Christie's Mobile Home Diary

I Can't Believe It's Almost Officially Fall...

I can't believe it's already almost the end of September, and that this weekend will officially be the start of the fall season. Summer is still hanging on in my area, I knew it would be for a while yet, so a couple of months ago I put a couple of Morning Glory seeds in this small pot of marigolds that is beside my front door. It looks like I hoped that it would for September. I hope it continues to grow well into October, I can see a little pumpkin sitting there on the chair, can't you? I will be decorating some for fall, whenever the weather is feeling right, and things begin to change more outside, and cool down too, (we're still in the upper 80's right now). I will be sure to get some snapshots of my fall decorating to share, whenever I decorate.

Until next time...

Stay Creative and have a beautiful day!

Summer is Still Here....

Summer is still here in our area, it's been so hot and will be for a while, so I'm not yet decorating for fall anytime soon around here....But here's a few little changes I made on the side table that's in the living room....

I've added our little vintage Hummel (look alike) figurines here for the rest of the summer....the white ducks/geese put a smile on my face as I passed them inside the curio cabinet one day, and so I decided to display them on the side table to notice them more often....things really do get lost in the curio cabinet, it seems....

After taking the photos, I noticed that the eyelet table runner was very dusty....and one thing led to another....it's been washed now along with some other table linens.

I guess it would be a good time to get some major dusting done this month of August, lol! It's on my to do list for sure, since it's too hot to be outside!

RAINY DAY SURPRISES....

This week it's been very dry, but we've had a rainy summer with rain nearly everyday. The rain is always welcomed and brought with it a little surprise that I found one day outside....and so I had to take some photos....

These mushrooms (shelf fungus) just appeared on the old tree stump one day, seemingly out of nowhere. It looks like little stepping stones to the birdhouse rustic cottage. Doesn't it remind you of the things that fairytales are made of? It does me! I noticed that the mushrooms only stayed for a couple of weeks....

The day after taking the photos... the stepping stone mushrooms were gone.... with only small traces of what once was there....I was glad I had snapped a few photos.

They had left almost as quickly as they had appeared....

A reminder I guess of the temporary nature of everything that my eyes can see. A reason all the more to remember to cherish every moment given, with a grateful heart, in this very moment. And so I will.

Until next time...

Stay creative and have a beautiful day!

A Few Summer Decorating Ideas and Changes

Though Summer is in full swing....I've not changed my home decor much since spring, but recently I did add in a few things that feel like summer to me.....

With a few blue hydrangeas being in bloom in my little garden area, I decided to bring some of my faux ones inside and add them to the side table in our living room....

I added the Fresh Flower Market sign, little wheel barrow and the ceramic English tea house that I already had on hand....the garden bunny tray has been here since spring, but since I love seeing bunnies year round, and brown ones visit our yard, I wanted to leave it out for summertime too....

In my antique card collection I found this beautiful old postcard from the early 1900's, it looked like summertime to me, so I set it out beside my vintage teacup and tea tin on the living room side table...

In the kitchen on my small garden shelf I added a few bee related items for summer...

The Avon Bee Skep jar is one I already had, the tea towel was a Goodwill find for $1.99 and the Bee Skep Honey Jar was a recent indoor flea market find for $1

The Ladybug Pitcher was a recent indoor flea market find, it's made in Italy and was only $4...

Not much has changed for Summertime in the sitting room....

Other than I've added the colorful cotton patchwork quilt to the back of the sofa...it's actually a fabric shower curtain that I found recently at Goodwill for $5.99, (it is in like new condition).

Emma and George are really loving it....

I am too...I've always loved the look of patchwork quilts....I think it's fun to look at all of the pretty designs on them... I'm glad I brought this home with me, because it fits right in with what I already had going on in here in the sitting room, and it adds a lot of color too....

I didn't change out what I've had on the fireplace mantle since spring, but for a little change I decided to use this beautiful Vintage Crewel Embroidered Picture instead of the tray, for summertime....it's a yard sale find that I found last spring, and I think it's perfect for what I've already got going on in here in the sitting room...I love that it fits right in with my summer garden theme in here....

Well, that's how things are looking right now...I hope you are enjoying the summer!

Until next time....

Stay creative and have a beautiful day!

Summer Crafting

When the summer weather gets as hot as it is in my area, I get out some crafts...

Here's what I've been crafting this summer...

Clay apples for my fall doll house....aren't these adorable!

I had a hard time finding apples for an affordable price for my doll house last fall, so I told myself I'd make some myself when I got the chance. So I have and here's how I made these....

I made these with polymer clay that was already colored. So I used the apple green, the red and the brown. I found this kit around Christmastime at Ollie's Good Stuff Cheap, Discount Store....

The kit is for making mini desserts, but I figured I could use the clay to make other things, like these apples for the doll house....

I rolled these out and shaped them so they would look like apples, I put a tiny hole in the bottom with a toothpick and the top, I rolled out a stem for some of the apples with the brown color, and put it on the tops of some of the apples, then placed them on a foil lined baking sheet and baked them according to the package directions....

I love how these turned out!

I also made some doll house curtains, back in the wintertime...I didn't get the chance to make a post about them, so I thought now would be the time to show them.

I used things I already had on hand below to make these curtains...hot glue, wooden skewers cut to the size of the windows, fabric, crochet lace, string to tie back the curtains, and foam double sided mounting tape to hang the curtains....

First, I measured the window and cut the wooden skewers to fit the size I needed for the curtains to hang above the window frame, then I cut the fabric to the size of the window, then I cut it in half, I used hot glue to glue the top of the curtain around the wooden skewer, then I hot glued the crochet lace around the top of the curtain (like a little valance), next I tied each panel of the curtain with string into a bow, and lastly, I hung them in the doll house by placing the mounting tape to the backside of the curtain and attaching the curtain above the window.

Here's the backside of the curtains...

These weren't too hard to make and I think they look cute...at least I'll have a less likely chance of getting a "peeping tom" now, ya know?!

Here's one more craft I finished over the winter season that I didn't show in a post....it's another hand embroidered necklace I made from a kit...I love how it turned out.

I'm looking forward to making some other crafts this summer season, did I tell you that we hit 100 degrees here in our area recently? If my flowers outside weren't looking so pretty, I'd be totally bummed out, lol. And, If I'm being honest, I so want to move right now too, lol! (I say this every summer).

Even though it's super hot here, Summertime is all about finding ways to have a little extra fun. I'm gonna be trying to do that, no matter what the weather is doing at the moment. For me, summertime is all about evenings in my secret garden checking on how things are coming along, it's wearing flip flops, cute sandals and lightweight pretty summer dresses (to stay cool), it's eating slices of watermelon and fresh peaches, it's sipping cold iced sweet tea with lemon on the back porch rocking chairs, at dusk, (and making crafts when it's too hot to do anything else). Summer is a beautiful season, no matter what the temperature gauge reads...I'm gonna embrace it with joy and and a grateful heart. I hope you are finding fun ways to stay cool this summer!

Until next time...

Stay Creative and have a beautiful day!

Summer Back Porch Plants and June Secret Garden

It's amazing to me how much a garden can change and grow in just one months time...

Here's how things are looking outside this June 2024...

This daylily had been underneath a tree for a long time, I had several of them under the tree and they seemed okay for a while, but as the tree grew bigger, the daylily was shaded more, and so the daylily hadn't been thriving for a number of years, and I even lost several others that I had in different colors, but this one came back this year, so I decided to move it this spring, to this pot and it's growing now, and I even got two blooms. I am so happy to see it like this, this year! I've always loved the quote, "Bloom Where You're Planted" But in this case, with my daylily, maybe it's best to move it, so that it can bloom and thrive better, lol! I love looking for the little life lessons from God, in the garden, His creation. It always amazes me how God gives us something interesting to think about, from being in nature in the garden and usually a way to apply the lesson to daily life.

Here's how the Basil plants are looking, I've been able to use some leaves for spaghetti and pizza so far....I'm so thankful for these. I grew them from seeds. It's been a little bit of a challenge with these since early spring, and to be honest, there were times that I didn't know if they would make it or not... but they have and it's been fun caring for them and they were worth the effort. I've had to move them in and out of the sun regularly, but I think they are doing good so far. Sometimes I feel like I'm babysitting plants in our very hot summer heat. It seems they need to be checked on often, lol!

And here's how the Secret Garden area is coming along this June...

The canna lily bulbs (rhizomes) were a surprise flower color...I bought a mix so these were a different color than the ones I planted in the pot on the back porch...