Gift giving ideas from blogland~

source

Its that time of year when many of us are in the hunt for the perfect gift

for that special someone~I was invited by Tina of  The Enchanted Home 

to join in with a group of bloggers to suggest gift ideas to our readers. 

 If you are looking for some new gift ideas join me 

at the beautiful Enchanted Home today~!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit with a visit from the twins

 These two little girls are my youngest sister Susan's daughters, Brooksley and Audris.

They live in Kansas City but hopped a plane to come out and see their two aunties~

me and my other sister Ellen. Ellen and I were quite excited to have them visit for a week

and we made some plans for their visit.  Well as often happens things don't go as planned

and the night before they left Audris got sick with a bug, 

and then that bug hit like a domino effect

and one by one Susan and Brooksley and their dad Tim 

and my brother in law Mike all got hit.

I had planned to have a sleep over with them Sunday night, 

but NO WAY was I going into the germ tank!

So we finally decided upon a nice outdoor adventure with 

lots of fresh air at the local Christmas tree farm, Mahoneys Garden Center.

 Audris and Brooks came strapped in their car seats

 in the rental mini van~I was soooo happy to see them!

 Since they are two, we put them right into the carriages before venturing into the shop.

I brought Christmas Princess Crowns for them~

"Who wants to be a Princess???" I asked

all excitedly~and thankfully they both agreed!

 (I have waited years to have some little girls in my life,

after having 3 sons and 1 stepson).

 Brooksely and Susan entered Mahoneys to start checking out the Christmas displays

 Apparently we were late to the party as many trees had been sold, 

but I thought it still looked amazing!

Going into a Christmas shop like this really gets you in the mood~

 One vignette after another was to be found~

Brooks got her hands on a little snow ball ornament~

so of course Audris got one too.

Then their brave mother decided they could disembark the carriages

and go into the stuffed animal pen filled with arctic white animals and reindeer.

 For the life of me I could not get either of them to look at the camera~

we tried many times, but its the luck of the draw when you try snapping a two year old.

 And then it was off to see some more Christmas things...

we were going to check out Santa's animals!

 This required a raisin snack break of course...

mixed with a few goldfish for good measure.

Again, no faces looking at auntie Amy while she tries to snap~

 This is much easier to photograph~

 My two sisters led the way and I trailed behind...

the nursery was filled with greens and that wonderful balsam scent.

 An enchanting fairy garden all decked out for Christmas in a red bow~

 Outside the nursery and on the way to see the animals I tried again for a group pose...

 Finally they found the animals! 

They loved looking through the wire cage at the goats

 and the llamas....no reindeer however.

 We tried for a photo op by the huge tree by the barn.....it towered above us all. 

 Audris was practicing her smile while Brooksley was getting ants in her pants.

 And here goes Brooksley...she couldn't stand still~!

 Its lift off~!

 Shes taking Audris with her!!

 Look at them bounce!

 Hey ma~No feet on the ground~!

 And then they were off and running~!!

Yes, scenery is so much easier to take a pretty picture. 

Now it was time to go out to lunch~no photos were even attempted...

but when we came outside we sat on the bench

 while auntie Ellen visited the ladies room.

And as Susan went to snap our photo Audris just leaned over

 and gave me a soft little kiss. 

It was the sweetest thing ever and I was in heaven~!!

A wonderful moment with my god-daughter Audris.

 After our lunch Brooksley noticed the gigantic snowman in the lot next doors 

at another garden center and asked to see him~

so off we headed to visit the big white guy. 

You can see one of the girls racing into the shop ahead

 of us in her pink pants...hurry up~I had to catch her!

We bought a few things like some tiny lights and a pretty lilac poinsettia

 which I thought would look perfect in my shop.

See? Its perfect!

After the second Christmas tree farm the girls went back home

and took a long nap....because our day of fun was not over yet!

 I met Susan and the twins in the parking lot at 5 pm sharp~

as I approached them, Audris yelled to me, "Amy, is that you??" 

 I was wearing this hat and had on my eyeglasses!!

 It was just so cute to hear her little voice...

so I pulled off my hat and glasses  

confirming  that yes it was their favorite auntie!! 

 We enjoyed a night time trip to the local zoo which included 

a photo op with reindeer Holly, as well as Santa 

and his castle and a few other zoo animals. 

The entire zoo is lit up with thousands of lights and it 

is festive and childlike and wonderful for this time of year.

 Brooksley was scared but Audris bravely approached Santa as I held her hand.

Susan told me I should stay in the pic~and I am so happy I did! 

Brooksley eventual got her photo too~so proud of her!

I haven't had a photo with Santa in 50 years I think.

He never did ask me what I wanted, 

but the girls both wanted a Choo choo train.

What?? How about a doll? Or a princess castle?

That was the end to our wonderful Christmassy day~

I will always treasure our memories. 

 Today I am back in the shop getting ready for a friends and family party this week~

 Busy shipping out the custom painted moras too~

And sprucing up the shop to add a little holiday cheer!

Justin's new blog and the Fifty Shades of Grey class

Sunday is the day I usually hold workshops at Maison Decor and 

today was the Fifty Shades of Grey workshop.

It was all about learning to extend the color range by mixing your own

Chalk Paint™ colors together.  Each student was given an artist

pad to record their combinations and the focus was on the many ways

one can make beautiful grey~tweaking Paris Grey and French Linen 

from Annie's colors in the can. 

Tami and Phyllis are extending Graphite with Old White and Pure White.

They both write blogs too and I will have links at the end of the post~

they both came with cameras in hand and I imagine you might hear their side

of the class if you check in on their blogs.

I had two tables of women busily learning the secrets of color mixing~

the other table was camera shy, so you won't be seeing them here.

I have been loving Paris Grey mixed with a bit of Louis Blue

so we incorporated that in the class~its a new favorite of mine

when I mix 3 parts Paris to 1 part Louis.

 Ladies traveled from Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

as well as a native from Ireland and a gal who lives in Poland. 

They all gathered in my little shop to take part in the Fifty Shades class!

 Look to see what classes your stockists offer~

you might just find a color mixing class near you!

 I also introduced them to Artisan Enhancement Pearl Plaster as part of the Grey experience.

These boxes were done in Paris Grey, then washed with Graphite and ragged off, followed by a 

fine script stamp in Graphite with brushed Pearl Plaster and a touch of silver gilding wax.

At the end of the day many cans of Grey and White colors were sold,

as well as the Pearl Plaster.....

And Annie's new WORKBOOK went flying out the door as well!

Its my favorite new toy in the shop I must admit~

and I was tickled pink to see that Annie herself mentioned

my WORKBOOK on her blog today~!!

Yes she did!!!

Speaking of blogs, my son Justin has his blog, 

BRUSH and PAIL

up and running now~its filled with his side of the paintbrush

over in the Boston store.  The before and after vanity shot

tells the tale of how he ended up with this custom paint job request~

so please stop over and give him a big hello!

He will be writing about his painting experiences and running the shop

and it should be a fresh perspective from the new family business!

**********

Then come back and check out 

Phyllis' lovely blog Henhurst Interiors.

And Tami's new blog is Simply Vintage by the Sea

Happy Painting everybody!