Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Good character, like good soup, is usually homemade.
Stacey at Poofing the Pillows is having a favorite soup & Chili recipe exchange today. I have many favorite soup recipes because I love soup. I chose this recipe for Taco Soup because it’s so easy and because it was always one of my kid’s favorites. Remember the best way to serve a meal is with a smile!

Taco Soup

1 ½ lb. Lean hamburger
½ c. chopped onion
1 can (28oz.) tomatoes w/ juice
1 can (14oz.) kidney beans w/juice
1 can (17 oz.) corn w/juice
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 to 2 cups water

Brown beef in a large pot with onions, cook till onions are tender. Drain, add remaining ingredients, simmer 15 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Something to be thankful for is that with today’s higher prices, at least when you don’t buy something, you save more money than you used to. And this is perplexing, why does food with half the calories or fat cost twice as much?

I certainly hope that you all have a lovely weekend! Twyla

This was my exciting find Saturday! Actually Mom spotted it for me.
I have never seen a trunk quite like this. It's called Barbie's Trousseau trunk.

This trunk came out in 1964. It was the first Barbie wedding trunk.Poor Midge is always the bridesmaid never the bride! Barbie's Dress was called "#947 Bride's Dream". It came out in 1963.

This case and my vintage Valentines I got Saturday came from the same flea market. Needless to say it is my favorite flea market!

I found this cute little collector's plate at a garage sale. It features the "Arabian Nights" outfits which came out as part of the little theater collection of clothes and theater case.

Patty of Pipstitch Boo-ed us! Thank you Patty!

"Here is how the Blogging Boo will go. Go to as many friends as you want and tell them they've been "B00-ED." Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (picture) and tell them to Boo their friends. (Then put the picture in your side bar so everyone knows that you've already been "boo-ed and to send the picture to someone else.) Have a great Halloween everyone."

Lindsey

It was a dark and stormy night. Ghouls filled the night, waiting for the portal to open. Creak . . .

Every year we have a Halloween bash. I thought I would show you pictures of last year’s party. Me, Lindsey, my son Jordan and Susan, dress up, act silly and eat too much.

This is a group picture. I was Lily Munster. Lindsey picked it out for me. The wig was uncomfortable but it was a good costume. I thought Lindsey was a very pretty Dorothy and my son made a very scary werewolf.

Susan’s Egyptian costume was great.

Some of our decorations and our food table.

We will be having another party this Friday night. Wish you all could come.

I want to warn you that this next picture is pretty frightening. If you are not brave enough to look, turn away now . . .

This is my pile of yarn. I’ve been working on house shoes. Pretty scary, huh?

I would like to thank Robyn of Scrapbooks and Journals for giving us the I Love Your Blog award. Robyn is a very sweet and talented lady and I have really enjoyed getting to meet her through our blogs. If you haven’t met Robyn yet, I would encourage you to go introduce yourself.

I hope everyone has a fun week and Happy Halloween everyone!

Twyla

Vintage love

We truly are blessed with flea market's here in Southern Missouri. If you enjoy flea marketing then you really should make a point to come! We always have flea markets to go to. We always have a favorite booth to check on. We have made friends with several employees. Some a little odder than others. The oddest one's were these two guys that showed us their Halloween pictures from last year!



I have been admiring this embroidered blanket top for weeks now and I finally decided I had to have it! Another future project of mine is too learn how to embroider!


Everyone should have a flea market buddy. Preferably one that likes different things than you. Mine of course is my Mom (Twyla). I would have missed out on this gorgeous black, gold and aqua ric rac had she not been with me. You just never know what you might miss.


My Brother gave me these beautiful cards . I am very lucky to have them both looking out for me!



You have read my past posts about the Valentines I have bought then you probably already know this but I am obsessed with them! I adore them.
Last Saturday we were at the flea market where I have purchased most of them. The ladies that work there are very familiar with us from having to pull off so many price tags on the cards. The owner had saved back a huge box full of vintage Valentines until we came back so that I could get first pick! There were probably about 200 in all but I managed to control myself to about 28 of them.

Mom (Twyla) found this adorable pink kitty today to add to her shelf.

I found a box of Gurley candles at a garage sale for only $3.00!

They are so cute! I had never heard of Gurley candles until I visited Barbara of Oodles and Oodles blog and noticed that she had those listed as one of her favorite things. I looked them up on ebay and discovered how precious they are! So thanks to Barbara I probably would not have even noticed these cuties!

I also found this sweet figurine at a garage sale.

Lindsey Ann of The Cross-stitch House gave us this beautiful blog award.

The rule is to share 6 things that make us happy and pass it on to 6 other creative bloggers

1. Flea markets

2. Our dogs Muffin and Spencer

3. Coming home from work!

4. Crafting

5. Vintage planters

6. Reading blogs!

We are passing this award to:

Creative Breathing

Kathy of Kat Collects

Jill of Bittersweet and the Little Soap Company

Patty of Pipstitch

Michelle of Michelle Palmer Petals and Palettes

Tammy of Art and Inspirations

We were honored to accept from Patty of Pipstich, the Fabulous Fall Decor award. Now we are to pass it onto six others:
MaryEllen of ArtKissed

Deb of Garage Sale Gal

Kim of Happy at Home

Michele of Country Vintage

Patricia of The Unfinished Flower

Suzie of Suzie Button Creations

Hello! It's time once again to share my collection and love for all things Barbie. This week I wanted to show you my Fashion Model Collection Barbie's.

In 2000 Mattel came out with the Silkstone Barbie. She is very reminiscent of the vintage Ponytail Barbie. Every year Mattel comes out with a line of Silkstone Barbie's.



This one is called "Highland Fling" Barbie in red plaid lingerie.

Like the original Barbie's the Silkstone's come in the rectangle style boxes.

The makeup is amazing on these Barbie's. I would love to have the entire line of Silkstone's!

This one is called "Suite Retreat". She is ready for a day at the spa!

I think her eye makeup makes her look mad but that's just my opinion!

This one is my favorite! I got her for Christmas last year. She is called "The Waitress".

Her cute pink outfit and turquoise eyeshadow is so lovely! I can picture her in an old 50's diner!

One of my newest finds was this pink thermos. I wish I new what little girl carried this to school!

I also wanted to show you a photo of one of the rarest Barbie dresses. It's hard to take just one dress and declare it the rarest because of there being one of a kind dresses that were rejects and other popular dresses that they tryed making with other fabrics. But generouly when asked what the rarest dress is you will be told "Gala Abend". It sold for over $13,000 dollars in 2003.

Lastly here are a couple more vintage commercials for you to enjoy!

Have a wonderful day, Lindsey

This Saturday morning I tore off my little Mary Engelbreit calendar and saw an illustration that I had not seen before.

I loved it so much and love the sentiment behind it. I do believe that this blogging outlet gives us the opportunity to do just that. We, as women, can share with each other our life experiences and help one another who might be going through similar situations. Even it’s just a crafting tip or helping someone cope with tragedy. What a huge light we can shine on someone else’s life.

I have found friends that I would have never known existed if it had not been for starting our blog. It overwhelms me that other people care about what we are doing and take time out of their busy (I know you are) lives to read what we have to say and to leave a comment. I consider you some of my dearest friends even though we are not near. Our connection is so real.


We received an award last week from Lindsay at The Cross Stitch House. It is for Blog Friends Forever. How could we possibly pick just five? We are very honored to be given this award, but it is too hard to choose amongst our friends.

One of those friends is Kathy of Kat Collects. She is doing a gorgeous give away this week. To look at that beautiful pile of pink makes me weak in the knees! Be sure to go take a look.


As I mentioned a few posts back, I have a huge collection of magazines. It is my belief that whoever dies with the most, wins. Heidi Ann from Gold Country Girls has convinced me that I don’t stand a chance. Anyway, I have a cupboard that was full of magazines.

I didn’t think I would ever show that picture, but this is a before and after. It gets better.


I was running out of room to display all my pretty planters and figurines so one day Lindsey said, ‘Why don’t you take all those magazines out and show off your planters there?’ Wow, I’m glad I have a creative thinker in the family. I have started clearing the shelves, but it is going slowly because I enjoy these magazines and can’t help scanning them as I pack them up (you didn’t think I was getting Rid of them, did you!).

Here are some pictures of a couple of shelves as they are now.


This week I met a wonderful new lady named Stacey. She has a blog called Poofing the Pillows. If you haven’t met Stacey yet, pop on over and introduce yourself. She’s very friendly and you’ll enjoy your visit.

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts,
And we are never the same. –Anonymous

Wishing you much happiness! Twyla