A Tadd More

Congratulations Winners!!!

Well, I know.... you're saying "it's about TIME"! Sorry for the delay on our blog winners announcement. We had a very hectic week and our company Christmas party, so I've been a little "crazed", if you know what I mean!  Lots of new things in the works that we'll share with you soon too.

So, without futher delay.... here are our winners:
Andrea M. - DeKalb IL 
Darlene B. - Worth, IL
Kellie M. - Elgin, IL
Mary R. - Elburn, IL
 Wilma S. - Big Rock, IL

Can you believe their all Illinois residents? NO,we didn't plan it that way either. Congratulations girls!! You all have copies of our newest pattern New Kid On The Block in the mail to you and Wilma was our winner of the fat quarter bundle too. So she will be receiving a collection of All Star fat quarters. WOO HOO!!! 

Here's a little Christmas humor for ya.... I don't know about you, but it's been one of those days. I could use a little chuckle....

****Thought for the day****
Things Never to Give Your Wife for Christmas
1. A frying pan, blender, or vacuum.
2. A scale - either for weighing food or her body.
3. Perfume you say you liked when you smelled it on
another woman.
4. A copy of the favorite recipe your mother 
always made you.
5. House shoes like your mother wears.
6. A nightgown one size too small, cut to fit Twiggy,
made of polyester, with sleeves that are so tight at the 
wrists they could pass for tourniquets.
author unknown

We are expecting a big snowstorm here so we may be "snowed in" for the next few days, we'll see! I do love the snow though. You know me and snowmen....

Have a great week everyone, God Bless ya wherever you are!
Tammy

 

There's no buddies like "snow buddies"!

I LOVE snowmen! I'm a sucker for them. I have quite a collection going, although I'm pretty sure Mindy has me beat. Are these not some of the cutest little snow guys? I'm kind of jealous of that striped scarf. I think I would like to have a scarf like that myself! I should tell my knitting daughter Olivia, she could make me one for Christmas. An extra long one!

And look at this one! He's glittery and his belly swirls!

But this guy is probably one of my most favorite! His head swirls (when the batteries aren't dead),it looks like there's a snow storm goin' on inside him. I love the green ear muffs and his carrot nose. Isn't it fun! The pattern behind him is by Crab-Apple Hill . It's called Merry Little Christmas. Someday, I'm going to make this quilt! I think Meg likes snowmen as much as I do.

I'm kind of gettin' in the mood for some snow now. I'm not gonna lie ta ya! Just not too much yet. Too much to do. Ya know what I mean?

****Thought for the day****
Just for fun:
What does Frosty eat for lunch?
Ice-"berg"-ers!
What kind of mug does a snowman use for lunch?
A Frosted One!
What does Frosty like to put on his icebergers?
Chilly sauce!
What food do you get when you cross Frosty with a polar bear?
A "brrr" - "grrr"!
What did Frosty's girlfriend give him when she was mad at him?
The cold shoulder!
What does Frosty the Snowman take when he gets sick?
A chill pill!
What do you get when you cross Frosty with a shark?
Frost bite!
What does Frosty's wife put on her face at night?
Cold cream!
What does Frosty eat for breakfast?
Snowflakes!  (or was that "Frosted Flakes"?)
What's worse than Rudolph with a runny nose?
Frosty with a hot flash!
What do you call Frosty the Snowman on roller blades? 
A snowmobile!

Hey, hope your day is warm and toasty where-ever you are.
God Bless,
Tammy

****Don't forget, this is your last day to tell me "what you're most thankful for" and enter our drawing! See Wednesday's post for all the details.****

 
 

Santa left an early present....!

Look who showed up at the store on Monday this week!!! Our Minnesota friend Terry Atkinson of Atkinson Designs! She was traveling and stopped in to say "hi". What a fabulous surprise! I just love surprises like that, don't you?

And look, it was "green day"!
Thanks for taking time to stop and see us Terry. You're the greatest!

****Thought for the day****
"Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends,
never lose a chance to make them."
Francesco Guicciardini

Amen to that Francesco! Hey tell someone today how important their friendship is to you.
God Bless,
Tammy

****Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!
See the details on Wednesday's post.****

"Kitchie Kitcherton...."

Had to show you this fabric.... it's one of the greatest "kitchen" prints I've seen lately. When my rep said "I got this radish fabric you might like", I gotta be honest, I was a little skeptical. Not bein' a big fan of radishes and all....

BUT! I was SO WRONG!!! Much to my surprise, I LOVED it.  Check out the border print too.... Is this the cutest fabric or what? I just love the retro feel.
It's called Garden Fresh by Gail Kessler for Andover Fabrics.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember, if you haven't left your "what-I'm-most-thankful-for" comment yet, you have until midnight Sunday. You might be one of our lucky winners!
See Wednesday's post for all of the details.

****Thought for the day***
"There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as if everything is."
Albert Einstein

Happy Black Friday everyone! If you are brave enough to battle the stores today, you are a better person than me! I'm puttin' up one of my many Christmas trees today! YEAH!
God Bless,
Tammy

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Now, here's my idea of a great Thanksgiving!! I like the turkey and dressing and all of that, but to me, the PIE is what it's all about! And, my favorite Lemon Meringue.
I'm thankful for Lemon Meringue pie!

Have a FABULOUS day everyone. May God bless you with a wonderful time with family, friends, neighbors or whom ever you celebrate the day with!

****Thought for the day****
"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good:
for his mercy is unchanging for ever."
Psalm 107:1

Blessings everyone!
Tammy

****Don't forget to leave your comment to enter our drawing! See yesterday's post for rules.****

New Kid On The Block!

A new fabric line that we have in the store called All Star by Riley Blake Designs is featured on our newest pattern called New Kid On The Block. Take a look at this line, everyone seems to really like it. And, I'm tellin' ya, this company is "right-on" when it comes to color. If you remember that I told you at one time that I have a magazine and book addiction.... well, I read ALOT of home dec magazines,and I'm seeing these colors in all of the magazines right now.

They are a fairly new company. The first time I saw them was at spring market this past spring. Every line that we have carried of theirs so far has been a great seller. Remember that Be Merry line that we ordered 3 times.... perfect example. Their Just Dreamy line sold really well for us too. So we'll see how All Star does. It's difficult sometimes to find great "boy" fabric, so when you do, you just want to SHOUT about it!

See the rug in this photo? Target. That's right. It is one of my favorite stores....

See what I'm sayin' about these colors? And all of the little ornaments in the next pic, also Target. Isn't it fabulous when you can find all of the accessories in the same color scheme as the newest fabrics? I can't help it, I just get pretty excited when everything works together so well!

Anyway.... sorry, I got a little carried away there for a minute! Like I was saying....New Kid On The Block is our newest pattern! And the really great thing about this pattern is we have included instructions to make a crib, twin or queen size project. So for all of those customers who want to make our quilts bigger, we've done the work for you!!!   

So, here are the rules....If you would like a chance to win a free copy of "New Kid", all you have to do is leave me a comment on the blog telling me "what you are most thankful for" between 12:01 p.m. tonight and 12:00 midnight on Sunday and I will put your name in "the hat" (ok, probably a bowl). Then we will draw and notify 5 lucky winners next week. Now, wait, that's not all....ONE LUCKY WINNER will receive the new pattern AND a fat quarter bundle of the All Star fabrics to play with!!!!  How 'bout that!!

***NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT.... YOU MUST FOLLOW THE RULES! IF YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T GET YOUR NAME IN THE DRAWING. PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND LEAVE THE COMMENT BETWEEN THE HOURS AND DAYS STATED. NOT ANY SOONER, AND NOT ANY LATER. AND, YOU MUST TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR. ****

****Thought for the Day****
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!"
Psalm 127:3-5

I am so thankful for my children; Olivia, Stephanie, Nick, Haley and Garrison. And thankful to my Heavenly Father for making me their mom. 
God Bless,
Tammy
 

"It's a wrap"

A little more Christmas....here's our little "happy elf", Janet (aka; Mindy's mom) wrapping away!!! I know some of you would rather do almost anything than wrap presents, but Miss Janet is one of those rare people who LOVES it! Some would say she's "crazy". Others would say "creative". I say "she's a God-send". In fact last year I hired her to wrap most of my presents for home, so it was a "no-brainer" to have her do some for the store too.

Look how great they look....

Doesn't it make you want to run right out and buy wrapping paper and ribbon? Although, you would have to actually have purchased your Christmas presents to wrap them wouldn't you? I haven't really bought any presents to speak of yet. And, I refuse to go on "Black Friday". So, I'll be shopping like mad in a week or two. I've already told Miss Janet that I will be bringing her all of my wrapping again this year!

Counting down.... 3 days til turkey! Yeah!!! Although, I'm still waiting for the "turkey fairies" to magically do all of the food shopping and cooking on Wednesday, along with the cleaning. Luckily I have help with that, thanks to my friend Crystal!!! Crystal, if I haven't told you lately.... I am SO THANKFUL for you!!!

And speaking of "thankful".... have you been thinking about The "What-I'm-Most-Thankful-For" Blog Give-Away?  If you don't already know, we will be doing another Thanksgiving weekend blog give-away right here. So, come back here anytime after 12:00 a.m November 26th, Thanksgiving morning and before midnight on Sunday November 29th and tell me what you are most thankful for this year. You will be entered in a drawing to win one of 5 copies of our newest pattern. We're giving away 5 copies in honor of my 5 children (who I am very thankful for). Tune in tomorrow for more details....

****Thought for the day****
From Cathy Hamilton's book
Momisms What She Says and What She Really Means
Momism #22
"Don't ever let me
catch you doing
that again."
(Some would argue this classic momism sends
a mixed message, which is: You can do it - I
just don't want to find out about it.)

The underlying principle here is:
What Mom doesn't know won't hurt you.

I have to admit, I know there have been times when God has truly spared me from knowing some of the stupid things my kids are doing. And then there are other times.... when He reveals things to us moms that we need to know about our kids so we know how to pray. "God, show me what I need to know, to effectually pray for my kids, and what I don't need to know, shut my eyes to." That's my prayer!  

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Tammy

 
  
  
 
 

Be Merry!

Yep, that's my theme for this Christmas. I'm going to be reminding myself everyday!! Especially when things aren't going so merrily.... I found this most delicious ornament at Target and decided it would be PERFECT! It was meant to be, ya know what I mean?

It just so happens that the most fabulous wintery fabric line we've had in the store is also called Be Merry by Riley Blake Designs. It has been a HOT seller here in the store. We have ordered it 3 times and it's still selling great. The best thing is.... it's snowmen, so it will still be selling through the next few months!!! Now that's what I call FABULOUS!!!

There are just so many fun snowmen patterns and designs to make too. Look at this pillow by one of my favorite designers Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill Designs. It's so adorable.

Look at these fun jammies!!! My mom made these out of the Riley Blake flannels and just appliqued on a t-shirt to match. This cute little penquin.... where else but TARGET!! They have the best stuff don't they? That's where I purchased most of my ornaments this year too. It's like they stocked the store with me in mind!

Just to prove it, look at these adorable flannel sheets that I picked up to match the Be Merry fabrics. I'm pretty sure I need a set of these for my own bed at home. My husband probably wouldn't even notice that they're pink and have snowmen on them. However, he WOULD notice that they're flannel. Who knows he might even like them.

This is my first time ever putting up a white tree. Do you believe it? I seriously don't know why it never occured to me before. This white tree is so much more fun, and the ornaments look so much better on the white don't they? They are just so happy.

Ok, so you know it's almost Thanksgiving. It's like 4 days away! You may remember the "What I'm thankful for" blog give-away that we hosted last year over the Thanksgiving weekend. Well I enjoyed reading everyone's comments so much that I decided to do it again this year! So, watch for more information to come over the next few days. And be thinking about "what YOU are most thankful for".

****Thought for the day****
"The deepest craving of human nature
is the need to be appreciated."
William James

We all want to feel appreciated don't we? Tell someone you're thankful for them today.  
God Bless everyone,
Tammy

 

 

Workin' hard....

I just have to show you this cabinet that I found at the Salvation Army store here in town. It was in the entrance when I walked in, and I immediately fell in LOVE with it. And let me tell you the price was fabulous too!

It needed a little clean up and a couple of coats of paint (white, there's a surprise right?). Here's Laura workin' hard. She's really good at painting. Get's everything smooth and no runs. Perfect.

It's in two pieces so that made it a little easier to paint. Isn't it FABULOUS!!! I can see all the possibilities of displays!

So here it is drying. In a few days we will have it in the store!! It's hard waiting....

Voila!!! It is so PERFECT for all of our trims isn't it? I know this spot is just temporary. We move stuff around so often that it won't be long and we will have something else on it. It will work perfectly in the 1930's area, or with the kids lines that are always changing.

I could also see little wool projects displayed on it. What do ya think?  I put white ceramic knobs on it for now, but I think some fun vintage knobs might look great. I'm going to be on the look out now. Maybe Anthropologie. My daughter Olivia said she saw some great ones there. So I might have to check it out this weekend.

These kind of finds don't come along everyday, so when they do, (and they turn out this nicely) it's easy to get excited about it. Just like when we get a fabulous new piece of furniture at home! I don't know, it's a little more exciting than a new sofa. Ya know what I'm sayin'? 

****Thought for the day****
"Too many people miss the silver lining 
because they're expecting gold."
Maurice Setter

Have a wonderful day everyone, and find something to be thankful for today!
God Bless,
Tammy
 
 
 
 
 

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Yes, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet! But it's only a week away! WOW! Seriously, where does the time GO!  And there is only 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas! Can you believe it? I'm starting to feel a little stress about that.... I have no idea what I am getting any of my kids for Christmas yet!!  But, I do know that my "theme" for this Christmas is "BE MERRY", and I am going to try to keep that in mind when the craziness begins!

So, here at TTD, we have been pullin' out all of the decorations, and buyin' some new ones. We have been working day and night!!! Well at least day....

Puttin' up the trees, hanging wreaths, stringin' lights and makin' bows! You know there are some things that you just can't have too much of in my book and that's lights, ornaments, ribbon, and LIP GLOSS (naturally)!

Just wanted you to see some of the adornments, before they "go up".  

And this is just at the store! We have our company Christmas parties in a couple of weeks at our house and I can't even start there until after Thanksgiving. Don't think my family would appreciate it too much if the trees are up before Thanksgiving, ya know what I mean?

So, that's it for now everyone! Still have so much to do and show you, just not enough time! More pictures of the store soon!

 ****Thought for the day****
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it
is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
William Arthur Ward

We all have so much to be thankful for don't we. 
Have a blessed rest of the week everyone!
Tammy