This & That Fall 2021

 It's definitely time for another This & That update.  Since the last one, a few things have happened.  Toward the end of September we closed on the house. 

I will miss decorating these stairs at Christmas.

We are no longer homeowners and have settled into our apartment.  The plan is to take the year to see what we want to do next....continue renting?  Buy another house here?  Move to a new area/state?  Who knows at this point, but we're open to any suggestions!

In the meantime, the mums that have been planted around our apartment complex are gorgeous!

We attended the Balloon Festival and even though it was 'scaled back' this year, it was still amazing!

Love the tuxedo!

That's a dragon behind the panda.  Here's a better look:

I also managed to visit a few yard sales.  The first one had some jewelry that was perfect for crafting.  Take a look:

A lovely 'paste' necklace - at least that's what we've always called them.

A pin to match and I got both pieces for a dollar.

I also grabbed this bag of pearls:

My favorite is this pair of earrings:

They really are the same size - taking the photo from an angle created this optical illusion.

They were in the bottom of the box and very tarnished (see the one on the right).  They looked very 'Art-Deco' to me and were only fifty cents.  No crafting for these earrings.  I took them home, polished them, and I am now wearing them!

 The last item I grabbed at this sale was a small lazy susan...because, who doesn't need a lazy susan??

At another sale I found this wood base:

I have a plan for it - stay tuned!

Last, but not least, I found a pizza peel:

There's no plan for this yet, but I'll think of something!

The last thing I'd like to share with you is very special to me. As mentioned previously, we sold our house, but there was this rose bush in the garden. 

It was a Mother's Day gift that I didn't want to leave behind.  

I read somewhere that you could root a new plant using canes from the original.  

Guess what I did?

After we moved but before we closed, we went back to clean the house.  I went to the garden and cut six canes from that rose bush.  The instructions said to keep a couple of leaves on each one, dip it in rooting hormone and put it in a mixture of potting soil and horticultural sand. (I just used potting soil.) Water it well and cover to maintain humidity.  

Well, five of the canes died and/or turned moldy and I was feeling pretty defeated; but I took the last survivor, dipped it again in rooting hormone and just watered it well.  Here's what happened:

After 2 weeks, a shoot sprouted, and in just a few days, grew to this size!  See that circled shoot?

Even better?  There's another one starting!

Keep your fingers crossed that I can keep this growing trend going!

If you have any tips on growing rose bushes like this, please let me know.  This is the first time I've attempted it and I really want it to be a success.

The holidays are almost here and I've been busy in my new craft room.  Be sure to stop back soon - I've got some cute ideas to share with all of you!

Thanks for stopping by.....I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!