Stella and the Red, White and Blue Monday

Stella and I hope that all of you are having a wonderful Memorial Day! In honor of this holiday, I am doing a red, white and Blue Monday! For a list of other Blue Monday posts, go visit Smiling Sally's blog.

In honor of Memorial Day, Stella decided she wanted to search for flag themed items around my home. First of all, she spotted my Goodwill flag bucket containing faux red geraniums. The blue candle sits on a wooden Americana holder which I found at a garage sale. The arrangement is on top of a star covered placement which I purchased for about a dollar or so when our local K-Mart had deep discounts for its closing.


Stella said that Memorial Day was a wonderful American holiday, but as she is from England, she wanted to remember British soldiers who served for her country. She asked if we could post a British flag. Why of course, Stella!


Stella spotted this little God Bless America picture right next to the front door. You all know how much she likes teddy bears!


Stella really liked my Americana themed arrangement and my candles which spell Kady.


She hopped right up onto my big picket fence flag.


Stella thought that it was quite an honor that I had this flag which as the oldest child in the family, I received at my father's funeral.

She had so much fun looking for all the Americana!

She also had fun laughing at me over my broken van window. Yes, yes I did do something pretty stupid. I had my lawnmower in the back as we had to go mow the lawn at Bonnie Lane, and when I went a little too sharply around a corner, the lawnmower handle came crashing into the window. It is now covered with a black garbage bag and looking pretty ghetto. This little accident did not happen at a good time since I am unemployed.


This traffic ticket (in blue) also came at a bad time. Yes, it was my fault, but I really didn't know that I couldn't turn left onto the street the library was on! Apparently I am the only person in town who didn't know this.


Well Stella wanted to do something on her own for Blue Monday, and said that I would be surprised!

But nothing prepared me for this!

Oh Stella, what have you done! You're all blue!!!

Stella said that she thought it would be fun to paint herself blue. No no, dear! That can't be healthy! Well the Blue Men do it! Yeah, but they get paid pretty well for it too.

Thank heavens that a nice bubble bath returned her to normal! I guess I better keep track of her a little more closely.

Thanks Shelia for letting me borrow the picture from your blog!

I also want to thank all of our servicemen, both past and present for their service to our country. Thanks to my brother Dave for serving in the Army during peace time, thanks to my father for serving in World War II, and to my grandfather for serving in World War I. Thanks also to my daughter's father who served in Vietnam, and my former father-in-law for serving in the Korean conflict. You are all appreciated.

Have a very special Memorial Day Blue Monday everyone! I hope your day was spent with family and loved ones.

Come back tomorrow for a shocking Stella post!

Stella at Swan Creek Candle Company

My daughter returned to Toledo on Thursday. I hated to see her go home, but she wanted to start unpacking all the boxes I took to her in her new apartment. On the way there, we passed the Swan Creek Candle Company. I have always wanted to stop in there, and asked my daughter if we should make the little side trip.

Swan Creek Candles are well known in this area. Believe me, they smell absolutely delicious, and I like the idea that they are made right there in Swanton, Ohio. They ship all over the country, and even to England and Ireland! I have purchased their candles before and they are wonderful.

Stella, Tara and I decided that we had to go on in.


There was a pretty fountain out front.

Stella said that since it was such a hot day, that she had to fight temptation to jump on in that water!


Cute lawn sculpture and a pretty metal gate.




Once inside, we were knocked nearly delerious by all the wonderful smells! You could smell those candles even before walking in the door. They had many displays of candles, including this huge unit of candles in jars. Tara had to check it out.


We were all smelling the candles too. Heaven!


Here are some of the beautiful displays. You can click on any pic if you wish to enlarge it to see the detail.












Oh these candles smell so good, you could almost eat them! They sure look good enough to eat!


Besides candles, there was an antique shop. In yesterday's post, you saw the sweet pink furniture.

Here is the chandelier from that setting. I thought it was really beautiful until I saw the $300 price tag.


This butter server was exquisite! I would love to have taken it home with me.


Stella wanted to be photographed in front of this windmill since my daughter lives in the Toledo suburb of Holland. She said all she was missing were little wooden shoes and some tulips.


I was very frugal and ended up purchasing only 3 votive candles in scents of vanilla cotton, vanilla and caramel and mocha chocolate. I intend to go back once I have a job again. If you'd like to visit the shop, or order online, you can check out their website here.

Have a relaxing Sunday! Stella's adventures start heating up this week and you will see just how adventurous, daring, and a little bit naughty she can be!

Pink Saturday/ Stella Shops for Pink!

Stella told me that she just loves pink! While we were out shopping this week, she pointed out some beautiful things in pink. Isn't she just the best helper? And she has exquisite taste!

As always, you can click on any pic to enlarge for details.

Here she is with some pretty vintage dishes. Even the canisters have a band of pink in them!


These transferware plates were spotted at TJ Maxx on the shopping trip earlier this week with my daughter. So pretty! Even with the discount prices, still just a little out of my reach.


Stella and I thought these were extra cute, and there were matching dishes.




While this pitcher isn't pink, I just thought that she shell shape was most unique! Stella said she thought it would be nice with the pink dishes too. Yes, it would, but I think I would like it better with a sea blue, sand colored and white beach motif.


When I took my daughter home to Toledo yesterday, we stopped in a candle shop, and spotted these sweet furniture pieces in pink. The cradle was lined in pink toile. How precious!


Stella, my daughter and I all went gaga over this girly arrangement.

There will be more in tomorrow's posting about the trip to the locally renowned candle company!

To see more Pink Saturday posts, go visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

In upcoming Stella posts, she resorts to some naughtiness! I guess she wanted to have some adventures, so stay tuned!

Tablescape Thursday/ Stella's Teddy Bear Picnic

Today, Stella and I stayed close to home. After such an exciting day yesterday, we were both a little tired. However, we both found the energy to create a tablescape for Tablescape Thursday. Stella was a great help!


We decide to have a Teddy Bear Picnic! Sorry for this picture being a wee bit squeezed. I had a better picture, but somehow it didn't get downloaded.

I purchased the picnic basket a few years ago at a friend's garage sale for only $20. It contained the red gingham tablecloth, the plates, cups, and silverware. All I had to provide for this was the guests and a few accessories!

I liked the different colors and mixed them up for some variation. Bandannas make cute napkins. I got the red one at Goodwill for $.55, and the blue for just a couple bucks at Walmart.




I made the napkin rings from a small section of an cardboard paper towel tube. I applied wood glue on the surface, then added twine which I had on hand at the house. The daisy buttons are from Joann Fabric and glued on.


Here you can see some of the contents for our picnic, including grapes, wine, and a loaf of bread. I would have added a chunk of cheese, but didn't think to get that at the grocery store.


This teddy bear belonged to my daughter when she was a toddler. From the scratched eyes, torn ear, and frayed nose, you can tell he was well loved. I think that she named him simply Teddy. I thought he was just too cute to put into storage with most of the other stuffed toys.


This is a bear that I got years ago through a Country Peddler party. I sure did love Country Peddler, but they went out of business years ago.


These little white mums looked like daisies to me. The pot is wrapped in a white bandanna and secured with twine. It usually sits on my painted black end table.


This cute pitcher was a Goodwill find for only $3. I loved the litte red roses, and the touch of red is just right for this picnic. The teddy bears and Stella enjoyed the fresh lemonade that I slaved over using squeezed lemonsCrystal Light.

You didn't think they were going to drink the wine, did you? No, that's for ME!

Stella had so much fun throwing a picnic for her new teddy bear friends!

Everyone had a great time.

For more Tablescape Thursday posts, please go to Susan's blog Between Naps on the Porch for a full list.

Happy Tablescape Thursday!

Oh, and be sure to check out my two previous posts about Stella's adventures here in Ohio!

Stella Does a Strip...

...Mall of course. And what were YOU thinking?


Today, Stella and I traveled to Holland. No, not the Netherlands -- Holland, Ohio, near Toledo. My daughter Tara and her fiance live and work there, and just got their own apartment! It was time for me to take her some of her belongings that had managed to be left at my house after her last move.

She was thrilled to meet Stella!


I had a surprise for Tara. She said that she wanted to decorate her kitchen in sunflowers, like she had in her last place. She had left a small folding table at my house, and she read my blog and saw how I had been transforming things with paint, and said how much she liked what I had done. She had forgotten that she even owned the table! Anyhow, I found a yard of fabric at Joann Fabric for just $3, found a package of 4 light yellow napkins at Goodwill for $2, and found some cute buttons and ribbon also at Joann's. I got some paint at Meijer, Rustoleum in Yellow Squash.

She was thrilled!


She just purchased the plates and cups last week for a dollar each at the Dollar Tree. She loved the place setting I made for her too!


Stella wanted to jump in and help too. Tara thought she did a great job!


I had not even seen a picture of the plates yet when I bought the ribbon, but it coordinates perfectly!

After we moved the boxes and bags into the apartment, it was time to go shopping.

I had been wanting the Target salt and pepper shaker birds for a long time now, months even! However, there is no Target nearby, but my daughter lives less than a mile from one! We dashed over there.

At first, I couldn't locate them and was getting discouraged.

Then Joyness! I spotted the infamous Target birds! Oh happiness, I am now officially a true blogger! Just look how excited I am.

I danced through the aisles of Target singing "I got the Target birdies! I got the Target birdies!" Yes, really and truly I did. It was just that kind of day.

After my Target birdy score, my daughter treated me to lunch as a very late Christmas present. She took me to her favorite local restaurant. Stella liked the idea of traveling to Holland and China, all within a one mile radius.


Stella served the tea, which was delicous...


Then shared my peanut chicken dinner with rice.


After lunch, we visited several other stores including The Avenue, Bed Bath and Beyond, where I danced and sang in the aisles, embarrassing my daughter, and Dollar Tree, where I did the same. A woman in line at the register told the cashier that she really liked coming in the store because of the music. I told her that I had been dancing in the aisles, then she began to shimmy and shake a little too. Stella hid away in my purse, her face red with embarrassment at my antics.

However, when we got to TJ Maxx, Stella wanted to jump out and get in on all the fun. She liked these trunks. Now she could visit Holland, China, and Paris!


She also liked this lovely little holder with a mosaic center. I wanted to snatch it up at only $7.50, but since I had bought the Target birds, I was low on the dough. There was more TJ Maxx yumminess, but I am saving that for Pink Saturday.


After a long afternoon of shopping and window shopping, Tara and I gathered her fiance Mike, and we all headed back to my home so that they would have a couple days to visit with me and with Mike's mother and siblings. It was late, but not too late to start up the firepit and roast hot dogs and s'mores.


Stella grabbed one of the sticks and roasted a marshmallow.

This is where the story gets Dark and Twisty.

Be assured that no Aida cloth dolls were harmed in the commission of this story. Anyhow, my daughter was reviewing my pictures and had her own idea of how this story should go, with macabre additions from my son.

Tara: Hee hee, this picture of Stella looks like she has a shank (prison term for fashioned object into lethal knife)>


Tara:Mom, this picture looks like Stella fell in the fire!


Tara: Mom, I know...this would be funny...let's take this picture of Sean eating and pretend that he got mad and tried to eat Stella, but she fell in the fire instead.

Kady (Mom):No! No, we are not doing this. This is not funny.

Tara: Yeah Mom, it would be, and lets pretend that she is mad at Sean and tried to stab him.

Kady aka Mom: NO!

Tara: Yeah Mom! And then we can wrap toilet paper around her body and tell a story about how we had to have her visit the burn unit! You know, this picture looks like her hair is on fire too!

Sean giggles like a goofball.



Kady aka Mom: You kids are dark, twisted sick individuals.

So anyhow, I allowed no horrors to befall our dear Stella. She is safe and sound asleep in her bed tonight, resting peacefully after a long fun day.

She rather enjoyed the Dark and Twisty story though, silly girl!

Stay tuned for more Stella adventures!