The Vintage Birthday Vision.

My dear Daughter-in-Love had a Vintage Vision for our Little Lady's 1st birthday.  Our century old Arts and Crafts bungalow made an easy backdrop to bring her vision to life.  She had found lots of ideas on Pinterest and executed them so well.  Zack helped make and then hung the banners.  I'm sad that I don't have a photo of the beautiful burlap H-A-P-P-Y   B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y banner hanging over the front door.  It looked great.

Months earlier Zack delighted me with a request to make Little Lady's "smash cake" (for those not 'in the know' about 1st birthday parties this day and age, a smash cake is the honoree's personal cake to do with as any one year old might -- Little Man's here and Roo's here, I did not make Roo's and I think he enjoyed his the most!!).

I was ecstatic when a photo Candice sent to me matched the vision I had in my own head. When I was explaining how I wanted it to look to my daughter, Amanda, she immediately sent a link to a GREAT tutorial on making rose icing at I Am Baker!!!  Now, mine is NOWHERE as good as hers, but you should take heart if you want to try... I loved the way it turned out (even though  I was too chicken to try to fill in the little gaps like the tutorial said). 

Fun.  Fun.  Fun!  I want to do more!  LOL!  But, not for awhile.

The kids loved the candy bar and filling their goody sacks.

Their little eyes just glowed with anticipation!

I was particularly fond of the photo banner Candice made with Instagram photos.  I may have begged to get to keep these... just sayin'...  ;)

In the week of preparation, I did manage to spray paint our tired porch furniture some fun colors!  I'd been wanting to do it for awhile, but somehow I just needed a deadline to get it done!  Then, I always wonder why I waited so long!  My biggest advice is that it takes MORE paint than you think.  So get plenty the first trip. 

Now, I have a happy-leftover of colors from the party!!

I'd planned to scatter rose petals down the table... None available.  Bummer.  We had the drop cloths that I'd used for drapes at one time.  Burlap was in the closet from prior celebrations and the disposable table runners were $2 a piece on clearance from Target.  The fun candlesticks were a Valentine's Day gift from my Beloved several years ago.  And, my Mason jars get LOTS of use; I never tire of them.  Only cost:  flowers (from Sam's) and $4 worth of runners.

I never got the chance to tell Zack that the green vase was one he had sent me once for Mother's Day... or that the quilt was one my grandmother passed to my mother... and then passed to me... and now used in celebration of a fifth generation's first birthday! 

My friend, Patrice, was so sweet to dry brush some pink acrylic on a window from a home they are restoring so I could use it here.  I sure appreciate her!!

Candice had a delightful Vintage Vision and we were so happy to help celebrate our Little Lady's 1st Birthday!! 

I tell you, you all need to try that cake!!  ;)  Just the bee's knees of fun!

"From my earliest youth, I have known that while one is obliged to plan with care the stages of one's journey, one is entitled to dream, and keep dreaming, of its destination.  A man may feel as old as his years, yet as young as his dreams." 
~ Shimon Peres

Linking to Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays.

blessings to all ~ tanna

Little Lady is One.

I do so love our Little Lady...  I can hardly believe a year has passed so quickly...

She is almost ALWAYS in good spirits... Even on a big day, with no naps...

Her smiles and laughter can set the world right for her Noni in a millisecond... just like each of my precious grandchildrens' can...

And, when these tiny little arms reach up to me, my heart swells with joy... and overflows with love...

It near bursts when I see the fine father her Daddy has become (let me tell you, he wouldn't be wearing beads for ANYONE else... LOL)...

And, I  am thankful each. and. every. day. to have Little Lady and her Mommy in our lives...

Happy, Happy 1st Birthday, Little Lady!!! 

Thank you, Father for the sweet, sweet blessings you have bestowed...

With all my heart ~ tanna

The Morning After.

We celebrated our precious Little Lady's 1st birthday yesterday... I've spent the morning beginning to restore order... That process is never as much fun as the frenzied week of getting ready...  LOL!

Sadly, I don't have many photos of the big event... There is a lot of behind-the-scenes-business that goes on when six slabs of ribs, two large smoked chickens and a ten pound brisket evaporate with the crowd passing through the food line.  As you might imagine, getting to take photos doesn't really fit in that business... at least not for me.  I'm sure there are those who are more organized.  ;)

This kind of sweet appreciation makes such labors of love worth every moment...

But, since the frenzy is over... and, I've made a small dent in getting things back to normal (including digging through six bags of post-party trash in hopes of finding a missing silver spoon... no luck), I'm about to take a queue from our precious Little Lady earlier this week and chill awhile.

Now, isn't this a precious little face?  I'll share some of the few photos I was able to get later this week.  I hope everyone is having a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend!! 

blessings ~ tanna

Love Train by Susan Ashcroft

The colors of this Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino are a beautiful pinkish-orange coral.  My last photos made it look really orange (it was a dark rainy day... and I couldn't wait... and I'm not good at "fixing" my photos... or waiting... hee hee). 

The design is LOVE TRAIN and its my fourth Susan Ashcroft (stitchnerd) pattern.  I really enjoy her laid back approach to knitting and received this pattern right after I finished my Hogwart's Express Shawl, a.k.a The Great White Owls, earlier this year.  As much as I loved it, I just couldn't bring myself to do another pattern with cable stitches at that time... Yes, I'm a klutz... handling just that one-more-curved-little-cable-needle is a struggle. 

THEN:  ENTER NEEDLE-LESS CABLES!!  Fabulous method of doing the cables with the two needles already in my hands!  And, the cables turned out really neat and tidy!  I highly recommend adding this trick to your repertoire of knitting skills!

My concerns about disliking a solid-colored yarn were ill-founded.  Amanda wore it one night and I couldn't take my eyes off the color (or maybe it was her)! 

AND, it went with the OLD cotton shift perfectly!!  Yea!!

Great design... sits easily on your shoulders... wears comfortably.  Yep, it's a keeper.

For knitters who want all the skinny on this shawl:  Ravelry page here.

Joining Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays because that cable trick is just too good not to share!!

"The man who for the first time picks a small flower so that he can have it near him while he works has taken a step toward joy in life."
~ Andre Gide

Wishing you a wonderful week...

blessings ~ tanna

Beach Time with The Little Men

Oh, the week was so SHORT!  I loved every. single. minute. of time with The Little Men & Co..  We enjoyed the Y-azy Y-iver (Lazy River) lots and lots and lots of times!!  Alex, who no longer wants to be referred to as Little Man because he is "big", jumped in and raced Roo and I around... passing us every time.

There were also lots of sand castles built... and torn down.  Roo enjoyed eating the sand off his squid's legs in spite of his Momma's and my admonishments NOT to eat it. 

There were miles of beach walks and shell seeking.

And, oh, the miles of "HAAS-soc BAWL" (soccer ball to the rest of you) with Little Roo.  That little-two-year-old-running-machine chased his ball TIRELESSLY up and down, back and forth, all around the beach... he took turns wearing the rest of us down.  His Noni LOVED her time trying to keep up!!  Zachary told me I finally had my Runner.  ;)  I believe I do. 

There were sugars and shells, waves and wonder, magic and merriment... all passing much too quickly... Now, to get settled back into life without the Little Men & Co....

{{sigh}}

"It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes life worth living."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes


I hope everyone has had a wonderful week... I'll be catching up as soon as I can.

blessings ~ tanna

Be Back Soon...

Yep... I'm in my own personal heaven... time with The Little Men & Co....

Savoring every. single. moment...

Be back all too soon...

Blessings ~ tanna

Yarn Along and Quoting from Lonesome Dove...

 

 

My Beloved is quite fond of quoting to me from Lonesome Dove:  "You don't give up on a garment just because it's got a little age on it."  True enough.  Point in case is this cotton shift.  It has been washed so many times the care instructions are no longer legible.  I still love it.  And, I still wear it.

 



 

My trouble was I didn't have a shawl to go with it.  So, the search began for The Color (we've talked about how important color is).   On the day I became obsessed started looking, this Baby Cashmerino by Debbie Bliss made me happiest of all the wonderful colors in our LYS. 

 

I'll readily admit that I've been spoiled to the tonal shades of hand-dyed yarns and the incredible variations in the Noro yarns; but, I think I will like this okay.  It is just different working with a solid, no variation, perfectly smooth yarn.

 



So, we will see...  More to be revealed. 

I'm joining Ginny's Yarn Along today.  I have a couple of good blog friends (Steph and Karen) who do this every week, and I am happy to join them today. 

"Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece."
~  Nadia Boulanger

blessings ~ tanna
p.s. yes, I know some of you are thinking it... and, yes, this is but another diversion from The Unloved.  ;)