The Talented Molly B

I thought I would share a few pictures of my friend Molly's house that I took a couple of years ago. She so graciously had our Old Homes Group over for the December meeting. What a treat! Most of us stayed around long after our meeting and gift exchange. We felt sooo at home.

Every nook and cranny had a touch of Christmas. Such eye candy to nibble on with every glance. This display of Ironstone plates cleverly dressed was one of my favorites.... Down the hall was Molly's bedroom. Well done (of course) in dreamy robin egg blue walls with black and white accents. Molly is an accomplished seamstress. Her pillows are her stars. She sells them through her blog. Thanks Molly for a precious Christmas memory filled with the joy of good friends, good food and a beautiful home and hostess!!

Need more hours in the day...

I have more to do today than hours in the day. Does anyone else need 36 hour days right now? I do not have time to blog, but I thought it would get me off on a good foot for the day. Starting and finishing a post is always a good feeling of completion. Hopefully this will influence my to do list. Of course I have so many photos I want to post, it is overwhelming when I try to figure out what to put out there next. My Nana blog is way behind because I have a million pictures to share, and I just do not know where to begin!

Photos of my McKinney booth are always easy to come up with, because I try to take pictures every time I add new stuff. I keep my inventory on my computer, but my brain also needs a visual inventory. In the above photo I have old piano music coming out of the side of an old sewing drawer. I love to scatter the paper around . You have to read the words from the bottom to the top for them to make sense. This piece says... "Girl of my dreams, I love you." During this hectic season, remember to play!

Blessings

“May today there be peace within… May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.”

'Tis the (early) Season

I never ever thought I would start decorating my booth this early, but I was ready this year to get on with it.

So, last Friday I pulled a bunch of items from my space and replaced them with Christmas glitter and cheer.

I am working feverishly at home to get more and more ready to add before Black Friday.

I had a cash register like this Tom Thumb toy when I was a child. I guess that should make me feel old !

Of course in Ella Style I have a natural Christmas theme going on the main display using moss covered trees Ella-embellished with tacks,brads and buttons nestled on table leg pieces I found at the Junk Exchange sale in Waco. They just needed a little paint to be perfectly shabby. (The lighting in my booth always casts a yellowish tint to my photos in this area...)

I thought a music sheet garland was the right touch of whimsey here.

I love how these vintage ornaments fringe this old shade.

It needed a little help, wouldn't you say?

So, how do you get from this.....

(Old plow gears, cool looking chains, a garden trellis, a huge bird cage and anything rusty I could get my hands on, plus it rattled all the way from Dallas to Abilene !! )

To this????

Well, it takes many sleep deprived nights, a ton of good old hard work, a few (many) cans of clear spray and a little imagination.

For the center piece I placed the chains around the round metal thing-a-ma-jig placed on top of a round piece of plexiglass covered with my favorite burlap. I then sat that on some small paint cans to give it some lift and added another metal thing-a-ma-jig on the table. Adding moss I had gathered off the trees in Houston and wasp nests my family and friends collected for me I quickly had a natural rustic theme going.

When I see rusty pipes, planter plates and what others call junk, my mind sees display stands, letters or candle holders. Brandy called my repurposed farm implements " Rustiques".

I like the sound of that. I had traveled to my home town for this show in Abilene where my family lives. I was trying to explain to my dad what all I was selling and showed him some photos of my signs. He didn't say much. I just figured he thought I had been sniffing a little too much glue. The next morning I was in a mad dash to get out the door for the sale and caught a glimpse of my dad's creation he had put out for me. I instantly had a smile on my face, and started my otherwise stressful day with a skip in my step. Thanks, Dad! Jo Carol had made these wonderful bingo greeting cards. She is so clever with her cute messages just fitting each card's theme. Jo Carol's chick magnets. Mary's handpainted magnets and Jo Carol 's clear magnets were selling like hotcakes! Molly B. makes the most beautiful pillows. I am glad somebody enjoys sewing, because it is not for me. Brandy had the bestest looking goods.

Glass glitter makes everything merry and bright!!

Roxanne made these fabulous lavender sachets. I just had to have one...

You can find Roxanne's shutter signs now in my booth in McKinney. We were hanging around after the show and decided to do a little bit of trading.

Creative friends are the best!!

Quaint Market

I know I promised more photos of the Quaint Market last week, but I simply do not have any spare time right now. Here are a few peeks at what a treat the show was...

Roxanne's fun sign.

Rachel's nests.

Jo Carol's stunning nest charms. (Yes, she made these.) Brandy's baby pumpkins. One of Molly's creative pillows.

Here is a quick look of my space at the Quaint Market. I am off to a Church Retreat, so I will get some more pics posted early next week. It was a great sale and Ella did good !

Antique Alley

My Dear Hubby and I went down to Cleburne yesterday for their antique sale they have in the Fall and Spring. All along the roads were garage sale type places to stop, but the best shopping was at Whippoorwill Hill. Some of the vendors had "the touch". I have seen and used springs in all sorts of ways, but this was the first time I had seen them used with a teacup. We met up with one of my bestest friends, Jo Carol, and her dear hubby from Abilene. Hop on over to her blog at Bunnytrails. Jo Carol has a great booth at The Antique Collection on Butternut in Abilene, Texas. A closeup of one of her wonderful displays. Well, our dear hubbies were really good sports, and I think they enjoyed having someone to talk to while we were wandering through all of the junk. A touch of Fall.

It was a fun day. The weather and friends were perfect.

I am ready to do it all over again.

Is this me?

I recently asked my husband if he would help me find my work gloves. I went on to doing other things and as usual became side tracked. A little while later my husband told me he wanted to show me something. I came around the corner and all of the gloves he had found were laid out just like this...

We just laughed and decided this pretty much summed up my personality.

( Notice that none of the gloves match...)

Maybe I should make it my new banner. No one else would have one exactly the same.

Waka Waka Wacky Estate Sale

My Dear Hubby and I were headed back from the Houston area to Dallas last Sunday when we decided to stop at an Estate Sale I had seen on the Internet. We typed the address into "Go Go Guy" and went on our way. Somewhere Northwest of Conroe we found our destination. Out in the middle of nowhere, or so we thought.

We had just entered Waka Waka World.

I can't tell you how many times MDH has told me I needed to go to the Funny Farm.

Well, here it is. Here we were. Hmmm. Did he plan this without me knowing? He is really a smart man, but that would take some doing to pull that off and make me think I was the one who brought us to this point.

Putting these thoughts out of my mind, I jumped out of the car to take a picture through the gate. I was about to stick my camera through the bars when my husband yelled, " Watch out for that dog!" I jumped back and didn't hear any growls or barks except MDH barking that laugh he has when he laughs at his own jokes. Not funny. I am not sure what was inside the Funny Farm. Maybe an amusement park. It really was just weird.

Guarding the gate were these toilet soldiers. I can say with certainty that even in my creative mind I would NOT have thought of this... Antiques? Where?

We decided to wave goodbye and find the real sale.

The Twilite Zone bus greeted us on the right road. I wasn't feeling any better about the pot of gold at the end of the psychedelic rainbow.

We followed the signs to the "Parkin" lot and found a welcome crew there.

Yes, they came up to us and wanted us to pet them. Really.

This sight was quite a relief after our trip to the Funny Farm.

Everything looked normal.

Everyone seemed normal.

The owners were very nice and friendly.

I found this plow for sale. I really only wanted some of the parts. I didn't think they would sell it if I wanted them to dissect first. If you look between the wheels you will see what are called spacers. I had just recently bought some of these from a dealer who had found them in Kansas.

Here is what I did with them.

The nest is made out of old rusty nails.

Back at the Farm...

I found this cart over by the fence (and fire ants). OUCH!!

Some of these old insulators came home with me.

I used them as risers in my booth. Any ideas?

I was walking around and happened to look up and the side of one of the buildings was a tin patchwork. How clever.

Somehow I missed getting any pictures of the (dirty) metal cargo trailer we had to dig around in to find some of our treasures. I have a feeling this sale is not really an Estate sale, but a weekend way of life for the owners.

My Dear Hubby and I made some precious memories we will relive many times over....

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