Blame the (irish) Bear!

11 years ago

Yep, blame this little St Paddy Bear for me pulling out my decorations and doing a little bit. A friend of mine asked me to take her to a little Christian thrift shop near her house, I fully intended to buy NO holiday decorations. And I looked at a lot and was really being good about picking up and putting back! But then I saw a little bitty St Paddy bear, with movable arms and legs, and he was so sweet looking. My BF told me I just couldn't leave him there unloved. Enabler!! I told her I couldn't buy him when I wasn't going to decorate this year. So he came home with me and here's the rest of it.

left side of bay window.
{{gwi:1412133}}
I only decorated the bay window, the kitchen table, and my tea-cart. But considering I hadn't planned to do anything, this is at least something to share with you guys for a change. ;o)

close-up of left side of bay window. The statue of a bunny pair is usually on the bay window, along with the tall iron vintage cage inanother photo, has them now wearing little green hats and being part of the St Paddy decor. ;o)

the iron cage, found in an antique mall last year, normally has a small berry garland woven around it. So I just added some St Paddy garland on top of that. Not sure that made any sense, LOL.

I went to get my camera to take a close-up of the stacked plates, and Ty decided he
wanted to be part of the decor I guess. I realized when I saw this photo, even the book
I'm reading has a green cover. LOL, good timing. I usually sit at the table when I read, so a book is always there. And usually Ty joins me.
{{gwi:1412140}}
My vintage teacart has 2 Nutcrackers, a little wood green bird, and misc on it. I really should have put something else in the wall basket, between the moss and the flowers, looks like it is lacking after seeing
the photo. Maybe I'll just weave some of the ribbon, like on the lamp shade, thru the bars of it. ???
{{gwi:1412142}}
{{gwi:1412144}}

hugs, Karen

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

jeannespines
11 years ago
Oh, I love, love the bear & he would have come home w/me, too, purplemoon! So cute!

Those nutcrackers just 'crack' me up! Pun intended! LOL! They are so darn cute there w/your other St.P decor! & yes, looks like adding that pretty ribbon would take care of the wall hanging space...love that wall hanger!

But I am just drooling over the iron cage!!! so cool you added St.P 'more' garland over the other! & your Pot o' gold Scrabble game pcs!

What a sweet pic of Ty & your stacked plates ... & your book...perfect! Always enjoy your bay window decor! What a great place to decorate & for your cats! ;-) TFS, purplemoon! Jeanne S.
plainjane425
11 years ago
Finding that little Irish Teddy which led to ....'the rest of it'...
Reminded me of the book 'If You Give A Mouse A Cookie'!
Which went on and on to many other things...kind of like your decorations! lol

I'm happy that 'he' and your 'enabler' friend got you on a roll with your St. Pat's decorations. I've missed seeing your Bay Window all decked out. It's always so cheerful looking when you set it up with different vignettes. I'm loving that green Shamrock plate. Also enjoyed seeing your St Paddy's Stacked Plates and I guess with Ty getting 'close up and personal' ...he enjoys them too. Amazing that he didn't knock them over. Looks like your Nutcrackers (love the teddy one)... are happy to be out to celebrate the Holiday...after all, they wait patiently all year for this right?
I think you're right about the Hanging wall basket...just
the ribbon woven in with a nice bow and I think you're set.

Gee Karen...I hope this helps get your 'Groove Back' ...
It was nice seeing your decos again.
jane
Related Discussions
Building my Irish Shed
Q
Comments (33)
Wow, I didn't expect this thread to still be alive. We no longer own the acreage or the lovely little shed, but I still see it when I drive by, and it looks to be holding up well. Chuck, the beams were just rough milled pine 6x6 from a local mill, untreated except for stain application after. The skids that the floor of the shed were built on were the only treated wood used as they were contacting the ground. The insulation quality in this particular shed is slim to none, as the walls are just 6" thick firewood chunks and mortar. Some of the wood shrank a bit as it should have been stacked once chopped to size and let dry for a bout a year. So this shed definitely is not insulated. A lot of cordwood builds use longer lengths of firewood and only apply mortar on the inside and outside edge of the walls like chinking, they infill the middle with sawdust. These style of builds have great insulating properties. Thanks for the questions. I had a lot of fun building the shed and am happy to see so much interest in it. freezengril, thanks for the awesome link!
...See More
You Can't Blame A Hornworm For Trying.....
Q
Comments (6)
I know those are braconid wasp cases and that's one reason he went right back outside so that they can complete their life cycle. Not to be cruel, but that's our ecosystem at work. One of the little egg cases fell off the back of the hornworm when Tim pulled it off his shoe, and that case seemed empty, so that one might have hatched already, or it was a defective egg case. There's a million more like that one out there. We have all kinds of sphinx here....tobacco, tomato, trumpet vine, virginia creeper, cherry, etc. This one had yellow stripes and a blue or black horn, so I'm guessing it is a trumpet vine sphinx. I just thought it was very clever in managing to climb onto Tim's shoe without him even knowing it. He came inside, sat down in his recliner and then, after 10 minutes, said "is that something on my shoe?" to which I calmly replied "it's just a hornworm, honey". See, we have incredibly fascinating conversations around here. I've had them come in on tomatoes and even on flowers before, before but never (as far as we know) on a shoe. Dawn
...See More
People blaming Front loaders on their problems
Q
Comments (79)
Until recently I was using a Miele that had Sanitize, Hot, cold and NO HEAT. Of course its instructions were not written for humans but with research I discovered that it does heat cold to 85F, and hot to 105F. However the beast suffered a terminal failure (the spider on the tub broke -$1500 for the parts) so out it went and a new Electrolux came in. The Electrolux has similar settings but no indication whatsoever in the manual as to what the actual temperatures are. On the Miele a tablespoon of detergent was all that was needed usually and I got excellent results. Really sad to see it go. The Electrolux (EIFLS60JIW) is clearly not made to the same standards but seems well made anyway. The drum is larger. I don't know yet if its as efficient on detergent as the Miele was. I don't know if the steam cycle has any antbacterial properties which would be nice. I believe the detergent does have some antibaterial properties
...See More
Woman Blames Bigfoot for Car Crash
Q
Comments (10)
Wait a minute! If she was observing Sasquatch in her rear view mirror and hit the deer with the front of her car, that means the she was between Sasquatch and the deer. How could Sasquatch been chasing the deer? It also means that she was gazing in the mirror while driving forward. Couldn't the insurance company claim some degree of negligence? Maybe Sasquatch was gaining on her! My bet is that Sasquatch was a bear,
...See More
nana2010_gw
11 years ago
YAY for the little Irish Bear!!!
I'm so glad he motivated you to decorate.
Everything looks great . That iron cage is fantastic.
It is the perfect spot for Leprechauns to hide their gold.
Ty looks as happy as we are to see your decorations!!
TFS
Nana
phonegirl
11 years ago
Little did I know last night while chatting with you I
was missing out on some wonderful decor you
have out. You always do an amazing job. Love your
new little bear that came home w/you and inspired
you to decorate.

Ty with your stacked plates is so sweet! Thanks for
this reminder to bring my stacked plates out and enjoy.
Adding hats to the bunnies is a brilliant idea too. I don't
remember your iron cage but looks great all decorated.
So glad your all decorated and will be able to enjoy it
for awhile.

Punk
Purplemoon
Original Author
11 years ago
Here's a close-up of Lil Paddy...he really was too sweet not to bring home.
{{gwi:1412146}}

The wall basket with ribbon added

{{gwi:1412148}}

I decided I better do my front porch as I usually do during holidays. "Stoney" is fun to dress up. His stone bunny pal has no neck...LOL...so he can't wear a ribbon or anything. I stuck a bit greenery and a leprechaun on my little shelves, under the wall mailbox and to the rgt of the planter.

{{gwi:1412150}}

{{gwi:1412152}}

And Jeanne, here's the iron cage from summer with no decor, just a candle in it. And I tried to take a close-up in the sunlight thru the bay window today to see if the stained glass shamrocks would show up. There are 6 of them in all. You might see at least 2 here.

{{gwi:1412312}}
{{gwi:1412313}}

hugs, Karen
Marlene Kindred
11 years ago
Well lady, good to see that you put your magic decorating spin back to work. Love your new little bear and all of your decorations are beautiful as always. Your stacked plate stand is awesome....I need to make myself one of those.
Purplemoon
Original Author
11 years ago
Marlene, I bought my stacked cake plates thru Target ONLINE (not in any stores) some time ago. Tho one time I did see them in a Ross or TJ Maxx. I added the sundae cup to the top, it was a dollar at Walmart. I discovered all this when I first joined our Forum many years ago, thru a gal named Judith who was an amazing decorator. Wish she was still here, maybe someday she'll come back. Some of her things are in our various holiday albums at least.
I'm sure its not hard to find stuff to make your own stacked plates from scratch at thrift shops or yard sales.

I saw somewhere online, a lady had put a small cloche on the top plate!! I may try that for Easter. I really liked the idea.

I use to tell my kids if they ever drug me, kicking and screaming, into a nursing home...they darn well better bring my stacked plates and a cloche for me to decorate.
Those things don't take up much room and give you a LOT of bang for your buck I think.

Thanks for all the kind words, Gang. I wish my heart would get back into decorating, this felt kind of thrown together thanks to Lil Paddy pushing me to do it. But I have a feeling my BF is going to make sure I get all the Easter stuff out no matter what. LOL.

hugs, Karen
phonegirl
11 years ago
Love it that you decorated the porch too. That little bear is little fuzzy wuzzy. No wonder you couldn't resist. Don't think I would of ever thought to cover the wire cage but it's nice. I always throw my things together and you never complain so maybe that's the way it's suppose to be GF.haha I've never been one to pick and grin so it works for me always doing everything on the run.

You like your stacked plates and cloches more than I knew!
I can see you making the kids bring totes to the RH every month so you could redo!ROTFL

Marlene, I bought my stacked plates at Ross for $14,99. They always seem to carry them here. I've even seen them in pink and didn't buy it.sigh

Punk
Purplemoon
Original Author
11 years ago
Punk, me covering the wire cage was sheer laziness! The berry garland I use on it doesn't really cover it up, and I like how it looks. Since I didn't want to take it off after getting it the way I liked, and since I wanted to leave the cage in middle of bay window, I just started wrapping the green stuff all over it. Like Nana said, good place to hide the gold. ;o)

I figured no matter how old and decrepit I become, surely I can still decorate a cloche and the plate stack.
LOL
And I remember seeing the stacked plates in pink now you mentioned it, at Ross.
hugs, Karen
jeannespines
11 years ago
Ohhh...you found stained glass 'shamrocks!' Where? I'll have to browse a bit for those! You know I used heart ones on my vine tree for Feb. ...wouldn't those be cool ... as I usually put the vine tree away in March & decorate for Spring! (but it could stay up awhile longer) tee-hee.

The ribbon did the trick on the wall hanger...cool! & I love you included Stoney in your St. P decor ...always enjoy seeing him! Love it all, PM! Jeanne S.
Purplemoon
Original Author
11 years ago
Jeanne, I think the stained glass shamrocks came from one of the catalogs like Collections Etc or Terry's Village. I got packs of metal ones, wood ones, and the stained glass ones one year, believe they came with a tiny white tree I use to have.
Sorry I'm not more help, been too long for my memory to be sure.

hugs, Karen
christmascandy
11 years ago
Whoopee!! Yeah!! Happy Days!!
Thank you Lil Paddy!!
I'm soooo glad you found him and he was the switch to turn on your decorating!!!!
It is wonderful to see you back doing some decorating as you always do such a fabulous job and we have been missing seeing all of your super decor.
The ribbon added to the wall basket is just the right touch.
Of course, I love the nutcrackers, LOL.

Did I mention how good it is to see you sharing your amazing decor with us again????
Thanks for sharing it with us!!!

Candy
phonegirl
11 years ago
Karen, you call it laziness? We call it being
Creative, so that works! You are really good
at adding the right touches. I never seem to
remember to just add ribbon, yet I love the
look.

Jeanne, do you have green lights for your tree?
I bought little hats at DP and set them over the
lights on our office tree and it's pretty cute. Might
be enough to get you by till you find the shamrocks
your looking for. I'll share some pictures.

Punk
luvstocraft
11 years ago
What a nice to surprise to find this post! Good for you Karen and thanks to your friend and little Paddy for the bit of motivation. ;o) Great idea to put hats on the bunnies. Love your collection of nutcrackers too. I always think of you when I see any. Your stacked plates look so good, I haven't done any for soooo long. Gosh, we all sure had a blast back when we first saw Judith's post of her's didn't we? Was digging around in my storage the other day and guess what I ran across? Those glass veggies we all bought one year from the 99 cent store. I'm debating whether I should keep them or not. Your decorating all looks very festive. I'm proud of you gal.
nonacook
11 years ago
Thanks to the little bear your St. Patricks day stuff looks great!
I lurk a lot on this site just to see what you are doing-Grin.
I miss you on garden junk.......
Purplemoon
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks again, you sure know how to make me feel good.
Nona, so good to 'see' you here. I do pop in on GJ Forum and lurk sometimes. Been ages since I made stuff for the yard so nothing to contribute at all.
I especially like seeing what Tinfoilhat creates. He sure has some imagination and talent with his metal stuff. ;o)
Hope you are doing well.

hugs, Karen

Blame the (irish) Bear!

Comments (16)

jeannespines

plainjane425

Related Discussions

nana2010_gw

phonegirl

Purplemoon
Original Author

Marlene Kindred

Purplemoon
Original Author

phonegirl

Purplemoon
Original Author

jeannespines

Purplemoon
Original Author

christmascandy

phonegirl

luvstocraft

nonacook

Purplemoon
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Blame the (irish) Bear!

Comments (16)

Related Discussions

PurplemoonOriginal Author

PurplemoonOriginal Author

PurplemoonOriginal Author

PurplemoonOriginal Author

PurplemoonOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Purplemoon
Original Author

Purplemoon
Original Author

Purplemoon
Original Author

Purplemoon
Original Author

Purplemoon
Original Author