Show and Tell Friday: Venezuelan basket

Posted on May 2, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Some time back, I noticed my good blog friend Susan‘s links to a friend of hers, Jungle Mom, who was a missionary then to Venezuela, and clicked over from time to time. One day as I was reading Jungle Mom, I noticed her husband’s name, and then it clicked — our church supported missionaries in Venezuela, and these were they (them?)! Jungle Mom/Rita’s name was right there on her side bar but somehow I had never noticed it. So it has been fun over the last several months getting to know her through her blog.

She and her family are on furlough now, transitioning to a ministry in Paraguay. They were due to be at our church last weekend, and I was so looking forward to meeting Rita! The last time they were in the States on furlough, only Clint and oldest daughter Jackie came to our church. I enjoyed meeting them, very much, and hoped to meet the rest of the family this time.

But it was not to be. Rita has been having back problems and couldn’t come. I did enjoy renewing acquaintance with Clint and meeting their middle daughter Jewel.

Rita sent me, via Clint, this basket, which is woven from a vine that grows in Venezuela, if I understood correctly.

Here is a close-up detail:

Clint said the top row shows monkeys, the second row birds, the third row frogs. He said each family has certain distinctives as to what it weaves in its design.

Here is a close-up of the inside:

I think it is fascinating that every culture has its artisans and crafts that are unique.

Thank you, Rita! Maybe we’ll catch you next time!

Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home hosts “Show and Tell Friday” asking “Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there’s a story behind your special something, that’s even better! If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your “Show and Tell” on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky. Guidelines are here.

Show and Tell Friday: Recent Finds

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I wanted to share a few things I had found while shopping over the last few weeks.

I love these little pillows, but my menfolk got irritated with them on the couch as they tended to slide around or fall off. So I began to look for a basket to put them in and found all the baskets on sale at Michael’s the week before Easter. I really like this set in itself, but I’m not sure I like the pillows in them — I can’t really see the designs like I’d like. But I’ll leave it that way for a while. I like the baskets anyway and will use them even if I change what I put in them. 🙂

This cabinet was included in Hobby Lobby’s 50% off sale of all their wall decor a couple of weeks ago. It was missing its inner shelves, though — a cabinet next to it was exactly the same except it was brown, and it had glass shelves, so I knew it was supposed to have them. When I checked out I pointed that out to the sales clerk, and he gave me another 10% off. I have to tell you, there was a time when I could not have done that. I used to avoid even making returns at stores because I felt intimidated — asking for a “deal” was beyond me. But my husband does that all the time. It used to embarrass me and I’d just walk away when he was “negotiating,” but it’s amazing how often you can get a better deal just by asking politely. I’ll have to ask my husband where to get shelves cut for it. It’s on the floor right now — I haven’t quite decided yet where to put it.

I went shopping at a couple of thrift stores a few weeks ago, and this blue vase was the only thing of interest I found. It was all of 99 cents. 🙂 The Idaho clock was made for us by my husband’s former pastor. My husband’s family moved to Idaho when he was in his early teens, I think, and the pastor of his church there did woodworking as a side hobby. He has given us several lovely gifts over the years.

Show and Tell Friday

Posted on April 11, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I originally drew a blank for Show and Tell Friday this week, until an afternoon trip to Wal-Mart.

As a little background first, though: this is a corner of our dining area.

I had gotten the little cabinet years ago at a craft show. The books are my “overflow” cookbooks — the main ones I use are on another shelf. Behind the door tablecloths and napkins are stored. On the top to the left is this little plate.

At the bottom it says, “Love is the good cook’s secret ingredient.” I love that saying and used to like Holly Hobbie a lot, but the picture just seemed too little-girlish to me now, and I don’t have those colors in my kitchen any more (my first kitchen was primarily yellow). So I had been thinking about replacing it for a long time. I originally got it when the neighbors of friends were moving and getting rid of a ton of their things. I actually felt a little bad about it: the wife and kids had gone on ahead out of town and the husband was staying behind to pack and close up the house. This was one of the things he wanted to leave behind, and I hoped it wasn’t a dear treasure to the wife.

I didn’t have anything handy in mind to put in that little corner, though. Then today at Wal-Mart some pretty, inexpensive flower arrangements caught my eye. As I wondered if I had a place for one anywhere, I thought of this corner.

I think it brightens it up a lot, though it does look a little more crowded. The bright pink roses look a little orangy here, but they complement the wallpaper better “in real life.”

The vase is one of my favorite things, bought for me by my husband some years ago. The little bear figurine was a dollar store find.

I’ll keep the Holly Hobbie plate and pack it away — I am not quite ready to get rid of it completely yet.

Show and Tell Friday: Childhood Jewelry

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I wanted to show today some jewelry left from my childhood through my teen years. I don’t have a lot — I was something of a tomboy back then. 🙂

This bracelet was given to me by a friend in elementary school named Cindy.

I liked hearts even then. 🙂 Cindy was the first person to be kind to me when I first came to that school in the third grade. We were fast friends for a few years, but then drifted away from each other and eventually lost contact when I moved away.

This was from an uncle when he was in the service in Viet Nam.

He and my aunt had three daughters near my age, and we did a lot together when I was young.

I think this was from a friend’s mom when I was a teen-ager. I love this though I don’t like wearing bracelets any more.

I don’t remember for sure who gave this to me:

But it was one of my favorites when I was growing up. The top part opened into a little compartment that held a solid type of perfume — you could run a fingertip over it and dab it on. I thought that was no neat!

This was a necklace from another aunt and uncle when they lived in Jamaica for a time.

Remember when chokers were all the rage?

I almost didn’t show this because the velvet ribbon, originally white, is so discolored. As I pulled it out I wondered that my neck had actually fit in it at one time!!

These are three different necklaces:

I know the “B” was from my dad; I don’t remember where the other two came from. The chain on the heart one desperately needs cleaning, but after that it would be wearable today I think.

This was a ring I just loved then.

And I also loved and wore this one a lot:

It was found at my mom’s workplace and no one ever claimed it, so she gave it to me. I don’t know if you can tell, but the area behind the flower is a little mirror.

One piece of jewelry that I no longer have but wish I did is a little pin of an animal — I think it may have been a squirrel — that had little jewels for eyes. It was given to me by a couple of elderly great aunts on my mom’s side. I am afraid I didn’t really like or appreciate it all that much then, but I came to appreciate that these aunts made the effort throughout my life to remember me and keep in touch with me. When I graduated from high school we almost didn’t send them an invitation because we hadn’t been in contact for some time and didn’t want it to seem like we were just sending an invitation in expectation of a present. But we heard that they would be very offended if we did not send them one, so we did. One of them sent me a robe that I loved and used all throughout college in the dorms.

Thanks for joining me on this trip down memory lane. 🙂 You can visit Kelli’s to see more “Show and Tells” and even join in the fun.

Show and Tell Friday:Laundry room

Posted on March 14, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Our laundry room thoroughly needs to be redone. I was reminded of just how much when I tried to take pictures of the few things I have on the walls in there! I ended up taking a couple off the wall and photographing them on top of the washer. Someday we want to fix it up — it’s just low on the list of many things to do right now.

But I do have a few things in there to brighten it up a little.

I especially like the little clothespin holder there on the line.

This picture is maybe only 4×5″. We got it as a souvenir when we visited the Wren’s Nest, home of Joel Chandler Harris (author of the Uncle Remus stories), when we lived in the Atlanta area.

While I was thinking about these pictures, I remembered a cross stitch piece my sister had done that for some reason needed to be reframed. I had forgotten all about it. But I dug it out and hope to take care of that in the next few days!

I don’t usually feel that way about laundry, so that’s a good reminder, besides being just cute in itself.

Show and Tell Friday: Spring Windowsill

Posted on March 7, 2008 by Barbara Harper

When I took down my “everyday” decorations last fall to decorate for autumn, I finally took apart an old arrangement on my windowsill that had dried flowers and a bird and nest and had just gotten dusty and unkempt. After putting autumn and Christmas decorations away and getting back to everyday, I pondered what to put in that empty spot. I hadn’t seen or come up with anything until the spring issue of Kelli’s beautiful Seasonal Delights magazine came out and I saw the Hidden Nest Centerpiece. A smaller version of that would be just perfect!

So I assembled the materials this week, with a 5″ pot instead of the 8″. I originally wanted to paint the flower pot a cream color and the eggs blue, but the windowsill this would be on is white, so I thought a bit of color would be better with a blue flower pot. These kinds of decisions can stall a project for me for days, but I decided since all of these materials were reusable I could disassemble it and change it if I wanted, so I went ahead with painting the flower pot blue and using cream and brown eggs I found at Michael’s.

I had a bit of a problem, though, with the garland: mine was so bushy that it lost its “arch” shape almost completely (probably because the pot was smaller, so the arch was smaller — I am sure it would have done fine with the bigger pot size Kelli’s centerpiece had called for), and then I had trouble getting the wire to stick to the flower pot with hot glue. I remembered some variegated green picks I had and got a few of them and stuck them directly in the moss, then tucked the nest under the leaves. This is finally what I came up with:

I love it. When I am working at the sink I can see the little nest and eggs peeking out through the leaves. We often have little birds build nests in our hanging plants outside that I can see from my kitchen window, so this reminds me of that and fits right in with the scene.

I do still want to try Kelli’s idea with the garland shaped as an arch some time!

On the other side of my windowsill is this:

It’s just a couple of spring floral picks I got years ago at a Home Interiors party, stuffed into a small creamer pitcher, but it has been a long-time favorite window sill brightener. It’s getting old, too, but I keep dusting it off.

This is the whole windowsill, cheery even on a gloomy day outside:

I also wanted to share a couple of things I was delighted to find while out shopping this week.

It’s very hard to find kitchen towels and such with pink — apparently that’s not “in” as a decorator color just now. But I was delighted to find these at Kohl’s — I was shopping in the men’s department for my husband’s birthday and investigated the housewares and decorating section while I was there. I was glad I did!

They’re almost too pretty to use — almost. But I will use them!

I was also thrilled to find these chair pads on clearance. I had been needing new ones and wanted to find the kind with the non-skid surface on the bottom rather than ties (which always seem to pull out after much use at my house). I had seen some blue ones at another store that I thought were too expensive. But these were not only less, they had little pink and cream flecks in them that matched mt kitchen/dining area:

And I love the non-skid underside!! It works much better than the ties at the back.

Isn’t it funny how little things can brighten an area?

Show and Tell Friday: More Scripture plaques

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Barbara Harper

I want to continue last week’s theme and share a few more plaques with Scripture in my home.

This is in my kitchen:

It was an 8×10 card that I saw in a store and loved. Usually you can find standard sized frames pretty inexpensively. The verse is Proverbs 15:15b.

This needful reminder is also in my kitchen:

I showed this a few weeks ago, bought years ago at a craft show.

Though that exact phrase isn’t a Scripture verse, it is from a hymn based on Matthew 10:28-32.

One of the kids bought this one year for my husband.

This is a print by one of my favorite artists and cross stitch designers, Paula Vaughn. I had seen it once and loved it but thought it was too expensive. Then later on my husband bought it for me. It is one of a three part set.

Here is a close-up of part of it:

This is in my bedroom.

I think I showed it once before with a group of cross stitch gifts. My sister did the cross stitch. The verse was from a packet at Doorposts. I love how the fairly simple calligraphy goes with the detailed and colorful cross stitch and how they both have to do with clothing.

This is something I cross-stitched for my husband years ago:

Isaiah 38:19b.

These are two Thomas Kincade prints that I saw in a catalog for around $20, I think:

If I remember correctly, they came with mats, so all I had to do was get frames. A good deal, I thought! They helped set the “theme” for the upstairs bathroom. They depict John 8:12 and John 1:5.

This is also in that room:

I saw it in a Home and Garden catalog and loved the design and the verse, Romans 12:12.

This is in the downstairs bathroom.

I feel compelled to tell you that I really don’t like this wallpaper!! But we haven’t had a chance to change it yet. And I think this plaque goes well there. My mom sent it to me.

This was the first present Jim ever gave me when we were dating:

It has part of one of my favorite verses, Deuteronomy 12:12.

This one is actually off the wall now right now due to a broken frame. It is another of the Doorposts packet. It usually hangs with a picture of our sons and a poem in calligraphy about guarding the honor of your family name and reputation.

This one sits near our TV to try to remind us to apply this standard:

It was also from the packet at Doorposts.

I enjoy not only the artwork of these various pieces, but especially the reminders from God’s Word that they provide all throughout our home.

I hope it is an encouragement, too, that you can have Scriptural reminders depicted in nice art work without going to a lot of expense in many cases.

Show and Tell Friday: Scripture plaques

Posted on February 22, 2008 by Barbara Harper

In Deuteronomy 6:4-7a, God tells His people, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…” In the following verses He tells of many ways we are to follow that command, talking of His Word while sitting in our houses, walking, etc., and verse 9 says, “And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

I enjoy taking that literally, to have God’s Word in several places on the walls of my house. Sure, there are times we breeze right by it without thinking about its impact, but there are those times of focusing on it and being reminded of and meditating on its truth.

I wanted to share a few of those plaques containing Scripture with you today. There are too many to show all of them…but it is hard to decide which ones to share now and which to save for another time!

This is one of my favorites. I made it for Shannon’s first bloggy giveaway carnival and liked it so much I made another for myself. The verse was done on the computer — I am not skilled in calligraphy or even legible handwriting! The rest is scrapbooking paper, paper lace, and a little plastic heart that was in with some buttons.

I’ve had this for some years and love the line from the hymn in the midst of the Scripture that inspired it. Love the colors, too. I don’t remember where I got it, but I am thinking maybe it was from a Home Interiors or Home and Garden party.

This was a favor from our church’s ladies’ luncheon a couple of years ago.

The following two are on either side of our dining room window.

Philippians 4:6-7.

Proverbs 17:1.

The calligraphy came from Doorposts. I bought just inexpensive mats and frames from either K-Mart or Wal-Mart.

I got this from a craft show:

The photo doesn’t quite do it justice, I just love the colors and arrangement. Calligraphy has come a long way!

Psalm 23:1, from Home Interiors.

I think I’ll save the rest for another time.

Come over to Kelli’s to peruse the rest of todays Show and Tells and even join us! It’s a fun way to et to know each other.

Show and Tell Friday: Valentine’s Day decorations and dinner

Posted on February 15, 2008 by Barbara Harper

With all the hearts and pink roses around my house, you could say it looks like Valentine’s Day all the time. 🙂 But there are a few special things I put out for the day this year.

This is a wreath that I usually have on my door around Valentine’s Day, though I have it up at other times, too.

I didn’t make it. I found it at a good price at Target a few years ago. Seems like it was around $15 or so. I think it has faded a little bit — there used to be more pink in it. But I still like it.

When I mentioned this table in a previous Show and Tell, I mentioned that I wanted to put little seasonal vignettes there.

These two Boyd’s Bear figurines go along with the holiday.

This little tray I found just yesterday at Target. I decided to put some of my heart-shaped buttons, charms, etc. on it.

Most of the things there are leftover from various craft projects. I think I got most of the buttons from Michael’s. The little crocheted hearts and pink dotted hearts and several of the charms I got at Speckled Egg’s shop.

I saw a better example of a doily garland yesterday, and I thought I had bookmarked it, but I can’t find it now. I had a few heart shaped paper doilies on hand and gave it a try.

Some may remember seeing something similar to this last year at our church’s ladies’ luncheon. I saved some of the leftover favors and made a bouquet out of them.

We place each person’s Valentine above their plate and open them before we eat.

This was our main dish for dinner. Those little shapes are supposed to look like hearts.

It’s called Crescent Heart-Topped Lasagna Casserole. I was delighted to find a Valentiney main dish — it’s easy to find desserts, but a little harder to find a Valentine entree. I couldn’t find the mini lasagna noodles called for at the store I was in and didn’t have time this week to check other places, so I just broke up lasagna noodles into small pieces.

And this was our dessert.

It’s just from a cake mix with store-bought frosting. Cakes aren’t my best things. 🙂 But everyone likes these.

Overall we had a very nice day!

Show and Tell Friday

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Barbara Harper

One of my favorite spaces in our home is just a thin strip of wall.

The two small pictures I got a few years ago with some Christmas money at Kirkland’s.

I found this for just a few dollars at a craft fair.

Nearly every time I pass by this spot and see these little pictures, they make me smile.

I also wanted to mention that I won a prize from Ellen in the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival, and it arrived today! It was so neat to win something from a bloggy friend! It arrived very nicely packaged: