Pocketful of Blue

Hi Everyone, We are heading to Pennsylvania today for Christmas. Not in this horse drawn carriage :)  but doesn't that look lovely? source I started this little blog almost a year ago  and I want to thank  every one of you for making me  feel  so welcome  into this community ~ I am having a wonderful time sharing my home  with you and being invited into your beautiful homes! I wish you all JOY, PEACE, HOPE, AND LOVE ~ JoAnne

Hi Everyone, All of these images are from Marie's blog Vita Ranunkler . Marie lives in Denmark and these pictures from her home are just so beautiful and inspiring, I had to share them with you. ~ enjoy ~ Visit  Vita Ranunkler for more of Marie's  beautiful home and much more. •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •••   WISHING YOU A BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY ~ JoAnne

On Tuesday I posted our Christmas kitchen and today I would like to share more of our home decked out for the holidays. Thank you so much for taking my little tour and thanks so much to all of you who viewed my Christmas Kitchen post and for the kind comments. It really does mean a lot!! ~ HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF YOU ~ ••••• joining ••••• A Room by Room Christmas Tour - Cottage & Vine Christmas Home Tours - The Inspired Room 2011 Virtual Holiday House Party - Jennifer Rizzo 2011 Christmas Tour of Homes - The Nester Show & Tell - My Romantic Home Holly Bloggy Christmas Home Tour - The Shabby Creek Cottage

Hi Everyone, It has taken me  f-o-r-e-v-e-r  to get my Christmas  decorating act together. Thanksgiving at my house, then my daughter's 10th birthday  party put me a little behind. Not to mention band concerts, basketball games, shopping and  all the other things that go on this time of year. You all know what I'm talking about, right?  I have mostly pictures from my kitchen today and I will also share my favorite holiday decoration. These are salt & pepper shakers ~ aren't they little cutie pies? A little candy cane bouquet! I kept things fairly simple in some areas by just adding in a little more green.  A little "button art" on the wall by the fridge. In the picture below you can catch a peek of my favorite decoration this year ~ do you see it? I love, love, love this window frame. A bought it a couple months ago and have been saving it for Christmas.   I spent a lot of time

~ gorgeous farmhouse simplicity ~ source:  old house. true love. *  enjoy the simple beauty of the season   * ~ JoAnne

A couple days ago I saw that Nesting Place is having a  Favorite Things  linky party.   It should be something small and simple that costs less than $30.00. Nothing really jumped to mind at the time but when I was making my daughter's birthday cake, I thought of something. It's this white silicone spatula from Crate&Barrel. I have had it for probably 2 years and I use it ALL THE TIME. I love that it's one piece and has a long handle. It's just so handy and easy to wash. It costs $3.95 and here is the link at Crate&Barrel in case you're just dying to immediately  order one! : ) (In case you're wondering, Crate&Barrel is not paying me to say this but if they want to, that would be ok with me! : )  So that's it for my favorite thing.   If you have a favorite thing, come on over and join the party at Nesting Place ! ~ JoAnne

Christmas decorating won't start until after this Saturday for me. My daughter's 10th birthday party is this Saturday so I will be decorating for that. In the meantime, I still have the leaf in the table from Thanksgiving  so it gave me the opportunity to create a little different centerpiece than usual. I used my aqua mason jars along with some other jars and a  basket of  silverware to create a casual farmhouse table. ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ Here is what I currently have on my most favorite  little table in the corner. I'm thinking it looks pretty sweet! Hopefully I will have some Christmas decorating to share soon! Don't forget to check out my  Christmas Parties and Inspiration Page  for important dates this holiday season!! ~ JoAnne ~   joining   ~ WOW Us Wednesday ~ Savvy Southern Style Open House Party ~ No Minimalist Here Farmhouse Friday ~ LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Hi Everyone, I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving ~ I sure did! ~ but of course, now we move on to the Christmas Holiday Season ~ source There are many wonderful Christmas linky parties planned with opportunities to link up our amazing holiday decorations. {Well, yours will be amazing, not so sure about mine!} I have created a page to list all of the parties that I know of and also some links to great inspiration from all over blogland. So click on    Christmas Parties and Inspiration 2011   at the top of the page to see what I have found so far. If you are hosting a party or know of one that is not listed, I would love for you to let me know and I will add it. I love the photo above of the little tree ~ I just think it's so sweet and the blue combined with traditional Christmas colors would work really well in my house. What have you found for inspiration this year? I would love to hear about it. Have a great d

O Gracious God,   w e give you thanks for your overflowing generosity to us.      T hank you for the blessings of the food we eat and especially for this feast  today. T hank you for our home and family and friends, especially for the presence of  those gathered here. T hank you for our health, our work and our play. P lease send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering war and  violence. O pen our hearts to your love. W e ask your blessing through Christ your son. Amen. ~ source source ~ I am thankful for the friendship and community that I have found  through all of you in this place we call 'Blogland' ~ Blessings,  JoAnne

Just popping in with a quick post to share  my Thanksgiving tables ~ at least this is what I have so far . . . ~ I kept it fairly simple ~ • • • • •  • • • • •  ~ added a vintage tablecloth to the folding table to dress it up a little more ~ • • • • •  Wish me luck! I haven't hosted Thanksgiving in a very long  time  but I'm looking forward to it! Also, Stacey at A Sort of Fairytale and I  realized  that we are both using kraft paper and blue mason jars in our tablescapes ~ take a look at some of the charming things Stacey will be using on her table.  You'll want to see the rest of her cottage also ~  it really is like a fairytale! Thank you all so much for coming by ~ Have a heartwarming and tummy filling Thanksgiving!! ~ JoAnne • • • joining • • • WOW Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style Primp Your Stuff Wednesday @ {Primp} Farmhouse Friday @ LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Hi Everyone, For some reason I have cooking on my mind . . . can't you just imagine the wonderful aromas already? Country Living ~ it's almost crunch time ~ Are you ready? ~ JoAnne

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to share a couple quick things I made for Thanksgiving decorations. I made a Thanksgiving Sampler but I did it the cheaters way. Years ago, I used to embroider and cross stitch but who has time for that these days? So of course I used the computer. I played around with different fonts, symbols, and colors until I came up with something I was happy with. Then I just printed it out, placed it on a piece of blue card stock,  and  put it in a frame.   •••••••••••••••••••• ~ so simple ~ The next project was even easier. I had found a really large leaf outside and after it dried,  I kept moving it around trying to find a way to display it. Then it suddenly came to me ~ (very dramatic like) ! Remember this frame I showed you a while back? Well now it is proudly displaying my lovely leaf! Isn't that just brilliant of me?  : ) Here are both of my projects hanging together.