One up!

Happy Election Day!  Gosh, I have no idea what I will do when I don't get home and find my answering machine completely full of political calls!    No matter who your candidate is... GO VOTE!!!

This weekend was a very busy one!  For one thing, it was Yngwie's 21st Birthday!

We had a family gathering at a local restaurant to celebrate!  Are those Hee Haw dvd's you are asking?  Why yes they are!  He is an avid fan of the old TV show and since he missed it the first time around I found them at Amazon and he is in heaven! 

Sunday found us at yet another Birthday celebration.. this time for Yngwie and my good friend Dana.



This time we traveled about an hour to an old home that they have turned into a restaurant and they serve you family style.  For one price they put all you can eat bowls and platters of fried chicken, country ham, roast beef, biscuits, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, pintos, green beans and fried apples on the table and every time they are emptied, they fill them up again!

Absolutely delicious!

It is such a pretty setting in the Catawba Valley..

Then Sunday evening the first of the trees went up.  This one is the white one that I bought a couple of weeks ago at a yard sale for $8.00!!  It is pre lit and hinged so there is so sticking those prickly branches in the slots!

Decorated with my pixies and vintage shiny brite ornaments!

That big headed pixie is my favorite!

I am really liking this tree...

So many variations of pixies....

Some on mistletoe balls...some with stripes, some just plain red...

One up...wonder how many more to go...last year I put up 6!!!

We'll just have to wait and see!

Blessings

Linda

The Great Pumpkins!

Good Tuesday morning!  Cold and Windy today in SW Virginia, makes it hard to leave my soft, warm bed at 5:00 a.m.  It seems we were fortunate that "Sandy" just whipped her tail around us and didn't leave the devastation that was predicted and for that we are very thankful!  Those in New Jersey and New York still need our prayers as it looks like they will take the full force of this gigantic storm.

Last Friday my little crew grabbed their carving knives and pumpkin carving utensils and we had a little pumpkin carving party! 

This one is mine!  I love the happy face on the cat.

This mean one belongs to my husband.  It doesn't show up too well while lit though.

This one is my son, Yngwies.  This is the logo for G. Loomis fishing gear!  LOL!

This one was carved by "The Girl"  Friday was the first time we got to meet "The Girl".  She seemed very nice, was pretty and could not take her eyes off Yngwie.  The feeling seemed to be mutual.

Glowing in our dining room before we took them outside.

Such Fun!

Happy Tuesday!

Linda



Good Monday Morning!  The wind and the rain are whipping outside as Hurricane Sandy blows by us.  Praying we don't lose power and that everyone stays safe!  They are predicting that the worse will hit us between noon and nightfall.   Such is the price for living on a coastal state.

This weekend was beautiful however and I hit a FANTASTIC estate sale.  It actually started Friday and I was able to go there during my lunch hour because it was only 3 miles from work!  It was what I like to call a "digging" sale.  Few things were actually priced or put on display, you just dug through the house and took it to one of the workers and they priced it on the spot.

Check it out!  So much goodness it gives me goosebumps.

These were the most expensive items I bought.  They were $6.00.  I'm not sure exactly what their purpose is.  They could be nut or mint cups as their back is hollow.  Those little shovels come out.  Maybe to stir something or serve the nuts?  They are also smoking cigarettes! 

3 flour sack pieces of fabric!  I think these are going to adorn some dishtowels that I am embroidering.

These patterns aren't in the best of shape, but all the pieces are there and I loved the dresses!

Look at those pockets...

I love the neckline on this one...

I love this jacket...

I will probably send this one to my niece.  Very youthful looking..

Absolutely love the playsuit!

two envelopes of embroidery patterns that I will send to a blogging friend...

An old Hallmark honeycomb Turkey.  I was very excited to find this!  And perfect timing!

I really had to dig to get these and did my heart ever swoon when I saw them hooked to an old wreath made from a paper plate holder!

Some chalkware figures to add to my Nativity set

This was my favorite find of all.  Old treat cups with Christmas designs!  There are 10 of them!  Can't wait to use there for crafts.

A 3 piece Lefton china Christmas serving set!  The Christmas tree has a couple of nicks on the underside but the other two pieces are perfect!

These 3 little guys were in the box with the treat cups and I have pitched 2 of them into the trash though it made me very guilty...I found a use for one of them and will share it later!

Hope everyone has a great Monday...those with me on the east coast..

HANG ON TO YOUR HAT!!!

Good Morning

Good Thursday Morning!  This week has been so busy it has flown by. 

Last Saturday's estate sale was a bummer.  Most of the vintage Christmas items were either already sold or way over priced.  No way am I going to pay $5.00 per ball!  The only things I bought was a crystal vinegar cruet because my old cruet that I've had since I got married over 32 years ago has mysteriously vanished!  Can't find it anywhere.  I suspect "someone" broke it and quietly threw the pieces away and didn't tell me.    I also bought these adorable mugs.

They depict Hansel and Gretel.  See the ugly witch looking out the window??

Hansel makes the handle, isn't that adorable?  I can't wait to use them for hot chocolate which will probably be next week as our temperatures are supposed to drop like a rock.  There were 2 of them and I only paid $1.00 for both! 

DH found a squirrel cage fan (whatever that is) and a box of electrical wiring that he paid $6.00 for and he was as happy as a pig in mud!  I will have to take a photo of what he did with the fan.  He mounted it on wheels and pulls it behind the mower to blow the leaves off the driveway!  Redneck engineering!

We also stopped at a couple of yard sales and I bought this beautiful vintage tablecloth for .25

I love that I can use it in the fall with gold dishes and in the spring with bright yellow dishes!  It was in perfect condition.

The other thing I bought at a yard sale was a white Christmas tree!  I have been wanting one for a couple of years but couldn't justify the price of one when I already have so many trees.  But this one is 6' tall and pre-lit and it was only $8.00!  I am so excited!  It will be the first one I put up for the holiday season.

I also followed Elizabeth to an adorable blog called Crafty Pod and made the chenille flower ornaments.  They are very addictive!  I made one for my Halloween tree and the other two will go on the Christmas tree.  I am going to make several of these because I thing they will be cute as a tie-on for Christmas packages. 

I like Elizabeth's better with the little flowers in the center, but I didn't have any so I made do with what I had.  I realized my backing was too big on the Halloween one and cut it down on the others.  Cute and fast project.  Give them a try!

Blessings,

Linda



Sigh....

Look at that face....

Could you have left him all alone at the antique store?  I didn't think so.  Neither could I!

(When I showed him to my husband he said he looked just like one of our best friends and he's right!  How fun, I have a friend who looks like an elf!)

No sewing or crafting going on.  I have been busy doing some pre-holiday cleaning, especially the craft room.  Right after Halloween, I will begin the Christmas decorating and I want everything spic-n-span before I start!

I am heading to an estate sale tomorrow that advertised vintage Christmas!  Hopefully no one bought it all today.  I could get away from work long enough to go!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Linda



Shadow Boxes and Yard Sales

Good Tuesday Morning!  45 degrees this morning, I wanted to stay snuggled in my warm bed this morning.  But alas, my feet hit the floor at 5:30 ready to start the day!

Last night I went with one of my girlfriends to her church's ladies night and we made shadow boxes!  So much fun!  we each took a shadow box of some kind and the items that we wanted to go in it.  I decided to make mine with a Christmas theme.  I had bought two little pixies at a yard sale this weekend and wanted to do something fun with them and this was just the opportunity!

Although this is blurry, I love how mine turned out!  I used scrapbook paper to line the back and then used a vintage Christmas card over that.

I hung the satin balls with red ribbon and added my pixies, a mini Christmas tree and some tinsel and it was done!

I glued this adorable spun head angel on the front.

From a couple of the the mini Whitman's sampler boxes I made a couple more using Elizabeth at Creative Breathings technique.

These are so much fun to make!

Oh and let me tell you about the best finds in the world at that yard sale where I got the pixies!

I also got this Hummel figurine

I have no idea what the significance of a white carrot and a beer are!  LOL!!  Seems like an odd combination!  But this is a music box and plays a lovely German melody. 

I loved this tea pitcher!  The little farmer and his wife and the gold toned horse and buggies that go all the way around the pitcher.

But this was my best find!

Early American....

A 1970 Singer Touch and Sew!  It works like a charm!  I was wanting a sewing machine to have downstairs and this fit the bill!  And you aren't even going to believe what I paid for it!!!

Yep!!!!! $15.00!!!!!  Came with all it's different discs to make different stitches.  The original manual, needles, all the feet, everything it originally came with.  The lady having the sale said she got it in high school when she took home economics and then never really used it.  I was more than happy to bring it home!

And just because I think he's cute... here's a picture of Yngwie with his latest catch!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Linda



Vivian's Witch Hat Swap Reveal

T.G.I.F.!!  This has been such a long work week!

Yesterday when I got home from work there was a gigantic box sitting at my door, decorated with Halloween graphics!  I knew what it was!  My Witch Hat Swap from Chris at Perfectly Printed!

The box was ginormus and when I opened it up I was dancing around like a kid at Christmas!  This box was stuffed plumb full of Halloween goodies!

Check this out!  A PINK witches hat depicting Samantha from Bewitched.  I loved that show.  I always wished I could wiggle my nose like her.

A spooky hat!  Yep!  Two hats! 

An adorable pillow

This does not do this justice.  This is folded paper to from this shape.  So creative.

How cute is this witch doll.  She will join my newest doll Sadie on my buffet.

A tin pumpkin, cute as can be and an Halloween decorated wooden block!

Let's have a party!  These will come in handy for my book club sweets next week!  Sprinkles, napkins, ribbon and check out the kisses in the vintage jar!

Such a cute tag!

Halloween bark-delicious! And some pumpkin jewels.

Cupcake liners, Spongebob bubbles (that I have already had fun with blowing them at my cat!) and cute little pencils!  Can you believe all of this?????

Thank You Chris you were a phenomenal swap partner!

If the witch hat fits, wear it!

Have a great weekend!

Linda

Who's That Lady?

The picture in the top left of my Blog is my wonderful, kind, sweet Grandmother.  This was harvest time on my grandparents farm in White Gate, Virginia.  A teeny, tiny rural area in Giles County.   I have always loved this picture of Grandma!  She was the sweetest lady ever.  I never heard her say an unkind thing about anyone. 

She's been gone for 3 years now and I miss her every day.....

I want to thank so many of you for emailing me and inquiring about my migraines.  It is so nice to hear from so many who care!

My migraines are doing SO much better!  I think my Dr. has finally found  the perfect "cocktail" of medications and vitamins that have decreased the migraines from every day or every other day to just once per week.  Even then, it is very mild and I can take just one of my rescue medications and it's gone within the hour!  Last week all I had to take was an Advil!

Just in case anyone is having trouble with them, this is what I take.  Inderol, which is to decrease my heart rate.  Apparently my heart was working overtime.  The rest is just vitamins and supplements.  Magnesium, Vitamin B-12 complex, and an herb called Butter Bur.  I also drink at least 60 ozs of water per day.  Of course everyone is different but the Dr. says magnesium and butterbur are key elements in the control of migraines.  That's it!  I can not tell you how much better I feel physically and mentally.  The difference is like day and night. 

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Blessings

Linda