In Celebration, 10 Years of Blogging Giveaway!

Hi Friends!

Hope you had a great weekend.

Here in Texas we enjoyed spring like weather 

and

it was the perfect time to be out in the garden.

So, that was exactly what I did.

I prepared the garden for spring,

 cleaned out the beds 

and planned a bit of garden styling.

Our high was 87 degrees.

I hate to even share that knowing so many of you are shoveling snow!

I remember what that was like having grown up in Michigan.

However, spring is coming eventually!!

So let's get on with the giveaway as promised in my last post of

 In Celebration.

If you missed it, click on the link above to share in the memory!

But before I share the giveaway gifts,

I want to take a moment and thank you all for your kind comments and visits.

It has been a fun journey blogging and the time has flown by.

I've seen so many changes since the start of my blogging journey.

Way back when, there were no followings, bloglovin, google friends connect or linky followers.

Yes, we found each other the old fashion way,

 by visiting and leaving comments so we could return the visit.

Too many times now, bloggers sign up to follow on google but without leaving a comment,

you can't find them to visit back!

For some, this is fine and maybe this is what they want and not a blogger.

But for most of us trying to learn our audience, a comment helps greatly.

I still believe the best way to grow your blog,

is visits and comments.

Without them, bloggers can't get to know you

or think you care to visit their site!

Now to say thank you for all your visits, comments and friendship over 10 years,

is a few goodies I hope you will enjoy!

This sweet keepsake box from my shop,

 Rose Garden Market 

will arrive filled with a few treats.

Since we are still in the cozy winter days of February,

I'm sending the latest issue of

American Farmhouse Style.

I hope you will curl up to read it

and slip on these cozy slipper socks while enjoying some delicious

Ghiradelli Chocolates

For a girly touch, I'm including this

pretty gold pouch set from Waverly.

I also have some wonderful products for you to try from two lovely etsy shop owners.

Angela from, Little Hope's Blessings 

and

Judy from, Homemade SoapNSuch

Both these products are wonderful and beautifully created.

The lotion is luxurious with a fresh scent of vanilla and leaves the skin soft and moisturized.

The soap is a treat for the skin as well and

all vegan created with a fresh scent of peaches and almonds.

This soap leaves the skin clean, moisturized and non drying.

Next,when the weather does finally break and you can get outside in your garden,

I have a little sign I hand painted and created perfect for your door,

gate, add to a wreath or pass on to someone who does garden.

Lastly, for some fun,

I'm including a gift card for 25 dollars to Dollar Tree.

We all love to shop the goodies there for crafting,

gift making or home essentials.

So have some fun on your next trip to Dollar Tree.

To enter and play along,

 just leave a comment as many times as you want till March 1st,

follow along here or on Instagram.

Let me know where, so I can count your entry.

The winner will be announced March 1st, 2017.

Thank you for stopping by to celebrate.

Have a great week and see you soon!

In Celebration!

Hi Friends

Here we are into February, 2017.

January blew by in a furry.

So much was going on here at

Yes, I made a cute little cottage banner for my home.

You can do this too using picmonkey's royale subscription.

I know most of you already know this, but in case anyone is out there

just starting, this site along with Photoscape are big photo helps for sizing, decorating

and making banners and more for your blogs and shops.

So you ask~~

Where have I been???

Well, to start, after the holidays and the Christmas decor was all put away,

we began a huge project to replace all 40 of our home's windows.

To say it was huge is an understatement, but like everything

my guy and I set our minds to do, we pushed through to getter done!!!

Twentyfive year old windows that were, fogged, broken mechanics from the heat of Texas,

and more, just had to go.

We sourced and interviewed many companies to find the right one and once we did

we were off to the races to custom make the windows.

That part took 8 weeks and was done over the last of November and December last year

knowing we would begin in January 2017.

The install took about 4 days working non stop each day to the completion.

We had an incredible crew!

While windows like this looked pretty enough,

trust me, upclose and in person they were no longer doing the job of

keeping out heat, cold, noise and blocked a pretty view of the yard with the fogged panes.

Yes, the panes were a real pain!!!!

But the payoff in energy costs and more will make a big impact over time.

I still have photos to take of the finished work but I'll share a bit of that in another post.

Next, on the winter agenda was

cleaning out and purging every room including my design studio.

While the window mess was going on it seemed the perfect time to clean out.

What a way to get all the spring cleaning done!!

Now I have a jump on the season with this finished,

but if you know me,

you also know,

 I'll find something else that needs my attention soon enough!!

I also used the time to work on upcoming new designs for

my etsy shop.

With spring around the corner,

I had fun hand painting and designing goodies like these.

I also traveled with my hubby for his business and enjoyed another part of

the country along with a winter treat like this!!

This is something we seldom see here in Texas along with 

really cold temps.

But it was pretty to see for a bit.

Reminded me of my days growing up in snowy Michigan in the winter!!

Now that I'm back here in Texas, it's time to get busy.

There is lots of creating to do

 and many plans going forward.

I also want to share 2017 as my blog year for celebration.

Yes, I've been around here for TEN years  and I have loved every minute.

To tell you the truth,

 I wasn't sure I should continue this little space here in 

blogland, 

but after so long,

 I just can't walk away from this journey just yet!!

You all mean so much and your friendships have been a blessing.

We have celebrated each other in our triumphs

  and prayed for each other

in our challenges big and small.

I have had the opportunity to meet so many of you in person

and what a joy that has been.

We learned from each other,

rejoiced with each other

and

formed friendships to last a lifetime.

So to celebrate here at Southern DayDreams,

I will share posts throughout the upcoming months

from the last ten years.

Some  will really give you a chuckle especially those from the beginning years

and some may bring a tear to your eye.

Others will share some crafting ideas

while still others will be just informative.

It just feels right to review the past ten years and my little journey 

here along the way.

How far we've come and how far we have yet to travel.

I hope we can continue this together as we take on this new year

in a big way.

I will also have a giveaway for you to say Thank you for 

following me here and taking the time to visit.

The details for the giveaway will be announced in an upcoming post next week

so please stay tuned for that.

In the meantime,

I'll leave  you with a few pics from the past.

From sharing our collections~

To recipes

from gardening~

to book reviews!

We've shared a time of creating

and painting~

Treasure hunting~

and many features!

There's been stories~

along with Mother's and Father's Days

We've celebrated family

and anniversaries!

We talked fashion

vacations!

Sweetness

and shopping!

and shipping all over the country!

We've shared in gift guides for the holidays

and gifted each other with blog awards!

we've shared our pride to be an American~

and you joined me in designing and the sharing of tutorials!

You've visited me in my studio

and played along with many giveaways!

we've kept strong with our faith and love for each other~

and become blogland friends along the way!

we've shared our hearts~

and lots of fun!

Yes, it's been a great 10 years!

Thank you for staying for this long post.

I hope you had fun reviewing a few photos.

I'll be back with the giveaway and more to share next time.

Happy February!!