Magpie Ethel

A Magic Needle

One of my blogland friends Renee from A Vintage Mending gifted me with one of her amazing handmade aprons awhile ago.  You can read about it here.

She has the gift with a needle and also with putting together fabric patterns.  I love her mix of modern and vintage fabrics. I also love how she updates older designs. Here is the darling apron that she sent me for my birthday.

On her blog Renee shares her projects.  She is always sewing something.  My favorite project she has shared was a chair that she recovered in vintage fabrics. She rocked this chair.

I often leave comments on her blog and many times have mentioned that I think she has a magic needle.

Now she has one. I took the smallest spun head I could find and made a magic needle for her.  She can't use this one of course, but hopefully it will make her smile. Just like her blog makes me smile.

Thank you again Renee, am so glad that I have gotten to know you through your blog.  Keep up that magic with that needle of yours!

Mr. Monkey

My blogland friend Marci recently rescued a vintage squeaky monkey from the "free" pile at an estate sale.

I am so happy that she thought Mr. Monkey should join my collection of squeaky toys and sent him off to me. He made my day when I saw him smiling up at me from the box he was sent in.  Thank you Marci!

Double Luck

A couple of weeks ago I got double lucky in one week.  First I won a giveaway on Jenny's blog from Everyday is a Holiday.  It was a swag bag from the Creative Connection event in Minnesota.  It arrived this week and was worth the wait. 

A little gift from Jenny and Aaron.

And lots of fun stuff from sponsors and vendors at the Creative Connection event. (this event is on my bucket list someday)

A couple of tote bags and magazines.

And a whole bunch of crafting stuff... scissors, paintbrushes, glitter, embellishments, paper, jewelery makings, cards, journals and lots of other fun items. It really was an amazing assortment of goodies.

A couple of days after winning this giveaway, I won a givewaway on Crystal's blog, Vintage by Crystal.  With this giveaway, I won a dress from the Shabby Apple website.

The dress is really cute on and fits well. I had no one home to take my picture if I tried it on...and did not feel like doing one of those photo shoots of myself in a mirror. 

I love, love  the color and all the ruffles around the neck. It has a bright purple zipper down the back. It is a little different than I would usually wear, but I was thrilled with how it fit and makes me look so young and hip!

Thank you Jenny, Aaron and Crystal...what a doubly good week that was!

Pacific Wonderland

Remember the post I did on my collection challenge a couple of weeks ago for state souvenirs?  I posted about how I primarily collect for Oregon (also known as the Pacicic Wonderland).  Amy from Into Vintage and I both have January birthdays and we had a little birthday lunch the other day (Lisa, from A Thing for Roses also joined us).  Anyhooooo, Amy gifted me with the most perfect pillow for my Oregon collection.

Amy is an amazing seamstress and whipped an old vintage tablecloth into the most wonderful pillow.  Loving the details on the back too.


The crazy thing is, she had never been to my house before, but the pillow that she made could not have been more perfect for my family room couch.  It totally fits in with all my other pillows. (ignore photo glare on picture in dark basement),

L-O-V-E it! Pop on over to Amy's blog and wish her a happy birthday...tell her she rocked that Oregon pillow! You can also take a peak at what I made for her birthday....

That Vintage Reputation

My friends all know that I love old vintage things. During the holiday season a girlfriend mentioned she had an old wreath that was her mothers.  Her mother had recently passed away and she and her sister were trying to get rid of things.  She thought the wreath could be taken apart and parts of it recycled. She just wanted it to go to a good home rather than Goodwill.

I was rather skeptical about what she had to offer as she was not very enthusiastic about it.  When I finally got the wreath, I knew there was no way I would be taking it apart, but rather repairing it and enjoying it.  It is amazing!

This wreath is huge.  Over two feet in diameter.  It is covered in old tiny Christmas ornaments, bits of vintage jewelery and old millinery.

The base of the wreath is almost like a steel wool scrunchy material.  There is fishing line wrapped around the whole wreath holding it in place and it is mounted on a wooden ring.

I need to clean the dust and grime off of it and repair some of it.  It makes my heart happy to find this handwritten message on the back of it. I love it when I find a snippet of information about the history of an item.

To add to my joy over the wreath it also came with a smaller wreath and a tree.  I am going to fix up the smaller wreath for my friend and give it to her as a memento of her mother.

The tree is about 8 inches tall.  Can you see the little pink deer hidden amongst the decorations?

I am glad that this wreath came my way. It has gone to a good home where it will be well loved for many years to come!

 

Happy Day!

Graduation Party

My son is leaving a month from today to head to Oregon State University for his freshman year there.  We did not do a party immediately after graduation as we had to much on our plates and the weather wasn't great.  My house is too small to host a big party, so I needed a nice summer day. I got a 95 degree day...I am not a hot weather person!

I decided to do an ice cream social theme with a 1-4 open house time.  I wasn't sure on the number of party guests that would show (invites went out to a potential 70 guests) but figured with the ice cream theme, folks could drop in when they could, make their own sundae and visit for awhile.  We also had quite a few little nieces and nephews coming and I knew they would love making their own sundaes.

The mascot for OSU is Benny Beaver and the colors are black and orange. I did a postcard style invitation and took this photo for the one side of it (the Beaver was a cardboard cutout we got during orientation and I knew I could use it for something).

I did the whole ice cream sundae area in the black and orange theme. 

 

Lots of toppings. Lots.

If made sure I had some black and orange toppings and added a "Go Beavers" message to those tags.

  

I purchased a styrofoam cooler for the ice cream and added some OSU logos.  I got dry ice to keep the ice cream cold (dry ice on the bottom, ice cream on top of that) and this worked really well for the party.  People could serve themselves and  the ice cream stayed hard despite the hot weather.

I had to add some vintage ice cream bowls even though they were small. We also had disposable paper bowls.

I found this great old Benny Beaver stuffed animal at an estate sale the weekend before the party.  I stuck him in a wire basket and he guarded graduation gifts that Ben received.

Ice cold drinks.

I had fun with the orange and black theme, but my backyard where people ate, had my more typical colorful vintage theme. 

A peak over the back fence.

Vintage tablecloths and dahlias.

The table on the left with the green container is actually an old ironing board that I always use for extra table space.

We ended up with just over 40 guests and my backyard was fully shaded by the time the party started. It was a fun time although it was lots of work (glad it is behind me). Go Beavers and congrats to Ben....may you have a wonderful college experience!

Lousy Sleeping

Every once in awhile I go thru a phase where I just can't sleep.  I wake up at night and toss and turn for a couple of hours before falling back asleep.  Fortunately for me, when this pattern starts to happen, I pull out my trusty magical sleeping idol doll.

My friend Kim from Camp Whimsy made me this little doll after my post about my poor sleeping habits.  She said in her note that it is "100% guaranteed to work...just put it near your your cozy bed and sleep soundly."

Kim did the cutest details on this little doll.  The matress is a little pink chenille number and she made the quilt embroidered with the Sweet Dreams message.

How could you not fall into a peaceful slumber with a friend like this on your nightstand?

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

P Is For Patience With The Mystery Giveaway

P is for Patience.  I have been very patient in fact.  The first part of June, Jill from Little Nest Studio had a MYSTERY GIVEAWAY and I was lucky enough to be the winner. When I won the giveaway the prize was still in the "mystery phase" and Jill needed to finish it up. I was fine with that. Jill has even posted a couple of sneak peaks while working on the prize. The waiting was driving me bananas...but this, young grasshopper, was a lesson in patience.

Today my patience was rewarded.

The reward was worth waiting for.

Jill must have crafted herself into a tizzy for me...she NAILED me with this darling package. 

The cutest little handmade house complete with fabric polka dot roof and matching mushroom.

Retro fun candy including chocolates from my favorite store Crown and Crumpet.

And the cutest little embroidered dishtowel.  My teen daughter was with me when I opened it and her words were "I am so jelling".  Evidently that is teen-speak for "I am so jealous!"  I am always blown away by needlework like this as this is a talent I truly lack.

Details, details! Absolutely charming.

It will have a place of honor in my kitchen on my "Do not use" towel rack.

Jill, thank you so much for the Mystery Gift and for teaching me patience...it was well, well worth it!

A Breath of Fresh Air

One of the things I enjoy so much about blogland is that how it brings people together that live far apart, but have common interests.  I recently found Elizabeth of Creative Breathing and am enjoying her blog very much...it is a breathe of fresh air in blogland.  A burst of a colorful, whimsical world full of fun photos and wonderful things that she makes. 

Recently she sent me one of her little creations to house some of my birthday candle collection.   The little felt bird on the jar cover is created by her - it wears a tiny little felt flowers necklace  and carries a pair of strawberries.  Is is just the cutest little creation.  She also used an old image and made me the silly name card in the background.  I hung it from a cabinet door in the studio.

I love the way the little bird guards my collection of candle holders.  Don't mess with this little guy, he may look sweet and innocent, but he means business.

Thank you very much Elizabeth for taking the time to make something that you knew I would truly treasure....and as well for becoming a new friend in blogland.

Good Heavens! Good Grief! Good Gracious! Good Stuff!

Easter Egg Swap

First off, I hit one estate sale today.  I left without a thing!  I wasn't expecting much since it was a holiday weekend...I should have just stayed in bed!

The highlight of the day was getting the box in the mail from Shara's Egg-stra Fun Swap full of a bunch of Easter egg fun!  It was really fun to see all the different types of crafts that people came up with - an amazing variety of items and mediums used.

Want to see?

This was from Shara from Monkeybox, the hostess with the mostess for the swap.  She did a whole little Easter basket with a tiny chick and a glittery egg.

This little wrapped egg with a quilled flower from Out of the Crayon Box.  Quilling is one craft I have never tried, so I had to really examine this specimen! Extra perk was that I got one with a floral design!

This little polka dot chick hatched from a plastic egg when I opened it.  The little friend was from Crafy Little Beana. I peaked at this blog prior to getting the box today so I knew what the chicks looked like - there were an assortment of fabrics but I liked the gray polka dot ones (there were two) and I got the fabric I wanted!

This colorful egg was from Courtney.  I love the decoupaged rainbow collage.

A different take on the swap was this gem from Thrifty Goodness.  She made this little tag that was egg shaped. I got one with a little crowned glittered bunny - It will live with my bunny collection in the kitchen!

You know I am a sucker for glitter, so I loved this egg from Makin' Projiks.  Glitter, crepe paper ruffles and tiny flowers are some of my favorite things to craft with!

Another twist on the egg theme with a cute Easter tag from Sugar Creek.  This tag is two sided with vintage Easter images.

One more scramble on the egg theme was another egg shaped tag from Debra.  No blog for this girl evidently...but her tags are super sweet (more crepe paper ruffles to make me swoon!)

A golden egg with a vintage jeweled earring from Heidi.  I love how classic and simple this egg is. 

A thread wrapped egg from Wendy with a tiny flying bird. I think all of these egg creations will live with my collection of egg cups.,,they look sweet displayed with them!

And last but not least from  Aimee-Suzanne.  She had a whole bag of fun goodies as well as a little clear plastic egg.  The eggs reminded me of an "Eye Spy" game as it was full of pearls, flowers, vintage stickers and pink garland.  You kept looking and looking to find more treasures.

WOW!  It really was interesting to see how each person interpreted the "egg" theme.  A big thank you to Shara for hosting and mailing off all the goodies in time for Easter!  I have one more of the eggs I made left and it will be included in my my 400th post giveaway which will hit next week!

Thanks to all my egg swapping friends and Happy Easter!