Dime Store Chic

The Talent of Teena Flanner

I have collected an intimate assortment of Teena Flanner ornaments and whimsies over the years. I adore Teena's wonderful, glittery, subtley painted, sweetly shy, vintage-inspired creations!

All of the pieces in my first collection, with the exception of one, are Christmas-themed. My beloved Chritsmas "Teenas" come out of their tissue paper cuccoons after Thanksgiving and find an exclusive spot on our tree. They are now tucked away to sleep for another three seasons until I take them out again.

Well, I decided, after getting one very wonderful book recently, that I needed more Teena for other occassions. The only year round Teena I have is this one lovely Scotty dog.

My BFF Suzy, told me that Teena had published a how-to book! I couldn't resist!

Teena shares her inspiration and techniques on creating your own special Teena-inspired artwork! One day I hope to make my own "Teena." I took the first step by purchasing a mold.

This jaunty rooster pulling an egg cart with a puffy chick riding along was the perfect mold for me to make my "Teena!" I found this mold, and you can too, at my favorite on-line store: Bayberry Cove. Debbie, at Bayberry Cove, is stocked to the rafters with more fun mold designs and more Teena!

I look forward to using my mold and making this cute Easter/Springtime creation which you can see is similar in style to Teena's lovely piece. I'll let you know how it goes. Teena gives excellent step-by-step instructions in her book! But until then I would like to offer you a tour of my latest Teena acquisitions. I got these from, you guessed it, Bayberry Cove. Debbie Buchanan, the oh-so-helpful and delightful proprieter, told me that she had two types of Teena. "Two types of Teena?" I asked. Debbie offered an explanation: Teena Flanner used to have her designs licensed through Midwest Imports of Canon Falls. But now she is licensed through Bethany Lowe. Bayberry Cove still has a nice, but limited supply, of old Teena designs in stock. And they have the complete collection of the NEW Teena designs too!

I got about one of each of the old Teena designs while I still can. Here is what I have:

These chicks come in a delightful pair!

The bunny pulling the egg cart is an older design, and the lovely pink sheep is a new design! I have to have both! Debbie knows I can't resist!

Now, this is an odd site in February, isn't it? But I just had to show off my Christmas Teena's from Midwest Imports and are in limited supply.  I made the feather tree years ago from a kit. It took me forever to make it! But I think these ornaments look right at home here.

I hope you enjoyed my collection. There is something so sweet and wonderful about these creations that just call to my heart. If you would like some too, please take a visit to Bayberry Cove. And please visit Teena's weblog to see her very latest creations and inspirations!~~~XXOO, Beth

Mall Madness and One More Thing

We must be insane to go to one of the biggest malls on the east coast on a saturday, but there you have it. I am not really a "mall" person by nature. Like many of you, I'm a flea market type gal. But sometimes you just have to go out and get your "mall on." We went to the movies and saw "Juno" which was fabulous! Then afterwards we went for lunch at a tucked away wonderful Italian restaurant in the mall. We took home leftover pizza and salad and that means no cooking tonight!

We walked around a bit, and I wanted to go to my favorite bead store:

Afterwards our son dragged us into his favorite store which sells only one type of toy. Can you guess what it is?

We walked back through the massive mall, zigzagging through the crowds. Then son saw a game store and went in. I decided to spend my time taking pictures of colors. It's nearly spring and the mall is bursting with color in every corner:

Orange, pink, and yellow! Love this combination!

Cool colors of green, blue, and violet--my favorites!

We wandered on toward the exit with a few detours and nothing of any consequence to buy. Believe it or not, it was relaxing. This store will open soon, and I think I'll stop by when it does!

These trees are fake. I wonder why they are in the mall since palms don't grow in the area. Maybe we're supposed to feel like we're in someplace exotic. Who knows?

One of the stores, a high-end furniture store, had these pigs. I like them from this angle best:

And here is more of that wonderful combination of orange, yellow, and pink!

I think this sign sums up my feelings about these wonderful colors found in the crwded mall:

In case you are curious, I did buy a few cool new things that were on SALE: two lush beaded necklaces and a wonderful deer print on canvas.

Thanks for taking a little time in the mall. In case you were wondering what mall it is, it's Tyson's Coner Center. You'll need good walking shoes. It's HUGE!

I wanted to show you one more thing. On wednesday we had a total lunar eclipse. Maybe you did too in your neck of the woods. Hubby took a composite photograph and thought you all might like to see it.

Take care, and have a wonderful rest of your weekend!~~~XXOO, Beth

Being A Tourist At Home

Yesterday, President's Day, was a rare beautiful balmy February day. Hubby and son were off from work and school and we just couldn't stay in the house on such a pretty day! We got in the car and took off down the road (about 20 minutes) into Washington, DC. It was FUN to be tourists in our "neighborhood." Here are some pictures of the very touristy things we did.

It is rare that you get The Lincoln Memorial to yourself, but for a few minutes we were the only ones there at 8:30 in the morning.

This is carved at the top of the steps. The most famous speech ever made here and at this spot too.

The view from the top of the steps.

Near the Lincoln Memorial is this starkly beautiful and unusual memorial to those who fought in the Korean War. My uncle is a veteran of this war.

At the opposite end of the Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial, is the relatively new World War II Memorial. Here are a few close ups of this beautiful and moving memorial.

 

The walk around the Reflecting Pool is a long one, and you can also see the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial too.

We got back in the car and headed about a mile to the Mall where the museums of The Smithsonian are clustered. We got a parking space on the street which is only possible if you show up about a half-hour before everything opens.

The Capitol Building is very popular with tourists, especially large hoardes of school groups. We opted not to go in, having done it before back in the day when you could just walk on in before security was a huge issue. Instead we went to a not as popular attraction just to the right of the Capitol: The National Botanical Garden.

And we were SO lucky because they were hosting an orchid show! Have a look at several of the over 100 orchids we saw!...

In a small side room near the front of the botanical garden was a quilt show. I couldn't get over the details used in these quilts! Here are a few that I want to share with you...

We headed out on over to the National Gallery of Art. On the way we passed the newest museum on the Mall: The Museum of The American Indian. We've been in here a couple of times and it is as pretty inside as it is on the outside. The gift shop sells wonderful Native American crafts too!

We decided to visit just the East Wing of the National Gallery today. The East Wing, designed by I.M. Pei, houses the modern art. As you can see, hubby and son are captivated by one particular piece:

And son had a brief Warhol moment...

Hubby commented that he saw a can of Campbell's Bean with Bacon soup on the painting. Campbell's doesn't make it any more which makes him sad as it was his favorite. Isn't it amazing the emotions art can evoke in some people? Well, after that we decided to have a little lunch at the  museum before heading home.

If you come for a visit remember that most attractions are FREE! Always a good thing... Take care and happy monday!~~~XXOO, Beth

A Few Disparate Diversions For A Relaxing Friday

I thought I'd share a few completely different diversions with you on this slightly balmy friday (gasp! was that a breath of spring slipping gently across my face when I fetched the mail?).

Yesterday, I brought a yummy and very pretty cake into the house. We have a fabulous Korean bakery near by. They are the nicest people and will bend over backwards to give you the freshest and most eye-candy of cakes. I selected this one:

What could be in the box?

Hello, gorgeous!

OH MY! It is actually a little cake and should be eaten in very small amounts. The icing is buttery smooth. I've never tasted any icing that was as smooth as this one. It's not overly sweet. The cake is actually where the sweetness lies...

Well, after a slice of that delight, you just need to work it off. Why not doing by crafting?! And this book fits the bill~~~~

"The Big-Ass Book of Crafts" is  by Mark Montano who is one of the delightful designers from the TLC show "While You Were Out." This book came out this month and it is loaded with great ideas! The layout is eye candy enough. I think it'll get my 13-year old son to sit down and craft something too--a girl can dream, can't she? Take a look at this book HERE. Or you can visit Mark's website HERE and see all of the other great how-to and craft books he's written--a particular favorite of mine is "Dollar Store Decor."

Now, one of my favorite diversions is checking out all of you in blogland--meaning that I love to blog-surf and to etsy-surf. Such inspiration and fun abounds! My favorite aspect is the wonderful friends I've made! One of them is JENNY! Sweet Jenny from Seattle decided out of the goodness of her huge heart to send a box over 3000 miles to my doorstep. It was chock full of plastic foliage and flowers, tablecloths, tinsel, and these FAB figurines!~~~~

I do have a small delimma in that I can't find Jenny's e-mail addy to THANK her! So, I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that Miss Jenny will see this blog and know how very appreciative I am for her kindness. I'll pay it forward very soon and have a fabulous one year anniversary give-away for you all. Stay tuned...and Jenny, write me!~~~~XXOO, Beth PS: Jenny found me! Yay! Please take a peek at her fab blog, Ladybug Circus! Isn't blogland fabulous?

Hello, Sugar!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!~~~~~XXOO, Beth

Ice, Ice, Baby

Two days ago I compared the temperature here to a famous winter scene in Dr. Zhivago. Well, this morning the temps were near 32 degrees, and ice was everywhere! Once again, a Dr. Zhivago moment. I couldn't resist taking a few steps outside and capturing the chilly beauty of early morning on February 13th. Here are some scenes from my deck and backyard.

I would advise viewing them with a cup of hot chocolate...

OK,enough of this cold beauty. Where the heck is SPRING????????~~~~~XXOO, Beth

I Know How Dr. Zhivago Feels...

One of the most memorable movie scenes is where Dr. Zhivago and Laura take a winter sleigh ride to their special  home on the Russian Steppes. Every time the temps dip well below freezing, I think of that scene.

OK, at least it's sunny in this scene. It's sunny here in the Washington, DC area too, but it's still cold! When we lived in Minnesota for two years, I thought I would never thaw out! Every day when I would wake up and see that thermometer outside wasn't above zero, I would want to crawl back into bed until spring. My house felt like this inside...

So, I really shouldn't complain at waking up to 17 degrees this morning. Even so, I am not going anywhere today! I work at home, and the postman comes to my door, so packages that will go out will be waiting for him. In the meantime, I'll sew more pin cushions, and make more spring wreaths...

And I'll glance at the bright colors all around my studio...

I'll think of summer...

With spring and summer comes flea markets where I can add to my collections like this one...

And in summer I'll complain about the bugs, the oppressive humidity, and dream of winter...

Will I EVER be content? Someday, somewhere...my love ;)~~~~XXOO, Beth

A Fun Afternoon...

We have wonderful neighbors. They are so wonderful that they invite me, hubby, and our 13-year-old son to their son's 3rd birthday party. It is a fun, sugar-fueled time with a living room packed wall-to-wall with pre-schoolers. Hubby and me sit in blissful contentment that we are no longer embroiled in diapers, car seats, or food crushed into the carpet. Our 13 year-old likes being the tallest tree in the forest for a few hours. It is very good times.

The theme was Bob The Builder because the birthday boy is into trucks, trucks, and, yes, more trucks!

The birthday boy's clever daddy even filled a toy dump truck with ice cream!

Juice boxes, soda, and adult beverages on ice...

Delicious pizza and salad with fresh mozzerella!...

The birthday boy's mom had their living room full of fun construction toys! It was a simple and PERFECT way to entertain all of these pre-schoolers...

Everyone got a bright sunny yellow construction helmet! Even my hubby, who at some point looked like a weird uncle who crashed the party ;)...

The birthday boy was showered with lots of cars, trucks, games, and puzzles. Of course the children were perfectly "sedate" when it came to helping the birthday boy play with his new toys...

The cat was unimpressed...

A victim of sugar mania...

And the cake was enjoyed by everyone!...

May all of your parties be as fun as this one! May we all feel the same wonder as a three year-old!~~~~XXOO, Beth

Recycled Shutters Fireplace Screen Project

Way back in April 2007 I posted a picture of these:

I rescued these four shutters from my neighbor's trash. I don't know where she got them because none of the homes in our neighborhood have shutters like these. But I knew I could do something (with hubby's help) with them. Then I came up with the idea of a fireplace screen/cover. The one we inherited with the house is brass, still functional, but UGLY. Hubby wanted to keep it but I wanted to disguise it. That's where these shutters come into play.

On Sunday, hubby pulled them out from against the shed and got to work shortening three of them.

The weather was very nice, unusually warm for February. Hubby cut off the bottoms of the shutters. He had to chisel away some layers of wood to re-fit the bottom pieces of wood back on the shutter.

As you can see these shutters were pretty dirty. And they were covered with lead paint, no doubt!

After a lot of finessing, hubby cut the shutters down to size, removed the ancient rusted hinges, fitted new hinges, and little by little the fireplace screen was taking shape! But I had to scrape and clean it. I wore a mask, used a wire brush, then bleach water and a Brillo pad. The paint was still pretty chippy, but I didn't want it too clean (and I wanted to finish the project in this century!).

We hauled the screen upstairs and put it on a table so I could paint it. The screen is very heavy! I found a one dollar quart of "oops" paint at the Home Depot. It was basically white with a very, very slight tinge of violet. After I put it on the shutters, it looked white.

Here's the finshed product! The yellow is a close match to the color on our living room walls. I used Delta Ceramcoat Pale Yellow. Then I decided to do a little decorative painting as an accent:

I used Apple Barrel paints in shades of Meadow Green and Light Pink to create leaves and berries.

And here's the full effect:

I think the fireplace screen is a nice fit to our Flea Market Chic decor. It cost us a total of $15.40 to make!~~~Here's hoping you find some good "trash" to turn in a favorite "treasure"!~~~~XXOO, Beth

A Little Different

Sometimes I want to rock the boat just a little. I have made countless pin cushions from several different patterns. I took two pin cushion patterns, the ones I call "small" and "teeny", and I stacked them on top of each other. They are bound together with the pearlized cotton that I used to tuft them. Creating such little pin cushions, and stacking them, is a good way to use the cute little figurines I have. Otherwise they would get lost on a bigger pin cushion.

It's fun to change things up a bit!~~~XXOO, Beth