Thank you Everyone, I really appreciate your comments. Punk, you touched my heart with what you said about Jason. He continually fills me with awe and pride. That photo was taken of him when he had to medically retire from the police dept. They enlarged it to use as a poster for the Reserves! They gave him the original, framed, and he gave it to me. He's our own personal Phoenix, rising from the ashes to soar like the mythical bird our city is named for. In fact our City has often referred to him that way when writing or talking about him on the news. Especially the Police Dept, and their logo has always been the Phoenix bird. Those stacked plates come from Target online (not in their stores). I've attached the link. Judith taught us that the $1 Sundae cup from Walmart is a great topper for them. LOL. Its nice heavy glass too. Mine are glued since I have cats, not to mention a Dad who's always shoving them out of the way while he reads the paper. LOL. You can make your own, but Target's are so reasonable that I got theirs. My Valentine topper I got at Michaels yesterday. Too bad I didn't think to get big pillar candles! OA, I haven't mastered making big nice bows really. I just sort of managed thanks to the wire ribbon. I have one of those bow makers and really should learn to do them properly. I've read instructions and seen videos of how to do them by hand but I'm all fumble-fingers it seems. Milosmom, we have quite a few photos of decorated chandeliers in our Inspiration albums, especially the Xmas one. They are probably in the Misc sub album there. I LOVE having one to decorate for the holidays. Last year I bought some of the little shades to use, but it cut the light so much I can't read under it. LOL. Speaking of albums, don't forget we have a bunch of stacked plates and cloche pictures in there too! Tons of neat eye-candy and good ideas. The photo of the funky birdcage doesn't do it justice. Its really kind of a neat piece. The color brown of the metal matches two framed prints I have above it, plus goes well with the china cabinet beside it. I couldn't paint it white anyway since the wall is white. For Valentine's, after I loaded it with the moss and roses, I tucked a bird's nest with eggs in there and added the little Dollar Tree bird. There is no door, so its not a real birdcage, the top part is hinged and the whole thing lifts up to decorate inside. hugs, Karen Here is a link that might be useful: stacked plates

Since Karen has been busy this week, and hasn't gotten back here, I will try to help with tipsy pot directions. You need a six foot piece of rebar which can be purchased at Lowe's for around $2.00. You also need pots in graduated sizes, ie: 12 inch, 10 inch, 8 inch, etc. Just pound the rebar into the ground about 18 inches then slide the largest pot onto the rebar through the hole in the bottom of the pot. Fill with potting soil. Now slide the next largest pot onto the rebar, but tip it to the side a bit. (A rock will help support it at the angle until you get the next pot on.) Continue sliding the pots on and alternating the way you angle them then fill them with soil and plants. Vining plants look really good in them. Be careful when watering so that you don't wash all the soil out, and know that they do dry out fairly quickly so you will want to water frequently. (Unless you use Karen's great idea of using silk plants!) If you check on the Garden Junk forum and just type "tipsy pots" into the search box, you will find lots of them. Some have used metal buckets, some plastic pots, some teapots, etc. to make them. The fun part is all the comments from visitors who are amazed at seeing what looks like just pots balanced on top of each other! ;o) Luvs

Karen you have a lovely home. Hard to believe you were able to fit so many china cabinets in, but it certainly doesn't look overcrowded at all. Each of the cabinets and your collections are wonderful. I would feel very comfortable in your home. If you remember reading the post about my fall decor and my concern that the fall items did not fit very well with my normal pastel things--Judith reminded me that many of us do traditional Christmas colors that don't match our normal decor either. It is a seasonal thing, and we should just relax and enjoy it. You certainly found some pretty pumpkins, candle holders and silk flowers and vines. And I love the vignettes and arrangements you made with them. Clap, clap, clap. Good job gal. ;o) Most of all, I am just so thrilled that you felt well enough to shop and do all this decorating. I think maybe you were so interested in doing it that maybe it helped keep your mind off some of the pain. That's a very good thing. ;o) Luvs

Karen... WOW!! I had no idea. I know Dept 56 has pricey items...but had no clue on this item.. This WAS a great deal. When I saw it at GW, DH had just gone down the same aisle, but missed it (man's shopping). I followed behind him, and spotted it right away. He was so surpised that they even had it there and of course the price. The other day we went into one of the little shops in town, where they have a large display and selection of Dept 56. DH likes to go in there before Christmas to see if there's any retired pieces. They're usually discounted. Well, ALL of Dept 56 Christmas was 50% off. When we questioned the owner..she said she was not going to carry it anymore. There is not much interest anymore from customers, as in the past. We saw the same thing this Summer, in Cape Cod...many of the stores who would have large displays...either cut back on stock or did away with it completely. We are so disappointed to know, this might be another hobby that will be a 'thing of the past'...just like Train Sets under the tree. :( Thank you Karen for doing the research on the Pumpkin Wagon...I will treasure it even more so!! lol jane