Saturday, December 06, 2008


HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to my brother Barry!

layout credits:
Letters: LLW Holiday Spirit
Paper: LLW Holiday Spirit
Elements: LLW Holiday Spirit
Sequins and Snowflake: Me!





HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to my brother Bill!

layout credits:
Letters: LLW Holiday Spirit
Paper: LLW Holiday Spirit
Elements: LLW Holiday Spirit
Sequins and Snowflake: Me!

A Pal, a confidante, a friend,
There to shield, or to defend.
Braving life's ever changing weather
by standing steadfastly together.

With a brother you share a common history
of all that is , and what can be.
As childhood tears and innocent fears
melt into memory over the years.

Much to the human heart's delight,
Love does indeed make all things right.
Through every joy, and any strife,
A Brother is a friend for life!



You guessed it, Bill and Barry are TWINS, my brothers and this is their special day.
Until last year I could feel a little smug because they were over 50 so seeming MUCH older than me, but now thats changed... we're all over the half-century mark. Where DID the time go, I ask?

One thing thats sad to me, is seems the more the years march by, the less we see of one another. I hope 2009 fixes that!

We love you both so very much, and know you'll be spoiled by your lovely families. You can stop on by my Sister-In-Law Judy's blog by clicking HERE to say Happy Bday to Barry, but Maggie and Bill don't have one ... yet. Who knows perhaps next year will see us all online!

To celebrate my brother's (es?) birthdays, I made a gift for YOU - which you can find at the bottom of this post. I made it FREE, for ALL uses (just credit me in your TOU's) because I was overwhelmed with a warm fuzzy today! I'd LOVE to see how you use these elements - please email me a jpg of your finished product so I can blog you!

*****

Yes, and besides making these goodies and cards...

I was making pretty in my house, for we invited 5 guests to dine in last night. I did not put up a tree, and I did not spend ANY money in the process. None. I browsed through magazines and library books gleaning ideas and threw together what I had to create all THIS:




This is our table. We got it from our friend June, who moved away a few years ago. It is wood and has a glass center and a drawer inside. In the summer and spring I put leaves and little collections of things inside, this year it was a perfect place to display our Christmas Cards as they arrive. At least this way they don't fall down all the time.

The candle was a present - I think from my SIL Judy, the ring around it was a $2 thrift item. I could not decide to use that as a door deco or this. I'm glad I chose this.



I had the first opportunity to fully use the set of Christmas China my Mother In Law gave me in the fall. And her silver, too. I was so proud to put it all out. Um... not the scissors though, I did not notice them till after I'd processed the pics.



I gathered pine and plants from all around the neighborhood and made up this quick centerpiece. I know its not professional, but it did the trick. A bit of ribbon, greenery, (reddery, haha), and something shiney in a nice container (thrift store $1) and you can't go wrong.

The tablecloth was a gift from our friend Melanie, who made the candles I blogged yesterday. I treasure it - it was made by her mother and its called huck-weaving. She was supposed to give it to her boss last year, but she wanted to give it to us, instead. I was so moved. Too bad bossie-wossie. She does not have the same boss now ;P


A bit blurry, but you can pick out some of the different plants I used. You might notice Ponderosa, cedar and spruce boughs. Sumac and CatoneaAster (sp?) for the reds, and Oregon Grape leaves for a finishing touch.


Candlesticks from Mother in Law, decorated with some fancy (yard sale) ribbon and (thrift store) bits of holly. Elegant square, dripless candles from a summer yard sale day in town.


Place settings made with plain ol' brown parcel paper, torn, and embellished with crayon and bits of old Christmas cards and tags. Nothing fancy!



The mantle, hosts a set of six wintery figures I bought for $1 each at a yard sale two summer ago - you'll see closer of these on next Friday's Show and Tell if you come back. The ornament in the center is amazing. I'm not big on Santa, but this ornament is incredible - a gift from my Mother in Law.

And in between, fresh cedar boughs and pine cones and red berries.


Mr. Snowman gets a place of honor atop the fireplace cover - a gift from my one and only sister Nina (you can visit her blog HERE)

Inside the fireplace, no fire, just a trio of rich red candles. Looks so pretty at night. I get warm INSIDE from looking at it.

This is what I see from my couch. It is very cosy and festive.

*****

The dinner was nice. A quiet evening, good company. Good food.

I served:

Baked Ham
Braised Red Cabbage and Carrots
Peas with Savory Herbs
Roasted Garlic Whipped Potatoes
Brown Rice with Seasonings
Artisan Bread Flax Buns

Fresh, hot Pink Lady Apple Pie, with Ice Cream
Cherry Coconut Custard Pie (my own recipe)





When the guests left, I sent Elaine home with this door decoration I had created. Why don't you make one too? Just gather what greenery you can find about your own neighborhood and tie it with a gingham and red ribbon bow? I used dental floss to hang it, for its strong and sturdy and secured it to a paperclip which I then taped to the TOP of the door.

*****

And with no further ado, here is your prezzie for me, in honour of my brothers Bill and Barry's special day!



fine for personal, commercial and scrap for hire
(credit me in your TOU's)

download

22 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to your brother! Your table is gorgeous and I love your Christmas dishes. Such an elegant pattern!
    ~Kelli

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great layouts for your brothers.

    I loved seeing all the detail of your table setting, fireplace and door decoration.

    We do have quite similar fireplaces!!!

    I went to another lovely market today....pics on my blog!!!! Off out for dinner with dh now, baby sitters have just arrived, so need to dash.

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  3. Beautiful table scape and thanks for the cute freebie!!
    ~Janelle

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  4. love your table ..what a night ..you did it up right ...looks so festive and alive...yes Happy Birthday to all this dec 6th ...chat to you later ..thanks for Festive Sequins

    hugs

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the centerpiece! You are so talented! And the table...so festive!

    Happy Birthday to your twin brothers!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, it looks like a lovely setting for what sounded like a yummy meal. I'm sure everyone wore happy, contented smiles on their faces for the rest of the evening ... especially because it was all in such good company.

    Just today I took out two library books on digital scrapbooking! I wish you were closer but seeing as you are not, it is the next best thing. I thought maybe it would help me understand photoshop some ... perhaps ... maybe. I so much prefer learning from watching someone do.

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  7. i hope both your brothers have a very SPECIAL birthday!!! You decorated absolutely LOVELY!!!! and thank you soo very much for sharing too!! :D Have a BEAUTIFUL weekend!

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  8. Wow, your decorating is fabulous, love the cards under the glass table what a great idea.

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  9. Thank you! Your blog post will be advertised on the DigiFree Digital Scrapbooking Freebie search engine today (look for timestamp: 06 Dec [LA 09:00pm] - 07 Dec [NY 12:00am, UK 05:00am, OZ 04:00pm] ).

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  10. Thanks for the nice freebie! I appreciate it!

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  11. Everything looks so pretty!

    Happy Birthday to your brothers!

    Take care my friend!
    Have a great Sunday!

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  12. thanks so much Barb, these are awesome

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW Barb!!! You have TWINS in your family too!!! How special and I wish BOTH Barry and Bill a MOST "Happy Birthday"!!!

    They surely are blessed to have such a WONDERFUL, KIND and LOVING sister and BIL and I hope that y'all are able to remedy the LONG spans of time without seeing each other. I can relate to this ALL too well as ALL of my siblings are FAR away.

    Your decorations are EXQUISITE and I "wanna come a your house"!!! Barb dearest, I would have a BLAST with you garage-saling and browsing the thrift stores!!! I was raised to be frugal and I LOVE it! Looking at your table reminds me of Christmases growing up when my stepmom would take us outside behind our back fence to collect foliage and nettles to spray and glitter and make ALL pretty to decorate the house. I,

    You done GOOD girlfriend and I am sure that your SPECIAL guests thought they were in a TOP-RATED fancy restaurant!!! Nah, they knew RIGHT where they were - in the company of GOOD friends who KNOW how to celebrate life!!!

    Have a GLORIOUS day my friend and I am thanking you VERY, VERY much for the LOVELY sequins!!! You ROCK my friend! Any chance of you selling your creations soon? Hmmmmm?

    Love and hugs,
    Linda :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. How lucky you are to have two such fine brothers and they are lucky as well to have you for a sister. I am an only child and I've always wished I had siblings. The table is gorgeous. You do a good job of decorating.
    Thanks for the nice comments you made about my dolls.
    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happy Birthday Fellas!

    and Barb, wowsers!
    that setting was GORGEOUS. You, my friend, are my "foofoo" hero. lol...

    foofoo=girly stuff like decorating, and cutesy-ness...

    hehehe...

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  16. Hi Mrs Miles! =) Happy Brithday to your brother and you have a wonderful page here! I want to thank you for the kind comment left on my page.
    Hugs and best regards,
    April

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great layouts for the boys, I now they appreciate you
    thoughtful greetings. You are so very talented.

    You did an amazing job with your decorations Barb. I can
    see you impressing the socks off everyone. I am jealous that
    you can walk out your front door to get the making for such
    wonderful greenery. I bet it smells wonderful.

    Thank you for the download, they are lovely again showing your
    extraordinary talent.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Good Morning Barb:)
    Whew! I had a busy weekend and it looks like I didn't get by here fast enough.:)
    Wow! Twins! I thought I was seeing double there for a minute.LOL Happy Belated Bday to both of your brothers!
    Your home looks lovely!:)It's soo cozy too!! My sister has a coffee table with the glass like that and a drawer on the side for pulling out and replacing items.I love it and yours is a cool idea with the Christmas cards.Her table is in the basement/family room and her hubby keeps his collectables in it.She gave him that big room to decorate as he wanted so long as she could do the rest of the house the way SHE wanted.LOL I must say..he has a knack for decorating cause his room is gorgeous too!!:)It's all rustic and outdoorsy stuff.:)He even has an old wooden chair(small) that is hung up on the wall with an old fishing basket in it. Fishing rods hung on the walls etc.Some of it is modern dark wood and some of it is animals carved out of trees with a chain saw.Throw blankets on the sofas..etc.Wish I had pics.:)It's the kind of room you walk in and say..Ahhhhh.:)
    The rest of the house is eclectic.Very pretty.:)
    You can probably imagine my house.Collectables from Thrift stores and dollar stores...and furniture Jim has made.I probably should join your show and tell.LOL
    Thank you soo much for the beautiful seqins!!
    Well..this isn't getting my laundry done.LOL Gotta run!
    Have a wonderful day!Love what you have done to your home.:)
    Hugs,
    Valinda

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  19. My best whishes to your brothers! Very nice table setting, so beautiful indeed.
    Thanks for your comment on my blog, sorry you had problems signing to leave the comment, it's the first time I know about problems doing it.
    Take care

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  20. Wow! these are cute little sequins, thankyou...
    your table looks divine.

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  21. Love all your creative decks and beautiful table!!!

    Christmasy Hugs - we're cozied up in front of our new fireplace here :)

    XOXO

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  22. thank you very much for these awesome sequins!! *hugs*

    ReplyDelete

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