M.I.A., Disappeared, Vanished, etc.....

Just vanished right off the face of the Earth!!!  Not quite, but soooo busy with life! 

I have been sewing like crazy!!  I have no idea what has spurred this sewing binge but I am having fun!

I have made several items yet to be photographed, a 1950's play suit, a 1950's sun dress and jacket (still needs to be hemmed) a child's apron and chef's hat, etc.

I have also been teaching my 19 year old niece to sew and she is doing a great job.  We had "apron" day at my house a few weeks ago and me, my sister and my niece all made aprons.  This was her first project and she did a great job!

Then just before Easter I made two girl and boy Easter bunnies.  Well just the heads because they are Easter bunny pillows.  This was from a 1950's pattern I had in my stash.

Aren't they the cutest!

I have no idea why my text is suddenly centered.

Then I have also been doing this:

My greenhouse was a tremendous success this year!  I got it for Christmas and Dear Husband put it up in March.  I have over 100 tomatoes, hot peppers, green peppers, eggplant, brussel sprouts, herb and flowers.  Way more than it was built to hold, but they are all doing great.  I have already planted 46 tomatoes and probably 25 peppers in the garden.  The rest I am giving away to friends and family.  I am so glad this worked out.  I have been wanting to try it for years.  It feels so good to plant the things you have grown yourself from seed.

And this weekend we were doing this!  This is Yngwie's Senior Prom.  He and his date looked so handsome!  I can not believe my baby is a senior!   Only 30 more days of school left, then off to college this fall.  The years just flew by!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Linda

More vintage fun!

Good Grief! I didn't mean to be gone so long but it has been so pretty and with the time change it's light outside until late and I love being outside! So here is the rest of my "great buys from the estate sale last week:


These little fellows are my kinda guys! Reading elves! The bushy squirel was in with some birds and I loved the tiny Snoopy playing cards from Hallmark, 1970's!

I got these little molds and well as some that are shaped like Christmas trees and stars! These are being turned into Easter baskets.


This little girl planter is just adorable!

These have got to be one of my favorite finds! Little wine glasses with stems like the Hummel like people! There were 6 of these, but unfortuanately only five made it home intact. They are very fragile!

Yet another chicken on a nest but for $2.00 how could I turn it down!

A cute retro apron!

I have no idea why I bought a box of birds, but they called (tweeted) my name and so for .50 I took them on home with me!

I found this in the attic and used it to carry my things down to the cashier, she told me I could have it. Such a cute trashcan!

This glassware absolutely thrills me everytime I look at it. The most expensive item of them all was the glass basket. It was $5.00!

Umm, yeah! I said I wasn't buying anymore cookbooks. So I lied. Sue me!

This is perhaps my favorite find! This coffee set is Lefton, it is in perfect condition, though it was quite filthy when I brought it home. The cost for the entire set???? $8.00!

Look at that beautiful shamrock soup tureen that I snagged for $3.00! It will be holding creamed peas and potatoes tonight for supper and we will have cupcakes with the shamrock picks in them. The blue pitcher is handmade pottery. The Santa mugs are different than any that I have ever seen before. There is also a Christmas platter, and vintage birthday candles.

The last thing I bought I will share a little later! I'm still contemplating what I am going to do with them.

Whew!!! I really don't need to go to any more estates sales like this! I am running out of room. So I will probably sell some of this.
Have a great St. Patricks Day!

Linda

We interrupt this vintage show and tell to bring you..

DIRT! Yesterday was so pretty that we decided to till the vegetable garden! Finally dry enough. Let me start by saying that my husband does no like to garden. In no way, shape or form so for him to volunteer to till is huge! My son decided to get in on the action too.


I got relegated to walking behind the tiller and picking up rocks. This sent me straight back into time when I was a little girl and always wanted to help in my grandparents garden. Help being the relative word! So Granddaddy would always tell me to follow behind him and pick up any rocks I found and move them to the border of the garden. I guess I should mention he was actually my step grandfather, but he was the only grandaddy I ever knew and treated me like I was his very own. I was able to find lots of arrowheads this way! And from the time I was a small child until he died, he would always call me when he was going to dig potatoes because I loved digging potatoes. He would put the pitchfork in the soft soil and those beautiful potatoes came right up for me to pick up and put in the bucket. It was like finding gold to me. I would be thrilled everytime the pitchfork would go in.

My grandparents grew the best garden ever even if it was on the side of a hill. Grandma canned everything imaginable from that garden. Corn, cabbage, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, (even though grandaddy didn't like them), lettuce, radishes, onions, and on and on... they grew it all.

Grandaddy was a guard at a prison that bordered their farm, but when he got home he was a farmer. I loved going to their farm so much that I would call and ask them to drive the 2 1/2 hours to our house and pick me up! I would stay there for weeks in the summer. I loved it!
But now I do something that my grandparents never did. I grow my own seedlings. In my laundry room. Which is very, very small.
end

I replaced my laundry hamper with a growing shelf, my dryer top is covered with plants and the top of my freezer as well. I am hoping that the seedlings will be large enough this weekend to head out to the greenhouse. The next few days will certainly be warm enough.
So tomorrow I will get back to showing off all my vintage finds, hope everyone has a great day!
Linda

Vintage Finds!

So every Thursday one of the first things I do in the morning is check the paper for area estate sales. There was only one listed that ran from Friday-Sunday and even though it didn't read very good I decided to head over during my lunch on Friday. Boy am I glad I did! The house was full of really nice glassware, clothing, etc.. I bought several things on Friday but I kept thinking about several things that I didn't buy and so by Sunday I had convinced myself to go back. Everything was 1/2 off! I bought so much stuff that I'm kind of ashamed to show it!

So I'm going to show you what I bought over the next few days. First there is the Christmas :A All of these figurines are either Napco, Lefton or Royal Sealy. I especially love the little girl holding the lantern.

Don't they look funny sitting on my Easter table runner!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Fun Finds!

Saturday morning was a blustery and cold day so me, my husband and son set out to a town about 40 minutes away for some antiquing! Before we got started we had a most delicious breakfast at Cracker Barrell. I LOVE to eat there, the food is good and I can spend hours wandering around the store.

I got a couple of really cute things at the antique stores.

I had no idea that trolls have houses!! I saw this sitting up on a top shelf and once I had it down and opened I knew it was coming home with me!

Look at that little troll horse! How cute is he! I also bought a baby in a egg with wheels, and a mechanical little red headed doll that you wind up and she walks! So happy with my finds!

So spring is only 18 days away and they are calling for snow today! I am not a happy camper about that! I am so ready for warm weather!

Have a great day!

Linda

It's Bathing Suit Season!

Well, not really! It's 26 degrees here today with snow flurries, and wind gusts up to 6o miles per hour putting the wind chill at 16. WINTER, I AM SO OVER YOU!!!!

Now that little tamtrum is over let me show you Barbies new "vintage" bathing suit.

This was made from a 1964 McCalls Pattern. I love this suit! It is red polka dot lined with a red, white and blue print that I should have taken a photo of. It was suprising easy to put together considering how small it is.

I bought my self a bathing suit yesterday as well; however I can assure you that you will not see a picture of me with it on!! If you are looking for a nice, modest, well made swim suit head to your closest Sams Club. They are so cute and they have a really good selection right now! And for the record, I hate bathing suit shopping! I am fish belly white and my legs needed shaving. That is probably way more information than you needed.

This is up next for my sewing project. I have never made a Project Runway pattern before but love this tunic. I cut it out last night and it has a gazillion pieces! I have never seen a garment put together like this one.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

THINK SPRING!!!!!

The Woeful tale of Edna the Elephant

Poor Edna! One of these days I am going to learn not to name things while they are being made because then they become personal and I feel responsible for what happens to them! Like Poor Edna.

I bought this really cute pattern about a month ago because I thought the little animals were so cute, the construction was easy and I could make some to sell and become rich and famous.

This may have happened if I had chosen the correct fabric. I bought a couple boxes of fabric this weekend at an estate sale and this blue and white stripe was begging to be Edna the Elephant, so I used it. BIG MISTAKE!!! This stuff raveled like you would not believe! I sewed poor Edna 3 or 4 times and she still kept unraveling. My first inclination was just throw the thing away and start over. But the problem was, I had already named her and had already put her eyes on. I could not throw away poor Edna. So, I quickly whipped up an apron for her to cover the spot on her belly that kept coming apart, added some suspenders to hide the raveling at the shoulders and stuck a flower of the ear that kept coming apart.

So now Poor Edna will live in my sewing room, while I try again with a more co-operative fabric. And next time I won't name the elephant or put eyes on until it is finished!!

Have a great day!

Linda

Vintage Barbie Clothes

Good Morning! We are supposed to get get more snow today in SW VA! Did someone forget to tell Mother Nature that Spring will be here in only 33 days? Doesn't she need to be practicing some warmer days right now??

With snow on the ground and temps hovering around 20, I have been getting alot of sewing done.

Last spring I bought this vintage Barbie pattern at an estate sale and I dug it out last weekend and decided that I would make every outfit in the pattern. Let me just say I had so much fun doing this!

This is the first one I made. A lovely Sunday go to meeting dress on green and red paisley print topped by a red jacket. The skirt is accented with a red ribbon and belt and bow at the neckline.This outfit is perfect for school or the office with a lime green and turquoise wool pleated skirt with matching scarf and a turquoise blouse.

If you need to run out at lunch to run some errands, you could just slip on this lime green seersucker coat with matching scarf.Tennis anyone? This ensemble includes blue and pink bermuda shorts with a matching hair bow and a button down the front pink and white blouse.When you get home just slip into your pink slacks and just to feminize your look some top them with a white blouse with accents of pink lace and a daisy decoration.You may want to take advantage of the cold weather by going skating! You will look sharp in the 3 piece skating outfit. The blouse of a mod pink/orange/white design with matching panties looks lovely with the pink shirt lined with pink and white polka dots.

Headed out to the Valentine Ball? You will look stunning in this silver and black ball gown. (although she doesn't look to happy about going!)

And look what my son gave me for Valentines Day!!! A vintage Barbie case! Just perfect for storing these vintage clothes in.

Have a wonderful day!

Linda

Big Ears!!

Last month I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my 29th birthday and received some wonderful gifts from my friends and family. I seem to have started yet another collection of these big eared mice people! I already had two, a Santa mouse and a red and white cheerleader and dear son and husband got me two more for my birthday!

This one is a orange and blue cheerleader.

And I'm thinking that this may be Mrs. Santa. I love her little glasses! I also got this really cool "Big Boy" doll bank. He was the mascot of the Big Boy restaurants that we used to have when I was growing up. I love a Big Boy burger! And technically, no he does not have big ears.

But this guy does have big ears!Check out this elf/pixie cup or vase or whatever it is! Everyone except me thinks he hideous! I love him. On the bottom it says Aunt Rose, 1948. I think Aunt Rose and I have very good taste. The dog beside him has pretty big ears too. He is part of a salt and pepper set that used to come in bags of Ken-L-Ration dog food.

I have been doing alot of crafting and sewing and haven't gotten around to photographing it all but I want to show you a doll that I dressed and I totally stole my idea from Magpie Ethel, so I give her all the credit for this. (although hers in MUCH better than mine!) and she will not be sold or given away. She is for my personal enjoyment only!

I found the Kewpie doll a couple of weeks ago at the thrift store and with a little paper, fabric and trim, she has become my valentine baby! Don't kewpies have the sweetest faces ever??

We are getting ready for round 3 of snow this week! We had 18" a couple of weeks before Christmas, another 12" last Friday and Saturday, and they are calling for even more this Friday! I am sooooo ready for spring!

Have a great day!

Linda