The Pickings are Good...

I told you how GoodWill and sales have been very good to me lately, well yesterday was no exception. GW had been calling my name all morning, so at 11:30 the boys and I went. I found a long stool(which you will see down further in this post) right away and asked the girl to keep it by the counter for me while I shopped. I then spotted some more goodies. On the 3rd and final trip around the store(you know you have to circle several times to see everything), my heart skipped a beat when I saw this bag of vintage plastic reindeer, for $1.99 !!!!! None of their antlers were broken and there are actually 3 different kinds. These can go for $5 to $10 a piece in an antique store.

I am so happy about these little deers.
Here are the rest of my goodies... a vintage tablecloth, a vintage plastic Santa, some pipe cleaners, a tin candle holder with hurricane glass, a bag of small glass ornaments, and a glass tree topper.
On a run to GW a few weeks ago, I found more Christmas treasures... a cute tree that I will prim up, a set of bells, a wreath, and some berries. I think I spent maybe $6 for all of this.
Then last night was the first day of an annual craft sale in my town(Friends Corner for you locals). I picked my youngest daughter up from here play auditions and her and Mason and I went to it. We got there about 15 minutes after it had opened and it was already packed. I actually didn't buy the crafts but found some antiques they had for sale. This tree below was not for sale, but I talked the owner of the place into selling it to me, which was very sweet of her(but I promised her a pic of it once I get it set up with my decor, so I can't forget to do that).
Found this old tin bread box with original paint for $10.
And a rolling pin, washboard, and vintage linens(which were super cheap, a buck or two a piece).
Now, back to GW finds...

Picked this sewing cupboard up a few weeks back for $12.50(it was half price). I'm going to use the cabinet as a table after I remove the machine.
The machine itself is gorgeous! and I'm going to display it in my sewing room. I'm guessing it's from the 30's or 40's as it is electrified, but it still looks old.
And here is the foot stool that I got yesterday that I absolutely LOVE!! I have never seen one like it. It is the height of a small footstool, but it's over 3 feet long. I'm going to strip it and put a camel color ticking on it and use it in front of the fire place for the kids to sit on. It was $14.
I found this hearth basket at a Church sale for $1. It was buried underneath a pile of purses and totes and I didn't spot it until my 4th or 5th time around. Now I have 2 of these. And the potato cupboard it is sitting on is a GW find from last week that I got for an aweseome price of $5.99. It will get a prim makeover.
And this little sled was $1 at the church sale. I still have lots more to share, but I need to take some more pics.
I'll leave you with a pic of Mason from earlier today. He is still nursing but wants to try all the food he sees us eat. Well, he saw his big brother eating an Oreo, and I gave in and gave him one. I think he got more on his face and clothes than he actually got in his mouth. Lesson learned, stick with Cherrios!!!

Have a lovely weekend,

Tiff

Sewing Room Glimpse...

Anyone who knows me, knows that my sewing room is usually a real disaster, I'm a very messy worker and don't tend to clean as I go. But on rare occasions(like today), I get the gumption to clean it up(at least so you can see the floor, just kidding, it's never that bad). My real problem is -- Practical vs Pretty -- . When I try to make a "pretty" sewing room, it loses all its function and I find it hard to work in, but it can be quite lovely to walk by ;) But when I go strictly for "practical" functioning sewing room, I can't stand to work in it because it is so ugly! You see my dilemma? Am I crazy? Ya, probably am, but that is another post :P

So here is what my sewing room looks like at the moment(and probably won't change until after the holidays). And for those of you who haven't read my blog for ages, my sewing room is right off the kitchen in our former dining room(never ate in there, it was just a wasted space). I put up the old farm screen door in the small doorway to the kitchen and then my dad built a beadboard wall in the large opening between the room and the front foyer(in the pics, that is the blue wall behind the roll top desk).

Welcome to my world....(or at least my little nook in it)....

I kept my "little golden books" and my Strawberry Shortcake dolls from when I was little, not so prim, but full of sweet memories.
Corner bookshelf with my collection of picnic baskets, they make for great storage too.
Opposite corner of shelving with my books and magazines, some select fabric(most of my fabric is in the basement at the moment), misc. stuff, and baskets on top full of yarn, rug hooking supplies, and future crafts.
Roll top desk that needs to be organized and turned into my office area(it's a work in progress). The wood sewing cabinet that is open on the top of it is from my grandmother and is full of vintage spools. The old looking radio was a recent church sale find for $1, and it works!(it's playing as I type). The corner unit is a "married" piece(dresser and shelf top) and I use it for storage and to hold more of my basket collection.
Where I sew. The two front windows look out to my garden and give me a view of the front yard. My sewing machine sits on an old treddle sewing machine that I topped off with the stove board that my dad made me(it was just too big to constantly remove every time I cooked, which is daily), it works perfect for my machine and gives me more space. My spools of thread sit on a reproduction spice rack and YES, that is a Dr. Pepper there, one of my pitfalls.
Mason's swing sits next to my sewing area, and next to that is my huge French laundry basket that I bought when we lived in Texas. It's huge and I absolutely love it. It's full of wool at the moment. And NO, it's not neatly folded, it's a complete mess from me digging through it(and that's not even all of it).
My embroidery hoops, I collect them and I'm not even sure why!
And last but not least, some things I'm working on...
Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into my work space. Any suggestions on how to make it functional but still appealing to the eye would be greatly appreciated.

Have a fantastic day,

Tiff

Awesome Shutterfly Promotion...

I know we all take digital pictures and everyone has their favorite spot to get them developed, but I wanted to let you know where I go... Shutterfly. In fact, I just used them in September to do my son's Senior pictures. Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a photo studio, I took some outdoor shots of my son, then went to Shutterfly, added some graphics(the ones I had printed said "Class of 2011" in the corner), and spent a grand total of $24.95!!! I did several different poses and printed off enough for family, his friends, and the yearbook staff. It was super easy and I saved a ton of money. Here is one of the photos we used...

This year, I plan on using Shutterfly for 3 photo books of my blogs(this one, my family blog, and Mason's first year blog). Since I'm not a scrapbooker, this will be a great new way to do family albums, and the work of pics and writing is already done, and Shutterfly takes care of the rest. I also plan on using them for my Christmas cards. The hardest part will be deciding on which cute card to choose from and then getting a good picture of the kids. I think I'm leaning towards the design above, but there are just so many great looking ones. Oh, and I almost forgot, you can do hang tags too, will have to add these to my list.

Now for the promotion..... Bloggers get 50 FREE Holiday Photo Cards, just go here to sign up. Like I said, the hardest part will be deciding which one you like best :)

Have a terrific day,

Tiff

Recent Projects and a Find...

Last month I decided we needed a new house number sign. I first thought about doing a painted quilt design, but after not finding something I liked, I went with creating my own penny rug design with paint. This will be my "Fall" sign, and I will change it out for the seasons, but keep the same number sign hanging below. Now I just need to work on the winter sign.

I have found a ton of stuff lately at church sales and goodwill, but this is absolutely one of my favorites. I got it at one of the local church sales for $12, more than I would normally pay for something, but I couldn't pass it up. It is quite old and the wood worn from lots of years of little children playing with it, but someone recently redid the woven seat and stool, so it is quite sturdy.
And Mason just adores it!
My oldest daughter had a birthday to go to and she asked me to make a present for the teenage girl. I ended up making this cute owl purse. The fabric was all pieced to form the patchwork look and then I made the owl applique for the front. I liked the purse so much I almost didn't want to give it away :) (But I had already put her name on the ribbon tag on the side of the bag).
It's a gloomy day here, so I plan on doing some crafting and getting my kitchen clean.

Have a wonderful day,

Tiff

Remember to Thank a Veteran...

My grandfather, my husband's father, and my husband all served our Country and I am very thankful for all of them and for all the men and women, past and present who served and who some gave their lives for ours and others freedom. So don't forget to thank a veteran today and say a pray for those who died and those still serving.

And Happy 10th Birthday to my dear son who is getting taller by the minute!

With love,

Tiff

New Quilt Shop in Town...

Let me introduce you to the new quilt shop in town.... Black Widow Weavers. My youngest daughter had a school project last month where she had to create a store with a spooky twist to it. She decided upon a quilt store. And yes, I am one of "those" parents who help(and I really enjoy it) their kids with big school projects.

We built the building from scratch(luckily I have a scroll saw), even cut the shingles on the roof, though we did buy the door and the windows.


We put plexi glass on the top so that middle schooler fingers wouldn't mess with the contents. And I must say, it was easy to cut and really worked out well.

We rolled fabric on cardboard for the bolts of material on the homemade shelves, made a cutting table in the middle, a quilt frame in the corner, and the ironing board was a goodwill find.
The torn wall paper is actually flocked scrapbook paper and the little quilts around the ceiling were printed from actual quilts we found on line.




We had so much fun working on this that we look forward to making a real doll house from scratch in the near future.

Have a great day,

Tiff

I'm back...

I really don't know where October went, it seemed to fly by. After being sick, we all recuperated, then projects, field trips, houseguests, birthdays, and life just seemed to happen and I didn't get back here to blog. I have so much to catch you all up on and pictures to share, I don't know where to start. Goodwill has been very good to me lately with furniture and small pieces. And my friend Sherrie's shop has also provided me with some neat treasures. I've been doing little tweaking and rearranging(hubby and I rearranged the whole family room on a whim one Saturday to make it more "Mason" proof) and working on some projects for me and a friend. My parents came to visit over Halloween(which is also my oldest son's birthday, he turned 17). My mom brought me a great chair and ottoman she no longer wanted and an old desk that she has had since I was 8 months old. I'm working on some wool items to sell and I made my mom a great snowman for her birthday. I know I'm rambling, but I have a whole month to share. I'll guess I'll just start with the chairs that I made slip covers for, for my dear friend.

She got two chairs from her mom that she was going to get reupholstered, but decided for now just to slip cover them. We bought white duck cloth on sale at Joann's and I sewed them for her over a 2 day period.

Here is the "before" of one of the chairs...

And here is the "after"... I let her iron them after she took them home because I really hate ironing, so yes, here they are quite wrinkly.

I think they turned out quite well, and at least she can use them now, and if they get dirty, she can just toss them in the washer with some bleach.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff