Sweet things ~

This past weekend I went nuts.

Cutting out sachets and needle books!

I have a few folks wanting them so I thought,

why not make a few extra, right?

I thought for sure I'd have a couple of finished goodies to show you,

but not quite yet :)

Can you get an idea of what I'm up to though?

I had this sweet old linen that had an embroidered owl on it...leaves, acorns...

It was pretty stained up so I picked the best parts to make sachets ~

The birds are from an old pillowcase. The center of the case was quite stained ~

so why not use the beautiful birds for a pincushion??

I play with hankies and other linens to see how pieces of them

will look on my needle book covers, do you like this corner?

I've been wanting to do this FOREVER!

I made my own covered button for this sachet out of a old embroidered linen....

saving a sweet flower to place in the center.

More dropcloth fabric sachets ready to be made :)

Doesn't this fabric have that French grain sack look??

A precious embroidered corner of an old hankie to adorn this barkcloth sachet ~

THEN....

we took off on a little jaunt Sunday afternoon

and I had a 50% OFF COUPON for Michaels

that I just had to use ~

(you can get it online and it's good for today too!)

Here are the goodies I walked away with:

Another button I covered...a sweet embroidered acorn ~ I just love this one....

A closeup of a tiny embroidered flower button I made ~

One of the needle books...in progress :)

A few more sachets in the making...and the one on top?

A teeny pocket sachet!

What shall I place inside?

Thank you so much for stopping by to see me...

for your precious comments and for caring about what I'm up to ~

You inspire me so!!!

Wishing you a wonderful Monday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Fresh Apple Cake ~

Worth repeating!!

A sweet reader commented on this post today....from way back in 2007, November 4th to be exact! I had to repost it because it is a wonderful recipe handed down to me from a precious family friend that is no longer with us. But just tasting this yummy cake takes me back to a sweet time when she and her sister were in our lives:
(feel free to link to it too!!)

I thought it was time to share a recipe with you that is one of our family favorites. This cake is perfect for the holidays, it just tastes "special". Perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you'll just love this one!

Fresh Apple Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped apples
• 3 cups plain all-purpose flour

Stir together the sugar, eggs and oil in a large bowl. Add orange juice. Sift dry ingredients together and stir to mixture. Stir in apples, coconut and nuts. Bake at 325 degrees in a greased, floured tube pan for 1 hour or so (check after an hour with toothpick to come out clean.)

Now, do you really want to go over the edge??

Glaze

• Melt one stick of margarine in a pot
• Add 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk

Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Pour over the apple cake after it is baked and while it is still in the tube pan. Let stand one hour then turn cake out. ENJOY!!

PS: This is a wonderful cake to bake in the small foil loaf pans with the plastic lids. Place loaf pans on a cookie sheet (minus the plastic lid of course), fill each pan about 2/3 of the way full with batter and cook probably half the time. You'll have to watch them because they will bake much faster. But they are great little gifts that you can give at Christmas!


PS.....should you make this, I would LOVE to know what you think!!!! :)


Have a beautiful Sunday precious friends,
hugs and love,
Dawn

For the love of drop cloths!

I do love them you know....

I wash them with fabric softener and then the fabric is this

amazing nubby, speckled goodness that's sturdy as all get out!

I just finished two more flea bags.

Created from, you guessed it...drop cloths!

With a little bit of antique lace, toile lining, watch faces and button ~

these sweeties are ready to FLEA!

And you know what would be wonderful??
Add a few more goodies to these bags!!!
Buy a vintage rhinestone pin...as a sweet reminder of a fun antiquing day!
Or maybe a cluster of old millinery?
These bags are blank canvases and would be great to adorn
with little treasures of your fun antique jaunts ~


See more here....

I guess I love creating with this fabric because it's so sturdy.

I have this wish that years and years after I'm gone from this earth,

that the things I've made will be those treasures that are lasting and that

others will find at flea markets and antique malls....

new treasures to them but that have stood the test of time!

Have a beautiful fall Friday dear friends!!!

I treasure each and every one of you ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

Creativity is so good for the soul ~

I had a total sourpuss attitude today.

I can't explain exactly why, but I did.

I hate that. But I know myself well enough by now that when I'm like this

I need to shut up.

I need to simply keep to myself and try my best not to be ugly to my family.

Finally I managed to get into the studio to make a little something.

Nothing huge, ginormous or magnificent but just SOMETHING.

OH! and have I introduced you to my newest assistant, Minnie?

She just LOVES my studio!!!

Well, I had just purchased a big ol' bag of fragrant lavender and

decided that lavender sachets would be simple and relaxing.

Hey, maybe they would turn my attitude around!

What I came up with:

Simple....but so sweet ~ and by the time I was finished, I was smiling!!!!

What is it about creating pretty things????

It truly IS therapy.

Try to make time to make something beautiful,

you'll be glad you did!!!

Happy Thursday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Gotta share the goodness ~

I have become SO picky about buying magazines....

Maybe it's because I have tons of amazing books that are inspiring ~

or it could be that I love blogs so much

and of course, don't forget Pinterest!

But there's something about holding a magazine in your hands

and thumbing through it at your leisure....

just being able to enjoy the pages over and over again ~

Here's one I just came across and I love it!

Sometimes these Christmas issues are too mod for me but this one

struck a chord and even though there are a few articles that are

not quite my style, I can take away something wonderful from them!

Here's just a peek:

so

The gorgeous home featured below is Jennifer's from The Old Painted Cottage!

A scan for you....and precious food for thought ~

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday my dear friends,

love you much ~

Dawn

Small treasures ~

Having been in the antiques business for years, I've accumulated my fair share of goodies!

You shop to sell but it seems some items just don't make it to the store or booth :)

If you buy what you love, and if that something doesn't sell, it's no biggie...
just bring it home!!

Some items are purchased with full knowledge that you have no intention of selling

them at all ~ but while you're out junkin' you never know what you'll find.

The Country Living Fair was really wonderful

but with this small farmhouse being quite full,

I tend to look for tiny treasures.

And not just any small treasures either ~

I love old,

wrinkled,

stained,

interesting

and beautiful small things.

But most of all, I love CHEAP.

I didn't buy much but here is my sweet, little bounty:

Beautiful old lace pieces ~

Hand-dyed silk ribbon ~ dyed with walnut shells!

And don't miss the sweet ironstone bowl,

crackled and stained to perfection.

A lovely old Longfellow book ~ just looking at it makes me smile...

Look at the gorgeous old compact!

I've discovered that sometimes when I shop,

everything ends up looking wonderful together!

A pair of Victorian baby shoes....

Two incredible old composition books filled with notes and sketches on Botany ~

See how pretty these things look together?

One last thing to share ~ I made Karin and I matching flea bags for the fair!

I have a few more in the works that will soon be in my Etsy shop too....

I hope your week has started off wonderfully!!

I'm enjoying every moment of our beautiful fall weather ~

Have a great Tuesday dear friends!

hugs and love,

Dawn