A Successful Show

Good Monday Morning! It's time again to join Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for another fun Met Monday. As promised, today I will show you how This Mess (!)

And This Mess can become a

a pretty Spring Show.

I have never fibbed and said I was an organized person ~~ oh no, not me! Plus with the business I'm in honestly I feel there is not a great way to organize flower stems and greenery and berries and loose leaves and trees and containers and ~~ well, you get my point! My Spring Show is now a thing of the past and I must say it went quite well.

In honor of my 20 years in business I offered a little gift with purchase, an official "Green Bag"! Now this is definitely a GREEN BAG, wouldn't you say? Mr. Brown Socks actually said in a very tongue in cheek manner "oh, they will love a bag as a gift". He just doesn't get it, but I told him they WOULD love it. What is it about women and bags? We all love 'em, don't you agree?

I truly think my customers were tickled to have this bag to walk out the door with, their purchases wrapped in green gerber daisey clad tissue.

My turnout on Thursday night was excellent! I was just bubbling over with excitement seeing some people I hadn't seen in a long, long time. It felt like "old home week". It was honestly hard for me to greet everyone like I wanted to. It was just that busy.

Luckily I had lots of help. My sister and her friend drive two hours to my home just to be a part of the fun. A few friends of mine are always willing to help too. Some assist customers with purhcases, while others write up orders and another wraps the arrangements in tissue and carefully tucks them into the bag.

For my shows, I always have lots and lots and lots of variety....variety in prices, sizes, colors, seasonal items plus everyday items, wreaths, other door variations, etc. There are probably over 125 things to chose from. These pictures really don't show the volume of selections.

I tried hard to remember and snap a few pictures, but it is really hard while talking and answering questions. During a quieter moment I tried to take a few. This picture just portrays friends meeting up with friends and just enjoying time together.

My own mother even surprised me by coming and she lives two hours away!! She and two other friends of hers decided to make it a road trip and join in on the twenty year celebration! I almost got teary, I was so pleased! I was visiting with some people and I looked up and there she was grinning at me. How I wished I could have captured that moment with a picture! :) This display of goodies was set up at the kitchen table.

It's fun for me to look back at the pictures now and see what sold and what I still have left.

Red poppies are so popular these days.

And so are

orange poppies. Oh look! There are those peacock feathers looking at you again! I love 'em!

It wouldn't be a spring show without the ever popular red geraniums. They look so real, you almost expect that geranium smell to come at you.

And for those of you that were trying to guess what those rolled up "things" were on the chair during my last post ~~~

most of you guessed it. I had tee shirts printed that we workers wore during the show.

They were also given as door prizes.

I hope you have enjoyed the transformation from workroom chaos to

a Spring Showing. I'll show a bit more later this week.

Now hop on over to Susan's and see the other changes people have made!

It's My Twenty Year Anniversay

I will be away for a couple of days because ~~~~ I am doing last minute touches, preparing for my Spring Open House which starts late this afternoon. This will be a special event

because it's the twenty year anniversary of my business! I am having fun giveaways every couple of hours. As always, there will be a zillion florals to choose from, along with food a lot of laughing women and yes, even a little wine. ;)

I'll be coming back as soon as possibly to report on how it goes, along with some detailed pictures. Hope you'll check back with me!

The very good news is the weather people took

S*N*O*W

out of the forecast just because they heard it was

THE SILK THUMB'S

Spring Show

What Goes around Comes Around

It's time for ~ ~ Three or More Tuesday It is fun to look around and see just how many "threes" of something we all have. It's also surprising at the variety of things we come up with, isn't it? Thanks Tam from Gypsy's Corner for hosting this weekly time to share. I am blessed with many, many things. One of my blessings is my sister in law, Connie. We are the same age and married to brothers. The brothers are nothing alike, but get along great. Connie and I have a lot in common and in other ways we are very different. We have all gotten along fabulously since we first met close to forty years ago! Yikes! Did I really say that?? Connie and I used to "do crafts" together. We made everything starting with some sort of pipe cleaner flowers. I remember wrapping colored pipe cleaners around a medicine bottle and who knows what else we used. Do you believe me when I say they were really cute? Good grief! I haven't thought about those flowers in years. I wish we had a picture of those babies! We've crossed stitch, crocheted, painted wood and fabrics, sewed country creations and on and on and on. This was all done a few weeks during the year as we lived in different towns until the last 15 years.

We also had our children very close together.

Another thing we have both always had in common is decorating. That was a strong bond between us from the beginning.

I remember visiting them when they lived in Kansas. There was a fun little downtown area

we would always look forward to exploring when I came to town. We would leave the

brothers at home with our children, promising them to be home

as soon as we could.

We would keep that promise the best we could, closing down the stores !

I remember finding this three piece "sponged" ceramic cannister set in this little Kansas town,

back in the days of the late 70's ~~ the first time brown was

such a popular color.

Over the years with somewhere around seven or eight moves, I have tried very hard to part with some of my treasures. Gone are the wood ducks and geese and the fabric, dotted cats, pigs and cows, but somehow I could never part with these three brown pieces. I have always loved them. When we moved into our new home, I ran across them wrapped carefully in paper. YES, they would be perfect in my new kitchen. I am so glad I kept them.

Don't you think they look just fine again some thirty years later?

Garden Urns, Winnings and Ferns

I Won! Oh Yes I did!

Isn't it exciting when you are following a giveaway on a favorite blog and you just keep hoping you actually might win?

Suzanne at

Southern Inspirations

was the generous gift giver! She truly has a delightful blog that will no doubt lift your spirits with her upbeat personality and great decorating hints and ideas.

Suzanne, I just received my gift yesterday and have already marked several pages. There are great recipes that look very worthy of trying, plus hints for May Day flower baskets to give and even ideas for April Fool's Day. Thank you so much! You really cheered me up with this gift.

This is really a nice publication jammed packed with great pictures and articles. You just may want to find a copy for yourself, everyone!

---------------------------------------

On another subject, I wanted to tell you about a little getaway "girls night out" some friends and I enjoyed a few days ago. We traveled just a bit and enjoyed dinner at a nice restaurant plus visiting a gift shop featuring all sorts of springy things to entice our minds and souls. It was sort of a garden urns and lush ferns theme. I actually purchased some urns to use for my upcoming show.

Of course ferns are a great look in these garden pots, but there are also many other ideas for using these little gems.

To the left we have a bit of pink and green springy/summery potpourri ~~~~

Or you might want to use an orb in a round urn for a very different look.

These little orbs are great in urns, or pots and often times just tucked in with books on a shelf. They have been so popular, that I find myself reordering them frequently.

I love, love, love nasturtiums ~ faux ones and yes! even real ones! :-)

I sell this faux one in yellow and a sort of paprika red. They *look* so* real..........

If you like ferns with your urns, I can do that too We have small ones We have medium size ones

We have mixed ferns

What did you say?

You want a royal fern?

Oh! a River fern, okay!

Or perhaps you still prefer a good old fashioned

Boston Fern

Remember, the only water required is just enough to clean them occasionally!

Now don't forget to go pay a visit to Suzanne.

Tell her you came all the way from 47th Street! ;)

Flowers Everywhere (yes they are faux)

Did you wonder if I got buried inside of a box of flowers?

Or our ongoing winter winds took me away to someplace warm??

No, I've been here all along ~~ just trying to be disciplined and work hard on arrangements for my upcoming spring show. It is next week and I still have oodles of arrangements I want to put together.

~ Here are just a few I've been working on ~

Around the time of my shows, my house takes on a store appearance. Mr. Brown Socks closes his eyes to the whole transformation and tries not to sit on a plant. Bless his little heart. He has put up with this home based business for twenty years.

Most of the time while working Miss Maggie tries to keep me company

It is sometimes so hard for her to keep her eyes open.

Did you know that you can curl your grass??

Sorry this picture is sideways, but here is a grass plant out of the packaging straight as a stick ~~~

If you take your scissors and pretend the ends are curling ribbon, you get a much more natural feel for the grass.

See how it curls the ends and makes it look more natural? I tried to curl with scissors and take a picture at the same time, but I'm not that coordinated!

It's okay to leave some straight and some curly....much more real this way.....

I'll leave you with a few etsy bitsie little arrangements to assure you

Spring is just a couple of days away!

Happy Spring !

Spring in the Form of Salt and Pepper Shakers

Good Morning Dear Bloggers, This morning I thought it would be fun to join in with Tam and the others to share with Three or More Tuesday. I didn't realize it but it seems I'm starting to acquire a salt and pepper shaker collection! Funny because my mother has a variety of old salt and pepper shakers she has had for years and years. From time to time when I am visiting with her I'll ask to get her collection out and we both enjoy looking through each and every one. Sometimes when we are antiquing together we will find a set for sale that she has in her collection. Of course we check the price right away to see just how valueable they are!

My first selection is my most recent ~~ a pair of birds ~~.

I just found these ironically while antiquing with my mother in February. They were in a clearance area for $1 for the pair.

Aren't they sweet?

Next we have a pair of shiny bunnies that add a nice sparkle to my Easter table. I found these in the gift shop at the Biltmore in North Carolina a few years back.

And last of all ~ a sweet bird hiding under a leaf (?) I guess it's a leaf...lol! Anyway, she was a thrift store find and I couldn't pass her up. Of course the bird section is for salt and the leaf is for pepper.

I have many more salt and pepper shakers, but thought I would share my three spring ones today.

Visit Tam at Gypsy Corner to see what others have to show us!

~~~~~~ News Alert ~~~~~

You may all want to pay Suzanne a visit at Southern Inspirations. First of all she has the sweetest blog AND she is offering a double giveaway. Go over and enter. Please tell her you came from 47th Street! :)

A Spicy Dining Room Change

It's a new week and time for more fun with Susan and Between Naps on the Porch. No doubt you are equally as inspired as I have been week after week with seeing all the changes people have made not only in their homes, but their closets and projects and on and on. Without further ado, let me take you back to a few weeks ago. I was decided on a paint color for my builder beige dining room as well as fabrics and a look for my dining room window.

The winning paint color was cajun red by Sherwin Williams. You can see right away with the picture belowwhat a huge change color made! While I had my hutch emptied out to move for painting, it was a perfect opportunity to dust the inside and rearrange the dishes. Some day ~~ some day ~~~~ I plan to replace this dining room set with an antique sideboard and table. This dining room furniture was one of the first purchases Mr. Brown Socks and I made in the early 70's. It looks a little like Barbie doll furniture in our new home with the high ceilings. For some reason I am sentimental about it. Even if it's replaced I don't think I could ever totally part with it. Here is a closeup of my new window treatments. The gold valance in the center is called "Moondust". I just love the little bit of sparkle that catches your eye just a teeny little bit. Click to enlarge and I think you'll be able to see it......

I'm thinking of using a bit of rub 'n buff in an antique gold to brighten the tie backs just a smidge

This view is taken from the entry so you can get a better feel for the room

This was the centerpiece (below) which I showed how it was put together last week. Too bad I delivered it to the client. It works quite well with cajun red...

Remember the plumber who always has a leaky faucet and the shoemaker whose children never have any shoes?

Well, often times this silk floral designer doesn't have a centerpiece :(

The plate on the shelf was a Goodwill find

Let me be honest with you and say it is taking me a bit of time to adjust to this new, darker look. The window treatments were hung just last week. I do love the room more and more every day as my eye adjust to a total metamorphosis.

I'm still thinking I need to add some brighter, lighter accessories to the walls.

Feel free to offer suggestions :)

I've enjoyed having a new room to show you this week.

I can't wait to click on all the other sites to see what you have been up to as well.

Thanks for stopping by 47th Street today, dear friends!!

I always love reading your comments and I try hard to get by and see all of you too!

Angel Hair Crockpot Chicken

Well, if it isn't little ole me participating in Designs by Gollum's Foodie Friday! Since I love to cook AND read recipes, this is a day I look forward to with so many bloggers sharing some of their family favorites . Thanks Michael for coming up with this much anticipated themed day!! :)

Within my Tablescape Thursday post this week I listed my menu for a family luncheon after church. Several people asked about my angel hair chicken recipe, so I decided to share.

Angel hair Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/2 lbs.)

1/4 cup butter

1 7oz. pkg Italian dressing mix

1 can Golden Mushroom soup

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 - 3/4 of an 8 oz. tub of cream cheese with chives & onions

Can of mushroom pieces

Hot cooked angel hair pasta

Place chicken in crockpot. In medium saucepan, melt butter, stir in dry salad dressing mix. Stir in mushroom soup, wine, cream cheese and mushrooms until combined. Pour this over the chicken. Cover and cook on low setting for 4-5 hours. Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked pasta.

~~~~~ A few notes ~~~~~

I doubled this recipe because we had six adults and 2 young children. I was a little nervous about the time factor since we wanted to eat right after church (around 1:00). I had everything ready to be turned on by 7:30 a.m. The first hour I turned the crockpot on high, then turned to low. Right before leaving for church I checked the chicken and it was well on it's way to being done, so the 5 hr. timetable applies if you double this recipe.

I didn't totally double the cream cheese. I used the one tub and then added about 3 oz. of a block or regular cream cheese.

I purchased a four pack of wine bottles and used one full bottle.

I didn't use 2 pkgs. of the dry Italian dressing. I used 1 and 1/3 of another.

Sorry I don't have a lot of fun pictures with this recipe. I forgot to snap some as I was serving this up. I DID use angel hair pasta even though the picture shows thin. I love you friends, but not enough to dig through the recycle bin looking for the angel hair box!

I thought my new thrift store rooster was much cuter than a frozen package of chicken breasts! ;)

Join me for more great recipes at Designs by Gollum, won't you??