P is for Pocket Letters

Have you heard of pocket letters?

I have been seeing a few posts about them and was curious.  

So I googled it and wow! 

Jeanette Lane is a blogger and she created pocket letters as a way to send fun mail to a pen pal.

You take a 9 pocket trading card protector and fill each pocket and send the whole thing to your pen pal.  So much fun!

Of course then I went to Pinterest and oh my! 

A few minutes hours later I had a board filled with great ideas from so many talented ladies out there!

My friend Deb who blogs at Garage Sale Gal hosted a Fall themed pocket letter swap.  I signed up and was partnered with Stephanie of The Enchanting Rose.  We exchanged some information and got to work.  Stephanie and I both decided to use the softer shades of Fall.

It was the first pocket letter for both of us so it took the pressure off to be perfect!  I must say I had so much fun!

My page came wrapped in this fabric so I KNEW I was going to love it and I do!!

Stephanie got me on the first try!  

She said after reading my blog she knew I would love a Paris/Fall theme!

 Each pocket was filled with goodies!

Things to craft with, tags and

a wonderful sachet made out of the Paris fabric

I love the colors and the beautiful things she made

She used all these gorgeous papers on the back side.  

I love everything about it,

but the best thing was making a new blogging friend! 

Stephanie will blog about my pocket letter soon but I will share a couple of photos of what I made her here.

As you can see we went with the same colors

I filled the center pocket with a little rose handkerchief since she told me Roses were her favorite flower.  I must say I had so much fun!

I also included lots of crafting goodies, stickers and a tea bag.  I was so happy with my first attempt at a pocket letter that I have already agreed to a couple of more swaps!!  I have one ready to mail to my Canada friend Jill at A Little Bit of Everything.

I can't share it with you yet since I want it to be a surprise for Jill.

If any of you would like to exchange a pocket letter, let me know!  It's fun! 

Joining 

Alphabe-Thur 

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

O is for OKRA

Okra

Love it or Hate it?

This is the gorgeous flower that blooms before the okra pod grows.

These are growing at my daughter's house

See the little pods above the flower?

Some people harvest the little one's to boil and eat...

ewwwwww slimy! 

Source

Or a little larger to slice for Gumbo or frying!

Source

I love this little garden space in front of their house!  

So do you Okra or not?

Joining Jenny at 

Alphabe-Thur

Linda

Thrifty Finds

I have continued to downsize but of course I also continue to shop for thrifty finds! 

Here are some of my recent purchases!

Who doesn't love a small picnic basket and especially one made my Longaberger dated 2001 and only $8

I found four of these fabulous large dinner plates by Villeroy and Boch.  I think they will make great chargers for a fun tropical table setting!  $1/ea

This tea canister was $1 and is perfect in my kitchen for the variety of tea bags I keep handy.

I found this small cabbage bowl with lid for $1.49 and had to have it! (it has strange markings and not sure it is bordallo pinheiro)

This plate is Bordallo Pinherio and is a Lemon Leaf plate.  I think it's gorgeous and when the gal said $1 I couldn't buy it fast enough!
I think it might be hung on a wall it is so pretty!

I really wanted the lid off this Tervis Tumbler to use with some of my Flamingo tumblers previously thrifted.  $2 is less then a new top would cost.  I also picked up these 6 napkins and some butter knives for under $1 total!  

I also found a few vintage items

This mixing bowl in blue and white made by Federal glass was $3 and just made me so happy I had to add it to my bowl collection.  The blue glass jar was .25 and I added it to my collection.  Now the cow creamer I had to get for $1, not vintage but it makes me think of my friend Shelia at Note Songs who loves her cow creamers!

Books are always a great find and my thrift was having a sale and every book was .10
The jello mold and star molds were a great find and will be used in Christmas crafting.

These two items for 10 cents each and the little glass is so cute it makes me smile!

This sweet girl is keeping her Grandma busy each day but I am loving every moment of it! 

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

N is for New!

Last week I shared with you my McCoy pottery collection and 'hinted' at another purchase!

I won an Ebay bid on two lots of McCoy pottery getting a super bargain! A total of 7 pieces and the cost was less then $9 each including shipping! 

SCORE!

Here are some of my NEW (to me) McCoy

These two vases are in average shape but the pink piece is a gorgeous Art Deco style and is so pretty!

These four are my favorites in the lot!

This turquoise planter has such a pretty glaze on it.  The tulip pot I have wanted for ages and they are usually $20-$30 on Ebay plus shipping!  

I love this yellow ivy hanging planter (originally they had chains they hung from) and I'm going to plant something in this! (average price for this piece was about $25 on Etsy)

This bulb bowl might be my favorite piece...maybe

anyway, it's gorgeous color and design just make me so happy

Wait, didn't I say SEVEN pieces...oh yes well sadly one arrived like this...

I am so sad as this was one of the pieces I was so looking forward to having.  The handles are amazing.  Since it wasn't wrapped correctly, the seller gave me a refund.

I am going to try to glue it back together to at least display it.  Hey we all have some chips and cracks on us but we still have value! 

So that's my New to me McCoy and I'm tickled to add these pieces to my collection.  I think I'm done looking on Ebay/Etsy for awhile but this was a great score for sure! 

Joining 

Vintage Inspiration Party

and 

Alphabe-Thur

Wishing you JOY,

Linda

This and That!

Update on the babysitting, it's going well!

The three days with both kids was hard but last week with just Rosemary went much smoother.

This week I'll have her 5 days and I'm ready!

She is 4 months old today! 

I've also been the lucky lady to receive some sweet gifts in the mail, some late birthday gifts and I'm finally getting time to take photos and share!

My wonderfully talented friend Vicky who blogs at Life On Willie Mae Lane made this adorable banner and cute little hoop with fabric and I love it.  I hung it on my bedroom mirror.

The sweetest fabrics ever!  Thank you Vicky!

A surprise package came in the mail from 

Judy @ 20 North Ora

A box full of Paris! 

Judy is so sweet and knows how much I love all things Parisian!

This vintage print of the Eiffel Tower will be joining some others I'm collecting to make a gallery wall!  Truly a special gift!

This plate will hang on another wall and note cards are always welcome!

Love this banner and will be hanging it in my bedroom...Pink, Paris and the Eiffel Tower!

Unfortunately this cute mug came broken, but I'm going to try to glue it together to display it at least!

Thank you Judy for thinking of me!

This next little package came from Canada and made me so happy!

This adorable egg cup for my collection came from my sweet friend Valerie @ Vonlipi's Favorites

In her note she said this cutie needed a new home and she knew it would find one here in my cubbies and it has!  Thanks so much Valerie!

It's really such a loving and generous community that we bloggers belong too! 

Wishing you JOY,

Linda