Linens & Lavender

I'm a sucker for vintage linens.  Are you?  The graphics on vintage tablecloths make my heart skip a beat!  I am drawn to their gorgeous colors and beautiful patterns.  The same for vintage sheets... I love to feel their softness.  Oh, and hankies!  I am saving my favorite full color pieces to make curtains for my junk room.  Can't wait till I have enough to make even one curtain!  What about those amazing embroidered linens that can be found around here a dime a dozen.  So very sad.  I salvage ALL the ones I come across.  I try my best to clean them but if the stains just won't come out or the piece is beyond repair, then I make little lavender sachets out of them.

I had a pile of white linens that I washed but the stains did not come out.  So I put them in a tub of hot water and bleach.  I let it set overnight, stirring every 4-5 hours.  The next day I dumped it out and let them soak in a tub of hot water only, stirring every 4-5 hours.  I was amazed at how pure white they all were!  Every single piece came out clean.

I separated the plain linens from the ones with a design.  The linens with even a little design will go into the booths.  But the plain linens got a little dressed up before they went to the booths.  With lavender.  And twine.

Simple, yet elegant.  

This spring loving girl is ready for all the pretty flowers!  I was shocked to see our Daylilies already trying to push through.  I discovered these on January 8... at least one month early as we normally find shoots at the beginning of February.  We've had a warm winter this year so I'm guessing these babies are confused that we haven't had much frost yet.  I hope they survive through the rest of winter.

I hope I can survive the rest of the winter. 😂  These old bones and arthritis are ready for Spring also.  It's our favorite time of the year! Stay warm and cozy, have a wonderful weekend~ 

Booth Garland

I'll admit... I've been wanting to make a garland for me for years.  I have not made the time for it.  When I realized the almost 3 feet of space at the top of my booth was going to drive me crazy, I decided now is the best time for that garland.  So I got started.

My booth is 8 feet long.  I cut a piece of twine 12 feet long so I would have a 2 foot tie and overhang on each side.  Since our daughter is away at college, I used her room to hang it in and just work on it when I felt like it.  I didn't want to rush it... I wanted to enjoy the process and pick out each piece.  I wanted the pieces long so I shot for 28"... but some are 26", some are 32", and that's ok.  That's what gives it character.

It took a few months but I finally finished it recently and took it to my booth for a little renovation.  Our church was throwing away this awesome brick backboard that they used for a Christmas backdrop.  So I climbed in the dumpster and salvaged it. 😂 I screwed it right over the existing pegboard.  Two pieces and it fit perfectly.  

I then hung the garland on nails that I nailed into the 2x4's that the pegboard was attached to.  So quick, easy, and painless.

Since I already had an extension cord at the top, all I had to do was plug in the 100 count white cord light set.  Hung my sign back up and I finally have a nice backdrop for my booth... even though I did love the shade of sage green that it was painted.

A fellow vendor asked if I was going to sell this and make another when it sells.  No.  Not this time.  I'm going to keep this one.

This little beauty is full of love and all the types of embellishments that I cherish... lace, velvet, twine, rick rack, seam binding, muslin, homespun, burlap, and daisies. 😍

Now that I'm finally satisfied with the one and only wall of my booth, it's time to focus on the goods.  I'm chalk painting some pieces and crafting with beautiful spring flowers.  Can't wait to add them to this booth.  I have so much fun playing!

Blue Snowman Tree

I've always loved collecting snowmen more than santa.  I had so many that I decided to use a 7' slim pine tree for only snowmen ornaments... and only blue at that!  No red. No green.  Only blue.

It was fun to put together.  I can remember how old this tree is because I put my youngest son's baby picture in a frame ornament, that first year that I decorated it.  He is 14 now... 

Most items came from my 20 years of working at Hobby Lobby... including the tree itself.  Even though it's full, I still look around every year for a blue snowman ornament to add to it.  Most years I don't find anything but every once in awhile I am surprised =]  The white SNOW word ornament was found at Dollar General last year.

It looks so pretty at the bottom of the stairwell.  I just love how it lights up that corner of our entryway.  Of course, having my husband's Grandma's mirror to reflect the lights really makes it pretty.

We didn't get our snow last weekend. Well it covered the ground then disappeared as fast as it came.  That's okay, I'm ready to move on to my favorite season.... can't wait for Spring to arrive!!  But in the meantime, I'll just enjoy my little winter tree until I get tired of seeing snowmen, hehehe~

Stay warm and dry wherever you are.  I hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year.  I am so enjoying blogland again... it's great to be back. =]

Winter Cardinal Tree

We don't like dark and dreary winters around here... so we keep a couple of Christmas trees out through the winter, or until it starts to thaw out and warm up a little.

The cardinal tree was born out of my love of watching the beautiful cardinals, especially the bright red males, in the winter branches.  We only have a couple of feeders but we can have 12-15 male and female cardinals at a time!  It's such a beautiful sight.

I bought this 7.5 ft Mixed Pine Tree with snowy branches, pine cones, and red berries back in 2008.  The lights didn't work and I got it for 80% off... can't beat that!  But I spent two full days snipping off the clips that were holding the lights on each and every 1,266 branch!  Now it is worth it but at the time I was ready to trash the tree.  😖  We've enjoyed her for the past 12 years.  

I only have gloss and matte red glass balls and cardinal ornaments on this tree.  Nothing else.  It's rather simple, but I like it that way.

Every year I buy 1 cardinal ornament for it.  This year got away from me and I didn't think of it.  Thankfully a sweet friend must have known... as she painted this cute ornament for us!  How precious is that?!

It's so nice to have the overhead lights off and only the glow of the Christmas tree, along with the lights on the mantel and hutch.  It makes this cold, rainy, dreary day feel so warm and cozy!  We're supposed to get a little snow tomorrow... our first of the season.  I hope we do!  Be safe and stay warm in this winter weather~

Winter Wonderland Mantel

We are not having Winter Wonderland weather... but that's okay with me.  We have been getting up to the 50's every day with nice sunshine.  I like that kind of winter weather 😂  All the Christmas is finally put away.  I did a heavy clean in the house, then I pulled out the snowmen and winter decor.  

I know there are many that deal with winter depression.  If that is you, I am so sorry that you have this issue.  I am most definitely not a fan of the cold but I do enjoy a nice warm fire in the fireplace, my nightly hot tea, curling up on the couch with my old man miniature schnauzer and doing a puzzle on my iPad, or picking up the cross stitch bag that I keep near the fireplace for winter boredom.

I used to be like my Grandma Smith and decorate for every holiday and season... well except for St. Patrick's Day.  I never understood why she decorated for a holiday we didn't even celebrate and we aren't Irish, lol!  But she just loved to deck out her home no matter when it was.  I don't know how she kept it up till the day she passed away at 82.

I've done well following in her footsteps... up until last year.  It was the first year that I did not decorate for Valentine's Day.  Instead I've been sending all the hearts to the booth.  It's actually fun to see that my once beloved pieces are now new treasures to someone that will hopefully love them as much as I once did.

Even though I'm not a winter loving person, I do still love to decorate my home for winter... the cute little snowmen... I even have a 7' blue snowman slim pine Christmas tree that I keep out all winter.  Another Christmas tree that stays out all winter is the full size 7.5' snowy pine with red berries and pine cones, decorated in red glass balls and cardinals.  We do love our Christmas trees longer than just for Christmas! 😁

I do believe that keeping the twinkling lights and "Christmas spirit" alive well into winter helps keep our mentality in check.  Aside from moving South for the winter, we have no choice but to push through those winter doldrums.  Having the glow of the lights from the trees, the mantel, the hutch, the cabinets, brightens our long winter nights and helps to lift our spirits... you can't help but smile.

One of my favorite things to do in winter is work on my homestead goals for the year.  I mean really... do we ever come to a point where our home is complete?  Finished?  No more changing anything??  There is always some things that we want different.  For 2019, I painted the main bathroom, dining room, coat closet, and entry... along with a corner cabinet and 7-pc dining room set that I bought from my booth earnings!  The laundry room was on that list but I didn't quite make it so I started on it right after Christmas.  Needless to say that completing the laundry room is at the top of my 2020 homestead goals.  I plan to work on the family room right after and have it completed by the end of spring.  Then I will move on to the living room.  Because I spend so much of my spring and summer outside working in the yard, I hope to have the living room complete by fall... it's a pretty big room with such a humongous ceiling 😩 Ok yes it's the same size as the room, but when you're on a ladder painting a ceiling, it feels like it's twice the size of the room, ugh.  It's always worth it in the end but during... not so much, haha!

As my Grandma Goins always said... Lord willing, I hope to accomplish my 2020 homestead goals.  Because that means the main level will be completely renovated.  Please share with me... what are your homestead goals for 2020?  I really want to know!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week as we go into this new year~