Army Party

I AM BACK!  I have a lot to share, but I am going to take it slow and steady.  First a few updates.  I am still located at the Stillwater Antique Center in Greenville, RI.  I will be switching booths from 107 in the front to the furthest aisle, corner booth in the back left corner.  I did not need as much space and really couldn't keep up with it.  I am going to try to step back a little and refocus.  I hope to make a lot of changes and get more organized over the next 6 months.  I have been dwelling on the idea that I feel stuck between who I am and who I want to be.  I have a goal to combine these two realities and become a whole person!  Is it possible?  We shall see.  I can be so organized in some areas and so scattered in others.  I go 100 miles an hour every day and I have had enough and so has my family.  So I have put on the brakes.  I am getting my priorities in line and I will see where it leads me.

 I do have a Farmer's Day planned for this Sat 10-4 at Primrose Valley Gardens.  I would love to see some of you there.  I will be giving 20% off your entire purchase including custom orders if you mention that you read it here. This is the link to Primrose Valley Gardens facebook page to give you more info. https://www.facebook.com/events/105353619620150/

Ok, moving on, so as far as where I have been and what I have been doing, well that will take a while.  We had a very busy summer and fall.  Over the next month or so I hope to update you on all the trips, parties, and projects that have been happening around here. I am really excited to share some of the projects because they are ones that have been on my "to do" list for a long time.  It feels so good to get them done.  And I love how they came out.  YAY!

For now I would like to share the pictures from Joey's army party.  This was from last January and I never got around to posting them.  Joey turned 6 and  was really getting into army stuff.  He decided he would like an army party.  So I went to work researching ideas for a party and this is what we came up with.  We rented the hall at our church.

 So when the troops first arrived they had to be "processed".  This is where they received their flag sticker, dog tags with their name on it, face painting, and picture.  I printed the flag out onto large mailing labels and cut them into individual stickers.  We placed them on their arm sleeve. 

 They then found which "squad" they were in.  The troops were broken into two squads for the games to come.  They sat and colored pictures of tanks and fighter jets while they waited for all the troops to be processed. 

 Emma was a great soldier!  She held down the fort!

 I am very upset that I did not get pictures of the MRE that I made.  You can see the labels that I made.  I printed them on to mailing labels and then cut them out.  I put the food listed on the label in brown paper bags, folded them over and attached the label.  They were the cutest little brown packages!

 Boot camp was fun.  Sgt. Bobby had the troops solute and did role call where each soldier had to answer "SIR, YES SIR". 

 Next was the games.  They did a relay race and obstacle course.  They also had stand on a chair and drop a paratrooper and see who got the closes to the landing spot.  There were prizes for the winners.

 The final activity was a rescue mission in which each child had to go with bandages (toliet paper) on to the battle field and collect wounded soliders.  NO MAN LEFT BEHIND.  They each had 8 little soldiers to wrap and bring back to camp.  They each were given a purple heart sticker and and certificate.  Again I just printed and cut the sticker.  The certificate I made my own and printed it on camo paper.  I have attached a picture of one similar below.  I can not find the one I made.

 

 I had planned to make my own cake but did not end up with enough time.  SHOCKER!  I called the local grocery store and begged to get an army cake fast.  They did not make an army cake....hmmm...ok, can you make dirt??  Yes, GREAT!  I just added a toy tank, perfect!

 

Upon completing their mission they received their own box army play box.  I got containers from the dollar store, made a mission complete sticker and stuck it on top.  We have many little rocks in our yard so I filled the boxes up and put in army men, tanks, and jets.  They all had a great time!

And The Winner's Are.....

Thank you everyone that came to my booth opening weekend.  It was so encouraging to me to hear your feedback and see your messages in my book.  It truly means a lot to me.  The Stillwater Antique Center is opened daily 10-5 so if you did not have a chance this past weekend come and visit anytime.  I am located in the first row on the right in booth 107.  I would love to hear from you so if you go be sure to sign my guest book. 

I have another busy week, but I think things will slowly get back to normal for me by next week.  We have made HUGE progress in the playroom and I am almost ready to share some pictures, maybe tomorrow!  I have finished a few projects and I am still working on a couple more.  I love the way it is all coming together.   

This week is the last week of school for my kids and then the summer begins, YAY!  I am helping to plan a huge field day for them on Friday.  It will be filled with crafts, games, food, and gifts.  When I have a little more time to write and post pictures I will share it all with you. 

Now for the moment you have been waiting for........

Chosen randomly by random.org are the winners!

The winner of the first giveaway for 2 french lavender sachets goes to Emily L.  Congratulations!!! 

The winner of the second giveaway for the 10 X 13 burlap print is Roubina Congratulations!!!

I have to say I was very surprised at the results because both winners REALLY wanted to win the giveaway that they won.   That never happens for me!   You each were entered 3 times for the second drawing and I really appreciate your efforts.  Again a big thanks to all of you that stopped by and I hope you come again!

It's Official!!!

You may remember a couple weeks ago I had mentioned that I had exciting news that I could not share yet.  I was not able to share because I was not sure if it was going to work out.  As you know I have a shop on Etsy and love to create and decorate.  It has been suggested to me by a few people that I bring my stuff to a shop to sell.  That idea never seemed to work out for many different reasons.  I needed something that would allow me to sell my own things first hand, but without having my own store.  Impossible right?  Well a few weeks backs it came to me that I should check out some of the local anique/vintage shops to see if any of them could be a place for me.  After talking to my brother I felt drawn to the Stillwater Antique Mall in Greenville.   I pass by it every day taking the boys to school so it would be easy for me to stop in and add items or straighten up a bit.  I also liked that I pay rent and can price my items myself.  It seemed to be a perfect fit.  I stopped in early last week to inquire and it was exactly what I was hoping for. It fit everything I was looking for and they had a great booth available.  I was too excited for words, but the biggest stumbling block was yet to come.  I had to talk to Bobby and get his take on it.  Really, I needed to know if I could do it.  I am very logical in my thinking and do very well in all my classes, yet my emotions and ideas can take over and my logic can go out the window.  I am a dreamer.  Bobby is my constant sounding board. He grounds me.  I thought for sure he would say I was crazy.  That is was a pipe dream and to not even give it a second thought.  To my surprise he said to go for it.   Everything was working out.   I still had to go back to the shop and clerify a few things with the owner.  I explained that I would not only be selling antiques or vintage items, but hand made new items as well.  Also, the vintage and/or antiques that I would be selling, for the most part, will be re purposed or refinished in a shabby chic, rustic, or Parisian style.  I was very honest that my booth would not be what is typical at an antique mall, however, because it fits the feel, we both agreed it was worth a try.  I signed the paper work!  It is official as of June 1, 2012 Burlap and Pearls will have a retail booth open to the public at the Stillwater Antique Mall in Greenville.   Stay tuned for my information, some sneak peeks, and a give away!