Doll Quilts...Two by Two

I have something to share today!  A few months back I volunteered to make some dolls quilts for a niece's American Girl dolls.  Her daddy (my brother-in-law) made her a bunk bed and it turned out very cute but those dollies were using towels for bedding.  Her birthday isn't for another couple months but I am sending them early.  The only request was for pink!  After contemplation I decided it was best to go with simple checkerboard made with lots (not all) of reproduction prints.  I am just about tapped on pink fabric now that my own daughter is 17 and no longer cares for pink!  So getting a "scrappy" look took some careful planning!  I hope sure she likes them.

This isn't my only recent sewing project.  I have a dress to share...my daughter's prom dress.  Prom is tomorrow night, so HOPEFULLY she will let me take some pics and I don't choke taking them!  I'm sure I'll only get a few chances!  With any luck I will share here, so stay tuned!

Lots of Valentines...Probably Too Many!

No big secret why I haven't been posting.  I simply haven't felt like it.  The winter is wearing me down.  I suspect all of you feel the same way.  I think it unusual for the entire country to be receiving so much cold and snow!  Please, please, spring...come quick!  I will say, a bright spot for me is my Valentine's Day decor.  I don't have the most Valentine's Day items, but I do like to share because of the ideas that are sparked from fellow bloggers.  Maybe I can provide a few ideas of my own.

I always start by decorating the Hoosier.  It provides so many spaces to display things.

 I love piling the Valentines onto this snack bag rack.  I picked it up at garage sale a couple years back.  Why didn't I buy all of them...I left two behind!  Dumb, dumb, dumb!  Anyway, the wide base of the rack tucks nicely under the Hoosier top and the front is hidden under this Griffith's spice rack.  (See it peeking out on the one corner?)  These are most of my anthropomorphic "kitchen item" Valentines.

On the inside of the doors I have lots of bird Valentines.  I used a wide ribbon draped over the door.  It's secured with a dressmakers pin on top, to prevent any shifting.

I hang the Valentines to the ribbon with a simple vintage button tied to a paper clip.

 

This one reminds me of Kenna.  It looks nothing like her, but as a very young child she was a very picky eater.  The one thing she would eat?  Pasta with butter and salt!

Here's the side board just outside my kitchen.  More Valentines, candy boxes and the like. 

Most of the cards here have a sentiment meaning to me.  These two mention a "G" man.  That was Mark's (and later Jake's) nickname, in their baseball playing days.  I would love to find at least one more of these...three makes a collection, right?

These adorable little switch board operators are a tribute to my great-aunt.  She was a real switch board operator in the day.  The day they closed the office she worked in, they gave her the switchboard she used.  It was in her house until the day she died.  As children we had lots of fun playing with it!

All my baseball Valentines.  We are a baseball lovin' family!  Although it's a bittersweet reminder of Mark's professional playing days and Jake giving up baseball his senior year, in favor of golf.  I think I'll finally be able to travel with Mark and see a few games this year.

Are you still hangin' on?  This is a picture heavy post!

My mantle.  What a surprise...more Valentines.  This is where most of my anthropomorphic vegetables reside!  I have lots of corn ones...being from Iowa, it only makes sense.  If you'd like to see a close-up of my love banner.  I posted about it HERE.

I love buying hankies, but I never use them for anything!  I thought this was a decent solution for displaying the few heart-themed ones I have.

The white heart and pink lady are additions from last years garage sales.  I believe the heart vase is Relpo.  Girlie is a musical wind-up from Lefton.

And last, but certainly not least, my precious babies in silhouette.  Except now Jake is 19 and Kenna is 16!  Makes me more than a little sad!

So, if you stuck it out...give yourself a pat on the back!  I'll give myself one, too!  Along with a kick in the pants...to post more!

I am linking up to Rednesday over a Melody's blog.  I'm late, I know.  So, I don't expect a lot of visitors, but at least I accomplished my task!  I hope you have a wonderful week and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Lots of Red on the Hoosier!

Looking back I realized I haven't posted a picture of my Hoosier cabinet decked out for Christmas in THREE years!  What happens every year?  I fail to plan and run out of time and energy.  Well, it's coming down to wire again, but I am making it happen!  Sometimes this blog is my only record of what I've done from year to year.  I should keep it up for that fact alone!  So here it is:

Blown molds on top this year...last year it was vintage children's books.

Angels in place.

Pink-faced Harold Gale Santa.

And a very wild-eyed Santa watching over the working elves!  Too much caffeine, perhaps?

This is such a hurried post, but at least I did it!  I have more things I'd like to share, if time allows!  So come back if you have the time!

Please check out the other posts for Rednesday over at Melody's blog!  I'll be checking them out, too...late on Wednesday.  I have a full day of shopping in store for me!

The Christmas Cards Are a Hangin'

Today I want to show you how I display my Christmas cards.  I've been doing it this way for 5-6 years and I've never blogged about it!  It's a not really an original idea, but it is a good idea.

It's amazing how festive the kitchen looks when all the cabinets are filled.  I will admit this picture is from last year...the card are still coming this year.  Also, this picture doesn't do the idea justice.

I've used this same ribbon year after year.  It was dumb luck I chose one made of this organza-type, sheer material.  I can push the brass fasteners through it easily and the holes almost disappear when removed.

So everything gets recycled the next year...well, except the painter's tape.

Which is my method for attaching them to the cabinets.

I wish I had an entire kitchen picture for you.  You'll have to take my word.  It looks great!

Thanks for stopping today!

Funny Thing About Kneehuggers

They seem to multiply.

Are they clones?

If not, there seem to be a lot of twins!

Even triplets!

If they aren't clones, there's an awful lot of hanky panky going on at the North Pole!

My Find of the Year!

I hinted about it, in my last post and here it is...my find of the year!

After years of hoping I'd find one (cheaply) it finally happened!  An aluminum Christmas tree! A 6-foot Sparkler, in the box!  I bought this at an auction in July.  The heat was stifling and the auction was held in an old farm building...a hen house I think.  Everything was pretty dusty!  Oh, was it worth it!

 I acquired the revolving tree stand 3 years ago in THIS haul.  Making the picture complete...

The color wheel!  I bought the day after Thanksgiving this year off of Craigslist.  It had been listed and relisted because of the damage.  Since it was damaged I was able to negotiate a very nice price.

To top it all off, my family allowed me to decorate with it this year!  No real tree, just my aluminum beauty!  I normally have "my" tree down in the basement.  Well, with Jake off at college we decided to take the simple approach.  I don't know if it will ever happen again, so I am enjoying it!

This is not my entire inventory of vintage ornaments, just some of the better ones.

Kenna's favorite.  An elephant with a rider.  Very interesting.  At least it's pink!

A Shiney Brite, clear with tinsel.

Indents.

Pinecones.

Beautiful flowers.

And a very...

merry...

Christmas!

Thanks for stopping today!

Rednesday - The Whole Kit and Caboodle

I had the foresight to take a picture before I started decorating this year.  A picture of everything Christmas that I acquired since last year.  Now, compared to many of the bloggers I know, this pile is small.  What can I say?  I live in Iowa...there are more pigs than people in this state!  This pile is the result of me hitting the garage sales every week from last frost to first frost!  Auctions?  Didn't go to many this year.  Estate sales?  Too pricey around here.  So, practically everything here came from a garage sale.

A couple of exceptions:

The Santa with the pencil in the very center.  I bought this from Laurie just a few weeks ago.  Love him!

A few items that belonged to my great aunt and uncle.  She passed away just a year ago.  I was fortunate enough to get a few of her things.

So, I thought this would serve as a fine Rednesday post!  I guess Rednesday has changed hands a few times since Sue hosted.  So, this will be a first for me.  Please check out the Rednesday posts on Melody's blog!

Oh...I just I just realized...this isn't my entire haul.  I have a pile of things to list for sale....oh boy!

Oh...and come back!  I will have posts of all the decor around the house.  I acquired a really special item this year and I am excited to share!