Hoot Hoot ~ Crate & Barrel Inspired Owl Ornament

When it comes to ornaments for my Christmas tree I like keeping it simple. My theme colors for my trees are white, silver and a tint of red.

But, when I was visiting the new Crate & barrel store in our area one day I encountered these...


I don't know what it is, but there was something about them that spoke to me. It could be the colorful buttons, hand stitches, or the buttoned eyes... I just adore them. I was standing there for a while and kept touching them for no reason (yes my mother taught me while growing up not to touch anything in the store unless I am buying them, but I couldn't help it). Online, they are sold as a set of three for $23.95, but in the store they were sold separately, and I believe they were about $8.50 each.

In the end I just couldn't bring myself to pay so much money for an ornament and left the store.

Then a couple days ago, I remembered that I was supposed to bring an ornament for a church function for an ornament exchange. The owl popped in my head... I had to give it a try to make an owl ornament!

Please say hi to my owl...



It was so fun to come up with the combination of fabric and wool. I gave her away, but I might have to make more for my family soon. :)

Link Party No.76 and Giveaway Winner!

The link party is back! Wait! Before we can begin with this week's link party, I need to announce the winner for the TRH Thanksgiving giveaway.


Those prizes lovingly picked and made by me goes to...


{Kaitlyn} Lady of the House

Congratulations!! Please contact me with your shipping info, so I can send them to you before the post office get to busy for all the Christmas packages. :)

So, what have you been working on? Do you have anything new up in your sleeve?
This is the perfect place to share your awesome creations, link up and have fun!

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<center><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtc9CFJR6Te5CpNgHYGsz2oQcSPEa7ev57prQmm-wO7bU5-IXOUTAJV08BvA-pbdpS2QCr864re5ljtzEGNU20emgmsiG0eSXBf9nArpxdnE1SRy7EGrrnSSMYTt3mS2C3S9d6A8bRk7E/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a></center>

Guest Post: My Insanity

Hi Tea Rose Home readers! My name is Kendra and I have a blog called My Insanity.









I'm known for getting a little crazy about holidays, parties, and projects for my home. Today I want to show you a glimpse of the craziness that goes on here around Christmas.









Each year we pull out this advent calendar. I love it because I made it and because I designed the inserts to help remind our family about the most important part of Christmas.









I'm also known for sending crazy, or I'd rather say, memorable Christmas Cards. You can see a whole parade of them here, but I thought I would share last year's design. Can you tell how I did it? Inspired by this card by Design Mom, I took advantage of the casting opportunity and dressed my children as the main characters in the the story of The Nativity. To make my (somewhat grumpy) angel fly and get this effect, I had the children laying down on a blanket. Yes, there was a little photoshopping involved since they weren't entirely the most cooperative subjects. I'm working on another crazy scheme for this years' photo. Wish me luck!









We're also crazy enough around here to sometimes paint our Christmas cookies. You really don't have to do them as crazy as I do mine. The kids LOVE the chance to paint on cookies--even if their angels are green and their Santas yellow.









Not all of the insanity is complicated. It was pretty simple to make these French Toast Christmas trees for our Christmas breakfast. We just made French Toast as usual, but cut the bread in half to form triangles. Stack them on top of each other to look like a tree. The star is cut from cheese, the stump from breakfast sausage. We topped it with syrup, berries, powdered sugar (snow) and some green sugar sprinkles for color.




I'm all about making each occasion memorable and infusing creativity into life whenever possible. Thanks Sachiko for having me at your place today! I hope you'll come and join the asylum over at My Insanity! And don't forget to check out the cute (and simple to make) Christmas projects Sachiko is sharing on my blog!

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Thank you Kendra for your fun ideas to make the Christmas season more fun and memorable! It was so fun to have you here today. :)

Zig Zag Baby Quilts & Blanket

If you haven't entered the giveaway, please do so before you start reading this post.


I have been enjoying my family (and food!) the last several days. It is so nice not to worry about pick up time, homework, after school activities and all. I am going to indulge myself in this moment a little longer until Monday.

Meanwhile I have a few pictures of quilts that I made for my sister-in-law. She is having a baby girl soon (after three boys!!) I was able to give her the blanket this Thanksgiving.

Here they are;

I used Rolie Polie from the Lost & Found line by Riley Blake Designs, and I combined ivory fabric from my stash.


On the back, I appliquéd the baby's initials for a more customized effect...


The quilt above is a combination of Red, black and ivory while the blanket below is gray, pink and Ivory. I only used one Rolie Polie plus my ivory fabric, and I got two blankets! For the back, I used soft terry cloth.


The baby is going to be born to a very loving family; awesome parents and THREE fun brothers. My Rachel has two older brothers to protect her, but at the same time they toughen her up. So, she love's all the girly stuff, but at the same time, she loves being a tomboy. Whenever she is with the guys (my boys, hubby and his brother), she is laughing at the burping sounds and worse, makes me worried a little, but I guess that will give her an "edge" to her personality.

I thought the zigzag design is perfect for a baby girl with three brothers to keep her on her toes. :)

Tea Rose Home Thanksgiving Giveaway

This is the 3rd Thanksgiving giveaway at Tea Rose Home. Because of the many things that have happened in September and October time flew by so quickly and I didn't plan the giveaway very well. Usually I would start the giveaway a week early and announce the winner on Thanksgiving day, but this year, I am going to start the giveaway the day before Thanksgiving and run it till Tuesday the 29th and announce the winner on Wednesday the 30th.

All I ask is for you to enter is just leave a comment about what you are grateful for, that is all. :) It is always nice to think of good things in our lives.
Let me start...

This year started out ok for me, then, in March, a horrible earthquake happened in Japan.

As most of you know my family is in the area that was largely affected. For the first 48 hours, I didn't know if my sister's family was alive. Thankfully they are OK, but I will never forget that 48 hours... how I felt and what went through my mind. When I heard my sister's voice on the other end of the phone, I felt like I was finally able to breathe.

It is so easy for me to forget how blessed I am, but I am really grateful for my family this Thanksgiving. I learned that getting up in the morning, going through the daily routine (some of which is not fun stuff), eating meals together, and living under the same roof with the people I love may seem ordinary but it is actually an extraordinary thing. It is such a precious blessing. I hope I will always remember that and cherish the time with my family.

I am also thankful for the goodness in people. After the earthquake, so many people came forward and acted to help people. I know things like that happens more often than I realize, but since it was so close to my heart, I was more aware. Thank you everyone who showed your kindness towards the people who were in need. Thank you for being such an inspiration and example to me.

Lastly, I am thankful that I was able to keep up this small place called "Tea Rose Home". Because of you, yes, you my dear friends I was able to keep going. Also, through blogging I have met so many wonderful people. So, I am doing this again... The Tea Rose Home Thanksgiving giveaway!! Do you wanna know what I am giving away this year?

A Mug: Do you remember when I talked about my motto that I was going to try to live by this year in, last January? I found this mug at TJ Maxx the other day and I had to have it! I have the same mug in a different color, and I want you to have the aqua blue one.


A small (they are about 10"x 12") fabric bundle from my stash;


Handmade pincushion;


As I was making this, I thought "why not reversible?"


Do you like the yummy colors?


Speaking of yummy colors, I also want you to have chocolate covered pretzel sticks for when you are taking a break with your new mug.


That's it. :) I know most of you are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving or traveling to see your loved ones, but I would love to read your "thankful notes". Here is one of my favorite quotes about Thanksgiving;

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie"

Well said, don't you think?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

ONA Giveaway Winner!

Oh I am SO SORRY!! I was supposed to post the winner for the ONA giveaway yesterday and totally spaced it!

I feel really bad and remorseful, but I have the feeling that this won't be the last time that I forget something...

Well, are you all ready to find out if you are the one lucky winner for this fabulous camera insert?


The winner is....

Ginger (Lost & Found Lane)

Congratulations! Please contact me with your shipping info, so they can send the product soon. I have been using it for a while, and I know you will love it!
To those of you, who didn't win, don't be discouraged... I am doing another giveaway soon! :)

Silhouette Black Friday Deal!

Silhouette is having a huge black Friday special sale!
Head over to see the amazing offer and how you can get extra savings by using my promo code at their storehere don't miss out!



The deal also includes this awesome machine, Cameo, too. :)