Christmas visitors....

I love the Nutcracker Ballet.  I've only been once, with my Mom, but wow, what a show!!  So I went to an auction this weekend and found this awesome treasure.  A giant Nutcracker!  He's even taller than me.  I'm 5'4", so he might be close to 6' tall.  He's standing in the window of the shop right now, greeting shoppers as they come in the store.

And a lovely lady came into the shop this morning with these adorable little elves for sale.  She said they once hung in an old grocery store at Christmas time.  They stand about 39" tall and I thought they were absolutely charming!!

Now to take pictures of all the wonderful furniture finds we brought home Saturday night....

I love finding treasure in barns!

I went to a wonderful old farm auction in Thornville last weekend.  The property was incredible.  It was surrounded on three sides by Dawes Arboretum.  It was nestled on gently rolling hills with a wooded background.  Beautiful!

I wasn't able to get much furniture because prices were pretty strong.  However, almost no one seemed interested in the fun stuff hidden in the barns!  There was an awesome wooden truck gate hidden away and a pair of barn panel gates and I was the only one that wanted them!!

Here's a pic of my gates set up at the shop.  I'm waiting for a handmade Mary and Joseph to arrive so I can set up a manger.

The gates are taller than me and they're about eight feet long.  They take up a LOT of space, but I love them!   I want to wrap lights and garland around them.

I also got this old barn door hanger.  When I first saw it, it was just sitting there (upside down) like this, and I thought it had so many possibilities...

So I decided to fill it up with Christmas Goodies!!  Candy canes, poinsettias and a pair of vintage baby mittens!

I also managed to get the winning bid on one of my favorite items at the auction... an old wheel barrow (missing its sides) in original blue paint!!

My sister met me at the auction and I know she thought I was a nut, buying the most primitive pieces there!  But we had a great time together and she got some fun stuff too.

One thing that bothered me though.  There was a wonderful old buggy seat advertised to be at the sale, but when I got there, no one could find it.  They determined that it must have been stolen before the sale started.  How sad!

Some of our handmade goodies!

I absolutely love having something in the shop that not everyone else has.

These adorable lollipop ornaments were made by a stay-at-home Mom, trying to make some extra Christmas money.  I love them!

And these little peppermints are something I made myself this year.  They were fun!

I just love Christmas!

Open House Today!

Shop is all decorated and ready for Christmas!  Not sure if I'm ready yet though!  :-)

Christmas Open House!

Yes, it's been an awfully long time since I've posted.... hopefully I'll be better!  :-)

Some special Christmas Friends

I've been so busy lately, I barely have time to breathe!  However, I did make it to a sale today and found some pretty awesome Christmas friends.  I took them straight to the shop, and made them feel right at home.  I always have so much fun addiing "just one more thing" at Christmas!

I found these awesome, handmade Folk Art people and Angel!

And there's a story behind these wonderful, hand carved belsnickles and animals...  When I saw these at the sale today, my heart stopped because I knew who made these.  I knew because the couple was very dear to me and I had one of these precious hand carved Santas sitting in my kitchen at home.  It stays there all year long!   Clark and Ronnie Pearson carved all these beauties years and years ago.  Clark would carve and Ronnie would paint.  They were this awesome folksy couple from New England and they sold their pieces to a few "worthy" vendors, at select shows and to special friends.   Clark always had a pipe in his mouth and could talk antiques and primitives all day long.  Dear Ronnie passed away a few years ago, and Clark moved back East to be closer to his kids, which to me, makes these hand carved treasures more precious than ever and I found them today!  Of course, some of them will go straight home with me, as a fond reminder of my dear friends.

I hope you all remember to treasure those around you.  Make your memories today because who knows what tomorrow will bring.  God Bless you and I hope you have an incredible Christmas!