Dad's Christmas Lights

I shared a room with my sister Kathy when we were growing up. My twin bed was just under the window. Every December, my dad put the Christmas lights up along the eaves of our roof. He was somewhat methodical about this ritual; no burnouts, no clear blubs allowed. (He was an engineer.) Late at night, after I was supposed to be asleep, I would open the white wooden shutters just enough to let the colors wash in my window. It is amazing how that vision is so clear in my mind, even now, all these years later.

So now, at our house in Portland, no icicle lights, no blinking gadgets. At my request, my husband puts up the no-nonsense, big, bold, "Dad" lights each year. And I am delighted all over again.

Junk Becomes Useful ~ Holiday Edition & Giveaway

Look what I made! All the various bits were found at estate or rummage sales and I put them together to make a little Christmas shadowbox. I love her so much that I have decided to make her my very first giveaway present. Please leave a comment for me; names of those who commented on this post will be put in a Santa hat. A week from today, the winner will be chosen. Thanks!

The official beginning of the holidays

It's not when Marshall's starts stocking shelves with Christmas decorations in August. Or when the local FM station begins playing Holiday music the day after Halloween. For me, it's the day before Thanksgiving when I get started on dinner by making the fresh cranberry sauce. It's the afternoon light in the kitchen, A Charlie Brown Christmas on the CD Player, the color & sound of the berries as they begin to pop happily on the stove. (Recipe hint: Use orange juice instead of water for cooking, you'll get a subtle orange flavor that is so good with the turkey. I sometimes add a couple of tablespoons of orange marmalade just before serving.)

Later today, our guests will be greeted by this spectacular turkey that my daughter made in the first grade. (She is now in sophomore in high school.) I love his crazy googly eyes and yellow feet.The "E" on his hat is for EMMA. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

A Creative Friend and a Little Night Music

Hello,
I have been without a computer for a few days; we took it in for emergency medical treatment. It was less than a week but it felt like a very long time to be away from email, MSNBC and Huffington Post. But I am now in my cozy chair, glass of red wine in hand, ready to spill my guts.

Remember when I told you about my friend Joan?

Here she is, almost hiding behind her hand made collage of Liz. Joan has started her own blog and I hope you will check it out. She just posted about "Snail Love" which includes the most beautiful & mysterious photo...and also has a posting about her Christmas cards which are just amazing. I ordered 30 of the British stamp Christmas tree design to send to friends and family.

Just for fun I also want to share a photo of my very own miniature trio of Baroque musicians. Here is the best part; I found each of them at a different place ! The pianist was $1 last summer at an estate sale...I found the cellist at Teen Challenge Thrift for I-don't-remember-how-much and the flautist came from the Goodwill for 99 cents. I swear sometimes in the middle of the night, I hear them in the living room, playing something beautiful and sweet.

Junk Becomes Useful ~ Part 5

Take one recylced breath mint tin, a bit of old wallpaper, 2 tossed aside (!) Easter Chicks, one pink flower bead and a word tile that you love, play around awhile, add some glue just here and just there and Voila! For best results, hang from golden Eiffel Tower...

It's bad...very bad

This is my studio. I am so lucky that I got to claim this space attached to our family room. When we were house hunting and saw this room, my husband said, "Oh this is a good space for an office when I am working at home." My response: "I don't think so." I had visions of glitter, Diamond Glaze and vintage do-dads swirling in my head. I wish I could tell you that it looks like this only when I am in full production mode for the holidays. But that would be a lie. It has looked like this for a very long time. I decided that exposing myself (so to speak) to you, dear readers, might inspire me to actually tidy up. I hereby promise to post again after it is cleaned up and beautifully organized. Just don't hold your breath.




P.S. to Lisa from A Thing for Roses, see the pink box on the floor in the bottom photo? That's the vintage pink rose stationary I found for you!

P.P.S. to Felicia from Florida: Thank you for your sweet comment! Sorry I was not able to respond either through email or Blogger.

Giving Thanks for Vintage Turkeys

My grandma Millie always had turkey and pilgrim candles on our Thanksgiving table. There was something comforting about them, alongside the mashed potatoes, white trash green bean casserole and family dysfunction.  I remember finding my first turkey candles at the Salvation Army in Garden Grove when I was a teenager.  And so, my own collection began at that moment. Now I have, well, a few.

I have branched out to include other Thanksgiving-y objects as well, like the corn-on-the-cob salt and pepper shakers and the stack of 10 handmade cardboard turkey napkin holders. I found them at an estate sale for 50 cents. They are lovingly crafted, drawn with colored pencils and on each one a name is written: "Gertrude","Pop","Mother Kennedy" etc. 

The white pair ($5) came from a trip to Brimfield market in Massachusetts, the safety pin and plastic bead turkey was a 99 cent Goodwill find. I love this one because, as you certainly know by now, I have a weakness for any item-made-by-someone-with-way-too-much-time-on-her-hands. The pink faced turkey was purchased at the Sandy Barr Flea for a quarter. It's alarming that I can remember what I paid for these objects 15 years ago, but often can't remember what I had for breakfast.

My hands-down-all-time-favorite turkey is the cooked one in the middle. There is a story involved. My sister Kathy came to see me in Portland years ago and we went to (where else?) a flea market. She knew about my affection for vintage turkeys. We wandered away from each other and a short time later, she came running up to me, heart pounding, face flushed. Her hands were cupped together over something. My only option was to pry her fingers open.  In her hands I found the Butterball in the Yellow Baking Pan salt and pepper shakers. I have never loved her as much as I did at that moment. Needless to say, this pair gets front and center position on the Thanksgiving mantel year after year after year.....

Christmas on my kitchen table

This was my haul from an estate sale on Thursday.  It was such a thrill to see a sign out, since Friday is usually sale day in these parts.  I found....a pile of gorgeous vintage Christmas wrapping paper, a box of foil crinkly garland, and old Hallmark Santa card, a box of sparkly foil 3-D ornaments, another box ("French Truffles" on the lid) full of tags and gold foil filagree stickers, some fun jewelry, including a vintage purple bead and gold leaf bracelet that still smells like gin and cigarettes. Also, frilly turquoise ribbon, colorful game pieces, a pink glass bird ornament and a vintage Halloween mobile.  Gail and I also did sales Friday and today too.  I almost got kicked out of one sale for looking under the tables...that was against the rules.  More on that later....

It is a new day in America

Yesterday, Election Day, the sun was shining through the clouds when I woke up.  With my heart full of excitement, I headed towards the Obama HQ in my neighborhood so I could volunteer. I could feel and hear the energy even before I got around the corner. This is what it looked like out front:

Happy people shouting and singing, cars honking, voters dropping off their ballots and the office filled with people; young and old, Black, White, Asian, Hispanic. It was unbelievable. We were all connected to each other. I was especially moved by the sight of ancient Black grandmas, in their chairs, stapling together voter information.  I started to tell a campaign worker that I was there to volunteer, when my voice caught and I began to cry.  I canvassed for awhile and later brought my kids (& friends) to experience the happy chaos for themselves.

Then last night, we gathered together our nearest and dearest to watch the election results.

Then it happened....

Yes we can! Yes we did! Yes we will!

A Subtle Reminder

Oh, what to do with the piles of political mailers that have arrived over the last few weeks? Recycle!  I cut them in half, grabbed the scotch tape and festooned the living room window with a message...Power to the People!

Charlie as Sarah Palin

Our 8 year old son does a perfect impression of Sarah Palin. If only you could hear him say: "I can see Russia from my house!" and "I'm a maverick, by golly!"  We threw together a faux fur jacket, rimless glasses, a McCain/Palin badge and a hairpiece, and here is what he looked like for Halloween.  Oh! and his candy bag was from Neiman Marcus.