This is Barbie's Mountain Ski Cabin that came out in 1972. It was a Sears Exclusive.

While Skipper enjoyed playing out in the pink colored snow and Glittery trees, Barbie enjoyed spending some alone time with Ken in the cabin!

I found some interesting Barbie facts to share.

The Ken doll could not be sold in India due to the tradition of arranged marriages.

An interesting announcement I found today:
On Feb. 12, 2004, Mattel announced Barbie and Ken, after 43 years of dating, “have decided to spend some time apart.”

Canadian girls own an average of seven Barbie® dolls! That compares to eight in the US, seven in Italy and five in Germany and France.

If Barbie was human sized, she would stand 5 foot 6 inches tall, weigh 110 pounds, and have a 39 inch bust, 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips.

Have a lovely Wednesday,

I have some cleaning to do.
1. Turn keyboard over and shake out the crumbs.
2. Wipe monitor of all smudges.
3. Do disc cleanup and delete cookies.
4. Dust off printer and refill with paper.

I am trying not to accidentally click on anything lest I get absorbed in a blog and not be able to tear myself away. The rest of my house is suffering from inattention, but I am trying. It’s just so hard when there are so many interesting and inspiring blogs out there.

I know I should be vacuuming and making beds, but that is so far away from the computer.

I love my computer because that’s where my friends are.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but not the Christmas that we are used to.

We are not putting up the big tree this year. This is what it usually looks like.

This is why we aren’t putting that tree up.

I have some special Hallmark ornaments that I don’t want to be chew toys.

This is our tree this year.

I am most grateful for the friends I have made through blogging. You all are wonderful! Yes, you know who you are! There is a long list of wonderful lovelies on our side bar. The inspiration flows so sweetly.

After my post on my mushroom collection, Diane Knott sent me a beautiful print that she had painted with mushrooms on it. What thoughtful kindness.

Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. – Scott Adams

Wishing you all much happiness!

One of the nicest things about blogging is meeting the sweet people that make the world such a nice place to live. One of those people is Jill of Bittersweet and the Little Soap Company. She is one of those inspiring women that give so unselfishly of herself and her craft. I start most every morning with Jill as she blogs almost daily and she always leaves me with sweet inspiration to carry through the day.

Lindsey and I were the lucky recipients of a Christmas package from Jill. I never opened a package before that smelled so good! The soaps smell unbelievably good. Tucked inside sweet little bags were her lip balm that, honestly, is the Best I have ever tried!

I immediately had to try out the soap, the fragrance lingered throughout the evening and my skin felt so soft. I am hooked. I don’t ever want to use any other soap again.


She sent Lavender Liniment with eucalyptus. I have allergies that generally keep me stuffed up in the winter. I have been spreading this on my chest at night and it is so soothing and comforting.

She even included some sweet images for us to play with. I can’t thank Jill enough for delighting us in such a luxurious way.


If you are stumped for presents for anyone on your gift list, I’d recommend you stop by Jill’s Bittersweet and the Little Soap Company to pick up some very affordable luxuries that will surely be appreciated.

Thank you, Jill.
Enjoy caring and sharing the holidays.

Happily, Twyla 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

Scrappy Jessi's Cookie Swap

This is our contribution to Scrappy Jessi's Cookie Swap!
This recipe is from an old Martha Stewart magazine. We tried it and loved it so much we thought you would too!



Brownie Cookies

2 cups & 2 TBSP flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 tsp. vanilla


Sift together flour,cocoa,baking soda, and salt. Set aside with mixer, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, combine. Gradually add flour mixture at low speed. Chill till firm, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using cookie scoop, roll into balls and dip tops in sugar.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Note: Any slight changes can dramatically change the texture of the cookies, such as when I forgot to sift the dry ingredients and just stirred them. It didn't taste right.

We love to bake cookies! I (Lindsey) started baking cookies when I was about 10 and enjoy baking them every winter.

We plan to share more of our favorite cookie recipes now until Christmas.

Head on over to Scrappy Jessi's blog to check out the other cookie participant's.

This is a special Barbie Wednesday. I received a gift from one of my favorite bloggers, Barbara of Ooodles and oodles. I don't quite know what I did to deserve such a wonderful gift but I will treasure it always. I discovered her blog this Spring and really enjoyed her sense of humour and style. I enjoy reading her blog and although I don't comment as much as I should I enjoy every post.
Okay now I know you are burning with desire to see what she gave me. Right?

She gave me two gorgeous pieces of vintage Barbie fabric! I have never seen or heard of it before. I tried to find any information on the web but with no luck. I've emailed Mattel from the Barbie collector site but we'll see if they ever get back to me.

Barbara told me that her Mother had purchased this fabric and made dresses for her Barbie and Skipper dolls. I still can not believe that she would share something so precious with me.
I think somewhere I have seen a photo of a little girl wearing a dress in this signature print. It didn't occur to me that it had been made with fabric.

Next to the fabric is my vintage Fashion Queen Barbie wearing the signature print.

I found this shirt at Target a couple years back. They only had one left and it was x-small (which is why it was the only one left) but I bought it anyway.

I truly can't even begin to express how lucky I am to have friends like Barbara that both I and my Mom have discovered in this wonderful world of blogs. I would like to say thank you to all of our friends. You guys don't know how much you have enriched our lives!

Speaking of blog friends I've been tagged by Marian of Princess of Pink (My current swap partner) to list 6 things about myself and tag six others.

1. I may be young, twenty, but I don't have near as much in common with other girls my age. While they like to go the mall, I like to go to flea markets. While they go get there nails done, I'm washing dried glue and glitter from my hands. I could go on and on but I think you get my point.

2. I love, love, love to read. I admit I am a big fan of the Harry Potter series. They're the books that got me into reading. Recently I have been very obsessed with the Twilight series.

3. I have seen the new Twilight movie 3 times and still can't wait to see it again.

4. I have a huge fear of needles! I lied and got out of my tetanus shot. A small, very small part feels slightly guilty but not having to hyperventilate and faint in the doctor's office seems to make it more justifiable.

5. Although I would like to say I have a glamorous job I must admit I am a (cringe) fast food worker. I work at Hardee's. I'm a cook. I could never deal with the many cranky customers that come through our door, so I assemble burgers. I have worked there for 4 years now. In this line of work I am considered one of the senior employees. The one thing I think people should know is be careful what you say when you order thru the drive thru. There are speaker's in the ceiling above the kitchen so that everyone in the back can hear what you are saying. Needless to say I have heard some strange conversations, cell phone conversations, and odd music.

6. I am one of the most shy people. If I were to meet any one of you in person I probably would say about two words and that's it. Not that I wouldn't enjoy your company but I am not a girl of many words. Which I think comes out a lot in my posts.

Now to tag 6 people

Barbara of Oodles and oodles

Stacey of Flotsam and Jetsam

Shanda of Front Porches - Sweet Tea and Old Aprons

Holly of Girls at Heart

Kathy of Kat Collects

Julie of Pieceful bits

Thank you for visiting us today,

I like mushrooms. Cute little red capped mushrooms, mostly. I started collecting them, as if I needed something else to collect.

We were at Macy’s looking at Martha’s beautiful line of Christmas ornaments when I spotted these adorable mushroom ornaments. They were 50% off so that made it okay, right?

Lindsey and I always stop in Hobby Lobby on Saturday mornings. This week I discovered a magical little display of the cutest mushrooms in three sizes. The best part, they were 50% off too! I had to have one in each size.

A few weeks ago, we were in a flea market when this little mushroom and squirrel bank decided to come home with me.

Also in the same booth, this beautiful handpainted mushroom.

Lindsey found this beautiful embroidered mushroom tablecloth on etsy and ordered it for me. I wonder what other lady loved mushrooms, too.

This was the picture on my Mary Engelbreit calendar today. It’s what got me to thinking about my mushrooms today.

Nature alone is antique and the oldest art is a mushroom. –Thomas Carlyle

Lollishops opened this week. You can click on our link in our side bar and it will take you right to our shop, Fancy That. Thanks to Kathy, I have had my first sale! She bought one of my scarves. Thank you so much Kathy. If you haven’t visited Kathy of Kat Collects you need to stop by her blog and give her some encouragement. She had surgery on her foot and can’t be as mobile as she’d like which is hard this time of year. Kathy was one of my past swap partners and we have remained friends.

This is such an awesome time of year to have the opportunity to be kind to someone else. Remember, through all the stressful rushing around to be patient with one another.

Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever. – Margaret Cho

Wishing you much happiness!