Sometimes you just can't let go...

This picture has two items, ok, actually five that I purchased for the booth but had to keep at home. Sometimes it happens, I just can't let go of something so cute! Or, like the bird mirrors below I priced them so high that they don't sell, they are currently $60 each which I think is a steal because they truly are the original thing - you should feel how heavy they are! They are gorgeous and if someone loves them enough they will be happy to get them for $60 each! Probably not a good retail strategy but sometimes I get attached. The bird mirrors were found at a garage sale, one of the best garage sales I've ever been to! If they don't sell in another month in the booth they're coming home to live on my wall!

Back to the picture at hand - the green shelf was bought at auction, I both love and hate auctions. You can get a great deal if no one knows what something is or if it's hidden in a box. But if the auctioneer decides to draw attention to a piece, the value all of a sudden starts skyrocketing - a good auctioneer obviously does this...much to my dismay. I had my eye on this piece as soon as I saw it (it was not the cute distressed Paris Green it is today) but still, I loved the curves of it. So, it turns out this used to be an old radio - you know, the really old ones...well, someone took the radio mechanism out of it and made it into a shelf. It now is a very unique

one of a kind piece that now everyone at auction must get their hands on! Well, I still got it but for more than I wanted to spend but as you can see I love it! The champagne bucket and silver bowls are also auction finds, what a fun way to organize your keys and receipts, I love the way it looks. Another item I couldn't part with is one I buy wholesale - the wood beach sign of the mom and her baby in the ocean. The colors looked so good next to the new green shelf that I kept it. I can always put it in the booth if I need filler and order another one for myself. Another great thing about that booth - if I get tired of something at home I put it in the booth to sell!

Sugared Fruit

I have no idea why I'm so intrigued by sugared fruit but I am...it's as if it's a childhood memory that I just don't remember, but I must have experienced it in my past to be so excited about the idea of it! It started when I saw this picture, a darling little wedding cake topped with what else but sugared fruit. Voila, I have a theme for my wedding. Yes, on 9/29/07 Mike and I will be surrounded by family, friends and sugared fruit! He's such a good sport :) And if he only knew how much money we're going to save on centerpieces! Of course, I will just reallocate those funds for flowers elsewhere :) So, Christmas time rolls around I see these cute little crab apples and lady gold apples in the Harris Teeter (my grocery). I of course have to buy pounds, yes pounds of them and try my hand at sugaring some fruit! A couple years ago I had purchased apple cones for both me and my aunt who is very, very crafty. I had never used mine until this Christmas and I was thrilled with the results! Although I did end up making a second trip to the grocery store for more, yes more apples! I had to use some of the larger apples to fill in around the bottom and to make this a more reasonably priced project, those little crab apples are expensive! The leaves are from our little condo compound here in Marshview Villas - they have beautiful landscaping, so I just took some snips from outside - they worked great. So, back to sugaring. I bought a spray adhesive and sprayed each apple and then sprinkled sugar over it and that's about it, much easier than I thought it was going to be. I would like to try it again using light corn syrup(I've heard that works...), the spray adhesive kind of smells like, well, spray adhesive and although they are dry (it's been a week now) I still can kind of smell the adhesive, not a nice smell for my wedding reception. I did try something to see what might work for my actual reception (we're doing one long family style table that will seat 40 or so guests). These footed bowls (I love the way the fruit looks in milk glass) will be down the table maybe with some small (small as in juice glass small) arrangements of flowers. The good news is that the fruit is still fine after a week, so this might be something I can do myself a week or more before the wedding. Ah, the sugared fruit obsession continues, maybe I'll try lemons and limes in the Spring!

O Christmas Tree....

Our beautiful Christmas tree, purchased at Huck's Produce here in Charleston, SC. I added a new glitter star topper to our tree along with new bows, in a persimmon color - kind of an orangey pink, quite beautiful I must say! I love the color that adding bows does for the tree. I tried to find mercury glass ornaments this year but didn't come across any that I loved, there is always next year! Our lovely christmas tree did produce some extra branches that needed to be cut off so I created some swags for around the house. Pictures of those to be added later, I can't believe I didn't take any!..

Merry Christmas and Merry Decorating!

I think everyone has a favorite part of Christmas and all of it's many traditions. Gift giving, gift getting, baking, wrapping, decorating, entertaining. I must say I love it all but this year I think I enjoyed the decorating the most. Our little condo on the marsh here in Folly Beach, SC had every last corner decorated. If I intend on bringing more holiday decor into the house we may need a bigger house, there is just not enough room to decorate without looking, well, over the top. I included a pic of the house in the middle of the mayhem, I was wrapping, decorating and baking all at the same time, it was madness. It's hard living away from all of your relatives, I felt like it was the day after Christmas on 12/16 because I had just mailed out all the gifts to all of our families and friends. Then there was a whole other wave of baking and wrapping to prepare for actual Christmas, I guess it's a good thing to have it split up like that, keeps me on the ball! The wreath in these pictures is one I just had to have. The downside of having my booth in a store with 50 other like minded women is that well, we buy each others wares(a bad thing when you're trying to make $$ there, not spend it)! And we are sometimes pretty secretive about our suppliers, hey, have to stay competitive! Well, I loved this wreath and just yesterday Mike and I were in Lowe's (he shopping, me reading) and I picked up Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and there was my wreath with the designer who makes it - I will definitely be checking them out at the wholesale market in Atlanta! And no, I never thought I would be a reader of something called a "home companion" but I must say I loved it! I will be a new subscriber.Another favorite new item this year are these garlands I made out of vintage Christmas postcards from my very own family. Back in September at my sister's baby shower my aunt gave me bags full of these vintage postcards along with cut outs from magazines, cookbooks, etiquette books, all from the early 1900's - so very fascinating! They are all from my great grandmother, my aunt had kept them all of these years after finding them while cleaning out her house after she passed away. I'm not one for keeping things but I might just have to keep all of my Christmas cards now that these have been found! I took all of the postcards and made garlands for each of my sisters and aunts - they were a huge hit! My aunt had thought that maybe I would want to make something with them and sell them in my booth - I just couldn't part with family heirlooms like this, they are too wonderful.