Sunday, May 18, 2008

Show and Tell Sunday...Vintage Linens

I have never participated in Analise's "Show and Tell Sunday" before, just enjoyed browsing blogs of those who did.... But after seeing Cerri's post that she was hostessing this week's theme: Vintage Linens... I so wanted to share... For sentimental reasons (I've been feeling sentimental lately...) As well as, sharing the bargains I got at an estate sale on Friday. So here we go!....

These linens come from my husband's grandmother (or"Gran-gra"as she was also known by). She was the sweetest lady eva! I love(d) her so much... From day one, when meeting her for the first time- I knew I was in for a wonderful Swedish treat! She had the best gingerbread cookies, baked like there was no tomorrow, and ALWAYS had her house open to anyone... She had a guest book for her guests to sign each time they came to visit... And EVERYONE would sign- down to the youngest visitor! I thought it was the neatest thing. I said I would always do that, but sadly I never have. I guess it's never too late to start!
So, gran-gra was a cross-stitcher. A very talented one, at that! She cross-stitched something (if not multiples) for each family member, I think! She cross-stitched a framed art piece for our wedding, one for Bailey's birth announcement, and another one of my old cat, Tiger.

Anyways, these were some of her embroidered pillow cases and table linens ....

She cross-stitched these table linens...


These were a sample of her tablecloths and table linens from Sweden...

And these were some miscellaneous linens that were hers, as well....

These are a few aprons from my collection...

I just love this hankerchief apron made from- well, hankerchiefs! Simply adorable!

A few hankies... (you should recognize this one, Nancy!) ;)


And these are a few bargains that I found just this past Friday at an estate sale! I'm kinda kicking myself for not grabbing a few more...

The doilies and towels were $1 each(with the smallest doilie thrown in as a "party favor" ;) ) and the tablecloths were $3 and $5!

His and Hers... CUTE!


I would also share my mother and granmother's linens, though they are in another closet where little McKenna is resting her wee little eyes at the moment... so another day, perhaps!

You can find a list of blogs participating on Cerri's blog: Little Pink Studio

Friday, May 9, 2008

Happy Mother's Day...

My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.
~Graycie Harmon

I love you mom and will forever miss you from the bottom of my heart!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms, grandmothers, and ladies who have touched a child's heart with your grace...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

A Few Favorites...

My friend Elizabeth had tagged me to list my favorites... and I finally have sat down to do them! First, is a picture of my most favorites in the world! And here are a few more...

1. 5 Things I Couldn't Live Without for Under $5
-Hand sanitizer
-Chapstick (it's so funny, our entire family calls it Lip-Stuff..."Mom, my lips hurt, I need some lip stuff!" LOL
-Chocolate Chip Cookie
-Sonic/Chick-fil-A sweet tea
-Most anything vintage at an Estate Sale/Garage Sale! lol

2. 5 Favorite Movies
-Indiana Jones (any of them)
-There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
-The Parent Trap (1961)
-13 Going on 30
-Under the Tuscan Sun
-The Whole Nine Yards


3. 5 Baby Names I Love But Won't Use
-Audrey
-Sebastian
-Evan
-Marshall
-Peyton

4. 5 Songs I Could Listen To Over and Over Again
-Amazing Grace (My chains are gone) by Chris Tomlin
-Salt and Light by Jamie Smith
-Cinderella by Stephen Curtis Chapman
-We Got It Going On by Bon Jovi
-I'll Always Love You by Blackhawk
-Any Lionel Richie or Fleetwood Mac song
-I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me

5. 5 People Who Have Influenced My Life In A Positive Way
-My Husband & Children
-Jesus
-My Parents, Bryan's parents, as well as my Sister and Brother
-My Grandparents
-Many people from our old church- MANY... Elizabeth, Kecia, Katie, Holli, Valerie... the list is just soooo long.....

6. 5 Things That Stay In My Purse At All Times
-Wallet
-Chapstick
-Hand Sanitizer
-Junk- can't stand it- but it's there. Once in awhile it comes in handy! lol
-Checkbook

7. 5 Moments That Have Changed My Life Forever
-Becoming a Christian
-Saying "YES!" to my high school sweetheart and soul mate!
-Moving to Lewisville/Dallas
-Attending Highland Fellowship
-Becoming a mom

8. 5 Obessions I Have Right Now
-VBS
-VBS
-Teacher Appreciation Week
-Teacher Appreciation Week
-Did I mention VBS and Teacher Appreciation?


9. 5 Places I Would Like To Go
-Italy
-Paris
-Africa
-Canadian Mountains
-Northern East Coast

10. 5 People I Would Like To See Their Top Five
-Nancy
-Tammy
-Valita
-Rebecca
-Sherelle

Have a day full of hugs!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Happenings & Childhood Toys...

I know I haven't been much of a blogger recently- just been too busy running around, taking care of sick ones, and now it's VBS time... Ah yes, it is. I am the Preschool Crafts Captain (aka "Squeaky Beakers" Captain). So, I've spent many hours planning, shopping and such for the big event on June 16-19 at Valley Creek Church in Flower Mound, Tx. The theme this year is Group's "Power Lab -Discovering Jesus' Miraculous Power!". It's going to be a really fun time... if you're in the area, you should join us! Click on the the VBS theme to take you to Group's site and learn more about Power Lab, then click the church's link above, to register!

Now, I DID have a moment or two to take a look-see at a few other blogs, and ran across some that had joined in Scrappy Jessi's Favorite Childhood Toys Party... I missed it last week, but she added me to her list anyways, so I'd better get to tellin' ya! ;) Thanks, sweet Jessi!




Oh, I had many favorites.... Baby Alive- without the modern, overly-large head... (remember, she ate "real" baby food, then "pooped"!) LOL- Okay, gross... but I had fun changing diapers...and let me tell you I'd so rather change those diapers than the kind I have to now! EEeewwww! I remember this oh so cute pink halter dress! I just love it!
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Then there was my Shaun Cassidy doll. With his "secret decoder" guitar! OOooooo! He was waaaaay cuter than Ken! (Though my sister didn't think so.)
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My Barbie Townhouse! Okay, it was shared with my sister ;).... it was so much fun, 3 stories high( It was taller than either of us-or so I remember!). It had an elevator and the best view Barbie could eva want!
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Spirograph and Tomy Fashion Plates: The fun I had with these... I hung up lots of graphic circles and shapes all over my room. You could tell I was headed into the world of fashion photography-turned-artist, since I made numerous clothing catalogs with my fashion plates. I still have the original colored pencils and box! I even got the "More Fashion Plates" set! (Have you seen how much fashion plates are going for on Ebay!???!) Check these out... I spent hours and hours of fun creating:

Notice the title of the far right catalog! It's not just fashion, it's a
FASHION FASHION FASHION Catalog!

Swimsuits and shorts...


Skirts, shirts, pants- in different colors. Love that brown and yellow ensemble- NOT!

Spring fashions...


Shoes and boots...

Even HAIRSTYLES! lol! Notice the girl on the right page-
"Buy em!" she says. ;D

If you remember there was also a cheerleading catalog. Yes, I was a cheerleader/pom pom girl/flag girl. The flag ensemble was inspired by our high school flag girl uniforms, right down to the flag. Um, what age was I?

One of our pom/cheer uniforms.... right down to the knee-hi socks!


And our pant uniform...


Here are the ones that were ready to be published in another catalog or two.... guess I figured out how old I REALLY was... ;) What can I say? I loved to be creative...

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Moving on to more toys....

Paper Dolls- oh yes, I loved my paper doll collection. Oh I wish now,I still had them! My grandmother gave me some really fun ones. If you like paper dolls you should check out this PAPER DOLL BLOG...
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Super Simon & Merlin! Remember those electronic games? This was waaaaaaay before XBox, Wii, Nintendo, even Atari...oh yeah- I had loads of fun with Atari too... but I remember hiding under the covers of my bed with Merlin and Super Simon (hmmm.... sounds a little racy, uh? lol), hoping that I wouldn't get caught playing them late at night! lol
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I briefly had a Dressy Bessy doll, until one of our dogs decided it was his, not mine. :( I was very sad. So then I got Holly Hobby Doll! I then had Holly Hobbie purse, pants, shirt to go with and a Holly Hobbie Oven! (Easy Bake Oven, in Holly Hobbie form) It was a blast! ( I know, baking by a lightbulb... what in the world?) I'm thrilled it still works!
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Little People! With the house that had a doorbell! My sister had a sesame street set with Ernie, Big Bird, Bert, Mr. Hooper, Gordon, Susan... and my brother had a tree house set that had a swing and a slide in the trunk. It tree top "popped" open when you pushed down on it... I cannot remember who made it, and I have never seen it since I was little- but it was cool! OH and remember Weeble Wobbles... but they don't fall down!?
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Roller skates! My sister and I would skate all day long out in the quonset (a big corrugated steel building that housed tractors, combines, trucks, even our car... what can I say? It was the biggest garage by far in the county!) We would use the shop broom to "pave" roads to roller skate on or ride our bikes on. Oh man, those were the days...
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My sister and I would play "school" alot. We had a huge chalkboard on the wall in our "toyroom". We even had two of the "old school" desks from grade school, the ones you had to open the desk top to put all your supplies in)! Again, many hours of fun that was!

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I also spent a ton of time drawing and coloring in coloring books with crayons. I love the smell of Crayola Crayons upon opening a brand new box of 64's! Every year we would get a new box for school... Where all the old ones went, I'm not sure. But there's nothing better than the smell of crayons and opening the box to see shiny, pointy crayons all in a neat row! (I know, I'm a little insane...)
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Oh, and I mustn't forget our kitchen set. It was of the METAL INDIVIDUAL PIECE kind, not the molded plastic "all-in-one" kind. Those don't compare to the each individual appliance. A stove, a frig, a sink, and a hutch/cabinet/counter-top combo. They were avocado green... so in case you didn't know what era I'm from, now you do. We had real aluminum pans, dishes, cookie sheets, cooking utensils, and ironing boards! OH, what ever happened to those? FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Jessi and I had nearly the same set... you can check it out HERE. Scroll down a bit... isn't she a cutie?

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And ya know- I guess judging by this picture, that a Mr. Potato Head accessory, a doll trunk, and a plastic honey bottle playing a TV news anchorwoman with my sister was some good old fashion fun, too! (I have no idea what the honey bottle was for, nor what my sister is doing in the background... ;) )

Okay, I've probably over-killed this post... but it's been fun reminiscing childhood memories. Tammy(my sister), do you remember all those fun times? (I said FUN, mind you.) ;) I love you!

OH what memories.... Hope you had as much fun as I did! ;) And if you get the hankerin'... tell me what favorites you had as a child. I'd love know!
Hugs to ya!