Happy New Year! (almost)

Just a quick check in! Christmas was just wonderful this year! I got the best gift in the entire world, maybe the best gift in the entire universe this year! My Very, Very Dear Husband and my incredibly wonderful son got me a GREENHOUSE!!!!

I haven't gotten it put up yet, but it looks like this one:

So I am wishing for spring to hurry so I can get growing! I have already received a seed catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds http://rareseeds.com. Check them out, they have all organic and heirloom seeds and the selection is incredible. Best of all their prices are fantastic and they don't burn you on shipping.

I also start haunting Lowes and Wal*Mart around this time of year to see if they have their seeds in. Every year I tell myself "buy in moderation, you do not need every single kind of flower seed they sell". But, every year I buy way too many anyway. I can't help it. The packages are so pretty and colorful. It's a sickness. I hope they will never find a cure!

Since I absolutely loathe winter, the thing that gets me through is dreaming of the wonderful weed-free garden that I will be planting in the spring. The one where every seed or plant I sow growns wonderfully and I get bushels of vegetables. Don't laugh, I said it was a dream! By August my garden generally looks like a jungle.

This is "teardown" week at my house. By January 1st I like to have all the Christmas decorations and trees taken down and put away. I feel like I get a "fresh" start if everything is cleaned and put away at the end of the year.

Wishing you a Very Happy 2010!

Blessings

Linda

Vintage Christmas Monday

Good Monday morning everyone! Only 4 more days 'til Christmas!!!!

I am so excited to show you what I found a couple of weeks ago at a local antique store. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love elves and pixies, especially the Christmas ones. So I was practically quivering when I found these, praying that they would be affordable.

How cute is this??!!! It is a candle holder with elves on the sides. This was only $2.00! The two elves on top are just visiting, but they came in a baggie with a reindeer and a couple of vintage light bulbs for $1.00!

These are my favorite! One is a little deeper green, so he may not actually belong to the set, but he matches pretty good. In the background is a little plastic, vintage Christmas card holder. Of course this is an angel not an elf, but I fell in love with her sweet face and for only $2.00 I couldn't resist! When I was little we had a pixie just like this one. Exactly! I have no idea what happened to ours, but I was thrilled to get this one! These are a little newer than the others, but I liked them anyway and decided they needed to live with me too.

And then this weekend, my son insisted that I open one of my gifts, because I needed it right now. He didn't have to twist my arm, I was more than ready to start ripping the paper off and inside a toilet paper tube I found this adorable little fellow to add to my Christmas collection: He is only about two and a half inches tall and I just love him!

For more vintage Christmas decorations head over to http://thepottingshed-anythinggoeshere.blogspot.com

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Blessings

Linda

It's Me!

I have had a couple of people inquire about the header of my blog. Well, that would be yours truly on Christmas day, December 1966. They photo has a date of January of 1967, but that is when the film was developed. (back when film took forever to get developed).

That photo just screams 1960's doesn't it?

My pink kitchen set (that a few years later I found some purple paint in my dad's shop and repainted it with latex wall paint! It looked hideous), my new Barbie and some clothes for her (I still have that Barbie!), The purple snake lasted until I was a teenager then started falling apart. I would give anything to have those Barbie and Midge dishes again! I'm quite sure I took them outside and made "mud" pies on them.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!

Linda

Vintage Christmas Monday

Good Monday morning!

For todays Vintage Christmas post, I would like to show you the sweetest little Angel that I bought at a yard sale this past weekend. Doesn't she have the most peaceful and sweet face. She even came in her original box dated 1967!

I also have this adorable little planter that I got at an estate sale earlier this year and I decorated it w ith some Santa heads that were also thrifted! And while we are talking about vintage, how about a vintage recipe from my mothers 1959 Better Homes and Gardens book. Last night my family made homemade popcorn balls. They are so delicious!

Popcorn Balls:

5 quarts of popcorn (remove the "old maids"

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 tea salt

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tea. vinegar

1 tea. vanilla

Keep popcorn warm by setting it in a warm oven. In a saucepan combine sugar, water, salt, corn syrup and vinegar. Boil until it reaches 250 degrees on your candy thermometer or soft ball stage. Add vanilla and remove from heat. Slowly pour mixture over your popped corn making sure that every piece is coated.

Once mixture has cooled down enough to touch, butter your hands and start forming popcorn into balls. If they are a little soft, don't worry, they will set up.

We stuck little candy canes in ours for "handles".

They are delicious!

You can see more cool vintage Chrismas decor over at http://thepottingshed-anythinggoeshere.blogspot.com