It's A Lot of Bling

 On Friday I had some studio time with the girls.  We worked on wreaths.  Big, shiny, bright shiny brite wreaths.  It takes a lot of ornaments to make a wreath but it's okay because we have a lot of ornaments.  And doodads, and bling and bits and bobs.

 We can laugh at ourselves and our slight obsession with vintage Christmas.  It's a lot of laughs and a lot of stuff and frankly, we are just a lot.

 I made a wreath and I had in mind who I was going to give it to but I wasn't sure if she'd want it. So I asked her and assured her that she didn't have to take it.  My new daughter-in-law, Angela said she'd love to have it.  So it's all hers.  And Sam's too, of course.  Sam views Christmas trees etc. as pagan symbols.  But as far as Christmas goes that kid married his mother.  HAH!  Angela begins decorating right after her birthday.  In October.  Oh, That Sam I Am, your Mama is laughing.

 I had errands in town on Saturday.  I know, I know, bad idea going on a Saturday but I had things to do.  On the way home I made a quick stop and scored.  Twenty five cents each, yes please!

 There was a little Santa behind the counter, I asked, we negotiated and he came home with me too.  He's a piggy bank and a good example of Made in Japan spaghetti trim.  His moustache is huge and sticks out away from his face.

I am making many Christmas gifts this year and of course, I can't share until after Christmas is past.  It has been such fun for me to create for the people I love.  I'm off to the studio again today.  

Enjoy the sunshine today!

Random Friday Bits and Bobs

Brrrr...baby it's cold outside!  I have new flannel pj's though so I should be fine.  Vintage trailers and flamingos on flannel?  Yes, please.  I can only lounge in them, sleeping in them would be a hot flash nightmare waiting to happen.

I'm obsessed with finding new snow boots this year.  I really want white with some fur.  I'm thinking about the ones pictured below but I'm not sure there is enough fur.  I have leather boots but I do need some new snow boots.  My last pair was a gift that I received from my husband when we lived on E Street.  Our house on E Street was a 2 bedroom with three small boys.  Hubby came home and told me he'd spent money that day on some thing for me and he knew I'd say we couldn't afford it but he loved me and thought I should have it.  Of course, I thought I was getting flowers. No go, it was snow boots from Cenex Farm Store.  They really were the best gift, I'm so happy he surprised me with boots instead of roses.  Bill and Fred's Excellent Construction bought boots for their bookkeepers. 

Jodi, do you still have your boots?

 I haven't started Christmas decorating however; I am digging around in the attic and finding some treasures to do a bit of Christmas crafting.  I'm also working on making some gifts this year.  The glue gun is loaded.  Hmmm, I wonder if I need a background check for a glue gun with Washington State's new gun laws going into effect in December.  Cuz it's a weapon and smokin' hot over here.

I hope to take the ornament box and create a shadow box.  I love the piles and boxes of Christmas bits and bobs.  Wouldn't it be great to just place piles all over the house and call it good?

Who does THIS?  Who checks out Homemade Decadence  by Joy the Baker and The 21-Day Belly Fix from their library at the same time?  Sigh.  It's not going so good over here.  I've only had time to flip through both of them, not really a lot of time to read right now.  Or bake.  Or diet.

 I did make a pumpkin coffee cake late week.  It wasn't in either book.  T'was delish!

Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake

• STREUSEL TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts
• 
  
• COFFEE CAKE:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 9-inch round cake pan.

FOR STREUSEL TOPPING:
COMBINE flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly; stir in nuts.

FOR COFFEECAKE:
COMBINE flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

SPOON half of batter into prepared cake pan. Sprinkle 3/4 cup Streusel Topping over batter. Spoon remaining batter evenly over Streusel Topping; sprinkle with remaining Streusel Topping.

BAKE for 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.        

*I am not promoting or getting paid, just passing along a tasty recipe from the Libby and Nestle website.  I don't get paid to write this blog.  Now or ever.  Amen.       

I am fine.  I did warn you this would be random.  So stop thinking that Tami's lost her mind.  I'm all here.

Now I am going to empty my house of all decor to prep for Christmas decorating.

There may be a tree or two going up this weekend.  HAH! 

Stay cozy!

Happy Veteran's Day

All gave some. some gave all.

A special thank you to all veterans today and always.

And a hug for my special veteran, That Sam I Am.

*For clarification the pic of Sam's chest was intentional, I wanted to get a shot of all the awards.

Island Chicks

 On Saturday, Shelly and I returned to Island Chicks in Anacortes.  This time Sheryl and Chris came with us. It was a gorgeous day in one of my favorite towns.

 I love JohnBob Cool Junk.  Those guys know what they are doing with vintage.  I always love what they put together and the best part is that everything in their booth is reasonably priced.  What's not to love about that?  I went in their booth three times and bought something every time.

 This booth was another favorite with a lot of red, Santas and vintage goodness.

 Okay, let's just stack up some old silver bits and bobs and make it great.  Who does that?  JohnBob, of course.

The white sled is a great idea and a good reminder that sometimes all white is best.

 After lunch we went to my favorite store in Anacortes, Pearl Button.  Jackie, the store owner and Island Chick Show creator had a little appreciation party for her customers.

 Everything was white, except for the wreaths from JohnBob.  She took the empty retail space next to her shop and made it a temporary party space.  It was so pretty, the food was amazing, the champagne was iced and her husband was a lot of fun.  I thought it was very generous of her to host a party that she couldn't attend.  Jackie was super busy running the show.

 After the party we had show and tell.  Yep, everything comes out of the bags and is shared on the street for all the world to ooh and ahh over.  There is a lot of,  ohmylandsyouonlypaidtenbucksforthatyouarebrilliant  going on at that point.

 Then we met more friends for a drink and fries.  A brief Hobby Lobby stop and we were home.  A wonderful, inspiring day with the girls!

Cozy Up

It's Fall Y'all and I do love this season.  There is something so wonderful about all of the colorful leaves, the Fall light, and the  spicypumpkin of a pumpkin latte or a pumpkin scone.

We like to cozy up at our house.  We get as close to hibernation as a family of bears.  The wood is stacked and ready.  We lit a fire for the first time on Sunday.  The weather has been so mild that this is the latest in our history of the Stone House to get toasty with the wood stove.

 The flannel sheets are on the beds.  I have new flannel pjs with vintage trailers and flamingos on them.

Pretty much a flannel board in the bedroom...

 The summer flowers are on the compost heap.  There are a few mums and cabbages planted for winter interest.

I made a pumpkin roll.  That is one messy job.  So worth it though.

It's all good but I just can't help myself, I am thinking about Christmas and I want to start decorating.  Badly.

I know, I know.  Slow down, enjoy the moment... but it's hard.  Really, really hard.

Maybe I'll just start upstairs...

Pumpkin Carving 101

Vern and Shelly hosted pumpkin carving in the party barn, a long time tradition that our guys have loved.  Mainly because it involves good food and a lot of it.  Shelly made her chicken wings for Sam and Braden's favorite potatoes, even though he is away at college.  There were bacon wrapped tater tots, stuffed mushrooms, meatballs, sticky pigs in a blanket, Karen's baking, dips and basically food for fifty.  

It's been years since Sam has been able to attend and he was excited.  Angela now knows what all the excitement is about.  Kassie cancelled her plans to visit Max to be at the party.  And Max surprised her by showing up at the party.

 We had a few years with no kids able to attend so we were pretty happy to have kids show up.  Even though they aren't kids anymore.

Danny and Braden!  Pumpkin carving party is a really good reason to move back to Washington.

 Karen had just visited Danny and Braden in MI so we had a great picture of them.  Not the same though...

Here's a dirty little secret... some years we don't actually carve pumpkins.  Too lazy.

But this year Shelly, Kassie and I carved.  And it was fun.

 Two owls and a pretty lace pumpkin!  I think I better start a pinterest board of ideas for next year.

One of my first posts on the blog was about the pumpkin carving party.  At that point I was just trying to get photos to show up despite my technical challenges.  I have been banging out posts since 2007.  

Happy Blogaversary to moi!  Aaaand many more...