In Appreciation

In Appreciation of all the men and women
who have and who now
Serve Our Country and to their families. Thank You for Your
Dedication and Sacrifice.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.

Sharing The Love

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I hope you don't mind if I speak from the heart for a bit. Recently I have had the pleasure of hosting a few giveaways. I enjoy using my blog as a means to help others grow their business. But it's so hard for me to hit the "generate" button on random generator when it's time to pick a winner. I want all of my readers to win. Most of all I want you to know that you are all winners in my book! I am humbled that you take the time to check on my blog. I am thankful when you leave a comment and very understanding when you don't. Blogging takes time and following blogs takes even more. We live in a busy world with so many demands on our time. I hope that you find your time here at my blog worthwhile. My family and I experienced a rough year last year and blogging took a low priority. Thankfully things are getting better. I hope to be sharing some fun projects in the next few months. It feels so good to be able to turn back on the creative side of my brain again (the survival side was in high gear for a while there). Please know that I value your loyalty and time! I am thankful that you do not judge me if it takes me a while to return an email or if I can't come visit each one of you (oh how I wish I could). You are all very important to me. I may not know your name but I do know that you have left an impression on my heart which motivates me to be a better blogger, but more than that, a better person. I cannot express enough gratitude to you for that. It does not seem enough to just say thank you. . . but I do THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!! And I appreciate you letting me ramble on a bit before I announce another winner and giveaway.

Random generator picked #1 (how rare does that seem?) to be the winner of the M.Bellish'd giveaway. Candace at We Are Glad For Many Things, you will be contacted soon for information about delivering your prize. Now onto another giveaway. . .

Diana from Thirty-One Gifts is sponsoring this weeks giveaway. Thirty-One Gifts is a faith based company and the name comes from Proverbs 31 that speaks of a virtuous woman. The goal of the company is to celebrate, encourage, and reward women for all that they do for their friends, family, and coworkers. Thirty-One Gifts offers so many beautiful items! I picked just a few that are both pretty and practical.Diana is offering my readers the chance to win a $30 gift certificate along with FREE monogramming. In order to win go view their catalog and pick what you would choose if you won the $30 certificate. Come back here and leave a comment with your choice. If you "like" Diana on her Facebook page then you can leave another comment for another entry. On top of all of this, if you find something you love and don't want to wait to see if you win, Diana has set up an event called "Joy's Giveaway Event" where you can place an order online. If you place an order through this event you can come back to this post and add THREE extra entries. That's a total of FIVE possibilities to win (pretty good odds I would say).

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL!!!
***Giveaway ends Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at midnight***

Remember that Tuesday, February 15th is the last day for the awesome 20% discount on Scentsy orders.
And one more thing. . . if you want to spread a little love today, here are two good causes that you may want to get involved with.

http://welovejennyauction.blogspot.com/
http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/

Ever Grateful

At this time of Thanksgiving I want you to know that

I am ever grateful for YOU!!!
I am truly honored to be a part of your day.
Thank You!

Suggestions, Inspiration and Motivation

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and comments of empathy yesterday. You are all so sweet and wonderful! I appreciate you! You are the reason that I continue to blog. I am constantly humbled by the fact that you take the time to visit me. Thank you for your kindness! Hopefully we'll have the situation resolved soon. If you are interested in protecting your blogs, go to yesterday's comments and read the important info that "Parkwood Cottage" and "The Swords" shared.
Well, on to other things. This week I've been busying myself with things that aren't all that fun to post about---laundry, cleaning, weeding, sorting through my inventory/storage room and sending things to the thrift store. I think I even broke a personal record by not even spray painting a single item this week. Shocking, I know. I do have a few projects in the works though. But in the meantime, I didn't want to leave you for the weekend without something fun. So I pulled photos of my mantle and shelf decorations---just in case you're planning a mantle or shelf make-over and need a little inspiration &/or motivation.

Moss balls in milk glass vasesBotanicals, topiaries, and a cut-glass windowBirdhouse, books, flowers and finials
Mirrors, mercury glass, nests, candles and
apothecary jars filled with flowers and ferns Old ceiling tin, ferns, and botanical prints And since our weather is supposed to drop
down to the 70's, I thought I'd tease you
with a little Fall decor.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Joy @ Joys of Home

Thanksgiving Checklist

Turkey?Check!
Stuffing?Check!
(Don't Laugh! My family prefers this over homemade)
Plenty of Dishes for the Feast?Check!
Canned Cheese for the Celery?
(Considered a delicacy in our home)Check!
Homemade Pies Ready to Bake?Check!
Cute Festive Dessert Plates?Check!

I'm almost ready for the big day.
But there's one important thing left to do. . .
I want to wish you all
a wonderful Thanksgiving!
THANK YOU
for being a very important part of my life.

I'll see you again next week.

I'm Back, I'm Catching Up, And I'm Crazy?!?

Hoooray! We're up and running again.

And if you think I accomplished creatively, wonderful things yesterday... I'm sorry to disappoint you. I did manage to catch up on a little laundry though. Speaking of catching up, I want to thank those of you who have passed along awards to me. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness! For those of you who've tagged me and want me to list weird or random facts, I've decided instead...(oh, you know I'm a rule breaker!) ...to spend a post answering questions. Hopefully, you won't be bored! Feel free to ask about painting, decorating or past projects. And just to get you started, Darlene asked: Are the forks [on the fork rack] sturdy enough to hang things besides keys? The answer is: Yes. I've hung jackets on it. But I wouldn't hang my ten pound purse on it.

Now, I want you to see one of my latest
thrift store finds. As I stood in the thrift store,
I thought I heard it call to me:
"Joy, buy me please!
I'm only ten dollars.
You know you have a soft spot for wing back chairs.
Look at the detail on my legs.
I'm unusual. And you like the unusual.
I'd look great spray painted.
I'd be pretty easy to reupholster.
Please don't leave me here.
I want to go home with you!" Now I'm beginning to question,
WAS I CRAZY? OR WHAT?

A Thank You & A Look A-Head

Thank you all so much for participating in my first ever blog party. I think it was a great success---because of all my wonderfully creative and talented friends. You all amazed me. There have been a few late comers, so check on them too. It was so fun to see the many ways spray paint can transform things. I know that I've added a few more projects to my ever growing spray paint list. I'm beginning to think it might be a wise idea to buy stock in spray paint companies. That way I might be able to recoup some of the large amounts of money I spend on those marvelous little cans.

And speaking of spray paint. . .

I went to the blue big box home improvement store to buy more paint and look what I found.I couldn't pass this guy up. Look at that toothy grin.
You can't be afraid of an old thing like this.
It has good bones...bwahhhaahaahaa!!!

I'm not putting out my Halloween decorations yet,
but I thought I'd give you a little preview of things "a-head."

Thanks Susie for the "heads up" on the crows.

Now you can see why this guy
headed out the door with me.
He's just too much fun!