A Blue Monday Blogiversary!

Wow! Blue Monday is five years old! Smiling Sally told us that she started her Blue Monday party on the first Monday in September, 2008 -- and we've been enjoying her fun linky ever since! Sally has been so sweet to host the Blue Monday linky each and every week.... for FIVE years!! I haven't participated for all of those years, but I sure have enjoyed it when I have!

So, I thought I would bring some blue to her party, and celebrate in style!

I invited these cute triplets to the party -- they are bringing balloons to help with the decorations.

I found them recently in a thrift store, just running around all by themselves....

This one is wearing her best Blue dress

and these two insisted on holding the balloons!

No party is complete without cake and ice cream....

Cupcake with Blue Icing and Sprinkles

Yummy Strawberry and Birthday Cake Ice Cream Cone

Here, Sally, let me get you a couple of scoops!

So, Sally, I hope you have a wonderful Blogiversary! And thanks for inviting me to your weekly Blue Monday parties!! It's been a blast!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

PS - the triplets will appear in my shop after they calm down from partying, and the cupcake and ice cream cone were crocheted by yours truly. They have been sold but will eventually find their way back into my Magnolia Surprise shop!!

Oh yeah, and here's a link to the party!! Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's

♥♥

Blue Love

Good grief! It's been a month since I blogged last!! I don't know what gets into me sometimes....

But I'm back today with some Blue Love to share on Blue Monday!

I recently visited a NEW resale shop that opened close by, in fact just a couple of miles away!! Yay! It had a lot to choose from, although I only found a couple of things that day! My daughter had noticed it, and we decided to stop by, Noli in tow. Of course Noli ALWAYS finds something that she just has to have! Mommy said "no toys" but Noli found some sparkly shoes that passed muster. (If we hadn't had Mommy along, she would have gotten a toy, if you know what I mean....!) Shhh, don't tell Mommy....

Anyway, I found a few things for my Etsy shop -- always on the lookout! But this was the most special...

I Love You This Much -- A Russ Berrie Sillisculpt 

It's Blue and measures about 6 ½ inches tall and dated 1970 on the back.

Did I mention he's BLUE??!!!

Most Sillisculpts were made in an off-white color and measured about 5 inches tall -- they all have cute sayings on them and googly eyes. 

This is one I have in my shop -- World's Greatest Golfer

The colored ones are taller and all one color (no detailed color) like blue or pink. Thus they are harder to find and more rare. So I was thrilled to find this cutie -- and not a chip or scratch on him! He will travel over to my shop soon to keep Mr. Golfer company  : )

His belly is just too cute!!

Sharing my little guy over at Smiling Sally's for Blue Monday


♥♥

Stampin' it up the S&H and Top Value way!

Did you ever collect S&H Green Stamps or Top Value Stamps at the grocery store?

I remember my mother collecting the S&H stamps and letting me stick them in the little book. I was always so neat with those stamps -- they had to be perfectly placed in the blocks on each page. I have no idea what she got with the stamps but I'm sure it was all anticipated with great excitement!

I just liked sticking those stamps!

The book itself was different too -- just a big S&H on the front as I recall -- no cute family deciding what they are going to redeem those stamps for! I wonder if those kids licked all the stamps for their mom like I did....

I had some of the S&H and also Top Value stamp books tucked away in my buffet. I was scrounging around for something or other in the top drawer which has turned out to be my catch-all drawer -- it catches all the stuff I don't want to fool with right away, but don't want to lose either! Anyway, among all the odds and ends and bits and pieces.... I found the stamp books!

Now these stamps are my own from when I was all grown up and did my own grocery shopping. The last time I remember getting something with stamps was in 1973 or so -- it was a blue wing back chair! I really liked that chair -- I have two wing back chairs now that are burgundy. Comfy to sit in. (But I didn't get them at the stamp store!!)

The books had cute drawings on the inside of people shopping at the stamp store (aka Redemption Center)!

Oh! Is that my wing back chair?

Actually, it was a more feminine looking chair with a kind of scalloped back and curvy legs (which is what I have now with my two burgundy wing backs)!

I found these coupons tucked away in one of the books -- they are worth 400 stamps total, or 1/5 of a book plus 100 extra stamps -- woot! woot!

When I was licking those stamps for my mother, they only had the single stamps, 50 stamps on each page. That's a lot of licking!!

The Top Value stamp books had a cool drawing on the cover -- all the happy people doing their shopping and collecting those stamps! Look at that blue sky -- it's a beautiful day for shopping!

Or filling up the family car at the gas tank! Look -- there's the guy to do that for you (WHAT?? You didn't do it yourself?? LOL!). I bet he cleaned your windshield too! Gone are those days!

Open it to show both front and back covers and we've got those happy shoppers rushing to the redemption center to shop and get free stuff! What fun! What thrifty shoppers!

I'll be listing them in my Etsy shop -- I figure somebody might want them to go in a nostalgic kitchen collection or for vintage paper ephemera to craft with, but for now I'm enjoying looking at them and remembering.... 

Sharing at
A Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Cottage
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove
Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's
GRAND Social at Grandma's Briefs


♥♥

Card Making ~ Noli Style

If you're anything like me, you keep every sweet handmade card your children or grandchildren have made for you. Your refrigerator is probably full to the brim with cards and drawings!

I was looking through the top drawer in my buffet this morning, hunting for an old metal toothpick holder that belonged to my grandmother (don't ask me why.... it's a long story....) but anyway, while rooting around in that drawer (a drawer that holds all manner of photos, cards, little stuff and nonsense) I came across this card! It was made by Noli with, I'm sure, a bit of help from mommy, and was my valentine a few years ago. 

Unfortunately, it's not dated but from Noli's picture, I'd say she was close to three which would make it February 2009. Her hair is still short and whispy -- just like her mother, her hair didn't grow much or thicken until she was well into her three's and four's.

It was made by gluing an embroidered armchair antimacassar to a used card (if there's anything that my daughter is, it's thrifty and totally into upcycling and recycling!) 

Isn't that butterfly sweet? and the pink and blue crochet edging?

The inside has recycled valentine tissue paper topped with a bird cut from a felted sweater on one side...

and a cute picture of Noli surrounded by flowers on the other! The background is water colored on card stock. Noli looks like a little waif in the picture with her soulful expression! I remember the dress -- a longish prairie style with tiny pink and blue flowers. 

Stephanie always made cards for me when she was small, and has passed that tradition on to Noli. 

Noli loves to make cards for every occasion, for everybody in her life -- some are plain with just writing and some are more elaborate with lots of glued on detail.

This is one that Noli made for my recent birthday (we don't talk about it because it was a BIG one...). I have no idea why she drew a puppy on it since we are all kitty people around here! But it's sweet and shows her writing abilities now at the summer after 1st grade. Don't you love little kid's spelling? Note the two T's in birthday and the backwards D! Cute!

And these are very detailed ones that she made for Stephanie for Mother's Day. I just had to document it in a pic! 

This one is Noli -- her hands are from tracing her own hands, and she crinkled the hair so it would be curly!

And the missing teeth! She has something like seven new ones now!

And this is a lovely purse

which opens to reveal some information about mommy

Note that in "the good old days" mommy liked to play with baby dolls,  not balls as it looks like -- there go those backwards D's again! And note the cute spelling of "especially" -- that's the one that should be in the dictionary! 

Boy, rooting through a drawer on a toothpick holder quest sure brings back the memories!!

sharing at

Thrifty Things Friday

A Favorite Thing

Pink Saturday
Blue Monday

Grandma's Briefs 

♥♥

Treasury Tuesday ~ All in a Row

All in a row....

Little kids marching down the hall behind their teacher, ducklings hurrying to keep up with mama, penguins playing follow the leader, houses all in a row...

Rows and rows of vintage love from the Etsy Vintage Team!

'All in a Row' by MagnoliasAttic

Vintage Horse Plast... TPBVintage $8	Instant Collection ... Tparty $44.9	Vintage Red Wooden ... hurstdesigns $6	Vintage Strawberry... jenscloset $22.5
mid century RED vin... beguilingvint... $30	DISNEY Candy Dispen... HamiltonBay $30	Old Thread Cones Re... veraviola $20	Stained Glass Panel... HeritageDishe... $89.95
Chickens and Rooste... scoutandrescu... $24	Vintage Griffiths S... CalloohCallay $88	vintage Fisher Pric... Shoptastic $10	3 Vintage Oil Cans ... merrysunshine $18
Red Buttons Vintage... TrueColorsFor... $4	Wrisleys Perfumed W... OldQuincyScho... $25	Vintage Billiard Ba... wallstantique... $7.99	Four vintage Durkee... OnceinOhio $12

I shared this treasury on Treasury Tuesday at Aquariann

♥♥

The Other Side of the Window ~ A Favorite Thing

Last week my favorite thing was the window-less window over my kitchen sink that's full of some sweet things that make me happy while washing dishes. So today I'm sharing the other side of that mirrored window -- the not-so-pretty backside.

If the window were a real window, it would look out into the laundry room and then out the window beyond into the backyard. That would be OK, except for the laundry room in between that's not so lovely...

The mirror and shelves facing into the kitchen are backed by plain old plywood and then the glass of the original window. That brick is the original outside of the house.

Lovely, huh?

That glass canister that holds my laundry detergent

was my mother's -- she used it for flour.

It makes me smile too!

And those candles are my emergency when-the-lights-go-out candles.

They don't make me smile because if I'm using them

it means no electricity and a bad storm outside.

Not liking that!

But then I have a pretty sky and rainbow

and big yellow flowers

covering (most) of that plywood!

It's a poster that Stephanie painted when she was a little kid

She was just learning to spell that long name

and she wrote it backwards on the poster!

It makes me smile.

It makes doing laundry bearable enjoyable.

It makes me remember that sweet little girl

who will soon be 30!

Oliver! I was just going to write about the funny red and black house

and you're in the way!

>^.^<

Hewwo 

I am Oliver, the King Kitty

and I am taking over this blog!

Mommy brought the outside inside

but where are the birdies?

Hmmm, maybe it's a good place to hide... 

Now you can't see me, can you?

OK, I'm bored!

Giving the blog back to mommy.

>^.^<

Well! Thank you very much, Oliver, for your input....

So, about that house....

quite tall and skinny with many windows in an interesting arrangement,

and a garden that grows mammoth flowers!

But the best is her name

written right to left

and every letter backwards!

(and the child is left-handed -- can you imagine all that backwardness?!!)

Yep, definitely a favorite thing!

sharing at

Claudia's for A Favorite Thing
Smiling Sally's for Blue Monday 

♥♥