Winter Wonderland

As a birthday treat to myself Tuesday, I took a class at My Heart's Fancy.  Lisa Bruno taught a Winter Wonderland box class - so cute, and in turquoise and green, which are our Christmas colors this year.  Yes, that is a lighted lantern inside, from Tim Holtz. The photo definitely doesn't do this piece justice.  It's very glittery and magical and will be a new favorite for sure.

I've been working on some embellished burlap hearts commissioned by a friend and will show those soon, along with the Twelve Days of Christmas matchbox ornament swap.  Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving and Fall Decor

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!  We celebrated last Sunday with my family, and hosted the DH's family this year on Thanksgiving Day - twenty-seven of us in all, including two beautiful baby girls born just this month! This is nephew Ryan on the left with wife Laura and baby Sarah Elizabeth, and niece Kimberly on the right with husband Robert and baby Autumn Jocelyn.  Cute couples and cute babies!

I wanted something fun for the mantel since we were having guests, so I used my new Cricut Ribbons and Rosette's cartridge to make a garland.  It's a bit annoying that you have to make four pieces for each rosette and glue them together, and it's annoying that you can't make just a very plain rosette.  But the number of amazingly cute rosettes and borders you are able to create makes up for both of those little issues.  Add to that the fact that I got it for less than half price at Michael's with a rare sale/coupon combo opportunity, and what's not to love about that?

I sewed burlap to cardboard to make four pennants, and then made four rosettes with the Cricut. I cut out little doily-like pieces for the centers, and added buttons and leaves.

I intended to put FALL on the pennants, but I liked the rosettes so much I changed my mind!

While I had all my fall paper out I decided to make a few tags.  The little turkey was a recent estate sale find.

I think the tag below is my favorite, because of all the handwork. I love combination of rick rack and crochet in the edging, along with the tiny tatted lace and doily. None of the handwork is mine, of course - it's all from estate sales.

Now to pack all this away until next year, and haul out the Christmas decorations! 

Buttons

I planned to skip the estate sales and stay home last Friday to work on my Etsy shop and prepare for Thanksgiving. Apparently my resolve wasn't strong because I couldn't resist checking Craigslist. There was a sale listed with a photo showing a table full of vintage Christmas lights, ornaments, and other goodies, so off I went. It was only 30 miles away - only.

I'll share more later - I bought quite a bit on Friday and the DH and I went back on Saturday - but for now I wanted to share the buttons. There was an old Tupperware canister about three-quarters full of buttons, but it was priced higher than I'd ever paid for a jar of buttons.  I could see a few in the container that were vintage, so I asked and got the lot for almost half price.  There were quite a few basic shirt buttons and newer buttons, and lots of those little envelopes and plastic bags that come attached to clothing and contain the extra buttons. When I started going through the jar, there was so much more than I had thought. Most of these were hidden by all those other things.

Aren't all the colors wonderful?  These are all high quality buttons, and probably from the 1950s to 1970s. The woman who had lived in the home was a seamstress, and had nice fabrics and trims also.

I'm sure I'll be listing some of the buttons on Etsy as I can't keep all of them - I already have about ten jars - but I plan to keep some and gift some. 

Leslie, if you see this, thank you again!  You put on a great first sale, and were working hard for the person who hired you, but also to make it a good sale for the shoppers.

For the Love of Horses

My wonderful friend Terry LOVES horses.  She even had an opportunity to spend a week in France with daily horseback riding sessions, so when I spotted a vintage hankie appliqued with a beautiful horse head I immediately snatched it up with her in mind.  At first I intended to just give her the hankie, but hankies tend to get placed in a drawer and are seldom displayed (I know this from personal experience, of course!), so I tried to think of something else.  After the Creative Wings prize ribbon swap (see here and here) I knew just what I wanted to do.  I found some nice blue ribbon and other bits of trim, and came up with something I thought she might be happy to display in her studio.

The detail of the applique is rather amazing.

This blue isn't a color I create with often (strange, because blue is my favorite) so while I had things out, I made Terry a couple of tags with some vintage photos and wallpaper, and added a tag with some vintage trim I found recently.  Sorry for the poor quality photo. I finished up late one night and wanted to get it packed up to mail the next morning.

All of this was sent as her birthday gift (late, as usual.)  She received it today - and loves it - so it's safe to show.

I'll have a swap to share soon, and more estate sale finds.

Gotta Love Fall, Ya'll!

Fall is my favorite season, by far, and this one has been particularly nice. I love the leaves, the pumpkins, even the outdated country-style wreath on our porch. I love that the dogs get frisky, and the geese are honking overhead.

We've had lots of beautiful warm days with bright blue skies, and evenings just cool enough to let you know winter is most likely on the way. It's usually much cooler here by November, but it could stay this way year round and I'd be happy.

Our Bradford Pear tree was damaged during an ice storm several years ago, but it's still hanging in there and putting on a show every fall.

I've had the windows open and music playing, and there has been crafting going on.  I'll have a few things to show, as soon as they reach their intended recipients.

Hope you're having a beautiful fall wherever you are!