VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Displaying My Vintage Platters and Creamers!

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

Over the past week...I have been busy.....VERY BUSY!!!! I have not even had time to update my blog...and I really have lots to talk about and show you....hopefully, this next week I will catch up and post about a little home improvement project....today, you will get a sneak peek.

Over the weekend, with my husband out of town, my son and I did a little remodel work on my laundry room.....It has made a huge difference.....next week, I will show you the before shots...if I can work up the courage....and the rest of the project completed.......

I think I have mentioned a time or two that I collect vintage platters.........do you remember me saying that???

I would like you to see how I display them.(as always you can click on picture to make it larger) I purchased this handmade rack off of Craigslist a couple of years ago. The original owner said their father made it for them, no nails or screws, used dowels to assemble, and they did not want it anymore...unbelievable.. They told me it was fashioned from a vintage display rack they had seen in a movie...it has been shoved in my laundry room, and I have to say, not nicely displayed like it is now....

The paint color on the walls is new also, it is a nice vintage green/blue, very cool and calming....you know, you need a calming effect when you are tackling laundry!

On the wall behind the rack, I hung three of my recent finds. I think the two outer ones came from Goodwill and the middle one was a flea market find....I love the flowers...

I started to paint this very 1970's coffee mug rack, but so far, I have not touched it, I used it to display some of my creamers......


Here is another shot of the creamers on top of the rack and all my platters...well, not ALL of them.....but most! I love vintage platters and creamers and it took me a very LONG time to find a way to display them so I can enjoy them....and enjoying them....I finally am doing just that!!

Just look at all this goodness........makes my heart sing!!

This is the view from the hallway.....This rack fits perfectly after we removed some shelving that filled this space....it really fits like it was made for the spot...thanks to my son for all his hard work....he is such a sweet heart.....and he is single......just saying......

The basket is a laundry basket, but I have my clothes hangers stored in it and tucked under the rack out of the way........

Hope you enjoyed this little peek at a major undertaking that went on here this past weekend during my husbands trip to Colorado, boy will he be SHOCKED when he gets home....I will follow up next week with the rest of the story and more vintage goodies!!!!

Have a great week everyone and a wonderful first weekend of October....can you believe that???? Already.

The Final Beginners Quilting Class Post....

Last weekend was the quilt show...the show I entered my quilt in....it was an experience to say the least....but a good one....definitely a learning one....did not win a thing...but got constructive feedback on my quilt and that is what I really wanted.

Here is the label that was displayed on the quilt....made my heart smile and feel so proud to have set a goal and over the summer finished what I started out to do.

And here is my entry hanging at the show....I think it looks rather well. My quilt was entered in the largest category....I think there were over 65 quilts entered in the "machine pieced, large quilts" category........I did not win a thing...but I had no aspirations to do so. The comments from the judges were as polite as they could be...but let me say this....the only thing that was checked as "good" was the color choice...so I guess Leo knew what he was doing when he picked out the colors. Ha Ha. It was a real eye opener....

The binding was not as they wanted...and honestly, I was so proud of that part of the quilt for searching online for tutorials and figuring that part out myself...I think it looked great but evidently, the batting and fabric did not fill up the whole binding and well....lets just say the judges did not like that! It's OK...Hey, it's my quilt...and I doubt very seriously I will live another hundred years and it will serve me for my lifetime..what ever happens after that, I don't much think I will worry about it...that said, I know what to work on for the next quilt......

This is the quilt that won THE QUILT SHOW....the photo does not do it justice believe me....it is called "Bunnies running amok" It was beautiful...the quilting was as I had not seen and nothing like anything else in the show...very pretty... Be sure to click on the photo to make it larger to see the detail.....

Now, I have to share this story....so typical of me and my doings...when I dropped the quilt off for the show, I did not know exactly where to go...a lady wearing a quilting guild shirt said she would take the quilt to the front...gave her the quilt...done. Went to the show...saw the quilt.....went to pick up my quilt on Sunday....AND I DID NOT HAVE A CLAIM TICKET TO PICK THE QUILT UP.....seems the lady was supposed to give me one did not and well...can't pick the quilt up without it....WHAT?!?!?

Well, let me say this...my daughter was asking for the keys to the truck as she was sure there was going to be a scene and did not want to be witness to it...and quite frankly...I am a patient person, but this day....it was wearing thin. The lady did not want to give me my quilt, had to show ID...said I did not turn it in at the right place...asked if it was it displayed at the show?...on and on and on....informed me how um....more or less dumb I was to just hand it over...could have been stolen....on and on and on.....like I said before...I had no idea it was this SERIOUS......really. Finally, she gave me back my quilt. Good grief, what an ordeal....yep definitely a learning experience.....


I will say this....all the quilts I saw were taken to the show in PILLOW CASES......ugly pillow cases I might add....I may have a long way to go with my quilting skills but....my bag was the cutest one I saw....and for that...I was excited.....

Thanks for all your support in this quilting journey... I appreciate you following this adventure and all the mishaps along the way....it has really been a lot of fun for me and hopefully a bit entertaining for you as well......if by chance you missed the beginning of this story...just click QUILTING on my side bar if you would like to catch up on the story from the beginning.....or not!

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Vintage Cookbook....sweet!

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

This week, I want to share a cookbook I found at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I love vintage cookbooks. This one was nestled among lots of old books, none being cookbooks, so I was really excited to spot this one....I had to have it.....for more than one reason....


The title alone intrigued me, look at the cute little cover. The front cover has come detached from the book, I plan to try and find someplace locally that can rebind the cover to the book. I really love this little cookbook. But to me, the magic was when I opened up the book......

This is the inscription inside the front cover of the book. Harvey, you made my heart melt a bit at reading the sweet words written for your wife long ago. I CAN NOT imagine the family would not have kept this....but it has a wonderful home in my kitchen, and I love this book......

The newspaper clippings were there when I purchased it, I am sure holding the place of wonderful recipes that were either tried out or waiting to test, of course, I looked at all of these pages first thing....

There were two full pages for ice cream toppings......so sweet were the pages....


Now, here is a recipe for the upcoming holidays. It is so interesting to me to read the ingredients on recipes printed long ago compared to recipes in a more modern book.


Here is a good one...Parker House Rolls.....YUMMY!


There is even a whole section dedicated to feeding the baby..... Please notice every infant should receive Cod Liver oil..... well, I missed that part when my two were infants...maybe that is what is wrong with them today.....joking of course....they are great and survived my lack of mothering skills.......only the strong survive, I tell ya'.

I especially thought this was interesting and really pretty informative...I usually try and guess, but here the work is done for you.....no problems now knowing how much to serve if you are cooking for 40 people!

Yes, I have a thing for vintage cookbooks, and this one is really a new favorite of mine....I am just beginning to discover all the wonderful recipes inside the books covers.

Have a great week everyone.....

A Simple Sunday Thought......

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
-unknown

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: An Unusual Collection...

***First, I would like to thank everyone for their kind comments on yesterday's post...while I was in the midst of a pity party.

Some of you really helped put things in prospective for me, and I wanted to say thank you! I am not saying I feel any better...yet....but hopefully I will. Honestly, I find it so hard to believe one thing could disrupt my thought process so much and stir up all these hurtful feelings....talk about PMS on steroids....that is just how I feel....

I had to take my own advice and go back and reread the post I had up for Sunday...In fact, I printed it out to keep it in eye shot for a while....man, I tell you I have had a struggle.....but enough of that....you know what time it is....right???

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

This week, I have a some recent finds that I could not pass up. I know lots of people collect salt and pepper shakers. Well, when I found these lonely salt OR pepper shakers without their match, I felt sorta sorry for them and took them home.

These three are sitting on a shelf in my hallway, they looked lonely without their match, but now have friends to hang out with......sorta like the Island of Misfit Toys.......

This little pig was found at a garage sale....a bargain for 50 cents.

This little lamb was sitting on a table at the Catholic Schools Garage sale this past weekend, he was only 10 cents. He is rather heavy for a salt or pepper shaker and the texture of the china is more like ironstone. I am sure this is a very vintage piece.

Here is the underneath side and the markings on this little guy.

This sweet little elephant was found at goodwill. I think I might have paid a dollar for it. I just thought it was the sweetest thing.

I love the colors, pink and purple......

This one is stamped Japan on the bottom and still has its original cork bottom.

Now, this is really a strange thing to collect, and I only really have three of them...so does that mean I have a collection? I don't know, but I could not pass them up when I spotted them all alone. They now have a good home among friends........yea, I guess I do have a problem.......

Have a great week everyone........if you are new to Vintage Thingies Thursday....link in and show off your treasures.......

Facebook Made Me Cry..............

I very seldom write about my deep feelings on things....I mean, I do a lot of rambling..but never on a serious subject. I guess because I keep most of my thoughts and feelings to myself...things that are personal. But I decided I wanted to write about something that has really stirred up a bunch of emotions this past week for me.


The cause of all of this??.....Facebook......now I am sure most of you will think I am really silly, and I am sure I am being silly...but I had no idea when I signed up for Facebook what emotions it would stir up....long forgotten things.....things I had hid away rather well for nearly 30 years.

The first day, I had a flood of friend request, request from people I had not seen or heard from in years....YEARS. I was a little taken back. It did not take long for my best friend in High School to send a friend request and a note about long time...no see.... I did not respond for a few days...why? I have no idea....I really have no idea.

Well, she sent another request for a friend add, nothing from me. I think now, all of these years when she was not in my life, I told myself that was fine with me. I figured she knew where I lived, my address and I never heard from her. I knew she remarried and I did not know where she was or even her last name....(my excuse is lame I know) I felt like shame on me and shame on her for letting so much time pass between us, and in an instant here we were, and I felt like a deer in the headlights. I know I was really taking this facebook thing all out of proportion. I let old hurts cause this to be more than what it really was I think.

Well, this morning, I added her, she sent a long message, I sat and replied...and then just cried my eyes out.... I sent another message after the first one that said, "You know, I have missed you all of these years....really missed you" and I then logged off and cried some more, I do not have the courage right now to read the response if there is one.

This is the kind of tears I hate to cry...tears of years lost and can never get back, tears for missing out on the important things in your old friends' life, tears for them missing out on mine, tears for just missing that person, tears for feeling for years you did not matter enough to your friend to maintain a friendship that was once special. I know now, this is what I was afraid of, these feelings coming out of their hiding place, feelings I had locked away for years. Being able to tell yourself all these years it did not matter, and then, all of a sudden, like being hit by a freight train....knowing it did matter.....very much......

It almost feels like someone turned a key, and unlocked what has been missing all this time...it is very scary to me...wondering how to proceed from here. Nothing may change....everything may.....

*Sigh* I needed to say this.....even if it is for myself to reread and then think about it.

~On a lighter note, the one thing Facebook did provide is a feeling of gratefulness.... I saw a picture of an old Boyfriend...Oh, My Gosh...he looked awful! And the first thing out of my mouth was "Thank you, God"....not because of seeing him, but of being glad I did not marry him.....I am thankful God sent my husband....Sorta reminds me of the song by Garth Brooks...."Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers"

Thanks for letting me vent.......and I must say...you guys who are my blogging buddies and now Facebook friends....I am happy to have you on my friends list, you bring so much to my life, you really have no idea!!!

Tagged, Sealed and Almost Delivered

The Trinity Valley Quilt show is this coming weekend and I know you guys remember me being rather bold and brave to enter my quilt in the show. Strictly for fun, and I am really looking forward to seeing all the amazing talented quilters and their quilts this weekend.

A requirement for dropping off your quilt for the show is that it has to be in a cloth bag and labeled with the quilt name and owners name. I really did not know what to make for a cloth bag. I searched on the Internet for some samples, but did not come up with much...so I did what most people would have done....made up my own design.

What do you think? I had the white fabric, it was from an estate sale and it is a heavy weight cotton. Out of my scrap bin, found some of the fabric that was used in the quilt itself and added it.....just because I thought it made a nice touch.

I was going to add a vintage button to close the flap, because you know how I like vintage things..but it just was not working. I did however, find my button maker kit and used the same fabric for the button....Oh....I love it.....this time, vintage just did not do.

Here is the quilt, nicely folded, and just peeking out from inside the bag.

And here is my label. I stitched this in the side seam of the bag, no chance of the label getting lost that way. So here is the signed part....label intact.

And here is the sealed part......now, all I have to do is deliver on Thursday morning and I am done. The awards are Friday morning at 9:00 am. The show starts on Friday morning at 10:00 am. I am going to go to the awards, not with the assumption I am going to win anything, but......... that I may never do this again, and want the whole experience. The whole She-bang.

I can not wait until Saturday, that is when we will go and really look at all the quilts on display. It should be fun. Don't worry, I will finish posting about this quilt with a recap of the quilt show.....lots of pictures....because it is so fun looking at other peoples works of art.......

I Would Like a Cup of Coffee...Please

A friend sent me this in an email today, and I usually just delete forwards, but this one spoke to me and had me thinking about myself, and in a not so positive light, I might add. If I am honest here, and I strive to be, I found myself falling into two of the three categories more often than not.

Unfortunately, circumstances in my life certainly have given cause for me to wilt and crumble or resolve to be hard as a cooked egg....but that is not really how we would chose to live if truth be told. I hope this message finds its way to all who needs to read it...it really has turned on the light bulb for me this morning.....what will you strive to be?


A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Bear Planters

Regarding the disappearing Vintage Thingie Thursday Button:

It is my conclusion that the problem many of you are having with the Vintage Thingie Thursday button disappearing from your blog is the same problem I have had. I think that the reason that is happening is because it is the original button used by the original hostess of this wonderful weekly event and for some reason, I think the image was deleted from the Apron Queen's hosting site.....Thus....the disappearing button.

To rectify that:
1. Save the image on this post to your computer.
2. Go to your add page layout page and click on the sidebar Add Gadget. 3. scroll down to where you see add picture, click on that. Now select the image from you computer to download. Now, add my blog link in the link window and click save.
That should correct the problem, and the photo should show up and link back to my blog. Sorry for the confusion on this, it has taken me a while to get this sorted out to work again.

If you are new and would like to participate in VTT, the clear instructions are posted at the end of this post this week. We would love to have you join us.

This week, I would like to show you my vintage bear planters. You know I love bears and I also have several vintage planters, these are just the ones that have bears as a theme.

I just love this little Davey Crockett guy hunting for a bear, and the bear has him fooled and is hiding....this is a eBay purchase several years ago...I just love it.

These two are showing little black bears. I like the one with the bee on his nose from stealing honey.......

This happy little bear enjoys laying inside a felled log......look how happy he looks.

I really think this one is so cute, shows the back side and the head of the bear as he climbs in a log, this one is one of my favorites.

This is another happy little bear. I think this one was a eBay purchase too, and if memory serves me correctly, I think I paid about $15.00 for this one. I thought it was unusual and loved the little cub on top of the log.

This is the marking on the bottom of the last planter, none of the other bear planters have markings on them.

Hope you enjoyed these little planters to day. If you would like to participate in today's event, please follow the guidelines below!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

Have a great weekend everyone.....don't forget to visit all the other Vintage Thingie Participants and see what great vintage treasures are on display today.

It's Now a Three Ring Circus Around Here!!!!!

This has been a very busy weekend. Along with having lots to do, we also had a little bit of a three ring circus around our house with the welcome of a new family member.....

In center ring....let me introduce to you "Bailey" an eight week old Long-haired mini- dachshund. Yep, that is right....we added one more to the mix. I can almost hear my family members yelling...."Oh, no!!! Are you crazy?!?" yep, believe me that is what they are saying...and if you listen closely, I am sure you will be able to hear them screaming too. Sorry, guys...we did it, and we are excited about her....at least most of us are!

These two however....not so much! This was the look when we carried this little pup into the house. You see they are used to being in the center ring, and I was really worried how they would react. Sophie, was her usual self....she wanted to show this new little bit of a pup who ran this household right off the bat. I fully expected Dora to raise the most ruckus over her, but she surprised me, she really was pretty good.

Funny thing is, this little bit of a pup held her own, she snarled, barked and showed what little teeth she has to Sophie right off the bat, of course, size got the best of her, but she held her own. She was not taken aback by Sophie and Dora's attempt of gaining top dog status right off the bat. Poor Dora did not know what to think of that.....bless her heart.

Really, this was not my idea.....and I am sure you find that hard to believe. I was so worried over how Dora might react, because she is the one who demands center stage and all of the attention. I was afraid she would not do well at all with a new pup. Steve is the one who really said " You better get her " at first, my reaction was " What? " But you can see it did not take much for me to agree....no, not much at all.

Bailey made her debut into our home on Saturday, we got her from Canton Trade Days...the same place we purchased Sophie and Dora. It took a little bit of time, but she settled in quiet nicely.

Nothing sweeter than puppy tummies when they are in deep sleep, worn out from all the excitement.....and just look at those little paws.

You can see the look still, on Sophie's face, almost as if she is saying...I'll be nice, but I don't have to be excited about it. Poor Soph.....it will just take her a bit.......I keep telling her she is still number one...but she is not buying it at the moment.

But Dora on the other hand, bless her little heart....she has been the sweetest thing. She almost has taken on a mother roll, and I would have never thought that was possible due to her temperament. Dora really has surprised us all.......

I guess the tales now will not longer be from the "twin girls" but now will have to be tales from the "triple sisters"...........like I said.....it has been a three ring circus......but oh, so much fun!!

Are you listening for my family members screams??? The are there....just listen!!! You see, not every member of our family has the same affection for dogs the way we do....we can not imagine life without them, they are family and we love each and every one of them......and unfortunately, one is just not enough......