Garden Stone Goodies

Today we ventured out to Garden Stone in Airway Heights. Kelly sells some of our things in her store and we were taking her some of our new goodies. As you arrive you are greeted by Laverne and Shirley their goats. They are so playful and full of energy, and so much fun to watch. They are very well behaved too!
This coming Saturday (the 20th) Kelly is hosting a Girls Night Out~ Spring Fling. The fun begins at 5:00pm with yummy treats and door prizes. She also has a few guest vendors that are amazing! You can find Garden Stone on Facebook and get more information here.

Everyone should have one of these most adorable shopping carts! The pillow is one that Kathy made.

Jewelry from Shari at Southern Charm.

Love this piano!

Kelly got in several vintage cookie jars today, they are all in excellent shape and oh so cute!

Texas Sheet Cake ♥ ♥ ♥

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

This is one of the best sheet cakes I have ever had. Now that I think of it, maybe the only one. It is super moist and very addictive, so consider yourself warned!

Sheet Cake

Sift together 2 cups flour and 2 cups sugar in large bowl and set aside.

Boil together;

1 stick butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup water

After coming to a boil pour over dry ingredients (sugar and flour) mix well and set aside to cool slightly.

Mix together;

4 TBS cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Add to mixture that was set aside to cool and mix well. Pour into a greased 11x16 pan and bake for 20 minutes at 425. I used a slightly larger pan to bake my cake in, I think it was a 13x18.

ICING

1 stick butter
4 TBS cocoa
6 TBS milk

Melt all ingredients together in a pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla to mixture. Add 1 cup of pecans if desired. Beat well and pour over warm cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Enjoy!

A Little Bit of Heaven and A Sling

I had surgery on my rotator cuff two weeks ago and only six more weeks to wear the doggone sling. Yes, it is necessary, I know that, but sometimes I seriously want to burn it. Just have a big old bonfire, ya know?? Back to reality, I have to wear it all the time,as in day and night, night and day. I have to sleep in it, and sometimes I lay awake in it. Whatever, the sling and I have not yet become one, working on it though. If there is a bright ray of sunshine in all of this it would be that the surgery was on my left shoulder and I am right handed. That definitely is a blessing. I can brush my teeth, do my eye make-up and hair, ALL BY MYSELF, and it even looks halfway okay. The hair thing is kind of difficult, but I am learning. At first, I had my daughters working on me, and they did alright,but you how it is, you have to wait for them when they can do it and I want to do it NOW. So, now I lay the hairdryer on a folded towel, turn it on, get my brush in my good hand, and go to town. Works pretty good.
Another blessing in all of this is my sweet, adorable husband. All I have to say is will you...?, can you...?, or Please go to Madeline's downtown and get me one of those cute little lemon tarts with the scrumptious swiss meringue. And voila! he comes back with not one, but two of the lovely lemon tarts...and both for me he says. Were they ever GOOD!!!

Kathy

Music to my ears!

Oh My Goodness,what a find! While I was at a local thrift store over the weekend I came across stacks of vintage sheet music, we are talkin over 160 pieces in all! I won't even begin to tell you the deal I got on it either. You gotta love 50% off days at thrift stores! Most of the music belonged to a women named Ethel Glasgow and is dated anywhere from the early 1920's to the early 1940's. I only posted a few of my favorites, there are so many more charming pictures I could show you. Don't you wonder about the stories behind the music, like was she a music teacher, who were her students or where did she live?

While walking around the store with my newly found ever so charming stack of sheet music, I met a women who was interested in knowing what I was going to be doing with it. After explaining that I make journals and roses with it, she began to tell me that she had her mothers old sheet music from the 20's. Well, to make a long story short, she has decided that it is time for her to let go of it, and she wants me to have it! Wow, I'm a complete stranger and she wants me to have it! I asked about giving it to family members and she said that they would not appreciate it as she thought I would. I am going to make her some of my roses out of her mothers sheet music so she will still have something to remember her by.
Jennifer

A girl and her dolls

I got my first Madame Alexander doll from my Nana when I was about a year old. My cousin Billy named her baby Jennie. Yes, I was called Jennie when I was little. I got my second Madame Alexander doll from my Nana for Christmas when I was about 3 years old. She came from the collection of Pussycat Baby Dolls, so I named her accordingly, Pussycat. As a little girl I can remember shopping at Lichtenstein's in Texas with my Nana and Mom, and seeing all the dolls in the glass cases. There were so many of them to look at and all so pretty. I had a buggy that I used to take my dolls for a ride in. I loved my buggy! It was white wicker with lace trim and had room for all of my other dolls who were all named Cindy. Of all of my dolls from my childhood, baby Jennie and Pussycat were my most favorite, some day I will pass them on to my daughter.

This is Pussycat. She is from the Pussycat Baby Doll collection and is marked 1965.

Baby Jennie has been well loved, as you can tell from the picture. I used to carry her around by her hair. She is a Baby McGuffey marked 1961. I don't know much about her though.

Jennifer

Vintage Goodness

I just finished these three pillows and footstool for a very nice lady. She had bought another footstool that was covered in the same fabric that I had for sale at This Old House. It was a little bit bigger than this one but everything else is the same. I was lucky to have enough fabric to do it all. The fabric I used is a vintage curtain, probably from the 40's. Anyway, I just finished them up today and delivered them to her. The pillows look lovely on her couch, which is about the color of the darker red flower. It's so fun to make something for someone and know that they love it! Thanks, Tami!! Hope you enjoy it.

Kathy

She spends hours in the sewing room

I find inspiration in my cozy sewing room among the ribbons, lace, and fabric that is stashed everywhere. I love to be there creating something new and wonderful. I learned to sew from my mother, who was an excellent seamstress. When I was around five or six years old I begged and pleaded with my mother to let me use the sewing machine. After awhile, she gave in to this relentless child and gave me a small piece of fabric and showed me what to do and not do. Hold on to the fabric to guide it and KEEP YOUR FINGERS AWAY FROM THE NEEDLE!!! Away I went, sewing machine whirring (very slowly) back and forth and around on my little piece of fabric. I was hooked, never to look back, forever and always in the land of patterns, needles, threads(oh, the colors!!) and don't forget the fabric....and more fabric...you just never know when you can put that beautiful piece of fabric to use. Thank you Mama for teaching me to sew.

Kathy

♥ ♥ ♥ Vintage Valentine Party ♥ ♥ ♥

We are excited to be a part of the Vintage Valentine Card Party over at Anything Goes Here. You can hop on over and check out all the other lovely participants by clicking on their links on the sidebar. I can't wait to see all the adorable cards!
Wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day!!!

Farm Chicks is only 4 months away!!!!

Oh yeah, Farm Chicks!! It's coming up soon, only four months away, and believe me it will go by fast. Oh, so much to do. You remember seeing all the furniture we have in the shop, well most of it will end up being painted and shabbied up. We have been bringing home loads of stuff from estate sales and thrift stores, all cool, amazing and Farm Chicky, of course! We always look forward to The Farm Chicks show, not only to sell, but to see what fantastic things other vendors come up with...and I guess I should also say, yes, we do some shopping, too.
This year Serena has some new additions to the show, one being a man or should I say MAN CAVE. Yes, you read that right! Isn't that a wonderful idea??! I love it and I know my dear husband, who I call The Wizard, (because he really can do anything) will also love it. Last year he was our "gopher" and he would hang out with a few other guys when he wasn't needed. One man said to him, "Have you ever seen so many happy women in one place?" Isn't that just so true? The Farm Chicks show just makes us HAPPY!!!
Another exciting happening is that Jo Packham, the editor of Where Women Create magazine, will be there. I don't know the details, but I am sure it will be fun and interesting. You can click on The Farm Chick link on our sidebar and it will give you more information. Now, off to work I go!

Our Creative Lives = HAPPINESS!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

We like to make stuff. We love to be creative, you know, to find new uses for all that "stuff". The little wheels in our brains are in constant motion. The need to create something is a must, it is who we are and it makes us HAPPY!! When we create something we feel to be beautiful we like to share with the world that beauty. So, here we have some gorgeous paper flowers made by Jennifer and the pretty little hearts are made by Kathy. They are for sale in our space at This Old House or we will gladly do a custom order and ship to you.

These delicate paper flowers are made using old sheet music. A touch of glitter has been added to give just the right amount of charm. The flowers are 4 to 5 inches wide and are attached to a skewer stick and measure anywhere between 11 in -13 in in length. Sticks can easily be cut for shorter length. Flowers are selling for $4.00 each or 6 for $20.00.

These sweet little hearts are handmade and measure approximately 4 1/2" by 7 1/2" for the large ones and the small ones measure 3" by 5". They are embellished with vintage lace, ribbons and jewels and most have a stamped image of some sort. The close up pictures are of large hearts. The large and small hearts sell for 10.00 each. If you would like more information contact us.

Our New Sign

Our new sign for Unexpected Necessities! Pretty cute if I do say so myself, even if the s's in necessities are a little crooked. Shhhhhh don't tell anyone!