MY EBAY GROUP NEW YEAR GIVE AWAY

So the group I am in on ebay is having a monthly drawing for a fabulous prize given by different members each month. To start out our new year JO, CottoneyedJo or swimming in fabric*former ebay name* is giving our first gift. I am going to copy and paste EXACTLY what she has written, If you would like to sign up just go to CPLG BLOG and follow directions.

The next year is just a few days away, and CPLG is going to be giving away a surprise each month. I've been thinking about the new year with Rose Colored Glasses if you'll excuse the mixed metaphor, so let's go with the grass is always greener on the other side! Now greener can have all kinds of meanings, and one that I certainly hope applies will be the reusing of wonderful items. I call it upcycling(now) when the idea was new to me it was called recycling, and in the olde days, there was a saying "Use it up, Use it Out or Do without". So while the words change and the ideas transform, a good trait(thrifty ~ use/reuse of things with value) endures.

To kick off our year of giving, I'm offering a cow which I hope will bring you a year of prosperity. It is made from a "cutter quilt" in the pattern known as Grandmother's Flower Garden. This one seems unusual to me in the use of the brown fabrics. It immediately suggested cows to me. How now brown cow, and all that jazz...

To win this cow is simple. Leave a positive comment about one of the two following topics.

1. upcycling
   
2. coming new year
   

How easy is that? Well, honestly, if you are not a member of cplg it gets even more probable!!!
I'll draw from available names, with a preference for non group members. If none exist, then ladies in the group will be most likely to win! I'll need to ship this item to the winner, so if you are interested, please keep reading the blog for an announcement. Winner to be chosen on January 15th, the last day of our Valentine Launch. Y'all make a comment ON CPLG BLOG IT WILL NOT COUNT IF YOU LEAVE THE COMMENT ON MY BLOG ONLY CPLG BLOG and come on back now!

jUST A short blog post

I just want to let you all know I have listed all my items on ETSY for the time being. If you would like to find my shop just click on the word ETSY and it will take you to my shop. thank you all so much and MERRY CHRISTMAS

NEW GIVEAWAY from Debbie~SIMPLE COUNTRY BLESSINGS~

to go see the newest giveaway just click HERE to go sign up. I sure hope I win though.

O HOLY NIGHT........AND MERRY CHRISTMAS

I was just looking around our home and noticed all the different nativity scenes we put up for Christmas. I try really hard to try to keep remembering why we celebrate Christmas and this has become a past time of mine. I seem to find all different kinds of nativities. I have them in globes, made from wood, made from plastic, one of the last ceramic pieces I made, ornaments. I love them all. So I took pictures of some of them to post here for all to see. Hope it will let you take time to pause and remember what this time of year is really all about.

this is the ceramic one I dry brushed when I worked for Dona molds

This is a wooden one I bought on ebay just this year. It is an ornament and wooden. This lady did a fabulous job on these and handcrafted the whole thing. she is from West Chester, Ohio which is just south of us. Out of all the people on ebay I found somebody to buy from that is almost a neighbor. As soon as I am done here I will go get the link to her ebay and post it here in case somebody would like to buy one from her. She has alot of really cute wood items for sale.I found her just click HERE to go to her site

This is a porcelin one we bought at Elder-Beermans years ago. We bought all 5 of our grown children this set that year and gave it to them for Christmas. I really hope they all still have it and display it at Christmas every year.

This is an ornament my daughter, Barb, made. She still makes them and sells them at craft shows and she used to sell them on my website when I had one.

This is a wooden one I fell in love with at a craft show years ago. I no longer do the show as a vendor but still like to go shop at it. Hope to get back in it next yearand sell my items.

This is one in a glass ball that sits here on my desk right in front of my face. I think it is beautiful.

And last but not least is our big one in the yard. We collected this until we had all the pieces. My daughters boss(her pastor) even went out the day after Christmas to get the animals half price for us(thank you Mark Partin) Don built the stable for it and it has spot lights on it for night. LOve it.

whoops almost forgot this one. Good thing Don pointed it out to me. This is one I bought years and years ago at a craft show. A man made all these with a scroll saw. I have an amish buggy one too. I leave these up all year because they are small and sit on the ledge of our wood trim.

So there they are hope you enjoy viewing them and if I don't get back on here before Christmas i would like to wish each and every one of you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Inside Christmas decorations

well I tried to take pictures of my Christmas tree and other decorations. Well guess what I have discovered???? I AM NOT a photographer~~~~ I have tried two days to try and get some decent pictures and these are the best I can give you.

Our Christmas Lights outside

Don has been trying to get some pictures of our outside decorations but they have all come out blurry. He has tried two nights in a row so I am going to post what we have and will try and take some myself(not that they will be any better) I do not think our camera likes the cold snowy weather out there. enjoy and I hope to get some of the inside of our house as soon as I clean the clutter up laying around.

My finished gingerbread valance

Ok I know it has been a while so I will post a picture of them hung in the kitchen. All those green beans sitting on the cupboard. My My Barb canned those from her garden and some of them will be on our Thanksgiving table tomorrow.
The wall hanging I made and the gingerbread stocking Barb made.
Did not get all done I wanted to so maybe I will add a little bit each year.
Pat

Our son in law the fireman

Well today Don and I went downtown to see our son in law get a promotion to lieutenant in the Dayton fire department. Congratulations Ray way to go whoo hooo.
you see him getting pinned, swearing in, and just standing around with all of us. Our daughter Donna, Don, Ray and well I am taking the pictures so I am not in them.

We have been cleaning out our flower beds for the last two or three days and this granny is sure sore. Well off to cook dinner, and Jane and her family are coming for the weekend so gotta clean the beds off so they have someplace to sleep.

here is Donna and Ray after the ceremony and he is now a lieutenant

Here is Don and Donna together

My newest Christmas project

Ok so it looks like one of those years I am going to decorate to the highest degree. I do take spells when I don't even care if the tree is up or not but this is not one of those years. So I decided to make myself some Christmas time valances for my kitchen window. First I had to think of a theme and since I already had some and really like the theme I picked GINGERBREAD as my theme. So I found some homespun at Walmart and bought it, got a valance out I did not use and measured it and that is what I will make my pattern from. Next I needed to find a gingerbread pattern I liked(still working on this) then I looked for some fabric to makes gingers out of to machine applique onto the homespun. Now mind you I have enough fabric in my shop to fill a semi truck but do you think I had any that was the color of gingerbread??? answer to that is NO NO NO. So off to Walmart again and well they didn't have what was in my mind but I found something I am going to work with HOWEVER I did get a fantastic buy on halloween shirts for next year. I bought six of them for one dollar each YES you heard me right one dollar. WOw and last week I was going to buy them when they were marked down to 7 dollars so you can see why I was so excited. Would never have found them if my honey. Don, wouldn't have come and got me while the lady was marking them. anyway I took some pictures of my valances in the working on them mode. When I finish them I will post pictures of them.
tomorrow I will take a picture of each of my new shirts.
toodles for tonight biggest loser is coming on. My favorite show plus dancing with the stars.
toodles
Pat

here is the homespun for the valance

picture of my cplg ornaments ready to be shipped out. Notice I wrapped each one.

More Christmas decorating

Today Don got the "stable" out and put it in the yard for the nativity scene. It is suppposed to rain and get cold after today so he wanted to finish all the preliminary decorating. He did finish the lights, put a huge wreath up on top of the house, put lights on the garage roof and got all the electrical cords together and set up. Our neighbors were putting their lights and wreaths up today too but I didn't get any pictures of that. And one lone flower is still blooming out in the flower bed that is soon to become a manager. So that is the pictures I am sharing with you today. Me??? I was in my shop sewing snowmen and grumpy raggedy ann's all day. whew I feel like I am getting no place fast.

toodles
pat

Good news Christmas is comin....

I know I am not ready either however thought I would show you what is going on around our house. Between mulching leaves and cleaning out flower beds, Don is putting up our Christmas lights while the weather is nice. It has been in the 70's all week and he is getting jump start on it. Better then going up on that roof when it is cold, windy and rainy.
This year we are using colored icicle lights. I did get tired of the white little lights so last year after Christmas we bought all new icicle lights in colors. Can't wait to see them lite. He has to put the nativity scene out yet but that can be done in the cold weather. He did get it out and put it in the garage so at Thanksgiving day we will be putting it up.

Toodles,Pat

Lady from Indiana

well finally I found the picture we took of the lady that came to Pigeon Forge to our craft show. She found us by searching the internet for crafts in Pigeon Forge. She was coming down for vacation. Well the search gave her my blog and she stopped in to see us.How neat is that? I thought it was. Thank you so much for your purchase.

Pat
ps I am so sorry I cannot remember your name

well Halloween is over so now on to........

CHRISTMAS. Well we put all the halloween/fall decorations down yesterday and now I need to find their container and store them for another year. I did leave the turkeys up and the fall leaves in the center of the dining table. Put a new table cloth on with harvest bounty on it. Put the turkey flag out by the front door. Don is out looking for our new Christmas lights we bought last year. We used the white(clear) icile lights for years and last year we bought all new ones. Since I am tired of the white ones we bought colored lights for this year. He has pulled all the nativity scene from the shed, picked up all the yard debris from the flower beds. and what have I been doing you ask???? Well to start with I straightened up the house, ran the sweeper and will be getting back to ornament making here real soon. Posting pictures of what I am working on. I belong to a group on ebay called COUNTRY&PRIMITIVE LADIES GROUP. Although I have never met these ladies face to face we have been sharing our lives with each other for about 4 years now. They are some of the nicest ladies and girls you could ever meet. Anyways we do an ornament exchange ever year about this time. Our dear friend Marissa*Raggedycabin* on ebay hosts it. We make our ornaments send them to her with postage money and she fixes us each a box with one of each ornament and sends them back to us. That is what I am working on right now. So that is the mess you see in the pictures my work table and finished product^all 2 so far* plus a picture of my turkey in the dining room just cuz I think he is so cute. He is sitting on my "new" ladder I bought at a craft show in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.
so for now toodles and enjoy the pictures
Pat

Ok had to add this picture of my daughter Janie at work yesterday. Mind you this is how she went to work at the bank she works at. Halloween and all.