To my American friends, I’d like to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. To my non-American friends, I’d still like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Even if today is not a holiday in every corner of the world, the intent behind the holiday is still very special and important to recognize!
Life moves so quickly these days, so I thought I’d start a new tradition around here, and take today to slow down, reflect and share some of the great blessings of the year.
Our yard was overflowing with dahlias this past spring and summer. We bought them up in droves and planted them all over our front yard to add a splash of color between our boxwoods, Japanese yew and Knockout roses. And instead of just pulling them out and getting rid of them for the winter, we’re going to try to overwinter our dahlias.
We’ve heard from several people that it may be possible to salvage the dahlia bulbs for next spring. So, after a little research, we thought we might as well conduct an experiment to see if we can successfully overwinter dahlias…
We are heading right into my absolute favorite time of the year—Christmas! And what better way to get into the holiday spirit than with a fabulous blog hop between 31 talented bloggers? Well, how about if those 31 bloggers share ideas for making over thrift store finds? Sounds pretty awesome, right? Right!
So let’s dive right in! As part of this fabulous event, dubbed the Holiday Thrift Store Challenge, I’m sharing some very simple Christmas decorations that can be made from items found at your local thrift store!
I have a long way to go before I’m a master seamstress, but I’m already starting to get the hang of my new-to-me sewing machine. If nothing else, I may soon hold the title of master seamstress of throw pillow covers. Because I can sew an envelope-style pillow cover with the best of them!
And that’s exactly the method I used to create these cute appliqué throw pillows for our family room couches (yep, the purple ones!).
I sure hope I’m not alone when I say that I’m a very novice seamstress. That’s even a generous statement. My skills are seriously lacking. My mother, however, is a master (don’t laugh, Mom. You’re extremely talented!), and it’s high time I learn from the best. Especially considering how generous she has been in recently giving me her old machine. My usual just-dive-in approach is no different when it comes to sewing, but I know I need to take a step back and learn some of the basics before I go nuts sewing up a storm.
And if figured, maybe you’re starting with the basics, too, and we could learn them together! So I’m kicking off a little Sewing 101 primer with my first lesson: different types of sewing machine feet and how to use them.