A Fun Treasure Hunting Week-end

I don't know what I'm going to do once my #1 goes back to work. I can keep him so busy. Either going to estate sales, fixing furniture, cooking etc... Boy, am I going to get a rude awakening! But until then, we will have a lot of fun!

I had a great week-end of shopping. I missed not being out last week, and boy, were there a lot of sales last week. So, this week-end I made up for it. We went out Friday morning, hit an auction that evening and then went saling again the next day. I always end up putting many of my things away, before I ever think about taking pictures of them, but here are a few items I still had out.

Here is a wonderful dress form I found this week-end. I haven't ever seen one quite like her. She's a keeper, but that means I will have to let go of one I already have. My son thinks I'm starting to collect these and thinks it's kind of creepy. What a funny guy!

I thought this little porcelain bird was sweet and he seemed to find a wonderful place to land.

I was able to pick up a few pieces of furniture also. Riley always thinks he needs to test each piece.

And last, I had my parents over for dinner last night, celebrating my father's birthday. #1 cooked an authentic German feast with sauerbratten, red potatoes and ginger gravy, asparagus spears with hollandaise sause, and sauteed mushrooms. It was good! "He's da best!" Mom brought me a beautiful bouquet of dahlias from their wonderful yard which is full of flowers and vegetables. Well, I think I benefited from their visit as I filled up my ice bucket with lot of pretty flowers. Don't flowers just brighten up a place. She also made me Russian Teacakes, my favorite! They must be my families favorite too as they are disappearing rather quickly.

Thanks for stopping by! I always love hearing from you!

A Sweet Gift From A Friend

In this little post I wanted to share with you a gift I received from my dear friend Vicki. She has been a blessing to me with her encouragement, ideas and knowledge. Her sweet and generous spirit makes being friends with her a treat.

One day last week she came to the house to drop off a birthday gift. When I opened it, it was a beautiful album she had created. In it were various photographs of many of my own creations. She did all of the photography and I thought the pictures were so great I wanted to share them. Here are a few of the images she took.

Didn't she do a great job! This is an album that she gave me so I can add more photos of more projects I do in the future. I appreciate the time it took for her to make this. It is a treasure!

Be sure to visit Vickie and her business partner Beth at Gossamer Designs and see how they use all their fabulous talents. You can purchase some of their things on Etsy too.

Detroit Lake

Well, it's nice to be home! We had a wonderful time camping last week. Every year in July my family and I go to Detroit Lake where we spend time with my extended family which consists of my #1 and son plus my parents, my sister, her husband, their kids, neices, nephews, cousins etc... I think you get the picture. We have a large group. The kids and adults enjoy getting out in the water, tubing, skiing etc...

It is so warm and nice during this time of the year. I love to lay in the sun and relax. I usually burn but this year I did a little better, just a little pink.

There are always a bunch of ducks and geese looking for food. The kids have a fun time feeding them stale bread.

#1 enjoys the time to get away from the crowds and do a little "catch and release" fishing in one of the nearby creeks.

Every year my cousin and her husband plan a special game for the kids. Ususally it's something like "The Great Race". They team up and then go from campsite to campsite competing in different events. One year our campsite was "Germany". One person on the team had to eat a dixie cup full of sour krout before they could receive their next envelope. It was so fun to watch! It surprised me how many teenagers couldn't down a cup of krout without an involuntary gag reflex kicking in.

Well, this year the games took on a different flair. It was the Olympics. The kids and adults had a great time. There was an apple eating contest (no hands!), bubblegum blowing contest( that entailed a premature trip to the orthodontist when we got home as the gum was frozen). There were many other events also. My cousin and her husband put so much time and preperations into these events that the kids look forward to them year after year.

Another thing the ladies did was a baby shower. One of my nieces will be having her first baby in November and this was the perfect time, with family together, to throw a shower.

Since I was the one giving the shower, I had to think ahead on things I might need while out there. So I'll end this post with a project I did right before I left on our trip. You never know when inspiration will hit! That morning I ran to the Dollar Tree for some materials. I don't know about you, but I love the Dollar Tree! This project only cost me about $2.00. I ended up collecting a few little journal books and some embelishments. I have a big stash of vintage baby cards and those are always fun to use.

I wanted to create a book she could take to each baby shower. I had each person write their name and address, with a little piece of motherly advice in it plus whatever the gift was that they got her. It was a lot of fun to make.

Hope your summer is going GREAT!

And the winner is....

Wow, what a week! We had such a good time camping with family. It's always good to get together, relax and enjoy each other. I took lots of pictures so I'll share those with you in my next blog.

Now on to bigger and better things. I want to give a BIG "Thank You" to everyone who left a comment this week. I wish I could give each of you a gift as you all deserve it! Be assured though that I will have more "Giveaways" in the future, as it is a lot of fun!

But, for my first "Giveaway" the winner is "Bristol" yeah, congratulations! If you will send me an email with your name and address I'll get this necklace off to you.

Thank you for stopping by!

Camping!

Well, I'm off for a little R&R. My family and I will be doing a little camping. We will be gone for a few days, then back for a little bit, then off again. The lake we will be going to is just beautiful. The kids have so much fun swimming and biking. And there is even full bathroom facilities with SHOWERS and ELECTRICITY. If I'm going to be tent camping then this is the way to go! I'll show you pictures when I return.

I thought it would be fun to leave you with a "Giveaway". I love making these vintage necklaces. Each one is made using vintage pieces of jewelry that I've collected. For every comment left (one per person) your name will be entered in a drawing. This "Giveaway" will end Sunday evening(July 20) at 7:00pm. Be sure to come back Monday to see if you have won!

In the meantime, scrole down, way down, and have fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Talk soon!

A Beautiful Day to Garden!

Today was just beautiful. The temperature was 80 degrees with a gentle breeze. It was a perfect day to get outside and do a little gardening.

I started out my morning painting. That was probably my inspiration to plant a few flowers, pull a few weeds and do a little clean up. I gave both my front and side doors a fresh coat of green paint. Boy there is nothing like a fresh coat of paint on a heavily used door. After planting a few plants around my front porch I headed out to buy a few more. While out looking I found this pretty Salvia, called Hot Lips the flowers are so tiny and sweet.

The other one I bought was Heliotropium, Fragrant Delight As well as pretty this flower has a strong fragrant smell, hence the name.

Both of these flowers take the sunshine and since my front yard gets hit hard, these should be perfect.

Now onto a few projects my #1 and I have been working on. The other day while out junking we picked up a cabinet for $5.00. It needed a lot of TLC, but I just knew my #1 would be up for the challenge!

I picked up another cabinet yesterday that my hubby is calling "firewood". Boy, I've got to change his way of thinking, it's going to make a great cabinet! I'll show you that another day.

This cabinet was missing all of its drawers but I visualized great things. So with a bit of old molding, a new shelf, and a top, here is the finished project. I think it turned out pretty nice. This will be a great piece to use for the Christmas show at Monticello this December.

I've been collecting some old bottles hoping to try my hand at soldering tops with crystal on them. Here is my first attempt. It was a lot harder then I thought it would be, but it was fun.

Oh yes, this little crown was a Goodwill find. It was a "nothing piece" that my #1 knew he could make into a crown, and he did! I just love it!

Thank you for stopping by to see what I've been up too.

It's Monday!

I had big plans today to do a little sewing but those plans disappeared. Instead I did a little shopping. Kohls had a pretty good sale so I ended up buying a few things there. I love to shop Goodwill and that doesn't mean just for vintage items. It also means clothing. Mr. Riley loves Goodwill also, the bags make such wonderful beds. I was able to pick up a Hollister hoodie at half off. It'll be perfect for bumming around or camping. Since we are heading out next week for our annual camping trip, it was perfect!

I didn't get many pictures this week-end of the few things I purchased. There weren't many sales listed this week, probably because of the holiday. Anyway, I thought I'd show you a few pictures of things I have purchased in the past and as silly as it seems, they make my heart skip a beat when I find them.

I love finding old Bingo games, especially the games with the old black and cream cards. I have picked up a variety of colors and they are great to use on different projects.

These old cat show ribbons were a fun find. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them but the colors were so pretty and well, you know!

Lastly, here is a beautiful vintage coat I picked up this week-end. I just love it! It might have to stay at my house for a little bit, awaiting Fall.

Thanks for stopping by!

* * * * * * * * * Happy 4th of July! * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, I need your thoughts on this, can you tell me what this is?

This opens up and the inside can be lifted out.

On each end there is a head of a man. There is pretty detail work on the top.

My #1 thinks it might be an ashtray. Me, I don't know, I just liked the patina and the look about it.

I'm sure it's worth millions! You know, one of those Goodwill purchases that ends up to be "big bucks". (o:

I went back to the shop yesterday to take a picture of the window. The pictures didn't turn out very great, but here are a couple for you to look at.

As you can see (or can't see)it was hard to take a picture with the reflection of the window.

A Day On The Water!

Yesterday was the highly anticipated boat trip, kind of like her maiden voyage, at least for me. I was a little apprehensive about going out, I just wanted to make sure we were coming back! I am happy to report, the boat ran great and we had a good time. I think we may take her out again this week. And this time do a little fishing, maybe even bring home a sturgeon!

Here is a happy teen-ager at the wheel of the boat, life couldn't get any better!

#1 enjoying the scenery, but secretly wishing he would have brought his fishing rod!

Here is sweet "Oreo" enjoying the ride!

Today was a busy day at Monticello . We rented the front window at the shop so we were busy setting that up. My #1 worked so hard, I tell you it helps to have a man around the house, fixing, loading etc... I forgot to take the camera so no pictures today. It was a lot of fun to do but now the house looks like a cyclone came through. I should be cleaning but....

While there I met Braeda what a sweetie, she has a booth at Monticello and a fun blog to read, be sure to check her out!

I'll end this post with pictures of a few wedding toppers I picked up this week-end. They somehow ended up in my collection!