This and That

I just love this holiday shot of the boys and had to share it. I'm not the kind of mother who's gonna put my kids in matching outfits in front of a glamorous backdrop. Boy, would Brendan appreciate that. At least I wiped the pizza sauce off Dash's face before taking the picture.

I LOVE my new scale -- check it OUT!!! A very special someone who knows how much I love The Curious Sofa took a special trip there just for me to find it!!

It's just the perfect shade of light turquoise and looks really cool with the greenery.

I like to display things on top of these little scales, but for now, I just wanted to enjoy it for it's own special detail, the needle, the wavy base -- these old food scales make me happy.

I made some Santa boots and stuck one in with the wreath and the duck decoy. I got the old washtub at a flea market in Paola, KS.

I got an order this week from Sharon at Sweet Repose and she included some of her wonderful soaps, milk n' honey and lavender.

And I needed a couple more candles from Friend's Candle Shed. I got chestnuts n' brown sugar and pumpkin crunch cake. These candles fill the whole house with the greatest smells, you'd think I was actually baking something, but no.

And here I am with one of Sharon's great necklaces that I admit was supposed to be for someone else until I decided to keep it for myself. I am 40 years old today and I deserve it!

Iowa Treasures

Well, I got all my cool finds unloaded, although not properly arranged, yet. If there's a proper way to arrange an animal skull and a decrepit doll head, that is! I thought Dash would be more freaked out by my "Cracked in the Head" nightlight than he actual is. He just thinks I'm silly.

I found all kinds of cool stuff on my adventure to Iowa.

Lots of great pictures for the wall in my living room I'm trying to fill with thrift store, flea market and antique mall finds. I found this one at Sisters Garden.

This one came from Sister's and is a Sharon Wilson find. The picture is faded to a weird iridescent glow. What a great frame on this one.

A nice collection, even a couple from that place where if Sharon told ya, she'd have to kill ya.

Great wooden reproduction bowl from Friends Candle Shed, coal bucket from that "secret location", and the spindles are from Manley's Antiques. The owner was kind enough to let us barge in long after he had gone home (upstairs from the shop!). The place was packed with amazing stuff.

I love old Santas.

The table came from Bloom. NOT functional -- the drawers stick and are warped, but who needs function when you have a sideboard like this? I can put lots of stuff on top, which is what I was interested in. Besides, my table and chairs are new and shiny and I wanted something to offset the clean stuff. Ha!

Skull is from Manley's complete with some teeth and big, giant eye sockets. Jason said I would flip if he tried to bring something like this home -- I don't think so!

Ahhhh . . . I love my new treasures. The candle is from The Shed in Muscatine and smells like carrot cake. I was going to give the baby doll to my mother-in-law, but I'm getting attached.

I love cement garden statues.

The bluish flower is a napkin ring.

These old ornaments are so cute.

I have a thing for these old scales.

And I had to include a couple more pics of my great nightlight. I may not be able to stop at just one. I guess it would be weird for the me to have one in my office.

Iowa Bound

Wow, what a weekend!!!! Back in the summer, I told my friend, Dawn, about a blog I'm addicted to called Sweet Repose. We began talking about wanting to visit Sharon, this wonderful blog's creator, in Iowa, but schedules were busy, so we targeted November. The 5 hour drive after work on Friday flew by and there we were! Saturday, we hit Sisters Garden and Bloom a hot spot that features Sharon's wares and other incredible treasures.

The stores are side by side in old homes and I must have spent 30 minutes outside before I even got in the door! Just look at this stuff!

The merchandising here was second-to-none. Just look at the slide reels on the wall and as a mosaic artist, I never would have thought about gluing plates to the wall and leaving big globs of adhesive sticking out here and there -- everything in this place just "works".

This little shed was outside with the worn chair in front -- so indicative of treasures to come on the inside.

I just adored this awesome miniature church. I wish I had room in the car to haul it home for the backyard!

Great combo of floral frogs, architectural elements and holiday cheer.

This is a wonderful sun room off the main area in Sisters. Lots of terrific eye candy.

The sound of the water was so peaceful as we strolled around the shop . . .

Great barber cabinets with all kinds of wonderful goodies. And the place was packed with Sharon's glycerin soap in scents like alfalfa fields, cherry wine, and green tea and ginger . . . ahhhhhh . . .

Sharon has a section upstairs with lots of her stuff. We have very similar taste and I had to snap a pic of this lovely lady.

More pics from Sharon's room. Check out the lampshades stuck on the wall.

Sharon refurbishes old lampshades and this is just one beautiful example.

On Sunday, she was kind enough to take us to the place in Illinois that she'd have to kill ya if she told ya. Dawn and I laughed that she doesn't have to kill us because we had absolutely NO idea where we were!!!!

This was a huge warehouse filled with wonderful stuff at prices we could not believe.

Saturday night, we visited Sharon's daughter's store, Friends Candle Shed.

I finally got to see some "Cracked in the Head" nightlights live and in person!

The little guy on the left with the gaping wound in his head went home with me! Dash is not sure what to think about this one!

I loved the Shed because there were incredible candles everywhere in scents like carrot cake (I took one of those home with me), chestnuts and brown sugar (Dawn's fave), monkey farts (smelled like a fruit salad with extra bananas!), margarita, the list goes on and on . . . The candles were intermingled with fabulous handmade birdhouses and antiques tucked in here and there. So much to discover!

And more great soaps . . .

And I laughed when I asked Sharon to take a pic with me - I felt like I was meeting a celebrity - I love her blog that much!

I made Sharon this frame. She and her business partner own a business called White and they call themselves the two white girls. I had to throw in some old stuff and it's hard to see, but there are some dinosaur bones in the upper left corner to signify their love of all things old, chippy, rusty, tarnished, and cracked. Girls after my own heart!!!