~~~HAPPY PINK SATURDAY TO ALL~~~

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY

I am so excited to be able to participate in Pink Saturday this week. I have been so very busy and have missed my bloggie pink friends.

I am a soap a holic, yes, I confess, soap has been my obsession for many years now. I took a class years ago on making soap, but was a complete and utter failure.

I combined lemon grass and lavender into the soap thinking these scents would go so well together.

They did not. After letting the mixture set up for weeks, the final product smelled so bad, that I had to throw it all out.

Making soap has been in my blood ever since and I am planning on giving it another try.

Until then, I came up with an idea of soap pockets, and the above photo is an example of my first one.

This is just the sweetest idea for gift giving. This pretty pocket holds a beautiful bar of soap. What could be a nicer gift?  Gesh, I love this idea.

A little bit of vintage linen and some vintage buttons are icing on the cake to me. I plan on creating many more of these, soap included.

This pocket houses a bar of Italian soap, yes, made in Italy and has a scent of lemon.....Oh, I love that.

Fully lined too. I think I know what I will be giving my mom for Mother's Day this year. Why not pamper the ones you love?

Thank you Beverly for yet again all your hard work each week. If you would like to visit all the pinkies and see what they have been up to, please go to Beverly's blog, How Sweet The Sound for the links.

Have a great weekend, and be safe.

~~AFTER ALMOST THREE YEARS, I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED~~

After our son was born, 36 years ago (was it really THAT long ago??!!) I decided to make him a special stocking using a kit from Bucilla. All these years later, I still have it.
I can remember thinking it was a lot of work and worth every minute, every stitch, sequin, bead and thread.

The same can be said for our daughter when she was born. Looking back, lots of love went into creating these beautiful stockings, keeping them all these years and loving them as I do.
I think maybe it's time to finally pass them on to their rightful owners.

While shopping in Hobby Lobby about three years ago, YIKES! I am almost embarrassed to admit that it has taken me this long to complete something so dear for someone I treasure so much, but that is the sad fact. I came across Bucilla pattern stocking kits. Having four grandchildren to love and adore, the idea hit me hard to buy them, make them and pass them on.
I thought, no trouble, I will start with the oldest grandchild and work my way down.
I had no idea it would take me years to finish my first one. I know I have to do much better on the rest, or they will never be finished while my treasures are young.
Allie, who was four at the time was the first stocking I worked on.
This is the pattern I choose for her:

I saw all the sweetness, cupcakes, goodies, pies and cakes and just knew it was her. Little did I know or realize at the time, all the work that would be involved. Being ever the optimist, I really thought, "what a breeze!" WHAAAAT????

This is the placement directions, the actual word directions were too small to share with you. I usually mark the directions with a yellow marker once I have completed the work, so it's very hard to photograph.

This is the finished stocking, full of so much love, and certainly living up to the name sweet.

So many tiny pieces, sequins, beads and handwork. If given the choice, I would certainly do it all over again.
It was worth every minute, hour, day, or should I say year? HA

What little girl wouldn't love candy canes and gingerbread men?

I used a little wooden gingerbread man for Allie's name tag on this stocking. I also placed the year on the back.

Since making this little goodie and purchasing the four, I now have been blessed with a new grandson. Life is so good.
I think I had better get busy, I have lots of sewing to do.

Allie on the left, Jenna and baby Reid. I do have to admit, Reid is now 8 months old. Where or where does my time go??!!

~~~HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL~~~

I would love to take a moment to wish all of my readers, the most peaceful of Thanksgivings. I hope that you will have full tummies, lots of friendship and love in your hearts. Enjoy and be safe.
I am showing you my Simpich collection of a Thanksgiving family. I hope you enjoy.

We have mother with her bounty of fruits and veggies.

Father with his turkey.....

Their young daughter with the Lord's book.

A young son with a beautiful pumpkin, and of course,

America's Native Americans.
These Simpich dolls are vintage, given to me by my mother in law years ago. They are handmade from the very beginning to the very end.
Wishing you the most glorious day filled with love and gratitude.

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN??

When our daughter was in kindergarten, I learned to smock. I loved it and thought smocked dresses were so cute. This was the first sundress I ever smocked.

What I learned on this dress was how to smock borders and create tiny flowers.

This is a close up, not perfect, but I was on my way. Our daughter is now in her early thirties and I have to tell you, she looked so sweet in this dress!!

My second attempt was another sundress, only this one has little mice across the front. I remember we used to get so many compliments on this dress when we were out.

The mice even have little whiskers. As I look back, I have to ask myself, "how did I ever do this?"

Moving on to something a little harder, I tried my hand at sheep......so cute, oh why do they grow up so fast?! :)

I can remember making this, but I can't remember HOW.

It doesn't look that hard does it? Little sheep with tiny yellow flowers....

Every little girl loves butterflies, so here they are.

This pattern was loved by all and I don't think it was hard to do.

Kirstin's Easter dress and my first attempt at sleeves.

This so cute pattern begins with an egg and progresses until you have a sweet chick!!! Now tell me, how cute is this??!!

This was the last dress I ever smocked. It was Kirstin's Christmas dress. She used to wear red or green under the dress and it was adorable on her. This dress has a Santa and his reindeer.

The top and the bottom border are little green Christmas trees. I kept these dresses all this time thinking that I would pass them on to my grand daughters. As faith would have it, Kirstin has twin boys!!!!!
Luckily for me, our son and daughter in law have two girls, so, I cleaned the dresses and ironed them, and passed them on to two very lucky little ladies.....
Now, if only I could remember how and what I did back then, I would love to create more.

PINK SATURDAY HAPPINESS

This week I have been very busy working in my studio, so once again my pinkie shares are going to be my work. I hope you don't tire of seeing the things I create. My garden is not producing anything exciting and so these will have to do.
A strawberry cake with two petite fours.....yep, they are fake, but don't they look good enough to eat?

Just look at that yummy top. Handmade paper roses, pansies, faux pearls and some rhinestones too.

Three sweet mini snowpeople in a vintage jello mold. These can also be used as ornaments, as they have ribbon hangers. Perfect teachers or hostess gift.

A trio of very sweet pink gingerbread ornies. These are large and measure approx. 6" in length.

So cute and look good enough to eat, sugared with german glass glitter too! Yummy Yum Yum.....

When I was a child, one of my favorite stories was "The Three Little Kittens" so of course a set of mini mittens reminds me of that story.....only I didn't loss any mittens....HA!

These too, are sugared and just as cute as can be.

Last but certainly not least is another beautiful stocking. I am happy to say that most have sold, but this beautiful lady is available.

All this and more can be found on my website, Someplace In Thyme.
I would love to take a moment to tell all of you how much I appreciate your comments and your blogger friendships. This time of year seems to be a perfect time for reflection on our lives and how we affect those in our lives. You have all blessed me beyond belief and I appreciate you more than you could know. My wish is that each and everyone of you have a safe, loving and wonderful Thanksgiving. Be warm and be happy and most of all, HAPPY PINK SATURDAY!!!
Thank you Beverly from How Sweet The Sound for all you do to make this possible. I appreciate you so much and all your hard work. You can find all the participants for this week's Pink Saturday on Beverly's blog, so please go over and offer your lovely comments to as many posts as possible.