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Happy New Year!

May 2010 be your best year yet!

Christmas Fun

I love Christmas.

Except for the crowds.

And rude, frustrated people.

Oh......and traffic, too.

But, really, I love Christmas.

It is so awesome to watch my Noodle discover the magic of the season.

And it is funny to see what he remembers from last year.

As we walked our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights last night,

he remembered which house had the giant snowman.

And which house had the nativity with "Baby Jeje".

But my holiday rituals have changed too.

My tree no longer has the ornaments beautifully and evenly spaced.

Instead, my precious ornaments are carefully hung on the top branches

and all others decorate the bottom half of the tree.

Because even an artificial tree needs to be trimmed up with a fake Home Depot saw.

And we are starting some new family traditions, too.

My local grocery store had these super cute gingerbread house kits

marked down to $2.99. Seriously, $2.99.

So we made a "gingerbread man house".

And we got STICKY.

We might possibly have snuck a few pieces of candy.

But our house turned out darn cute, right?

Every day with my Noodle is an adventure.

Full of memories and smiles.

I love Christmas.

And, I love my life.

Merry Christmas!

Teacher Treats

Ever have one of those "Oh no!" moments?

You know, the kind where you ask yourself "How could I forget that?"

I had one at almost midnight last night.

I realized that the Noodle would be going to his last day of school before Christmas break

and I had no teacher gifts ready.

But a quick search through blog land and my problem was solved!

All with stuff I had on hand!

Yeah!

I snagged this idea that I found wandering here.

The Noodle has three terrific teachers, each blessed with infinite amounts of patience.

I guess they have to, working with three and four year olds.
I know I could never, ever be a pre-K teacher!

Hello There!

I am excited to finally have some super cute and girly aprons in my shop.

Stop on by and check them out.

Free shipping on Christmas aprons through the end of December.

Making Memories

I have such great memories of my grandparents.
Growing up, my sister and I were fortunate
to spend a lot of time with my Nana and Pap and my Mima.
Every Friday night, my sister and I would pack our
overnight bags and head over to Nana and Paps.
My parents got a much needed break and we got to have fun!
My grandparents ordered pizza from Yolanda's.
It was SQUARE, something we never got at home.
Then we would watch "The Dukes of Hazzard", "Falcon Crest", and "Dallas".
(Yeah, in case the clothes in the pictures didn't give it away, I am THAT old.)
For dessert, we got peanut butter ice cream.
A flavor never found in our own freezer.
We usually fell asleep on the floor.

And now my son gets to create these same types of memories.
Every Friday night he packs up his overnight bag and
heads off to my parents...his Mima and Pappy.

In the summers, my sister and I would fly to Florida to visit my Mima.

We would spend weeks with my Mima.

Taking a picnic lunch to FIG Beach.

Driving around in her Chevy Chevette that ALWAYS smelled like suntan lotion.

Mima would make us grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch everyday.

And sometimes, hand cut french fries with cheese sauce on top.

Not healthy, but definately a comfort food to me.

Today, my Noodle is flying to Pittsburgh with my parents to

spend some time with my Nana...his Nana GG.

He'll be gone for a week and I will miss him dearly.

She is my last grandparent, and

although I am sad that my Noodle will not know my Pappy or my Mima,

I am infinately happy that he will know my Nana.

Say What?

I love doing craft shows.

Even with the hassles of sewing like mad to stock my booth,

ironing for hours to remove every last wrinkle,

packing up and toting around all of my inventory and display pieces,

I really love craft shows.
I share my booth with my mom and my sister,

so we get to spend hours chatting.

There are always some interesting people to watch.

And then there are the odd conversations with customers.

I usually have at least one person ask for a fanny pack.

For real? It is 2009!

Sometimes I get people looking for organizer pouches to hang on their walkers.

Seriously folks?

At my last show, a lady asked if I sold adult bibs.

What?

Recently, a customer browsing my booth spotted this bag, and told me she too loved Amy Grant fabric.

Really? I wasn't aware that the 80's Christian singer had a line of fabric.

And my sister gets the weird questions too.

She makes hair bows (and sells them here -check it out) and her stuff is fabulous!

It never fails...someone asks her how to make korker bows.

Or how to make a woven headband.

Don't be lazy people....just Google it.

At the last show, she had over 400 bows.

And a customer asked "Is this all you have?"

Ummm, yeah.

Yep. I double heart craft shows.

Do you?

Did you know...

* I was married in front of over 30, 000 people (yep, that's right kiddos....30,000 people).

* my favorite movie is Gone with the Wind.

* I never thought I wanted kids. Now I can't imagine my life without the Noodle.

* I love to sew but hate to cut out.

* I can't let my food touch on my plate...and I have to eat one thing at a time.

* my sister is my best friend.

* I hate cherry flavored things but I love cherries.

* my dog Memphis is named after the movie Gone in 60 Seconds.

* I can not read a map and I always get lost.

Happy Wednesday!

Happiest Place on Earth

It is no secret.

I double heart all things Disney.

As a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, my family took a yearly vacation to the House of Mouse.

I have tons of happy memories, a lot of funny memories, and even some grumpy memories.

Come to think of it, the grumpy memories are actually funny memories now.

And now that I live in Central Florida, I get to make so many memories with my Noodle.

Seeing the World through his eyes is so.much.fun.

Today we went to MGM Studios (yeah, I'm old school....I still call it MGM) to see the Festival of Dancing Lights.

Millions of lights decorate the Streets of America.

Just Beautiful.

I was feeling a bit black and white today

so I took all my pics that way.

I think it gives them an interesting effect.

My Noodle thought the flying angels in the pic below were spiders.

Huh?

At this time of year, it is not hard to tell the difference between the tourists and the locals at Disney. The weather today reached a high of 75 degrees.

Chilly in the morning and evening.

Locals wear jeans and flip flops.

Tourists wear shorts and flip flops.

Holiday Sale

Skip the lines (and the crazy people) and click on over to SongbirdCottonCo.etsy.com .

Take advantage of some drastically reduced prices on great purses
AND
get free shipping on orders over $75.



Happy Holidays!

Wordless Wednesday

Treasures

I was in heaven this weekend!!

I went to Renningers Twin Markets in Mt. Dora for the Antiques Extravaganza!

It was fantastic....row after row of vendors sell all types of things.

Some vintage. Some not so much!

I love Fiesta Ware...with the simple shapes and bright colors.

This vendor had miles and miles of vintage Fiesta Ware.

In my next house, I will replace all of my dishes with Fiesta Ware.

There were a lot of vendors selling pieces of architectural salvage.

I bought myself an old window frame that I am going to use as a sign for my booth at shows.

I'll be sure to post pics when I finish my project.

I loved the frame in this picture. And I thought the picture of the girl and cow was adorable. But it was priced at $75....out of my price range. I admit, I don't know anything about antiques. I just buy the things I like. But I am always afraid of overpaying. Maybe I will do some research before my next trip to Renningers.


There were also many people selling chicken houses. I thought they would make great storage bins but I was so afraid that no amount of scrubbing would totally remove the chicken poop. And I just couldn't bring myself to put something poopy in my car.
But now, as I look around my house, I see so many places where a chicken coop would be totally perfect. Isn't that always the way?

And finally.........

this pie safe was SUPER.FLY.FANTASTIC!

All Smiles Today

After nearly four months, my hubby is coming home from Texas!

The only grey cloud in my day is the fact that he was laid off.

Which STINKS.

But, we have been good little savers so we have our rainy day fund to fall back on.

Which still STINKS.

You know, it is so hard to get money IN the rainy day fund that I dread taking money OUT of it.
But our family will be together again and that makes me very happy.

And the extra parent around to watch and play with the Noodle will give me lots of extra time to replenish the "store shelves" in my shop.

Things are a little bare given the success of my recent shows. I sold so much stuff over the past few weekends that I find myself sewing 'til all hours of the night.

Not complaining, just saying.

Well, I am off to color my hair and shave my legs before I see the hubby this evening!

Weiners in Orlando

There are more dachshunds in Orlando than people!

Now, I don't have the official census statistics or anything, but I am pretty sure I saw a

bazillion of them this past weekend.

Standard ones and mini's.

Short hair and long.....and a few wired ones, too.

Red and black; dapple and piebald; and even some chocolate colored ones!

They were everywhere I looked.

Some wore bandanas, others had frilly dresses, and a few had sunglasses.

It was silly, crazy and cute.

I shared a booth with my mom and sister at the Lake Eola art and craft show this weekend and there were A LOT of people who brought their dogs. But hands down, there were more weiners than anything else.

Here are a few pics of my booth.

We had purses and wallets, aprons and tea towels, quilts, and little girl hair accessories for sale. My sister does the hair accessories and she sold BOODLES of them!

She has practically nothing left.

And we have another HUGE show this coming weekend.

I am sure that she will be burning the midnight oil this week :)

My mom and I make all of the other things in our booth.

Our sales were UNUSUALLY slow.

And disappointing.

We introduced several new fall and winter styles...some made with fabulous micro suede.

And they are gorgeous!

But, sadly, no takers.

But the most frustrating part of the weekend was the show itself.

We are new to the craft show thing so we had never done the Lake Eola show.

But, we heard great things about it.

The show is big, well-advertised, and juried. And the organizers stressed that all items must be hand made by the exhibitor.

But I was disappointed to find many booths reselling things like knock off Coach and Vera Bradley bags. Or the black tank tops with crystal designs on them (three different booths, all the same items). And some things were obviously handmade....the quality so poor I am suprised that they made it into a juried show.

Well, I guess I just wanted to rant and get rid of my frustrations. Thanks for listening :)

I feel better now......I am off to sew some new things for this weekend!

Amy

I know, I know, I know......

It's been a long time.

Sorry I haven't written....... Life just seems to have gotten away from me.

Seriously, it's not you......... it's me. Because I'd tell you if it were you. Really. Truly.

But now I am going to write to you everyday. Well, maybe not EVERY day, but certainly every week.

Honestly, I'll try to be good and tell you funny stories and show you fabulous things.

I swear......PINKY swear!

A Day Late & A Dollar Short

Well, I guess technically it is two days late:)

The September promo in my shop is a Buy One Get One sale for blog followers.

Here is the fine print:
1.Buy any purse from my shop (including clearance priced handbags) and get a wallet, wristlet, changepurse, or key fob for HALF OFF! (Discount will be refunded to your paypal account)
2. Follow this blog and leave me a comment on any post.
3. Tell me in the notes to seller that you are now following my blog (or contact me through etsy if you already completed the transaction).

Pretty simple, right?

Oh, I almost forgot....this only applies to ready made items. No special orders, please.

Happy shopping :)

My super fabulous treasure shop finds!

My sister and I love to go to our local treasure shop. We make a weekly trip and usually find some fabulous things and great bargains.

But I scored some SUPER FABULOUS things this week!

My favorite thing is this cake carrier.

It's okay if you didn't know what it was at first. I didn't. My sister had to tell me...she bakes/cooks and I don't. The main section (the one with the flowers) holds a round layered cake and the blue sections at the top and bottom hold pies!

And then I found this brand new-in-the-original-70's-box awesome fondue pot. Can you believe that this was never used? Everything was still in the plastic wrap! Unbelievable, right?


And I also got this cute retro chip and dip set. How clever!
And it kinda sorta matches the wall color in my kitchen!
Okay, that is a bit of a stretch but it is still perfect :)

Now, my sister and I are planning a 70's themed family dinner so that I can use my latest treasures. I'll make the chips and dip and let my sister the chef tackle the fondue and cake. That's fair, right?

First Day of School

Yeah! It's the first day of school! My Noodle was so excited, he practically ran out the door. All he has talked about the last few days is his friends. He kept telling me that his friends missed him. Ahhhh, how cute :)
The Noodle really loves school. I think it is because he is an only child, without even any cousins near his age. He is such a friendly child, never hesitating to play with any kids at the playground or in church. Most of the kids in his class are the same as last year but there was a new boy today. When the new boy was walking in to the classroom, my Noodle was waving and saying "Hi, friend!" Sweet, right?
And, this was lunch on the first day:

I've recently become obsessed with bento lunches after stumbling upon this blog. Since we needed a new lunch box anyway, I thought I'd give the bento thing a try. The Noodle had crackers, turkey sausage bites, cheese, orange slices, and yogurt covered raisins. Yum!

And, with school starting, I can finally get back to sewing!

In the little spare time I've had over summer break, I've been working on some new designs for my FALL COLLECTION! Sounds fancy right? The new stuff will be hitting the shelves (so to speak) of my Etsy store in September. But you can get some sneak peeks on my blog in a few days!

Summer is over

With the carefree days of summer winding down, I decided to take my Noodle to our local park for an afternoon of splish-splashing in the fountain. As always, he was the loudest kid there, squealing with delight every time the water shot up.

I did notice something odd, though.

Every little boy in the fountain took great, um, satisfaction in standing directly over the spout and letting the water shoot straight up their shorts.

Odd, right?

I am glad, though, that school starts on Tuesday. I love my Noodle but I get nothing accomplished when he is home. He has never been a kid that likes to play by himself so it is impossible to sew or clean when he is awake. Plus, he really likes to help me with what I am doing. Have you ever tried to sew with a toddler on your lap? Well, let me tell you - it is impossible!

But school starts Tuesday. I feel somewhat embarrassed to admit that I am excited about it! I have been anticipating the three days a week that I will get six blissful hours of uninterrupted sewing and cleaning. Well, mostly sewing :)

Too funny!

Well, I guess summer is coming to an end.

My Noodle starts pre-school on Tuesday & I thought I would make him a special nap time mat.

I made a trip to my local quilt shop and found this great pattern. I am going to use some fabulous and funky fabric from Michael Miller and I'll be sure to post pics of my completed project.

But here's the funny part:

While standing in line to get the batting for my project cut, I overheard the following conversation:

customer to friend: "I think this color will really stand out from the road."

friend to customer: "I think so too. Are they all going to have one?"

employee to customer: "What are you making?"

customer to employee: "I am making clothes for the geese in my yard."

employee to customer: "How do you catch the geese to put the clothes on them?"

customer to employee: "Uh, they are concrete lawn statues."

WHAT! Did this lady really think that the customer was going to make clothes for live quacking, biting, pooping geese? Are you kidding me?

I couldn't help but laugh - out loud. My mother and I had a good giggle when we left the store.

Crazy

So my life right now is a little bit crazier than normal.

With my husband working out of town for at least another month, things at home are a little topsy-turvy. My husband has only been gone ten days, but I have already missed one garbage day and one recycling day. My grass has grown out of control. My dogs look at me and ask "Hey lady, where's my dinner?" as I forget, AGAIN, that they need to eat too! My dishes pile up, my laundry remains unfolded, and my floors need mopped. We've been getting ready for the school that starts next week. And trying to squeeze in some potty training and end of summer fun. I am working on some new designs for the fall collection in my shop and sewing until all hours of the night to get ready for my upcoming shows. Whew....I am exhausted! I miss my husband (and all of the help he gives around the house) and I will be so happy to have him home again in a few weeks.

August Promo

The August promotion for my blog followers is FREE SHIPPING! Yeah, FREE SHIPPING!

Any purchase made in my etsy store from August 1 to August 31 qualifies for free shipping within the US. Orders shipped outside of the US qualify for shipping at half off the regular fee.

Here is the fine print:

You must follow this blog.

You must tell me in the Notes to Seller section that you are a follower of my blog.

Happy Shopping!

You know you are getting old when....

the kiddie rides in Happy Harbor at Sea World make you feel queasy!

Boy, those Jazzy Jellies really kicked my butt,

but my Noodle could have spun the afternoon away!

My husband left today for a job in Texas :( He'll be gone for about a month and that is a LOOOOONG time for my Noodle. After my husband drove away, my little guy kept saying "I want my daddy back." His little heart was broken!

So, my sister and I took the Noodle to Sea World as a distraction. And it worked! Instead, he became focused on riding the roller coaster.....for which, of course, he is too small.

He stood on his tippy toes to try and fool us!

But the seat does not lie!


And, he really loved the turtles!
We never even made it to see Shamu, the manatees or dolphins, Clyde & Seymour, or the stingrays. I guess that is the only thing I like about living in Central Florida. We don't have to cram everything into a few days....we can visit Shamu and Mickey anytime. With only two more weeks until school starts, I guess we need to pay a visit to the Mouse House next week!