Magpie Ethel

Easter Etsy and A Giveaway

My stash of vintage chicks is all used up.  These are the last of them headed to Etsy on Monday, April 4th at 5:30 p.m. (pacific time).

A few spun heads and other goodies will be tagging along to Etsy as well.

On another note, in the world of Magpie Ethel I have been very blessed.  I have done over 600 blog posts and made lots of wonderful friends. My Etsy shop has done very well as well. Life is good.

It is time to have a little Easter themed giveaway. A pastel colored world of Easter fun will be headed your way.  Handcrafted goodies and some vintage ones as well.

A little bunny gal.

Ducks and chicks.

Cute vintage Easter paper items. You have heard me go on and on about graphics!

And of course there will be some surprise treats as well...surprises are good.

If you want to participate in this Easter giveaway, leave me a comment and tell me your favorite Easter candy.  I personally am a jelly bean gal. If you follow me on google you get a second chance (so sign up if you aren't a follower already). I will draw a name on Friday.

Good luck and happy day! 

 

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Kate's 17th birthday this weekend.  I had 29 family members over for dinner and cake. I thought I would share her cake and the great Krispy Kreme donuts that I bought as well (thanks for the tip on the donuts Elizabeth!).

I am not an amazing baker, so my cakes are pretty simple.  I did a triple layer cake and made a cute little birthday flag.  With Kate's birthday falling so close to Halloween she always has some orange or black as part of her celebration.

Happy Birthday Kater-Tot!

 

Out Of The Nest

Today we dropped my oldest son Ben, off for his freshman year of college at Oregon State University.

I held it together pretty well when I said good-by.  My nest will not quite be the same anymore.

It is time for Ben to spread his wings and start that next stage of life, but oh, how I will miss that kid.

Vintage Vacation Swap

Jenny from Everyday is a Holiday organized a vintage holiday swap to celebrate the summer. The specifications of the swap were to swap an assortment of items including handmade, crafting, sweets and vintage...all with a vintage holiday theme.

My swap partner was Natalea from Kandeland...and what fun her package was!  There is nothing better than getting a box in the mail that you have no idea what is inside. Everything was wonderfully wrapped and it was fun to pull out package after package.

This is what delightful things I got...all with a vintage vacation twist.

Glitter in watery blue colors. A vintage flashcard, postcard and photo. Scrap booking paper, bakers twine and other goodies.


An awesome handmade scrapbook for my summer memories.   She also sent a coconut sucker from a local candy company...coconut is one of my favorite flavors and it is in my mouth as I type!

 

I love the variety of pages and embellishments that Nat used in her scrapbook - super clever!

Great retro ice cream sign and a little bucket she made with shells. She even found some rubber stamps with a vacation theme!


Salt water taffy and a little beach themed ATC.

The cutest little vintage book about a little boy, Toby, and his little flight bag.
 

Great stuff Natalea, thanks so much for the trade!

And in case you want to see what I sent...here we go.

Vintage buttons for crafting. I tucked some of them in an old vintage film tin.

I thought a vintage vacation road-trip was in order and what better way to kill the time in the car then with a travel themed card game? Also included a pair of vintage sunglasses.

A little spun head gal ready for a holiday. Suitcase at her feet.  Map and camera in hand.
 

Old fashioned candy in yummy colors from my favorite local candy store.
 

A prize ribbon embellished with a vintage photo and maps.
 

Old playing cards with a shell design.


Totally a fun swap to play along with and a fun new friend as a partner!

Golden Birthday Snippets

My son Ben turned 18 on Sunday, April 18th.  When your age and your date of birth match up that is called your GOLDEN BIRTHDAY and is supposed to be particularly lucky.  I took the gold theme (and added red as well) and thought I would share some snippets of the party.  We had a glorious spring day and had 28 family/friends come over to celebrate!

I have old gas station numbers that I always put out on the front lawn to announce the age for the birthday. My neighbors know my kids are having a birthday and I think my kids secretly like the attention.  Added gold and red balloons.

I had an old gold and red chinese lantern that I hung from the living room chandelier and hung the number "18" from it.

Cupcakes decorated with tiny gold pinwheel flags.  Golden candies in glass containers.

Unexpected party guests with party hats.

I set up the bar area with the gold and red theme. I used gold pinwheels to add to the fun.

I had a bowl of gold Mardi Gras necklaces for guests to wear in honor of the golden birthday.

A little fun arrangement with old plastic sign letters.

Fun to have an outside party after all the cold winter weather.

A birthday message written on our driveway in sidewalk chalk.

I went the ice cream cake route as it always gets devoured.  I always order a super plain cake and gussy it up myself.  I added gold coins and gold colored Reese's peanut butter cups.  I used extra long red candles as they took awhile to light - 18 is a big number! (note Ben's multiple gold bead necklaces)

I even got into the theme and wore a vintage gold little jacket.

Happy 18th Ben...

hope you had a wonderful golden birthday!

 

403 Posts And Still Happy As A Magpie!

This is actually my 403rd post and I think that in celebration of this event...I need to have a giveaway!

In the spirit of spring and the upcoming estate sale season, I have collected or crafted a little touch of happy to entice you with!  Let's play a game of "eye spy"!

 

I spy with my little eye...some vintage bingo cards, a trio of my hand-dyed bottlebrush trees in yummy colors, old buttons on original cards, old birthday candles (in honor of my collection), a pack of vintage paper umbrellas and an old cardboard light switch cover with a spring flower scene!

I spy a yellow party bird with a great hat...
 

and this little spun head girl...

I spy my favorite happy striped paper straws.

And a Easter decoration like the one I did for the Easter Egg swap.

I spy an adorable pad of striped paper with a fun pencil.  If you have ever gotten a reply to a blog comment from me, you may recognize the phrase "happy day"!

To be entered in this fun, colorful 403rd post giveaway....leave me a comment and finish the phrase "Oh Happy Day when....." I will pick a winner on Monday the 12th....good luck and have a happy day!

The Old Fashioned Way

I have a love affair with stationary and old fashioned snail mail. Sure, I love email, but there is something about finding a letter or an invitation in your mailbox that makes me happy.  I always send out invitations for birthday parties. I write thank you notes.  I always send Christmas cards.  This may explain my obsession with stationary.  I don't scribble notes on any old scrap of paper...

I keep my supplies in a couple of vintage metal lunch boxes.

Even these envelopes make me happy! Bright colors and polka dots are my current favorites.

I often find some great stationary at T.J. Maxx.  Etsy is another one of my favorite spots to haunt.

Occasionally I may use some of my vintage cards or notes.  I feel really lucky when I find a box full at an estate sale.

 

I need to sit down this afternoon and write a couple of thank you notes.  Then I will get my umbrella and take a neighborhood walk down to the mailbox.


I like a little bit of the old fashioned world in my day...

Home Sweet Home

Rested after a week in sunny Puerto Vallarta with my family.  No sunburn.   Faced my fears and did a tour which featured zip lines and rappelling down a 75 foot waterfall. Great food and family time.

Good to be home, but now face loads of laundry, piles of mail, 268 emails to sort thru and 424 new blog post to read via google reader.

I may need another vacation when I finish it all....

My Feathered Friends

When I had lunch with Amy the other day, Lisa from A Thing for Roses also joined us.  She also gave me a belated birthday gift - with a bird theme.

She made the wonderful soldered necklace with a trio of birdies (which I am wearing as I type).  5 little wooden bird candle holders and a bird figure.

The bird figure is certainly destined to go roost in the bathroom with the rest of my bird collection.  I haven't blogged about this tweet little collection for a couple of years, so decided to use Lisa's gift as a reason to show it again.

Birds on wire shelves.

 

Birds in tiny birdbaths.

 Birds with hats. 

Birds feeding babies in the nest.

Birds displayed in wire cages.

I also have a collection of floral prints in the bathroom (Birds like these).

Birds in flight.

A bird lamp and birds tucked in here and there.

Birds in old cages suspended from the ceiling.

 

A whole flock of birds inhabit these shelves.

 Keeping watch.

67 birds in the bathroom and one more thanks to Lisa!

Thoughtful Gift Giving

Estate sales were pretty non-existent today, so instead of estate sale finds, I am sharing some recent vintage gifts. With Christmas and my birthday in early January, I get alot of gifts within a two week period,

I love that people "get" me and often give me some unconventional gifts not available at your local Macy's.  Often it is an estate sale or thrift store find.

Two vintage plastic Santa heads.  They are about 12 inches tall and you know they have plenty of Santa friends at my house.  (Thank you Sally)

A silhouette from Ebay.  I collect them if they have images of children. (Thank you Mom)
This one will join these.

A pair of Humpty Dumpty salt and pepper shakers.  I am not sure if they are old or not, but they have that look about them.  They will live on the back of my vintage stove. (Thank you Linda)

A vintage bed jacket...in pink.  I love that it has the name of the woman that owned in written inside - Mabel Mosey.  Isn't that a wonderfully old fashioned name? (Thank you Pam)

A vintage cream colored baby shoe vase.

That will join this collection of cream colored figural vases. Each vase holds a handmade bouquet. (Thank you again Pam.)

A lovely green metal tin pocket for my kitchen wall with original pencil. (Thank You Mom)

A green metal tin for mints (bottom one).  I have two now...the start of a collection...altho I think I will limit it to mint tins only. (Thank You Mom)

Fun stuff.  I appreciate the thought and the hunt that went into finding these treasures for me.  I know alot of people may have rolled their eyes if they received some of these gifts, but these items all have a special spot in my heart...they are absolutely perfect for ME!