Thursday, December 9, 2010

Santa is Bringing Me Coal

I'm convinced of it.  I have been such a bad blogger.


Maybe I shouldn't feel too sad.


I found most everything here just in the past year.


Funny thing is, it looked like a lot more piled in my storage room.


Now I wish I had bought more...a lot more.

Something to look forward to come January when the auctions heat up again.

Sorry the pictures are a little dark and maybe not cropped quite the way I would like.  After a such long absence I figured I better just get it done!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Quickie Post with Some Halloween Decor to Share

I know I have been away for a LONG time.  Over two months!  I lost all motivation to blog.  Both reading and posting.  Recently I had begun to think about coming back, slowly.  Well, I got this post from the EHAG group (one of the few that still come to my inbox) and I was compelled to participate.  They are giving away some Halloween goodies in which I shared my favorite Halloween decoration.  The only project I've completed this fall became the obvious choice, so I figured it was necessary to show them!


Here's the pattern I started with.  Black Cats...Orange Pumpkins WSD #126 by Wooden Spool Designs


In the shop where I bought the pattern their samples were made up in white.  They caught my eye, obviously!  Love the ghosty white ones!


Of course, the orange are nice too!

I had a blast making these.  They were so easy because you construct the muslin base (I used a wool blend) then cut a slit where the face will go and stuff it!  Then, it's a simple matter of whip-stitching the face on!

I would like to finish these off with some wire tendrils and maybe some ripped green/brown strip around the spool.  Although they are pretty cute as-is!

So now that I'm back...maybe I'll get to posting a few more things before the holiday.  Just maybe!


In the meantime, done forget to check out the EHAG blog!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

What Cheer Goodies on Rednesday!

Yeah!  I have a Rednesday post!


Please spread the love, especially to out gracious host Sue @ Sue Loves Cherries!

Well, it's procrastination that has lead me to sharing my What Cheer finds on Rednesday!  Last Friday Mr. Made and I went to the somewhat well known What Cheer flea market.  Flea markets and auctions are not Mr. Made's favorite things, but he indulges me from time to time.  It seems every time I go I take someone different, this time it happened to be his turn.


So, I figure that 4 of the 7 items I bought have red in them...it qualifies for a Rednesday post!

I LOVE the canister set ( I know a certain hostess will like them, too!)  It wasn't priced so I asked the vendor about the price...it seemed fair to me, so I took it.  Funny thing is, as we were nesting it together she told me she had bought it that morning from another vendor.  I wonder what she paid, cuz seriously, I didn't pay that much!

If you are only interested in reds...you might want to end here.........not likely, right?


My other What Cheer find.  I nice chippy cabinet....maybe a little too chippy???  We are down to bare wood in spots.

I'm a bad blogger when it comes to taking pictures, but I managed to get Mr. to take a few...

Here's me at the dollar boxes.  This is the first place to hit!  It is busy at the boxes in the morning.  I went back towards the end of the day and nobody was there.  Of course neither were the things I had passed up....why I struggle with myself over a buck I'll never know!  Note to self: hand wipes are NOT enough. Next time I'm taking gloves.  That stuff is DUSTY!


Anyway, I'm holding my morel mushroom.  Anybody else hunt for morels in the spring?  I also bought the plate and Rudolph book at the dollar boxes.


Some things are just too fun to pass up!  I felt more than a little goofy but I had to have a picture with Spiderman!


Nice picture honey!  Was it really necesary to show me from this angle?


Here we are at the end of the day....tired but still smiling.  It was a good day!

BTW-I will mention our daughter also had a VERY good day.  Even though she wasn't with us she managed to get 34 Pokemon figures and 2 Pokemon jelly glasses!  I'd post a picture, just for fun...but they've already melded into her collection!  She has a lot and we have fun finding them for her!

Monday, July 26, 2010

A Overdue Thank You...

Yep, it's long overdue.  I have send along a thank you and shout-out to my girl Sonya @ Dime Store Thrift.  Some time back she was kind enough to send me a ball chain.  Think military dogs tags.  Sonya had the cutest compass on her chain, I think it might have been a cracker jack toy???  I say for certain.  Well, that began my quest to find a pendant...something to wear on my chain.  I've been searching for probably a month.  I have been very resistant to buying something new.  My patience has paid off, I found this pendant at a garage sale.  I'm pretty pleased with it!  I do notice from this picture, I need to clean it!


Since I'm sharing, I'll add the other goodies I came home with that day.

A couple more jewelry pieces and some pottery.  I didn't even realize 'til I took this picture my two brooches are an exact match to my pottery piece!  The aqua piece is McCoy.  The yellow is unmarked.


An entire bag of sewing notions. 

 



Cute needle cases.


Pin Cushions.


Box of pins.  This is a nice box.  I like it...forget the pins, although it's full.

This day was certainly better than last Thursday....

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Rednesday Quilt and Menu Board

Wow!  I didn't realize my last post was Saturday!  Here it is Rednesday!  Are you going to visit all the Rednesday posts?  I always try to, spread the love!  Make sure to give lots of it to our wonderful host, Sue @ Sue Loves Cherries!


It's been pretty warm here in Iowa, muggy as all get out!  So my outside time has been limited.  Even in the house you'll find me in the basement, in my crafting room.  It's also where the kids spend more than their fair share of time.  In their playroom.  Seems a little odd calling it their playroom these days, they are 15 and 12.  The only playing going on is Nintendo!


It's a bit more grown-up looking now...just another room for me to hang quilts!  (Notice quilts in corner!) When we have a house full of guests it doubles as an extra bedroom.  The sofa is a sleeper.  Not really my style anymore, but the condition is nice so it will do fine in their room!


I just finished this quilt a few months ago.  The first quilt I've finished in a long time.  I'm much more interested in card making now.  I mean I have quilts EVERYWHERE and you can only give so many away!  They are expensive to make and you really need to be sure the recipient wants a quilt! 


Anyway, one of my favorite things in this room is my menu board.  I got this at an auction about 8 years ago.  I was the sole bidder for $1.  Now it was not in this condition.  I had to spruce it up.  I had to cut off the bad portion {SIGH.}  Then, with help from my great uncle, I framed it.  I only wish it fit in my kitchen!  The obvious place for it to hang!  I have NO wall space in my kitchen...darn open floor plan!

Have you notice my obnoxiously large photos?  What do you think?  I changed to the new Blogger updater and Extra-Large is an option.  If only I took better pictures....

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Always a Holiday

It's about time I start sharing the auction and garage sale finds found the last two weeks.  The pickin's had been slim up to that point.  Then, I hit two good auctions on consecutive weekends.  Followed by a couple good garage sales just two days ago.  So, I need to start sharing. I've bought lots of holiday decor.  That's a constant theme!


The first box lot looks promising...but it's hard to tell.  The box is FILTHY.  Some pinks, golds, but a couple boxes of patterned ornaments, too.  The bonus?  There's some Halloween items tucked inside.  I don't want to spend too much time looking, I'm trying to play it cool.  I bid $5 and it's mine.


After considerable cleaning and tossing one box top beyond repair, this is what was left.  So-so!


This is the best of the best, I guess you could say.  I still say I got my $5 worth, I love the pinks!


While we are still taking Christmas.  These came from a garage sale this past Thursday.  Thursday used to be THE day to have and go to garage sales around here.  I can't get out of that notion, even though they aren't as good as they used to be!

This little Gurley turkey came from an auction!  It's a horrible story!  I had to lug home SIX boxes of junk to get Mr. Turkey for $1!!!  I know some of you might be tempted to ask, "What was the junk?"  Come on now, you know it's junk if I'm the only bidder of this huge lot.  It was hideous Christmas junk!  I don't even want to think about it.  After winning the bid the auctioneer looked me in the eye and said, "Make sure it all goes home with you."

My flags came from the same July 3rd auction as the Christmas ornaments.  I guess no one was feeling patriotic.  One person got their bid in before me, but after my nod the bidding stopped and they were mine for $4.  They are both 48 stars and the one is a bit unusual.  The stripes are crocheted.  I didn't decorate for the 4th this year...GASP!  I did pull out a few items to take this picture, though.


At the same July 3rd auction I won these vintage postcards.  I pulled out the uninteresting stuff.  What's left is Christmas, Easter, New Years (see the cute horseshoe) and St. Patricks's Day.


I was really happy about the St. Patrick's Day cards.  I don't have much for this holiday!

The auction calendar seems to have dried up, so sales and thifting look to be my only sources for a while.  We may be back to slim pickin's, you never know.  Never fear.  I have more to share, so stay tuned!

I just thought I'd mention.  I am going to my 25th school reunion tonight.  Sunday morning instead of curling up with the paper, I'll be curling up with Google reader.  See ya then!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Rednesday Yummies

Hello Rednesday friends!  I'm a little late today...golf again.  It was excruciating.  Our heat index today is 110°.  It's VERY humid to boot!  Like walking into a sauna.  We're expecting some severe storms to night.  Hopefully not too severe and hopefully it cools it down a bit.


Today I'm sharing pictures of my garden girl and out first decent tomato haul.  Our first tomato came really early this year (June 24th) but it's been sparse pickin's until now.  The plants are just filled, though.  It won't be long and we'll be overloaded with tomatoes and start giving them away.


These are the best looking tomato plants I've ever had.  I really don't like using chemicals in the garden and will only do so as a last resort.  In years past this has meant that my tomatoes, although producing, looked awful!  Well, this year we had a wet spring and the tomatoes were showing signs of blight right away.  I found this product called Soap Shield from Garden's Alive.  They sell lots of environmentally responsible products.  I would HIGHLY recommend this product.  The directions said to apply every week to 10 days, but let me tell you, I only applied it twice.  It's been 6 weeks since my last application with no signs of disease.  I am VERY happy with the results.


I love this picture...even though it's a little out of focus.  This is two tomatoes grown together.  Doesn't it look like a heart?  Coincidentally, the tomato is called "Juliette."  One of our favorites.


Yum!  Yum!  I think Italian sausages with peppers and onions will be on the menu this week!


Please make sure to check out the other Rednesday posts over at Sue Loves Cherries!!!

Monday, July 12, 2010

I'm Still Here! Got Some Glass to Share.

Hey there my bloggin' buddies!  I know, you know, I've been totally absent from the blogging world this past month.  It wasn't intentional, just life with LOTS of baseball and golf!  I contemplated whether or not to remain in the shadows and refrain from posting today.  It seems any time I am at home I feel pulled in about six different directions and posting is not one I need to add to the list.  I miss it, though.  I miss all of you!  Yesterday I spent SEVEN hours catching up on e-mails and my Google reader (don't tell my husband, he doesn't understand!)  So, for the time being, my slate is clean and I am ready to share!

So, where do I begin?  It's a rainy day, so it's no use taking photos of my newest auction buys.  Let's focus on glass items today.


This is a small pitcher I bought probably 15 years ago at a garage sale.  At the time we were living in Chattanooga, TN.  I paid 50 cents for it and I remember debating whether or not to buy it.  Funny how you remember the weirdest details.  I think I got my money's worth.  A few years ago I saw this same pitcher in Country Living magazine.  It's Blenko glass.



These salt and pepper's are near and dear to me.  These are from my cousin's service station.  They came my way via my great aunt.  She had an incredible salt and pepper collection.  My mom has been selling them for her on Ebay, but she let me have these.


Check out the sides.  Deco stripes.


This is a recent garage sale find.  (The rice is temporary, I thought it might photograph better.)  I fell in love with this jar when I saw it on __________ (fill in the blank.)  I saw it on somebody's blog.....I want to say Sue's or Carol's.  Want to help me out girls?  If my memory is correct, her's didn't have a lid.  Well, mine didn't have a lid either.  I was fairly confident I had a lid at home.  I had to steal it off another (plain) jar, but it worked.


Most of this resides on my Hoosier cabinet.  It has changed a bit since my last photo.  Here's part of it.


Lastly, some milk glass cups.  I do like some milk glass.  I wouldn't say I love these, but I'm in love with idea of these.  I dream that someday I will have a nice luncheon for my friends and in them I will serve an appetizer of tomato basil soup topped with handmade croutons and freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Someday.  'Til then, they are packed away!

I actually have some other posts started and saved as drafts.  So, you should be hearing more from me.  Can you believe it?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Rednesday Buttons

Happy Happy Rednesday!  


I didn't think I would be joining you today.  I'm up to my eyeballs in garage sale pricing and it's crunch time!  I plan to set-up tomorrow, working around my son's two baseball games.  Lucky for me (not so lucky for him) this morning dear son had to get up at 5:00AM to go to school and lift weights.  Once he was up, so was I.  Which leaves me with extra time to post today!

I LOVE BUTTONS!!!!  So, here's my jar of REDS + a few yellows and oranges.


Now compare with this little jar (a pint) of purples, blues and greens.  It's obvious I love my REDS!


I display my buttons all around the house.  Here are my blacks and browns. 


They are displayed in a handmade tray along with some rose hips and my RED scoop!


And finally my whites.  These are really large jars.  The one on the left is all shell buttons.  I was very lucky at an auction and got the entire jar for a couple of dollars!  The middle jar is basic white shirt buttons.  The last jar is a mish mash.  Notice my RED bench!


Make sure to head over to Sue Loves Cherries.  Sue is our wonderful Rednesday host where you'll find many more RED goodies!