Little Girls and Nana's Tea Sets

Nana sews a dress for Maddy's school play Goldilocks

Maddy got chosen to be Goldilocks for her school's kindergarten play! 

And since Nana has a sewing machine and knows how to sew Maddy calls her up telling her she needs a Goldilocks dress.   And of course Nana jumps into action.  Cause that is what Nana's do...

First the perfect yellow material has to be found.  And the pattern pieces from the above pattern has to be taken out of the package and instructions read and thread has to be found and what other necessary things the pattern says you will need to make this creation.  

Nana actually ended up combining two different patterns to make this dress happen.  

And an apron was made to wear with it too.  

Maddy had to try it on to make sure it would fit and not be too short.  I'm guessing she thinks being able to sew is some kind of magic.   Maybe when she is older I can teach her to sew.  Didn't work with her momma.   Something about the machine running away with her.  I keep saying go slow on the pedal and everything will be fine.  And keep your fingers out of the way.  Her mama isn't buying it.... 

and of course since the yellow tulips were in bloom we had to have a photo shoot.  

She decided not to wear the apron and I think the dress looks just as cute without it.  Here she is in front of her school.  Do you see why they chose her for the part of Goldilocks?  Wonder how many other little girls there were in the class with long, curly blonde locks of hair?  I'm guessing she won that part hands down...

I was concerned she would be too bashful to get in front of the crowds and say her lines but she did it like a pro.  The dress must have done the trick!  Isn't she adoreable up there?

I'm thinking she is thoroughly enjoying being the center of attention in her pretty yellow dress.  You go Goldilocks and work that crowd!

I'm a bit of an "old soul"

I spent some time today trying to down size some of my "treasures."  I love old things.  Old jewelry,  old doilies,  old cross stitch,  old hand embroidered pillow cases,  old table cloths,  basically anything old.  Have I always been that way or did I acquire this "old soul" later in life?  I can't remember.  Some of these items belonged to my Grandma Hicks,  some were from my Great Aunt, and some I picked up from auctions where they were crying out to me as I walked by to take them home where they will be loved once again.

Vintage Aprons!  I love them!

  Tell me how this apron made of this material was used for anything but making the cook look good!

And vintage handkerchiefs!  I did buy a shadow box to display my vintage handkerchiefs in.  They are so lovely and delicate.  I'm guessing no real lady ever went anywhere without their delicate handkerchief. And I'm guessing she never blew her nose on them either!

Doilies!  Starched stiff!  I can't imagine how long it took to make one.  It's a dying art I'm afraid!

And look at the detail in these raised doilies!  I love them!

                  Next is table cloths.  This one looks like it was made from old flour sacks.

These table cloths with matching napkins have been starched and ironed.  I'm guessing they were only used for special occasions. And these probably haven't been unfolded for 50 years!

And I love old hand crocheted dresser scarves

 I've noticed many have these little crocheted edges.  And I also noticed pink seems to be the predominate color.

And my favorite is the beautiful pillow cases

Alas,  I am afraid this fine stitchery is a dying art...  

And finally I love old sparkly jewelry!  Which I like to put in a shadow box and hang on the wall. 

Hope you have enjoyed pictures of my treasures!  And I hope you are an "old soul" too!  We might meet someday at a flea market digging through the bins of old doilies or at an auction where someone else's treasures cry out for another "old soul" to take them home and love them again!  See you there!

China Tea Flowers

I stopped in at a garage sale and was admiring their yard with all the neat decor. Garden Whimsy is the popular term I hear.  This ladies China Tea Flowers jumped out at me and tried to follow me home!  Well, you know what I mean.  I couldn't get them out of my mind!  And my thoughts were traveling full speed down the highway of "I can make them myself"   and if you know me, you know I never just make one of anything.  Or two.  Or three.  You get the picture?  I believe in bulk!  So, I wandered local flea markets to find vintage china dishes and votive cups for the center. 

Baubles....you know those shiny things you glue here and there to look pretty.  I personally like the ones that shine and sparkle best but to each his own.  I bought the baubles by the bag at my local Walmart.  Some I found in the craft section in with the pretty buttons.  Use your imagination.  You know that thing I don't have.   So I have to use google and do a lot of copying ideas of others.

I used smaller vintage plates too and some of the votive cups were too large so baubles....

 I tried several things for the backs for the pipe to slide into to hold them secure and finally found some three sided bottles at my local Hobby Lobby store for $1.99 each.  That gave a flat side to use to glue. 

Vintage spoons work good also but you need to flatten them out so the glue will have more space to grasp the back of the plate.  And I found the tip of the spoon which goes down into the pipe sometimes is bigger than the hole of the pipe....

Speaking of glue, I used 100 percent silicone.  I bought the large tube but if you were only going to make a few then the smaller tube is easier to work with.  And the larger tube wants to dry out and that's a pain if you need to come back the next day to finish the job.  But if you use the larger tube you need the little doohickey that squeezes the silicone out with.   I have no idea the real name for that thingy...   Others drill holes but I don't have the equipment for that and I have had no problems so far with the silicone not holding even in our 100 degree summer temperatures.

Now lets talk the pipe.  I am told it is called metal conduit.  It's not a  real heavy metal and I used the 1/2 size.  I bought it at my local Sutherland's and it is really cheap but comes in about 12 foot sections.  The nice guy at the counter told me they would cut it for me and he proceeded to pull this little hand saw thing out from behind the corner.  Of course,  he never said a word when I told him I needed four 12 foot sections cut into 3 pieces each.   And then bless his heart when I told him it was to make china flowers to stake in the flower beds he just looked at me.   And still didn't say a word.  How many men do you know that could cut those pieces by hand and do it cheerfully?  I don't know many myself...He is a good man.  But not sure I could bring myself to go back and get more.  Just sayin...

  By the way,  some sites use rebar.   So whatever floats your boat works.  Now for paint.  Stems should be green.  So I headed to my local Walmart and bought some spray paint.

Think I had to pay something like $5.99 for the paint and it took me about 3 cans so if you can find cheap paint in flower stem green  buy it up!

Now I wouldn't recommend following my example by laying the pipe in the driveway and spray painting them green for obvious reasons.  But I was in a hurry.  It does help to do them in bulk.  You have to spray one side and let them dry.  Helps when it is 100 degrees outside! And then roll them over and spray paint the other side.  By the way it has been several weeks and my drive still has a splash of green. Probably will be there for quite some time.  

I altered the size of my pipes so when I put the flowers on them they weren't all the same height.  I pounded them into the ground about a foot.  Don't they look cute in the center of your flowers?

This plate is made out of metal.  I found pictures where people had spray painted old metal pie pans too.  So not everything has to be from china.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  Right now my Sedum is covered in blooms and the bees and butterflies are swarming all over them.   How pretty are my china flowers among the blooms?

And one other thing.  You can also sit these pretty flowers on a picture pedestal instead of taking them outside.  This one has a vintage dish in the center that I don't want to take a chance on getting broken so I leave it in the house.  Or set it on a shelf.

And one final thought.   My grand-daughter Maddy loves pretty dresses and all things girly so it is no surprise that she also loves pretty china dishes.   So get your little ones involved in making these pretty flowers too!  Teach them to carry on the tradition of treasuring old dishes and things of beauty.
Enjoy Garden Whimsy!   Isn't life fun?

Handing dolls down to the next generation

An afternoon down at the creek....

Two of my grand kids were down for the weekend so we decided it would be a good day to go visit my dad and check out the creek I waded in when I was little.  It was hot outside and you could drive right down to the creek and wade right in.  My dad has a cabin built on the other side of the creek where he can go watch the deer and other wildlife and I thought the boys might enjoy seeing all the cool things my dad has in it.

  They especially were in awe of the stuffed bobcat.  And yes,  we are hearing more and more reports of the "big cat" in our area.  Mark calls them "big cats."  My dad says this one came from here so Mark was immediately on the alert looking for tracks.

Brothers.   Doesn't get any better than family does it?

 Mark and Koda are checking out the tadpoles and little fish going across the concrete crossing my dad built.  This little creek has quite a bit of water in it for as dry as it is in our area.  And there are parts of it that are deeper than I remember as a kid too..

 We decided to check out this path to see where it goes.  My dad had taken his tractor and brush hog and mowed a path for the deer.  It was cool in the woods and we all needed the exercise.  I wish I had a path like this at the Bed and Breakfast for a nature trail.

 Grandson Koda decided barefoot is the best when cool water is involved.  Remember being a kid and walking barefoot in the water?  Hope you had a creek to play in as a kid.  That's the kind of experience that stays with you always.  Bet these boys will remember Nana taking them to the creek on a hot summer afternoon to look for frogs and crawdads.

Mark was trying to convince me this was a "big cat" paw print.  He grabbed my camera to take a picture to take back and show his Poppy.  I didn't care what it was from as long as it didn't show up on our nature hike anywhere...

By the way, at the top of the mowed path we followed was this neat sign.  I need one of those too.  I have all kinds of neat ideas of things I want to do now.  Can't wait to get back home and get started.

The boys liked these blow up turkeys and wanted their picture taken with them.  Maybe that is what I need to entice the turkeys to come down to my pond.  Hmmm....

Hope you enjoyed spending the afternoon down at the creek with us.  We had a good time and we'll be back another day!