Swappity Swap Swaps

 I don't participate in many swaps anymore.  But, since I am one of the Goodness Girls, I do participate in our swaps.  Rebecca had the idea for a Vintage Christmas Corsage Swap, but we all got busy with the holidays and it never happened.  So, we decided to have a Vintage Valentine Corsage Swap.  I was paired up with Heather - who has a blog, but it is private.  She is very talented!  She sent me a box full of goodies, even though we only had to send a corsage and a sweet Valentine Treat.  Thank you, Heather!

She made her corsage out of paper - lots of rosettes, flowers, buttons, baubles and even a wee bottle of glitter are hidden amongst the layers of flowers.  She used music paper, colored paper, cardstock and other goodies - it really is a piece of art!  I am not a corsage wearing kind of person, but I have it on display and just love it.  She also included a box of German Chocolates, a wooden postcard, an ornament and that wonderful cloth covered box in the background.  I loved it all.  Thanks again, Heather!

I had a hard time initially trying to make a corsage.  I couldn't come up with something that I liked and looked like the sort of things that I like to make.  I gathered up a bunch of glittery picks, hearts and berries and added them together, but it still needed something.  I added in the pipe cleaner spirals and it was starting to look more like me.  Then it hit me - spun heads!  So, I added in a little spun head couple complete with their Valentine finery.  In the end, I think it turned out cute and Heather seemed to like it too.  I also sent her some Conversation Hearts and Hershey's Kisses.  I also bought her a Diamond Ring Ring-Pop, and I would have sworn I put it in her box, but just last night the cat came out from under the table wrestling a ring pop.  Darn thieving kitty, anyway!  (Sorry Heather)

I also received my box of goodies from Sarah's Heart to Heart Swap.  I have been participating in this swap since the very beginning.  Sometimes I think I should bow out and give someone else a turn and then I think - "Heck with that" - I like the goodies too much to stop now!

Here's a montage of all the fabulousness.....

 A love banner.

Tart tin repurposed into a photo holder - made by Jane.  She always makes a wonderful Valentine for this swap.

Love this elephant - reminds me of a kiddie Valentine from school.  So cute!

Such a bad photo (I need some SUN for photo taking) - This squirrel says "I'm nuts for you".  Love it!

Decorated Doily and a Valentine Collage Necklace.  I can't wait to wear it - I hope I get to leave the house before Valentine's day!

Sweet sewn heart with felt flowers.

An embellished pocket made of book pages.

A decorated Chocolate box - WITH chocolates.  Ingenious!  And, yummy!

Sarah made these cute nut cups with birds and flowers. 

A neatly crocheted heart - that took time to make 14 of those!

This little Post-It notebook is so sweet - it has inspirational saying stamped here and there on the pages.  I am going to keep this one in my purse.  Love it!

 For my contribution - I made these glittery boxes.  (Photo stolen from Sarah's blog :D)

 Inside the box, I added a miniature deer, a bleached bottle brush tree and a wee toadstool. 

The tag read, "My Dear" which tied it all together. 

(Would it be weird to admit that I already have an idea for next year and I may or may not have already made a prototype to help me remember it when V day rolls around?????)

Last year I hosted an egg swap.  I've had people asking about it and I have decided I will be doing it again, with a twist.  Easter isn't until late April, so we have some time before I need to announce it.  But, if you are interested - be ready!

Uh, Mr. Weatherman......

The weatherman said we would have snow.  Maybe up to 7".  Mostly likely 2"-4".  The man that runs my Flea market said he had heard a foot.  I never heard that myself.

It was not snowing at 2:00 am.  It was completely white at 4:00 am. 

 By 8:00 am, it was about 15" deep.  Holey Moley!

Now we have 24" of snow and it is still falling hard and fast.

 Everything is gone.  My junk is covered up completely.

 This stump is about three feet tall.

 Even the snowmen look miserable.

 Come on over and sit a spell in my chairs.  Comfy, huh?  Now they are completely covered up.  Gone!

 I think this is my car.  Not sure though.  I don't plan on leaving, so that's okay.

Past my knees at 8:00 am.  I'm going to need this stuff to melt fast - or have a major growth spurt soon.  :D

There's so many semi's off the roads that the National Guard has been sent out to help.  People are in lines on the highway, running out of gas.  What a mess. 

I think the weatherman missed it this time. 

Boy Howdy!

A Wee Bit of Winter Thrifting

So, it's cold.  And going to get colder - maybe five below or so and it is getting ready to snow maybe a foot or so.  Yadda yadda.  Same old, same old.  I, the person that loates summer.....is thinking it doesn't sound too bad right now. 

In between snowstorms, I have managed to sneak out for provisions - milk, bread, TP and a THRIFT RUN.  You gotta do what you gotta do......

First up we have the "I don't know what I am going to do with it, but I had to buy it since it was a quarter" find.

A trophy from the Rose Bud Beauty Pagent!  In pink!  I don't know - I just couldn't leave it behind. Especially once I saw that it was only 25¢.  Had to have it.  Trust me, it's the only trophy from any Beauty Pagent I will ever own.

Next up we have the "Oh my god, that is the tackiest thing I have ever seen so I must have it because I kind of love it" find.

Silver.  Plastic.  Made in Hong Kong.  Donkey with a wagon.  Flower wheels.  Pink Rhinestone eyes.  Tacky or fabulous?  I'll let you decide.  (I think it is tackilicious).

Next, we have the "Aw, that's cute and old and tugs at my heart strings" find.

An old plastic cow pull toy.  His head bobs and he says "Mooooooo" as he rolls along.  On the bottom on one of his wheels, it says, "MASON" which is a special name in my life.  So, home it came with me.

Nest, we have the "I paid $5.00 for it and a man offered me twenty bucks for it in the parking lot" find.

This giant basket caught my eye at the Salvation Army, but it was brimming with umbrellas.  I looked on the back of the basket and saw at tag that said, "Basket $5.00", so I knew I wanted it.  I looked for a suitable replacement for the umbrellas, but couldn't find anything or anyone to ask, so I neatly laid them the table and took my basket.  Suddenly all eyes were on me with this huge basket.  I sat it down twice and heard two different people mention "that basket" but I had it in between my feet so they knew it was claimed.  When I checked out, I let a man go ahead of me with two pictures.  When I threw that big basket up on the counter, his eyes bugged out when he saw it was $5.00.  He told me that I was getting the "Deal of the Day" (check out the original name of my blog in the web address...) and then he went outside.  The lady that rang me up said, "Oh, that is my umbrella basket!" and I was afraid she wasn't going to let me buy it, but she did.  Whew.  After I checked out and went outside, the man was waiting for me and offered me $20.00 for it.  I declined because I knew I could use it to hold my famlies unsightly skivvies on my new washing machine.  :D  I think he must have thought it was a Longaberger or something.  It isn't marked, it is nice and well made.  I like it.  And, you can see Mr. 22 lb. FlubbaDubba Tiger likes it too. 

And, lastly, for the "Man, that is awesome" find.

A very large elephant made out of an old feedsack quilt.  

 

There are some super sweet fabrics on this guy.  The quilt is old, but the elephant is new.  I think he will hang out with me for awhile, then head to ebay or Etsy.  He's kind of sweet.

Okay, back to the cold.  The snow.  YAWN.  Whatever.  See you on the flipside.

Check out Ala Carte for other Winter time thrifting finds!

Cake Wrecks Part II

I am always looking for cakes to submit to Cake Wrecks.  I have found several and submitted them, but they haven't always shown up on the website.  I usually find holiday cakes after the fact, so Cake Wrecks saves them until the next year, if they are good enough, that is. 

After the 4th of July in 2009 (yes, 2009), I spotted this doozy:

I thought it rather looked like......well, you can see it...can't you....Uh, testicles?  Like Great Balls of Fire? 

So, I snapped a photo and submitted it.  But, I never saw it again.

Until today!  I went to Barnes and Noble to use my $20.00 gift card (that I got from Groupon for $10.00).  As we were paying, I noticed that calendars were 75% off just as The Bean spotted the Cake Wrecks 2011 calendar.  Since it was only going to be $2.00, I grabbed it and added it to my order.

When we got in the car, we were looking through it and looky, looky, looky at the July 2011 page:

Exploding balls - heh heh heh.

So, my Birthday cake was in the Cake Wrecks book and now this one in the calendar.  My dream is to be published. 

Does this count????

((No, but it's still FUN!)

Ron & Uaucy

I'm a day late, but since yesterday was Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday, I wanted to share my one Ronald Reagan item that I own.

When I was a Senior in High School, we all got our little boxes of Graduation Announcements one day at lunch.  Everyone had their notebooks out writing down who they were going to send an Announcement.  Grandma, Aunt So and So, Uncle So and So, you get the drift.  Then we started besting each other - Someone said, "I'm going to send one to the MAYOR!"  Ha ha ha!   We all laughed.  Someone else said, "I'm sending one to the Governor!"  Ha ha ha! So, I said, "I'm sending one to the PRESIDENT!"  HA HA HA!  That was a funny one!  Then they dared me to do it.  So, I did.  What the heck, it was just a stamp (which back then was only 20¢!), so I addressed it to the White House and sent it out.  Dare completed. 

So, imagine my surprise when a few weeks later, I came home to find this in my mailbox!

And, this inside!

When I took it to school the next day, everyone was dumbfounded that I got a card from the President!  And, they were bummed that they didn't send an Announcement too.  Ha on them!

Since I got this, I still refer to Mrs. Reagan as Uaucy Reagau.  (ya-sooey Rah-gooey).  Weird N's, huh?

Have you ever had any Presidential mail?

*I am fully aware that this was an automated signature and mailed by some underling at the White House.  I know Nancy didn't sit in the bed at night and hand address cards to peon High School kids. 

What I Learned in Town Today

One week of being snowed in + the need for food and supplies + One more week of forecasted snow and low temperatures + one decent day with a bit of melting on the highways = a trip to Wal-Mart.

The line waiting to get into the parking lot.

The busiest day at Wal-Mart I have ever seen.  A 10 minute wait into the parking lot, up and down five rows until I found a parking spot, a ten minute wait for a cart before The Bean went and wrangled one out of the Cart Corral, a fight to get up and down every.single.aisle and a 40 minute wait in the checkout later and I was home again.  Whew!  One of the store managers was trying to take a photo with his cellphone.  I told him I had taken a photo too.  He said he had never seen it so crowded ever. 

I had some experiences today which made me think about how you should behave in a public situation.  It's really not that hard, people!

Let's talk for just a minute about grocery store aisle etiquette.  Scenario:  The person ahead of you in the aisle stops to pick up a can of tomatoes.  You wait behind her because you know she is only going to pick up the tomatoes and then proceed to pull out into the main aisle to go down the next grocery aisle.  Not only is it proper for you to wait, but for everyone behind you to wait too.  That is proper etiquette.  It is NOT proper etiquette to pull out of line five people back, push your cart up the center of the aisle, careen into the middle of the main aisle causing a pile up down all the aisles in every direction.  Might I add that it is MEN that do not understand the proper way to handle themselves in the grocery store.  (I won't even talk about those MEN that leave their carts at the end of the aisle and walk up and down to get what they want, deposit it into their carts and then proceed to do it on every single aisle.  My Dad is guilty of this and it drives me batty! 

Now let's discuss "why pushing your cart so close to me that you pull my shoe off is not acceptable".  I lost a shoe TWICE this week in the throngs of people.  The first one said, "SORRY" like I had a hell of a lot of nerve even being at the grocery store.....not nice at all.  Today, the lady was all over herself apologizing.  But, still......back off!

Since I am on a roll, let's discuss "Proper Behavior when you are a Checker".  After the grocery store, we went to The Dollar Tree, which was very quiet and very slow.  All around the store, I could hear this very loud voice talking and talking and talking and talking and talking.  Talking about her day, her night, her Mother, her car,her son, her boyfriend, what she had for dinner last night, what she had for lunch today, what she bought at the mall last weekend.  OH MY GOD, shut up!  When I checked out, she kept telling the other checker this looooong drawn out story about her Mom and the bank and icy roads and OH MY GOD, shut up!  When she was scanning my last item, she looked up at me like she had never seen me with this surprised look in her eyes and said, "Oh, how are you today?"  Like, helloooooooo, who do you think you were ringing up all this STUFF for??????

Well, that is my opinion of the day today.  Sorry for the rant.  I worked in retail a good number of years and I know how to treat customers and how to behave in a retail setting as both a customer and an employee.  I was bound to crack at some point!

Snow Bound Crafting

There is a possibility that I have been home too long.  It is still really slick outside and the temperatures are only in the teens and lower.  So, I have now been home five straight days.  And, I really don't mind it.  I like being home and I have been sick, so I really haven't felt like going anywhere.  But, since I think of us as "snowed in", I have only been doing out of the ordinary things like baking, crafting, watching "Man vs. Food" (Must put three pound cinnamon roll on my "Bucket List") and "Ellen".  I've still been doing my laundry (which I must say is so much easier with my new large capacity washer.  I cannot believe how many loads I was doing before versus now.  Well worth the money!), but little else.  I've decorated for Valentine's day, baked three loaves of pumpkin bread, sewn a bunny doll complete with clothes and a few other silly fun things. 

But, it was today's craft that made me think that just maybe I have been home too long.  Tell me what you think:

I've been on a quest for old vintage Valentine Heart Candy boxes, but I haven't found any......yet.  I did pick up a heart shaped Turtle box at the SCT a week or so ago for a quarter, thinking I could make my own "vintage" box.

I trimmed the box top in lace, added the pink glitter paper and added three plastic "Tupper" doilies for interest.  I'm not thrilled with that paper flower, but it was all I could find at the time I made it.  I think it needs a big pink rose or peony. 

It actually turned out not too bad.  It's a little more frilly than my usual taste.  But, I think that it looks like an old vintage candy box.

But, the box was still just an empty box.  So, what did I do? 



I made chocolates!  Felt chocolates, of course. 

I rounded up all my brown, tan, pink and white felt and made jelly rolls, then cut them into slices.  As I was making them, The Bean looked over and said, "Those look like chocolates!" Which was much better than, "Those look like sausages!", so I felt I must be doing an okay job.  We have decided that there are chocolates, chocolate swirls, chocolate caramels, chocolate cherries, vanilla cherry cream, white fudge and so on and so on.  It would look better with some brown paper wrappers, but the only way I know to get those is to go buy an actual box of candy and gobble it up.  Not that that isn't a delicious idea, but probably not going to happen.

It's really quite silly, but at the same time, I find it rather fun and amusing.  I suppose I am lucky I didn't find an empty fish crate and be forced to make felt fish!

We have more snow coming tomorrow, a Winter Mix on Sunday, snow on Monday and snow on Wednesday.  I may never get to leave again! 

What shall I make tomorrow?  :D

Accidental Collection: Baby Quilts & Baby Blankets

Another collection of items I never set out to collect.  One here, one there, a few family treasures and BAM you have a collection:  Vintage Baby Quilts.  (Mine is in the Cedar Chest and impossible to dig out at this late hour). 

This one is actually The Breadman's Baby Quilt.  Made by his Grandma.  It's bedraggled, but it is the only item from his entire childhood that he brought to our marriage.

This is The Bean's Baby Quilt.  Made by his Great-Grandma.  The Breadman's Grandma.  Notice the exact same Sunbonnet Sue embroidery.  I think having these two quilts together is super special.

 The Bean's Baby Pendleton Blanket.  Given to him by my Mom and StepFather.

The green is one side.

The back is red. 

He used to take this to powwow and hang it on the back of his chair - just like a big guy. 

*sniff*

As for thrifted baby quilts:

This sweet embroidered baby blanket was $2.00 at the thrift one day. 

How could anyone a) get rid of it or b) sell it for $2.00? 

I especially love that sunbathing baby with her duckie. 

This sweet little quilt is made out of four child's sized hankerchiefs. 

Such a sweet little noseblower.

I love this old quilt with it's block pattern and pale green fabrics. 

But, as cute as this is - it's the back!

Here's the front.  Ack.  Pure cuteness.

Bunnies!  Does it get any better than Bunnies?????

This one doesn't really fit in with the cutie-pie ones.  But, I think it's pretty special.  It's made of pieces of old flannel from shirts, suits, etc.  Either someone was very resourceful or someone made a quilt out of Grandpa's old shirts for the baby. 

Lastly, a wonderful hand tied quilt made of wee squares of lots of tiny prints. 

Baby Quilts:  Another reason to look everywhere at the thrifts.  I have NO reason to even be in the baby department.  But, I always look for vintage baby blankets and quilts.

 

(It's nearly zero outside, we have about ten inches of snow with a couple inches of ice and sleet under that.  BUT WE HAVE POWER so all is well!)  KNOCK WOOD. :D