Vintage Thingies Thursday ~ Book Of Lace

I got this in a box of laces. It looks like some talented young lady kept a sampler of sorts of lace she had made, stitching each one on to a page. There is no title or mark anywhere on this soft cover booklet, but there is a page on the inside back that has an illustration of a boy and a girl in a horse-drawn carriage (you can click on the photos to enlarge them), and two lines, which have been penciled in with a name: "Laura John". Or is it "Laura, John"? If anyone knows if keeping of a sampler was a common practice and from what era this might be from, I'd love to know!

You can find more Vintage Thingies Thursdays every week on Colorado Lady's blog.

Vintage Thingies Thursday ~ Little Boys Grow Up

Ok, I know this barely passes as a vintage find, but my favorite step-son Danny is 30 years old today, and I'm gonna slip this in here! After all "vintage" is known as something that is 25 - 30 years old. Ain't he a cute little buckaroo?!?
Love you little punkin' head!

I'm Still Very Fond-d-ue

Just happily celebrated my 23rd wedding anniversary, with my Hunko, by absolutely gorging on Swiss, mushroom and chive fondue, followed by a chocolate fondue chaser at Fondue Fred's.

Love you baby!

I've Been Tagged!

The term Internet meme (pronounced /miːm/) is a new word used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet.I have been tagged by Connie at Over Good Ground to do this and pass it on.The rules of this Meme are:

1. Go to the fourth folder on your computer where you store photos.

2. Select your fourth picture (no exceptions).

3. Post the picture with a story and a link to the person who tagged you.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

This picture is of two friends that have known each other for over 30 years, but only see each other about once a year! How sad is that? It was taken about 2 years ago during a memorial, and although the occasion was held with reverence, we were obviously happy to be together. Seems like every time we make plans to get together, something "comes up". Friendships wax and wane, but the string that links us still remains.

My four "tag-ees" are my pals:

1. M at Mementos

2. J at Aslan's Mews

3. L at Green Paintbrush

4. K at Sunny Yellow House

Have fun!

Vintage Pajama Party

Now THIS is how to rock a French Maid apron!

How many things in this photo are vintage? Actually, this was the staff's attire for the New Year's Day sale at Room With A Past! We all wore our PJ's, since we had stayed up to celebrate the beginning of the new year late the night before. We had a ton of food and FUN, not to mention almost everything in the shop was on sale. Our customers were invited to do the same and to wear their best slippers to enter our contest! The winner won a $50 gift certificate to the shop.

Have you been into the shop lately? You can sign up here for the monthly newsletter (written by yours truly!) to find out what's shakin', and remind you of the sale dates. Tell 'em Jan sent you...


(Thanks to Connie at Over Good Ground for use of this photo!)

Vintage Thingies Thursday ~ Purses

The purse on the right was purchased (after much thought since there were quite a few luscious ones from which to choose!) about 2 years ago from a shop that used to be in Benicia, CA called Tableau. Technically it's new, yes, but it's made from vintage fabrics and trims and I love it. A good friend has it's twin and we wear them whenever we take our Girdle Gals Road Trip! The smaller purse on the left was found at a garage sale. It has a dingle ball hanging out of each crochet flower and a few more thrown in for fun where the strap meets the body. It's lined inside with a pink, satiny fabric and I really don't know how old it is. I've never used it (yet) because it's only about the size of my hand and well, if I only carried around an inventory of items that were the same size as my hand, I might. Huh, like that'll ever happen!

There's lots more vintage thingies to see over at Colorado Lady's blog this and every Thursday!

Christmas Past

Can you stand the sight of one more Christmas related item? I couldn't show these to you before Christmas because that would have been like peeking for the people I gave them to! Can you believe I made these trees from rope?!?!? My incredibly clever friend Rosann hosted another one of her craft & coffee days and taught us how to make these bottle brush trees using sisal rope. They are really quite simple once you get the hang of it, and there are thousands of ways to color and decorate them. Our minds were spinning!

I also decorated a cardboard/paper mache house box for my sister Joan. It's about 9" high. From this:

to this:

It was really fun to do. I put some of those battery-operated tealight candles inside so it glows! Just be careful when you knock on the door if you visit--those icicles are about ready to crack and fall off!