Plaid Stocking with Vintage Linen

My daughter was reading one of  my favorite blogs Confessions of A Plate Addict, and loved this post on making stockings. http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2011/12/tutorial-french-ticking-stocking.html

My daughter's version is:

She used a tablecloth from Home Goods, ($7) and raided my vintage hanky drawer for two monogrammed hankies.

Don't you think they turned out great!   It's not bad for an emergency room doctor who is better at sewing up people.   I did teach her how to cross-stitch in the 3rd grade.  I guess that gave her life skills!

Later in the day, we spotted these at Williams Sonoma

I like the homemade ones better!  Be sure to follow Debbie and her cat at Confessions of  A Plate Addict for more great projects.  Thanks Debbie!

Thanksgiving Table

The table is set.  The silver is polished.  The turkey is in the oven.  Pies are baked.   Guests are coming!!

There are 17 people coming.   We have two tables set.

 I used Spode "Woodland".  Each plate is different.  Grampa gets the turkey, Grandma gets the spotted pony, Erica the newlywed niece gets the cougar, her hubby gets the white horse, Kirsten gets the snowy owl, because it is cute with big eyes, like her.

Off to finish working!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Sit by the Fire on a Black Forest Chair

It's winter in the Northwest.  Stormy weather, winds clocked at 98 MPH, major highways closed, 6  inches of rain in Nehalem.   It's just an ordinary winter storm here.   Gearhart, Warrenton, Astoria, Cannon Beach have 3/4 of the people without power.

In Portland, freeways had with water standing on bridges (how does that happen?).   My umbrella lasted about 2 seconds, and I got drenched in about 20 seconds.   Our local paper doesn't even give the storm a headline.

 So I was happy to get back home, crawl under my wool Pendleton blanket, and sit by the fire.   Oh yea, that was after putting out buckets and plastic waiting for the storm to subside.

http://www.dailyastorian.com/free/firefighters-escape-falling-trees----but-truck-doesn/article_8689f766-32c1-11e2-aa17-001a4bcf887a.html

Thankfully the firefighters jumped out of the truck and survived.

Sitting by the fire, I realized I haven't shared my Black Forest Chair.  It is likely Austrian-Swiss.  

Black Forest Chair with Edelweiss, dogs and deer

The chair back is really fancy, with carved branches, flowers, and then an inlaid scene of a dog.

The chair makes me smile.  The seat is hinged and has storage underneath it.  It's sort of funny, don't you think, a secret place to hide a treasure.

I don't always use chairs for sitting.  They're great places to stack books and magazines.

Tomorrow I head down to California - flying - on the busiest day of the year - to get ready for Thanksgiving there with family.  I can't wait.  I'll have a post on that pretty table I'm planning!

When I get back, it will be Christmas.  I'm ready. 

My little wooden nutcrackers - an $11 estate sale investment look cute on the mantel.  I especially like the wood grain on the large one.  Reminds me of the Williams Sonoma nutcracker from last year

2011 Williams Sonoma Nutcracker

You can still pick them up on Ebay.  I saw one for $189...    I think I like mine better!

Regency Silk Embroidery Pictures

A couple of weeks ago I went to two antique shows, two weekends in a row.   The first one was a junk / antique show mix.   It had enough booths to make for fun hunting.   I found enough things to keep me on a permanent antique "fix".  

The second show had me scrambling.  I had one hour to view the show and make my purchases.  There were many lovely items there (The Hillsborough show in Calif), however only two made it home with me.

Shepherd entertaining his dog and sheep!

Alright, I confess.  Anything with sheep in it has a special appeal.  I don't know why, I just enjoy it!

Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus

Doesn't this one seem perfect heading into Christmas.   I will hang it above my other religious needlework.   Many of the early needlework items had religious subjects, and I'm delighted to have two lovely examples.

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I am getting ready for Thanksgiving.  How about you?  I have been working on my tablescape, can't wait to share it with you next week!