Fun, Games and Practical Jokes

It all started with some white plastic shutters.

When we bought our house 20 years ago the former owner had a strange proclivity for plastic stuff.

All over the yard there were white plastic urns, flower pots, trellises, swans and even some strange plastic shutters propped against the fence. 

They were loathsome to me and one of the first tasks on moving day was to de-plastic the yard. 

My brother, Rob, took great offense to this as it was August and one of the hottest days of the year. 

(He has no proof that it was the hottest day of the year and I have apologized for moving in August numerous times.) (over and over and over…)   

In retrospect, I probably should have been helping unload the moving van instead of removing the offending plastic from the yard but it was all water under the bridge or so I thought.
 A week later we came back to the house for cake following my son's 9th birthday party.

Can I just interject something here?
This was a week after our move-a week. Look at that. 
I had already sewn curtains, hung plates, found the table cloth. 
My poor husband. I can get a little focused and driven sometimes. 
Note the blue and white accents. You can read about how I pulled it all out again here.

 When the company left, I looked out the window and all the white plastic was back in my yard. 

Rob had pulled it all out of my trash on the night of the move, saved it in his garage and then redecorated my yard with it. Why he did that if he was so hot from moving all my stuff that day? I will never know. 
The next time Rob went on vacation, we went over and hid the stuff in his yard. 

 I was on speaker phone with all his co-workers at one point.

They just thought it was a hoot but low and behold the "game" was on.  

Over the years there have been ugly shell creatures, trolls, gnomes, frogs, skunks and assorted statues hidden in each others homes and yards.

I usually have to search my house when family leaves to see if there is a new set of eyes staring at me. 

My nephew says I am the like a knick knack Darth Vader;  always sensing a disturbance in the force with my tchotchkes.

Such is the case with our last family gathering. 

My brother's family likes to find ugly souvenirs while on vacation. I prefer to find something hideous while out shopping at thrift stores or garage sales. With the advent of cell phones we can tag each other once we find the object.
Dave volunteers at his local thrift store once week. He can find some scary stuff so I think this one is from him. 

We have had tons of fun with this over the years and it has proved immensely entertaining once the other siblings and spouses entering into the fray. The most successful hides take months to find. Such was the case with a strange gnome that I found in the upstairs guest room cabinet.

It is a really good place to hide stuff. 

The items invariably end up in my side yard or back at the thrift store.
  

While perusing the family album I ran across this picture of Jonnie from his third birthday party.

  
I made the costume, clearly.  
It was recycled from a dinosaur costume I made for Rebekah when she was three. 
 This has nothing to do with the story except that he was such a cutie and that the shutters would have been on the fence directly behind him. 

How about you?

Do you play practical jokes on family?
I wonder when we will ever grow up?

Thanks for stopping in,

Katie   
Linking with,
Coastal Charm
 My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia   
Savvy Southern Style

Blue Willow/ Winter Decor

I am ready to throw off the shackles of this sad holiday and forget Christmas 2013.



The added pressure to get it all done was almost too much for me at times and I was stressed out. 

I am ready to pack up all decorations and say good-bye to it all but I won't.



I am hosting my family on Saturday so putting away the trees will have to wait but I was ready to change things up in the kitchen.



You have seen my red and brown transferware collections but I don't think you have seen my blue and white dishes.

I have a set of Blue Willow dishes from my grandmother. 

My mom in her antiquing quests added to her mother's collection by including some 

Blue Onion pieces. 

We choose a blue and white pattern for our wedding china and I continued collecting it throughout the years.





I tired of all the pattern and color about 13 years ago and packed it all away. 

After a separation of sorts, I was able to pull it out to use
on occasion.



It looks beautiful with the white cabinets.

As I was thinking about my post holiday decor, I thought the blue and white would feel cool and wintery. 



I pulled it all out a few years ago but that was before we painted the kitchen cabinets. 

I love the pop of cobalt with all the white. 
Pretty.

I love this little corner with the "pie safe."

I found the pillow and the little heart at the big Christmas store in town.

I don't know why I love switching things up but I love having a new look every once in a while.



One of the benefits of having neutral color scheme is the ability to change the accent color on a whim.
I love it.
Katie   
Linking with,
French Country Cottage 
Common Ground   
Funky Junk Interiors   
Between Naps on the Porch   
A Stroll Thru Life   
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia   
Savvy Southern Style   
A Joyful Cottage   
French Country Cottage 
  

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

May your stockings be full of socks, underwear and P.J.s to last the whole year through. 

Blessings to you,

Katie 

Christmas in the Den

The den is the old game room at the top of the stairs. It's where we put the kid's T.V. and video games when they were little. 

Bill has taken it over this room as his man cave. 
I found this buffalo check plaid throw years ago.

I love pulling this out for the winter. 
I found the Santa pillow at the thrift store.

I started putting up a tree in this room when the kids were little. It was the "kid" tree for all the ornaments they had received over the years and for the cute ones they made in school.

I didn't feel like messing with all that so instead I set up an old alpine tree from Hobby Lobby. The lights on this one went out a few years ago so I wrapped a few strings of colored lights on it. I tucked in a few black bears.

We were going to make a coffee table out of the old door. 
Bill went a different direction but the door never moved from where we were comparing the finish on it and the finish on the media center. 

I hung a wreath on it.

We've had the chair back from the upholsterer for about a year. I still love it. 

The woodland looking Santa was from Target a while ago. 

This little Santa still wears his wind suit material from the 90s. I think he can still pull it off. 
It's a hold over from when the kids were little. It used to play music but that quit years ago. 

The picture is of my mom and dad holding me as an infant. 
The scout mug came from Bill's dad.

I found the Dept.56 log cabin in 2010. It is still one of my favorite pieces to pull out.

This cabinet came from my Father in law's garage. He used to store paint on the shelves. We store DVDs.  

Even though it seemed a little doubtful at times, I did manage to get everything done. I still have three presents to wrap and that is it! 
I just want to thank my blogging friends for their prayers this past month. 
 It's no fun grieving at Christmas and hopefully, having been through it, I will be kinder to others as they go through tough times during the holidays.  

Merry Christmas!
Katie   
Linking with,
A Stroll Thru Life