My New Project

My daughter found this old china doll in an antique shop last weekend. She has her original slip and pantaloons and she is about 12 inches tall. Her body is filled with sawdust. 

I have quite a few pieces of Victorian lace and fabric that I used to collect, so I'm going to pick out some pieces and make her a long dress. Since she's an antique, she's going to have a real antique dress. 

I've got some nice vintage hats with little flowers, so maybe I'll put some of these little flowers on her dress too.

  Meet Betty and Billy Goat...................

I just finished these little spun cotton ornaments. They measure 4 3/4" tall.
I embroidered tiny flowers around her skirt. They will be hanging on my feather tree this year.

I sure missed visiting my blog friends!
But i've been having reoccuring back problems and at times its just too painful to do anything!
I hope everyones doing well!
Mary

Some of my Aqua Pieces

 I just purchased these 2 old aqua bottles yesterday at the antique shop.

 These two bowls are very heavy and are about 6 1/2" tall. I purchased them at my favorite antique shop a few years ago.

 The tallest piece measures 9 1/2"
And the bottle on the left is a vintage Avon bottle.
I bought the little Hobnail vase for 50 cents.

 This glass tray is from around 1900.
My mother made the shoe some years ago, and the figurine in this picture and the one in the other picture I also have in pink. I bought them at an estate sale last year.

 I just love this creamer and sugar bowl from the 30's or 40's
Another pretty piece I bought a few years back from my favorite antique shop.

 Cute little salt and pepper shaker.

And my little couple.

 


 Christmas book written in 1898.
Its a nice size about 11" tall and lots of pages.
This christmas book is tattered but has some nice pictures and stories, and of course has lots of aqua color on it.
I found some of these tickets inside.
Would anyone know anything about them?

 I went down the road to an estate sale earlier today and this is what I brought home. An old silver tinsel christmas tree, 2  vintage storks, the large stork is 10 1/2" tall.
And 3 old santa ornaments.

 And from The Christmas Tree Shop I bought brownies to make for halloween with their very own grave stones to print the guests names on.

 An owl spoon rest

 And some spooky towels!

 And I ordered these from QVC  not long ago for the fall, I like that they have timers so they go on and off at the same time every evening. 

Fall Gardening Tips

I'd like to share with you some of the things I do in my garden in the fall.  When I clean out my flower pots I remove the Geraniums, shake off the dirt, tie them with string loosely and hang them upside down in the garage or ( basement if you have one).  Or you can also put them in a cardboard box and place them in the garage too. The Geraniums hold water so they will stay dorment thru the winter.  When I get them out in the spring to replant them most of them have already started to grow.
I don't normally cut the branches off,  except this one is going in my studio so I cut it up.

In the spring I repot them and voila! Here's one of them this summer.

Now onto my Zinnias. My favorite is the State Fair mix, they grow very tall.

Through out the summer when the flowers look dried out and before the petals fall off, I cut the dead heads off and throw them into a paper bag. I leave the bag on a shelf in the garage and in the spring when its warm enough to work outside, I loosen the soil and smash the dried flowers in my fingers and they fall into the soil and reseed themselves. The seeds are attached at the end of the dry petals. They grow fast.

My Bachelor Buttons Grow over 2ft tall. They are a perennial.When they start to bloom out in the middle of summer, I take my hedge clippers and cut them almost to the ground. They come right back as a new plant and they are in beautiful bloom right now.

Now for the snapdragons, I never pull out the plants at the end of the growing year. These are annuals but they almost always come back the following spring.  Same goes for marigolds.

Can you see the difference in the color of the pictures of my morning glories? I keep the seeds and replant them every year, but this year they are alot darker blue than they have been. So i'll collect the seeds soon and I wonder what color they will be next summer, Navy blue?

Etsy Cottage Style summery Cottage Color Party!

 The color for August is Orange. My favorite color is Pink, followed by Aqua and Orange. And this time of year I'm thinking Orange. Fall is just around the corner and I'm getting in the mood to sew with some of my orange fabrics!

 

 Look at these cute miniature baskets I purchased.    They are about 2" by 3" tall.

I think I'm going to make some little pumpkins to go inside.

I got this large pot a few years ago from a relative and I think its so pretty.

On the bottom it reads: Grimwades  Stoke on Trent

My pretty orange Snap Dragons

And  beautiful climbing Rose!

And Last but not least is this figurine that I bought my sister a long time ago,  when we were very young.

She stands 9" tall and has a light pumpkin dress and orange bow under her neck.

My sister was downsizing, moving from a house to a condo.
This same Figurine is one of many things I got from her.

For more Orange colors visit  www.etsycottagestyle.ning.com

My Victorian Garden Pictures for the Cottage Garden Party

I'm linking up with Etsy Cottage Style for the Cottage Garden Party!
Here are some of my flowers from my Garden...................



 

Some little birds taking a break from the heat.

A few years ago I was given some nice old china and tea cups from a family member who is now deceased.

I found this purse in one of the boxes. Its in very good condition, with no beads missing and no tears.
The beads look kind of dirty on the photo, but their not they are iridescent and show up this way on the picture. I was wondering if anybody would have an idea how old this purse is?