Showing Some Vintage LOVE.....

This is my sister, Terri and I hamming it up for the camera. These coats were bought back in the 90's in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on a mother/daughter trip we used to take every year w/ our mother and other sister. I call them our Barbie coats.....

When I first wore it back in the 90's, people made fun of it....

Now I get all kinds of compliments.....I always knew I was way ahead of the fashion game....ba haaaaaaa.

Did you notice the HEELS on my feet?

My dad actually bought those for REGAN to wear in the wedding.....I'm just imagining a trip to the hospital if I had let her wear those.

I don't think the bones in my feet have gone back to their normal position since the wedding!!

I just don't see how women wear those things all day......I like them for a very short period, then I want them OFF!!!

And to Us this Day, a Child is Born.....

Isaiah 9:6-7 (King James Version)
6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

This is my niece, Lindsay, who is expecting her first child. I took this picture while at my daughter's bridal shower. When I got it developed, I teared up. No words can express the feelings that bubbled up in me when I saw this picture. I thought I would share it with you.

Let us not forget why we are celebrating Christmas.

Know that Christ will return....may peace be in your heart.

Merry Christmas!!!

Thrift Store Find of the Week!!

I was hopping around blogland the other day and hopped on GEORGIA PEACHEZ' blog. She has an amazing display of vintage Christmas items. I drooled over a pink and green felt tree she posted about.

So, fast forward several days and I'm running errands around town and have to stop in at my favorite flea market, CLARK's THRIFT STORE and THERE IS THE SAME TREE....I'd swear it had a spotlight shining on it and a sign pointing at it for me to see it in all its glory!!!

I about took down the rest of the display trying to grab that glorious felt tree.....no matta the price.

Well, I casually asked the price.....and she so sweetly said ONE DOLLAR!!!

Yeah, you bet I jumped on that!

My flash is too bright and it makes the colors look dull....they are NOT dull!

Ain't she purty?

Gingerbread Crime Scene

Ok, this is not done by me but it was too funny to just leave on flickr and hope that people saw it. After read underneath the picture, click here for more of the story on flickr.

Gingerbread Boy was reportedly making Smores when tragedy struck. His single story dream home burned to a molten pile in just about 3 minutes late Sunday. Officials have ruled out foul play but indicate the possibility that this was an alcohol related accident as the smell of rubbing alcohol was quite apparent. Remarkably Gingerbread Boy maintains a cheerful smile and is simply thrilled that the gumdrop lawn ornament that had been in his family for over 6 days was spared.

Holiday Open House

Make sure you drop by Kimba's place and see all the other open houses.


My $10 garage sale find. I am still looking for a better way to display it.

My whimpy Christmas Tree. I MIGHT decide to get a fuller one next year...but this one is sooooo easy to decorate. My daughter's decorated it and they got bored easily and didn't even get all the ornaments on it....sheesh.

My 1/2 wall....I was going to put vintage Christmas cards in that neat rotating frame....it is on my TO DO list.

I was blessed with this afghan several years ago by my grandmother, Nalma, Aunt Libby and Aunt Martha. They made this gorgeous thing.....OK, let the DROOLING begin.....


Yep, even Fairies decorate.......

Ornaments hanging from the ceiling.
Better view of the 1/2 wall and the ornaments hanging from the ceiling.

The Nester had a great idea of making a fur wreath. She went through a little more trouble than I did to cover the wreath. After reading her tutorial, I remembered that my mother just so happened to have some fake fur just laying around.....

I cut it into TWO long strips and started wrapping it around the 50% off wreath ($1.75).

I added a cute bow from ribbon I got at The Dollar Tree ($1.00).

And here it is......

These are vintage ornaments from a friend. They are made even more precious because just last week, her mother passed away.....they were her ornaments.
Most of these baubles are from the same lady. Thank you JOYCE!

This is a PINK Santa!!! He is from my childhood. We were not allowed to TOUCH him back then. Now that he is MINE, I touch him and hug him and love him. Thanks MOM!!!

Psssst....Want to know some secrets?

I've been tagged by Misty

to share 8 things about myself....so, for all you TWO readers out there, here it goes:

1. When I was younger...oh about 7-8 years old, I would be walking through a store with my mother and would think that my REAL mother was going to come running up to me and find her long lost daughter....and I would be an only child. I'm so glad this never happened.....I wouldn't give up my family for the world. I think this might have been during the phase where I had to share my birthday with my middle sister who had a day after Christmas birthday.....lol.

2. I have an earring in my ear that I put in when I was 15....a little golden baby hoop. I have NEVER removed the earring....not even when it was required during Co-Ed softball at OSU....I would just put a band-aid over it. My oldest sister, Terri, has the other earring in her ear....

This all came about when I found out how hard it was to put a BABY earring on a big ear....so, I came up with the ingenious idea of having sister earrings......she fell for it hook, line and earring.

3. I have a tattoo....yep, I got it when I was 28 while on a mother/daughter trip to Arkansas....see, in Oklahoma it used to be illegal to get tattoos. My mother made sure that the guy used new needles....cleaned everything, yadda yadda.....

I didn't do it to be cool......I did it because I wanted to be identified if my body was ever found anywhere....I know, I'm weird. The dam thing hurt too.....I almost didn't survive the outlining. Then, when I got home to show my dear hubby....he thought it was a lick and stick!!! He liked it so much that he would let me have as many as I want......yeah, like that is EVER going to happen again! It used to be in a place that people couldn't see....until the waist of jeans started plunging....now, it gets noticed...which is not my intention.

4. I can't stand to let any part of my body hang off the bed at night. I'm afraid the little trolls will come from under the bed and grab me. Not only will they grab me, but they will break the bone when they pull.....it is enough to keep me awake at night if I let it.

5. I love to scare the bejeebies out of my children. I come by it naturally....my Papa used to do it to us and I guess I must pass on the legacy. I can just be walking down the hall and one of my children will come out of their room and I can let out the most blood curdling scream.....and laugh till my sides hurt. They try to pay me back....hasn't worked yet. Even their friends are at risk....I even had one that wanted to call her mom in the night because I told her to watch out for the dead body lying next to her.....sheesh.....

She still talks about it.....and she is still friends with me!!! Why just a few weeks ago, I threw a fake spider on another friend while she was trying to leg wrestle my daughter......all she saw was a spider dropping from the ceiling...then it got mangled in her hair and all she could do was flop around on the floor shrieking....while I laughed so hard I winkled in my pants. See, I'm sick!!!

6. My first car was a 1969 Toyota Corona.....yep, Corona. It only cost $700. I loved that car...it had the LOUDEST horn on it. I swear the tires were the originals....they were as bald as one of my teachers. All of my friends got new cars.....who wanted a NEW car...when I could have this thing. I even liked it better than my 1964 1/2 Mustang!!! I had to be careful with the keys because the Toyota dealership couldn't make new keys.....Also, I didn't change the oil for ONE YEAR. I didn't know I had to....ba haaaaa

7. I was a cheerleader all through Jr. High and High School. I didn't plan on it....I was dared to tryout my 7th grade year....so, with borrowed clothes, I tried out and won. I managed to make it every year after that. I think they liked my loud voice. Cheerleading is expensive...and way back in 1982, it was about $1,000 a year.....did I mention that I had a single mother? I still don't know how she got that money.....I'm hoping she didn't sell her body......she won't tell me how she came up with the money every year. It wasn't in small payments either....it was about $300 a whack with no forewarning...just BAM, the money is due TOMORROW....I know that had of been hard. THANKS MOM!!!

8. When I graduated, I was Sr. Class president, Captain of the cheerleading squad, and Sr. Class Historian. I don't remember spending much time in the classroom. My friends tell me I spent more time in the teacher's lounge and in the hall drawing spirit posters. I didn't even know we had detention......If we wouldn't have had such small grade scale margins, I would have been a 4.0 student. I was gifted with creativity....not academics. They didn't have gifted classes for creative people....so, I guess they considered letting me roam around to count for my classes....ba haaaaaaa.

Thanks Misty for tagging me.....I'm sure you learned WAY more than you wanted to know......

Did You Know the Fairies Decorate for Christmas?

While we were busy decorating our house and making wedding bouquets, the little fairies decided they needed to get their house done as well.

I'll just bet there is a nice cozy fire behind that door mingling with the scent of sugar cookies and hot cocoa.

Repurposed TOE SOCKS......

What can you do with TOE SOCKS besides wear them on your feet?

Yeah, sure, you can make cool gangsta signs when wearing them on your HANDS.....as my lovely assistant, Sydni is modeling right now.....

Better yet, you can cut off the toes and make WRIST WARMERS!!!

I decided to play around with a pair of the TOE SOCKS I got at Walgreen's for 3/$10.

After cutting off the toes....and saving them...because I'm sure there is something I can do with those cute snow flakes....I used a full 6 strand of embroidery floss and blanket stitched around the opening.

I then did....I THINK a slip stitch to help secure it from unraveling. (Because we all know I am a self teacher....no sewing lessons for me)

Added a button to make a thumb hole and THAT's IT!!!

The complete set was done in less than an hour.

(oh, and don't pay any mind to the lovely painted fingernails.....ewwwwwww)

I got this idea from http://foothillhomecompanion.blogspot.com/2008/02/repurposed-fingerless-gloves.html where she used old sweater sleeves. Since I don't have any old sweaters and I would probably pay about $3.00 at the thrift store, I decided to try the toe socks.

Bauble Wreath is FINISHED!!!

I finally finished the BAUBLE WREATH....to see the BEFORE, CLICK HERE.

It is still not what I envisioned, but I like it.

I didn't trust hanging this on a door because it has vintage GLASS baubles.

I think I might find a colored light bulb to accent the display.

My Sister Made Me Do It....

That is my sister, Terri, on the right.

Every year I DRAG, PULL, LIE, SNIFFLE and CRY to get her to be in the Chritmas Parade as a character (not that she isn't already a character without the costume).

This is our 4th year to participate in this DAY LONG EVENT. (Year 1, we were the INCREDIBLES.....SPANDEX and MY BODY do NOT make a PRETTY SITE; Year 2, we were Cookie Monster and Big Bird....NO WAY are we going to have BIG HEADS again....TOO HOT!!!; Year 3 and 4, we were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum....we had a total of 5 people actually know who we were....most thought we were TWO of the THREE pigs....we eventually just told them that the wolf got the third pig...ba haaaaaa)

We start at 8:00 in the morning....and did I mention that she lives about 45 minutes away....so, for her, it starts about 45 minutes before me...tee heeee.

We meet at city hall to start getting dressed.....well, this year....we are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum....she Dee, me Dum.

When we arrived this morning, we discovered that since last year (we were the same characters last year) that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum secretly had GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY....SEE THE ABOVE PICTURE!

For some reason, the hoops that go into the costume WERE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!!!

So, we spent the next hour rushing to the local ACE HARDWARE and had our own HANDY MAN fashion us hoops for the costumes. The hoops won't just fit into the costumes, we have to "tack" them in....so, that was another battle. Thank goodness, Minnie Mouse brought her extra heavy RED thread.

Minnie spent most of the morning sewing cute Santa hats onto several characters.....notice the BISON with the cute hat!!!

Oh, and that is Regan, this is her 2nd year to HELLO KITTY.....now don't just say the name, you must say it like HELLO MOTO.....sounds way cooler.

Once all wardrobe malfunctions are fixed....ssssssssscccreeech....well, not ALL....Mickey seemed to of had too much turkey at Thanksgiving and completely split out the front of his pants. Of course this wasn't noticed until after traveling to TWO schools and parading around in front of the children......hopefully no permanent damage was done in the parading of Mickey Mouse with his FLY OPEN!!!
Mickey is played by Miss Janie...she is the one who goes through the complete madness of gathering us all together to do this each year. She gathers the costumes, calls the people, begs, pleads, and brides most of us.

She buys us bottled water, feeds us lunch at Pizza Hut, and makes sure she has GERM-X, plus carries MINTS AND GUM.

Do you realize how many children love to pick their nose right before SHAKING YOUR HAND?

OK, we are loaded on the bus and heading for the schools.....we hit every elementary school, daycare and even the nursing home to promote the Christmas parade.....all between 8:00 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. We also distribute small bags of candy to every child....and sometimes a pitiful teacher who looks like she is about to cry....

Using her creativity to cover up the open fly incident.....tie a scarf around you and then you sort of look like a pirate Mickey.

Here we are at a private school.....this is one where we are NOT ALLOWED to take off our heads (to breathe) for fear we might traumatize a wee one because they may think we are REAL!!! Do you know how hot it gets in these things? This school used to serve us hot cider, homemade cookies.....ahhhh the smell when we entered was so delightful. This year, they just gave us bottled water and wished us well....lol.

OK, we found our hoops and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum have been saved!!!
This is soon to be married Carly...AKA Chipmunk!!!

Hello Kitty....did you say it correctly?

Here are Kyle and Rachel....this is their 2nd year also.

This is Kim, you can see her blog HERE. She is the mom of Cat in the Hat and Gingerbread Man.

This is Sully, aka Larry. He is our bus driver....and VERY ORNERY!!!

He is also a member of city council.

I have NO IDEA why these two seem to be the most popular......

Poor BLUE, that costume has absolutely NO WAY of seeing out of it.

See that big snout....well, the eye/breathing hole is UNDER it.....whoever wears that thing has to have a constant companion to guide them.

The two ducks took it upon themselves to be Blue's guide.....now, I can't really say whether that was a good thing or not....

See Blue standing all alone? Well, we are all on the stage and poor Blue was told to just stand there....there is poor Blue all alone......so sad.

Then THE DUCKS made poor Blue step up and over imaginary steps all day....even duck through imaginary doors!!! So much to the point that when they told her to sit on a stool, she almost sat on the floor......

Who are THE DUCKS you say?

Here are THE DUCKS.....can't you just see the meanness in them?

Yeah, don't let those glamorous smiles fool you.....there is pure EVIL in those costumes....yep, pure EVIL.

Seriously, this is Debbie and Denise...they've been THE DUCKS for about 10 years.....they have to do SOMETHING to keep themselves entertained. This year, it was with BLUE.

Oh, and should I mention that Miss Paula, AKA Blue, was the GRAND MARSHAL of the parade? Boy, do they know how to pick 'em.

When we are done parading to the schools, we go home and rest for about an hour and then it is time for the ACTUAL PARADE.....where the temperature was about 34 degrees. We walk and meet all the children who ask us if we remember them from the school....of course WE REMEMBER THEM, HOW COULD WE FORGET THEM!!!