Dime Store Chic

Totes Everywhere and MORE!

Suzy arrived at my house this morning with her little car stuffed to the roof with totes and purses. She dropped them off and headed to her various appointments she scheduled up in my neck o' the woods. Tomorrow we head to Leesburg. The Cottage Gals, Ann and Linda, have invited us to participate in their weekend holiday open house! We have sewed ourselves into a stupor. Here's proof:

Suzy and I piled our bags onto my dining room table to tag and price them tonight in between handing out trick or treat candies!

Suzy made some awesome bags!

Suzy's bright red barkcloth tote is on the right, and my Scotty holiday tote is on the left. And...I packed up a batch of my corsages in corsage boxes with new tags inspired from a vintage fruit label. Pin cushions are buried underneath the corsages.

I also created new tags for my totes. It was fun and I taught myself some wonderful new things in Photoshop and Microsoft Word.

I have about a million yards of green and white striped twine too! They'll bury me with this stuff!

Have a happy and SWEET Halloween! I'll share photos of The Cottage weekend! XXOO, Beth

A Seinfeld Post: Homemade and Honey!

I love cookbooks. I own some of my grandmother's cookbooks and some of my Mom's, and one autographed by Chef Paul Prudhomme after we ate at his restaurant in New Orleans. I have an "I Love Lucy" cookbook and "Mayberry's Aunt Bea Cookbook." I make a few things over and over again, and I rarely venture beyond my culinary comfort zone.  Truth be told, I often don't cook. I like to bake cakes and cookies. But I don't really cook. I just open a box and bake, boil, or microwave the contents. Hubby and son aren't too demanding, but I do know they love it when I actually make dinner from from more than one box or bag.

Today I came upon this fabulous cookbook and was taken in by the awesome retro cover and the clever title: Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your KIds Eating Good Food. Upon closer inspection, I saw the author bore the same name as my favorite comedian (next to Lucille Ball). Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry, has a cookbook. She even has a website devoted to the cookbook: deceptivelydelicious.com with lots of "mom" advice and recipes from real folks like you and me! Now back to the book...I opened it and was blown away by the look of the book and, as I scanned over the recipes, the contents drew me in. This was the book for me!

The recipes, presented in a colorful format with a picture for each dish, are perfect for a family. There are no freaky ingredients, and I just know that hubby and son will devour what I chose to make from it. There is a lot of thigs to make ahead and puree, and I do have a food processor buried in my storage space somewhere... In the few minutes it took me to read over some of the recipes, I found a half-dozen things that I could make with ingredients already in my kitchen!However I am very aware from reading some of the scathing reviews of this book on Amazon, that a lot of folks don't think it's a good idea to hide good food in supposedly "bad' food just to get their kids to eat better. I wasn't really thinking about the kinds here, I was actually thinking that these recipes can also work for my hubby who by some miracle is skinny as a rail even thought he hates vegetables! He's about to turn 50 and I would like for him (and me!) to eat better. Our 13 year-old son will have to eat what we eat. I think many of these recipes will fill that bill for us. I also know that I will never tire of reading this fabulous book, because the graphics are so retro-stunning!

As you can see from the pictures, I've been shamelessly plugging Jerry Seinfeld's upcoming film: A Bee Movie. Now there is a certain irony that his lovely wife has produced a "good food" cookbook, but Jerry's movie is being promoted by McDonald's. And why do you ask do we have a Happy Meal box? I wanted a Bee toy! That's why! I can't wait until this movie comes out! Neither can hubby or son!

We also have a small container of Bee Movie honey. We eat honey on everything in our house, especially biscuits.

Here's to a "sweet" week! Until next time...buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! XXOO, Beth

Holiday Open House at The Cottage in Leesburg, VA

I have been sewing up a storm in preparation for a Holiday Open House on November 2-4 at The Cottage in historic Leesburg, Virginia!

Ann and Linda were so sweet to invite me and my BFF, Suzy aka Georgia Peachez, to participate! We are thrilled and honored to have our one-of-a-kind creations included in this fabulous event! Suzy and I will be at The Cottage for a portion of the open house. If you are in town, please stop by!

I have been sewing totes and more totes!~~~~

These are just a small sampling!~~~~

And here is a sampling of the pin cushions I made too!~~~~

Hey there, Mr. Weiner Dog! Are you ready for the Open House?~~~

And I'll take some of my vintage flower corsages tucked nice and neat in see-through corsage boxes and tied with a pretty pale ribbon!~~~

If you're in the area, please do stop by! We'd love to see you! XXOO, Beth

A Stocking Swap and Two Bad Dresses!

I'm particiapting in Follow Your Bliss's Vintage Christmas Stocking Swap! I sent off my stocking today all the way to sweet  Sally in Australia! The stocking is full of goodies, but I don't want Sally to see them until her box arrives! Here's a preview:

A vintage tree topper angel is peeking out of the top of the stocking. I used a very nice April Cornell holly berry fabric for the main part of the stocking. And...

I made a holly leaves holiday corsage to embellish the stocking or for Sally to wear! Merry "early" Christmas!

This past saturday we went down to Richmond to my parents house. First, we stopped off at my father's office. He is moving his job home. He has been an architect since 1957. He still practices architecture, and is a powerhouse firm of one. He likes it that way. But he has decided that it would be more practical to move home and work there. He does all of his drawing on the computer now. He is cleaning out his office, and we benefitted by taking some wonderful furniture. I also dug some delightful vintage things out of his office that he said were trash. I beg to differ. Here's one example:

This paint fan deck is from 1965. Just look at these saturated colors! I wanted my bedroom painted the green that's in the middle of the deck, but my parents insisted on giving me a version that was a much much lighter shade. My current office/studio is pretty close to the shade of green in this picture.

To make room for my dad's new home office. my mother had to condense two closets into one. She dug out these dresses. They were mine. They are just awful!

I wore this lilac/puce number in a good friend's wedding back in 1982. It came with a hat!

This light blue pleated dress was what I wore to my prom back in 1978! I think I bought it at the mall at Casual Corner. Can you say Disco Queen? I remember dancing to the Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive" in this little number! (The snowman in the background was rescued from a neighbor's trash. We'll have him all lit up for the holidays!)

OK, I showed you my bad prom and bridesmaid dresses...now it's your turn! XXOO, Beth

Crafting and Halloween Decorating

It's a quiet monday. Hubby is at work. Son is at school. I have the house to myself. I work at home. I love that. Today I am making pin cushions.

Here are all of the bits and pieces ready to sew. Each figurine has it's own little pieces of fabric, carefully choosen.

I also wanted to share with you two things I found at a church rummage sale this weekend.

I got four sheets of these wonsderful vintage 1960's lick-on stickers. I think my mother had some of these when I was very little. I paid ten cents for these.

I paid a quarter for this card of flocked birds! They'll come in real handy for corsages, gifts, all sorts of uses! I love these colors!

I saw Martha Stewart's show today, The fabulous Jennifer Murphy showed how to make her pumpkin man! I actually bought one from her website when she announced her oh too cute creations would be licensed by Midwest Imports of Cannon Falls. Here's my pumkin man surrounded by my other Halloween decor. The kitties are from Bayberry Cove. Jennifer Murphy's creations are available there too!

Quite a few years ago, I saw a cute Halloween pumpkin box with little "scary" boxes inside. I painted my own to store all sorts of candies on Halloween. I think I made this one about 8 years ago. Pretty easy. Just use cardboard boxes from the craft store.

I went to Target last week and found these wonderful wooden "checker" buckets in their one dollar section. I put excelsior in one and some YUMMY chocolates for guests only I love the dollar section at Target!

Well, back to sewing. Have a happy happy monday! XXOO, Beth

YUMMY!!!!!

We spent the past weekend down in Hampton, VA visiting my BFF, Suzy. Her house is so charming! So is her family! Suzy, being the perfect hostes and knowing exactly what I like, toured my all around on saturday morning to a few awesome yard sales! Founds lots of treasures which will be added to new creations! We went down to the Virginia Beach Convention Center to the Big Flea, but was a bit disappointed. There were a handul of vendors, compared to the 1100 vendor Big Flea up here in Chantilly, VA. We did find a few things though. My son was especially happy as I found him 3 Battle Beast figures.

Suzy took me to lunch up in Newport News on a nifty side street by incredibly busy railroad tracks. We went to her new favorite, and mine too!, restaurant. The Red Maple Inn is a sweet four-square house almost completely hidden by huge shrubs and trees! We sat on the glassed front porch and had a lovely lunch on vintage mis-matched china which went well with the vintage decor. The main dining areas have lovely vintage chandeliers!

The menu offered reasonably-priced and generous home-made items. We were first treated to a wonderful crumbly fruit muffin.

I ordered the chicken parmesan sandwich which came with a side of fruit and cold Hoppin' Jack black-eyed pea saled. The chicken and chunky tomato suace was seasoned with tasty herbs. The Hoppin' Jack was sweet and delightful!

Notice the cool green and rose vintage plate!

Today the weather finally turned fall-like. With the crispy air outside, I decided to make something old-fashioned and homey. What better to fit that order than Apple Pie? I took down my grandmother's cookbook and got to work.

I used four huge Granny Smith apples sliced thin. I always buy a prepared pie crust. I can't make pie crust very well. I'd rather buy it.

I sprinkled on a generous teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg. Three-fourths a cup of sugar, and I dotted 1/3 cup of butter all over. I put on a top crust and baked the pie for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. Here's the finished product:

Now, if hubby and son would hurry up and get home, then we can eat this pie! I like mine with a chunk of cheddar cheese!

Have a happy baking day! XXOO, Beth

Wanderings and an Article About Little Ol' Me

I spent a little time in the huge Asian supermarket near my son's middle school today. I love going in there. I can't read anything on the packaging, but that doesn't matter. The store is such a wonderful visual feast! Colorful packaging with wonderful color combinations not commonly seen in packaging in my usual grocery store. I love the pure colors and the lively and inventive graphics on the packages. In general, I have no idea what is in the package, but that's half the fun with very little expense. I purchased these items to take with me down to Hampton, VA to visit my BFF Suzy. Her daughters seem to like tasting these Asian snacks as long as we can keep my son from getting to them first!

I really love these pink lollipops on long sticks!

This afternoon, I wandered around the yard with my camera, noting how very dry everything is in this drought we've been having. I am grateful that I spend most of my plant money on succulents and sedums. The hens and chicks are thriving.

These living stone cacti, which look to my hubby and son like someone's rear end, bloomed!

These pots are only a inch and a half high.

Since it's October, even though it feels like summer, put out the door decoration I made last year.

I found these huge pumpkins, 3 for ten dollars, at the grocery store. I had to get them for our front steps!

Now if the weather will get a little cooler, it'll feel like Fall!

An old friend, critique group partner, and award-winning writer Diane Gaston, interviewed me for the wonderful website Wet Noodle Posse. Beth's Bagz is featured in the October "Craft Corner". Take a peek at Wet Noodle Posse and at Diane's website! Here's a picture of Diane's newest book~~I can tell you all that it is pure joy to read! It's a rollicking, sexy story set in Jane Austen's Regency England!

I'm heading south to visit Suzy! We're going to hit a big flea market in Virginia Beach and lots o' thrifty places! I'll let you know how it went!

XXOO, Beth