April Showers Bring May Flowers

Sorry I have been remiss in posting...I have been busy! With the warm weather here, I have been in the yard, weeding and planting and spent two helping a lovely 82 year lady named Betty with her numerous but incredible perennial beds.

We weeded, deadheaded and put down some mulch. She is unbelievable, she doesn't look 82 and I can tell you she doesn't work like she is 82, I think she outworked me both days!

I learned a great deal from her on gardening, marriage, life and much more....it was a pleasure spending time with her!

Happy Feet

The Open Toed Shoe Pledge:

As a member of the Cute Girl Sisterhood, I pledge to follow the Rules when wearing sandals and other open-toe shoes:

I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. And the sides and tops of my feet will not purge out between the straps.

I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe.

I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow.

I will shave the hairs off my big toe.

I won't wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there.

If a strap breaks, I won't duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it.


I will not live in corn denial; rather I will lean on my good friend Dr. Scholl's if my feet need him.


I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids' sizes. This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.


I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swell and begin to look like Vienna sausages.


I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when she asks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals. Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good.


I will promise if I wear flip flops that I will ensure that they actually flip and flop, making the correct noise while walking and I will swear NOT to slide or drag my feet while wearing them.

I will promise to go to my local nail salon at least once per season and have a real pedicure (they are about $35 or $45 and worth EVERY penny).

I will promise to throw away any white/off-white sandals that show signs of wear... nothing is tackier than dirty white sandals.

Don't keep this to yourself!

Courtesy of pairofbartletts.blogspot.com and she said not to keep it to yourself, so do your girly duty and pass it on!

Spring Giveaway

The Farm Chicks have a great Spring Giveaway on their blog! It's your choice of 2 fabrics, 1 yard each from Pixie Dust Decor. The blog gives you all of the details to enter the giveaway!

If you haven't met the Farm Chicks they are so creative. They have been fetaured in Country Living Magazine and now have their own cookbook. These are the Farm Chicks!

Go check out their blog http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com

Jars, Jars and More Jars

There's something about jars that I just can't seem to resist. Not sure if it is their shape, original purpose or how I plan to use them, but my collection is ever expanding. From Mason jars, to decorative non-food safe primitive ones, I have more than I care to count.

Some of my jars are purely decorative and the contents change seasonally, while others are purely functional and hold flour, sugar, candy, bread crumbs, etc.

While looking at some of my decorative ones and growing a bit bored with them, I set out to add a little something to them and I ran across this great site http://www.yankeelaneprimitives.blogspot.com/div>

My plain early lighting jars went from this

To this, by simply gluing a label on the front of the jar!

Here are the Keepers of the Light Candle Jars, that I simply cleaned out once my candle was gone and added the label to the front of the jar. I will have some of these for sale at Burlington on Sunday. Stop by and check them out!

Show Time

Spring is here and that means it is show time!

Come see us at the Burlington Antique Show on Sunday, April 19th.

Show hours are 6:00am-3:00pm.

Our booth number is D8.

We will have loads of goodies including screen doors, shutters, wheel barrels and more!

For more info on the show visit http://www.burlingtonantiqueshow.com/

Hope to see you there!

Happy Easter

Before and After

Here's a less than exciting drafting chair, that is perfect for use at the computer, sewing machine, crafting table and so much more.

While the chair is perfectly functional and comfortable, it is rather plain and stark, or at least I think it is.

Solution, find a fabric that you like/love and a dear friend who can sew and you will end up with a drafting chair that looks like this!

Don't you just love it! My dear friend Kathy used her wonderful creative sewing skills and made a slipcover for my chair! She is so talented and always willing to help me create what my mind dreams up! I count her as one of my many blessings!

Now, each time I walk into my craft room I have this lovely chair to look at and Kathy comes quickly to mind!

What do you have around your house that is truly functional but less than exciting that you can perform a before and after on?

Road Trip to the Big Basket

Now that Spring has arrived it's time for some road trips! My first of the year was to my favorite spot, Longaberger! We traveled to Longaberger on our first bus trip of 2009 and got to help Longaberger kickoff their Spring Fling weekend!

We traveled by chartered bus and had a blast with 43 fun loving ladies! The weather was perfect, no rain and in the mid 60's!

We drove past the breath taking 5 story market basket building, which continues to thrill and amaze me no matter how many times I see it!

Our first stop was Longaberger Homestead, an unbelieveable shopping and entertainment destination. Home to the World's Largest Apple Basket!

We shopped the incredible factory store filled with retired baskets and pottery at unbelieveable prices!

Had lunch in the Crawford Barn, yummy lemon almond chicken salad!



And then it was on to the quaint little town of Dresden, home to many independently owned shoppes.



Our last stop of the day is one of my new favorties, The Retired Basket Shoppe, located directly across the street from Longaberger Homestead. Lisa and her Mom, the shop owners are such sweeties, they come out to greet the bus with a Longaberger Basket full of cookies and each person on the bus receives a discount on two items!

Here's a shot of my buddies inside the Retired Basket Shop: Ginger, myself, Sallie and beautiful little Kylie, who is officially hooked on baskets! She has already woven two baskets and this is only her second trip to Longaberger! Sallie has an adorable slate tile in her hand to go on her WI stand that's in her yard to replace her Christmas one she got at the Retired Basket Shoppe when we were there in Decemeber.


If you haven't ever joined us for a trip, you don't know what you are missing! It's such a great Girls Day! Our next trip is Saturday, June 20th, the 2009 American Summer Celebration Tour and I would love for you to join us!