Dear Missy Redlover, 

Thank you for the vintage wire basket filled with goodies. 

I adored everything in it AND the basket itself. As you can see, I put it to good decorative use immediately, leaving on, of course, that wonderful medallion of Texas.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: You, lady, have a knack for decorating, whether it's your home or your gift packages! 


Love,

Peanut butter is not just for kids!

I like vintage things.

And I like peanut butter.

So this post is sort of like the peanut butter candy commercial that shows the kid saying, "Hey, you got peanut butter on my chocolate!" Only I got peanut butter on my vintage tin.




Ya see, I bought some great vintage tins at a garage sale last weekend. One, a darling deep blue number with a cute little tin handle, had a little problem. Dried on, vintage adhesive was across the front of the tin.

Not that I cared because I could just turn the tin around and display the back which had the same image. But it was the challenge of it all!

See the old glue? I mean it was baked on!


But I had read a list of household hints on Magnolia Memories blog and thought I knew the solution to the tin's problem.

Peanut butter.

So I slathered it on with a butter knife! Hours later I wiped it off and the adhesive looked only slightly different. IT Guy, looking over my shoulder, told me I didn't leave it on long enough. "Spread some more peanut butter on it when you make me a sandwich and this time leave it on longer."

Well, he didn't get his sandwich (his arms aren't broken!) but I did re-peanut butter the tin.

Two days later I wiped the goo off and polished the tin with a soft cloth and bingo! No vintage glue on the tin!


Here are all my new tins! Some cuties for a dollar each, huh?



So I went back to Magnolia Memories to say thanks and guess what? That hint wasn't on her list! I'd made it up in my head!

But her list of hints is still real good. Jump over there and tell her I said hello!

A Thanksgiving Greeting To You!

In Texas we still cook
our Thanksgiving meals
in wood stoves.

And they come out beautifully!
Feel that heat rushing from the oven.
Good thing it's snowing outside.

OK, this post is such a lie!

But my wishing you a Thanksgiving Day
full of family, friends, and food
is the truth!

The Texas Woman

The Simple Photographer

These are the greatest pair of vintage sunglasses. I picked them up yesterday at Round Top/Warrenton and enjoyed wearing them the rest of the day.

Are they funky or what? There are no arms to the things, just chains with disks on the end. The chains hang over the back of your ears. The weight of the disks keeps the sunglasses in place and look like earrings. You can even bend over and tie your shoe, and the glasses won't fall off of your face. I love them because I can wear them over my own real glasses.

A fun gal named Anna Harney was selling them. She says email her at aesler@airmail.net if you'd like a pair. No, I didn't get a discount for saying that!

But only half of this post is about the sunglasses. The other half is about photography. As lovely as this stranger and I look wearing our bling, something is different about that woman! She has an orange and black bubble hat on that I didn't notice when I was talking with her. And I have wood shooting out of my head. My photographer didn't realize that the objects in the background would attach themselves to our heads.

Another example of background 'noise' ruining a photo is this picture of our cousin Mark in front of our longhorn over the mantle. With ears dripping strands of barbwire, he's totally oblivious to how foolish he looks. Remember, it is up to the photographer to make sure his/her subjects look presentable.

So, photographers, take the time to check backgrounds in your pictures. Also observe and fix crooked collars, necklace clasps in the wrong place, messy hair, and even smudged makeup and taco salad in their teeth.

Oh, and try to have your subject's eyes open. By this time we were laughing so hard at dear Mark, that we couldn't get him to stand still for another try at the shot.

You're a good sport, Mark.

UPDATE: A dear friend, who shall remain nameless, pointed out another bad shot RIGHT ON MY OWN BLOG. Now that's a true friend. I mean, who but a good friend will tell you about the spinach in your teeth or the snot in your nose! (For the other bad shot see Theresa on Sept. 28. She has a doll coming out of her head! Too funny.) Thanks for the laugh, friend. It's another case of do what I say and not what I do!

You little cry baby!

Remember these little Eskimo babies? I had one once, although this isn't it. This one is from a - drum roll, please - garage sale!

It's a small dolly, about four-inches tall, with a knob on top of its hood that allows the child (adult, in my case) to create her play around a happy face, a crying face, and a mad face. I don't know when it was made, but it has Hong Kong printed on the butt.

I hadn't thought about this baby in awhile, but all the talk lately about Alaska made me wander into the guest room and pick it up. We call that room The Toy Room because when C-Bear was little, we decorated the room around toys for him to play with, toys from my m-i-l's childhood, toys from IT Guy's childhood, and, of course, toys from garage sales. Things C-Bear could play with were placed low; toys I didn't want touched were set on high shelves. (I'll show you the room - and its paint job - next week. This week it's housing Ike evacuees. )

Anyway, a few years ago my grandniece and her momma and daddy came to visit. She was about four-years old at the time, her eyes wide from seeing an assortment of toys so different from what she had at home. "You can play with anything you can reach," I said confidently. You already know how this story ends. When I checked back to see what the little girl had chosen to play with, I found she had pulled out dresser drawers to use as stair steps, climbed up onto the bed to step onto the blanket chest, and stood on the TV bench to bring down to her level all the things from the high shelves. Surrounded by toys on the floor, she was absorbed in vintage heaven, spinning this dolls face.