So

So. After 2 days of fighting with my grandfather non stop (we even had to call 911, and he refused to go with the paramedics), I finally managed to get him to the hospital on Sunday. They admitted him very late on Sunday night and he is expected to be there until at least Thursday.

Everything is just such a mess. We have an extremely dysfunctional family and caring for him has always fallen to Dave and I. The time is rapidly approaching when he is no longer able to live independently and for a million reasons that I can't go into on the internet, I am not able to care for him full time.

And just like he wouldn't consent to going to the hospital, he will not consent to any sort of home health care.

And that is just the tip of this very bad iceberg I am afraid.

(Insert tears and many agonizing days here.)

So. There we are.

At this point it also seems like there is no way I can make the trip to the 127 sale. Even if we could make it we would have to leave my mother here in charge of grandpa and that would mean trying to make the trip with Jack with us. I've not had a night away from Jack since May 2006. That is a damn long time and I am just so overwhelmed with everything right now. I am not sure I can stand the disappointment of not being able to go or having to go with Jack on top of everything else. Proverbial straws and all that.

So.

Jack was really proud of his discovery that he can make a circle with his trains. He has also informed me this week that "I'm not free, I'm twenty dollars." Yesterday when I said "Somebody's getting tired," he replied "nooooooooooooooo somebody is not."

I think we will go listen to Bon Jovi. He knows a lot of the words to "Lost Highway" already, and *that* makes me smile.

It must be love

How much do I love these two pieces of pottery? Enough that when I discover I do not have enough money to buy them both, I will hike back to the car, drive to the ATM and go back to the flea market to buy them. (I asked for the best price if I bought them both, buying in bulk in action!)

I spent a lot of time trolling Ebay yesterday looking at pottery. I also went and checked out every book our library had on it. What I have discovered is that the local market for this stuff is pretty expensive. The blue-green one is a Weller piece ($30) and the pink one is a Hull piece ($10). The Hull piece has a piece that was broken off and repaired, but I don't mind that since I am not reselling them.

The other Hull pieces at the flea market are marked at $125 and up. In fact, almost every single piece of art pottery out there starts at about $125. Ouch. That is WAY out of my budget. (And honestly, out of my lifestyle also. I can't spend that on a piece of pottery when I have a small child who is apt to be rowdy and break things.)
Yesterday I managed to acquire this gorgeous pair of candlesticks for 25 cents each. Score! They are marked Metlox on the bottom. My little pottery collection is coming along rather nicely already.

It's nice to have something different to look for. I tend to have a very narrow junking focus in that I go out looking for specific things instead of just wandering around seeing what is out there. My husband on the other hand usually is happy to just see what is out there instead of looking only for specific items. Yesterday he found one of these for $3! Score! for him also.
I also picked up this sweet old paper mache snowman. Someone has poorly glittered him (and there is no getting it off), but I love him anyway.
My love for this old cheater quilt (they are also sometimes called a wholecloth quilt), is crazy. I don't ever really say things are "yummy," but this thing is yummy. Half of it is really damaged, so I will have no guilt about cutting it up to make pillows or something.

Other than that, my grandfather is in failing health, Dave has to go on a business trip and I have a lot on my plate this week, so things may be quiet around here for the next week.

It's been a good week

My lovely swap package arrived from Heidi . The photo is a little off center because I only had roughly 10 seconds to take it. Before I could bink Jack was throwing balls, wearing knee pads and browsing magazines while trying to eat the lemon drops. (Yes, half of those are missing from the photo.) And then the cat decided it was his nest . Obviously we *all* love it, thank you Heidi!
I have had some more excellent yard saling luck this week also. Loads of tablecloths and aprons have found their way to me. Good thing I hung up the apron hangers last week! Many thanks to Jennifer for the excellent idea. I will put more of the apron photos up on Flickr. The one above has the most gorgeous 2 tiered ruffle. Her ruffling is really meticulous.

Kirsten reminded me of something I have been meaning to ask all of you about yard sales. What days do they have them where you live? When we lived in Florida it seemed like any day of the week (including Sunday!) was fair game. Here it is mostly a Wednesday/Saturday thing, but some people are starting to have them on Friday nights. If you were having one of your own, a Friday evening sale would be a great idea. You don't have any other competition for shoppers, unlike Saturday morning when people are trying to get to 20 different sales.
Onto junking strategy #3:

The art of bargaining.

Most of the "book" advice is to always keep your poker face on. In other words, don't let them know you love it. I have mixed feelings about that. Do I think you should jump up and down and squeal like Jack when you find something you like? No. LOL But, do I think there is value in saying to someone "I really like this" or "These will go to a good home"? Yes.

Before you get to that point though, have a price in mind. Since I tend to buy a lot of similar objects, I have a pretty good idea what price the local market for those items tends to be. If I were setting out to buy a particular item then I would spend a little time looking on Ebay and googling to see what internet prices for that item look like. A lot of times you are going to come across people who will just say "What'll you give me for it?" so, you need to be prepared. If you have no idea at all what to offer, then simply say "How about if you start?" and work from there.

It often pays to sort of "buy in bulk*." If there is a big pile of aprons I will just ask "how much for all of them?" Because you will be spending a larger amount of money instead of a dollar or two, the price per item is usually a lot better. (There will be a few in the pile I am not at all interested in. I freecyle them, sell them or give them away and I still come out ahead dollarwise.)

This also works in the opposite direction also. If there is a huge box of china and you really are only wanting the sugar bowl then ask if they will sell you that particular piece instead of all of it. Success on that will vary, but it is worth trying.

Which brings me back to my first point about telling them you like it. 2 or 3 weeks ago I bought 3 boxes of old ornaments at an estate sale. Nothing was priced, so when I asked he said $7 a box. Which is a fair price. But I didn't have that much money with me. I offered $5 a box, which was what I had in my pocket. He stood there for a minute waffling. His sister said "Those were my mom's from the '50's." So I replied with, "I have a large collection of them. I love them. I use them on my Christmas trees every year." She went on to say that she had most of them from her mom already, but that she was too scared to use them. I encouraged her to get them out and enjoy them and by the time we were done talking he agreed to sell them for the $5 a box. I hope that was a win-win situation in the end.

*On one occassion this has backfired. I think the woman thought I was trying to rob her blind. She really freaked out about selling me some ornaments when I asked if I could buy them all instead of buying them one at a time. However, I had never before and have never again seen someone react that way. Maybe she was a little off kilter.

Whew. So, need any tips on anything else junking related? Only one week left until I am at the World's Largest Yard Sale !

Merry Christmas

We always have a small celebration for Christmas in July. It breaks up the long summer a bit. We listened to Christmas music, went out to a real restaraunt for dinner and exchanged a few small presents.

Lucky me, I found 2 boxes of ornaments at yard sales yesterday while Jack was at school! These long blue ones are going to look great dangling from the Christmas tree.
Jack loves opening presents. He was pretty pleased to see Rheneas and the rock crusher cars. We also bought him more of the Thomas tattoos that he fell in love with on our big "day out with Thomas" adventure. I am sure he will be sporting one in every photo from here until the real Christmas in December.
I picked up a gorgeous (dead) beetle in the Target parking lot a few days ago. It is a perfectly preserved specimen and is the most beautiful green color. Jack is not the least bit frightened by bugs in general and he would happily carry the thing around all day if I would let him. He has also been known to carry around a cicada shell or two when he finds them. (Those do gross me out a little, he puts them on me and I don't like that very much. LOL)

If you aren't creeped out by bugs, you should see the close up photo of it I put on Flickr. (And ignore my ratty fingernails and cuticles.)

One other thing to note while it is current is Jack's love of the word "so". He uses it for everything right now. At Target he said to the cashier "so, we are going to buy those cars." Or after school he will say to me "so, what did you do today?" Or "so mom, I think we should go for a ride on the motorcycle." Even funnier is how he has started to say "Thomas" with a British accent. That kid is a real corker.

Back tomorrow with tip #3 and my summer swap package!

Under the sun

I think I have already used "A little bit of everything" as a blog title, so how about "A little bit of everything under the sun?" Stuff from garage sales this weekend: a great old cake carrier, a bucket full of buttons (lots of rhinestones!), a 1933 baby book, a hanky made into a pillow and a tablecloth scored using Strategy #1. It was lining a wagon with books on top of it. I tried strategy #1 at another yardsale with tablecloths, but she didn't want to part with hers, so I was 50/50 for that tip this weekend. Did anyone else try it yet?

I am still working on a Strategy #3 for you.
Taking Jack for long morning walks on his "motorcycle" . Jack found the trike at Goodwill for $6! Quite a bargain if you have clicked on that link to see the retail ad. I push and he gives the directions. When we got home yesterday he started clapping and cheering like we had just finished a marathon. LOL And then he called me "a silly grllla," a.k.a. a silly girl. Everyone is a silly girl right now apparently.
I am trying to make these 2 fabrics into a quilt. I am having serious issues deciding on a fabric for the back.
I actually won a tablecloth on Ebay last night. When Rebecca and I were talking about it she asked if I was looking for anything "special" since she said she figured that I get most of my tablecloths locally. (And I do.) I really wasn't looking for anything special, Dave was watching Independence Day, and I was bored. I ended up winning a super cute bird cloth for $2.25. I can't wait for it to get here!

I don't really have a "Holy Grail" of tablecloths that I am searching for, I buy what I find, and what I like. The one above is a bit of a Holy Grail though. I bought it in Florida at an antique mall. I spent $30 for it, and it is by far the most expensive cloth in my collection (not book value wise, but as far as what I pay for them). I love it, it is lovely, but spending that much for it was a big mistake because I am too darn afraid to put this one on the table. Of all the tablecloths I have this is the *only* one to never see the light of day.

Sad, isn't it? LOL

Blog blowout

(Jack trying on a pair of Dad's old glasses.)

I have been slowly but surely cleaning out my "things to sell" closet in preparation for the big trip to the 127 sale (I am going to need that closet space again!). Using Ebay is slow, slow going though and August is creeping up on me quickly.

So before I listed anymore on Ebay or on Etsy, I thought I would throw them out here in case anyone reading here sees something they want. I put the photos on a different blog, and you can find them here . If you see something you want email me at daisykins514@yahoo.com or you can leave a comment on the other blog. You can use paypal or pay the old fashioned way through the mail.

Ok, back to organizing!

P.S. Some of those redecorating pictures are up on Flickr . They aren't great pictures, but that bathroom is ultra tiny!

For the record books

I actually sewed something. In July. Amazing, LOL. (Of course I see now that my picture is a little lumpy and off, but there ya have it.) It was time to update that napping pillow again. I put the patchwork for the front together and discovered that I didn't have any white pom pom trim. And I *had* to have dotty trim to go with the dotty patchwork. It only took me 2 days to actually get to the store and buy some. (I am telling you I have l-a-z-y disease in the worst way this week.) Then once I had stuffed the thing I realized it was WAY too full for me to sew closed. I was going to give up, but my darling husband sewed it together for me instead. He's cool.
A sweet little thrifted dish. I use them to hold all sorts of things, change, keys, broken toy pieces, etc.

I also picked up the cutest fabric! I will put that photo on Flickr along with the finally uploaded pics of the rest of the picture set for Jack's room. Hopefully I will get some photos of the tiny redecorating projects up too for those of you have been asking. (Of course I didn't take before photos.)

In the meantime, is there a cure for "sit on the couch or the patio and do nothing" disease? :-)

Contemplating

I have a whole crapload of stuff on the old brain today. And none of it is helping me concentrate on blogging. Hopefully I can pull together something coherent here. LOL

In fact, I forget to mention that my blog was featured on Creative Blogs yesterday. Kim comes up with lots of great blogs, be sure to check her out.

I picked up 3 of these super cute prints at the flea market for Jack's room. They were a 1938 Kellog's cereal premium. Aren't they too cute? Framing them is a bit of a nightmare though, since they are a large, odd size. I cannot pass up anything "Jack" though. One of the other ones is "Jack be nimble." (I will try and get a photo of it on Flickr.)
If you enlarge the photo you will see a Jack and Jill ornament in my newest ornament score. Love those too.

Ok, so onto more junking strategies. Strategy number 2:

Venture out of your comfort zone.

We live in suburbia. Brand new homes everywhere, filled with lots of small children and middle class families. Perfectly nice place to live, but yard sales here are filled with used children's clothing, toys, toys and more toys, and home decor items from the mall or Wal-mart. Totally not what I am usually looking for. (Although those yard sales have served a purpose since having Jack!)

St Louis is a relatively huge city though, spread out over a gigantic area. Until about 2 years ago, I knew nothing about St Louis really. Not where this neighborhood or that neighborhood was, not how to get anywhere despite several major highways.

And I spent a few years after we moved back from Florida (where the junking is FABULOUS) whining about how much it sucked here. Really I was just looking in all the wrong places. I had to venture out of my comfort zone here in suburbia to find what I really was looking for. I had to figure out which neighborhoods had the good junk.

I can't provide you with a road map for where you live, but I suggest trying every neighborhood you can comfortably access, no matter what your preconceived notions about that place might be. (And by neighborhood I really might mean city depending on how your municipalities are structured where you live. I don't mean just trying the subdivision next to yours.)

So, wander off the beaten path. Make a trip to a little town you haven't visited before, scour the internet for yard sales or flea markets in those little towns. Going on vacation? Pick up a flea market guide and see what there is where you are visiting. (I don't see the one I have been using on Amazon, but I buy them at either Borders or Barnes & Noble right off the shelf.)

The added bonus to this has been that I *really* know my way around St Louis now and we have discovered all sorts of good stuff I never knew was here before!

Secrets

Ahhh, Wednesday. 5 Jack free hours today. You know where I spent it. Yard sales, thrift stores, Martha and me. I picked up that sweet vintage pink and silver bedspread, a pretty soft vintage pillowcase, and a Simply Shabby Chic balloon curtain thingy for my newly redecorated bathroom. (Which has awesome vintage lavendar tiles.) I LOVE being able to find the Simply Shabby Stuff at Goodwill. $4 for the curtain which retailed for $24.99.
On to the secrets! I picked up this quilt at a garage sale for $2. Uh huh, $2. People will often ask me what my secret is. I don't really think I have any "secrets," but I certainly have strategies.

One of them is that I ask people to sell things they didn't know they wanted to sell*.

Maybe that sounds strange. But it works. I was wandering around the yard sale in the scorching heat. There was a board with that quilt over it and the linens she wanted to sell on top of the quilt. She was using the quilt to cover the board. We made small talk about the weather and I asked her if she wanted to sell me that quilt.

She looked at me like I was crazy. "It's really ratty," she said. I explained that it was ok if it was rough. "It smells bad," she said. I assured her that was ok. And really, it is ok. If it is too rough I will cut it up. She shrugged and said "ok, give me $2." (Her other sheets and things were priced at $5 and up.) And now it is happily mine.

I have been known to do that everywhere. I have another quilt acquired in the same way at the flea market. He had no idea why I wanted that ratty old blanket that he had those nice used clothes sitting on. The way I see it, it cannot hurt to ask.

We used to have our own garage sale every year and the last time I did it I had a man ask me about fishing tackle. As it turned out I *did* have a box with old lures in it in my laundry room. I had picked it up at a garage sale for $1 because I know that old lures can bring big dollars. I never got around to researching them, and it sat there for 2 years. When he asked, I went and collected it for him. I sold it to him for $50. Could I have made more money than that from it? Certainly. But, he was both a collector and seller of that type of specialized merchandise. $49 was an excellent profit for me, and if he in turn makes another $300 from it, I am ok with that.

Besides, as a collector of stuff myself, I know how exciting it is to actually find what you are looking for. The moral of the story is, if you don't see it, or it doesn't appear to be for sale, just ask!

I do have other "strategies" I am willing to share, and if you are reading and want me to share more of them, then let me know. Building up to the world's largest yard sale in 2 weeks means I have junking on my mind!

*I owe my knowledge of this strategy to my dad, who will offer to buy the shoes off your feet if they are what he is looking for.

P.S. Don't use your bleach pens on Great Grandma Ruth's most treasured family heirlooms! Bleach is harsh and I use it as a last resort.

Not too "cosciting"

Right now Jack says everything is "cosciting", a.k.a. exciting. Really though, there is nothing terribly exciting going on around here these days.Well, aside from the fact that I had to upgrade my Internet Explorer to version 7 instead of 6, and now the font on every single page is wrong and I cannot work out how to make it go back to normal. I remember checking some box during the install that said something along the lines of "click this for optimal viewing" and I wish I hadn't clicked it. Anyone know how to change that setting?
I made this little file box to take on the trip to the 127 sale. A place to keep wish lists, measurements, the measuring tape, fabric swatches, business cards, etc. I am planning on trying to keep track of how many sales we stop at and what we buy at each. Good luck to me on that one. LOL

The base notecard holder came from Target. They have a whole line of Kraft paper brown office supply stuff that is excellent for altering. The bird paper is actually a file folder, also from Target. Ribbons, flowers, etc. are from the stash. (And yes, I have hardly touched a fabric project in months. I have one brewing but I am stalled.)
I picked up this tablecloth over the weekend. It was brown, brown, brown with filth. When I bought it the old guy actually said to me, "do you think you can get that white again?" I replied, "I have no idea but it is worth trying." And try I did. I did hot water oxiclean soaks, I tried Clorox 2 for colors, I tried Spray N Wash. That filth was not budging.

I was starting to think it was covered in rust, because rust is about the only thing that doesn't budge with lots of stain removers. (Other than paint.) So, I got out the bleach pen to do a test spot. If it was rust, it wouldn't be affected by the bleach. Sure enough, 10 minutes later the bleach pen spot was pure white. So, I have spent every Jack free minute of the last 2 days covering every single inch of it ever so delicately with the bleach pen. (Well, pens, it took 4 of them.) It was worth it. It is gorgeous.
Jack and I have been reading "the book of Jack," a.k.a. all the photo albums containing his life. He is fascinated by this and he will ask me to do it over and over again. Those 5 books hold it all, birth*, first baths, learning to sit, learning to use a spoon, learning to stand, learning to walk, learning to color, learning to ride the trike and so much more. It's a nice visit for me too.

*Well, we really only have 2 photos of him right after he was born. I was sorta too busy to take pictures. :-)

New collections

Hi again. It's been sort of quiet around here. I've been scratching that redecorating itch a little bit, we've been swimming and I've been making some extra money on Ebay for that trip to KY. (Ebay is way more work than I care to think about.) Some of you asked what the 127 sale was, so there is a little link for you. As part of the big (little) redecoration plans, I decided I wanted to put some pottery on our bedroom mantle. I picked up this sweet McCoy piece at the flea market this morning. I love the tulips!
This is a Roseville piece that was my grandparents. My mom gave it to me ages ago.
And another piece from the flea market this morning, unmarked this time, but really, really lovely. I was going to do all white, but there are some lovely colored pieces out there. Hopefully I will be able to add a few more pieces to the new collection when we do the 127 next month.

The only other newsworthy moment the past few days is that Jack has started to say "I am sad." Really melted me the first 2 times. The 900 times he tried to use it after that to get out of going to bed? Not so melt worthy. LOL

The Itch

I've been busy altering composition books to hold all of my torn out magazine pictures. I REALLY have the redecorating itch at the moment. Not the "trading spaces tear apart the entire house and redecorate in 2 days" itch, but the "shop your own cabinets and closets and switch out the pictures and the rugs and the knick knacks" kind of itch. (Well that and the polish the silver and wash the filthy windows kind of itch too.)
It all started when I repainted that dresser. It scares my husband who says he likes the house how it is, LOL. I think it must be because we have been in this house since Christmas 2002, and that is probably the longest I have ever lived anywhere since I was born. In fact, this house is my sixth place to live since I graduated from high school in 1993. I don't even think I could count how many places I lived in before I turned 18.
Jack and I watched Mr Rogers for the first time together on Tuesday morning. (It used to be on before he got up, but not only have they moved it to a later hour, he has that getting up at 6 am problem still.) He was mesmerized. I have never seen him be so still when he was awake. Never. And it is soothing television, even for me. Mr Rogers gets a big thumbs up from us this week.

Jack also went back to school yesterday. Despite his nerves in the morning, he apparently had the best time ever. He was so excited to tell me all about it when I picked him up. "Mom we played cars on the road!" "Look mom, I played on that whee!" "I had pretzels!" "I made a projik!" I guess moving up to the bigger kids room was the right thing to do after all, eh?

So, what did I do with my 5 free hours? Nothing. I sat outside in silence. I watched Martha (which is FINALLY back on tv here). I ate lunch without grabby fingers. I went to a few yard sales where I realized I missed that small voice in the back of the car asking me "Where are we going mama?" "Will there be cars there?" "Can we ride the train?" That first day of school is always bittersweet I suppose.

Anyhow, we are off to the park to enjoy some of this wonderful, not blazing hot weather. Cheerio.

Flea Market Sunday, on Tuesday

Oh well, Tuesday works too, right? Things are relatively slow around here with yard sales and the flea market. Not much bounty this week. 2 really sweet aprons in tiny 1930's floral prints. One looks pretty dingy in the photo, but they are starched and ironed so I haven't washed them yet. I love that someone thought enough of them to starch and iron them.
10 made in Germany feather tree candle clips. Although these are new, this is a total score for me. We don't have a Christmas type store around here anymore and I have been wanting these for my feather tree for a long time. (Plus it was only 60 cents for all of them!)
Some Pyrex pieces. Well, 2 Pyrex 1 Glasbake. I love that teeny tiny yellow au gratin (?) dish. The size is hard to judge in the photo, but the black gooseberry bowl is what would be the smallest size in a 3 piece set, number 403 or something like that? I am too lazy to look today. (Jack is making sure I am awake by 6 am every day. 6 am kicks my ass. Seriously.)
And a sweet vintage towel. I love finding the towels! They look great on the ladder and because they were work horses they are usually torn up. This one is in good condition.

I am starting to get super excited about the 127 sale in August. It is getting so close I can smell it! No wait, that's a diaper I smell. I better get on that. LOL

That's Clever

(Jack calls the mask from Lori his "owl helmet." LOL) As the days of summer move onward, I can really tell that Jack is moving towards being a "preschooler" and not being a "toddler" very much anymore. His language, his comprehension, his skills are all becoming much more sophisticated and he is gaining independence by leaps and bounds. When he was tiny he went through periods where it felt hard to capture all of the changes, and we are definitely in one of those spurts again. A few highlights from this week include this daily occurrence outside his bedroom door:
At first I couldn't figure out what was going on. He asks to take these trucks to bed with him. He plays with them for a little while, then opens his bedroom door, sets them outside of it, goes back into his room and goes to sleep. It occurred to me the other day that when he is having trouble sleeping I will often go in there and take whatever he is playing with away. The trucks outside the door? He is taking away his own toys so he can go to sleep. Clever, eh?

Other moments:
When he saw me making the lampshade he came running over and said, "Hi Mama! That's clever!"

I switched his "Dandy" (the security blanket) for a clean one the other day. When he went into his room to find Dandy he came out into the hallway and said to me, "This is a clean Dandy! It smells clean."

Sometimes when he is being very bossy I will call him "your highness." While I was changing his diaper the other day I asked him to do something and he replied, "Yes your highness."

He will occasionally answer "okay" when told no.

We fixed up the playroom again this past month (we hadn't been down there very much since spring came). He went downstairs to play the other day and he said to me on the way down, "Mama, I am gonna go downstairs. If I need you I will say come downstairs mama!"

And a few other things of note. He is reliably counting to 10, he has made the switch (finally!) to the toddler bed for good, he returns to his one day a week school this week (he isn't very excited about this), he has started spontaneously singing (Rascal Flatt's Life is a Highway) and he has a memory like a steel trap. I am pretty sure he could memorize the entire Constitution if we set our minds to it!

Patchwork

Many moons ago, I saw a patchwork lampshade at Tree Fall and I fell in love. Since my "I would love to make this" project list is running dry, there was no better time to jump in and make one. Besides, I had the added benefit of having 500 5-inch patchwork squares lying around from the recent fabric swap. What a great way to put them to use!
I googled, I flickr'ed, I even asked Jeeves, but I couldn't really find any suitable directions, so here are a few hints if you want to make your own.

*I used a clearance fabric lampshade. I was going to sew them on, hence the need for a fabric shade, but glue really worked better. I used Aleene's glue for this, but only because I am out of my favorite glue, SoBo. I use a big bottle of that stuff every month lately.
*The squares I wanted to use were already cut with the Olfa pinking blade, so when I cut them into smaller pieces, I used the same blade. I just randomly cut the 5 inch squares into smaller squares and rectangles.
*Before you start gluing, take some time to loosen the top and bottom binding on the lampshade. Again, I had planned on sewing on my own binding, but the existing one worked great with the fabric I was using. When I would glue a square on around the top or bottom, I just tucked it underneath the binding. When all the squares are on you can just reglue the binding.
*Don't use a ton of glue. You don't want it bleed through the fabric or leak out the edges. I applied mine with a paintbrush.
*Take your time getting each and every square nice and flat and tight. It looks better in the end.
I am shamefully late in saying thank you for a few gifts. This GORGEOUS package was from Laurie at Old School Acres . (Photo of Jack in the mask to come tomorrow.)
And this gorgeous pink and green lovely is from Leigh Ann at the The Pink Kitchen . (There was more, but it is already in use!)

Thank you both very much!

P.S. The chenille ornaments on the wire tree this month are from Ebay. They are another crafter's work, not my own! You can find them by searching chenille ornaments. (I hope.)

It's Independence Day

I had high hopes of spending the last 2 months taking pictures of things that are what America is to me, but until I get better about taking the camera along, I will have to make do with what we have around us today.
My sweet flag waving little boy.
Make-shift sparklers; vintage glass bead picks in a piece of styrofoam in a bucket.
The wire tree decked out with red, white and silver bells and chenille stem presidents and eagles.

There are a lot of things, both good and bad, that could be said about the current state of affairs in America.

Either way, we are still proud to be Americans.

Happy Birthday America.

The scissors

Many moons ago I bought a tablecloth that really wanted to be made into bunting. Except there is that issue with me and the scissors. It really hurts me to cut into old linens. I can barely do it. Sometimes I can barely watch some of you do it! Despite this small problem, I have been collecting a pile of embroidered stuff to make an embroidered bunting with.

It required picking up things I almost always pass by, mostly because I never seem to display the embroidered things unless they are the ones my great grandmother made. I finally had a decent sized pile to choose from, and this being a stressful week I really felt the urge to make something. (Does everyone else do that? Whenever times get tough around here I feel the need to create. Anything will do as long as my fingers are busy.)
It's a little bigger than I would have liked, but I let the embroidery guide the size of the triangles. The bluebirds were the main determinate there. I also waffled a bit about the scalloped edges, but did it anyway, even when my husband said to leave them straight. And now that it is done? I love, love, love it. I am looking for the perfect spot for it. You should be able to click the photos to enlarge them, should you wish to do so.

P.S.There have been so many new visitors, lurkers unlurking and so many old friends commenting lately and I want to say thank you. It never fails to make me smile when you stop by here or leave me a note. There have been a few comments I would love to respond to, but I am lacking an email address. If you don't have a blog (I love seeing new blogs!) or a blogger profile for me to visit, you can email me at the link in my own profile, or plop your email address in your comment so I can say hi!

Awesome

I picked up a box of these old honeycomb paper decorations at the flea market this morning. I love these things, and I always buy them when I see them if I can afford them. They were so beautiful hanging from our redbud tree that I had a hard time taking them back down. I took a million pictures, and will put a few more on Flickr. (Plus some additional flea market finds, including some really gorgeous old wallpaper.)
I have been picking up these Anchor Hocking Pennsylvania Dutch glassware pieces since sometime this winter when I found the decanter at a thrift store. This morning I found the 4 glasses still in their packaging. But the coolest part was still inside one of the glasses:
Coupons for all of the pieces in this set for 39 cents. (If only I had paid 39 cents for them!) They are dated from the fall of 1959. Apparently they were a gasoline premium. (I love the idea of premiums. I wish we still did that.) Even better news, I have all the pieces advertised now! Awesome.

P.S. Be sure to visit Bruce Littlefield's new blog . He was kind enough to visit here and leave me a comment on my dresser make over, which I thought was pretty awesome.