Happy Valentines Jackpot!!!

Whoo Hoo, doing my Happy Friday Dance!  I have a busy weekend planned and can't wait to get on with it!  Such a fun time of year!

I have been teasing y'all for a couple of posts about the "Jackpot" that I hit at an estate sale the other weekend.    Well here it is!

Mega vintage Valentines!  I got an entire box, almost 100 valentines!  It wasn't priced and I approached the fellow with the pricing gun with concealed excitement and asked how much.  He took one look and said "Looks like a bunch of junk paper to me, how about $1.00?"  I said that works for me and was jumping up and down with joy!

I mean they really should belong to me... Here's why:

Look at the name on those adorable envelopes..LINDA.. see they were meant to be mine!

When did they quit making such cute valentines?

Look at this envelope!  A pixie on it! 

Here's one that wasn't used!

Love this one!

Paper doll valentines!  I've never seen these before..

So many!!!

Of course this one is my favorite.. A majorette..like me!

So many of them were signed like this... They just put numbers for letters of the alphabet and you figured out who they were from!  It must have been quite the trend as 1/2 of them were signed like this!

I almost got this little box of goodies for $1.00  I am a sucker for little boxes of goodies!

A Beatles trading card

Tiny little books and a JFK postcard

Some cute little plastic animals

And these 3 beautiful Christmas corsages! 

Right after Christmas I will be scanning the Valentines and uploading them to Flickr so that we can all use them for our Valentine crafting!!  I can't wait to get started!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Blessings

Linda

More Pixies!!

Good Tuesday Morning!!  Bright and sunny today in SW Virginia after a drizzly, dark Monday, I'll take it!

Week before last I did something I do only about twice a year.  I took two days off from work, consecutively.  Amazing, right??  I spent Friday going to 3 estate sales!  I was in heaven!  I was able to grab these two little pixies at one of the sales. 

(ugh, sorry for the lousy photo)

Some estate sale shoppers can be kinda nasty.  When I picked up this pixie this lady who was also standing at the table just looking at the vintage Christmas stuff said "I was going to pick that up", and then took her arm and swooped almost all of the stuff that was on the table into a bag!  I told her, no problem she could have it but she huffed and puffed and left! 

Then I found 1/2 the stuff she had swooped up laying in a pile at the door where she had gone though it and didn't buy it all! 

At another sale I found these darling deer, by the way I don't collect deer, but have managed to "acquire" about 15 of them.  That's not collecting, right?

Look at those sweet eyes!

Love his bell and polka dots...

Ok, this isn't a Christmas troll but isn't it just adorable???  Couldn't resist this at the estate sale! 

I will share my favorite find in a different post.  Let's just say I hit the jackpot!!!

This sunday afternoon I made my husbands very favorite cookie.. Peanut Butter Criss Crosses.  I jazzed them up a little for the holidays by putting some colored sprinkles on them. 

Peanut Butter Criss Cross Cookies

1 cup butter (no substitutes)

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 2/3 cup flour (self rising)

2/3 cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

extra sugar for rolling

Cream butter, gradually add sugars, beating well at medium speed of an electric mixer.  Add eggs, mixing well.

Add flour to creamed mixture and beat until smooth.  Stir in peanut butter and vanilla.

Chill dough for at least one hour.

Shape dough into 1" ball then roll in granulated sugar.  Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and take the tines of a fork and press a criss cross pattern on cookie.  Sprinkle with jimmies, colored sugar, etc..  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from sheet and cool on racks.

YUM!

Blessings

Linda

 

How much is that doggy (and kitty) in the window??

When I was little I loved getting packages where the package itself was just as fun as whatever was inside.  A friend of my mom's always made the outside of the package special by making little scenes on top, or putting small toys or candies taped to the outside.  I loved getting packages from her...

So for the "littles" on my Christmas list this year, I decided to do the same.  I found this pattern at an estate sale and knew I was going to have to make a couple of these for Christmas gifts.

Aren't they the cutest??

So this past week I have been busy, cutting and sewing and stuffing and swearing.

Some of the parts were a little fiddly, but I wasn't going to give up and I am so pleased with the result.

I used the stuffed animals as package toppers for the "littles" gifts! 

A blue polka dot dog with red and white polka dot ears that can't wait for a little 2 year old boy to give him kisses.

The red and white polka dot dog with black and white gingham ears is looking forward to spending some quality time with a 4 month old little boy.  (I will tell his mom to either cut the tongue off or hang on to this puppy until he is old enough not to chew it off!)

A pretty yellow kitty for a precious 2 year old girl.. 

Hello polka dot kitty, hope you enjoy your new home with my sweet 6 year old great neice.

And until Christmas I will enjoy this menagerie under my Christmas tree!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Blessings

Linda



Recreating Better Homes and Gardens 1953

Good Saturday afternoon!  It is bright and sunny and warm in SW Virginia today.  

When I was little, I used to love to pull my mother's 1953 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook out and look at the pages!  (Yep, I was a weird kid!).  I remember asking her if she would make me all of the candy on the candy page.  She took one look, laughed and said NO WAY!  I really don't think my mom ever made anything out of this cookbook.  She didn't like to cook and made the same things each week.  Though she was a good cook.  Just not very adventurous.   I also remember showing the pages to my Grandma and Aunt Clara, both who looked at them and laughed and said NO WAY!   I finally took the pages out of the cookbook and pasted them in a scrapbook I had in my room.  Of course, that is long gone.  I have my mom's cookbook and several years ago I found another one just like it at an auction and was thrilled to see the candy pages in there.

 You see why I like this page.  Isn't it magical and beautiful?

So I was telling Yngwie about how I wanted someone to make me all the candy on the page and he said, why don't you try it yourself?  Why indeed???  So I set to work at 8:30 this morning and by 1:30 this afternoon this is what I had..

 Pretty close!!!  I didn't make the cherry trees because the candied cherries were very expensive and we don't like them.  I substituted red Christmas balls in Santa cups.  

 Petit Fours- I know why you never see these any more, they are the devil to make!  What a mess!  Popcorn balls.  Mine didn't want to hold together very well so I wrapped them in plastic wrap.  I think there is a problem with my candy thermometer and even though I boiled my sugar to temperature, it never would harden up properly.  Fondant stuffed dates, marshmallow-nut puffs and divinity.  Just like the photo I used candy store fillers, candy cremes, gum drops and ribbon candy.

 My vintage tablecloth and 1950's Santa and sleight centerpiece complete the look.  Do you see those little Santa figures in the background?  They are supposed to spell NOEL but I purposely spelled LEON to see how long it would take my family to spot it.  It's been up three weeks and they haven't noticed it yet!  LOL!

What a fun day I had recreating 1953!

I took yesterday off from work and hit three estate sales!  I got some great items.  Photos to come later!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Blessings

Linda

Good Tuesday Morning

It is a cool, wet day in SW Virginia today and is supposed to remain that way all day.  We need the rain, so I'm not complaining.

Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving?  We did, even though I only had 6 people for dinner.  Sigh... I miss the good old days when there was about 15-20 of us.  But time marches on and waits for no one.  I'm glad I have the memories.

We still have to have our "traditional" dishes no matter how many people come.  The only exception this year was I made Tyler Florence's Grandma's Sweet Potatoes and they were a huge hit with cinnamon and oranges, yum!  We like to serve buffet style.

Stuffed celery and Bugles and homemade french onion dip ( we call it bugle dip) is a must at any family gathering, another tradition started by Grandma.

I told you I had an interesting centerpiece!  Most of these little figures belonged to my Grandmother who always had them on her table.  She loved the AnnaLee figures!

I bought her these trolls when I was a teenager and they sat on the table every year too.

Me and my sister. 

Speaking of family, my nephew is doing much better!  Thanks so much for the prayers!  He was diagnosed with something with a giganticly long name but it goes by the initials I.T.P.  It is a virus that attacks the platelets in his blood.  He was given steroids and another treatment and they sent him home with instructions to be extremely careful not to get cut or hit because his blood will not clot.   He will go back to the Dr. tomorrow to have his blood tested again and we pray that his platelet count his way up!



Nothing much to show you in the crafting department!  I spent the day after Thanksgiving making cornhole bean bags for a girl I work with who makes the wooden part of the game.  Boring sewing!  I have finished 2 of my 3 stuffed dogs and cut out my cats but still have to get them sewn up.  Such a busy time of year!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Linda

Happy Thanksgiving and a Prayer Request

Please say a prayer for my 16 year old nephew who was admitted to the hospital last night.  When he got out of the shower yesterday he noticed red splotches all over him and he didn't feel well.  His Dad took him to the emergency room and he has been admitted.

His platelet count was 1000 and it should be 130,000-150,000.  The doctors say something is attacking his platelets and killing them.  If he were to get cut or scratched with platelets this low, he could bleed to death.  They are running more tests this morning and he will probably be getting platelets today.   My sister is beside herself with worry.

They are hoping it is just a virus that has attached to his platelets and that anti-biotics will take care of it.  We pray that this is the answer as well and he will soon be mended and HOME.

Blessings

Linda



Christmas 1955

Good Morning!  Bright and Sunny day this Thursday in SW Virginia exactly one week away from Thanksgiving! 

In rummaging through old photos this week, I came across this one.  My mom has written everyones name on the photo and on the edges it says Christmas 1955.  This was before I was even born and my mom would have been 16 years old.

I love looking into the backgrounds of old photos.  Check out the Hoosier cabinet..I was only 6 when my maternal grandmother passed away but I do remember this cabinet.  I wonder what is in that box?  I also spy 3 pies sitting on the freezer behind Aunt Mag.  I now own Aunt Mags 10 inch cast iron frying pan and her jadeite batter bowl.  I wouldn't take a million dollars for them.   There's my uncle and 2nd cousin looking sneaky down there on the floor.  Both of them have passed on now..as well as Aunt Mag..

I see something else that I have at my house now.  At the very end of the table there is a metal stool with a heart shaped back.  I used it for Yngie when he was little to reach the table.

I have told you before that I bought dishes at an estate sale exactly like the ones in these photos before I knew my grandmother had the same pattern.  The leaf doesn't fall too far from the tree does it? 

Look at the size of that turkey and ham!  I can't discern what is in the other bowls.  There is my grandma's wringer washer sitting over in the right corner.  She would roll it out on the back porch to do her wash.

I can still remember this kitchen with it's floor slightly swagging in the middle and the old wood cook stove which stood to the left of the table.

Wish I could go back and time and visit with them.  I never really got to know my maternal grandmother very well... but I remember she smelled like Jergens lotion.  I always think of her when I catch a whiff of someone who has used that.

Life passes so quickly...

Too quickly for some.  Please be in prayer for our community today as yesterday two more children were killed in an accident of their way to school.  This has happened far too often in our community.  The rural roads are so narrow and curvy and kids want to drive too fast and with little experience.

Here is a link to the news report:

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-part-of-route-24-in-bedford-county-closed-because-of-accident-20121114,0,820227.story

 

Of course everyone knew them, we are a small community and our heart goes out the their families and their friends who are mourning their loss.

Blessings

Linda

It's begininng to Look a lot like Christmas...

Good Tuesday morning!  Have you had your first cup of coffee yet?  I just got mine so I'm still a little asleep. 

Have you started your Christmas decorating yet?  We are in full decorating mode in the LBP Sews house!   I got two more trees up this past weekend.  One in the family room and I put my aluminum tree up in our bedroom.  I've never had a tree in the bedroom before and I love it there....

As I was looking through some old pictures this weekend I came across this antique from 1961:

This was my first Christmas!  I was 11 months old in this photo and as usual I am trying to eat something.  In this case it looks like a stuffed animal of some kind.  I love looking into the details of these pictures.

  Do you see the jingle bells on my shoes?  I love that my mom did that.  She loved Christmas.  To the left of my Mom there is a red and black crocheted dog that my great aunt made me.  I still have it! 

 And, see that pine toy box I'm sitting on?  It became my Hope Chest when I got older and then it was Yngwie's toy chest when he was little.  It still sits in his room holding toys he just doesn't want to let go.  Dad had borrowed a label maker and put my name on it!  The label is long gone but stayed on so long that the area that it was stuck to is a little different color than the rest of the chest.  I wouldn't dream of refinishing it.

Mom has on penny loafers and look at the Dr. Pepper bottle in the background.  She loved Dr. Pepper and so do I!

I miss her so much....

Now back to the present.

I had so much fun putting together this little scene in my kitchen:

These are my happy baker elves.  They have all the decorations ready to go for when their cookies come out of the over!

Mr. and Mrs. Kris Kringle are visiting.  They were purchased this weekend at an estate sale. 

The Happy Shelves are all decked out for Christmas.  You have no idea how this makes me smile when I look at it!  It is chock full of vintage Christmas goodies!

This is my favorite shelf. 

The dining room is the only room not ready for Christmas and that it because I host Thanksgiving and it is still decorated for fall.  I'll share that "interesting" centerpiece a little later on.  LOL!  There is a story!

Hope y'all have a great day!

Blessings

Linda

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