Magpie Ethel

Fourth of July Show and Tell

I love the Fourth of July.  Actually I think I love about every holiday.  It gives me a chance to pull all my vintage estate sale goodies out of their respective bins and put them on display. 

  This little scene is a gift from my friend Lynne who dug it out of a dumpster at an estate sale. She gave me the hat, the photo and the jacket complete with coat tails.   I love that I have the original photo of the young man wearing this outfit in the 50's.    It is really unique and patriotic outfit and I threaten my children that I will wear it in our neighborhood Fourth of July parade.

   I have a whole collection of patriotic themed books and scatter them in my displays.  I like this little fellow in his red white and blue attire.  The flags are tiny vintage silk flags that I also use in my crafts.

This great book was my grandfathers.  Copyright 1942.  The illustrations are amazing.

This display of flags is on my front porch.  I even change the ribbons on my topiaries to go with the theme.

Last but not least is this little display.  The blue horn (I think it is a horn!)  I found at an estate sale and embellished in Fourth of July fashion.  The photo attached to it is of my dad and my uncle when they were young...holding the American flag.  One of my Uncle Sam creations stands on a spool of unused twine from the Albany Laundry  (unused spool and totally cool)

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Fourth.

Grinning from Ear to Ear

 Yesterday I got an email from Kim that said I was the feature on Today' Creative Blog.  Wow!  Not only did she do a wonderful little write up on my blog but totally said nice things about me too!  Thank you so much Kim, I am walking around with the biggest smile on my face.

p.s. This little flower scene is from my kitchen windowsill.  I always have a happy little flower thing going on there.  Winter, summer, spring and fall there is always some little bit of flower love to make me smile as I do the dishes and putter in the kitchen.

Christmas in July

Just wanted to share this little forest of fun I have been working on.  It is in the 90s here, but never to early to get cracking on that Christmas inventory.  Don't these tree colors just shout festive fun?

A surprise in the mail

When my mom and I went up to Farm Chicks at the beginning of June (see past Farm Chicks Fun post) I mentioned a wonderful restaurant we had found called Chaps.

Through the world of blogging the owner of the restaurant somehow read my post and contacted me.  Totally nice gal and so happy we had enjoyed her restaurant so.  She emailed me a bit later and said they had new t-shirts in and she would love to send my mom and I one. What a sweet surprise...I am now an official Chaps girl here in Portland!  Thanks Celeste!

Let's Make a Deal

When I was a kid we used to watch this game show called Let's Make a Deal.  At the end of the show, the host Monty Hall would come down into the audience and ask an audience member for some quirky item.  Like "I'll give you $50 for every can of tuna you have in your purse."  The woman would search the depths of her purse for the desired item.  I always enjoyed seeing what oddball item Monty asked for.

Today when I was cleaning/organizing my studio I so wished that Monty Hall would have shown up at the door.  He could have asked "I'll give you $50 for every Davy Crockett head you have."  I would have answered "I have 4 dozen in the original box!"

Monty could have asked for a chicken.  I have a fabulous crepe paper honeycomb one.

Or Monty could have said "I'll give you $50 for every letter A that you have."  I have a lot of A's in my collection of letters.

"I'll give you $10 for every bell you have."  Monty would shout.  Monty would be a poor man after I pulled out this bin of bells.

Monty probably thought he would have stumped me when he asked for mushrooms.  NOPE, I have a whole collection in assorted colors! (and does anyone know what the note means that came with some of the mushrooms that if I hang them up they will keep the flies away....huh?)

So my studio is tidier and Monty never showed.  I had fun showing off my quirky craft supplies tho!

Have a great weekend.

Summer is here

Summer is officially here with lovely sunny days in the 70s.  My backyard is making me happy every time I walk back there.  Let me share....

I made this banner (now slightly faded) out of old tea towels and vintage tablecloths during a snow day a few winters ago.  I like the way it frames the entrance to the backyard.

The picnic table was my grandfathers and used to be a natural cedar color until I painted it to match the hydrangeas.

I found this turquoise ladder on the side of the road and use it to display part of my watering can collection.

This is my neighbor's brick garage which serves as a backdrop to my patio.  I LOVE the small green table.  Can you guess what it actually is?  It is an old sandbox that I bought 4 or 5 years ago.  My husband and dad added the galvanized top and the legs and it became my backyard table.  I loved the sandbox because it has such great graphics.

This is the entrance to my studio.  I love to work inside and have the door open with a breeze coming in.  I can hear the birds chirp as I work.  I bought the old "bird houses"  sign a few years ago and the studio entrance is the perfect spot for it.

Thanks for popping in for a tour.  Happy summer day!

Gray hair by the end of the summer?

My son Ben is 16 and is learning to drive.  Teaching someone to drive now rises to the top of the list of hard things to do as a parent.  We have a stick shift...that clutch is a bear to master.  He started driver's education today and our goal is to get his license by the end of the summer. 

He is actually doing much better as a driver, but I am nervous Nellie in the passenger seat.  Don't you like the magnet he has to put on the car when he drives?  (usually it is on the rear of the car)

The other thing I realized is that after Ben gets his license, that my daughter Kate will turn 15 in October and the cycle will begin again. It never dawned on me when I had my kids 18 months apart that this would be in my future.  Gray hair here I come!

Died and went to plastic heaven

Friday today.  Designated estate sale day in my life.  I went to the estate of a 80 year old woman and was number 18 to get in. (so got in quick!)  Got some big bottlebrush trees and some other fun stuff.  But there under the table was a box of plastic that made my heart swoon.

 

I think it is old.  But it is made of plastic and is made to resemble pressed glass. The colors are what got me.  A great pink and a greeny/yellow.  I got two cake plates, a footed bowl, a bowl, a elongated piece (a shallow type vase which will look great this summer with pink dahlias), and a container with a lid.  I can only imagine a summer party with all these yummy pieces put to good use.  I paid $12 for all of it.  It make me happy just looking at it!

4th of July Fun

I know we still have a few weeks until the fireworks hit the skies, but I am ready with some new projects.  I am bringing my patriotic creations out for a show this weekend at Flourishes,

   I love these Uncle Sam figures.  I started out with vintage heads and added rest of the charm.  A couple sit on vintage ribbon spools and one sits on a old red, white and blue Christmas ornament.  They all hold vintage silk flags.

These sailor hats are made from newspaper from 1936.  I have a whole stack that I picked up in Kansas that was from a library archive (I believe)  It is totally flat and perfect for crafting.  The hats are embellished with vintage doo-dads.

Vintage style newspaper flags (same 1936 newspaper) stamped with a holiday sentiments.

Cones (actually old cardboard thread spools) decorated with vintage wrapping paper and fun old stuff.  Perfect to bring as a hostess gift or to decorate your house.

Flag garland -ready to hang.  Some embellished with old mercury beads.

Love these re-purposed Bingo tags.  The photo is actually one of my dad and my uncle many, many moons ago....standing on the beach holding up the American flag.

Other goodies are going to the show too.  I sure had fun with this patriotic theme!

Hurray for the red, white and blue!

Garden Visitor

Look what showed up in my backyard.  I wasn't going to keep this little guy, but my husband really likes him.  I stuck him in a flower bed.  If you live in my house you need a little sparkle, so he got some of my fancy adornment.  Now he can stay.

The only problem is, every time I go in the backyard he startles the heck out of me!