Christmas in our Shop

I'm a Christmas worrier. I'm afraid to wait until the last minute to shop; what if I get sick and can't? So, I usually try to get done a couple weeks ahead. We were running late this year, and didn't go shopping until the weekend before. And guess what happened? I got sick - from Christmas shopping! Oh the irony! Apparently I picked up a cold from one of my fellow shoppers. We shopped Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon - and Monday I got slammed with a cold. Aack!!! I've managed to keep the shop open, though my hands may fall off from washing them so often to try to keep from passing my cold to anyone else. By evening, I'm exhausted, and sleep all evening on the couch, running a fever which I typically do with a cold. Bah humbug! It's now Christmas eve morning, in the wee hours. 2:30 to be exact. I just woke up, went to the kitchen to get a drink, and am now wide awake. All that sleep must be catching up with me. But, I'm happy to say I'm feeling much better. I think I'll live after all! I glanced at the outside thermometer while I was up - it is 74 degrees! In the wee hours of Christmas Eve! Unbelievable! And raining. There were a line of storms moving toward us, but they must have fallen apart. Such an odd December.

While I'm laying here wide awake, I may as well do something productive. I'll show you some photos of our shop this Christmas:

Sleigh ride!

Ornaments galore.

This was a candle sconce, Home Interior I believe. 

I took the candles out & replaced them with snowmen.

A little garland gave this old stepladder a festive look.

This was a door we cut into 2 pieces. 

A fast seller, I'll be looking for more doors for next year.

Prim wreath.

Some pine and berries dressed up this nativity.

Window display.

The base of this is a wreath. 

The cardinal's nest nestled right into it. 

Nest nestled. 

I'm getting sleepy again!

Good night!

Country Life = And Finally Some Snow

We have snow! It's been so odd this year, 60 and even 70 degree weather in December. It's not that unusual to get warm days here and there, but day after day? Crazy! Today was the first time this season that most customers that came in had on winter coats. And this evening, it snowed. This is the view when I opened our front door. I didn't step out on the porch - Baby, it's cold outside!

Hmmm, that would make a good song title. Maybe that's already been done......

Country Life = One year old - Already!

Our little guy is one year old today!

So hard to believe a whole year has gone by already.

We had a party for him yesterday, complete with his very own cake.

A little tentative at first.........

........but once he got hold of a fork, he dove in. 

We are crazy about our sweet grand-baby!

His personality is really starting to show.

He loves to laugh.

He loves people.

He  is constantly on the go, looking for the next thing to get into.

And though he knows what the word NO means, 

he doesn't necessarily feel the need to obey it. 

Sweet & Strong Willed.

It's going to get interesting!

December? Doesn't Feel Like It!

I put together another Facebook image....

Why? Because it's December 12. And it's 70 degrees. Crazy.

This is the entrance to our shop today.

Door open. Birds singing. Wooden snowmen in the window melting.

Well, the part about the wooden snowmen melting may be a bit of an exaggeration.

This must be what Christmas in the south feels like.

Here in the northern panhandle of WV, we are used to doing our Christmas shopping all bundled up in coats & gloves & hats & boots. And complaining as we do so about how cold it is. 

I've heard it may finally turn to winter next weekend. Which will be kinda hard on the flowers that have decided to bloom this weekend. Crazy!

December? Maybe according to the calendar, but you can't tell it by the Christmas shoppers strolling along in their T-shirts!

Creating My Own Images

I used to be so good about posting every couple of days. 

What happened? 

Life. 

Life happened.

It's a struggle to find the time for blogging.

But I'm going to try again.

Recently, I found a website called Canva.com

I've been using it to create some fun images for Facebook pages.

This one is the cover photo for a Facebook page

I started recently called Uptown Moundsville.

It features our uptown/downtown area,

which is full of tourist attractions & shopping.

I plan to make several encouraging the 

Shop Small & Support Local movement.

Our neighboring towns to the north and south are 2015 State Champs.

Seemed only fitting to design an image in their honor.

So true!

This one is in response to the shrinking Facebook reach on my own store page. 

You can see the whole post here.

There have been more, but I won't bore you with ALL of them,

 But I'm having lots of fun creating them!

Up-cycled Floor Radio

We had picked up an old floor radio/record player at an auction. It didn't work, and the finish was very worn. It had a certain blah factor to it. I went ahead and put it out on the floor as is, hoping someone would buy it for a project piece. No one did.

For some odd reason, any pictures that I took with my camera won't rotate when I post them on this blog. A very annoying glitch! If anyone knows a solution, please let me know!

Ugh! Makes me a little dizzy!

It didn't sell, so I took it home where it sat. And sat. And sat. All winter long. I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I have seen these turned into mini bars on Pinterest, but since we don't drink, we didn't feel comfortable doing that.

What else could we do?

Finally, I took it outside and just stared at it. Then it hit me. Just turn it into a decorative piece.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

Outside again another day. I removed the guts of it since it didn't work, and that is what made it rather heavy.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

Outside again another day. I cleaned the finish with liquid sander to remove some of the gloss. Painted one coat of black.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

Outside again another day. Second coat of black.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

I'm not kidding. It's been that kind of summer here in West Virginia. Rain almost every day.

While it rained, I replaced the fabric on the bottom with sheet music. The rain stopped for a bit, so back outside we went. A bit of sanding. A coat of varnish. Staple the sheet music piece back in, and hurry up and put it in the car before it rained again!

We thought about removing the stereo part and making a shelf. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I just think the record player and radio are what make the piece, even though it no longer works. So in the end, I decided to leave the inside in it's original shape.

Four sheets of sheet music fit perfectly. I just decoupaged them onto a large piece of cardboard, and stapled it into place.

It's out of my basement, and back on the floor in our shop. A unique piece!

Once a Drawer, Now a Shadowbox

Not all furniture can be saved.

Sometimes "trash to treasure" is simply not an option.

But even if the furniture piece as a whole can not be saved,

parts of it can be.

Oftentimes, the drawers are still decent.

And they make great shadowboxes!

I paired these ones with dolls and turned them into 

unique Americana pieces.

All it takes is a little imagination.

And a hot glue gun.

A Vintage Carol

New in the shop. 

Let's sing, shall we?

Nine egg beaters.

Eight kitchen utensils.

Seven rolling pins.

Six metal strainers.

Five butter paddles.

Four enamel pieces.

Three pastry cutters.

Two match holders.

And a partridge in a......

HEY!!!

What happened to the partridge?

Facebook Giveaway - Window with burlap

It's Giveaway Time!

I'm doing a giveaway on our Facebook page. If you comment or like the post with this window, you will be entered to win it for free! 

I made it in March of 2014, but for whatever reason, it  never sold. We're having a stretch of rainy weather, so to brighten things up a bit, I decided to give it away in a Facebook contest. 

The rules: You must be able to pick it up within a week. Thus, the winner either needs to be local, or have someone local who can pick it up. No shipping.

It's rather big. 43" high by 23" wide. Maybe that explains why no one has bought it. You would need a spot in your house big enough. If you have a wall needing a statement piece, this could be it! For free!

I will use Rafflecopter.com to pick a random winner at 5:00 on June 18. If you want to enter, hop on over to our Facebook page and like or comment on the post! Good luck!

Country Life = Squirrel Encounters

Yesterday afternoon, I went out in our yard, 

and discovered this little guy had beat me to it.

We have an abundance of maple tree seed helicopters this year.

Apparently, they make for some good eatin'!

He knew I was there, he would stop every so often and watch me.

I would freeze, and he would soon go back to his meal.

I have no idea how long he had been there before I saw him,

but I watched him for at least 15 minutes.

The entire time, he was finding and eating the maple tree seeds.

In between bites, he would scamper up & down the maple tree in our yard.

I was beginning to think he had moved in, but George said he probably lives in the woods and was just visiting. We do often see a squirrel run through the yard.

We had just been talking the day before about how many squirrels we have been seeing along the road this year. It seems like they are everywhere. We never made the connection until I saw this one eating the maple tree seeds. But since there are more seeds than usual, maybe that explains why there seem to be more squirrels than usual. Very healthy looking squirrels!

Blog or Babysit? Babysit!

I took a couple months off from blogging. Why? A big reason was that I usually wrote posts in the mornings before going to the shop. I've been rather busy the last few months in the mornings though. Why? Because I had the privilege of watching our grandson in the mornings. He would get here about 6:45 AM, and I would have him until his daddy got back from his bus run which gave me just enough time to get ready to go.

He would also spend an hour or so many days in the shop with me. We waited on customers, and got new inventory ready to go on the floor.

And in our down time, we spent some time poking around on Pinterest.

His mama in off work now for the summer, so I have my mornings back. I'm gonna miss giving him his morning bottle! Let me tell you, they just don't come any sweeter than that little guy!

Since I won't be baby sitting as much now, I can get back to blogging. I have several post ideas in mind. Stay tuned!

Oil Cans - Primitive Style

A creative mind can see potential in just about anything. Even old rusty oil cans. Most people would have tossed these ones in the trash. But I thought someone could do something with them. 

Time went by, and no one bought them. Hmm.  I began to think maybe they should indeed have gone in the trash, or to the scrap yard.

But I took one more look at them, and decided maybe the someone who should do something with them was me.

So I did.

Burlap ribbon, pip berries, some scraps of fabric, and they were transformed. One sold the next day. I look for the other to sell soon too.

I have to say, when I saw how the photo came out, I had to giggle. Having it look like fire was coming out the top of the can on the left was not intended. But it seems fitting. 

It doesn't take much to amuse me.

Facebook Special

Our shop is having a Facebook Special today and tomorrow.

What? 

You've never seen our Facebook page?

Well, there's no time like the present!

Click here.

Fabric flowers

It may be too early yet for real flowers, but we can beckon the season with some made from fabric!

These were made by a friend, she made them from an old quilt.

Love them!

These were made from the same quilt.

Such fun spring decor!

I made these ones, the ones on the left and right were made in the same style.

The quilt I used had lots of different patterns within it.

I made the ones in the middle from burlap and scraps of fabric.

Each flower has 4 circle layers, and is finished off with a button in the middle.

All of the flowers are available in our shop in Moundsville, WV.