Thank you everyone! Before finding this place, I never really decorated for any holiday except Christmas. Ya'll have inspired me! Now if I could just find some more hiding places for the new stuff that somehow finds it's way home with me. My husband says that UPS and Fed Ex have their GPS coordinates set by the location of my house. LOL! Jane, I've discovered the trick for the candy. I just tell my family that they can eat all of it that they want and they don't touch it! But if I tell them "hands off" until after the holiday, they're constantly sneaking behind my back taking candy. Luvs, have you looked on ebay for a matching sugar and creamer for your teapot? Robins, I'm hoping to one day get rid of the hoosier. I live in an older home and that side of the kitchen has no cabinets. The house originally belonged to my husband's grandmother and she had her dining table sitting where I have the island. On the wall where I have the hoosier is where she had her china cabinet so that's why no cabinets. I've been not so subtly hinting to my husband that it's way past time to remodel the kitchen and put cabinets all around the room. I think he's ignoring me.

Thanks for all the very nice comments! I think the quilters on this forum are the ones with the spectacular talent. Is rug hooking hard? I have never done it, but it looks really tedious. If someone tried hooking and didn't like it, I suppose it would be tedious. But those of us who do it really love it. Some rug hookers buy printed patterns and new wool. That's the expensive way to go, but it gets them hooking immediately. Others like me, enjoy the hunt for old wool clothes and like to do our own designs at least some of the time, and also play with dyes and color. This method requires patience because what we really want to do is sit down and start hooking. I find the hooking process relaxing. These days I'm working on the turtle rug while "watching" (listening to) old episodes of Law and Order SVU. It's perfect because I recognize all the regulars' voices and don't have to look up very often. No, it's not hard. Just takes a little practice to make the loops even. I always hear that the best way to start is to get a teacher. But there are no teachers (or other rug hookers) where I live, so I learned from books.

Hello all, I have an update for you on my small house (930 SQFT) Roof was finished and I talk about the price of material and labor. Siding on the house is also going up(I show those prices too) so its starting to look like a house now. Please take a gander at the video and consider subscribing to my youtubes :-) I know my "posts aren't typical for this site" but you can see the construction process and you can get ideas from all the pricing of materials and labor that I show, contractors almost never do that. That's the idea behind the channel to show how much things cost so you have an idea what this process looks like. My 930square foot home is tiny compared to most homes on here, and there are some awesome builds in this thread, but wait till you see my next project it will trully be tiny! Come and take a look at me climbing the roof lol. /cheers

Thank you, Czarina. I like the look, but the poor fit is suboptimal. The cheapo covers were a quick fix while I mull over if I really want to spend all that money just for off white duck. However, it occurred to me that there may be a middle ground that is more than $19.99 a chair and less than my quote of $700 per chair for custom slips in Sunbrella. And indeed, there is. I saw several examples of custom slips on Etsy. for more like $200 a chair. Then I found this source that is less than $100 a chair ... I might just get a pair made to see what I think. My girls have the 9th and 10th chairs (only), flanking a sideboard... they could use them if I don't. https://www.etsy.com/shop/Kataleens?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1115379414&from_page=listing