learned that my TV is not suitable for football watching or TV watching in general. So, we have a new TV that is going to live at my place until we marry in January.

Shortly after our phone call this came through my door and I was not prepared for its girth.

Next, my faithful friend was put in the floor and this had taken its place.

And then there was a little rewiring.

And a while of this while he figured out how to program it.

I don't handle change very well and quite frankly I feel sorry for my other TV. It's going to take a while to get used to this huge thing that now takes up one wall of my living room. But hey, at least he dusted the TV stand when he switched out TV's!

Estate Sale Find!

My fiancee and I enjoy going to estate sales. Recently we ended up in a nearby city. Normally we would stay in our neck of the woods, but the ad in the paper intrigued us. Three story commercial building; former optometrist office turned residential. The paper advertised lots of collectibles, eye doctor "stuff" and various other treasures.

The building itself was nondescript and we almost missed it. The top level was open to the public, after climbing three flights of stairs, and it was chalked full of a variety of great things. We had fun looking at everything. In some ways it was as if time stood still as there were eye glass racks full of frames and sunglasses that easily dated back to the 1950's. And, people were buying them! There were cases full of glass lenses, various optical testing machines and very old eye glass cases among a lot of other things.

The middle level had been converted into a loft for the current owners (also the sellers of the stuff). The "front door" was glass on the top half and we peeked in on the way down the steps and saw that they had transformed the space into an amazing residential loft.

Back down on the ground level we went inside what perhaps may have been the original optometrist office. There was not a lot there that I was interested in. Then, as we were ready to leave, I saw a basket and in the basket were metal tags. I love metal tags and they were old and it was obvious to me they had come off the front of the wall of shelves they were sitting near. I grabbed them up and brought them home with me.

What would you do with these?

What would you do if you had all of these and it cost you less than $10?

Some of these still have the paper slip showing what item or item(s) were in the bin on the shelf. I see some Rustoleum in my near future, but that's olay - it will be worth it! Now, what to label first....

Wedding Save The Date Cards

I had to learn the hard way. Air conditioning and a wax stick do not mix well. I'm working on our save the date cards for the wedding. I am making them myself and its taken a lot longer than I thought it would. Thank goodness the man I am to marry takes great pride and pays great attention to detail so the word spacing on the card is just perfect. And, he made me a template so I knew where to put the seal on every card.

Template made by my guy - line the the template against the top of the card and trace the circle around the center hole and use that as the wax guide!

So, back to the air conditioning. When doing the wax seal, you first light the wick and position the stick over desired wax location and wait for the wax to melt and drip. After much anticipation and preparation I started the process. The stick hovered over its target. Just waiting. Waiting for the wax to melt. Waiting for the pencil circle to be covered. Waiting for the special seal that would add my personal touch to the save the date card.

Then, the air conditioner turned on. First, the flame flickered. Then the flame flared. Then the flared flame caught the wax stick on fire. When the wax stick caught on fire, the wax melted. Fast. Very fast. And the breeze coming out of the overhead vent cause the wax to fly in different directions. Long silver strands of hot wax covered my work surface, my fingers and the card I was working on. No, wax and air conditioning do not mix. I learned that the hard way.

Pictures of the first batch of finished cards.

Close up of my wax seal - A snowflake in August. Winter where are you?

House Hunting

Why do I love built in shelves so much? Is it because I have way too much stuff and built in shelves offer a way to display it all? Is it because of the carpentry skill that goes into one? I'm not sure what it is, but I love them.

Recently we've been house hunting but I've spent a lot of my time eyeing built in shelves instead inspecting fixtures and measuring cabinets. Some of my favorites include:

Don't you love the use of space under the stairs? And I am a fan of wainscoting, too!

A master closet that I could live in. Note the wonderful shelves on the right. Be still my heart!

Someday. Someday I will have a craft room. And I will have built in shelves. And in that big center space that is probably designed to hold a flat screen TV I will instead make racks for all my ribbon. And that will be my focal point of my craft room. Someday.

It's Fall!

Well, technically it's not fall - yet. But, the Washington Redskins started training camp this past Thursday and that, for me, is the unofficial start of fall and it means that football season is almost upon us! I'm ready to do away with seashells and sand and pull out my fall wreath, fall pumpkins and Redskins flag!

As someone that LOVES winter with fall being a close second, the summer is just something to get through. The heat and the humidity make my hair fuzzy and my attitude grumpy. However the school supplies are starting to show up in the stores and the aisles of craft stores are beginning to burst forth with oranges, golds and reds. This can only mean one thing - summer is on its way out and fall is waiting patiently for its turn!

For now, though, it is still summer, at least that's what the calendar says. So, I'll just have to enjoy a picture from last year and wait for September 1st to arrive so I can officially decorate for fall and say goodbye summer!

The Beginning

Welcome to my first blog entry! For The Love of Winter will allow me to share things going on in my life. Right now the biggest thing is my wedding planning! Just under six months to go until I marry the man who makes everything in my world better.


When I'm not working on my own wedding, I work as an event planner. I'm also a thrift store and estate sale goer, domestic wanna be, gift wrapping, ribbon collecting, bow making, crafter who longs for the day when I have a craft room I can spread out in and just create all the things that I have stuck in my head.


More importantly, I'm a pending step-mom who is having fun learning the ins and outs of life with two boys since until now I've been surrounded primarily by nieces and Goddaughters. I'm excited about being a part of the boy's lives and look forward to the journey ahead.


Thanks for joining me as I walk these new paths.