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!

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......

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!

 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!

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?

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.

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.

Spring is in the Air

Here in Moundsville, WV, the snow is finally melting, and Spring is in the air! The winter wasn't bad, until February, and then it hit with full force. After several weeks of brutal cold and snow, the highs in the 40's are feeling like a heat wave. What is that hill you ask? That is the Grave Creek Mound, built by the Adena Indians around 150 BC as a burial ground. Our town MOUNDsville was named after it, and it is just down the street from my shop, within easy walking distance.

Inside my shop, we are concentrating on Spring too. After a long winter, the brighter colors are so refreshing and uplifting.

Several customers have told me they are looking for turquoise decor right now. It pairs well with red, or yellow, or even brown.

These are displayed in a suitcase, or perhaps it was a typewriter case, or held a musical instrument. The green tone floral scarf threw over the back softens the hard edges and dresses it up a bit.

Here again, a vintage scarf adds to the look.

I hear the birds singing outside my window as I type.

They may indeed be singing "Oh Happy Day"!

Burlap Sacks and Old Windows

Old window frames....

Plus old potato sacks....

Equals some pretty cool, (and country!) wall decor.

This one is hung in our display window.

Hard to get a decent photo there, due to the glass, the reflections, and...

well... to be perfectly honest, the dirty windows may have something to do with it.

In my defense, it's been too cold to wash the windows.

But since it's supposed to be in the 50's all week, 

it may be time to break out the cleaning supplies and do a little spring cleaning!

Old Man Winter Chair Makeover

I painted this chair last fall. I forgot to take a "before" photo, but it was a plain ole brown chair. It had already been  painted over with brown paint, which had worn down. Sometimes wear is pretty. In this chairs case, it wasn't.

I spray painted it with a burgandy paint, not sure what I was going to do with it afterwards. But as soon as the paint dried, I knew.

Look at the face in the middle of the chair back! When the chair was brown, I hadn't even noticed it. The burgandy paint really brought it out. It made me think of an angry winter cloud, breathing down fierce, biting winds, whipping snow across all the land.

You know - Old Man Winter!

I finished painting the chair, took it to our shop, and posted it on our Facebook page. It was sold within hours, to someone who saw it on the page. 

We were having a somewhat mild winter, with spurts of bad weather here and there, but plenty of nice days in between. But we are making up for it now! It's been bitterly cold for several days now, with several more in the forecast. When the temps hit negative numbers at night, with highs in the single digits, our water at the shop froze up. We had to have it turned off, and decided to just leave it off until the weather warms, hopefully next week. So, I am home, crafting. I hate to close the shop, but honestly, hardly anyone comes in when Old Man Winter is rearing his head. So, I'll take advantage of this unexpected time at home, and get more inventory ready. Spring is just around the corner!

Vintage Doilies and Linens

I bought a box of beautiful doilies at a recent auction.

 Just look at those colors!

When I was young, I thought doilies were a bit embarrassing. SO old fashioned & grandmotherly. I have never thought of myself as "hip". But doilies? Even I knew those were horribly out of date.

Then, as the years went by, I started seeing them in a different light. The work that went into them! I inherited my moms & grandma's when my mom passed. And we also have some that had belonged to George's mom.

Once in while, I would open the boxes, tenderly looking through them. And admiring them. And even getting a couple out to use.

And, of course, owning a crafts & antiques shop means having ones I pick up at auctions on hand. To sell to those of you who appreciated them sooner than I did.

I have now reached the older & wiser point in my life. I love doilies, and am not afraid to say so.

I was so excited to buy this box of them. They actually were divided up into 5 boxes at the auction, and sold as choice. I won the first bid. When the auctioneer said, "How many do you want?", I said, "All of them! I want all of them!" And a few people in the audience groaned, because they had missed out on getting the beauties for themselves. Before the evening was over, I did sell 4 purple ones to a man who said he was going to be in trouble with his wife if he didn't take those purple ones home.

I usually think of doilies as setting on a table, with a vase on top.

Or maybe some silly chickens.

Whoa! Bright colors! That silly chicken is almost camoflauged!

But they are also beautiful when used to drape over edges.

I love how they soften the harsh lines of the box.

So pretty mixed in with china plates.

 

They add so much charm anywhere you put them.

I love these turquoise ones!

I wish I had the patience skill to embroider.

How sweet is this?

As much as I like these ones from auctions, I did not take any of them home. I will enjoy them while they are in the shop, then be happy when I see someone buy them, and give them good homes. Anytime I want to decorate with doilies in my own home, I will pull out the family ones. 

How about you? What are your thoughts on vintage (or new!) doilies and linens?