Before I take a much needed break

I need to take a short break.  I have too many projects that I absolutely must finish before Christmas.  I promise to show what I've made when I return to blogland.

Remember, I still can't leave comments on any blog with embedded comments.  It may well be a blogger thing, since I understand there are others who are suffering the same fate.  However, I also cannot see many of my features from both sidebars, or links I've created on my blog.  That could be a function of my browser, which I hope to change to Opera during this hiatus.  But now, lets have a bit of snooping while I take that much needed break (but not in this room).

Debbie (at Craftymoose Crafts) asked me to share the cardinals in my main floor bath.  I confess, they are not ALL cardinals.  The collection started out as birds of any type, then morphed into cardinals (and a few redbirds).  Although I was a bit leery to show my bath, it seems nothing in my life is off limits.   So please join me in my main floor bath.

We'll begin inside the door and work our way counterclockwise.  I never put these things away, whether Christmas or not.

These are some of the original birds I purchased.

On the top left of this vignette is a bird I special ordered from a craft show back in the late 80s.  It is made of eggshells, which gave me the idea to save eggshells and color them myself.  Of course, since I can't draw, mine will never take any apparent visual shape.

The cardinals came about because I lived in Webb City, MO. before I moved to Wichita.  The town AND high school mascot was the cardinal, and I assure you, they were far more plentiful there than they are here.  People who visited often gave them to me, especially since I had so many rocking horses, even back then.

The only "Christmas" addition to this room is the little red tree I bought on clearance a couple of years ago.  Note the cardinal tin with the cardinal magnet that sits on the side of the tin.  I can't seem to get that cardinal thermometer (on top of the tin) to stick to the mirror.

More cardinals grace my back splash and vanity.  Yes, this is how it ALWAYS looks in here.

I almost forgot.  I added the red candle for Christmas, too.  It makes great ambient lighting when I'm entertaining company in the evening and it has a lovely scent, too.  Can you see I'm wearing a blue top in these photos?

When I moved into this house, there was a tiny medicine cabinet and mirror in this room.  I moved it to the bath in the basement and bought the larger one specifically for the tri-fold mirror.

I'm not sure why I included this photo.

What I really was going for was the vignette I created on top of the medicine cabinet.  Note how I managed to NOT get a good photo of the wreath I made one year that fits over the shower.

My friend Scott gave me the wood, and I built this really simple shelf one afternoon.  I needed added storage for the many birds I had no room for.  After all, this bathroom was much smaller than the one I had in Webb City, and I was tired of bringing a few out at a time, then packing others away.

This may possibly be a better view of the shelf.  Yes, I'm that short!

WOW! move away from the lighting and all you see is darkness in the camera lens.

No better lighting here, either.

Maybe a bit of backlighting will help a bit.  You can see how most of the birds gracing the window are either stained glass, leaded glass, or sun catchers.

As we work our way past the window toward the tub and shower, the lighting once again improves.  If I ever get to play in WOYWW again, I'll show this rolling horse I had actually forgotten about.

One large wooden rocking horse graces all these birds and bird related items.

More birds, some of which are cardinals, some not.

Here's a closer look when I stood on a stool to take this shot.

You don't have to tell me the middle picture above the door leading to the craft room is crooked.  I've tried to straighten it in the past, but when I open or close the door to the craft room, it moves.

Here's another view of the rocking horse and birds it holds.  The chair can be used for dressing, if someone needs to sit to dress.

Between the chair and laundry basket is a metal tin with several cardinals on it.  The tin holds excess toilet paper, although it is nearly empty after my company left!!  The star topper was something I won during a OWOH blog hop.  It has a white bird among the flowers.  It's supposed to hang, but makes a better tin topper.

These towels sit above the laundry hamper. 

Here's a rather bad photo of the vignette above the towel bar.

And now we're back where we started.  Did you notice the bit of irony on the back of the toilet?  Yep, I thought this vintage cat shaped creamer would feel right at home here. 

Now I'm off to take a few days away from my computer while you enjoy poking around my bath.  Please flush and put the lid down when you leave.  And please close the door, too.  Bleubeard likes to visit, and I try to discourage that!

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