SNOWMANtel

There is an ever so slight chance of snow in Shreveport tomorrow…well, I’m not holding out for it to be anything but a tease. But it’s snowing INSIDE my house. Here’s my SNOWMANtel creation to go with my Snowman tree. Such fun to dream a mantel concept and then see it come to a reality…yes, I know, I’m sick dreaming of how to design a mantel. But that’s what I do. I envision a concept, something I want to create and many times it’s in my dreams. Then I have to get up the next day and pull it together before I forget it.

I started with a Christmas arrangement I made to sell and so happy no one bought it.  This little snowman tree topper ended up in a flower pot with snow branch arms and a lime green glitter bow.  I got the tree topper at Big Lots and I think the pot came from Ross. 

The “S-N-O-W” wood letters came from Hobby Lobby and happy they were 1/2 price. I robbed the mirror from my bedroom just for the holidays…the letters are stuck on with the ticky-tacky stuff. Add a few snowflakes, white garland that I ran some led lights through and then I added snow elements to the clear jars, a couple of lime green trees to pull out the color in Mr. Snowman’s bow tie…there you go…a SNOWMANtel of my dreams to go with my Snowman tree.

My hectic house/tree decorating for clients has kept me from finishing my own decor. This season we’ve had one thing after another from a mouse jumping out of a Christmas storage bag to my dear friend Teresa (who I decorate with) falling in the house of a client (who happens to be an orthopedic surgeon). She’s got an extremely BAD sprained ankle. Today all her elves are meeting at her house to get her ready for Christmas…poor thing hobbling all over the place. Lucky for us we’re at the end of our tree decorating season with only a few more appointments.

Merry Christmas to all…is it snowing where you are? Even so I’ll be dreaming of a white Christmas…or will it be another mantel idea, or Christmas tree idea?  Who knows…my creations come while my cluttered mind is asleep.

Fall Giveaway Festival Hop

Welcome to the Fall Giveaway Festival sponsored by RetailMeNot! This multi-blog event features 100+ giveaways each valued for at least $25 or more plus an iPad2 giveaway.

RetailMeNot has every online coupon and promo code you could ever hope to find—all in one place. With the help of a dedicated community, RetailMeNot thrives as a money-saving mecca free of full-priced foes. With more than 1,000,000 coupons from over 100,000 stores, RetailMeNot is your go-to site when you want to grab the goods to create a one-of-a-kind Halloween costume, lock down the biggest savings on Black Friday and Cyber Monday or surf the Web for financial finds.
 
RetailMeNot is giving away an iPad2 to one lucky person! Visit Sassy Mama in LA, Simply Stacie, Makobi Scribe and Matter of Cents to enter the giveaway. You can enter on each site and earn multiple entries in the giveaway or enter on just one - it's up to you! And good luck to all of you!

The giveaway ends on September 30, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected at random and have 48 hours to reply back before a new winner is selected. It just may be YOU!!

I encourage you to enter the other blogs’ giveaways in the Fall Giveaway Festival by visiting the links listed below:

Punkin' Pleaser

  MilandDil Designs is giving away a Punkin' Pleaser similar to the one shown above valued at $129....see instructions below on how to enter.

$100 Giveaway and…

…the winner is…drum roll…KRISTI LONGLEY of Abilene, Texas.

Congratulations to Kristi and thanks to all who entered.

Don’t worry…MilandDil will be doing more giveaways and you could be the lucky one next time.

Two Days and Counting

Just two more days and I’ll be drawing for our $100 giveaway. Response has been fantastic…it’s been exciting to meet so many new friends.

The shop has been busy this week creating new designs, sprinkling glitter everywhere, and I mean everywhere.  The glue guns are heated up and creative juices are flowing. If only we could stop long enough to take photos and get the new products listed…maybe later. Take a look at this little guy on his throne…I couldn’t resist to share the happiness he brings me when I look at this one. So you’re getting a sneak peak before it even gets listed.What are you doing today? I have to get to the grocery store or I’ll be in for a miserable day…you know the kind where you stand with the frig door open hoping something yummy will just jump out for you to eat.

My biggest challenge still remains…everything I make I want to keep, but I know I would end up on one of those hoarder shows surrounded by centerpieces, flower arrangements, and wreaths. So far I’ve only kept one arrangement I couldn’t bear to part with and it now proudly sits in my dining room.  Want to see??? Photo is not that great..it’s really prettier in person. The flash washed the colors out.

Meanwhile, product is everywhere and it looks like Hobby Lobby threw up on my dining room table. Someone contact A&E…hoarders here I come.

A Little Change from Ninny’s Notes to MilandDil Designs

Yes, I’m still a Ninny. And I still have a few notes here and there. But it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I’ve really missed my blogging friends.

So much change since my last visit on here. My sweet mother-in-law passed away in June. A precious woman who made such an impact on me. Taught me some real old-fashioned values and how to be an extraordinary wife, grandmother and true Southern lady. And her recipes and how to cook like she did…don’t even get me started ‘cause I could go on forever about her cooking. A treasured cornbread dressing recipe is still used during the holiday season. We will truly miss her.

But now we’re pressing on into hopefully some cooler temperatures. Cooler for us would be maybe in the 90’s as we have had over 30 days of triple digits.

I’m ready for fall, the smell of cinnamon, the crisp cool air, pumpkins and all that goes with the coming season.

So one way I’m coping with the jagged remains of a hot summer is making fall arrangements for our new business MilandDil Designs. I started the business with my DIL Olga who is in nursing school. It allows her to devote time to her studies, set her own work schedule and of course spend time with her little one Lilliana.  Here’s a few photos…Olga with Lilliana, a Russian-like photo of her and bath-time unruly curly hair (thanks to her Ninny).

Now you can see why we both need as much Lilliana time as possible.

Here are a couple of our arrangements…of course fall to get you in the mood.

MilandDil is currently having a giveaway….$100 credit for either a current product offered or applied toward a custom item.

To enter your name for the drawing on Monday, August 15th, you can:

Go to our MilandDil Designs Facebook page and hit the like button.

Become a follower of MilandDil Designs on this page (added bonus --- all my current friends are automatically entered but you might want to enter on FB too).

So the three ways are FB like, follower on MilandDil (formerly Ninny’s Notes) and leave a comment.  You got it???

Good luck everyone and please think cool.

Introducing MilandDil Designs

Check out my guest post on Teresa's blog about my new business with one of my daughters-in-law.