A Blondie Day

Oh Happy Day!

The official beginning of the Christmas Holiday is here!

I wish I could say I was a lot more organized and ready than I am, but that's OK.  I'll get there.  I promised this year my mantra would be "no pressure". Can you say that with me?

No pressure!

Now repeat that to yourself every day between now and Christmas.  

No one is perfect.  No house is decorated magazine-ready, while 500 dozen cookies are baking in the oven, and presents are beautifully and perfectly wrapped while you're kneading dough for homemade bread as you sing Christmas carols and make dozens and dozens of Christmas crafts and sew gifts for the 200 people on your present list... all while you prepare for company for an open house buffet for your neighbors AND make new holiday outfits for your beautiful, perfectly mannered 1 dozen children.  If you do a few of those things - in moderation - while spending happy times with the people you love the most, well that's a pretty perfect holiday to me!

This Holiday Season has started on a lovely, happy note for me...

 

 

One sweet little brown egg - our first one EVER - from my head hen, Rita.

I'm so proud of her.

 

So I will be back this week with lots of "happies" for the holidays.

New wares for the shop.

A coupon code.

My first Vintage Recipe Thursday...

... and a new Holiday Craft Tutorial.

 

Here's hoping your holidays are starting on a lovely note.

 

XOXOXOX

At the Elephant's Trunk

Yesterday was one of those beautiful warm, sunny fall days that feel almost like spring.  I was especially glad of this since we had plans to take a drive to Connecticut and head over to the Elephant Trunk's Market - an antiques and collectibles flea market in New Milford.

So off we went!

Would you like to browse with me?  I thought you would.

The market contained a hodgepodge of things...

to please most everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I fought the urge to get a doll and tried very hard to stay true to my wish list: vintage paper dolls, cookbooks from the 50's and 60's, tiny vintage figurines, rhinestone brooches and, as always, vintage linens.

 

 

 

 

The brooches were many, but nary a paper doll could be found.

 

 

 

 

Oh, how I wanted one of these vintage scales, but that will wait for my next house, when I have more room.

 

 

 

 

 

There was even music!

 

 

and musical instruments...

 

 

Wasn't this beautiful?

 

 

...and this...

 

 

 

I loved these big 'ole spools, and I wish I would have gotten one.

 

 

 

Like I said, something for everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No paper dolls or vintage cookbooks were found, but I did find a few other treasures that came home with me.

This market will meet next Sunday for the last time of the year, and then will be back next April.  If you can, take a ride there and look around!

 

And here's hoping you find all that you look for.

 

XOXOXO

Prettiness Upon a Friday

As I was perusing my cookbooks trying to pick out just the right recipe for my very first Vintage Recipe Thursday, it dawned on me that the Thursday in question was, of course, Thanksgiving.

Not great planning on my part.

However, my new plan is to post my very first Vintage Recipe Thursday on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  A great start, right?  But it will be something delicious that will fit with the Thanksgiving menu, or that you may want to make right after Thanksgiving.

And THEN I hope to resume Vintage Recipe Thursday on the actual Thursday of the following week. 

OK, with that aside, I wanted to share a few pictures of prettiness to send you off on your weekend...

 

Pretty, sparkly vintage earrings.

 

 

 

Fabric sweetness from Teawagon.

 

 

 

 

Stunning thrifted crocheted afghan.

 

 

 

 

And a lovely assortment of vintage buttons.

 

May you all have a weekend filled with prettiness.

 

See you all next week.

Cheers!

 

XOXOXOX

 

Vintage Recipe Thursday

Do you love vintage cookbooks?  I sure do.  No big surprise, right?  Many of us do.  

 

They are so darn irresistable.  The fun and colorful graphics, the pretty aprons, the lovely women with pearls serving a big beautiful dinner - their table settings stunning, their food cooked perfectly, a big, calm smile on their faces. Makes us feel like they have some sort of secret to being the ultimate hostess that we have yet to discover.

 

 

But besides all that, the recipes seem so intriguing.  They bring us back to a simpler (at least it seems) time.  

 

 

I have a lovely collection of vintage cookbooks, and I thought it would be fun to, once a week, not only share some of these fun and colorful graphics, but to also highlight a weekly recipe.  

Every week I will select a vintage recipe, cook it and share the results with you! 

 

 

I'll let you know if I make any adjustments or substitutions, and, if it turns out good, hopefully you will try it too.  

 

 

 

So please join me every Thursday for...

 

 

... and let's have some fun cooking vintage!

 

 

Happy Cooking!

 

XOXOXO

The Winner...

I am so very happy and thankful that I received many lovely comments for my Farm Girl Market Tote Giveaway.  You know the saying that strangers are only friends you have yet to meet?  That is how I feel about this lovely, crafty, inspiring, creative community we all inhabit... and I look forward to meeting more and more friends.

Now, without further delay, the random winner is...

 

FEE!

Fee has a lovely blog called Chipper Nelly that I know you would enjoy.  Please pop over when you have a moment.

Fee, I'm so pleased that you have won!  Please email me with your shipping address and also let me know which soap you would like. 

I have a few new wares for the shop.

First, a random Willy Nilly table runner...

 

made with bits of this and that - vintage hankies, doilies, etc., and with a touch of hand embroidery.  It looks like individual pieces, but they are all connected.

 

 

 

Next, a Burlap 'n Blues table runner...

 

Made from burlap and vintage hankies, doilies, lace and strips of vintage fabrics.  

Is it just me, or do you love the smell of burlap too?  There is something so earthy, natural and slightly sweet about the fragrance that I just adore. Please tell me that I am not alone in this nuttiness. 

 

I am working on more wares for the shop which I hope to have ready by the end of the week.

 

Also, be sure and stop by on Thursday for a new surprise!!!  I hope you will like it.

 

Happy Week to All.

 

XOXOXOX

There's Still Time

Happy Weekend.

There is still time to enter for my Giveaway.  Don't forget!  

 

The Farm Girl Market Bag is waiting to go to its new home.

 

By the way, these vintage clock hanging pillows will be going in the shop this week.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

XOXOXOX

Farm Girl Giveaway

I'm so excited to be having a giveaway!

 

First, let me tell you what the "goods" are...

 

An adorable Farm Girl Market Tote, made from an assortment of vintage cottons, linens and barkcloth.

 

 

The front is a patchwork with 2 sweet vintage doilies and lace and linen "tags" peeking out from the seam. The strap is made from vintage drapes.

 

 

The back is the cutest vintage cotton in a farm scene complete with a barn, a horse, chickens, a garden and a pond.  So sweet!  I fell in love with this fabric when I found it.

 

 

The inside is fully lined with chocolate gingham and has a little whatnot pocket trimmed in eyelet.

 

 

Next, you will also get to chose one bar of my brand new Farm Girl Organic Soap!

 

 

You get to chose from:

 

Gardener's Shed: fresh lemon scent with ground apricot kernels and coffee

Oatmeal and Spice: gentle oatmeal and organic ground cloves

Thyme in a Garden: thyme, rosemary, sage, natural chlorophyll and cloves

Patchouli: deep, earthy patchouli with a hint of citrus

 

 

 

OK, so here's the scoop.  All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment here on this post.  If you want a second chance to enter, then pop over to my Blondie Blu Facebook Page (just click on the link over in the top of the right column), and "Like" my page.

Deadline to enter is midnight, November 13, 2011.  The winner will be chosen randomly.

 

Oh, and I must share this before I go...

 

 

A vintage Holly Hobbie toy sewing machine that just became mine.  Does it get any cuter?

 

Have a lovely day

and I hope you will take a moment to enter

my Farm Girl Giveaway!

 

XOXOXOX

 

Recipe to My Heart

I have always loved vintage handwritten recipe cards. There is something so special about them.

 

You look at them and you can see the love that they were written down with and shared. You picture the many times the recipe was made… the family gatherings it was served at, the laughter and joy surrounding it.  Some of them are colorful.  Some are written in a lovely, leisurely script, some in a quicker print.  Some have smudges and drops of oil, evidence of being "used" in the kitchen, and some have worn corners and creases caused by time and use - a little bit like us!

 

I wanted to find a way to display them - especially a favorite recipe - in a special way.

I came up with the idea to transfer the recipe onto fabric and then attach that onto a handcrafted potholder, make from assortments of my beloved vintage fabrics.

 

I think I like them!

I have made a few for the shop.

 

 

 

 

But I thought a grand idea would be to make pot holders with YOUR family recipe, made from your very own recipe card!

You can either send me the original recipe card by mail, and I can scan it and transfer it to fabric.  I will send back the original card to you with your custom pot holder.  Or you can email me a high quality 300 dpi scan of your very own special recipe, and I can work with that.

You can check my shop for details.

I hope this is something you will like and enjoy.

 

 

And everytime you see it hanging in your kitchen

it will bring you warm thoughts.

 

XOXOXO