Proof That Opposites Attract

Mr. Old Glory and I decided it would be a great day for a drive through the woods, enjoying all of the fall colors. After all, it's 52 degrees, and sunny! WooHoo!
But when I saw what he was going to wear....

I had to hurry up and change my clothes! You see, we are a house divided, during football season! He is a Chicago Bears fan, and I am a Green Bay Packer fan. So is our daughter. I brought her up right! We have lots of fun, and a "friendly" rivalry!

But in the end, it's proof that opposites do attract! Go Packers and Bears!!

My Bags Are Packed...

My bags are packed, and I'm heading out to the Covered Bridge Festival! Wish me luck, that I find lots of junk and goodies! After all, I'll be shopping for YOU too. I just realized that I'm coming up on my 100th post, and that means giveaway time! And keep your fingers crossed that I'm going to need those sunglasses. According to the Weather Channel, it's not looking too good.....

The Junk Box Is Headed For Oregon!

Shara @ Monkeybox had a great idea a couple of weeks ago. She would take a big, flat rate box from the post office, fill it with all kinds of stuff, and send it off to other junkers. They would take out what they wanted, then replace that junk with junk of their own, and then send it on to the next person. Last week the box arrived here, and boy was it heavy! Here is what I took out of the box:
I couldn't resist the poker chips, because I have to have anything RW&B! Same thing with that honeycomb fan thingy. Had to have it! I don't know if you can see the little stack of flash cards, but my daughter made this banner with them for me. And below is SOME of what I put in the box, to send to Laurie @ Magpie Ethel:

A pink pottery baby bootie, some pink lace, a pottery piggie, an old piece of molding with a mirror in the middle, two enamel pins, etc. When Laurie is done, the box makes it's way back home to Shara, and hopefully she finds some goodies in there that she likes. Thank you Shara, for thinking up this fun idea!

And finally, if you don't already have this Cath Kidston catalog, you really should get it. It's free, and you can send away for a copy here. Just click up in the right hand corner, where it says Request a Magazine. And it really is more of a magazine than a catalog. Lots of pretties to drool over!

Halloween At The Cottage

I just wanted to share a few Halloween decorations at Ye Olde Gory Cottage! That's a Martha Stewart trick- or- treat banner, above.

Another little Martha Stewart banner, and lots of sparkly creatures! I didn't go all out this year like I normally do. I think it's because I have too much stuff on every surface already, and I don't want to pack it all away in order to fit in the holiday decor. Never fear, that's not going to be the case for Christmas!

My daughter Liz made this cute little banner for me! She came home from college this weekend because she is sick, and she finished this for me. I'm a very bad crafter! I have no patience for anything that takes more than a few minutes to complete!

This is our little Halloween tree! Aren't the chenille cats and jack o' lanterns cute?

I put this birdcage on the front porch last year, and some of the younger trick-or-treaters thought the birds were real, and would look at them out of the corner of their eyes while they got their candy! It was pretty funny!

Just a couple of light-up jack o' lanterns. There are many more in the yard, but it was only in the 20s this morning, so I only ventured out to the porch to take this, and then scurried back inside!

It's too early in the year for this! I'm going to have to leave out little ice picks for the birds! Hope it's warmer in your part of the world!

Vintage Halloween Decorations for Vintage Thingies Thursday

Please join me over at Coloradolady, where Suzanne is our hostess, and we get to check out lots of neat vintage stuff!

Today I would like to share the old Halloween decorations from my childhood that my Mom just let me have. When I was little, Halloween was right up there with Christmas! I loved it so much. Probably because of all the candy! The cat, above, was my very favorite decoration. It is a Beistle, and if you collect vintage Halloween decorations, you know what that means!

This big Jack O'Lantern always went on our front door. Before I even got in the house, he put a smile on my face!

A bookshelf is the temporary home of these two cats.

A close-up of one of the cats. He looks pretty sly, doesn't he?

I love these two cats to pieces! I think they look great hanging inside the white frame on the wall. Well thank you for looking at these. I know Halloween isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I sure do love it! And I've passed on that love to my daughter. She loves to find or make that perfect costume every year! Now head on over to Suzanne's to see more vintage thingies!

Garage Sale Finds and Ebay Winnings!

We went to alot of garage sales again this weekend, and although I didn't get alot, I'm pretty happy with my purchases. And my Ebay winnings certainly made up for it! I won this vintage blue radio, and after about a half hour of trying to clean it, it's still quite filthy! I'll tackle it again tomorrow.

This old mirror is from an antique store. I kinda wish I hadn't bought it, because I'm having a hard time finding a place for it, but it was so cheap that I coudn't resist. That is such a terrible reason to buy something, isn't it?

This flowerpot was 50 cents. So cheap, I had to have it. Do you sense a trend here?

I LOVE this thing! It's got plastic flowers on it, and it's just fabulously tacky, isn't it?!

More fabulous tackiness! A cute plastic garland. I don't know where it's gonna go, but it has to go somewhere!

The vintage yellow clock radio, and the old globe bank are Ebay winnings. I now have 4 old radios, so guess what.....it's a collection!

I bought this old French perfume set for my daughter. She's been to France and loves all things French, especially perfume!

Unfortunately it's missing a few bottles, but it's still cute!

Liz especially got a kick out of the Wizzy perfume, because one of her friend's nicknames for her is Wizzy!

Aren't these sandwish markers adorable?! There's even a blank one, that I could use for my specialties: pickle and butter, or radish and mayo. Sounds yummy, doesn't it? Oh, don't be jealous, I'm sure you could just as easily through one of these concoctions together!

This tray was from the second day of an estate sale, so it was half off. 50 cents.

And last but not least, I won a giveaway! Lisa at pupylov had a great Fall giveaway, and I was lucky enough to be the winner of all this!

Here is where that pretty, sparkly BOO sign ended up!

And this gorgeous amber turkey is nesting on my dining room windowsill! Thank you so much Lisa, I love it all!!
Oh, and one last thing. The Green Bay Packers are playing the Minnesota Vikings, with Brett Favre as their quarterback, tonight on Monday Night Football. All I have to say is : GO PACK GO !!!

Yo-Yo Quilt

The other day, while looking for something else, I found this yo-yo quilt that I had started....15 years ago! I remember it well. We were living in a condo at the time, and starting to look at houses to buy. Anyone who has ever shopped for houses knows how exciting and stressful that can be. So to relieve some of the stress, I started this quilt.

Here is a close-up of the colors that I used.

As you can see, I did have something of a pattern going for a while! But then I must have run out of that fabric, or decided to make it bigger. So other fabrics were added.

I also found these guys in the bag, all ready to be added on, and lots of circles waiting to be yo-yoed. That's probably not a word, is it? Well, I'm in a quandry now. The quilt measures 55 x 49 right now. I've decided that I want to make it bigger, to fit our bed. My questions are this: Do I try to buy more fabric that looks similar to what I've used? Do I continue to attach the yo-yos willy nilly, with no obvious pattern? And finally, am I supposed to add a piece of fabric to make a back for the quilt, or is it proper to leave it without a backing? I've seen them done both ways, and I suppose it's really up to my preference. My thinking was that a fabric backing would make it more sturdy. I'm counting on you quilters out there to lead me by the hand here, and help this poor quilt get finished!