My Top Ten Projects of 2012

Wow, I cannot believe that we've come to the end of 2012!  This year has passed so quickly.  I decided to have a look back over my first six months of blogging with you.  I started this blog to share my projects, but you, my friends and readers, have made this experience so amazing.  

I want to thank you for following my blog, and let you know how much your friendship means to me.  I missed visiting with you so much during my Christmas Break.  

I can't wait to see what everyone will create in the new year, but I know it will be amazing!

                                    Here are my most viewed projects of the past year.  

                           

                        The Tulle Wreath with Peacock Feathers I made for my daughter's room. 

                       

                             My Emperor's Red ASCP & Gold Gilding Wax table makeover.

                                                      

                  
                          Sports Decor for my major sports addict son's room.

I used new and used baseballs to give it a rugged look.

                     My Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Sewing Machine Makeover.

                     

                          ASCP Frame Makeover and Antique Keys with a French Flair.

                       

                                                                 My chair makeover.

      Watering Can Makeover with rosettes and burlap leaves that I made for my deck.

                    

                        My Estate Sale Lantern Makeover that was in horrible condition!

Queen Anne Stool Makeover with Martha Stewart's Metallic Bronze Paint.

My Most Viewed Holiday Projects of the Year.  

I wish you a very Blessed and Happy 2013!  May 2013 be your best year ever!

XOXO

Kathy

Party Buttons       Linking to these awesome parties:  Marvelous Mondays  Masterpiece Monday  Debbiedoo's   Creatively Tuesday  From Dream to Reality  Inspiration Board  Cowgirl Up!  It's A Party!  Tuesday to do List  Tuesday's Treasures  Open Call Tuesday  All My Bloggy Friends  One Project at a Time  DIY Project Parade  Creative Spark          Wow Me Wednesday  Wow Us Wednesdays  A Little Bird Told Me  All Star Block Party  Transformed Tuesday               Wildly Original  Whatever You Want Wednesday  Fine Craft Guild  Open House Party  Live Laugh Linky                   Fireflies & Jellybeans  Crafty Soiree  A Creative Princess  Well Crafted Wednesdays  Thriving on Thursdays  Transformation Thursdays  Home & Garden Thursdays  Your Creative Timeout  Think Tank Thursday                               Link it up Thursday  Thursday's Temptations  Tutorials, Tips, & Tidbits  Show & Tell  No Rules Weekend                 Creative Inspirations   Fluster Muster  Chic & Crafty Party  Things I've Done Thursday  Freedom Fridays                           Happy Hour Projects  Shine on Firday  Frugal Friday  Feathered Nest Friday  Simply Creations  Simply Link Party            One Creative Weekend  I Love Fridays  Craftberry Bush  Home Sweet Home  Kitchen Fun & Crafty Friday  Bff Open House  Fantabulous Friday  Create & Inspire  Weekend Wrap Up  Get Schooled Saturday  Funky Junk  Strut Your Stuff     Welcome Home Wednesday  Saturday Show & Tell  Saturday Showcase  Think Pink Sunday  Sunday's Best                  What to do Weekends

Last Bouquet of Talent Party #16 of the Year

It is hard to believe another year has come and gone so quickly!  This will be our last party in 2012.  Let's make it the biggest and best, yet!!  If you are like me, you haven't had much time to get crafty the past week or two.  For those of you that did, I applaud you!!  

                                                                 

If you don't have any new projects, please feel free to link up your best projects of 2012.  We don't want to miss any of your great projects.  Of course, we would love to see your new projects, too!  

My company was finally able to head back to Missouri today, and I can now return to a regular routine.  First, the hubby and I are going on a date tonight, and then I shall be back at it.  I can't wait to catch up on all your blog posts.  

If you missed the Fabulous Friday Features, you can see those here.  As always, the projects were amazing.  The most viewed post last week was Penny's 2012 Tablescapes from Penny's Vintage Home.  They all are fabulous!  

Fabulous Friday Features #15

I hope everyone has recovered from the Christmas holidays.  I am still trying to get caught up.  I want to apologize if I haven't commented on your post.  I love to visit, and leave comments.  The holidays and family still here from out of town  have really slowed me down. So far I haven't marked one thing off my long to-do list during my Christmas Vacation!  My poor closets really need my attention!  :)  I still have next week.  

Here are the wonderful features from last week!  Wow, I thank you so much for linking up during such a busy time!!  This will be the last of the Christmas post until next year.  

Don't forget to pin your favorite Christmas posts for next year!  Please pin from the original blog post! 

I hope to see everyone at A Bouquet of Talent tomorrow.  If your like me, and haven't had time to finish any new projects, link up your favorites from this past year!!  


Please grab a button if you were featured!

                                                    

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Holiday & Winter Features:

      

The Blog Hop Winner Is

It's time to announce the blog hop winner of

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Blog Hop

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Thank you to everyone that participated in the "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" Blog Hop.  There were so many amazingly beautiful decor, some yummy recipes and fun Christmas ideas....WOW... you all are so creative and talented! 

We would like to thank each and everyone of you that took the time to visit and link up during the busiest time of the year.

Nov. 28th Life on Lakeshore Drive  hosted  ornaments & decor.

Dec. 5th Kathe With An E  hosted mantels & tablescapes.

Dec. 12th HouseHoneys hosted wreaths
Dec. 19th One More Time Events hosted  desserts & holiday food

The Grand Prize giveaway from Cookin Stuff  goes to the one who shared at all 4 parties!

We would like to thank Cookin Stuff for sponsoring this Blog Hop!

Welcome to the evolution of Bialetti Cookware.

Our new Aeternum "EVOLUTION" line of cookware will transform cookware forever and this latest innovation will elevate your cooking experience to another level. Our beautiful "Aeternum-Evolution" line of cookware incorporates all the great benefits of our bestselling Aeternum line and takes this fantastic cookware to another level by adding even more great features.

And the WINNER IS .....DRUM ROLL PLEASE... LIFE IN MY EMPTY NEST!!!!,

Please email your address to thenderonstb@yahoo.com

so we can send you your prize.

CONGRATULATIONS

and thank you for your participation!

Here are the awesome posts each week from Life In My Empty Nest!

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

The Christmas cooking is over, but New Year's Eve will be here soon.  I want to share a recipe that I make on New Year's Eve.  I actually make this one for both Christmas and New Year's Eve.   It is so easy to make, and so richly delicious!!

Here's the ingredients you will need.  Plus graham crackers to spread it on! 

A New Web Address and the Last Christmas Photos of the Year

Hi, everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families.  Our Christmas was wonderful, and I have eaten way too much over the past few days!  

I feel like I have been on a whirlwind for the past week.  My relatives from out of town still can't travel home due to the bad weather, so they are having an extended stay.  Since I am having withdrawals from my blog and all of my wonderful blog friends, I am taking a few minutes for me today.  

I changed over to a .com on Christmas Eve.  I decided that would be the best time to make the change.  I purchased the domain over 4 months ago, but just hadn't got around to the making the change.   Actually, I have been afraid to make the big change.  I still have so much to learn about all of the tech details.  I was so tired of typing in the blogspot on everything.  

I plan on taking down all my Christmas decor this afternoon, so I thought I would share a few quick photos. 

A Bouquet of Talent #15 Linky Party on Friday!

Hello, friends!  Are you frantically running around cleaning, shopping, and wrapping like me? Every year I say I am going to have all of my shopping done and gifts wrapped by now, but I didn't make it again this year.  Why break tradition, huh?  :)   Apparently, I work much better under pressure!  

I am going to start the party a day early, because I  have family coming from out of town tomorrow.  I know that most of you are too busy to party right now, but I wanted to put the party up for those of you who are way ahead of me or just want to take a break and party!  

                                                             
                                                               



In case you missed the Friday Fabulous Features #14 from the last party, you can see those awesome features here.  I have decided to do a separate post each week for the features, and showcase the most viewed post each week at the party!  

The most viewed post from Bouquet of Talent #14 was from Organized Clutter for her Christmas/Winter Vignettes.  

                                      

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas Blog Hop #4 - Holiday Desserts & Food

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas



Tammy from One More Time is hosting
Holiday Desserts and Food

The Christmas Kindness of a Total Stranger

The holiday seasons can evoke so many emotions this time of year.  There's the stress of getting all the decorating done, the perfect gifts purchased and wrapped, and all the food baked.  Not mention all of the holiday parties from work to just a small simple gathering of friends.  It's so easy to get caught up in what we have to accomplish that it's so easy  to forget the true meaning of Christmas.  I am so thankful that I have a very special reminder each year when I start unpacking the mounds of Christmas decorations.  Oh, the joy and sadness of unwrapping this little Christmas doll each year.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornament Tutorial & Fun Ways to Use Them

This was previously posted as a guest post for One Creative Mommy. 

Today I am sharing a fun cinnamon & applesauce recipe to make ornaments.  This is definitely not a new recipe, because I made some of these ornaments almost 20 years ago that I still use every year!  I have a few projects that I wanted to create using these ornaments.  This is a super easy and fun project to do with children, too!  The best part is they make your house smell divine.  There are so many recipes for these ornaments, but I followed the recipe from McCormick's.

A Time to Remember

As everyone else, my heart is so heavy with the loss of those precious lives and the pain their families are going through due to the horrific tragedy in Connecticut.   Our prayers go out to all of the families trying to cope with this tragic event.  I am truly at a loss for words.  

I will be joining other bloggers, and in honor of those precious lives, there will not be A Bouquet of Talent this week.  The party will return next week.  


Thank you so much for your faithfulness to share each week.   Have a very blessed week!  

                                 Kathy

Friday Fabulous Features #14

Because I love to feature all of the amazing projects that link up each week at A Bouquet of Talent, I have decided to do a separate feature post on Fridays. You can see all of the amazing projects from last week here. 

                                                              

I also want to remind you about 2 great giveaways.  It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas Blog Hop has a giveaway for one lucky person who joins all 4 parties.  You can read more about that giveaway here.  Next week Tammy from One More Time  will be hosting the final Christmas party featuring desserts and holiday food.  

                                          

One Creative Mommy is hosting the 12 Days of Christmas, and has an awesome giveaway!  You can see the details for that giveaway here.

                                 

If you were featured, here's a button created just for you!!

                                        

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Holiday Features:

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas Blog Hop - Trees & Wreaths

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Blog Hop -Trees & Wreaths

I’m thrilled to be teaming up with
Kathy from Life On
Lakeshore Drive, Kathe from Kathe with an E
and Tammy from One
More Time Events to bring
you…

It's
Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Each
week will feature a different
element of
Christmas and
each
party will have it's own hostess.

Guest Hosting Today

                              

Hi, awesome friends!   Just a quick note to let everyone know that  I am a guest host today over at One Creative Mommy, where Heidi is hosting the 12 Days of Christmas!  I am so honored to be sharing my post today with her lovely readers.  I would love for you to join me over at One Creative Mommy, and check out the wonderful Christmas Inspiration that has been featured. 

Here is a little sneak peek of what I am sharing!

Christmas Lollipop Ornament Tutorial

Hi, friends!  Today I am sharing a super quick and easy way to make Christmas lollipop ornaments or home decor.  Earlier in the fall, I shared my faux fall cupcakes.  You can see that post here and why I have so much of this foam.   I used the same foam to make these lollipops.  

A Bouquet of Talent #14 & Fabulous Features

It is hard to believe we are in December, and our highs today were in the 80's!  It makes it difficult to get into the Christmas mood.  Then I look at all of your awesome Christmas creations and decor, and it brings back that Christmas spirit.  Thank you so much for taking the time to link up, and share your amazing work each week.  I am so appreciative of  you!! 

                                                               

Christmas Features:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Christmas! Mantels & Tablescapes Blog Hop

I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Kathy from Life On Lakeshore Drive, Doreen of House Honeys and Tammy from One More Time Events to bring you…

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Each week will feature a different
element of Christmas 

and
each party will have it's own hostess.


Nov. 28th  Life on Lakeshore Drive will host ornaments & decor.{Link up your ornaments and decor here}

Dec. 5th    Kathe With An E will host mantels & tablescapes.

Dec. 12th  House Honeys will host trees & wreaths

Dec. 19th  One More Time Events will host desserts & holiday food

 Once you link up at one of the host blogs, your link is visible on all
four blogs. 

We can't wait to see your Christmas creations!

Please grab a button to add to your post, sidebar or party page

to help spread the Christmas cheer.

The Adventures of Mr. Ed and A Bouquet of Talent Linky Party #13 & Features

According to Mr. Ed it is the most wonderful time of the year!  There's Christmas trees to climb, presents to to open, and lots of ornaments on the tree to roll all over the house.  It's just way too much temptation for him.   I took these pictures last year with my phone.  Please excuse the horrible exposure.   I just happen to catch him at the very top on this one!!  He keeps us entertained.  I thought I would share what goes on at our house during this wonderful time of the year.  :)    

DIY Christmas Jewelry for Candles

I am still trying to get all of my Christmas decorating done.  It has been such a busy week, and I'm still not finished decorating.  I wanted to share an easy decorating tip.  I have way too many boxes full of my decorations!  A few years ago, I decided to find ways to transform my existing decor with holiday touches, instead of needing more boxes to hold it all.  One thing about being a teacher, I receive an abundance of Christmas jewelry and coffee mugs!!  I went through the jewelry drawer and pulled out some of my favorite pieces.