Tuesday's thoughts....

There is a line of milk glass dinnerware that goes back to the 1800's. The company is owned by Arc International who currently licenses the Pyrex brand of cookware for sale in the European Union. Their line that fascinates me is Arcopal France. I love the designs and the "cuteness" of some of their items. One thing I have longed for is one of the pitchers they make. This one is so lovely.

But I really think this one is my favorite.

This one is cute as well.

I see this one a lot so it would probably be the easiest to find. You can buy it from Etsy and E-Bay but I really wanted to try to find one in the wild. 

Since I can't seem to find one to use for a water pitcher, I may just go to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get me this one. I want to start keeping cold water on my desk at work and this would be perfect for it. 

On another note, I traded some Pyrex around and got this 441 piece to go with my Town & Country Cinderella set. I love it. 

I saw this on Pinterest and may give it a try. I always wanted a knit afghan but it just takes so long and is too complicated for me. So this lady just knits squares and when she get enough she sew them together for an afghan.

I finished my book I got for Christmas. This was absolutely one of the best reads I have had in a long time. I highly recommend it. 

Well, that's it for today. I hope you have enjoyed these items as much as I have.

Weekend wrap up

I slowed things down a bit this and got some things done around the house. I did manage a quick run to the Dollar Tree, Charming Charlie's and Walmart. I due crafts for Children's Church one Sunday a month so I decided to stock up on some Valentine craft supplies. Got a couple of ideas in mind for the kids.

Charming Charlie's was having some good deals and I was looking for an anchor necklace. This one was perfect.

I also picked up this cute music note necklace because I love singing in the choir and listening to music. Got the camera a little too close and it looks goldish, but it is actually silver with fake diamonds, not gold. It's a lot prettier than this picture shows it but you get the idea.

But my favorite thing this weekend was that I got a new 8 x 10 in the mail of my great niece. I loved this picture because of the baking theme. While I was looking for a frame for it, I found this framed subway art as well and I knew they would look so great together hanging over my Pyrex mixing bowls. I just love it.

Sunday was a nice easy day. We had a meeting after church to restructure the Children's Church program. Long story short, I somehow got myself elected to be in charge of crafts for every Sunday for Children's Church. Turns out I was the only one doing crafts on my Sunday so now I get to prepare the project for every Sunday. I don't have to be in there to help, I just need to plan the ideas for the teachers each week to use. It will be fun. I did it for three years for our Pre-K class so I already have a lot of ideas in reserve.

Speaking of crafts, I got an awesome gift yesterday from my helper who is 11 years old and helps me every time I have Children's church. She made this for me this past week. I am so pleased with it. She is a very talented crafter. Thank you Miss Hannah.

Went back to church last night and had the pleasure of practicing for a song special with Ms. Michelle and Ms. Janis. We may form a trio to sing The Holy Hills of Heaven. We had fun running through it a few times before long the whole choir arrived and we practiced it for perhaps a Sunday morning song. All in all I had a great weekend.

My wish for you...

May all my readers have a very blessed 2015. Rascal Flatts says it best in My Wish. I dedicate this song to everyone who has been so faithful in reading my blog. I realized yesterday that I had written 1,720 posts since I started my blog and may of you have followed me since day 1. Thank you for your constant support.

Planning a craft party...

A few of my friends and I got together in November to make some crafts. It was so much fun, we want to do it again this month.The place we use for our craft parties is huge so we can accommodate a lot of people. We each had our own tables. It was really fun.

Since the last one was for Christmas, I thought this next one could be for Valentine's, Easter and a few things to just leave out year round. One of the easiest things we did that everybody just loved was making candy jars from Mason jars. It is so simple. Glue material or scrapbook paper to the lid and tie a bow or jute & string around the jar. I made this yesterday just from scraps I had and added a few little buttons. These make thoughtful Valentine's gifts for your friends or family.

If you don't like the tied bow around it, you can always just glue ribbon around the jar ring.

This was a cute idea. And very inexpensive.

I love this idea. I need to make some of these bookmarks and give to all my family and friends who love to read. My granddaughter, Alexis, is a avid reader and she would enjoy one for sure.

I would like to do some of these from card stock but on a smaller size so they could set on a desk in a little pot. 

And I am crazy over these. I am going to do these for Children's church. The kids will love them. 

And my oh my aren't these cute! And super simple to make.

These pinwheel flowers are fun to make. I did a batch for Halloween one year. I need to make me some for spring to put in one of my milk glass vases. 

Here is a take on the Mason jars again, only this time for Easter. 

For the past couple of years, we made these every Easter in our Pre-K Sunday School class. I am not sure if I can find plastic eggs before our craft party, but I am going to try. 

This is a super easy bunting to make for any Patriotic holiday.

I have to try these out before I suggest we learn how to make them. But I watched a couple of tutorials and I think it would be easy to do. How cute for homemade cards to go in for mailings.

This is not much in the way of a craft, but I saw this and thought "What an awesome kitchen decor for a baker. I always see pretty colorful cupcake liners, but don't make that many cupcakes. But I just love this idea for sitting on the kitchen shelf. 

I am heading out to A.C. Moore today. You can imagine the shopping list I have. I need to start stocking up on supplies so when the girls want to have our craft party. And of course I am taking my weekly A.C. Moore coupon.

Finally Friday

Yesterday, I took the tree down and put all the Christmas stuff away and got the house back to normal. I put the Christmas Pyrex away and had to rearrange some of my other to put it back where it belongs.

I moved all my Town and Country Pyrex to my wine rack with all the other items that go with the brown and yellow color scheme. My collection is growing. 

By the time I got everything done for the day, my arthritis was acting up in my right fingers. Hubby got some new Peppermint Foot Cream for Christmas and when I rub it on his feet and legs, it helps my hands so I rubbed a little on my fingers and it really helped. 

I spent some time on my Thirty-One site looking at some of the new products and making my wish list. This is at the top of my list. I love anchors and navy and red for the spring. So I am definitely going to get me this tote.

After an easy supper I put on my new fuzzy slipper socks. They are nice and warm. I had the heat down all day since I was working and getting hot. And when I heard the rain coming down, I knew I needed to get cozy and comfy.

So I turned on the TV and the fireplace and laid down on the couch to enjoy the living room being put back to normal. I felt bad on and off all day yesterday so it was a great accomplishment to complete what I did. I'm just glad it is done. Now I can relax in the evenings 

I am so glad it is finally Friday. Hope you enjoy your day.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is 2015. Where does the time go. 

I am going to spend my day getting organized. I have some planner pages I want to design and print out. I wanted to buy these but just couldn't see paying the price they were asking just to download them. I can design some myself that will work even better because I know what I need.

I am going to make a list of things I want to do or accomplish in 2015. It is not going to be a goal list or a resolution list, just more of a To Do. One thing I want to do is learn how to do embossing with scrapbook stuff. A dear friend of mine has an 11 year old daughter who loves to do this with her Nana. She just made me some beautiful note cards and I want to learn how to do it.

As I was looking at things I need to get organized yesterday, I was thinking about rearranging my tea set/pots/cups collection and I saw this one I forgot to share with you. I went to one of my favorite antique stores the other day. One lady has a corner booth that she keeps loaded with vintage items that are at yard sale prices. I picked up this tea cup and saucer for just .50 cents. What a bargain. If you look close you can see a hair line crack by the stem but it has been glued back together. I don't drink out of my cups so I bought it anyway because I loved it and hey, it was only two quarters.

I am finally taking down my tree today. I got it up later than usual this year so I wanted to enjoy it through the New Year. So out it goes.

I will probably start doing some pinning for ideas for crafts for every holiday in 2015. I will start with Valentine's because there are always wonderful craft ideas on Pinterest.

Wishing you all the best in 2015.

Why I love my Fed Ex guy....

My Fed Ex guy rates right up there with my UPS man. They both bring me lots of free goods as a result of Thirty-One business. I did one party in December and it was a $600.00 party so I earned what is known as the Ready, Set, Sell Incentive Level 2. Last Friday, my free stuff came and I am loving it. 

My favorite item was this purse from the new line of Jewell by Thirty-One products. I am not crazy about snakeskin, but I do love this particular purse and will probably order it for spring in the hot pink they offer. Check out the small secret pocket between the handles. It is perfect for my cell phone.

I also received a free pocket that you can put in the purse. It's really neat the way they give you options. 

Just lift the flap and snap it in.

And there you have it, a new zipper pocket. If you don't need it you can leave it out. 

The purse also has two drop pockets already in it.

One of the other items is perfect for storage around the house. I can't decide if I want to use mine for crafts or cleaning supplies.  

With all the pockets around it, I may have to get a second one for cleaning supplies and use this one for my crafts. 

They have created a new thermal. It is perfect for toting pizza's home and keeping them hot. 

One of the other bags was this huge tote bag from Jewell by Thirty-One (This is a new line in our Thirty-One catalog this spring.). It is perfect for the woman on the go that is always toting everything with her. 

They sent me a new batch of spring catalogs. Can't wait to send them out to my customers. 

The special this month is the Zip Top Utility Tote and the All About the Benjamin wallet. I was able to get one of the wallets earlier this fall in a different pattern. But I do believe I will take advantage of the savings and buy the pink one while it is on sale. Then the pink purse I want is coming on sale in February and I will be all set. You really should visit my page where I talked about this new wallet. I haven't carried any other wallet since I got it. I am in love with it. Check out this link and scroll down to the wallet. All About the Benjamin wallet

They sent me a few of the new sample swatches but this isn't everything. If you would like to have one of the new catalogs, just let me know.

Well, hubby and I have a rare day off together today so we are going to run out to the store this morning and get some goodies for appetizers for tonight. Every New Year's Eve we stay home and fix a lot of assorted cheeses, crackers, appetizers, etc. and play a marathon of Monopoly and if he beats me in that too fast, we play Runny or Skip Bo. We have been married 32 years and we have done this for 32 years. I wouldn't trade it for all the parties in the world.

Have a safe and happy New Year's eve.