Tweaking here and tweaking there...

...that is what has been going on in my home. Now that ALL the Christmas things have been packed for yet another year, let the tweaking begin :)

I have also decided since I will be doing some tweaking and adding my new additions (Christmas Gifts) to the house, I am also once again purging! I have been going through my things and deciding 'Do I really want this or do I have it just to say?!?!'

Since I am trying to achieve a more Colonial look some items that I have just don't fit the decor.
Since we started renovations back in September, I have been able to make my house more the style that I always wanted. Like adding wallpaper to my half bath and entrance area, painting the back of the stairs and tread, changing the color of my cupboards and the list goes on. I have also started a 'To Do List' and for some odd reason it keeps growing...LOL. I think we all have a 'To Do List' and always will as long as we own a house :) I guess that is what makes it fun!

I finished painting my tombstone cupboard that my FIL made me for Christmas and have it up and decorated :) I LOVE it! I notice in the picture now that I need to paint the screw that hubby used to install it. The cupboard is quite heavy and hubby had to make sure he had it screwed into studs because if not, we know it would not stay put...
Here's a better view of where it is and what's around it...I also added one of my tombstone candle holders that I had made for my Christmas Shows. Sadly I sold none :( So I decided to take one and display it.
In the opposite corner, you'll find two very special pictures to me. The first picture is my Great Grandmother Helene Michaud-Cassista. My father's paternal Grandmother. This picture was taken in the late 1890's in Quebec. She is so beautiful in it with her hair all tied up and wearing a beautiful pearl necklace and earrings. You can't see it in the picture but her eyes are so blue. The second picture was taken in 1912, it is of my Grandmother, dad's mother when she was nine months old and her mother Catherine Chamberland-Michaud. Look at the hat that Great-Gram was wearing! It's huge and topped off with flowers. This picture is so special to me because the baby, my Grandmother is still alive and as strong as you and me. She'll be celebrating her 99th birthday on April the 3rd and still looks awesome! She is always dresses very prim and proper and never leaves her room until she has all her makeup on and fully dressed. I call her my Foxy Grammie :)
I love listening to her stories when she speaks of her mother, her MIL and other family members. Her eyes light up when she speaks of her own Grandparents. That's special! As most of you know, besides decorating my house and making prim decorations, I am also a Genealogy Junkie...LOL. I try to record all the stories that Gram tells because sadly when she passes away so will all of our history. She is the only living child of her family but also of all her cousins, Aunts and Uncles.

My dream is to write a couple books, one of my Cassista Family Line and second I would love to write a story of Gram's life and what has changed over the years for her. Imagine, she lived to see the horse and buggy and experienced seeing the first car to the different models that exist today. She sees how we have become so dependent on computers and all the new technology. She has lived through the first and second World War. She married twice, had nine children and three miscarriages. Sadly she now has buried two of her children and the rest of her family from her Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Parents, Siblings and their spouses to all her cousins. I consider her History in herself...

She is a very special person to me...she was the mother that I never had. I treasure all the memories I have of her and my Grandfather. Because I had and have a special bond with my grandparents, I love seeing my girls having that same kind of bond with theirs :) It's those memories that can never be replaced...

I seemed to have gone side tracked...sorry ladies...onto some more tweaking...

The next on my list was the shelf hubby had made for me that is over my couch. I had a hard time and many items changed up till I finally found the look that I am liking right now...

I'll keep it like this but known me...it will probably change a few times again ;) Another view with the couch and other decor...
I realized when I started snapping the camera that I never really shared pictures with some decor added...

Two cross stitches that I made from patterns that Primitive Betty offers and one that I purchased...
One of the items on my 'To Do List' is to get this room all stenciled. I think the stencil will give it that last look that I am looking for.

Well my friends, I shall go for now and finish tweaking here and there and purging...so until next time, stay safe, warm and dream of Spring :)