Pom Pom Embroidery Hoops

I always do a happy dance when I find vintage crewel work at the charity shop.  Especially when it's as adorable as this.  

I could not believe my eyes.  First I spotted Santa, then after a few moments I spotted Mrs. Clause a little bit further down the aisle.

Oh, yes! 

Into the shopping cart they went. 

I did a little bit of searching on the Internet and quickly found out these were a packaged kit sold by Bernat back in the seventies.  I just adore the avocado green  fabric, but what I like the most is knowing some sweet grandma lovingly stitched this by hand, many years ago.

You can see in one of the pictures above what they looked like when I found them.  They had wire garland glued around the hoop and were looking a little bit tacky.   I was able to rip out the garland fairly easy and with the help of a glue gun I added a few red and white pom poms.

An easy fix and a fun way to spend two dollars.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas!

♥♥♥♥♥

Counting Down...

Come on in friends,
welcome to my humble abode.

The days are slipping by quickly.  The rush of the holiday season is here.  There is only a few more shopping days left and I am still not "done".  What do you buy college aged kids who already have everything?  I think and think and think and think and I still can't come up with something creative.  It gets harder and harder each year to come up with something new.

I miss the days when they were little and unwrapping a few inexpensive toys made them squeal with excitement and kept them happy for days.  It was a simpler time.  Now it's all about the latest trend in tech gadgets which I have a hard time keeping up with as I am not a technology buff. 

On another note, I am happy that this year I put up a few Christmas decorations.  For the last three Christmas's we've gone without any.  The reason being is that our house is small and bringing in a Christmas tree requires a lot of shifting and rearranging of furniture.  If you live in a small house you can relate.  But this year I bought a teeny tiny tree and put up a few small decorations.  It's minimal but it's cheery and it makes me happy.

Tis the season for all things merry and bright.
Only 13 more crazy days to go.
:)

Little Nothings...

Hello dear friends,

Just a few random nothings to share with you today.

These succulents were once outside but I've moved them in. 

They now reside in my kitchen.

A Fall vignette I put together at the beginning of the season.  I was eager to fill my home with these rich Fall colors.

Some of you may already have your homes decked with Christmas decorations.
Here I am still in Fall mode.

More pumpkin bread.  'Tis the season for everything pumpkin.

 I have a good recipe for pumpkin bread but it makes a lot.  I forgot to half it and ended up with four loaves.

 Oh well, three of them went into the freezer to be eaten on a later date.

I found these cute crochet earrings at WM on clearance.  They had my name written all over them since I'm a crocheter.

 I thought they would be heavy but they're not.  Just something fun to wear.
I like dangly earrings.

We got a bit of wintry weather this week and woke up to snow a couple of days ago.  They were calling for much more but we only got a dusting.  It was all gone within a few hours.  That's my kind of snow storm.  One that comes and goes quickly and doesn't stick around.

Hope you're all staying warm and cozy!

Simple Comforts ♥

Well here we are only two weeks into Fall and I've already gone and caught a cold.  I'm usually the last one in my family to come down with it but this year it was me who took the fall first. I suppose it was only a matter of time.  As soon as school starts back up, all sorts of contagious ailments start making their rounds.

I haven't had much of an appetite and the only thing that sounded good to me was soup so I made some.  I didn't want to make a trip to the store so I used what I found in the refrigerator and freezer.  It's a little on the skimpy side with only the basics but the broth was good which was basically all I wanted.

There's something so comforting about chicken soup.
 

While my soup simmered I made pumpkin bread. 

It's the first pumpkin-y thing of the season and it was oh so good.
I love Fall food.

Do y'all remember Mrs. Roper from Three's Company?  She was the Muu-Muu queen.  Well that's what I've felt like these last few days, the muu-muu queen.

It being gloomy and drizzly outside and having a cold are the perfect excuse for me to sport my pretty prints around the house. 

I've been trying to add some rows to this baby blanket I started long ago.  Even though I keep knitting rows and rows it grows at a snails pace.  I think I'm finally reaching the halfway point though, thank goodness.

And oh yeah...it's post season baseball time!

Yes, I admit, I am a muu-muu wearing, baseball lovin' boho mama.

The simple pleasures of life are still
 enjoyable even with the sniffles.
:)

Something Yellow

Are you a fan of color?

This is something I've learned about myself through the years.

I like to be surrounded by color.  

Bright, vibrant, happy colors. 

I know you've all seen that trend all over blog land where everything is white.  White kitchens, white living rooms, white furniture.  If there is any color it's gray or wood tone.  It's actually been around a while.  Back then they called it the "shabby" look which was more frilly and pink, but now it's called  the "farmhouse" look which is more rustic.  If that is your thing then hey, that's wonderful!

 I actually like it.

It looks pretty in pictures and in Hobby Lobby but I don't like it so much in my own home.  I've tried it before and I couldn't live with it. 

There was something missing...

...and it's color.

I need it.

  Maybe it's in my DNA, my culture, but I love to have it all around me.
There's something so warm and cozy about rich tones. 

For the longest time my favorite color was red.  But now the color I can't seem to get enough of is yellow.  And it seems a lot of the things I've brought home lately reflect my current mood. 

Yellow polka dot plates...

vintage yellow glasses that followed me home from a church rummage sale...

yellow curtains...

Score! I've been wanting yellow curtains for the longest time.  I ended up finding these last week at a big name outlet store.  I love, love, love them.  I can't stop looking at them.  It's like a warm harvest, golden maize color. 
 

Even within the last few weeks I've picked up a yellow bag and yellow scarf...

and of course lots of yellow bits and bobs...

I was walking around in a department store the other day and heard over the intercom that the color for the season was mustard.  I smiled to myself and said a silent Woohoo!  I  must be on the right track.  Not that I'm ever trendy or try to be, but maybe for a short season I'll look like I have it together. 

Maybe...

Just maybe.

Happy Fall Season friends!
Mr. A. thinks October is such good sleeping weather.

I'll Take It

Brought home in the same week, two very different things that look like they were meant to be together.

First are these bowls.  I managed to find two more of them at WM.  It's the Pioneer Woman line.  I already had a couple that I had picked up on two different occasions.  My WM always seems to be out of these.  I checked the shelves whenever I would remember in hopes of finding more and Monday I got lucky.  I found two more in the different coordinating colors, which is just fine with me.  I tend not to like things too matchy matchy.

I'm in love with the floral print on the inside of the bowls.  It's so southwest and happy.  And of course, the polka dots...who doesn't like polka dots?

A couple of days later I was at our local thrift and spotted something aqua.  It was in a transparent plastic bag which was sealed so I couldn't tell what it was exactly.  I could tell it had a pretty floral print but that's about all.  For .99 cents I took my chances and brought it home.

It ended up being a sheer scarf.  The colors and print match my dishes so well and looks like it belongs together.  This is why I love thrifting so much.  You end up finding things you don't expect to find that fit your personality and your home so well.. for cheap.

There's happiness in little things  ♥

Love the Moment

Why is it, that it always seems to rain in the middle of the night?

I'm thankful for this little parsonage we call home. 

It is small yet cozy. 

It is humble yet sweet.

It's simple yet it's sufficient,

but it has a tin roof and the sound of rain is magnified...or so, at least it seems at one o'clock in the morning.  My husband loves the sound of rain and he can sleep through it with no problem.   I wish I could do the same.  I usually find myself laying in bed with eyes wide open feeling slightly irritated.  Secretly wishing it would stop.  Silently wishing I could fall back asleep.

I sneak out of bed and make my way into the kitchen to start the coffee.  I pour myself  a cup and sit and sip only to find humor and a bit of irony in my mug of choice.  

Love the Moment

Could this be a message from above?  Quite possibly. 

Whatever the reason, the message is fitting.

 

It's fitting because today is not only Labor Day here in the U.S. but more importantly it's youngest daughters birthday.  I can't believe our y2k baby is 18.

We have an outing planned today.  Our whole family is taking daughter to town and spending the day together doing this and that.

Love the Moment?

Yes, I think I will.

♥♥♥♥♥