Cypress Santas

Just a reminder that the "Cypress Santa's" that my mom and her friends paint will debut Dec. 20th on Texas Country Reporter at 10:00. If you have time tune in to watch! Have a super Saturday.

Featured on Garden Planters

My Blog has been featured on the Garden Planters website. I've added their website to my blog list if you would like to visit their website. It's a neat site if you enjoy gardening in the yard as I do. Also, I wanted to announce that my mom and her friends will be showing their painted Santa's on Texas Country Reporter Dec. 19th, 2009 at 10:30. It could be a little later due to a football game on that night. If you remember I talked about this in an earlier blog about Cypress Knee Santa's. If you are up and can tune into that special show on December 19th I would love to hear from you! My mom is Nelda Sheppard and my great Aunt will also be featured and her name is Laverne Bingham. They do a great job on their Santa's and I think you will really enjoy this special on that night. Have a great day! I'm shopping in Austin with Haley today and hoping to get ALL my Christmas Shopping done TODAY!!! Take care my friends.

Canton Bound

Mom and I are Canton bound very early in the morning! The weather is supposed to be clear and sunny, I sure hope they are right. I also hope I find lots of goodies! I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will let you know what I find.

Taco Soup Day

Today is a Taco Soup day! So if you like taco soup you may just enjoy this recipe. My sister gave me this recipe and I love it especially on a cool day like today. I hope you enjoy!
Taco Soup Recipe
2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 pkg. Ranch style party dip mix
1 can of whole kernel corn
1 can of kidney beans or pinto beans
1 can of rotel tomatoes
2 cans of stewed tomatoes
1 can of hominy
1 can of beef broth
2 bouillon cubes melted in 1 cup of boiling water
1 can of chopped green chilies
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped and minced
4 cups of water
Brown the ground meat and then add all of the ingredients. All canned ingredients you add the liquid in the can too.Simmer for 2 hours and serve with tortilla chips and top with grated cheese. This makes a large pot so you can save it in the freezer for a later date if you like.

Diva Towel

Today was a very rainy day here in East Texas. I have been working on all three of my antique booths this week. I took the vintage mittens to Buna and displayed them on a small Christmas tree. They looked precious. I made 8 more this afternoon and I am waiting for them to dry and I will put the glitter on them tomorrow. It's supposed to be cold in the morning and the rain is supposed to stop. I plan to go on a little shopping trip Saturday so I hope the weather is nice. Have a Fantastic Friday.

Lavender Sachets

I don't know about you but I love the smell of Lavender. I have Lavender soaps, Lavender candles, Lavender sachets, and the list goes on! I ordered the Lavender Machine Embroidery software from http://www.hatchedinafrica.com/ . This is a wonderful site for machine embroidery patterns. It's so nice to order the designs that you like and receive them in 5 minutes via email and then download them onto your machine. No waiting for them to arrive 5-10 days in the mail. At the quilt show last week I bought linen coasters to embroidery and I decided to make some of them sachets. I had a large bag of Lavender to fill the sachets when I finished with the stitching. I think these would be nice to put in a drawer or hang in your closet to freshen the closet. These were very simple to put together and I love how they turned out.

Mittens,Aprons, and Fresh Fruit

As promised pictures of what Mom and I worked on yesterday while watching the game. The mittens were made from batting, vintage trims, and glitter. If you visit "The Feathered Nest", Dawn gives a great free tutorial for these mittens. I have her site on my side bar so take a look. Her tutorials are very thorough and easy to understand. She also has tutorials that you can buy and she sends them to your email. The half apron was a pattern that I picked up in Austin this summer and it was really easy and fun to make. The neat thing is it's reversible and it has these great pockets across the bottom. This would be a great apron to use while working. The snowman apron was a pre-made apron that I picked up at Sam's Wholesale. I added some trim and a snowman. I plan to put a couple of wooden spoons in the pocket and a matching snowman dishtowel. This would make a really cute gift for someone who likes to cook. The fruit pincushion is a very cute pattern by Heather Bailey that my mom ordered. We made pears and tomatoes yesterday and then I put them in a jar! These are so cute. You can use them as pin cushions or just little accent pieces to sit around. I plan to fill a really large jar with them. There is also a strawberry and apple pattern included in her packet. She has kits that you can order or you can do like me and use your own fabric and trims. Her website is also on my side bar and if you are interested in her fabric and patterns you can find her online store on her site. The day could not have been better....we sewed, ate shrimp gumbo, drank coffee, and UT won the game against OU. Today I am cleaning my sewing room(so you know what that means)....I won't be able to find a thing! I am rearranging my machines and changing things up a little. I wish my room was a little larger but it's going to have to do. The weather is beautiful outside and plan to enjoy another day of sewing and crafting. Have a Blessed Day my friends!

Mimi's Cottage

This week is flying by and I am busy, busy! I am really in the mood to do Christmas projects. I would like to get started early so that I hopefully will get them finished. I plan to make "mitten ornaments", holiday aprons, dish towels and more! I have decided to attend the quilt show in Houston this year along with my mom and sister. The Quilt Show was really good and we bought several neat projects and fun embellishments. I found vintage velvet ribbon and vintage ric rack. I plan to use this on my Christmas projects. Today I am watching the UT/OU game and working in my sewing room on Christmas crafts with my Mom. I cut out a really cute apron last night and I am almost finished with it. I will take pictures and post next week. Sunday I took a few pictures of my Grandmother's house that is now an Antique/Consignment store. The name of the store is "Mimi's Cottage" and she has done a great job decorating it inside and out. If you are in the Buna area you should stop by and shop the store. It's on Hwy. 62 right down from the famous Polka Dotted House. I have rented a room in the middle of the house and I included a few pictures of that also. Have a Super Saturday and enjoy the cool dry weather!

Rainy Weather!

This is Homecoming for our Football team and it is raining or should I say pouring! This is the kind of weather that makes you want to curl up and take a good nap. I have been too busy to work on any projects for the past couple of weeks but I plan to get back in gear this weekend. I will be working at the antique shop on Saturday but Sunday after church I hope to work on some of my embroidery projects. I am still trying to decide if I am going to the Quilt Show in Houston this year. I went last year but I can't decide about this year. I noticed on Heather Bailey's blog that she is going to be there with new patterns and fabric. I love her designs so I would love to go and look at her things. I guess I have a few more days to decide. Have a great weekend and take care!

It's Hump Day

It's been a rainy humid week here in Southeast Texas. This is also Homecoming for the Jasper Bulldogs and the kids are working on the Bon Fire and the Hallways are filled with decorations. We are hoping for cooler weather for the weekend and a big win for the football team! I thought I would post a few pictures of the B&B that I stay at in Round Top. I love the decor of this place and I think you will too. Enjoy!

Fall is in the Air

I have been on the road and very busy! Fall is in the air and I love it. I made another trip to Round Top for my third year. I really enjoy browsing through all the "stuff" and visiting my favorite Bed and Breakfast in Round Top. I really didn't buy that much this year, prices seemed rather high to me. I went to Left Overs on Saturday night for their party. The food was wonderful and they had the store decorated so nice. I bought a wreath for Christmas and a small Christmas tree for my Kitchen. Afterwards I headed to a midnight madness sale in Fayettville which is just down the road from Round Top. I found a few items here and then headed back to my comfy B & B. Sunday morning I had a delicious breakfast at the B&B and then headed back to Newton. After a short rest I headed to Austin to visit with Haley my youngest daughter. It rained in Austin most of the weekend but we did shop and enjoy eating at some of our favorite restaurants. ACL was in full force in Austin this weekend so it was very crowded with people everywhere. I'm amazed that people can actually attend three days of a music festival through rain and mud! We saw where some folks were charging 25.00 to park and then they still had to walk in the rain several miles just to get to the park where the festival was being held. It just makes me tired to even think about it: ) Have a great week!

Football and Family

I went to Austin last weekend for the 1st UT football game of the season! The kids and I had a blast! I took time to visit "Sew Much More" and I even had time to shop the "City Wide Garage Sale" while visiting. It was extremely hot weather and going to a UT football game is completely exhausting. The only treasure that I found at the Garage Sale was a Texas Ware splatter bowl. Right now these are hot items in our Antique stores. This was a really nice that hadn't ever been used and still had the sticker on the bowl. We have been getting rain all day and I have been cleaning house and sewing on my machine. Rainy days make me want to stay in and do housework and projects. School is going good but I am really busy with softball and my classes. Until next time, God Bless you and take care!

Celebrations and The Longest Yard Sale

Thanks Green Pea for the comment! I went on the longest yard sale and had a blast with two of my girlfriends and as soon as we got back I started school. We had a great time, there was so much to see and the area was beautiful. We started in Alabama and went to the edge of Kentucky. I saw so many different types of antiques. I will take some pics of things I bought. I pulled my 14ft. trailer and drove the entire trip(I love doing all the driving). There were some places that the prices were not so good but others were really good to bargain with and get the low price. We are planning another trip next year and this time we are going to start in Ohio and work our way down the mountain. The two friends that I traveled with were very knowledgeable about primitives and they helped me to buy several things to go in my antique space. I am getting ready for the Round Top experience in a few weeks and I can't wait. This will be my 3rd year to travel to Round Top and Warrenton. We had several celebrations this month: My husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, my dad celebrated his 77th birthday and by the way he is doing really well, and my oldest child, Linsi celebrated her 27th birthday. We have been a busy family recently! I am so thankful for the blessings that God so graciously pours out on me and my family everyday. Sorry it has been so long, I promise I will do better!!!! Have a wonderful week:)

The World's Longest Yard Sale

I will be out of pocket for a short while, I'm on the road to the world's longest yard sale! I am so excited and will return with pictures and information! Wish me luck!

The Studio Apartment is Decorated!

Haley and I have finished decorating her studio apartment and it is precious.Here are a few pictures to show what it looks like. Have a fabulous week:)

Friendships

My friend and colleague lost her battle with cancer and has gone home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sue was one of the strongest people I have ever known. She persevered through many difficult days with this dreaded disease. Please pray for her family.

Size 4 Apron

This apron is the smaller version of the other apron that I made yesterday. The pattern is Cindy Taylor Oates "Little Retro Aprons for Kids". There are several different styles that you can make. It was easy to make and went together fairly quickly. The fabric was from "The Painted Pony Quilt Shop" in LaPorte Texas. It's called "Lily Ponds". Take care.

Another Apron

I made a new apron for my daughters friend, Abby. This pattern was really simple and I enjoyed making it. The fabric was from a quilt store in Austin "The Honey Bee". The fabric is a pretty a turquoise with pink roses. My next apron will be a size 4! I am headed to the store to get thread to match the green rick-rack. You would think, I would have a green that matched, I have tons of thread. But no, I have to go buy more! Does that ever happen to you? We live in a rural area where the nearest place to get thread is Walmart and it's about 20 miles away. This week has went by so fast. I hope your week is going good and you are getting alot accomplished!

Take care....

I'm back

Haley and I headed to Dallas with Fisher aboard to visit Linsi and Matt. We were almost to our destination when I had a flat on the car. We were detained for about an hour and half but a very nice man stopped and changed the tire for me. We played in a softball game that night with Linsi's team. They needed a few extra players to fill in and Haley and I did just that. We shopped at several stores and I went to a few garage sales and quilt stores while there. We are back home now and I have several projects I need to finish this week. Haley will be moving into her new place next week so I will post pictures later. Have a marvelous Monday!

Getting an early start on Christmas

I have not been blogging lately but I've been busy sewing more projects and trying to get a head start on Christmas goodies! I'm still making aprons and burp pads.We have a new quilt shop in Jasper. The shops name is Ms. Sammie's Quilt Shop located on Hwy. 96 South. She specializes in some really cute dish towels. She does a dish towel a month with cute appliques stitched on them. I bought the December applique towel and it turned out nice. That is pretty much what I've been doing in the sewing room.

Haley is home for a few weeks and we are planning a few short trips while she's home. My summer seems to be flying by so quickly. I have several friends who have been diagnosed with cancer and are taking treatments. Please remember these special people in your prayers, Sue Brooks, Taurus Hornsby, and Kathy Wilkerson. I hope you are having a great summer! Take care.