the gift...

Mayday is wonderful,

truly wonderful.

You know why?

It gave me the opportunity to let Max and his buddy Elijah

experience the pure joy of surprising sweet friends.

they were my 'runners',

ringing the doorbells, or knocking on doors

leaving the little pot on a table

or hanging from the doorknob

and then running back to the car

with the biggest smiles ever!

That was really the gift.

They felt so wonderful as they

surprised our friends,

and I felt pure joy from

watching them have fun.

I made the mayday baskets

a little different from the ones that

I showed in the last post.

I had some peat pots,

painted them white and 

I added something special

for each person.

A crepe paper ruffle, a special bird for our bird lover,

an old MSU creamery lid for our MSU fan,

a little color for our colorful friend...

you get the picture,

each  one different,

just like my friends.

I wish I could have made one

for all those special to me.

Do you think you all

could move into the neighborhood

before next May 1?

It was a gift week for me too..

I won Lynn's giveaway and now I have

the sweetest work of art on my dining room mantle!

(it's absolutely perfect, isn't it?)

Thank you Lynn!

Thanks for stopping by!
love, t.xoxoxoxo

Mayday is just around the corner...

We don't have many flowers in the garden yet, truth be told

we have 5 daffodils. 

5.

I am hoping that by next week we have a

few blooming branches to make a few

Mayday bouquets.

(These are from 2010... where does the time go?)

Grab some paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes

from the recycling bin and 

make them all pretty with

spring papers, buttons, a ribbon hanger, some glitter

and well...

PUT A BIRD ON IT

and make yourself and your friends

a little vase to hang on the door!

I put a test tube inside of this one, but

if you don't have a test tube to put the flowers in,

just wrap them in wet paper towel wrapped in aluminum foil.

Nothing will bring a smile to your friends faces

more than finding a little bouquet hanging from the door!

Heck, the smile it will bring to your own face

will make it worth it!

Want another reason to smile?

Lynn from Blue Skies is having a giveaway!

There will be 3 winners ~

I threw my name in the hat, because well,

I love her, her ramblings on her blog, 

her art work is beautiful and I would love to have one for my very own!

Throw your name in the hat before Sunday

 and tell Lynn I said hello!

bring on the smile factor.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

love,

t.xoxoxoox

Happy Earth Day!

To show my love for our little planet, and my love for you,

I am having a special at

The Old White House

I will be tossing in one of our luscious organic lavender dryer sachets

with every purchase of our natural lavender laundry soap!

that's a $7.00 savings for you,

and a great way to fall in love with one of our best selling items!

Reusable for up to 3 months,

made from repurposed cotton fabrics, 

and filled with 3/4 cup of the most heavenly organic lavender buds,

and then for the piece de resistance... a sprinkle of lavender essential oil.

heavenly.

Along with using them to make our laundry smell amazing,

we also tuck them under our pillows,

keep one in the car,

and of course they are wonderful in the linen closet!

By washing your laundry with our

wonderful natural lavender laundry soap,

you are helping to keep our water ways free of 

chemicals, and making your laundry day one that is

a celebration of Earth Day!

(see how I came back around to that) 

good for you, good for this little planet we call home.

So stop on by

The Old White House

and get yourself a free reusable dryer sachet 

with your purchase of laundry soap!

Thanks for stopping by!

love,

t.xoxox

bottled stories...

vintage love...

I spent most of the week on the computer

absorbing all of the info that I could to grow my business,

applying to art shows for this season,

and digging through receipts for our taxes.

(last minute... who me?)

with a scrapbook of vintage photos as my muse,

I sat down this past weekend for some much needed creative time,

and created bottled stories.

vintage photos, beads, buttons, needle and thread and

a few other trinkets, with a chosen word for

each bottle, helps to tell a long forgotten story.

Okay, a story that I envisioned for them,

one that I created by the pose, or the facial expression

in the photo. A chance to share a forgotten photo,

because we all have a story to share.

These photos are from the same scrapbook that

I made this pumpkin with.

All of the photos look to have been taken

by a budding photographer in college.

Some of them are photos of friends from UofM

 and some from MSU,

which at the time was called

Michigan Agricultural College.

Some are from days at the lake with family

and all of them pull at my heart.

I know that I will be making more of these,

as I still have quite a few photos

that have a story to tell.

Although they will be listed as 

pendants with a ball chain for you to wear

around your neck, 

I can also add them to a key fob,

for you to hang from your favorite bag.

If you see one that you would like

before I can get the rest of the pics taken for etsy, 

(not a lot of sun here lately and I need to get individual shots taken)

just send me a msg. 

and I will put up a reserve listing for you :)

$28.00 + 3.00 shipping

GENUINE - sold

IMAGINE - sold

ADVENTURE - sold

Thanks so much everyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Sunday!

love, t.xoxo

p.s. If it's sunshiny where you live,

could you maybe send some our way, we could sure use it!!!