M'Lady the Vintage Dress Form

Last summer my hubby and I were visiting our favorite little town just North of San Antonio, Boerne (sounds like brun-e). We stopped in a little antique shop and found this great dress form. It had been marked down, and marked down again to $175.00. I'd been looking for a dress form for years and could never find anything in a reasonable price range. Although the $175 seemed fair, I asked for more. I was thrilled when the dealer let me have her for $125!!!! (I know some of you have gotten way better deals, but I'm rarely that lucky LOL)

Unfortunately, my dress form was so stained and dirty, that she wasn't even invited into the home (except to take these photos). I removed her outer cover and found...

shredded paper!! I have to tell you I was shocked and disappointed. But I had to get her clean if she wanted to stay inside the house.

Here she is naked! I vacuumed her off really,really well and them steamed her all over. It was a lot harder than I had thought it would be, but I finally got her smelling almost good.

I obviously wasn't going to put that nasty paper back in so I wrapped her in thick batting. Meanwhile, the nasty, dirty cover was being soaked for a couple of days in a big tub of powder Tide, Oxyclean and what started out as very hot water. The fabric came out very clean with only one or two little ink marks on it.

I didn't put the cover in the dryer because I was afraid it would shrink. And I think it did anyway because it looks a little tight. I hand stitched the opening all the way up the back and it looks really good. This was the part I thought would be the hardest and it turned out to be the easiest. The really hard part was filling her bust! The first go-round she looked like Dolly Parton!! After a little reductive surgery, she looks pretty normal.

I've heard that every dress form should have a name and this one is named M'lady. When we first bought her, my hubby referred to her as "your lady" meaning my lady. He carried my lady on his shoulder. It was sooooo cute and funny looking. Then my lady had to stay in the garage, and I had to work on my lady to get her cleaned up. I kept thinking of her as "my lady" so the name stuck.

Now she's in my guest room wearing the prettiest lace robe. I'll share that with you on the next post. It's beautiful and I'm sure you'll love it!

Happy New Year!!

Patricia :o)

"Believe" give away!!!

Paula, of Castle and Cottage, is giving away this beauitful "Believe" sign. This is so beautiful! I know I'd keep it out all year. If only I could be so lucky to win this!!!!!

Christmas Decorations

It's been a while since I posted, and it will probably be a while before I do it again. I was inspired by so many of your Christmas posts to share a little of my Christmas decorations, too. This will be our third Christmas in Texas since we moved from California. The first two years, we didn't really decorate because we went back to CA to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. This year we're staying home.

We usually put up an artificial tree, but this year my hubby wanted a real one; a great BIG real one. It's over 10 tall and I don't know how wide. All our ornaments look tiny on it and it took 90'of ribbon!

We got rid of a lot of our Christmas decorations when we moved. It seemed like we had so much! As it turned out, we didn't have enough and had to get a few new things. The golden reindeer, runner and glass vases our new. I hung silk holly, grapevines, ribbon, and "crystal" stars from the chandelier. It looks so much prettier in person.

This is our Santa table. When we first started setting things up, we thought we had so many Santas, but it turns out that we only had a few. I think less is more in this case. Each Santa stands out a little better because they're easier to see. (My mother in law MADE the tall Santa with the pearls. Isn't he gorgeous?)

My husband fell in love with the Santa print and HAD to have it. I like it and think it's cute, but Santa is not the reason for the season. I didn't want him to be the center of attention, so he's in the dining room.

More new purchases. I found these cute reindeer at Marshal's and couldn't pass them up. Everything else is done in gold and red, but they're neutral, so I think it works OK.

Another new addition, a snowman family: Mommy, Daddy and two kids. Just like our family.

We put garland ribbon and ornaments all along the stair rails. It didn't turn out exactly like I envisioned it, but it's close enough. At the top, there's a little triangle ledge that we set up my hubby's snowman and some little trees.

We hung this cute canvas Santa on the hall door and decorated the little table a bit, too.

Above the fireplace, we hung a nativity print. I had to take the picture on an angel so that the flash didn't reflect on the glass. I love this picture! This is also a new addition. We were supposed to wait until after Christmas to buy it for next year, but I couldn't wait. What if they ran out?! I had to have it now.

Here is my attempt at making a live center-piece. I used the left over branches from the tree to make this, hoping I'd save a little money. But after I bought the little bucket, the foam, the snowman, the berries, the stars, etc, I may as well have bought an arrangement from the store. Oh well!

The house is way too tall to put lights along the roof line. (Floyd wanted to get a 25' ladder to do it. NO WAY! I didn't want to risk him falling from that height). So we decorated the entrance. The plastic Santa is close to 40 years old. It's not in the best shape, but you can't tell until you're up close.

This is one of my favorite little snowmen. He was a gift from a secret Santa years and years ago. I just love his message! It's supposed to sit on a shelf, but I use him as one of the bigger ornaments on our tree every year. I put him at eye level so that everyone see him.

Wishing you all a very Merry and very blessed Christmas. And remember,

Jesus love you snow much!!

Patricia :o)

Time to Rest

Time seems to be the number one thing I always seem to run short of. I haven't been able to post very much for lots of reasons. And it really bugs me that I haven't been able to visit all my bloggy friends.

I'm still selling on eBay, running a house hold, and now I'll be homeschooling my teenage son so that he can graduate from high school. I don't think I'll be able to do all that and blog, too. So I'm going to rest a while from blogging. However, I do hope to continue to visit all you beautiful ladies!

And who knows, I may be able to start blogging again soon. We'll see how it goes.

Blessings to all of you,
Patricia :o)

Backyard Feathered Friends

Sometimes it's the simple things that bring joy. For us, it's sitting outside and watching nature. Our favorite thing to do is watch the little animals and birds that visit our yard. The birds that we have here in Texas are so varied and beautiful and I thought I'd share them with you.
American yellow finch and lesser gold finch flock to the thistle socks in the spring. They can't resist them! About 19 or 20 fit on the socks and the rest of them wait their turn in the branches above.

The is a Great Roadrunner. We used to have two that came by, but now it's only one. He's very shy and it's difficult to get a good picture of him.

Very common to this area is the gorgeous Cardinal. This is a male. I forgot to get a photo of the female. She is grey-ish brown and not nearly as colorful as he is.

I think this is a Carolina Chickadee. They're not exactly supposed to be in our area, but I'm not complaining when they visit. They're so cute!

These two little love birds are Common Ground-Doves. They're much smaller than the Mourning Dove. They're always together. So sweet.

This is the female Painted Bunting. She's an overall grey-ish green. Take a look at her handsome husband below...

This beautiful bird is the Western King bird (I think). They don't come to my feeders, they come to the pond. The way they take a bath is by doing a cannon-ball into the pond. At first we thought they were after the fish, but after watching them, it was obvious they were diving in to get wet, then fly up to the branches to preen.

Although this male Summer Tanager is supposed to be in our area all summer, we only saw him and his lovely lady (below) for a few days. They're spectacular in real life. He's almost a neon red and she's the brightest yellow. Beautiful!

It's a hoot to watch this Ladder-backed Woodpecker eat. He pops back and forth to see if you're watching. We had a little family of them in late spring. The babies are even funnier as they peck at everything to see if it's edible.

This is the Black-Crested Titmouse. They're all over the place and very brave. I'll be out having lunch under a tree and they will sit within an arms reach to get at sunflower seeds in the feeders.

You've already met the painted bunting. The much larger, and very aggressive grey bird in the upper right corner is a Northern Mocking bird. We have a pair that nest very close to the feeders and can be quite aggressive towards other birds. (Which is good because they keep away Grackles - boisterous, noisy and gang-like birds). We were very surprised to see the mockingbirds leave all of our desirable birds alone.

Hope you enjoyed "my" pretty birds!

Blessings,

Patricia :o)

What does it mean to you?

The other day, I was at Lowe's throwing my money away on, Ooops! I mean buying, a few Little flowers for my dead garden. I was wearing a tiny gold cross that I usually wear when I'm not wearing "fashion" jewelry.

The clerk and I were making small talk, when all of a sudden she asked, "That's a pretty cross. What does it mean to you?"

No one had ever asked me that question. So many things went through my mind that I wanted to say. "It's an outward reflection of my faith." "It's a reminder of what He gave up for me." "It's a symbol of His strength." There were lots of things I should have/could have said. I wanted to get it all out in one simple but powerful statement. But all that came out was, "He is my savior" but it almost sounded like a question. She just nodded and smiled, gave me my receipt and told me to have a great day. I said, "Thanks. You too, and God bless." And that was it.

In a way I felt good that my little cross had attracted some attention in a place that used to sell "holiday" trees. In a way, I felt terrible that I didn't have the answer I would have liked to give.

What does it mean to you?

Love them Hankies!

I love vintage hankies. They're beautiful, practical, and the best thing about them is that they're easy to find and pretty inexpensive. I seem to find them everywhere: antique stores, thrift shops, flea markets, garage sales. But what do you do with them once you get them home. I used to put them in a hanky box and practically forget about them. It's a shame to but them where they can't be enjoyed.

There's lots of ways to use hankies. Beside using them for their intended purpose, you can also use them to:

1. Use a hanky, instead of tissue, to line a gift box. I took a pretty 99 cent box covered in purple and lavender florals and lined it with a matching hanky and tucked in my gift. All it needs now is a ribbon bow on the top. The hanky becomes part of the gift.

2. I often use hankies as doilies when I want to add a touch of color. It's easy to change them out to match the season or holiday. The hanky is covered in large pink carnation and the teapot has pink roses. Even though the flowers are different, I think it looks great together.

3. I use hankies as gift quiet often. When it's a friend's or teacher's or neighbor's birthday, I tuck a pretty hanky into their card and mail it away. It's not always possible (or affordable) to buy and send gifts. Sending a hanky with the card is a great economical way to tell them they were thought of.

4. Ever have a odd shaped little gift, but no box? Wrap it up in a hanky, tie it with a ribbon and pin a rhinestone brooch on it. So Cute! Problem is that your friend may not want to open the gift because it's wrapped so sweetly.

5. I tuck hankies everywhere, even under teacups. They look so pretty to display this way. They're like tiny napkins that can catch drips and spills. Easy to clean, too.

So if you ever come across a hanky that you love but don't know what to do with it, Get It!! You'll find a way to enjoy it.

Patricia :o)

BLUEBIRD embroidered runners

It's been a while since I posted about linens, so I think it's time. While sorting linens, I noticed that I seem to pick out a lot of bluebirds. They ARE among my favorite embroidered animals, though truth be told, I love it anytime I find an embroidered little dog, cat, horse, etc. I occasionally pick up other colored birds, but they just don't seem to be as cute.

SOLD

SOLD
OK, so this little bird isn't blue, but it's sooooo cute! We have lots of cardinals in our yard, so maybe that's what attracted me to this one. Or maybe it's because it's just so sweet.

SOLD

What amazes me so much about these vintage linens, is the workmanship! I tried embroidery several times (and I'm not giving up yet), but I just don't have the talent and/or skill to make my stitches look like this. It's much easier to just find them and buy them than it is to make them. Plus there's still the crocheted trim to worry about. And that's something I can't do.

All the items listed are table runners and are in great condition. If you're interested in purchasing them, please visit my eBay site. Some are listed as auctions and some as Buy-it-Now. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

Hope you had fun looking at these pretty art works.

Blessings,

Patricia :o)