Did You Ever Wonder?

I often wonder about some of the older things I have in my home. Did the woman who had these things have a green kitchen or was she so busy she didn't have time to think about something so trivial as colors?
Did she store coffee in this tin or was coffee so expensive that it was a luxury? Could she get fresh oranges to squeeze that we take for granted in these modern times? What did she use the little strainers for?
Did she peel apples for pies for her family? What did she use this gadget for in the back? If anyone knows what it is drop me a note. Do you wonder about your things?

Christmas Corners

Here are some more of corners of my home with some treasured Christmas decorations.

This is the tea pot, sugar and creamer that matches my Mom's tea cups. My sharp eyed daughter spotted these years ago at a yard sale.
Speaking of daughters, these are my daughter's first pair of ice skates. No double runners for her-she started out on single blade skates when she was about 5 years old. She had a little lawn chair that she would push in front of her for balance but she was quite the skater. My husband built a little rink next to the garage and would go out there and put water on it for nights on end to get enough ice built up. They loved it and I loved not having to drive them to local pond for skating.
These Christmas balls were made by my Mom. She was a sewing teacher and one of the arts she taught was smocking. I have a number of her ornaments on the tree but I like seeing these on the dining table.
This year I put a tree on my kitchen island. I stole the idea from Mary at Little Red House. I tied cookie cutters onto it and draped it with an aluminum garland that was on my tree as a kid. Then plopped it in a crock. I love how it looks in the kitchen.
Now show me some of your Christmas corners.

I'm Seeing Red

I'm seeing red-not because I'm mad at anyone or anything like that! I have been seeing a lot of red leaves appearing all of a sudden as they do in fall in NH. So it was time to change this. Time for a new color theme. I had some of these red kitchen items and I bought some of them when I was in Maine this summer.
The hens came from my Aunt's farm.
And then there's my Fire King collection along with this odd bottle of crushed red pepper flakes.
The red pepper flakes have a story. This bottle came from my Mom's house. I don't know how old they are but if they had a price on them it would probably be $.05. Somehow my sister ended up with them. When she was downsizing and moving this past winter she didn't have the heart to throw them out but didn't want them cluttering up her kitchen anymore so I ended up with them. So here they are as part of the red theme. I think they look kind of cute. Whatever you do, don't put them on any food!

I've Mastered the Camera!

Finally I have mastered the camera! I usually embrace change but when you get comfortable with a piece of technology and then get that piece of technology changed there is definitely a learning curve. But this is what I asked Santa to bring so I have myself to blame.

It has been a restful time away from work so I have been getting caught up on some of my sewing projects and one of the ones I did was to use more of the Apron Fabric I bought to make this table runner which I have on my kitchen island now. I just love this runner and had fun making it. The red floral fabric is gone but I have more of the red check so that will probably show up in something else along the way. The green fabric is the exact color of the paint in my kitchen and living room and one of my favorites-Ralph Lauren Pueblo. Something new to start the new year with.

Update-I have heard from enough people about a pattern for the table runner so I am posting the link here. It is a free pattern that I got online from Quilt Bus. Enjoy!!

Fabric Find!

I was at JoAnn Fabric recently and came across this fabric which I love. It's got that cottage look that I like and it's red which I love. I had a coupon with me to use and because the flowered fabric was the end of the bolt they gave it to me for 75% off!

So I turned it into an apron and I love it. If you live near a JoAnn's be sure to sign up for their flyers for the 40% off coupons that come in the mail every couple of weeks. And even better-sign up for e-mail updates and they will send you 50% off coupons regularly. I never pay full price for anything there. Can you tell from this picture I love red? Those are my Ransburg kitchen canisters that my sister gave me and the polka dot bowls (there are 4 of them) are Fire King.