Decorative Tassels

Tassels are a fun to decorate with. Rather you hang them from a lamp or on a curio cabinet. They can add a lot whimsy to your decor.

   

I like tassels on pillows

  

 

And tassels on bags

     

So for the past few weeks I have been making tassels! Not just for fun, although it is fun. But also to add to our ETSY store.

 
Country and western, boot kicking tassels

   

Nice little bird tassels

   

Tassels and More Tassels

    

  

And if that is not enough tassels, mosey on over to ETSY and you can see more.

http:presentgrace.etsy.com

  
 
 
 

Mothers

All that I am I owe to my Mother

Motherhood is definitely one of Gods greatest gifts, at least that is the way I see it.

I don't think you can fully understand the sacrifice that our Heavenly Father gave us through His Son Jesus, until you understand how much you love your own children and the gift they are to us.

These are my two beautiful children,Jason and Callie. And yes, they are a gift and a blessing.

 

I'm not sure we fully appreciate our own mother, until we have  children of our own. My mom has been gone now for over 10 years but I still think of her and the legacy she left behind, almost daily. I also appreciate that the Lord made provision for us to one day be reunited.

This is my mom in the 1950's she was a lot like those TV mom's we liked to watch back then.

 

That's my mom in the middle, now those 3 mom's could have been on a tooth paste commercial. Great smiles and happy times. Those were some pretty  typical house dress fashion, they are wearing,not sure the pincurls and head scarfs were quite the TV mom look. But you have to appreciate those trendy drapes of the 50's.

 

A typical Midwest family in the 50's. Well at least that is the way I remember it. Mom always wore a dress, never pants. The pants of the family were always on the dad. Little boys thought it okay to wear bow ties and little girls liked wearing dresses to school.

 I remember mom, really liked this snazzy pontiac almost as much as she liked wearing wrap around dresses. This is her standing out front of the Flamingo Motel we owned and lived at. Whether at work or at play that wrap around dress was the fashion of the day. It could however provide a sneak peek at what was underneath on a windy day, but back then a lady always wore a slip. That's an undergarment for those of you who aren't as old as me.

 

That's my grandma and my mom and me inside the office of that motel it must have been summer and those are some of my best memories. Picnics on the porch, swimming all day and having both my grandmas living right next door. Grandma's and mom's making summer time fun is the best kind of memories. I think plaid was pretty popular back then, too.

 

See, another plaid dress! I think it was important back then to always wear earrings! A woman wasn't fully dressed unless her ears were!

My mom and her mom, see what I mean about the earrings! I don't remember ever seeing my  grandmother without her earrings on whether she was working or just out for a picnic, I think it was just a part of her. But remember back then we always dressed up if we went to town or out in public, even in the sixties. Hats and gloves were popular too!

Telephone booths, now that is a sign of the past. You  might wonder why my mom does not look so pulled together as my grandma does. Well this picture was taken at a motel on the beach of Florida, and my mom probably lost those earrings at the bottom of the sea. She loved to get on those air mattresses out in the ocean and ride the waves, she just never got the hang of it and spent most of her time laughing her  head off as she flew off the mattress into the sea. That might explain that crazy hair style.

     

Whether she was on vacation or

 

at home, My mom knew how to seize the day and be content in it. I think sometimes in our busy world today, with cell phones instead of phone booths we simply don't take the day and just enjoy it the way we used to.

 

Pearls, that is another timeless adornment. Pearls, ageless, charming, sophisticated, elegant, graceful, just like my mom. I  hope all the great memories you have of your mom will bring you as much joy as mine have. Thanks for stopping by and sharing my memories with me. Take some time today and remember your mom, and I hope  you will share some of those days gone by with me.

 

This pillow is a memory pillow made by Present Grace.
  

 

 

Aprons Now and Then

THE APRON A FOREVER CLASSIC!

I received  an interesting email on aprons a few days ago that started me thinking about the vintage aprons I have stored away. It was fun to look at them again. I was sad to see that a couple of them have some of those brown age spots, not sure if those can be removed or not. Guess they are just like us when we get older. Not sure why that happens but I could use a few of those erased as well. 

Back in the 50's and 60's when I was growing up, housewives wore aprons as an accessory as much as for protecting their clothing. Holiday homemade aprons were popular and often times very elaborate. A typical housewife took her aprons seriously and not only had a few seasonal one but several in a variety of colors to match her outfits. 

That's my mom and my grandmother on a picnic away from the kitchen and their aprons.

This is  one of my grandmother's aprons. It pinned at the shoulders and was trimmed with little blue rickrack. My grandmother was a great seamstress, mom, not so much. Mom preferred to do the little fancy work, like smocking. She said she did not know how to thread a sewing machine so she used a needle and thread and always a thimble. 

 

This is a really cute apron my mom embroidered with cross stitch for Christmas, with little reindeer leaping across it.  Cooks have used aprons for many years for work and decorative reasons. My mom probably would have been more in the decorative reasons she made and wore aprons.

 

I decided to wash and iron this one and display in my kitchen this Chirstmas. I was really impressed with the attention to details it has. Even the tails of the band are embroidered.

 I think that pink and black one is my favorite. The stitch work actually is applied over the rick rack.

I gave a couple of aprons to friends last year for Christmas and they were so well received that this year Carmen and I made and sold several aprons through Present Grace.
Pink and black are popular today and aprons are having a come back I think. Here's a couple of our pink and  black ones.

 
That's my kitchen, and that is my friend Michelle. She is not only showing off our aprons very nicely but she is standing in front of  my new cook top. I love that it is white like my countertops but not so sure about cooking on it.

Aprons have been cooks companions for hundreds of years. Worn by men and women for many tasks. But I think it was in the 1950's when they became kind of a status symbol of the perfect housewife. Maybe its that nostalgia that makes them so much fun.

Some might say today's aprons are a bit more stylish. But they can't beat the details of  handwork that our mothers and grandmothers put into theirs. Maybe we just don't find the time or energy to do such tedious work. All those machines and gadgets that are suppose to save us time seem to eat it up. Irene, my embroidery machine, does great work, still it is not the same as the time and skill of work done by hand.

I  might wear a new one but I will always cherish the old ones.

This is the email I received  this week about aprons, that got  me to thinking about them. So I thought I would share it with you as well.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few.  It was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.  From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.  Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.  Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.  In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.  When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

People would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.  But you know what?  I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ' old-time apron' that served so many purposes.