Harvest Your Style

I will say that August has been a challenge! As in ... not time to get all the things done I need to! But I thought that I would take some time out to say "Hi!" and share this picture trail from Country Sample Magazine.  These are pictures and ideas of using antiques/primitives in your autumn decor! They are great ... wish I could use them all.

Take care and have a lovely August day.

 

Adorable Giveaway at Salmon Falls Prims!

Hurry on over and visit Salmon Falls Prims and take a look at all of Sara's wonderful creations.  Her Etsy Store is full of delightful prims! And don't forget to sign up for her AUGUST GIVEAWAY which ends on the 23rd.  Thanks, Sara, for getting us in the Harvest spirit!

More Rain and an Autumn Crow

I just wanted to pass along, this sweet pattern I cam across at Quilted Crow. It is part of a series of quilt blocks, but I thought it would make a cute pincushin or cubbie pillow.  I may have to order this one myself! And if you live in Massechusetts and you order this weekend, your order will be TAX FREE!

We also had another rain storm last evening! So far this month, we have received a much needed 2.4 inches of rain!!!! I will have to mow the lawn this weekend! 

Hope you all get rain, if you need it! May you have a kitty smile kind of day, too.

Thanksgiving Free Graphic

Good Fall Morning every

one! I wanted to share a sweet vintage image coming by way of Amy's Pick of the Day

which is a bit of verse to celebrate the season of plenty. When you go to her page, be sure to click on the image first to see the full size image. Then right click (Mac: control+click) and “save to” your computer desktop or a folder of your choice. This process will ensure you get the best quality of the image. You can use this image to make place holders for your Thanksgiving table or perhaps an applique on a tea towel. If you send Amy an image of what you made, she will post them on The Vintage Workshops' Facebook page.

This also reminds me of something I would love Santa to bring me this year .... a color printer/scanner/fax machine! I would love to be able to do some crafts with images printed to fabric.  Please tell Santa for me!

Here's wishing you a lovely fall weekend. I'm looking forward to some R&R with a good book, a kitty on my lap and some mulled cider.

Selling Poll Results and Some Fall Photos

Good morning all! I hope you are having a glorious fall day! First of all, I would like to share the selling poll results that I received during my September giveaway.  The majority of you indicated that you would prefer to purchase prims from me from a selling blog but a close second was from Etsy and lastly (and not many) preferred eBay.  So, with that information in mind, I am working on creating my selling blog (any tips would be greatly appreciated) and hope to have it up and running in a few weeks.

The second thing I'd like to share today are two purchases I recently made.  A little while ago I purchased an herb rack from Firecracker Kid Primitives and this weekend I finally got it up on my wall.  Here is a photo of it with some of my Halloween ornies. I really, really like it!

The next item I purchased was from Wicked Faerie Queen -- a cute little painted Halloween box.

I also wanted to share with you some of my Halloween decorating (I don't do too much anymore because of working full time and the time it takes to put up and put away things) that make me smile!

And lastly, little Mr. Nicky trying out the new throw blankets (they weren't out 5 mintues before he climbed up here!).  Take care and remeber to hug those kitties today!

Need a Haystack or Two?

Just a short post today -- I wanted to share this little tutorial that I came across at Wee Folk Art for making burlap haystacks (perhaps your kitty won't want to chew on these!).  They can be made any size and the tutorial is very easy and step by step.  So if you don't feel like cleaning up pieces of hay all over your house, try out one or two of these haystacks.

What Cheer Flea Market

This past Saturday I went to the What Cheer Flea Market with my daughter and grandson, Henry. I haven't been able to go with her in ages so this was special and extra-special since it was Henry's first time there! He had a ball!

I wasn't able to do too much walking because my ankle is still in "the boot" but we did visit some great vendors! Especially the gals who have a booth at the Majestic Lion Antique Center in Des Moines. I've posted some pictures of their wares below.  I loved looking at all the fall decor but went home with just another addition to my vintage glass refrigerator containers (that I actually use all the time). Molly bought an antique butter mold and Henry got a vintage, wooden abacus (can't start math too young!).

This weekend we are going to try attend a local auction that always seems to have one or two things I would just love to have. Until the next post, enjoy your day!

Some Fall Comfort Food

We are having a wonderful fall day here in east central Iowa! Just the perfect day for some comfort food for supper.  Here is a little recipe for Macaroni and Cheese from "Yankee" and takes about 25 minutes to prepare and feeds 4-6.  Here are the ingredients:

• 7 tablespoons salted butter, divided
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 8-ounce package ziti, macaroni, or your favorite pasta
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch crushed red-pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces (about 2 cups) extra-sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 350°. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add panko and stir until coated; set aside. Cook pasta according to package, stopping 2 minutes shy of suggested cooking time. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking continuously, about 1 minute; don't let mixture brown. Add milk gradually and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until mixture is thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add salt, pepper, red-pepper flakes, mustard, and cheeses, whisking until melted. Add pasta; then spoon mixture into a lightly greased 2-quart casserole or four lightly greased 2-cup baking dishes. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly.

I enjoy with some crusty bread and a side of broccoli!

Sending some virtual hugs your way (and let your kitties roll in the fall leaves today).

Weekend Wanderings

Hello! I hope your weekend was wonderful.  I was able to get some things done even though I an limping around. I fell a few days ago ... I am really such a klutz ... and hurt my left ankle and foot. I am now wearing a boot and am not supposed to put weight on that foot ... we'll see how that goes.  A few weeks ago I dropped a large rock on my other foot and broke two toes.  I'm thinking that these are signs from God telling me I must spend more time sitting and stitching! :)

I had a wonderful time on Saturday with Henry as he visited his first pumpkin patch. Doesn't he look like he is having the time of his little life?

I have to laugh at the first picture in this post (scroll back to it). I'm wondering about the meaning and purpose of the "pumpkin" catapult in the right hand corner of the photo? LOL!!!

I am also thrilled and humbled that I now have more than 100 followers! To celebrate, I will be having another giveaway in October.  And I will be tallying up my questionnaire about eBay vs. Esty vs. a Selling Blog as soon as the give away is over.  But I can probably say that I will not be going back to selling on eBay.  Here are a few items that I've finished, need to be stitched into pillows or mini-quilts, or stuffed that you might find on my selling blog one of these days.  The first photo is a little mini-quilt/wall hanging that I made up from a free design offered recently by Shirley Hudson over at Hudson's Holidays;

This little saying makes me smile every time I see it.  I am also making a little pillow from the pattern on muslin, too.  Here are a few of my items.  When/if I sell them, I will let you know who is the pattern designer, but right now I can't find the original patterns in amongst all my patterns (thanks for not asking me to get up and look, the foot you know! :) )

All in all, it has been a wonderful weekend ... the corn is looking good, spent time with my grandson, my daughter and I spent some good quality time together and she made a DELICIOUS bacon/spinach/broccoli quiche for supper for us all!  Well, the work week starts early tomorrow so I'm off to get into my PJ's and enjoy a cup of chamomile/lavender tea!  Hope you all have sweet dreams tonight.

AFK and AFN!

Good morning! I see that I have some new followers. Thank you so much for joining me.  I have looked around your blogs and am very inspired! Today's post is short because I am going to be AFK and AFN (away from keyboard and away from needle) for a few days! Hubby and I are finally going on our summer vacation UP NORTH! Hope to find some prim goodies on our trip!  So, if you have any questions about the giveaway, I may not be available to answer them.  And if you are a new visitor, please sign up for my September Scaredy Cat Giveaway.  If you like the graphic in this post, please visit Country Life Graphics. Gail has an amazing offering of prim graphics for you to enjoy.
Have a wonderful weekend!

99 cent SALE!

... When black cats are seen,The moon laughs

and whispers, 'Tis near Halloween. 

Hi All. Hope you've had a really lovely fall weekend!  It was just glorious here in my little spot on the globe this weekend. The weather was perfect and I got so much done getting my yard ready for winter, but I over did it and now I'm a little under the weather ... did too much yard work this weekend and have a bit of a sore back.  Any remedies you'd like to share???

I did some stitching this weekend and decided to have a 99 cent sale on my eBay site.  This is one of the items I am listing.  Its a little SKAT CAT candle mat.  I love scat cats and collect them. Do any of you collect any particular Halloween ornies? Below my candle mat picture, I thought you might like to see a few more of my Halloween decorating pictures.

I'm thinking that it may be a short fall here in Iowa. The corn and beans are already being harvested and we've had two frost warnings the past two evenings ... brrrrr. I had to turn on the heat.  Looking forward to browsing your blogs after I'm done with my post!  Take care and make sure you give your kitties a hug tonight!