Just LOOK at these GORGemous huge vintage ball oranments!!!

Check out the beautimous vintage ornaments that I picked up at one of my favorite thiftin' stops for less than $5 for alllllllllllllllllll of them!  and they're huge.  The round ornaments are actually 3 different sizes...as you can see in one of the bottom pics, there's a small red glittered bulb in the box with 5 other more larger ornaments, that lil red one is the smalles one and it's 3", which is 6" around!  the others are much larger!  There's one broken, and nope, it wasn't broken when she packed it in the bag, but she was just a teenager so it wasn't packed very well anyway, dangit! and it was PINK too...don't they know that my Christmas theme is PINK this year?  ughhh!  The boxes of ball ornaments were only, get this, $1.01 each per box.  The vintage orange bells, yes, they're a bit gaudy, but they're vintage, AND they were only 60 cents! 

THEN, at the same store, I picked this vintage enamelware pan up for $2.53 (weird numbers, I know, lol). 

darn...thought I'd uploaded those...I'll get'em uploaded and show you the 'end result' which is TO die for, love love love it, adorable...I'll keep you guessing until then, lol.

It is officially time for the Christmas decorating to commence!

My first Christmas tree of the season...pink!  can you see the ribbon candy ornaments?  In an earlier post, I showed some ribbon candy ornaments made out of striped grograine ribbon...I made these out of  2 different colored ribbons, one spool of white and one spool of pink.  I cut their lengths and folded them at the same time so one side is pink and the other is white.  Then I ran the doubled thread through the center with a small crystal on the bottom, tied it off w/a small round crystal bead at the top and hung a filigreed ornament hanger from the thread...and viola, done.  I've tweaked the tree since this pic was taken, I put 3 pink ostrich feathers in the top and some tiny floral crystaline picks in the branches...adorable, I think...and of course, I just HAD to put my faux goodies with it.   Today I prepared about 17-20 floral picks from a bunch of cream roses and pink poinsettias that I got for super cheap at a thrift store...I plan to use them on the staircase bannister's garland.  I usually put shatterproof balls, but think I'm going a different route this year.  I post pics when I get it done.

Time to Decorate for Christmas! YAAAAAAAAYS!

Thankfully, it's that time of year again...time to decorate for Christmas.  It's true, Christmas is MY favorite holiday season...it's not just a day (that's the day we celebrate the birth of Christ our Savior and all that HE has done for US), but the entire season, where I get to enjoy anything and everything about the not-necessarily-religious-side of Christmas...santa, tree, shiny balls (get your mind out of the gutter, lol), garland w/lots of flowers on it.  And of course, with all this stuff coming out, lots of stuff has to go back in, which means, I have to pack non-Seasonal things away, to prepare for the Seasonal things to come out.  And that's where I'm at at the moment...looking around knowing I need to get off my bootie and pack stuff so that the hubs can start bringing in tubs this weekend.  Yesterday, I left for PT in the morning and noticed that the elderly gentleman that lives across the road (the NICE one) had put up his Christmas wreathe (his daughter did, that is) and his big red ribbon on the bannister...I jumped in glee.  When I got home in the evening, I could see twinkling lights in their front window and I jumped in glee again, w/giggles and clapping my hands...she'd put up the TREE!!!  YAYS!!!  this means that SOMEONE has beat me to it, ugh...and I really need to get off my bum and get to it...so that's what I'm doing this weekend, decorations galore.  Which means, I have a few crafts that I have to do like ASAP.  First, I have some non-vintage bottle brush trees that I've decided to spray paint pink and sprinkle a lil mica on them.  Second, I have some pinecones I've decided to spray paint pink and sprinkle a little clear glass glitter on them.  Third, what's third? crap, see? I've already forgotten yet aNOTHer thing I need to do...I'll remember later, no worries.  Ok, I was on frequency after having another spinal shot on Wednesday and was flipping through St. Louis Home mag. Christmas and got some pretty cool ideas...these are pics of how I usually decorate.  I have a tall tree...it's 10 1/2" tall, but my ceilings in this house are standard which means I have to remove the top part to lower it to 8", so I don't put an angel or star on top because every one I've found are too small and get lost in the scope of the tree.  So I put big bows and use berry sprigs and quail feathers out the top, like this photo:

yes, I took a pic of the pic in a mag, lol

anyhoo, this is what I do.  and then I saw the bannister pic, which yet antoehr thing that I do, even tho my stairway bannister is only like 3" of an area to decorate before it leads into a wall, blah, it's not quite as GRAND as these pics, lol, but aren't they lovely?  I do, however, have a bannistered wrap-around porch that runs the length of the front of my house and I always swag greenery around it (I'll post pics when I do this for all to see and enjoy) and put huge bows and shiny balls on it, along w/white twinkle lights.

 



aren't they pretty? and yes, again, these are pics of pics from sitting in my chair at pt, lol...but I didn't want to buy the mag just to show ya'll the ideas of what I do, sorry StL Home mag,

Isn't the big Snow Santa beautiful?  I don't think I'd sprinkle all that faux snow all over the floor just to get the effect, tho...especially since (you can't see it in this pic) the floor is shiny, white marble, ughh...can you imagin the cleanup and mess of that?  my cats would have that strewn all over the house to where I'd be vacuuming the entire month of January w/out taking a breath, blah.

And I LOVE this pic of the tree...I love all the shiny balls and baubles...and can you see the fairies hanging from it?  They've taken metal wire sticks and bent them a bit, attached them to the tree trunk and hung the fairy from the rounded end to make it look like they're flying around it, decorating it...too cute.  Wouldn't quite go over well in my house, not enough room, but if I had a grand large room like this, I would probably try that out.  The ribbon...I love putting large ribbon as garland on my tree, as well as fluffy maraboo in pink and white, to make it look like snow.

but this pic, is from me...it's the very first Christmas decoration in my home, my dining room to be exact...sitting w/faux hot cocoa, atop an antique rusty, chippy enamel plate w/pink baubles and drops.  The Merry Christmas ornament was only a buck at Walmart, they have them in like 6 different colors, but I liked the red.  Do you have pics of your ideas or home decorating that you'd like to share?  we'd love to see them, forward them or post them in a comment to share it with us.

Beautimus mini cupcakes on rosey platter

November is a time in our house where there's LOTS of birthdays, including mine, and both of my kids'.  So Saturday, we had a mini celebration w/some lovely friends and family.  My bestie and I may have had a nip of wine, or two, lol...and we all visited and such, it was a great time.  I baked two 9" layered round cakes that I dirty iced, then final iced and let both kids decorate their own.  They both insisted on black icing, ugh, what a bday cake, lol.  One was yellow w/French vanilla and fresh mango filling, and the 2nd was white cake with lime filling...both were actually pretty good, my own creations, of course, so that was sheer luck, lol.  But a took a quick pic of the mini cupcakes that I made with no filling so that those who didn't want the aforementioned fillings could still have cake.  With limited time, I made a few dowel rod roses, then made the rest with pansy and petal flowers.  The girls put a sprinkle dot in the center of each, then I sprinkled them all with edible 'snow' (sugar flakes, actually), but it made them sparkle like fairy dust...adorable.  I used the platter that I bought a week or so ago and blogged about down below to put them on...don't they just look scrumptious?!  there were, too! yummm

A beautiful large platter w/pink roses..only $3.69!

So, I found a new resale shop the other day..called Pams Consignments, so I went in, and I'm glad I did.  She had a stack of antique flow blue plates (a total of 12 plates in 5 different sizes) all for only $4.50! and they're BEAUTIFUL!  so, of course, I bought them, lol, I'll prolly stick'em in LC's Etsy store, eventually.  Then I went to the Salvation Army, on of my favorite stores, of course...and found literal OODLES of great stuff.  One good find was a set of nesting vintage Fire King bowls in 3 different colors for $3.99!  Another was this beautiful LARGE and deep vintage meat platter, that has NO cracks or chips AND no crazing!  I pd a whopping $3.69 for it...isn't it gorgeous?!  pink roses on pale green vines (decals) w/hand painted gold scrolls around the handle ends.  I think it is, anyway, and it's just my style too...the question is, do I really NEED it? lol  I have several of these gorgeous platters...me thinks I will go through the ones I have and see if there's one I should part with and put this one in it's place.

It's almost Christmas!!!

I realized today that Monday is November 1, which means  many things, one of which is that one of my favorite radio stations, 102.5 KEZK, will be going to all Christmas music all of the time starting on Monday.  YAYS!  It's their signature move and I LOVE it!  I know, I know...it's not Christmas, but to me, Christmas is celebrated all year.  Besides the fact that my religious beliefs are that 'JESUS is the reason for the season,' I feel that since it is, why does it have to be celebrated only one day?  I love everything about it...the REASON, where I have several creches (nativities and scenes) displayed throughout the house, right alongside Santas (he may not be the reason, but he's a symbol...St. Nicholas, the symbol that it's better to give than to receive, because that's how the gift giving began...this, we can do all year long, as well).  anyhoo, I've been listening the Christmas cds on and off for the past month or so.  All who knows me, knows that I enjoy decorating my home for the season.  Where I tend to put up many decorated trees, some just small, simplie tabletop trees, others, like the living room and master bedroom, more elaborate.  I tend to go overboard...last year, one of my oldest daughter's friends came by and said that it looked like Santa had thrown up on my tree, lol.  Well, some of you may not know this, but the tree in my master bedroom stays up 365 days a year.  It's white, usually with purple lights (they can be difficult to find with white caps and wire, though), and has a few Victorian pink balls on it, along with berry vines.  The other ornaments on it are those that my husband and I collect from places that we travel to.  They're the 24 kt gold laser cut and etched shiny golden ornaments that depict scenes of the places we've travelled to, such as Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, the Camp Lakewood Trout Lodge that we go to every summer, Hannibal Missouri from when we went w/my ex-sister-in-law & her new husband, and various states we've visited, along w/many more.  Our newest acquisition is one from Hermann, Missouri's Oktoberfest, where we went his past weekend.  And I stick a few berry picks in the top along w/some butterflies.  I just redid the ornaments today with the help of my oldest (I had to listen to her, 'are you serious, mother?' throughout it, but she did it, none-the-less, lol), and the lights are white now, as you can see in the pic.  I might tweek it a bit here and there still, haven't decided.  So right now, I'm propped up on my bed, with my golden retriever laying across  my feet, my rat terrier curled up under the blanket next to me, the window open w/a cool breeze blowing through, my pretty tree lit, and 'It's a Wonderful Life' on the boob-tube, lol...ya think there's meds for this condition? lol  My husband snickers at me for my craziness and my kids roll their eyes, lol but I don't care...they'd miss it if I didn't do it this way.

Oh, oh, forgot to tell everyone, I picked up a new tree for my kitchen the other day...I'm trying to remember where I bought it, I think it was Garden Ridge, anyhoo, it's PINK, I have gold, silver, green, even teal blue, but I hadn't picked up a pink one yet, so I did.  Didn't pay much for it, something like 8 bucks, it's about 2 feet tall.  I plan to decorate it with mini-cupcakes that I make, along w/ribbon candy ornaments (made from ribbon, I'll take pics of those and show-and-tell in a later post, but they're similar to the ones in this pic)...I just can't wait!!!  My kitchen boasts a large lithograph of Santa working in his kitchen making cookies and soup with the elves, he's wearing an apron, lol.  I keep this picture up all year, as well, it's just too cute not to.  I also picked up a tall 'skinny' tree at another thrift store that I frequent, Value Village, it's HUGE...it took over the old Big Lots store and it uses the entire floor space for it's goodies, that's how big it is.  They had the tree and it was only priced at $6.06 (yeah, they're one of those that puts a weird ending price on their tags, dunno why they do that, they're not tax-exempt or anything).  I think I'll be putting this outside on my front porch, next to my front door with white lights and red plastic balls...will show-and-tell when it all comes together.

I also found a new ornament I want to make...add it to my list, of course, lol.  Took this pic at Kohl's.  It's suppose to be a vintage postcard, it's been sprinkled with clear 'snow' glitter.  I have quite a few old Christmas cards that people have given me through the years and they would be perfect to turn into this.  I already have a large postcard stamp to look like the vintage back, w/a place for a stamp, etc.  Then the stamper w/writing and postmarks, all of which I have...trim them with decorative scissors, spray with spray glue and sprinkle...add an embellishment at the bottom, maybe a little plastic crystal, or a couple of beads, etc. and BOOM! DONE!!  wouldn't these be adorable and very economical gifts?  I think that's what I'm-a gonna do! and of course, it's been added to my very long list of 'to-dos' lol

A couple of my recent junkin' finds

The hubs and I went to the Pevely Fleamarket on Sunday...we didn't get out and about until lunchtime, so we knew there wouldn't be many sellers left, and we were right, lol, there were only a handful of sellers other than the 'regulars'...ya'll know the type, they rent a spot at the flea market and set up canapies and such and just tarp it closed when the flea maret's over and it's all ready to go for the next weekend...you NEVER find anything worth having at those sellers, (in our experience) so we skipped over them.  They 2 large buildings that we strolled through, and the last one had this little iron ice cream chair stuck in a dusty old corner...I squealed and the hubs thought I'd fallen or something, lol.  He dug it out for me and the tag said $5.00!  I squealed again...he just said, 'I take it that that means you want it,' lol and took it to the front to pay for it.  (btw, those aren't holes in the back, it's just the limbs from that loathesome barberry bush sticking thru them, ughhh, I HATE that bush!)  It's a very sturdy and solid chair...can't decide if I want to put it down in garden or what...hmmmmm.  got any ideas for me???

Then today I was out running errands all over town and stopped in at the local Goodwill.  I picked up a few things, a couple of brand new Target donated Kindle covers for when I get mine, one for 99 cents and the other for $2.99.  Then I found these beauts...and for a SONG too.  They're the vintage enamelware refrigerator boxes...2 reg. sized white boxes, w/lil handles on top w/blue edges, aren't they adorable?  they were only $2 EACH!!!  WOWzers for realz!  If you notice in the pic, they're sitting in a larger box...and THAT, my dear folks, is a vintage enamelware refrigerator drawer box!  It's large, white w/black edge and black handle, very hard to find...and I only paid 6 BUCKS for it!!!

My next find I didn't take a pic of, but I stopped at one of my favorite junk shops, Pops, where they know me by name.  He knows some of the things that I like and puts them back for me until I come in next, and he and his helpers especially know my affinity toward old photo slides.  I went in to find a glass stopper for a vintage wine decanter (he has a bin full of glass stoppers and I just KNEW he'd have what I needed...he did, lol, and for only a buck and a half).  And of course, as always, I ask as I come in, 'hey there...how's everyone? great...great...oh yeah, I'm fine, tired of this wind.  Say, did ya'll get any new photo slides in?'  and, the answer was, 'hmmm, I think there's a box in the back, I don't know why they're back there...let me call him and ask' and as she dialed, I said, 'hopefully they're there for ME!' smiling...she got off the phone and said, 'yep, he stashed'em back there for you, let me get'em.'  When she came out she had 2 boxes of vintage aluminum slide cases (not trays) full of slides.  It was like Christmas for me, lol...there were about 200ish vintage slides and she only charged me $16 for them ALL!  YAYS!  A couple of months ago I stopped in and he'd put back close to 600 or so slides for me and only charged me $30 for them all, and they were of China in the 50's and 60's...WONderful, with a few vintage Christmas slides thrown in.  We just have the best time going through them all and looking at them in slide viewers and occassionally set up the projector, put a white sheet across the big screen tv, and look at them that way...have you ever done that?  just take someone else's vacation with them from years past with vintage photo slides?  I love doing that.
CORRECTION:  I USUALLY DON'T COUNT THE SLIDES I BUY, I GUESSTIMATE, LOL YEAH, I KNOW, BAD BAD...ANYHOO, I FINALLY COUNTED THE ONES I PICKED UP THE OTHER DAY AND THERE WERE 1,080!!!  THAT'S WAAAAAAAAAAAAY OFF FROM 200ish, EH? LOL  SO THE ONES I PICKED UP A FEW MONTHS AGO OF CHINA WERE PROBABLY CLOSER TO 3000! 

Win a copy of 'Holiday' with Matthew Mead over at Thrifty Decor Chick!

One of the Thrifty Decor Chick's projects has been chosen to be in Matthew Mead's new Christmas decorating, crafting books, 'Holiday with Matthew Mead!' HOW exciting!!! and she has an extra copy up for grabs in a giveaway...just head over to her post and let her know that you'd like to win it, for your entry...you can get extra entries, too, if you want to get more chances to win it. It looks like it's going to be a fanTABulous new Holiday decorating book! GOTTA have it, one way or another!

I started my musical bird Christmas ornaments today

I went to a little thrift shop today, I hadn't been to it in several months (shame on me, 'cause they're very inexpensive).  And they had alot of sheet music books.  So I went through them and picked the ones that the music lines were close enough together, tossed out the 'school class' band books (for 6th grade trumpet, etc), and tossed out the ones that were stark white (there's no fun in looking 'new'...blah), and I finally ended up with the ones in the pic...I spent $4.50 on all these books and there's aLOT of pages in a few of those books, and I've already started chopping them up, lol.

I put my pattern on the pages and started tracing them, then cut them out.  I plan to glue them on tinted cardstock (so there's color on the back) and will embellish accordingly.  I'm off to a great start...it'll take a few days for me to get some done, I tend to be all over the place at the same time, lately...or at least that's how I feel sometimes, lol.  But, alas, a train trip and wine tasting is in my near future (Saturday, yum), can't wait, rain or not, I'm GOin!

don't ya think my birdie ornaments are gonna look just like the $5.99 ones at JCPenneys????  actually, they're gonna look even BETTER, cuz it's ME that's making them, lol...I'll post pics of the finished products in a few days.

Lavender Cove has gone 'Etsy'

Yes, Lavender Cove now has an Etsy store...although, there's nothing in it for sale at the moment, lol.  Once it does, you'll be the first to know, I promise.  I plan to sell my homemade one-of-a-kinds, as well as quite a few antique and vintage rummage finds.  Where am I gonna find the time?  this crosses my mind many times a day.  With Lavender Cove's 'sister' blog, Thrifty and Frugal, getting more and more popular, it requires that I maintain it more and more frequently, then I have medical appointments on M,W,F that I don't get home from until 2-4 pm, plus my kids' extra-curricular activities several evenings per week...BUT, alas, this is my plan.  The upside of Etsy is that items aren't auctioned, they're listed for up to 4 months, and are sold (or not, lol)...so that helps a bit, maybe, or at least, we'll see, lol. Anyhoo, the above pic is Lavender Cove's Etsy Store banner...what'a'ya think? I like it, too!

I've found the bird templates I plan to use

As you all know, I (and thousands of others), LOVE The Graphics Fairy's images that she posts for FREE use...they're generally vintage or antique, copyright free images, from vintage/antique post cards, cards, pamphlets, books, score sheets, music and various other things.  Well, I went over to The Graphics Fairy's blog and scrolled through her Birds section (where there's over 100 images of birds alone to download) and found a few that I think will work for the ornaments that I told ya'll about here.  I enlarged them by a few pixels on my computer and printed them on regular paper.  I have quite a bit of scrapbooking cardstock to choose from and plan to use some that will have a solid color on the back (some will be pink, some buttercream).  I'll cut them out to use as templates on vintage sheet music and the cardstock, cut those out, and spray glue them to the cardstock, then decorate to my heart's content.  Here's the bird images that I've chosen for this project...if you want to give it a go, as well, head over to her birds tab and download the images to your 'puter to print out...if you decide to download them, give her a lil 'thank you' by 'following' her blog, she works so hard on the images she provides for us.  What'a ya think? you think these images would make for good bird ornaments like the ones in the pic on my post? NOTE: DO NOT PRINT THE BIRDS FROM THIS PAGE...FIRST AND FOREMOST, THEY ARE NOT MY IMAGES TO GIVE...AND SECOND, THEY WON'T TURN OUT RIGHT, WHEN YOU INCREASE THE PIXELS, THEY WILL BE DISTORTED.  MAKE SURE TO GET THEM FROM THE SOURCE, The Graphics Fairy SO THAT THE DOWNLOAD AND PRINTING WILL BE SUCCESSFUL!

Look at the pretty faux goodies I've just made...

These are some of my recent faux goodies that I've made.  They are all lightly scented with pumpkin spice essential oils and smell wonderful.  The smell is long lasting, as well, so the rooms smell wonderful without burning candles.  Don't they look yummy?  the Eiffel Tower bowl was adorable, I thought, and perfect for a spray-foam mounded cupcake.  you can't see it, but there's a pink mirrored ballerina at the top next to the puffy heart and Eiffel Tower pick.  The Santa cake is just a foam cube from Dollar Tree that 'iced' and decorated...I was lucky enough to find a pkg of vintage flocked Santas at a thrifty store for 50 cents.  The cups of faux cocoa are just that...spray foam inside of tea cups, with faux whipped cream and faux marshmallows and choco chips on top.  A few of the cups are for everyday, but about 6 of them are for Christmas, including a vintage inspired Santa head mug..I'll need to get a pic of that up for ya'll, it's aDORable!  The little round cakes w/a berry on top are just the foam rounds from Dollar Tree that I 'iced.'  And finally, that large faux cupcake is actually a plastic bowl or planter or something that I got on clearance for 50 cents at Big Logs (I picked up a few pink and a few blue, as well).  This was my first one to decorate, though.  I put a 25 cent porcelain bunny on top w/a plastic tiara from Dollar Tree and lots and lots of flowers.  I 'iced' it in swirls for a poofy effect, I think it came out okay, don't you?  of course, all of the items are sprinkled lightly with fairy dust (I LOOOOOOOOOOVE fairy dust, lol), to give a little twinkle and feel of sparkly romance.

A 'must have' right now: Martha's pumpkin carving kit

For several years, my daughters and I have rustled around the house collecting this and that, or anything that we could use to make interesting carvings, holes, and such on our pumpkins...we have a tendancy to use a my metal pastry tubes to poke holes, but we often come out with scars from being cut, lol NOT safe...I've tried everything from taping them at the end to using plastic cap covers to keep the ends from cutting us, to no avail, as the metal is thin and cuts right through whatever I use.  BUT, I've been eyeing a kit from Martha's kitchen and fall line for a couple of years now, ever since she put it together.  I've looked all around this year, and everyone says it's 'out of stock,' online and instore, yet I just saw her carving pumpkins with Johnny Knoxville on her new Hallmark show today, they were using the tools, AND she gave him a set...ughhh, no wonder they aren't in stock, lol.  But, alas, I will continue to search...it looks a bit pricey, but it'll be an investment for future year's use, as well, and to make the carving a bit easier on mine and my youngster's hands.  The scoop looks a bit cheesey, I think sturdy ice cream scoops work better, or heavy metal cooking spoons.  So ar, I've searched Macy's and Amazon...haven't tried eBay yet....KMart use to carry Martha's junk, I mean, products, but don't anymore...I forget who picked her line up, is it Target? hmmm, dunno, but I WILL prevail!

I plan to make these 2 aDORable Christmas ornaments!

I was at JCPenney today and was looking at their Christmas section, which is always quite small, ughh...anyhoo, I saw these two adorable ornaments on a tree that I thought I'm just gonna HAVE to make...and they look like they're going to be super simple.  A small box, diorama-type ornament which is open (doesn't have a window over it), w/lots of faux snow, with a vintage scene, which many can now be found on Christmas cards at the store, downloaded for free at places like the Graphics Fairy, and such.  And then the 2nd ornament is a thin posterboard bird, trimmed in vintage looking tinsel roping, and covered in vintage-look sheet music, which, again, is so easy to find nowadays, thanks to scrapbooking sections in stores, OR just use vintage music that you might have on hand or look for at the thrift shop...and it's decorated with the simplest and cheapes craft item, pipe cleaners.  And they were charging 5.99 and 7.99 for these ornaments! wowzers.  Don't these just look adorable and so simple to make?  I'm gonna...I'll post pics when I finally get around to doin' it, lol...I'll add it to The 'LIST'

THIS is what 8 lbs of pears gets you, lol

So, we have an elderly couple for neighbors, that live across the fence behind our backyard that have a couple of pear trees.  Last Sunday, I'd stopped by for a visit and they sent about 10 lbs of pears home with me.  What were we EVER going to do with that many pears?  We ate some....then a few more, but then everyone was tired of eating them.  So my bestie says, 'make some pear butter...it's easy, just peel & core them, and toss'em in the crockpot w/a few light spices and 1/4 cup of water and cook overnight...they'll be ready to can the next morning.'  So, I did, and she was wrong, lol...they cooked in the crock for about 20 hours before they cooked down to a consistency that could be made into butter (just some quick stirring), but I fudged...I put too much water in it, about 1 1/2 c, plus the juice in the pears boiled out and then I was stuck w/aLOT of juice that i had to sieve off, which was time consuming as hell...but here's the result.  8 lbs of pears processed down 6 half-pint jars, lol...that's it.  So, tomorrow on the way home, I shall take a jar to the nice neighbors that gave me the pears........and see if they'll give me some more, lol.  And I couldn't resist making the little tags...I stamped a small bee on it in coffee colored ink, then wrote the name across it w/'made w/Splenda' at the bottom, and my name & date on the back, and tied them on the rings...aren't they adorable?!
note: if you're interested my crockpot recipe for pear butter made with splenda, just give me a holler by leaving a comment or clicking the 'contact me' tab.

Printed picture on a vintage book page

so, the next time you're at a yard sale or thrift shop and you can find a larger vintage book for 50 cents or so, you should grab it and put some of those pages to use.  I'm a book fiend, seriously...I think there's support groups for people like me.  And being such, it took me quite a long time to finally say, 'ok, I can use some of these pages for crafts'  and the first time I actually cut into the book and page, I almost cried.  It was almost as if I was cutting a friend...destroying them to where they would be no more.  I tried this and that w/the book, tags, bookmarks and such...and then I stumbled across this lil craft.  I've not made any yet, but I plan to...I just can't decide which picture to use yet, lol.  I do know, that I'll use pictures from The Graphics Fairy...who shares copyright free vintage clips for free download for one and all to use as they wish.

I posted some new stuff under the Crafty Ideas tab

It's Fall and it has me in the decorating mood, so I posted some ideas and pics under the Crafty Ideas tab...here's a pic to give you a little idea about what it's about...I hope you enjoy! (don't you just LOVE the little candle in the basket?! a-DOR-able!)

I've made some changes...can you tell?

Although I've been blogging for almost 2 years now, I'm still learning LOTs about what I can do, add, etc...how I can do this or that, make it look or do this or that...it's exciting when I finally figure something out, lol, like Feedburner...ugh.  I LOVE it now, but I had to just figure it out, is all...so that's exactly what I did, I just started clicking around on it, it won't hurt anything, don't be afraid, seriously...the worst that will happen is that it won't do what you thought it was gonna do and you'll just go back and 'undo' it.  It took me a bit, but I gotter'done!  I worked it out on my other blog first, Thrifty and Frugal, then once I finally noticed that it had worked (through various trial and error, lol), I decided to do it to Lavender Cove.  As you can see, at the right, you can now subscribe to this blog, so whenever I make a post (although I don't do it on this blog as often as I want to), it'll go straight to your email, so you'll know I've made a post, what it is, and an idea about what it's about so you can click on it to read the rest.  Also, I finally engineered a 'button' for Lavender Cove, so that anyone of you that have your own blog or site, can grab my html code and put it on your blog (as I've done for some of yours).  change is crazy, but exciting, don't ya think?  I think THIS change for THIS blog made it much better and prettier (don't worry, the background will change all the time, it does on the other blog too, it's my 'personality' shining through, lol).

I've begun to decorate for FALL...wanna see?

This is the little arrangement that I've put on my front porch...the pumpkin was from Dollar Tree, for of course, just a buck.  Then I took a black Sharpie and put the H and little vine design on it.  I got the idea from Hobbie Lobby, as I posted here a few weeks ago.  The leaves I picked up at Dollar Tree, also.  They had packs of about 20 crepe leaves (a different color in each pack) and the they were attached to floral wire so that they could be manipulated and such...those were a GREAT find!  The silver urn or wine bucket, whatever whoever wants to call it, came from the Salvation Army for $3.69 (cool, huh?!).  First, I'd done the arrangement w/out the urn and leaves and my bestie said, 'you're gonna put leaves around it, right?' and of course I was going to, but it wasn't quite October yet, I'd only just begun decorating for fall.  So I finally got around to dragging the leaves out, and then I had an 'ah ha' moment when I looked over to a bar stool next to the back door where I had this poor, lonely urn, just sitting, crying out for me to do something with it.  So...I did.  Originally, I had the pumpkin sitting on top of a short dumpy terra cotta pot...it's foam, so I took skewers and put them up the bottom of the punkin and into the foam in the pot...then when I rearranged it to add the urn, all I did was drop the terra cotta pot inside so it adds some more weight to keep from blowying away, just in case.  Then I stuffed the leaves in and the the floral wire stems worked perfectly to poke into the foam in the pot.  The other items on the wicker and iron bistro table (a $20 find at a Goodwill store about 4 yrs ago) that sits next to the front door, are there throughout the year, w/the exception of the flowers behind the pumpkin, as I add those depending on the season (the stars were 98 cents eact at GW last year, they had stands on them and I bent those off so I could use them as picks, they were a last thought to the arrangement, but I think it worked out well).

I've not put any fall wreathes out yet, but that will happen within the week, probably, because Fall is in full swing, leaves everywhere, chilly days to downright cold night, and fruit picking...speaking of which, I have an elderly couple as neighbors along our back fence that gave me 2 huge bags of pears, yummmmm. I don't have time to make perserves or anything, so I've been thinking of making smaller pear cobblers and freezing them to use at gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas...do cobblers freeze and re-heat well? hmmm, dunno, let me know if any of ya'll have done this, will ya?

Fall...it's upon us....finally!

Fall is near.  The air is cooler...sometimes, lol.  Yesterday was hot, today was a bit cooler, and this evening is downright chilly....I LOVE it!  I'm slowly decorating for Fall...nothing major yet.  A large pumpkin on the porch w/a big black 'H' on it for our last name...this is sitting atop a few faux fall colored leaves, and it's sitting on top of a vintage silver handled urn...gorgeous.  I recently touched up my decor on the wrap-around front porch.  The wicker furniture all got new red seat cusions (courtesy of a junk store for $1.99 each, w/orig. price tags of $17.99, lol).  Then I tossed a few of the throw pillows (I repurchase new-used toss pillows for the porch every spring, throwing away any that are discolored, faded, dirty, mildewed, etc.); what I do is pick them up at yard sales and such for less than $3 each...there's a few that are good quality and can simply be recovered (when I have the time, lol).  I swept and cleaned and cleaned and swept, rearranged, and cleaned off tables, and such.  I have mismatched vintage teacups & saucers (chipped and such, paid a quarter or so for each) setting on the tables that have vintage doilies and such (again, pd 50 cents or so each, they have snags or holes and/or a stain here and there) on top...all those were cleaned and replaced, and ta-da, done, fini'  All in preparation of Fall....there's leaves that have fallen back down by the garden fence.  I take the dogs out for a walk in the evenings (when it's nice out) and sit in the $5 wicker chair I have sitting back there, and watch them play and run among the leaves, the love it...and I love that it's FALL , lol (can you tell? lol)

Some of the vignettes in my home...

These are a few of the vignettes found in my home.  The antique white cabinet was a gift to me when I was quite young from my late grandfather, who'd done some trading w/a man, so he said, and that it was found in an old barn, again, so he said, lol...but who really knows.  It sits kind of in the middle of a walkway, as you enter from the foyer, and my hubs HATES it there, lol, and wants it moved, but la-di-da, 'I WIN' lol.  The bookcase is at the bottom of the steps from the second floor and holds all my antique book collection (books that are 100 yrs old or older), 1st editions, etc.  I like to display vintage/antique photos everywhere, so you can see some of them on top of the white cabinet and bookcase, as well as the tiger wood sideboard/dresser in the dining room (above, also).  That antique drawered dresser was scored at an auction that I use to frequent for $35!  The regal mirror above it (yes, very old) was scored at one my favorite junk-guy's stores for $10!  The antique stoneware pitcher holding hydrangeas, was scored at a back booth in a huge antique mall for only $18.  The antique red desk was found at the same auction (different night) for $35, as well...I didn't paint it, it came adorably chippy...score for ME!  I use the vintage picnic baskets for storage of some of my vintage linens, and candles..and one of them is actually used for, yep, picnic supplies, lol.  When the hubs and I take a wine tasting tour, which we have a tendancy to do once in awhile, we take that picnic basket, which holds our wine glasses, romantic table cloth and napkins, corkscrew, salt/pepper, etc.  Well, there you have it...well, some of it, lol.  It's ever changing, also...those pics were taken a couple of months ago, but the tops of a few of those furniture peices have already been rearranged and redecorated at least 2 more times...they look a bit different, and of course, they change w/the seasons.  I thought maybe you all would enjoy seeing some of my style of decorating. 

I'd LOVE to see some of yours...feel free to email your pics and thoughts and ideas and such, I'd love to hear from you!

isn't this lil cake adorable???

Don't you just LOVE this cake?  What do you think it is?  If you look closely, you'll see a light bulb...your mind will wonder...hmmmm, what kind of light bulb is that?  it looks a bit odd...not like any I use in my lamps or anything.  Then you look even closer and wonder, hmmmm, I've never seen that kind of piping on a cake before...then it HITS you!!! wow!!! it's a tiny, battery operated tea light candle!!!! decorated to be a cake!  it's so delicate.  so small.  HOW in the world did this person put such tiny piping of clay on this cake?  The bottom is a lace border, of course...easy enough.  Rhinestones glued at intervals around it...another easy call.  The sprinkles on tip are a type of sequin, placed strategically on top...yet another easy task, as well as the pre-made bisque roses that can be purchased at a craft store...but the piping around the edge...how did they do that?  it looks like a star tip, a reverse rope, to be specific. hmmmm, I'm gonna figure this out, I will...and when I do, I'm MAKING it, lol....actually, I think I'll prolly make one anyway, aren't they just too cute?  it obviously won't have the piping, but I'll come up with something!

Guess who stumbled across a VINTAGE Burberrys bag for 3 bucks?!

That's right...MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  It's actually a briefcase style bag, a little too wide at the bottom to be just a briefcase, maybe a weekender of some sort.  I'm having difficulty locating the print anywhere on the web.  It is DEFinitely authentic, the quality is SUPERB, the stitching is fanTAStic, the leather is exCEPtional, the hardware is quality brass (not that cheap crap, or painted stuff)! There's NO WAY this bag is not authentic.  It is definitely vintage, as it says 'Burberrys of London' 'Made in Italy' and Burberry dropped the 's' at the end in 1999...soooo, with that said, I've researched until my brain is fried, lol...my next step is to send it to Burberry itself for authentication...the prob there is, if I'm wrong (but I'm not), and it's not actually authentic, they won't send it back, I'll lose it, along with the $3.67 I paid for it, lol...and it's a GREAT bag, don't wanna lose it.  Is there anyone out there that knows VINTAGE Burberry?  Everything I research is all either vintage clothing/trench, and the Nova plaid/check and on current type bags...but nothing vintage, rare, or pre-trademark plaid.  Anyone know a good site to look at about vintage Burberrys?  believe me, I've been to everyone of them that Google has sent me to over the past 3 days, lol, no luck.  help???

Isn't this photo just adorable?  I saw it and absolutely had to save it to my computer.  I found it at that Graphics Fairy, which, btw, I LOVE her blog...she offers COPYRIGHT FREE graphics (like this) for FREE downloading to your computer.  They're true vintage, from photos, books, postcards, music, all kinds of stuff, and she puts them in digital format for everyone to be able to see, enjoy, and use in their crafts and such.  When I saw this vintage postcard photo, I just instantly thought about my garden...and then I thought, 'hmmm, what craft can I do that I can add it to?' lol, I'm still thinking about that one...  Go check her blog out, it's GREAT!

The bunny is back...

and my oldest is ecstatic that it hasn't perished by being eaten by a fox or owl or cat or something...and, it's living happily among my watermelons and maters...other than that, there's really not alot left in the garden.  I have maters left, but there all still green, nothing's changing color at the moment.  Taking some jalepenos to the physical therapist tomorrow, she likes those and the oldest has only eat 1 of them all season and it was HER idea to plant the suckers, ughhh!  there's really not alot of damage the lil booger can do in the melon patch all alone...unless he invites some buddies over and hosts a keggar, then  my melons will go 'bye bye' big time...and so will the bunny, lol