Laurie over at Indulge Your Shelf is having a spectacular giveaway to celebrate her 2 years of blogging and nearly 500 Posts! Wow, 500 posts! That's quite an accomplishment in itself. I'm impressed. Anyways look at this gorgeous book she created. She has photos of the inside goodies on her blog and details of how to enter to win this and a $25. gift card. So go check it out here. Oh and good luck!
A lovely blog friend of mine (Diane of My Art Journal) is having a 1 Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway, so I said I'd give her a shout out. Happy Anniversary, Diane! Realizing this dwindles my chances of winning one of her 2 fun art pieces, know that I love you all that much. =o) So pop over to see this creative lady's artwork. There, Diane, I did it. See I play nice. You have until Dec. 6th to enter.
Happy Thanksgiving my American friends. I hope your day is a wonderful day filled with love, laughter and good memories. And to those not celebrating Thanksgiving, I wish you the very same.
Cooking the lovely family feast. Image from Womans Day
image from Better Homes and Gardens
Watching football and putting together a puzzle. Photo by Matt Sullivan
Image from Jigsawpuzzlefun.com
A stroll after dinner to help work that turkey off.
A game or two of cards. Image from Shockwave.com
Dessert after a couple of hours. Image from eatingwell.com
And to wind down...a movie for everyone. Image from Disney.go.com
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Okay, so get this. I found a real treasure at the thrift store. Do you know what type of basket this is? It's a Longaberger picnic basket with the protective sleeves and shelf and the pamphlet that comes with it. It is hand signed and numbered on the bottom along with the official Longaberger imprint. It retails for $190.00. I cannot even tell you how much I paid for this because I feel too guilty. Let's just say when I saw it I was simply looking for a basket to hold my yarn and knitting needles. As I was looking it over I saw it was a Longaberger. I had to double check the price label and then the imprint on the bottom and then the label again making sure my eyes were seeing correctly. So my shopping trip ended abruptly, as I was afraid someone would change their mind and take it away from me. lol So now it is in my possession.
Okay, so the story behind these little snowmen is that each year I give my children a Christmas ornament so that when they have their own trees they will have their own personal collection of ornaments with a history and good memories attached. I saw these little wooden fellas and they reminded me of long ago Christmases and they are very cute! They are about 2-1/2-3" tall.
I got excited when I saw this tray (2.99). It is stamped Yugoslavia into the wood on the bottom and I love the dovetail craftsmanship at the corners. I plan on adding some vintage papers on the bottom of each section. It is so pretty. It is about 18" x 12".
Okay so here are 4 place mats. Velvet and satin. I plan on using these under my table centerpieces. I have candles on one table and a plant on another and a floral arrangement on another and a table lamp on another. This will be an inexpensive (99 cents) and easy way to add holiday cheer and color to my decor.
I found these lovely vintage linens that I am going to use in some pretty projects. I will post those later.
I found this Marriage Blessing. It is stamped Florence Italy on the back and the frame is adorable! I may take the blessing out and frame something else and add the blessing to the wedding guest books I make, if the bride so wishes, of course.
Okay, this is a cool box! It is long and slim and very sturdy. It reminds me of the wooden cigar boxes. I will be giving this a complete makeover. Will show that later when completed.
It reminds me of the plastic toy one I had that we made potholders with. You remember those, right?! Okay, I also bought a vintage light with the 4 color wheel attached to it. It goes round and round and was meant to shine on a tinsel tree. I have been looking for the tree for my mom. I'd like to surprise her by having this set up at her home one afternoon while she's at work. She told me about having a tree with a light just like this one shining on it and changing colors. I found this for less than ($5). Ebay has these trees but yikes some of them are outrageous and considering my mother is not really into retro, I am not wiling to pay a fortune for it. I just thought it would be fun to bring a childhood memory to her.
Jack and I were out and about today. Exploring as I put it. We found a few thrift stores. Well I found a few and Jack was just being a nice guy and pulled over. =) He did find a few good books though while I was looking for things. Yes, things. I really was not looking for anything in particular but I love the hunt. You all know what I mean. I came home with a few goodies.
Look at this sunset! On our way home I asked him to pull over so I could take a few pictures of this magnificent sunset. Ah the Lowcountry has my heart. We walked out onto this pier and had the view below. There were swings along the waters edge. Lovely. What a romantic setting.
The reflection in the water was magical. My heart was singing.
Being new to Charleston, we are still exploring. Each time I get a day off is like an adventure.This is part of an old church at Fort Dorchester. I loved the old brick and the archways and especially the view through the archway.
We meandered along this pathway until we came upon this wooden walkway that goes out over the river and makes a semicircle back. I just love tree lined paths and streets. They are so inviting, don't you think? They beckon me to enter and see what sort of surprise is at the end.
I looked up and this is what I saw. Spanish moss draped trees with a blue sky in the background. The trees seem so romantic.
This is an image from the waters edge. There were people picnicking, fishing sitting beneath the trees at picnic tables; some reading and some chatting. I would love to come back before sun down and take some more shots with less harsh lighting.
Well,I have really done it now. I was trying to delete all of my spam "anonymous" comments in one fell swoop and it turns out that I also deleted my regular comments too. mmm...mmm...mmm...(shaking my head). Good thing I got tired of doing it after about 6 pages or they would all be gone from way back.
Inspiration Avenue's team posted this last weeks challenge and the word prompt was "happiness". Well I felt like this image I took at the fair last week was perfectly fitting. You see I am a kid at heart. I love to swing and this big swing is magical. It makes me feel free as a bird. I get to dangle my feet and swing my legs and feel the gentle breeze in my hair. It's exhilarating. The ride itself makes me happy, but there's a bonus. It's gorgeous! Just look at it. The ornate detailing is done making it a wonderful piece of art. The colors, the paintings, the mouldings, the lights. (sigh) It makes me feel like a child again with no cares in the world. Who doesn't want to feel like that sometimes?
The Coastal Carolina Fair came to town and of course we had to go see what it was like. Well let me tell ya it was a lot of fun. I had fun snapping photos. The carousel was so ornate and just gorgeous! It was really red, white and gold with lots of pretty embellishments. I played with the colors in this next one.
We had so much fun. We watched a hypnotist. That was hysterical. Those poor volunteers if they only knew. They danced and acted bratty and sang and fell asleep and all sorts of things. It was so interesting to watch. 
And talk about colorful! Wow! It was like sensory overload. I can imagine how spectacular it must have been to little ones looking up at all of these big colorful prizes that they could take home. Oh I love the ! It used to be roller coasters when I was a teenager but now that I know that I am not invincible, I enjoy the more mellow rides.lol This one was so beautiful. I tweaked the colors in the second one. I love how it came out. It looks as magical as it feels slowly spinning around up there.
These paper lanterns were all around the perimeter of the tent we ate in.There was every type of food you could imagine. Well nearly. I had teriyaki chicken on a skewer over rice. Yum! This was the most healthy fare I could find to eat. 
Of course before we left I had to choose between a caramel apple or a funnel cake. hmmm...tough choice. Well I had to go with the funnel cake because I had not had one in a couple of years and they are so yummy. I know, I know they're so fattening too, but you know what, you only get to go to the fair once a year and it's something to look forward to, right?. Click on the words funnel cake highlighted above and find an easy recipe to make your own.
Photo courtesy of Friends Eat
