Boo.

I love fall decor, but I'm not too big into Halloween decorations around here. This is pretty much it.



My latest focus/obsession is wood blocks and free motion machine embroidery. This time the two came together. I stitched the letters for my little Boo on vintage book pages. Then glued them on with gel medium. I even made a set for my college daughter (at her request!).

Joy is sitting downstairs in my sewing room waiting for the seasons to change! I'm hoping to show you more wood block projects soon.

Enjoy your day--(it's dreary and rainy here.)

What A Tangled Web She Weaves

How's this for Halloween Decor? This isn't our house--but someone I've met on Etsy Cottage Style, Ruth Miller weaves these for others for their homes.



This one is in the ceiling of a bar.



Isn't that just amazing?! Look how tight it is and there is an opening for the doorway.

This is what Ruth had to say of how this began:

"I made the first one on a duplex I lived in , 1991, as a Halloween gift for my children. It was a lightbulb moment on how to create them. I started doing them for others in '92. People start calling last of August to get on the list ! We start spinning them last week of September and continue until Halloween."




My favorite--beautiful home and perfect color for a Halloween web!



Ruth also told me that the secret to spinning these is, well, a secret..... Drives you crazy doesn't?! People of have watched her weave them and they still don't know exactly how it's done or what the secret is!

Ruth is an artist that lives in Indiana. She has a blog, Harmony Creations that you can visit here.

Thanks Ruth for letting me share these photos on my blog! I love seeing things that are so creative and original.

Junkin' Monday

There was no official "junkin'" for me this weekend-- so from the archives (in my garage) so to speak....



This summer I collected a few pairs of skates. I would guess these are from the 1950s- maybe older. I have the song "I have a brand new pair of roller skates, you have a brand new key...." in my head now.



I think these could be from the 1960s. We used to skate in Wakefield NE, in the roller rink under the bowling alley. You could hear the balls rolling above you through the skating music. Fun memories.



I'm not sure about these--1970s maybe? So, I never intended to start a collection of skates.....I will probably list them all in my Etsy shop....good nostalgia though. Now, it's all roller blades for the kids. I think the roller rinks around here still have 4 wheel skates as an option to rent, but not many of them.

I think I need to take my kids skating!

Head on over to Clara and Marcela's blog to see what they found when they went junkin' in their garage too!

For The Cure

This book is on my wish list. Aren't those charms beautiful? You can read all about it at Ruth Rae's blog here.

But, what my post is really about is that there have been necklaces and bracelets donated to be sold on Ebay from this book. 100% of proceeds goes to Susan G. Koman for The Cure. You can check them out and bid here. The beautiful bracelet from the cover of the book is in this lot.

My Mom has had a mastectomy and one of my cousin's wife (my age) just had a partial one, and my BIL's sisters & Mom, and.....the list goes on and I know all of you know someone also.

Just thought some of you may enjoy these pieces and might want to go bump up the bids.

Junkin' Monday & A Blog Party

Yesterday, was a "great" day, albeit a bit "grating" at times....I spent it with my two sisters and Mom. "Great"--being with my family. "Grating" --the auction we went to....wow....slooooowwwww moving. I did end up with some things I was pretty happy with though.



But, the garage sale we went to before the auction was where these lovely finds came from. Aren't these grates----great?!



Art Deco iron...mmmm....I could look at these for a long time.



And these-----well. What can I say? I bought a BIG tub of these old iron fence finials. I haven't counted them yet but I think at least 25 with a lot of other iron fence pieces. (So far, I've only seen one green one in the bunch.) HEAVY. I am just thrilled with these. They look so matronly. Aren't they screaming to be included in an altered art or assemblage project? I know I'll set a couple on shelves to sit at attention keeping an eye on all around them.

Architectural salvage pieces are on the top of my list to hunt for.

I will be selling some so if you're interested shoot me an email to work out the details.

Now, you can pop over to Clara and Marcela's blog to see what they found this weekend for more Junkin' Monday stories! ALSO, there's a great blog party over at Flea Market Style where everyone is sharing some of their favorite finds. Go visit and have fun exploring with all the like minded junkers!

Fall Porch

I've finally figured out what to do on our porch (after 12 years). I like white and black and rusty on it. And right now, the fall harvest is the decor.



This little iron bistro set is far more ornate than anything we own but I like it so much--certainly not old but one more summer without re-painting it and it will have plenty of rust! Why is it that old acquired rust on a piece of junk I buy at an auction is awesome, but when something new rusts outside I think it needs to be painted?! I guess home grown rust isn't the same as home grown vegetables.



My sister told me yesterday that she picked me up another black screen door at a sale! Can't wait to see it!



How did those Ugly Pumpkins win that spot?! As I was tossing them out, I folded and saved a few to turn the ugliest side to the back. I saw a blog post that showed a picture of pumpkins for sale at a flea market and they pretty much looked the same. One person's ugly is another person's.....

I had that black child's chair for sale at my booth and when I was adding to the booth, I realized that it needed to come home with me.

(If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge but you'll also see how the porch needs to be swept and the cobwebs need to be cleaned off--but it is Halloween coming--right?)

Have a great day!

Junkin' Monday

It's a PINK sewing machine!!! I didn't pick this up this past weekend, but got it at the same flea market that I picked up this lovely lady. I didn't have much time for junkin' this past weekend with homecoming, marching band compititions, and family get togethers.



I haven't checked to see if it works or not. But, I'm not sure I care because it's one of the neatest machines I've ever seen.



(oooo, bad photo but look at the strong guy anyway!)



It even has the "good housekeeping seal of approval".



I quickly took the pictures this morning hence the snow in the background. It's cold and wet here!



The case and the accessory pieces are awesome too! Not sure what I will end up doing with this.
Keep? Sell? It does need a good airing out before it comes in the house though. I imagine it was stored closed up for years.

Now, you can go see what Clara and Marcela and the others have found over at Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration. Thanks again to them for hosting this blog party!

Harvest

We planted this broom corn at the suggestion of my brother and sister in law. BEAUTIFUL! If you garden--put it on your list for next year. I wish I would have planted more and wish we would have watered it more. Look at the colors--I bought the old rusty chair at a garage sale a month or so ago. It loves the broom corn too! The birds haven't started eating it yet, but I'm sure they will which is fine by me.



We have an abundance of small gourds. They are so fun to decorate with. I have bags ready to give to people and I've delivered two so far.



We planted one row of this strawberry popcorn and got enough to fill a bowl. We tried to pop one in a bag in the microwave--definitely think in oil on the stove will be better!



Isn't that pretty?! Obvious why they call it "strawberry" popcorn, huh?



Have you ever seen blue corn? This is a decorative miniature variety. Fun to see that it grew, but it didn't fill out too well for us---again, the water issue. And, although I think it's really pretty the blue just doesn't fit in the whole fall color scheme. I don't think we'll plant it again.

We have quite a few bushel, birdhouse, snake, and dipper gourds that missed the photo session. I think dried gourds are beautiful (have quite a few dried already in the barn) and am determined to do something with them~~someday!

Ugly Pumpkins!

Remember this post?! I do! I was going to have beautiful cinderella pumpkins adorning our porch. I was going to spray a coat of shiny finish on them and spruce them up with a little fluff. I was going to give them to family and friends. What we are doing is dumping them and hoping none of them grow next year!
I've been watching them grow all summer and thought they were doing well. I believe I was in denial that the color was more red than orange and that if you peaked under one it was yellow. I was sure the others were OK, I just wouldn't look.
I'm great at ignoring ugly parts--just turn it the other way, hide that part with something else, etc. Really, not withthese. There is no hiding the red color, the ruddy skin, the yellow skin, the green skin, the cracks. I can't even say, "It's good enough for who it's for!" Randy even agreed. Dump them.
I'm not giving up. We'll try again next year and just try a different variety of seeds and hopefully a little more care on our part. We did, however, have success with other garden fall decor and I'll post about that later this week.

Junkin' Monday

Ok, it's not junk but I aquired it this weekend and I'm so excited about it so this is my Junkin' Monday post. I've been admiring this chair for awhile at an antique store in Columbus. (Not where my booth is) Well I finally decided to go get it. Mainly I finally got my sewing room cleaned up and now have room for it. It's boosting a beautiful rocking chair I had out so I'm taking that over to my booth this week. It fits the room perfectly and is in such great shape. The color is almost an exact match to the other walls in the room.



There are some scratches on the wood trim but just as the picture doesn't show it, I really don't even notice them. Doesn't it look inviting? I wish you all lived closer and you could come sit and have coffee with me while we chatted about vintage finds, junk, and life in general! I'll share pictures of the rest of the room soon before it becomes a disaster again!

Hop on over to Clara and Marcela's blog to see what everyone found this weekend!

You Never Know What You'll Find....

This is one of the great finds on my Nebraska Junk Jaunt adventure. A small orange record player that works!!



AND...it came with a box of 45s! Of course no '70s teen item is complete without the obligatory sticker right over the cool graphics of the box. I fully intended to put this in the basement until I could get them listed in my Etsy shop. When I realized that most of the records were little kid records I decided I'd play them for my little gals. They love stories and music.

Now let me back up a bit....I have a memory of my Mom singing a song to me when I was little. I only remember two lines from it and about a 6 months ago I asked her if she remembered the song. She really didn't and I've always wondered what the rest of the song was about and if I even remembered the song right at all.....you know where this is leading don't you?



In that box of records, I found the song my mom used to sing to me!!!!! "I looked back to see if you looked back to see if I looked back to see if you were looking at me." Look who the group was that sang it---Four Jacks and A JILL!! Sorry if I sound excited but I was! How fun?! In a little box in a big old building in a little town in Nebraska I found a treasure.