Where did the time go?

Wow, did not mean to take that two week blogging vacation! But, these last couple weeks prior to Christmas were pretty busy. But we made it, got everything that needed to be done, done. Christmas cards mailed and food prepared. We all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did as well!

But now...back to it!

A couple weeks ago, before the Christmas craziness rolled in I made a quick run into my favorite indoor flea market. Not a lot to be found, but I did run across a vintage sewing box. In decent shape and reasonably priced, I decided to grab it and fix it up.

Now...why another sewing box? This makes my fourth sewing box and I do not sew. Funny huh? But, I do have some kind of fixation on sewing boxes. I have a small darling princess sewing box, probably from the 40's that I use as a charging station. It has the perfect ledge for setting phones and ipads on as they charge. Another larger one, I keep by my bedside and my android tablet lives in there. The third, well I just loved the shape and I keep it in my kitchen, it is empty right now, but I am sure I will find a purpose for it. 

Of course when I saw this one I had no idea what I would use it for, but, after cleaning it up, I find that it makes the perfect home for my camera and all the equipment that goes with it.

It needed a little love.

But not too much, After sanding it down I found some serious cracks in the wood, serious, but reparable.

there were some old patterns left inside, I loved the graphics, but gave them to my mother, who does sew, to look over and see if she thought she might be able to use them.

It came with some ugly glass knobs, obviously not original to the piece, I found some pretty brushed brass that are hopefully closer to what was originally on it.

And here it is, cleaned up, sanded, stained and filled with my camera equipment.

I love putting old pieces like this to new uses, and I am very happy with how it looks in my living room, now, maybe I will not misplace my camera so often now that is has a home.

Now, to find a use for this one!

Oh but it is so pretty! I just love it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful long Christmas weekend! Now onto New Years! I have to admit, It is my favorite of the two! I have a nice four day weekend for New Years and am so looking forward to it!

Have a great week!

It's the Holiday Season!

Well, full swing into the Christmas craziness, I am busy, you are busy...man we are all crazy busy.

Every year it seems that we end up passing on doing things like making Christmas cookies and candies, just too busy and it falls to the bottom of the list, even though it is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. Back in WI, long before kids and husbands and crazy schedules became our reality, my friend Laura and I would get together and bake for an entire day, candies, cookies, I think we even tried fudge, whatever we felt like trying. It was such fun and a very fond memory of mine.

One of the cookies we made were Rosettes. Laura had (I believe) her Grandmothers Rosette Iron set and it always stuck in my mind, it was so cute. As my daughter has grown and become quite a baking enthusiast herself, I remembered those days of Christmas baking with Laura, and above all the other cookies, I remembered the Rosettes.

So, determined to start the Christmas cookie tradition again, well, only on a smaller scale. I was determined to find a set of my own Rosette Irons. No new ones for me, no way! I set off scouring ebay and Etsy and the flea market. After several failed attempts, weeks of looking and my daughter pleading with me to "just buy new ones on Amazon" I finally scored my own set on Ebay.

The set was more than worth the time and trouble! Even Katherine agreed! It is exactly what I wanted. And had an extra bonus of coming with some recipe books as well.

$1.30, wow...I did not get it for that cheap. But, I did manage under 10.00 with shipping!

Look at those little recipe books!!

I just love these graphics.

Being Norwegian and from WI , this just makes me giggle. I laughed so hard when I found it tucked in the box with the other recipe books.

The finished product, light and crispy, with that light dusting of powdered sugar, YUM!  I described these cookies to my bestie Stacey as little Funnel Cakes. Really, that is pretty close. 

Here is  the recipe I used, it was one of the recipes included in the box, I have a rule, I always try recipes with notes in the margins.

I hope you get some time during this busy Christmas season to keep your traditions alive, no matter how simple or elaborate!

Have a great week!

I guess I lied a little

I remember back in July saying that I did not like a lot of vintage Christmas and how the creepy elves/Santas and dwarves did nothing for me.

Well, I decorated the house for Christmas this past weekend and realized... I have not one, but three sets of creepy dwarf like 1960's paper mache character sets.

These are the guys that started it all. They have been with me my entire life. I have no idea where or why my Mom got them, but I have always LOVED them and snapped them up when she purged her old Christmas decorations. I do not think they are in the slightest bit creepy.

These guys on the other hand...well...I collected these all on my own. And yes...they are a bit creepy. But they do grow on you....I guess.

OMG...I just realized behind the dwarves I have some bible book of my husbands sitting right next to "stop dressing your six year old like a skank" if a psychologist ever looked at the books on my book shelf I would probably be forced into an institution. 

What was I thinking?

Oh well, the kids seem to like them.

I was so excited to get my ceramic trees out! I just love them!

At first I thought I was satisfied with my collection, no need for more. But, after getting them all out, well...I may need to add one or two more...maybe three.

Elf on the Shelf is in full swing...I like the adult version of Elf on the shelf better. But my daughter asked to behave myself this year and not do any naughty Elf pictures and post them on facebook. Now that I think about it, I never did actually promise that I would not do it :)

Hope your week is off to a fantastic start!

Feeling like hibernating

Never fails, this time of year when it starts to get cold, I find I want to head for home and stay there. 

We have had two light snowfalls already here in Middle TN, as much as I dislike snow, it is beautiful and I could not stop myself from snapping a picture of these beautiful leaves outside the front door of my office building. They were so pretty dusted with the snow.

I love crafting on a cold rainy day as well. this past weekend my daughter and I sat down and did some Christmas crafts. We have been seeing the darling scenes people are creating in  jars and we thought it would be fun to give it a try. I had a small stash of different jars set aside for crafting and after a quick run into Hobby Lobby, I had everything we needed to make our little creations.

These little cars with the Christmas trees have to be my favorite.

Such a fun and simple craft. My ten year old daughter sat for close to three hours happily arranging and re arranging before she settled on a design and put it together. She is very proud of her creations and so am I. I really love the two deer in the oyster shell as well, We may have to make a couple more of those for my oyster loving friends.

I did get out for a bit of "Black Friday" shopping. Well, at least the only kind I do, the Flea Market. We headed over to my favorite indoor flea market just to see what we could find. I have had my eye on this little jam pot for months, I have picked it up, wrinkled my nose when I saw that it was still not priced, and put it back down basically because I was just to lazy to be bothered to ask the price, well I am glad I stopped being lazy, it came home with me for 4.00. It is unmarked, probably Japanese, but it will look adorable with my miss matched vintage pink rose dishes. I loved that I have several tiny spoons that fit into it perfectly!

Now that Thanksgiving is past, I am excited to get all my vintage ceramic Christmas trees out and start watching all my favorite Christmas movies! I could watch Holiday Inn, White Christmas and Christmas in Connecticut over and over again!

Hope your having a wonderful week!

Creative Village

I am so excited! I have been invited to bring my sentiment spoons and herb markers to sell in the sweetest little craft shop in historic Old Hickory.

I am one of twenty local crafters selling at the store. I was blown away by the talent displayed there, all sorts of different kinds of crafts, from jewelry and paintings to linens and soaps. I just loved the shop and think it is a wonderful idea to make handmade products by local crafters and artists available in a retail setting like this. Right now there are lots of the most adorable Christmas themed crafts and handmade ornaments! I could have easily walked out with a shopping bag full!

And the area? Darling. The shop is located in the Historic Old Hickory area not far from the Hermitage Itself, just an adorable old neighborhood with the most beautiful historic houses.

I am so flattered and excited to have been invited to join this talented group of artists!

If you are in the Old Hickory area drop, into Creative Village and have a look around, you will be sure to find something that begs to come home with you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day!

We stay pretty low key at our house, just a small gathering, but, I always insist on a pretty table and fresh flowers.

Years ago, when my husbands Grandfather passed away and we were going through the estate, one of the things we took with us was some of his Grandmothers dishes. Now, they are not French Limoges or really any kind of expensive dishware, But, I just love them, such sweet flowers. The set we got was very small, just four place settings with some serving pieces, but during one of my Antique store trips I found a bunch more and added to the set. Now we have seating for nine, and even though not all of it was really  Grandmothers, that is still how we refer to it. And I love taking it out every year for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. I like to think Grandmother Adeline would be flattered that we enjoy her pretty plates so much.

I don't usually use fancy linens either, I simple cotton drop cloth from the hardware store with a burlap and vintage crochet runner do the trick. I love burlap and vintage doilies. And of course my flea market collection of mixed flatware, nothing matches, and I love it!

I found this vintage Lefton turkey planter years ago, I have to admit, I forget to put him out most years, I will have to start packing him with Grandmothers dishes so I don't forget.

Summer before last, I found this vintage turkey platter, I always keep my eyes open for vintage pieces to add to my little set.

I love Thanksgiving, as much for the food as for the fun of decorating my table!

I hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did!

Relaxing at the flea

Does that not sound crazy? Relaxing at the flea market? But, over the last couple years, going to the flea market has become just that. My relaxation. I stroll down isle after isle of vendor booths, enjoying the early morning sunshine (or rain) and finding all sorts of treasures and fun things for my home, garden or inspiration for craft projects.  I have come to really enjoy chatting with and learning from the people I meet there, especially the vendors who appreciate and love some these vintage items as much as I do.

Some things I see over and over and over again, like the ubiquitous marbles in a jar and Prince Albert in a can.

Some things make me smile because I remember seeing them growing up.

Others make me want to go home immediately, set a pretty table and have tea and lunch.

or even grab my hammer and make some sentiment spoons.

And sometimes....ok, well I have no explaination for this, except that it is a bed tray, in really good condition and the perfect size to set my ipad on while I am lounging in bed . Another fruity find and not my usual taste but, I am not gonna lie...I love it. Even if I feel compelled to justify it. What do they say one justification a day keeps the Dr away? Ok, maybe that is just what I say-lol.

I had a lovely morning at the flea market with my kids today. We found several treasures and had lots of laughs, I hope that when they are grown up and on their own, they remember mornings like we had today with fond memories and smile.

What can you say about vintage insulators?

Tell me, how exactly did vintage insulators become such a hot collectable? I mean, they are just pieces of glass that used to be on telephone poles, what on earth (other than their beautiful colors) makes them so interesting?

Well....I don't know, but I have to admit, I have my own little collection. I did not intend to collect them, but I guess they are like cats...you get one..then you find you have to have another, and another....and another.

When I lived in Wisconsin, I used to drive down hwy PD to get to my best friends house, as you drove down this little two lane highway there was a line of telephone poles and if it was the right time of the day, the sun would hit them and they would glow like beautiful topaz jewels, I always remember loving that view as I drove, I guess that memory is what attracted me to the vintage insulators. I found my first insulator at my favorite indoor flea market, and after that one, it seemed saw insulators everywhere I went. I love how they glow in my kitchen window. So beautiful.

I love the simple things like these silly insulators that make me smile.

Nashville Flea Market is this weekend, maybe I will get lucky and find a purple one, you never know! 

Home for the Holidays Craft Fair

It has been such a crazy week, I was super busy at work and I missed the blog post I had planned for Wednesday because I was spending every free moment getting ready for the "Home for the Holiday's" craft show today. We did not have the foot traffic I had hoped for (our competition was a huge Christmas craft show at the fairgrounds in Nashville) but I had a fantastic day. Not only did I get to see some of my favorite friends and customers from the Farmisan Market, but I met some fantastic people and fellow vendors. This whole experience of stepping out and getting involved in the local crafting community has been an invaluable learning experience and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

I had my mom join me for this show, she brought her selection of adorable children's hats and I was really pleased with our display. Definitely learned some new display techniques that I will use again at the Farmisan Market next spring.

I love my moms hat's, They are so cute!

My Mom even made my 1980's Cabbage Patch Preemie a new outfit. My husband teases me for keeping my Cabbage Patch kid all these years. I guess there are just some things you can never give up.

But isn't he adorable!

I am so thankful that I had this opportunity, It has been a good ride, I think I will stay of the crafting train a while longer!

But right now? I am wiped out. Time to go to bed!

A fruity find

A couple weeks back my daughter and I went on a short thrifting trip and found this adorable vintage fruit tablecloth a bargain price at our first stop.

Second stop at a nearby Goodwill, we found this adorable fruit plate. It has no markings so I am not entirely positive it is vintage although it looks to be.

Honestly, these are not usually my colors, but It looks kinda kitchy cool with the vintage cheese plate I found earlier this year.

I am expecting to have a crazy busy week, getting the final products and preparations ready for the holiday show on Saturday, but I am excited, we have over  5000 Facebook invites so we are expecting a great turnout!

Hope you all have a great week!