Chalkboard Banners

My big seller this month looks like  it  will be chalkboard banners!  I am not sure where I got this idea...Pinterest, another blog, Etsy...???  I have seen several variations but finally settled on this one.  My Hubby cuts out the triangles then I sand them and paint them with chalkboard paint.  I put up a sample in my booth and sold 21 triangles the first day.  I sell them individually so you can buy as many as you need.  I think this is a great idea because you can have one set that adapts for every holiday.   You can add different ribbon or even some fabric panels, buttons, bells...anything.

 

This is the sample I put in my booth -"JOY" only for home I added a bottle brush wreath on top of the "O".  I have been trying to think of some words that only take 3 letters so you could get more use out of it-  "USA"   "BOO"   I plan on keeping them in the booth year round so people can buy more triangles if they need them.

The Santa mugs with the mini trees are also headed to the booth tomorrow.   I have a few more boxes of Christmas to take out there before the holiday open house.  Then I will have a week before I start decorating at home.

In the mirror you can see a reflection of our $4 palm trees!!!  They are from the backyard and they grew so much this year that they will not fit in my low ceiling basement for the winter......  I just may decorate them for Christmas and forget the big tree....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving started out with a quick trip to Atlanta to pick up our favorite soldier, straight off the plane from Iraq.

After getting to spend a couple days with him we had a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal. We will have all of the children on Sunday, along with my Hubby's Mom, her husband and brother. So we had a picnic meal today. NO STRESS! It was one of my favorite Thanksgiving meal ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food on sawhorses, paper plates

Setting up to fry a turkey- Alton Brown style!

After a turkey frying fail several years ago we gave up! Since the crowd would be small we decided to attempt it again. This time we researched Alton Brown"s method on Youtube. We followed his directions exactly with great results!

Here the small turkey is lowered with a pulley system that was on the video!

The observation chair are placed safely- several yards away- And yes -it was hot enough for youngest son to be shirtless!

Belly shots.... 6 months pregnant and 14 years post delivery!

Carving the bird...

Digesting..........

It was a simple meal -mostly prepared ahead of time- Turkey, Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes, gravy, canned cranberry sauce, cheesecake, and pumpkin pie. I really got to enjoy it with my family instead of working!!!

Pheasants and Turkeys

I don't have many Thanksgiving decorations- I hardly have time to put them out before we start getting ready for Christmas and the Porch Tour. This year I just got out a few pheasants and some turkeys and left out some pumpkins from Halloween.

Pigeon Forge

We drove north to Pigeon Forge on Wednesday. Traffic was bad and it took a looooonnnggg time!

We stayed in a cute cabin on the top of a mountain. It had all the comforts of home plus a few extras! A big chair next to the fireplace for Eli....

And a soft couch for Bitsey.....
A loft for the Boy...

With a pool table!

The Pugs thought we had lost our minds, but they adjusted to the change! They really didn't like to go outside. They were happy to sit by the fire and they got the rare treat of sleeping with us at night!

The cabin was hanging of the side of the mountain -near the top! This is the driveway and road.....

Much too narrow for me!!!
But, I did like the hot tub on the deck- as long as I kept my eyes closed so I could not tell how far down the drop off was!We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Dixie Stampede, which was great. You have to eat with your hands! A whole chicken, pork roast, baked potato, corn on the cob, vegetable soup, garlic/cheese rolls, and apple turnovers!
On Friday we went to some outlets- it was very crowded!
I loved the blue trees at The Christmas Place!

The boy got a BB gun at Knifeworks.

And yes....we bought one pair and got two free!

My cowboys!

Smokey Mountain Thanksgiving

We had a fun trip to Pigeon Forge for Thanksgiving and we took the Pugs! I'll put up some pictures when I get my house back in order!!

A Little "Whiney"

I think I've been a little pitiful this week because DH came home with flowers and a bottle of wine to sedate me! Things get that way around here this time of year. I get a tiny bit stressed with Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas and the final preparations for the Porch Tour.

There are piles of stuff to finish in my sewing room and I make mistakes when I rush- I certainly did that this week. The more I tried to fix a monogram goof the worse it got. It took me six hours to take the stitches out and redo it- there were tears. I hate to cry over something that silly- but 6 hours-wasted!!!!

On a more positive note - Millie and her Bear Tea Party are almost finished! I made the dress, apron and hats. I have to finish painting one of the stumps and have DH attach the bear to it.

Lulu showing of the Hobby Lobby 90% off patchwork pumpkins. I walked in the store just as they put up the signs. I did not need any more Fall stuff but the mass hysteria of the women grabbing stuff got the best of me.

There are 4 places at the table again- Son #3 has returned from Basic Training in Missouri. We picked him up at the airport in Montgomery Thursday night. He is VERY glad to be home.

This last picture I threw in for my Mom - so she can see my tower of suitcases in the background. We saw a tower on another blog that went all the way to the ceiling - I have a ways to go!!!

I have liked the way many of you have have tried to blog every day in November and I think I'm going to give it a try from Thanksgiving to Christmas! Maybe it will help me get into my Holiday spirit and out of the whine/wine!!!!!