REDNESDAY!

Hi everyone, welcome to Rednesday! February (school) vacation week - yahoo! I can sleep late all week, except for today - Jade is here to play with my niece down the street. She wanted to make a craft this morning and came up with this fantastic idea. She took a 3-oz. paper bathroom cup, cut it in half and colored the outside brown with a permanent marker. Then she decorated four "puff balls", as she calls them, with googly eyes and yellow paper beaks. Voila - baby birds in a nest! How cute is that? (Notice I put a red border around the pic to qualify using it today!)

This is the February Tag-Along I made a few weeks ago, but kept forgetting to post. It represents Presidents Day, Valentine's Day and the month I start sowing seeds indoors!

A Red-bellied Woodpecker that's been in my yard this month. My Audubon bird book says they only go as far north as Connecticut, but maybe they've expanded their range.

I found this "S" at the thrift shop recently, along with the glitzy earrings. The "S" now resides happily in my yellow-painted "play room"!

As I was coming down the stairs the other day I noticed the coat rack had all red on it, so I snapped a pic!
Your turn!

NON-RED DEC'S AND DECEMBER TAG-ALONG

This is an antique teacup with antique Christmas spoons.

I first saw this ad on the web somewhere earlier this year, and was intrigued by the idea of Christmas spoons! So I checked out eBay and, of course, they had quite a selection. So I bid on, and won, two of them. Close-ups are below.






I finally finished my December Tag-Along a few weeks ago, but kept forgetting to post it! I started making my Tag-Alongs in the month of March, so I still have January and February to complete my group.

Of course, to me, December IS Christmas. So that's all my tag is about!

This is a scanned version. The "I Love Christmas" and the ornaments are raised up, which isn't noticeable in the above photo.

We're just starting a 24-hour blizzard here in New England and are due for about two feet of snow! I'm sure all the school kids on vacation are all excited about this. Me? I'm hibernating all week! LOL!

MY NOVEMBER TAG-ALONG

If I had a brain I'd be dangerous! I made my November Tag-Along at the beginning of the month, took photos of it, and forgot to post it. So here it is now.

The background paper is Cosmo Cricket's "Wanted Kissin Kate" with autumn leaves, a turkey dinner, Remembrance/Veterans Day, and a birthday cake -the 9th was my sister's, mine is tomorrow the 13th, Niece is the 15th, and Teen is the 16th - she'll be 18!

REDNESDAY

Welcome everyone, especially if this is your first Rednesday!

I had to run to A. C. Moore to get some paper for my Tag-Along, and I happened to notice this cherries sheet!


I'm a few days late with my October Tag-Along, but that's okay - better late than never! Here's a close-up:
And here it is hanging on my calendar!

Mister and I spontaneously went to a local antique store last week, but (believe it or not) there was "nothing" there. The only thing I liked, and bought, was this adorable vintage first aid box for $2.00. It's 2-1/2" x 3-1/2".
Now, this is too cute to keep all to myself, so I scanned the cover and made a few graphics to share with you all! Enjoy!

REDNESDAY

Welcome one and all! Happy Rednesday, and Happy Back-to-School! What's red this week?

How about a mushroom?

Or a Montbretia?

This is what I bought with my CSN gift certificate ~ two red teflon frying pans by KitchenAid.

Here is my September Tag-Along. Cleaning up the garden, back to school, and 9-11.


What have you mustered up this week?

AUGUST TAG-ALONG AND A BATH RE-DO

Hello everyone and happy August!

I made a new Iris bed this weekend. Most of my Irises didn't flower this spring and I was thinking they were in too much shade. But as I dug them up to move, I was dismayed to find that the problem is Iris Borers.

Up until last year, I've only had the antique Honorabile (darker yellow), and an antique lighter yellow, with no problems at all. The year before last I was given an order of Irises (from a reputable company) for my birthday. So it's these newer ones that got eaten up. I was able to salvage 5 or 6 rhizomes and hopefully they'll be okay in the spring.

Now onto better things! Last week Mister brought home this green corner shelf from a yard sale ($1). I finally decided that it would look best in the downstairs bathroom. I ended up redecorating the whole room!

As you can see, I moved some of my white milk glass items in here.
And, here is my August Tag-Along ~ a relaxing month before back to school. The middle image/saying came from a greeting card. The colored shell pieces are vintage mother-of-pearl craft items. The kid leaning on the fence is a girl - see her long pigtail?
I'll see you on Rednesday!

JULY TAG-ALONG AND FREEBIES

Here's my July Tag-Along! I had to include, of course, something patriotic; along with thoughts of the beach, amusement parks, and Kool-Aid for these hot summer days!


Below is the plate in the background, from the US Bicentennial. It was a freebie today. Mister went to a yard sale Saturday. The couple was British and are moving back across the Pond to the Mother Land. Somehow or another Mister offered to help the guy with moving stuff. So the guy called this morning and said we could have all the leftover yard sale stuff if we wanted, in return for Mister helping him move a couch and table.

This plate certainly qualifies as vintage, so I'll hook up to Vintage Thingies Thursdays with it!

He came home with three truck loads full! Most of the stuff we weren't interested in, but I took some books, the plate, some tea cups, a tea pot, some pants for Becky, and a few other odds and ends ~ and this metal wall hanging that's perfect for yard art.
He took the rest of the stuff to two different thrift shops. It was a fun day, but lots of work going through two huge black plastic bags of stuffed animals, and five same bags of clothing!

REDNESDAY - WORKS OF ART!

Welcome everyone! Today I'm going to show you a few things that I've made recently.

The first is my postcard for Creative Breathing's "Wish You Were Here" Tag Swap. The participants make postcards representing the state they live in.

I lucked out because I'm not just from Massachusetts, but also the only one from New England - so I had a lot of options. Which, actually, wasn't such a good thing. At first I was going to make one with a little pic of something from each of the six NE states, but that proved too difficult, especially on a postcard! Then I found I was having the same problem with my state - so much to choose from ~ the mountains, seashore/islands, camping, sports (we have professional teams in baseball, hockey, football, basketball, and soccer), history (pilgrims, Paul Revere, Salem witch trials, etc.), education (Harvard, MIT, etc.), Boston.

So I had to stop and think what I, personally, like best about MA, and what comes to mind when it's mentioned. Well, my mind kept going back to my childhood days of summers on the Cape at my cousin's house - so that was my inspiration! And I guarantee, like the song says, you'll fall in love with Cape Cod!

(photo courtesy of Elizabeth from Creative Breathing, because I forgot to take a shot!)

The second creation is this little accordian photo thingy I made. Feel free to copy my idea!

I am very interested in seeing what you all have for this week!

JUNE IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER!

Okay, everyone, are you all wearing white now that Memorial Day is over here in the States? (I'm not - have pink on!) It's unofficially summer now!

“Hey, that’s the way we do it,

new friends and blue skies that never end.
Hey, that’s the way we like it,
good times, sunshine and summertime."

(Sunshine and Summertime

sung by Faith Hill)

I made my June Tag-Along already ~
This little girl (courtesy of Two Crazy Crafters) is finishing up school this month, and dreaming of all the fun she'll have during vacation! Pics are from a 1956 school reader called Down Our Way.

Here's a few pretty flowers in the garden ~

Ajuga reptans 'Golden Glow' and Bluets

variegated Weigela

Delphinium with Irises

HAPPY MAY! TAG AND CHINA

I am so excited that May is finally here - almost a guarantee that they'll be no more frosts (almost)! Here in Massachusetts, as in other states I'm sure, our unofficial last-frost date is Memorial Day (May 31). That's too far off - I can't wait that long!

So, I made my May Tag-A-Long this week. After I saved the photo, I realized that both April and May have green backgrounds. Oh well, I liked this paper because it looks like a trellis.
I am an avid gardener, as most of you probably already know. Not the best, mind you, but avid! And May is the month to get those veggies going! That's why I haven't posted since Wednesday, because I've spent so much time in the garden. My motto is "Gardening forever, housework whenever"!

But, on Thursday after school, Teen and I stole away to my fave thrift shop and McDonald's. God showed His favor upon me that day. Don't know what I did to deserve it, but I'm so thankful anyways! There was this huge selection of my "formal" dish pattern, 'DuBarry' Eggshell Nautilus by Homer Laughlin, I just stood there with my mouth to the floor! I couldn't find a price so I had the worker come help me. He found a sticker on a teacup that said $30 for the lot. He looked at it, then said, "For you, $20". Yahoo! (That's probably because Mister helps them out all the time.)

I was so excited to share them with you that I didn't even wash them or arrange them.
I couldn't even get good lighting for a photo, but who cares? LOL! Can you believe this? A TEAPOT, Gravy Boat/Saucer, 3 serving platters, 1 oval veggie bowl, 7 teacups, 9 saucers, 12 dinner plates, 7 square luncheon plates, 9 bread(?) plates, and 2 berry bowls. Pretty much just need the sugar and creamer!

I only had 6 dinner plates and a small platter before this big score. Now I get to take everything out of the hutch and redecorate it with DuBarry! Then I can have fun finding new homes for all my knick-knacks!
On a side note , besides the fact that this post is getting long!, see the weird item on the top left shelf of the hutch? Pre-Teen made it a few years ago for New Year's Eve - it's the ball dropping in Times Square, New York!