My latest projects

I have been fairly crazed trying to get things ready for the big festival coming to our little town in October. Today was a pretty busy day at the shop, despite the rain, and I sold out of my Grubbied Coffee candles. So when I got home this evening I figured I better make up another batch before we reopen tomorrow. I made up about 12 votives and 8 pillar candles. I love making these candles! They make the house smell soooooo good! Don't they just look so prim?

While at the shop today, I finished making my Pumpkin Centerpiece that I have been working on. I don't know why but I have suddenly gotten swept into panic mode and have been making all sort of Fall goodies for the shop. What good is a Fall Festival without the shop just loaded in Fall goodies?

I also finished this small Fall stitchery late last night.
Well, I think I will get off here and maybe finish another project or two! Have a great

day!

Autumn Treasures Festival

On Saturday, October 11th and Sunday, October 12th, the Town of Waxhaw is hosting Autumn Treasures. This has been a tradition in Waxhaw for several years. There will be lots of vendors, concessions, and good old fashioned family fun!

I love this event more and more every year! The weather is always better than the Spring Festivals so it isn't a chore to be outside walking around with the kids.

They are planning on having 2 full days of music at the Bandstand (which is located in front of Southsiders Deli). There will be lots of great Bluegrass and Gospel music!

Vendors come from all over to set up for these shows in town. It is great to see them coming back year after year! There are so many talented artists and crafters out there and these festivals are a great way to showcase their work.

I am getting started on my "Festival Foods". I want to have a Mini-festival in the shop during those 2 days. We are going to have Popcorn Balls, Candy Apples, Carmel Apples, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, and so on. I am going to have a few giveaways going on as well.

Seeing as I am a crafter and not a baker, getting foods prepared isn't something I am looking for to! But, I think I am going to give it the old college try!

If anyone has any recipes for easy treats I can make to serve, please send them over! I need all the help I can when it comes to this stuff!

One Happy Customer

Every Friday, I get a visit from a dear friend of mine, Mandy. She usually places orders for new things and then picks them up the following week. This weeks pickup was Sunflowers. I had made some a few weeks back and had them sitting in a little water pitcher that I had on hand. I blogged about my creation a few posts back. She bought all 5 that day and ordered 12 larger ones. She wanted a few with pink gingham centers for her daughter, Layla's, room.

I finally talked my dear hubby into building me an old wooden window box to sit inside my big window at the shop. I wanted to fill it full of Sunflowers - different materials and sizes. So, as I worked on Mandy's order, I continued making Sunflowers for my window display. I am not sure how many I ended up with but my house had begun to be taken over by Sunflowers!! They were everywhere - some were in the kitchen waiting to be stained and primmed. Others in the dining room where I had to finish stuffing the centers! Seriously, when I said everywhere, I meant it! I finally finished the whole bunch late last night.

So, I get to the shop today and immediately start on my new window display. My hubbby helped me carry my window box in while I toted in the bags of Sunflowers. I worked and worked - arranging and rearranging. It was a good day to mess with it cause it was raining so I am in and out of the rain checking to see how it looks from the sidewalk!

My friend, Mandy, shows up to pick up her sunflowers. She loved them! I was telling her how I was in Sunflower land for the whole week and then . . . it happened . . . She looked over at the window display and fell in love with it. She said, "Sorry, but you know I have to have all of them too!" She waited patiently while I picked each and every sunflower from its brief home and put them into a bag. So, while I thought I was safe from Sunflower land for a little bit, it seems I am going to have to slip back once more.

I even took my camera to take a picture of the display and it was gone before I could get one! I am glad they were such a big hit though! With the ecomony as it is right now, I would sell the front door off of that shop if someone wanted it! lol

Mandy always brings her two kids with her when she stops in. Her son, Adam, always gets a swirl pop for behaving. I did manage to snap a pic of him with his favorite candy!

After she left, I mustered up the energy to start on . . . more sunflowers! I finished a few before the day was over . . .

I promise next time I get the display finished, I will snap a picture before anyone gets a chance to fall in love with it!

My weakness . . .

I must admit - everytime I am at a yardsale, I find myself sifting through piles of used picture frames. I always think "I can paint that" or "I can put a cute picture in that one!". The last yardsale I went to, I left with a GARBAGE BAG full of used picture frames. Little ones, medium sized ones, large ones, jumbo ones, you name it . . . I had to have them all!

My favorite ones are that ones that stump me. I know I can do something with it . . . but what? How can I prim that up a little? I pulled this little gem out of the bag over the weekend. It was already cute - it was a light blue frame with a strand of small blocks across the bottom reading "Baby". Cute enough right? Well I stared at it . . . and stared . . . and stared until it hit me.

Well, I do not need any BABY frames at our house since the youngest is 12 so I had to do a little something to it! I cut the little baby blocks off of the front and started sanding. So, here is my project - I am thinking of painting some trusty stars on the frame to add some punch but I haven't gotten to that yet . . .
I painted it a Barn Red and used an old piece of homespun to hang a rusty bell from the front. I love the way it turned out . . . don't you?
My husbands gets on me for having so many junky yard sales items around but I remind him, if I am going to have a lot of something, aren't you glad it is 10 cent items and that I am not out shopping at the name brand places for my fix?
Have a great day!

My Parade of Homes!

I took my camera with me today, which I rarely ever do. I took it to work so that I could show off the Pageant pictures for this weekend. (One of those proud parent things!) Anyway, as I was driving to the grocery store and running things to the shop, I realized that I always drive a certain route so that I can look at some of my favorite houses around town! I thought if I like them so much, I should share them with you guys!

This house is actually located in Monroe, NC which is about 20 minutes from my house. It isn't far from my mothers house so I stopped and snapped a pic! I was in their driveway and I was trying to be quick so no one would notice me and my camera! I love the green color of this home and the red front door. This is my "Inspiration House". I LOVE it!

This home is just across the street from mine! I grew up playing in this house and swinging on their front porch! They just recently changed the door and outdoor furnishings to black which looks so good against the white house. My grandmothers dear friend still lives here with her daughter. Their porch just looks so inviting doesn't it? Wonder if they would mind me coming over to swing! lolThis home is also located in my little town of Waxhaw. It is an older home that has been renovated for that perfect cottage look! Sorry, it is a bit blurry. I started driving while my daughter was snapping! My favorite part of this house is the windows. They have been updated but they still have the look of the older wooden windows. I know these people think I am a stalker, I just ride by reallllllly slow, checking out their latest updates!

Lastly, of course, this one isn't a house but it is the Waxhaw Tack Exchange. It is THE place to get all of your tack goodies. I am not sure of its history but it is an old barn that has been renovated inside. It still has the old rusted tin roof that you can see perfectly from my shop window. We were driving around after everything had closed but I hope to get in there soon and get some pictures of the inside. This is right off of Main Street in downtown Waxhaw.

Well, that is pretty much my evening tour! This is just a few of my favorite sights around town. With it being a town known for Antiques and Country Living, I hope it always stays as down to earth and warm as it is today. I know the hussle and bussle of bigger cities is coming but hopefully I have a few more years of the country life!

Pageant Time!

My daughter Miranda has joined the Ms Parkwood Pageant at her high school. Now, my daughter isn't normally the pageant type. She loves to ride dirt bikes, and fish, and just recently decided she wanted to give this a try. Her best friend, Jessi, joined too so they could do this together. This meant several weeks of rehearsals, not to mention hours of dress shopping, jewelry and shoe shopping . . . I didn't think it would EVER get here! Well, today was the day. We were both up at 8 a.m. this morning. The high school students had to be "interviewed" by the judges individually. Of course, this meant we also had to have the interview attire. So, this morning by 9:30 we was at the school meeting the judges.

We were back home at 10:30 and immediately starting getting ready. The photography appointment was at 3 pm so we were rushing around getting her ready. I worked on her hair for 3 hours! We had over 60 bobby pins in her hair when we were said and done! (That was okay as long as she didn't have to go through a metal detector!)

Then come the time to get dressed. Whenever she came out of her bedroom, my mouth hit the floor! She looks absolutely beautiful! There stood my baby (so I thought) looking more like a woman than my child!

We rushed off to the school - loaded with curling irons, hairspray, makeup, cameras, batteries . . . you name it, it was in my bag! The whole pageant was beautiful. It was wonderful seeing so many adorable kids and teens struting their stuff! They all did such a great job and the school did an amazing job putting it all together!
My daughter was going out for Ms Sophmore and her friend, Jessi, was going for Ms Freshmen. All of the girls had an "Opening Number" which involved a dance routine and they all looked great up on stage. Even the little ones were dancing and twirling like the older ones!
As it turned out, neither my daughter nor her best friend won their titles but I still was amazed and what they had accomplished. As I mentioned, my daughter has never been in a pageant before but she picked right up on walks, waves, and smiles that go into a pageant. She was beautiful up on the stage! She smiled the whole time she was out there! I was so proud of her!

Both girls were disappointed that they didn't win but they really had a great experience! This was one day that I am sure neither will ever forget!
I was just so proud and I wanted to show off my gorgeous daughter to all of you!
Thanks!

A Visit to Anna's

This week, I had the opportunity to visit the home of one of my dear customers. Anna owns a salon in Charlotte but just bought a home in Waxhaw - just a few miles from the shop. I met her right after I opened. She was actually the first customer to sign the mailing list!
She stops in every week or so to see what new goodies I have picked up. At first, she would come in her small sports car - not having a lot of room for her purchases. The past month, everytime she comes, she drives the truck - and boy do we load it down! Last week she purchased an old Hoosier cabinet from me that I had just moved in to the shop. She was so excited and couldn't wait to get it home. I offered to deliver it to her so she wouldn't have to worry about getting it home. (My poor husband, I volunteer him for everything!) We decided that I would bring it over Tuesday evening. Her home is one of those that you pass all of the time, wondering what it looked like on the inside. The yard is beautiful, the porch looks cozy, but I wanted to go INSIDE!!!
Anna and her friend, Judy, were inside working hard on Fig Perserves when we got there so of course, everything smelled wonderful.
After we unloaded the truck and got the cabinet in its new home, I pulled out my handy dandy camera and snapped a few pictures so that I could share with all of you!

This is a picture of the Hoosier cabinet that she purchased from me. We painted it a beautiful Coral color which matched her decor perfectly and looked great against her walls! She said she couldn't wait to get it decorated. I will post more pictures when she gets it finished!

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this bathroom! It was gorgeous! The walls were a pale blue with white wainscotting. The light fixture was a beautiful chandelier and she had "bubbled" glass windows on each wall. I have never been amazed at a bathroom before!

This was another beautiful chandelier that she had hanging in her stairwell.

Look at this great old farm table! She has several wooden school chairs too!

Antique brass bed -the quilt folded at the bottom came from my shop too!

The bed, above, is her favorite Flea Market find - she picked it up at Habitat for Humanity! The antique chest sits at the foot of her bed.

Beautiful framed hooked rug and Anna's collection of blue plates

Love the Rooster wall art!

The cabinets are original - she just refinished and stained. I love the old scale on the counter!

This is an old pewter table lamp that was changed to a light fixture! She got this one at Habitat for Humanity for $25!

This is the batch of Fig Perserves they were working on! Doesn't that just look so yummy! (Do you think they would notice one missing? lol)

The views from her home are beautiful. I will try to get back over when I have some day light left so I can take more pictures!

I am so grateful for the wonderful people that I have met at the store. Just like the saying "Enter as strangers, leave as friends" - that seems to be our moto. Maybe it is because of the small town shop and the laid back atmosphere. A lot of folks drop in just to say Hi, pet the dog (whenever I bring him!), or bring by their goodies from the Farmers Market. Either way, I have had the chance to get to know some amazing people. Anna is one of those - she has turned out to be a great friend whom I will always cherish!

Happy Birthday - RIP

Today is my oldest brothers birthday. Mike helped raise my brother and I after our father passed away and he always seemed to be there for us growing up. He especially looked after me since I was the only girl and he always had to play the "big brother" role! At school he would "scare off" anyone who was mean or rude to me. I was always known as the girl with the scary older brother - which caused a little havoc on my social life! Even when I was older he would ask my dates what they had planned and gave my curfew with a stern look to let us know he was serious! (I wasn't scared but boy my date was!)
When he got his first job, he saved up for months to buy our Christmas gifts. He bought my other brother, Brian, his first BMX bike and bought me an electronic keyboard. (You remember when those were popular!) I always played the piano with my grandmother so he thought I could still practice even when I wasn't at her house. I will never forget that Christmas!
We all grew up and started our own lives. We didn't get to see each other as much. Mike was dating a girl from another town and moved there to be closer to her. Brian pretty much stayed close to home with mom and I went off to College and got married. We all got together for birthdays and such. Always thinking, we'll get together later . . .
July 25, 1997 - I received a call from my mother that Mike had drowned. He had went swimming with a few friends at a nearby lake and had gotten caught in some underbrush. No one could believe it. We had never thought anything would happen to one of us - I guess you never do! The years since his death have been very hard. He was always the clown - the goofball - never took anything seriously.
I am lucky to have had him for 22 years of my life. I have two children who I wish knew him like I knew him. I see him in a lot of little things they do. My daughter looks so much like him, it is a little scary. She has turned out to be the goofball and the clown of the family now. My son is now into Rock and Roll and I think, "Mike would laugh to see him playing the air guitar just like he used to!"
Today would have been my brother's 39th birthday. I just wanted to share a little bit about him and how much he meant to me. I wish I would have never taken for granted that we would have years to "get together".

Robert Michael Wolfe

9/2/69 - 7/25/97