Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thanksgiving decor


Thanksgiving décor/dinner

The entry table
Dinner for 8
     Well I am at it again, doing one of my favorite things, flair & daring as I get things ready for company for Thanksgiving dinner. This year we will have 8 people – just the right amount. For our table, I purchased at the $1.00 store, little picture frames for place cards.  I always like to seat my guests rather than give them a choice; that eliminates the possibility of having all the talkers sitting together and incorporates the silent ones so they are not forgotten. I have never had anyone complain about suggesting where I want them to sit.
     For the plates at the table, I picked them up at the dollar store also, a great buy that I needed when I hosted a dinner for 12. The silverware is sterling, inherited. The table cloth is from Ross’s and the runners are from the dollar too. 

Priscilla & John, Pilgrims

Flowers in family heirloom
 
     The décor on the coffee table is of a $5 mum plant put into a true family heirloom, as are the 2 vases on the entry hall table (one vase is on its side on purpose (if in an obvious place, most people want to stand it up) the turkey next to the vases holds a votive – I’ve had that for a while and can’t remember where I got it.    
      In the pantry is a large pumpkin with a lid from my mother, as the small pumpkin on the side table that I put flowers into. Back to the pantry – the orangey vase in background, I picked up at the Goodwill and paid too much – I think $3. Wow. In front of the mirror the red vase, which I got at the grocery store for $10 – another big expense, is standing with two pilgrims – Priscilla and John - that I bought at a craft fair on sale for $7. Now that was a bargain and I love them.  The porcelain pumpkin in front of the candles I got at the dollar store – love it. Well there you have my Flair and Dare Ideas on how to spiff up your decorations on the cheap. However, I always think it is good to mix expensive with not so dear, it keeps me humble. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the most important thing - the menu: Vegetable Tray, crackers & cheese spread, Roasted & Stuffed Turkey..Cranberry sauce, jellied & home made, Curried Pea, Mashed PotatoesTurkey,Taragon Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Rolls & Butter, Fruit Salad, Pumpkin Desert
Pumpkin with flowers
Flowers in family heirloom
Mothers pumpkin with lid and goodwill vase behind Armani figurine of girl walking dog, pangry includes a cheap plastic night light of Jesus, given to me by grandaughter, Samantha

Monday, November 12, 2012

More Flair and Dare – decorating a narrow apartment

Stove pipe hidden

 


Before pictures - from the kitchen to the front door
In front of kitchen area
Looking toward kitchen

   Last week I spent four and a half days helping my sister decorate her long, narrow apartment—the bottom half of an older home in the bay area. The pictures show a little of what it was like when I got there, and then what we ended up with. Since the rent is cheap she had to do a lot of moving furniture that belonged to the owners upstairs.
     I knew shortly after I started my own decorating business many years ago that I was not and never would be a famous top notch designer. What I did discover was that I am great with helping people make their home beautiful without having them spend a lot of money. I realized that most people want their homes to be beautiful but don’t know how to use what they have and don’t have the money to spend on new furniture and things.
     Often I find that friends and family have wonderful treasures either hidden in the corner of a room, or stashed in a closet, or even just put in the wrong room – like the attic or garage. Well, I have I love to help people use what they have as much as I love writing stories.
      I adopted the name of my decorating talents with two slogans – one is “Have Hammer Will Travel”, and “Flair and Dare”. Flair and Dare is the official name because I don’t mind taking chances. I hate pictures unframed and or sitting on the floor or a room. Correcting this when I go to someone’s house does wonders for moral and for the beginning of a great new outlook. Lots of times it is someone’s fear of making a hole in the wall so they never hang a picture. How silly is that. Who cares if there is more than one hole behind a picture that wasn’t hung right the first time?
    When I got to her place the furniture needed to be arranged in to several different spaces as the room when you enter is very long. In addition there is a stove pipe heater almost half-way in the room. She won’t use it, but it can’t be moved either so we had to use that as part of the décor.

Treasures from Sally's added to the bedroom

    We spent each day shopping at her favorite (high-end) stores – Sally’s, Anytime Thrift Store, and Wills, plus Ross & TJ's (not truly high end unless you find the best buys that someone else once owned). We bought a great assortment of colorful throw pillows, rugs, mirrors, plants and throws. Aside from that we used what she had.
Here are some finished pictures:



Her intimate dining area in front of kitchen

 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

What I Do

    Well, now I have two Christian Fantasies on my blog - The Naja Haje Abyss and Desert Spice. I love to write and am currently working on a Christian allegory that may turn into a novel. I haven't decided whether or not to put it on the web.
     I am still waiting to hear from Multnoma Publishing (evangelical division of Random House) about my Gifts for the Road - biblical story about Jesus, Joseph, and Mary's trip to Egypt when Jesus was a baby. It has been over 6 months since they requested to see it, but the agent did say that it could take up to a year before I hear from them. I look at my email daily to see if they have said anything about it. I am not discouraged - just being patient and enjoying my other stories. I must admit, though, that the urge to write often wanes.
     I have truly loved setting up my blog and working on a web site that I am able to do without tech help. It is so simple now days.
     About the decorating - my company name is Flair and Dare. I take what people have and decorate around it. I have been doing this part time over the past 25 years, and have done it mostly with family members and friends. I never believed in charging clients for what I could sell them - most professional designers mark up the goods and make their money that way as well as charging for their time. I think I did not feel like I had enough talent for high-end design as well as education  in that field (I do have some college credits in it). The things I am best at are color and organization....Either way, I love flair and daring rooms by incorporating what people have.
      It has been some time since I actually wrote on my blog and this is fun too. Sometimes I am not sure what I like best, but the one thing I have stuck with since 1984, on an almost daily basis, is taking the first hour of each day to have time with God and study His Word.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Desert Spice, THE END


     After a refreshing bath and a sound sleep that lasted twenty-four hours, the well-rested wanderers stepped from their rooms and simultaneously breathed a deep sigh.
      “Where are we? That smell makes me nauseous. Is it cinnamon?” Alexi said.
            “It has the aroma of cinnamon, but it is actually something quite different.” Silver Wing stood before Alexi. “For those who acknowledge the Son of Man as their Savior, He spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved, and those who are perishing—to the one we are the smell of death, and to the others we are the fragrance of life.”
            “Are you saying that being here is as if we found the fountain of youth?” Brandon asked.
            “I don’t think that's what he means, Brandon,” Alexi spoke kindly. “It’s something different, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.” She looked at the angel and asked, “How can I make it a sweet aroma to me?”
            It is a choice you can make, let me introduce you to the King of the Desert Spice. The angel looked upward and said, “My Lord, this young lady, as you know, has a question.”

            Appearing before Alexi came the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a solid gold sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like blazing fire, and His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. His voice sounded in Alexi’s head like that of rushing waters.
            Though Brandon saw no one, Alexi could not bear to look. She felt dirty and afraid, and then she slumped to the floor. When she came to her senses, Brandon was bending over her, brushing the hair off her forehead. He looked worried, but the angel behind him moved him aside and reached out his hand to help Alexi up.
            “You see,” he said. “The choice is yours.”
            “What happened, Alexi?" Brandon questioned. "One minute you were holding your ears and the next you hid your face. You started to cry and then fainted.”
            She looked up at him then at the Son of Man. “The angel is right, I have a choice, and I have decided that I want to be a sweet fragrance not the smell of death. I choose you Lord Jesus as my savior. I confess with my mouth that I am a sinner, forgive me. I believe in my heart that you are the Son of God. I see now that only through you can I have eternal life. Thank you for dying for me.”     Oblivious to Brandon’s presence as soon as she confessed her sins, she felt a peace fill her soul that she never believed possible.
            “Brandon, I see it.” She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. Don’t you know that Jesus died for me and you? All you have to do is accept Him into your heart and you will be saved—you will have eternal life.”
            “Nonsense,” Brandon laughed. “That’s hogwash. Never in my life have I heard such a thing. I’ll have none of it, but I am happy for you.”
            Alexi looked sad and then began to cry. “Oh Brandon, you can’t feel that way. Don’t you want to be filled with joy and peace?”
            Before he could answer, he disappeared.
            “Where did he go,” Alexi asked.
            “He went back to his old life on earth, where he will later decide that he should make the right choice, as you have. But he will suffer much before that happens.”
            “What will happen to me?” she said.
            “You will return to earth, but you will be a different person. Your life will be blessed and the Lord will walk with you and be your friend. And when you ask, he will help you in all your endeavors.”
            “Will I see Brandon again?”
            “Perhaps not.” The angel put his hand on Alexi’s shoulder and said, “The Lord bless you and keep you, and may His light shine upon you. May you always walk in the path of righteousness.”

            The next thing Alexi knew, she was surrounded by her family looking down on her as she lay in her hospital bed. “We are so happy that you regained consciousness, Alexi. The doctors held out little hope but then suddenly you opened your eyes. We love you so much.”
            “I was in an accident, wasn’t I? There was a young man involved, I think. Do you know of anyone else that came to the hospital with me.”
            “There was someone, a former Navy Seal, one of the nurses said. But he was released with minor injuries two days ago. He checked to see if you were all right and when the doctors said there was nothing they could do, he left.”
        Alexi frowned, suddenly remembering everything. She was sad for Brandon, but then smiled, and said, “I can’t wait to tell you what happened to me.”       

The Beginning