The Ronda Potato Purse is the purse I carry around at the time.  And I must say that I LOVE IT!!!!!
The pockets on the side are soooo convenient!!!!
So nice to have a spot to quickly throw my keys in, a spot to keep my phone and I know exactly where my lipstick and lip-balm are!!!!
It is great...!!!
Here are some pictures of the different faces of the Ronda Handbag pattern....
(Click on the images to get a better view)
Enjoy!!!  :-)

Finished Ronda Potato Sack Handbag available right here.
Patterns to the Ronda Handbag are available right here, here, and here.

Wishing you a very happy new year: 
TWO
THOUSAND
TWELVE

May the Lord bless you and your loved ones

2012 is going to be the best year ever.....
Yay!!!!

Look at how fabulous this handbag is!!!!  It was made by Josée Landry from Bouclenoire.....  
Isn't it absolute stunning....???

Josée used our Rachel Handbag Pattern
It's made out of different men's wool pants, some left over corduroy, and fabric remnants...
She tried to make something on the textural side ;)
I really like it, she should be very proud of herself for how it turned out....!
 As you can see she changed the pockets on the front  to make the cross body bag style with a 48" strap.....

Well done Josée!
And thanks so much for sharing.....
It's beautiful......  I lo

_I LOVE the look of a vintage metal ironing board....
And the decorating options with it are endless!

Well, I must say I have a weakness for vintage ironing boards as it is...
My Opa (grandpa) was a carpenter in Holland.  He built the most beautiful furniture, all by hand, no electric tools involved at all.

Well, he made a wooden ironing board for my parents when they got married...  Ann it was huge and bulky and heavy and AWESOME!!!

Looking at our family ironing board growing up gave me sense of belonging to something big and wonderful....
So needless to say, even though I did not end up with this wonderful hand-made ironing board, now that I have my own home and family, I easily get "bored" with a regular store-bought ironing "board"....

I keep my eyes open to notice any old or vintage ironing board with a full and wonderful history of people who lovingly picked it out, maintained and used it....

Wow!
I frequently use my ironing board to temporarily store things that need to be put away, but how fabulous is this:
Permanent storage of display books!
Love the red ironing board with the red books NinaHale put together.....

A great pop of color....!!! in a neutral environment...

_How about using that vintage ironing board as a canvas for your original art?
This dress-form picture was applied to an old ironing board she bought at the local church fund-raiser.  Read about how she did it right here...
The possibilities of what art, words, or pictures to apply to your up-cycled ironing board are endless....

Judy Sturman took a $5 ironing board , and with an old dictionary and some Modge Podge, made a wonderful display table in the Stitches by Sturman studio....
Love it!

Cheryl from Patina General loves her sewing room at home.  Her husband made a custom shelf for her:  He cut an old wooden ironing board in half, attached brackets, and voila!  a nice place to keep her sewing notions....

_Because a lot of vintage ironing boards are made of metal, they make a wonderful magnet message board to keep you family organized....
And a what a great pop of color!

MayaMade comments about her mother's bed-side-table, "... the ironing board nightstand was an amazing platform. It functions beautifully and has  become indispensable! Here it is in a sparse and minimal state,  but you'll often find it with a laptop, stack of books, magazines and room to spare. The genius (yes, I'm tooting my horn just to get my sweet mom's goat!) of the ironing board nightstand is not just in its "roomy design", but its adjustable height! Perfect for her tall bed, but easily reduced for bedsides with different proportions. If you're looking for a nice landing for all of your bedside reading, and only have a narrow space to fill... this might be a solution to consider."

What a great way to magically make additional counter-space appear when you need it the most, like when you entertain (as demonstrated here by Joyful Weddings and Events)....
Place those extra goodies on an ironing board, and you will save yourself lots of space on the counters....!!!!

How about a mini-ironing board.....
An old metal sleeve ironing board looks great as a shelf on top of a desk or side-board....
Fun and different..........

Use your ironing board as a hall or entry table....
so fun...
so vintage.....

How about using your grandmas' old ironing board as a sofa table in your living or family room....?????
That's what Linda spotted at the Bachman's Fall Ideas House...
It looks fabulous...!!!

Irma keeps this old ironing board next to her bed, and notes that she loves waking up to "old junk" around her......
(She did make mention that her husband might think HE is the "old junk", but I don't think that is what she meant.... )
LOVE her display of vintage treasures on her wooden ironing board....

Folded up, hung on the wall.....What a wonderful way to display your awesome vintage find!
I love this turquoise color and try to have a touch of it in every room of the house: here it is in the laundry-slash-mudroom....

Decoupage an old wooden ironing board to personalize the decor in you home, like Susannah did with this wonderful vintage board, turned sideboard in her kitchen....
She even incorporated the laundry-theme into her photo display on the wall above it....   so fun.....

Wonderful tables outside Bakesale Betty in Oakland.....
Don't the tables alone inspire you to go in and purchase a nice warm fluffy cinnamon roll....   Just so you can go outside and enjoy it one of her ironing board tables....?

Here is the recipe I use every Thanksgiving to make a little tasty Cranberry Sauce out of real fresh cranberries....
It tastes delicious on the turkey, and also on rolls.

It has the consistency of jam, but if you want it to be more like a jello, just add an additional package of unflavored gelatin...


It makes quite a bit.  I usually give at least half of it away, and we still have leftovers....
(will keep well in the freezer also)

Happy Feasting!

Ingredients:

1 pkg fresh cranberries
2 apples, peeled & cored & diced
1 orange
2 cups sugar
1 small box raspberry jello
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

_Directions:

Grind cranberries in blender or food processor, add apples.  Grind orange peel (about 2 Tbs) and add also.
Squeeze juice out of the orange into mixture as well.  Add 2 cups sugar and mix well.
Dissolve jello in 1 cup boiling water and let cool (not until firm --just until cool!) 
Mix jello and gelatin into cranberry mixture and refrigerate.

I just use the Vitamix for the whole procedure and instead of squeezing the juice out of the orange, I just throw the whole orange in....

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
p.s.  pretty candy/jam dish available for sale right here

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year to count your many blessings...

I am so fortunate to have my family around this year....
I love them all so very much...

To celebrate the season, I would like to extend some savings to you:
30% off almost everything!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours....
Watch this video from Josh Groban, it's beautiful....

Great deals around here (from now through 28 November 2011)

If you are in need of a new (never been used) dress-form, you are in luck!  I am selling one for $60
That is quite a deal since our local JoAnn is selling theirs for $99 on Black Friday!
Come 'n get it!!!
(Local pick-up only)

For thirty percent off fun Up-cycled Sweater pillows,
Please visit CrystelleBoutique Shop
Use code BLESSINGSGALORE at the checkout

For fun Potato Sack Purses and Handbags,
please visit PotatoBoutique Shop
Use Code BLESSINGSGALORE at the checkout.....

For fun sewing patterns for handbags and purses,
designed by Marijke
please visit our Potato Sack Pattern Boutique
Use Code BLESSINGSGALORE at the checkout

_For more sewing patterns for handbags and purses,
designed by Marijke
please visit our Crystelle Pattern Boutique
Use Code BLESSINGSGALORE at the checkout

_For thirty percent off on vintage items and patterns,
please visit Small'nSimpleThings
Use code BLESSINGSGALORE at the checkout....

__My very talented and lovely neighbor Miriam is super-woman!
Not only is a wonderful mom to two adorable kids, she is pregnant, just had surgery on four of her toes, and sews like CRAZY!!!!

This summer I came upon this wonderful box of 1000 flashcards from  1964......I loved it, but...... I am NOT a mixed media artist....  or a paper artist, though I dream of being one one day....
I really hoped to see these cards made into something
fabulous,
stupendous,
breathtaking,
artistic,
exquisite .....

_So I was very much so looking forward to having these cards come into the hands of a true paper artist....
And they did..... I was soooo excited.....!!!!

Enter Bonita Rose,
          ......Life.Love.Color.Art........

Bonita is a paper artists from Fargo, North Dakota, with an eye for word art....
Her mission statement is to always remain true to herself and living her life happy, no matter what. It's a choice. She always tries to go where the peace is. Always.

Her first small canvas art is "Ethereal"
featuring the ethereal flashcard from the box.....

Her second small canvas is "Fastidious"
featuring the fastidious flashcard from the box......

Well, her Artist Trading Card word art is just strikingly fantastic; I am so excited to see them....!!!  So grateful she was willing to share....  I can't wait to see what else she comes up with!!!!
....according to my calculations, she has 998 cards to go....  :-)

Visit Bonita's website for additional astounding creativity

linking up to
The Scarlet Lime
One Lucky Day
Lara Birch
Crafts 'n Coffee
the Key to My Art
Design Memory Craft
Shabby Chic Junk

We have a winner!
Lucky number 13....

My kids and I sat down and drew a number the old fashioned way to determine a winner for the pillow giveaway....

Blog comment number 13 is the winner:
Kashena commented,
"Congrats on the pillow being featured! It'd look charming on my gray couch. :)"

And we hope it does indeed look great on her gray couch...!!!

Congrats to Kashena, and thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, either here or on Facebook...!
I am always honored that people from all over the country and world come visit this blog....
You guys are the best!

We will get this shipped out to Kashena quickly so she can enjoy some power-naps on her gray couch with this soft chunky pillow during autumn. 

Have a great month of November everyone!

I found this terrific set of vintage school supply alphabet felt flannel board letters, A through L...
These letters are great as vintage school-teacher memorabilia or for mixed media art....

_Of course my kids and I immediately started wondering what words we could make out of these letters....

__Fun stuff!
I love doing things like this!
Kind-of like playing Boggle.
My family loves playing that game!
I'm not very good at it...  I keep thinking of Dutch words, which my family says I can't use...
Go figure!

:-)  Crystelle

What words can you come up with?
Five letter words anyone...???
You can use doubles....

Let me know in the comments!