Magpie Ethel

Estate Sale Friday and Random Ramblings

Slim pickings once again in estate sale land.  I hit one sale between my stops at Goodwill to try and find items for Ben's Halloween costume.  One sale...here are my results.

2 chippy ivory stools and an great oval mirror.

One vintage deer vase in a wonderful blue color, a deck of orange Canasta cards featuring buttercups, and two pairs of clip-on earrings. I love how what I bought today has a color palette that works so well together.  

I also have been neglectful in thanking Karina from Bunches and Bits for giving me the "Over the Top" blog award.

Thanks for the blog love Karina!

Lastly...wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween.  This is my kitchen windowsill that always has either fresh flowers or some holiday decoration making me smile as putter in the kitchen.

That is a Martha Halloween banner kit that I used with some vintage glass garland.  The last of my dahlias from the yard add some color.

Happy Halloween!  I hope you get lots of treats!

Monkeybox Swap

You may heard about the monkeybox package that was making the rounds recently.

Shara had a great idea to fill a box with junk and send it on a route with bloggers who had agreed to participate in this swap.  They could take what they wanted from the box, but had to add some goodies and send it on to the next person. I was the last of the group to get the box before sending it home to Shara.

This box has gone from Shara to Chris in Mississippi. The it went to Beth in Virginia. From there in went to Sue in New York. Sue then sent it to Carol in Illinois who sent it to me. It was hard to watch my fellow monkeybox gals post about what they took out of the box - sometimes I WANTED what they took out and kept!  But I was a big girl and kept a stiff upper lip and when the box finally arrived I took out what I wanted!!!

Can you tell I am attracted to the colorful things?

Most of what I took is destined for my crafting.It was fun to go through the box and see what was inside...this box was PACKED full! (I did not take a photo of what I sent as didn't want to spoil the goods for Shara).

The one item not pictured in the previous photos is something that immediately became part of this burst of color in my studio.

The paper lantern on the very bottom with the red, yellow and pink stripes was the first thing I took out and the first thing I put to use!  A girl can never have enuf silly color to brighten her world.  

Shara should be getting the monkeybox soon...fun swap Shara and thanks for hosting!

Ho, Ho, Ho....It's Santa Tuesday

Yesterday, I passed a vintage store that I usually don't pay much attention to. There on the front porch was a huge box for a light up Santa head.  I zipped around the corner and went to take a closer look at Santa. There was a head in the box and it was big.  I didn't have one like him.  He worked and he was adorable.  I HAD to have him.

Home safe in the Subaru....look how much room he took up in the trunk.

I am in love with his rosy cheeks and nose. Santa is just shy of 3 foot tall.

If you have read my blog for awhile, you may remember I have a kitschy obsession with light up Santas.  I have not found any new ones this year...I don't want any more duplicates and that is all i have been finding.  My Santa luck has changed.

My front porch last year.

I think I will try and have him hang under the upper window on the left above the Christmas tree.

Thrilled to add his holiday glow to my collection!

Hope your day is full of a delightful surprise...ho, ho, ho!

Party Time

Celebrated Kate's 16th.  

 

Family party with 26 party guests in my little house.

The house was tidy and decorated.

I like to come up with a color theme and carry it thru the party.  This year was black and orange (thank you Halloween) with some blue and pink thrown in.

I carry the colors thru with my present wrapping.

And my balloons.

I like to set up a bar area in the living room so I can keep guests out of my tiny kitchen.

I made little cupcake decorations.

Was a great party and fun to celebrate with grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces!

Happy Birthday Kater-Tot, may all your wishes come true!

My Problem

All year long I buy Christmas ornaments to use during the holidays to make my wreaths and other holiday goodies.  I am oblivious to how many ornaments I am accumulating as I just keep popping them into a corner of my attic. Once a year I pull them out to organize them....it is then that I realize....I HAVE A PROBLEM.

The funny thing is this year I SWORE I was going to slow down on the ornament buying frenzy.  I only bought the smaller ones or the really spectacular ones.  I do have people give them to me since they know I use them.  I also think they may breed in my attic during the year.

I spent a couple of hours sorting them.

Clustered like grapes or attatched to wire stems with foil leaves.

Indents. Stripes. Bells.

 

Boxes of smaller ornaments.

 

Vintage glass garland that I organize in baggies.  The bin is full and it would be a tangled mess if I didn't use this method.

A box of the long skinny types in a rainbow of colors as well as some tree toppers.

This batch of pink is my favorite.

 

My name in Magpie Ethel.  I am addicted to vintage Christmas and proud ot it!

Witches, Pumpkinheads and Skeleton Friends

The top of our small desk is home each holiday season to a army of happy Halloween friends.

Alot of these are my creations, and some are some vintage style reproductions that fit my spooky mood.

I found this three tiered orange piece (full view on left, top photo) at an estate sale last year and I pull it out every season and fill it with mini pumpkins and for black and white color add some vintage dominoes.

I also love this simple idea that I purchased from my friend Paula (who has a booth at Splendid antique mall - great stuff).  She embellished some old photos with witch hats and devil horns and added some old letter cards to spell out the word "BOO".  It is all nicely displayed in one of those wire photo holders.

I also added an old vintage scrappy mirror behind the display (top photo) and i like the way it added a spooky worn look.

Fun stuff.

And in case you were wondering...no estate sales today.  There isn't anything interesting today and it is absolutely POURING outside.  A perfect day to head to the studio instead.

My Horoscope

I read my horoscope every morning during breakfast. Usually it is some nonsense. Today it was dead on.

Numerous demand on my time and patience huh?  Try 10 hours of helping my daughter's sophomore class with hall decorations for Homecoming week.  Getting ready for 27 family members coming over on Sunday to celebrate Kate's 16th birthday.  Oh and did I mention crafting inventory for etsy, 4 craft sales and a local shop for the holidays?

I am just glad my horoscope said I was meeting the challenges with good grace.  Right now I feel about as lumpy as this poor little snowman candle that got left in the hot attic over the summer.

I need a nap.

Halloween Front Porch

This is my favorite house in the neighborhood during the Halloween season.

I like the simplicity of the decorations...just lots of oversize spiders crawling all over the house.  A touch of orange with some pumpkins on the front porch.

I don't do Halloween scary. No blood and gore at my house. I like spooky, but a happy spooky.

This is my front porch. I dragged the branch home one day and added a couple of strands of orange lights.  At night or on a gloomy rainy day it looks great.  I hung simple orange balls from the tree for a pop of color. 

The metal topped table I just covered in some old burlap and added some galvanized tubs filled with kale so it could carry over into November. I don't have time to futz with the front porch - too busy crafting. The pumpkins and the big spider add a little Halloween spirit.  I will pick up a couple larger ones for the kids to carve.

I keep my front window simple too.  I hang three honeycomb decorations and an have an old winking plastic pumpkin with some bump chenille flowers.

Trick or treaters aren't afraid to come to my front door. 

And a spooky night to all....

Today I Am Feeling Rather...

Angelic.

Glittery, sparkly, vintage, colorful, happy fun.

Flying by with a smile to wish you a happy Tuesday!

Those Little Touches

I have four sales coming up this holiday season.  One of the things I enjoy about the sales is meeting people and doing the display in my booth.  I also enjoy the little touches that make people remember me.  I love to add something to the bags that I give to people when they make a purchase.

I use ordinary brown craft bags.  I like to attach a business card to the bag.  I take wax paper sandwich bags and cut them in half with regular scissors (cut B).  I then cut the bottom of the bag in half again using pinking shears (cut A).

I then have two little envelopes with a open end on the side.  My mom then does a zig zag stitch down the open side with different color threads. 

I then hot glue an old bingo number to the wax paper envelope.  I slip my business card in, punch a hole and tie it to the bag. VOILA! Simple, but a nice unusual touch.

I also use three or four colors of ribbons to tie the wax paper envelopes to the bags.  I don't like everything really matchy-matchy...but love the color of the ribbons

I am also always trying to promote my blog and my Etsy shop.  Alot of my customers don't realize my crafts are available all year long.  This year I decided to try out the Moo cards, that were all the rage about a year ago.  I got mine today and am THRILLED!

They come in an adorable sturdy box.  You can use up to 100 of your own photos and they are printed on both sides.  I used photos of my spun heads on one side and mentioned my blog and Etsy on the other.  I am just going to have a bowl of them at my sales for people to pick up if they want.  I like their unusual size...it makes them a bit more interesting.

 

I had just picked up this turquoise bowl for a couple of bucks last week at an estate sale.  I didn't know what I was going to do with it...but now it is the perfect Moo card bowl.  

These cards just make me smile.

Remember...those little touches do make a difference!