Giving Thanks~Tweaking~A New Project

Hello blogging friends! Thanksgiving is just two days away so I thought I'd share some little tidbits of things that I'm so thankful for as well as a cute Thanksgiving banner I made up to brighten up our big red stepback cupboard.



Of course, I'm most thankful for having God and my family in my life. My sweetie, whom I love so very much and my two little blessings (which aren't so little anymore). They are what my days and nights revolve around. I'm so thankful for our health and the abundance of blessings from The Lord.



I'm thankful for both my parents and Daryl's mother and all of our siblings and their families, that most of them live so close by.
We enjoy family gatherings during the holidays, birthdays, and many other non-occasion gatherings. We just enjoy being together.


Especially our newest addition to the family, little Javan Michael. I can't wait to meet him for the first time this Christmas. My neice and her hubby are coming up from Texas to be with the family. I'm counting the days already! I can't wait to hold him and kiss those chubby little cheeks of his!



I am thankful to live in such a country with all the freedoms that we so enjoy. Therefore, I'm also thankful for all our past and present service men and women who so selflessly give themselves for our freedoms.



I'm so thankful for the abundance in which God has blessed us with, wood in the woodbin


Food in the pantry



Warm blankets, pillows and beds of our own


Memories and stories of our rich family heritage, passed down from generation to generation.


Our pets, crazy as they are!


The list could go on and on. What are you thankful for? I've enjoyed reading many bloggers posts already about being thankful and they warm my heart! We should try to remember to have a thankful spirit not just at Thanksgiving time but all year through, especially during the tough and trying times.

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I did a little bit of rearranging in our home since the open house. I enjoy having a blank space again as it helps me think outside of the box. The entry way was all but emptied so I brought an oak bench that Daryl's parents made us years ago up from the basement. It was just too pretty to be sitting down there with stuff piled on top of it.


I added a quilt and pillows to soften it up and hung some sweet annie bunches above it. Don't pay attention to the unfinished baseboard. I think it will maybe get finished in my next life if I'm lucky. :) See the prarie bonnet on the peg? I found that on ebay for .50 cents!

I also made some simple curtains for the windows out of muslin.

I added some greens and berry garlands to give it a little country touch.


This sweet box was made by Kath over at The Weeping Cedar. I just love it! It looks great with anything in it. Here I've just added some wheat and a prim doll.

A shelf I changed up.

This is the bucket bench with some of the pumpkins from our garden this year.


More pumpkins on the center of the farmers table

Pumpkins on the fridge...

And on the big red stepback cupboard.



They're all waiting to be cut, peeled, cooked up and processed for cooking with throughout the year.
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Did you notice the banner on top of the stepback cupboard?? I have so much fun making these banners for different occasions. This one says "Give Thanks" and I gave it a little bit of country bling by using vintage glitter on the turkey tray and letters.






Thanks so much for stopping by. I love to read your comments so please take the time to let me know you were here. Have a blessed Thanksgiving! Hugs~ Birgit

Making Cards and Welcoming a New Blogger

Hello friends! I hope this post finds you all doing well. Since the open house is over, I've been busy putting the house back together, packing things up and setting them up at my booth in Oxford. I've been spending my crafting time working on some Thanksgiving and Christmas cards (another craft love of mine). This is a short post with just some pictures of the cards I've been making. I've also been working on a couple of stitcheries that were a special order. I can't wait to share them with you when they're done. I've still got more Christmas cards to make but this is what I have done for now. I generally make 6-8 of each design when I make them. It's easier for me to mass produce them than make a whole bunch of different designs. With that being said, here's the pictures of my Thanksgiving and Christmas cards.







Now for the other part of my post. My good friend Betty is trying her hand at blogging. She makes the cutest prim dolls and she does her open house on the same weekend I do mine. Please stop by her blog Lizzie's Ragg's Primitivesand say hello and give her a warm welcome. Tell her I sent ya! Guess that's it for today. Like I said, a quick and easy post. Have a great night everyone. Blessings~ Birgit

Meeting Friends & A Successful Open House

Good morning bloggers! I'm finally back after a long few weeks of preparation, setting up and taking down our annual Holiday Open House. I spent the beginning of this week taking down all the merchandise and slowly putting my house back in order. The open house went great and I was blessed to meet several blogging friends over the weekend. Who would have thought that a simple act of blogging can bring friends together who would never otherwise meet.

I had my camera at the ready so I could take pictures of everyone that came that I've met through blogging, but in the excitement and business of the day on Saturday, I forgot to use it!! Oh well, at least I have the memories of this special day when I met Julie from Dog Trot Farm. Julie is incredibly sweet and friendly and so easy to talk to. She's another "Mainah" who's blog I found a few months ago. I don't like to miss a single one of her posts about her comical dog Winslow Homer and the "ladies", Willa and her chicken friends. She came baring a gift of a dozen fresh eggs from her gals tied up in a pretty ribbon and a couple of chicken feathers. So SWEET!! Thanks Julie, we will so enjoy those fresh eggs.

I also met Tiffany from Folded Gingham. She is such a sweetie and you must check out her wonderful blog and beautiful home! She came with a few of her friends from here in Maine as well. I'm working up an e-mail to you Tiff, so be watching for it! It was such a pleasure meeting you!!

I met Jill, who's a good friend of Lynda from Behind My Red Door. I can see why Lynda and she are such good friends, Jill is so sweet and friendly and very talented in her crafts. Jill doesn't have a blog but she's a member of APP and has pictures of her beautiful home there as well as on webshots. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with you Jill!

There were also some other gals that I met from Maine as well as one from Massachusetts. They just happened to find my blog and e-mailed me for directions. If any of you are reading this, please send me an e-mail. I enjoyed meeting you all!

On Sunday I got to meet Colleen from And Baby Makes Five. She is so incredibly sweet and thoughtful and a very talented crafter as well. She is just as sweet in person as she is on her blog! It was such a pleasure meeting her and her mom. I did happen to remember my camera on Sunday so I asked her if she minded if we got a picture of her and I together. Being a blogger, how could she say no? LOL! Here's Colleen and I and her mom is in the background.


Isn't she sweet? She's a true soft spoken angel! I mentioned that Colleen is a talented crafter, look at what she brought me. A gift for me at my open house!?!

I've always admired Colleen's stitcheries and I just love how she colors hers in to give it that added finishing touch. I will think of her every time I look at them and remember that wonderful day! Thank you Colleen, I enjoyed meeting you and your mom and will enjoy your truly thoughtful gift!

Now here's some pictures of this years open house. I took them the night before and I forgot to turn on all the twinkle lights but you'll get the idea. Enjoy the pictures and I hope I get to meet up with all you wonderful ladies again sometime soon. Thanks also to all of you who left me comments and well wishes for this open house. It was the most memorable one yet! Hugs to you all~ Birgit

Don't forget you can click on the pictures to get a better view.































I also wanted to add my thankfulness to this post as I think it's a wonderful idea to always be thankful in everything. I'm so thankful to the friends that I've met while blogging and have recently met in person. Never did I think I would have such a group of friends that care so much and take the time out of their busy days to share their thoughts with me. It's so comforting knowing that I'm never alone, even when I'm sitting here at my computer desk. There's always someone on here ready to share a recipe, decorating tips or crafting ideas. May God bless you all!