burlap, Christmas, Coldspring, Country living, Country Style, Decorating, family, Lake Livingston, Tablescape, Texas, The Rockin' F, wreath

Open House at the Rockin’ F Ranchito

My buddy, The Social Planner, went all out for Christmas. She has an amazingly talented niece who made all the decorations. Follow along as I take you on a tour of her beautiful home.  This past weekend this was the first stop on our home tour.  I am crazy about her beautiful home this holiday season, an am so proud of her for all the hard work creating her forever home.

The Front Porch-
Out on the Rockin’ F the front porch looks out on horses, a red dirt-dead end road, and the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. I love that the porch looks as good as the scenery around it. What a welcoming front porch.  The photos below are of the social planner and her sweet niece in law who created the decorations.  I caught Claudia putting the wreath up she brought with her Sunday.  In the future I am going to interview her.  She has been creating Christmas décor for 10 years and decorated 30 + homes this season.  She still has a few homes to touch up for holiday parties but is really almost finished.  She has a lot to teach me.

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Yes, that view is for real off the social planner’s front porch.  I love looking at the pond and the horses.  The tree line is beautiful.

The Family Room-
Wow! An amazing tree, decorated with Texas themed items. There are stars, boots, rope, and burlap on this tree.

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The mantle is beautiful.

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There is a Santa collection. The cowboy Santa was added this year.

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The buffet is so sweet.

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I really like the dining table and decorated chandelier.  The dishes have pine cones on them.

My buddy has the best kitchen on the planet.

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The Back Porch
This is without a doubt my favorite place on The Rockin F. The back porch is beautiful, peaceful and is a great place to get away from the world. For Christmas, the social planner purchased a stocking for all the grown ups in the family and had them embroidered locally. They are a thick tweed plaid and have a burlap top. The outdoor fireplace looks so beautiful with the mantle decorated.
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If you are ever in Coldspring stop by the social planner’s house. She loves company.

http://wp.me/p3Su5W-3dv

Coldspring, Country living, Country Style, Decorating, family, home decorating, mantle, Nature, new home, Texas, wreath

Open House at the Rockin’ F Ranchito

Map of Texas highlighting San Jacinto County
Map of Texas highlighting San Jacinto County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you remember my Social Planner, Tanis? She and her husband Larry retired to Coldspring, Texas and have spent the last year selling their two homes- a lake house and their city home, clearing land, planning a new home, and finally building and moving in to their dream home. They really did find a slice of heaven when they found the 22 acres that they are quickly turning into their family gathering spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend they held an open house. Friends and family were invited up to visit and enjoy their world. The Social Planner went all out.

rockin f

 

You know it is going to be a place in the country when you have to have signs  because the GPS might not work.

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The house was in full fall decorating mode,

rockin f front porch

 

I love the front porch.  I wish I could bottle the view,

Texas Wreath

 

The Social Planner’s niece made this awesome wreath.  Love it.

 

fall door

 

 

The barn red front door looks perfect.

pebble fountain

 

Beside the front door there is this great fountain.  It is so peaceful and the etched rocks remind the person sitting on the porch why the couple chose this spot.

 

fall mums

 

I love the fall mums.

There was a hay ride, the covered porch was loaded with ice chests, places to sit and eat and things for the kiddos to do.

hay ride

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lola

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on hay ride

 

hay ride on property

The Social Planner has three grandkids already and another on the way. She also has a nephew with three kids and when all of them are over the place is hopping. It is great to see a place that is so full of laughter and love.

Out at the back of the property the guys hunt doves, do target practice and just hang out.

dove hunting

The Social Planner got lots of loot at her open house. I am so happy for both of them. They have a beautiful home and open hearts.

 

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The frame above and the chalkboard below are in their awesome laundry room.  The Social Planner found the two windows on the side of the road.  They are as found, except for a couple of coats of poly.   One day the house will be empty enough for me to take pictures of the room.  This weekend it was full of purses, phones charging, dogs, and toys.

 

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The Social Planner and her childhood friend working in the kitchen.  This kitchen fed a ton of people.

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Enjoy the photos from their beautiful home and friends who visited for the weekend.  I hope the photos reflect their style, the love their friends feel for them, and family.

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crafting, Decorating, DIY Projects, wreath

Valentine Craft Party

This past week I did something that I do not do often enough, I spent an evening with a fun group of ladies. They were all young enough to be my child, but they didn’t seem to mind me joining in. We had a craft night.

My neighbor, Shahana, who invited me over, happens to be a talented young lady I have known since she was a child. She is creative, artistic, and a good cook. I am more than a little jealous of her. Here is a picture of her in front of her mantle.

Shahana Valentine Mantle

Heart looped ribbon wreath

She had everything ready for craft night. We were making looped ribbon wreaths. Shahana even had our loops of ribbon cut and stitched down onto tissue paper. I really am not sure she sleeps.

The group started arriving and each of us asked Shahana the same thing… “Will this wreath work?” There were foam wreaths, heart shaped wreaths, wire wreaths, small wreaths, large wreaths and one grapevine wreath. Shahana told us all the same thing: ” Sure, it will work fine.”

She was right. They all worked. The trick is wrapping each wreath with left over red velvet ribbon she got 80% off after Christmas.

I loved the colors of ribbon Shahana picked for the wreaths, red, pink, turquoise, and gray. They were wide, narrow, striped, patterned, and textured. The varitey worked! Here is my set:

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We plugged in glue guns and got busy. Tear the loops off the tissue then glue it to the wreath. The trick was to try to glue them upright. It took me a few tries but I got the hang of it.

This is a fun project to do with a group. There is not much thinking involved when gluing so there is plenty of time to talk and laugh.

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We all had to promise to post our wreath hung in our house. Here is mine, but you don’t get to see where it is hung. I have several projects to show you before I show the finished Valentine mantle.

ribbon loop wreath

All the wreaths turned out great.

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I hope you have a wonderful week.

breadboard, gray, Style, wreath

My Friend’s Amazing Style

I have a friend named Pam who has the most amazing sense of style. She and her husband live in a condo in the city where we live. Over the years I have watched them turn the home into a home that should be in a magazine.

Here are a few of my favorite things at her home.  I am not showing my favorite thing because I am going to do a quick how to on her most ingenious project.
I had completely forgotten that their master bedroom was gray.  I did not give her warning that I was going to take pictures of her rooms but they are always spotless.

I love the beadboard behind the bed and that it is painted a contrasting color.

I love this display above her couch. Old shutters hung on the wall with a cool oval wreath. Pam made the wreath. She found the oval shaped grapevine wreath at Hobby Lobby then decorated it. She said it took five minutes.  I wish I had that talent.
I snapped this picture of her craft room before she knew what I was up to. I love that she has such a creative side, and that One small spot in her house is a TINY bit mussed. It makes me feel a little better about myself.

Look at the stockings she made for her sweet granddaughters Sophie and Audrie. What talent.
burlap, Fall decorating, Thrifty decorating, wreath

Making a Burlap Wreath- Easy DIY

This weekend was all about taking it slow.  I did not move to fast or do very much but I did get a few easy to do projects completed.  One of the easiest things I have done this fall is make a wreath out of an old coffee sack.  I have several of these that I got free when we were in Round Top.  Long story- but my dumpster diving does pay off.

I am posting twice this evening because I will be out of pocket the next few days. 

I totally copied the idea from one of the blogs I follow: Classy Clutter.

I am going to change out the elements of the wreath this fall so what you are going to see is the Plain Jane version.

Step one:
Untwist a metal hangar like you are roasting marshmallows.

Step two: cut burlap into about two inch strips.

Step three:
Sting the burlap onto the wire. Keep stinging it on until you can’t put any more on.  It took almost the entire coffee sack to get it as full as I wanted.

Step four:
Form the straight wire into a circle and re-twist the top. I left the hook part of the hanger in place when I straighted the wire.  It made a great wreath hanger.

Step five:
Decorate like you would any wreath.  I added a denim ribbon to mine and will be adding fall elements next time I am at Star Hill.