Phases.........

I have gone through many phases over the course of my life. 

In high school, I went through a phase where I would only wear boy clothes.

I couldn't stand for the jeans to come up over my belly button so I wore boy jeans.

After high school, I took off to Oxford Ms to attend college at the University of Ms...all in the name of  "being different."

Although I ended up transferring to UT Knoxville, the experience at Ole Miss further enabled me to "be

different", for I saw things in that small town I didn't know existed.....like 18 year olds driving brand new

Mercedes.

After a year and a half, I decided it was time for something different so I transferred to the University of Tn,

Knoxville.  Here I went through a phase where I would only wear polyester pants, white v-neck t-shirts and a

baseball cap--I was obsessed with being a hippie (well minus the baseball cap).

You see, I believe in order to be different, you must get out of your little bubble....you must seek it, anything

to get yourself out of your comfort zone, even if that means doing it alone.

The semester before I graduated, I convinced my mom to let me take a semester off of college and travel

overseas....alone.....to Australlia that is.....something a little different for a 20 year old girl.  Ohhh me, did I

come back from this continent a little different......tongue ring is all I will say (oh and about 30 extra pounds).

I  have always wanted to be different...whether it be my shoes, my clothes, my hair, my choice of college, my

vehicle, the color of my front proch etc....

I love challenges and being different is a challenge.  It keeps me on my toes, always searching for unique ideas

and ways of doing things.   It keeps me from being bored.  My mind is constantly swirling.... it never stops. I

am always thinking of new things to try, new crafts to make, new clothes to design, new art to paint, new

furniture to build, new colors for my walls. So that's why I love what I am doing so well right now with the

Strawberry Patch.  One day I might sew a shirt.  The next day I may make a pillow.  The next I might paint a

piece a furniture.  Today I designed a new line of picture frames.

I found the neatest little guy who builds these frames for me and then I do painting and embellishing.

I will give you a little peak and tell me what you think.

I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas.  I will leave you with a shot of my stockings I made a few years 

ago.  Another phase. 

I bet I made and sold 40 of them in a little store in Hendersonville called One Man's 

Treasure..... by far my favorite store ever.  The former owner, Traci Collins, is one of my best friends today.  

As you can tell, my inspiration for these stockings was from 

Ballard Design. 

                                   Last but not least, a few pics from the holidays:

Chloe, my sister, my mom, stone and kailen

kissing my mom under the mistletoe

Kailen passed out on Christmas Eve

beautiful snow on Christmas Day

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  

May God richly bless you and 

and your family in 2011. 

Amazing.....

Anthropology never ceases to amaze me.  

I wish I had the opportunity to see these guys in action as they methodically put all their visuals together. 

photo compliments of here

That reminds me, I have tons of plaid fabric, vintage plaid that is.....Whoop Whoop! 

I need to make a few tablecloths with heavy double ruffles like this one. 


I will add this to the other million things I would like to get done for the spring sale. 

Time for some hot, spiced cider. 

Maybe that will ease the discomfort of overindulging at my neighbor's house tonight for dinner. 

photo compliments of Atlanta Homes Magazine

Last but not least, I would like to add these rusty, chippy style pendant lights to my Wish List. 

LOVE EM!

Too Far Behind

I hope you guys will not fire me but I have something to tell you.   

My blogging will be very minimal over the next few weeks while the Brady Bunch is off on Christmas break.

I promise to make it up to you when they return to school,

but for now, 

I am going to try and enjoy the holidays with  my little children and catch up on things that have gotten way out of hand (like the laundry, dusting, floors and everything else required of a mommy:).  

I have lots to share with you from my escapade with my hubbie but that will have to wait as well. (OHHHHH,  I can't wait for you to see my lampshades from Anthro)

I will be popping in and out so don't stay gone too long, you might miss out on something good. 

BTW, alway be sweet, you never know if the person next to you is an Angel sent by God.

I will leave you with a few things on my wish list.  If you see my honey anywhere, tell him to read my blog:

Throw from Anthro

boots from Anthro

Couch from Anthro

Pendant lights from Anthro

Rosie Thomas  CD

rug from Anthro

Ohh and I love this little store: Bloomsbury Loft.  I hope I can visit it one day soon!

Oh lovely Housework

do you ever have special time with your hubbie?  Well, Vic and I use to make a trip to Nashville once a month for the weekend to go junking  and enjoy time with each, something we don't get to do very much with three jealous rug rats.  Now that we have soccer or basketball just about every weekend, our "together time" has been slowly phased out....not good on a marriage.  So I thought it was time for us to have a little "together time" tonight and that is what we are going to do.  Just the mere thought of it makes me smile, because you see, he loves junking just as much as I do.  Don't tell anyone we might do some junking though, we are getting way on the guise of "Christmas shopping."  It isn't easy convincing the in-laws to keep all three young-ins....leave the boy out of it, it's a breeze, adding him equals a chaotic evening.  Even the strongest Christian is begging for a little whiskey after keeping him for a few hours. Just kidding, well, really I am serious. Why don't you make plans for you and your special other--just the two of you---and enjoy each others company before the hustle and bustle that the holidays will bring next week.  Have a good weekend, and if you can't get out with your hubbie, make yourself one of these to add to your Christmas decor while me and Mr. Handsome go do some "Christmas shopping." 

photo compliments of Twig

                  BTW, when you are done with your sheet music tree, I would love help with this.....

and this............

                                                                        

                                                                          and this.......

     And when you are done with this, we should be back home.  Oh lovely housework,    how I love thee!

A Cozy Room

So I spent the day decorating a tween's bedroom.  Her mom, who owns a local boutique in town, is very talented herself and really doesn't need my assistance.   However having a boutique to manage and three young kids to raise makes doing your own decorating a little low on the list of priorities, if you catch my drift.  I must admit, I LOVE doing kid rooms... this is where I feel most in my element.  Old windows....vintage mirrors and lamps.....painted picture frames.....whimsical art.....who wouldn't enjoy putting all these gems together.  Oh yeh, I love doing up the beds......folding the sheets back, fluffing the comforter, and layering on the pillows.  Here is what I got accomplished so far...this is a work in progress and will be embellished over time. 

before

after

after

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Here is the completed Vintage Paper Wreath that KK and I started here.  This wreath eat up an entire vintage book plus some.....Despite this, I really like it and it looks soo good hanging above my kitchen sink. 

I am trying to figure this out.  I tried to upload pictures for over three hours today and they would flip on their side, act demonic, and really compressed.  I finally figured out Picasso is not a good place to be uploading  from so now I am uploading to Picasso from my camera, uploading to Picnik to edit , saving  to Picasso  and then uploading the edited pics to Tiny Pics.  From there, I upload them to the blog.  I know there has to be a simpler way, but moi will never figure it out so if you have any suggestions, comments, or advise, please send them my way....I am in desperate need of all of the above.  Let's see if I can get a few more "pain in the rears" on here.

custom shirt

My ARTificiallish tree stuffed with pine cones I picked up, I mean my wonderful neighbor Janis picked up.  

I am out of here.....I am headed Christmas shopping tomorrow.....I have to have some gifts to stuff under the tree.  If you can't already tell, I am liking the word "stuff" these days.  Night Night.....Sweet Dreams.....

The Tree is Up

The Christmas tree is finally up.  I will admit, I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen this year....way to much going on in my little world.  I always say I am going to stop filling my plate so full, but it never fails, a new opportunity comes along and I can't pass it by.  I did win my own challenge that i mentioned here, everything in my house this year is very "artificiallish," even the tree.  The wreaths did not make it to the windows this year--no stuffing, no wreaths on windows....I wish I had the stash to buy the fresh ones.  I still have to hang the stockings above the mantel and put the garland around my front door.  Kailen and I started on one of those Vintage Paper Wreaths last night and I hope to get that finished today as well.

photo compliments of Etsy

My little shadow

 Now you see why nothing gets accomplished around here-- I get bored really easy and get too many things going at once.  Is it that multitasking thing coming out or do I have a touch of ADHD?  Do you do that?

  BTW, as soon as I reach 50 followers, I will be doing another handmade giveaway.....tell all your friends about The Strawberry Patch and what cool things we do on here.   I will leave you with a few more pictures of Christmas at The Donoho's 2010.

A wonderful lady GAVE me this multi-media art--thank you Mrs. Pat!

p.s. I wanted to share a lot more pics with you, but before I pull every hair out in my head, I am stopping.  Just so you know, I have been on here (literally) all day doing this.  I still have lots to learn and I am headed right now to try and figure out what I am doing wrong--vertical pics are loading horizontal and vice versa--sooo frustrated right now. Smiles!!

You are My Sunshine

 

This will be a very short and sweet post.  I am usually not an oohey goohey person, however, this morning I am feeling that way about my friends--you guys give me soooo much strength, confidence, and the much needed desire to keep moving forward with this journey.  You know who you are, and I wanted to just say "Thank You" for being my friend and being so supportive in the things I do. Whether it be becoming a follower on my blog, "liking" my facebook page, commenting on posts, inviting me to lunch, sharing a cool piece of junk you found,  helping me with my blog template or just coming to hang out with me.....I truly love you and I am glad we have been brought together.  Now, off to decorate my tree. 

Hugs, Christy Jo. 

Should I

I spent the day rummaging  through an old house in Macon County that was bought by a friend of mine as a "fixer upper."  This special friend (thanks Fellisha) called me and said she had a house full of junk and thought I might be interested in going through it........Well yeah!!!  So after my bible study and morning cup of coffee, my hubbie and I headed down an old country road.......and we kept going.....and going....and going til we finally came upon on old farmhouse with a couple of recliners on the front porch---my kinda house to go rummaging through......a hoarder house so to speak (note to self: me in a few years).  You can only imagine the gems we found--a truck load, and we "ain't" done yet.  It was sooo exciting, I had to call my friend Sara to share the good news with her.....though three hours away, she made it to my house in about an hour.....well, maybe she's not that far away.  Needless to say, she left the place with more jewels than moi.  Here is a little snippet of the front porch: 

  I want to leave you with a little eye candy since the front porch of that house may not be your idea of a gem.  If you haven't already, you should check out Lonny Magazine.  Their color choices are amazing and so inspiring to me.  I saw this picture on the top left, and for a second, thought it was my living room.  LOVE it!

I am starting to wonder if I should do my whole living room this color.  My significant other says no.......he is the boss, however, when it comes to decorating, I do know best.  LOL  

As you can image, the only thing about this picture that has not changed since it was taken a few months ago are those three pics on the right wall and the corner cabinet in the left portion of the picture.  The antique piece below the steps is for sale, the piece in front of the windows is for sale, and the off white table in front of the staircase is for sale--all have been moved out and replaced with more funky pieces.  Just let me know if you are interested in these pieces.  Have yourself a Merry Little Weekend.   

Love, christy jo

Slowly but Surely

So I have finally pulled a few pieces from the attic to spruce up the house for a little "Christmas Spirit."  I made sure that I got out Mr. Elf a few weeks ago because the kids were about to go bananas not having him in the house---he use to be pretty effective in controlling behavior, now he is getting a little lazy.  He must land high so that the boy (Stone) doesn't fall to temptation and drain all the magic out of him.  By the way, if you haven't invested in this little guy, it is definitely worth the $30 bucks.  We have soooo much fun with him and we have started our own little tradition that will last a lifetime.


Here are a few pics of the lucky pieces that have made it out so far.  BTW, I am doing a little challenge with myself.  In the past, I have always been that kinda girl that had to do 100% on everything whether it be decorating, school work, learning a knew technique--I want to go all the way back to its inception....just doin the basics isn't enough for me.  Well, as you can imagine, with three kids, 100% gets a little difficult.  So this year, instead of having several trees cut to provide for the greenery I usually put out in the house and around all my wreaths on the windows, I am trying to decorate with out "stuffing" all the wreaths.  To me, artificial wreaths are ugly so I fill them with fresh greenery.....that is an all day job in-and-of itself.  The days are ticking and I don't have time to do all that, so I am going to have a bare bones kinda decoratin this holiday season.  You think I can do it or will I fall prey to my internal expectations of myself?

These are the wreaths hanging on my front door--articial, but they look like they are fresh out of the woods.

 Here are more of those cute little ornaments I made.  I will most more pics in a few days when I drag more junk down from the attic.  In the meantime, "happy decorating."
Night Night, Christy