AppleUmpkin

Yearly we make the thirty-odd minute trip to the tiny hamlet of Wyoming, New York for their AppleUmpkin Festival. (that's apple/pumpkin = appleumpkin) It started as a tiny fall festival that I'd go to with my family when I was young. It's grown quite a bit since then, but is still a great place to go to find some delicious cider, taffy, and candy apples. Of course, this year it was blazing hot, so I had me a sno-cone.

I'm pretty bad at taking pictures in the moment, as you well know. The husband jumped in with his phone and took a bunch for me and I did take some pictures in 2007, and not a whole lot has changed since then. Check it:

It's a pretty cute town and there are a lot of great things for sale both food and craft-wise. But then, you're gonna see some of this...

...because it's in the country. And in NY state, the country means camo fashions. Matching his and hers sets, even. Jealous?

But then you run across something like these guys, here and you feel a lot better about things.




This guy is always there. Selling these...things. And the funny thing is, his tent is always crowded. People buy these. I mean, they are deluxe and one-of-a-kind, after all! Are they ever!


This is always a favorite tent. Home made taffy. I prefer the cinnamon and watermelon varieties. The lady who sells it can be right nasty. If you are lucky you'll get one of her care worn looking kids to ring you up. They are much nicer since I wager that they've been beaten into submission from a young age. The taffy is worth it, in case you are wondering why you would want to get in the middle of some dysfunctional family. Worth it.


This is a bed and breakfast on main street. They sell hot cider and you can have lunch there too, if you like.


I don't know what this building is or does, but there is always a large used book sale outside of it. This year I saw a teenage boy scouting the harlequin romance section. I wanted to tell him that they would just give him unrealistic ideas about love, but I'm not his grandmother.


There are tents with people playing the banjo and the fiddle. Boy do I love to hear that kind of music! These are the type of people who keep their band stuff in vintage suitcases like this:


Then there is a building that I think used to be the town hall but is now an art gallery and a community space as far as I can tell. It looks like a big story book house.



Adorable, right? This is where they have the antiques dealers set up. I find great stuff at reasonable prices every single year. This year I got these bird ornaments. Covered in black glitter. They were meant to be Christmas ornaments, but I'm totally using them for spring/Easter.


This year I bought a few home made decorations. This lady had these really, really awesome plush characters for sale. She sewed/painted them herself. Nope, I don't know what her name is or if she sells on Etsy, so don't even ask. I'm not good in the moment. I'm trying to get better, but it will take time, so just bear with me. I just sort of freaked out and asked her, "Did you make these yourself!?" She looked both startled and weirded out when she answered affirmative.


I ended up with two because I spotted the cat first and then I saw a guy buying the skeleton and rushed up to the seller with a panicked expression, I'm sure, asking if she had "any more of those" whilst I pointed frantically to the retreating man. She had one more of those, in fact and I got it! Huzzah! Just come on and look at the detail on these things, will ya?

A-double-dorable. I'm still searching for just the right places for these new guys. There was also an amazing vulture that I hope to own next year.

We also went to a thrift store and I ended up getting...

Ba-bing! The red Pyrex bowl from that one set. The only missing piece that I didn't have! It was only $1.99 as you can see. Score! Just look into the face of rainbow bliss:


I also came into possession of a few of these. Now, I saved one for myself and gave one to Sarah Mae because she's got a demented sense of cute and I knew she'd love it. I've got two left up for grabs. Anyone want?


For your viewing pleasure, and to fuel your nightmares, may I present: Sarah Mae's terrifying baby horde!

Run! Run for your lives!!

A Rose By Any Other Name

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's the Craft Antique Co-op and no amount of rebranding, fresh coats of paint, new color schemes or stupid new signs is going to change that. Harumph.

So last weekend some of us went on a shopping trip to the Craft Antique Co-op. I got quite a few things. Little things. Like, $80 worth of tiny $2 items. (Ok, ok, slight exaggeration, but wait till you see!) You know how I love my plastic. And my glitter.

It was Sarah Mae's first trip and she seemed to think we were overestimating when we said we'd be there four and a half hours. By the end of the first row (Where we stopped for a snack, no lie!) she was starting to get a handle on the situation. By the time we left she had a crazed look in her eye, was sweating and hauling two baskets to the check out counter. She got tons of great stuff (as did we all) aside from all the nightmarish rabbit/baby, lamb/fox and elf/babies. Girl has a terrifying sense of adorable.

Here is all the stuff that I'm adding to my already garish jumble of odds and ends:

With glitter.


I like the house to smell like fall.

A tiny clutch (ok, wallet if you must) and earrings. I couldn't decide if I liked these earrings because they remind me of corn or because they are sort of art deco or because they remind me of native American art. Why choose? Plus, when I wear them they make the most gorgeous tinkling noise. Like my own personal wind chimes.


And all the little bits. I love vintage Hallmark. Almost as much as I love vintage Avon. Let's not talk about it. I know that you are busy and don't have that much time on your hands.

I also got quite a few Christmas presents but I'm not going to show them. Some people should be forgetting that they exist.

Now. I've been telling you all about a certain room that I've got hidden away in my house. I wish I could say that it's concealed behind a secret bookcase/door that will only open if you move a certain book the title of which I'd never share or make public. (Though, seriously if I had one of these, I'd almost always go Catcher in the Rye. Is there anyone more fun to quote than Holden? "It gives me a real pain in the ass, if you really want to know the truth.") Alas, it's not hidden behind a secret door, gotten to through a secret passageway or revealed only with a magic word. It's just in my basement. There is one finished off room in our basement and the Muppets have been relegated to it. Some days I feel pretty bad about it. But, this being the 75th anniversary of Jim Henson's birth and all, (I think we might have talked before about how I can't get on the train where people say it's so-and-so's 75th birthday when so-and-so is no longer with us. It's the anniversary of his birth, but it is NOT his 75th birthday.) I think you deserve a peek.


Keep in mind you can't see three walls of this Cave of Wonders. I'm in the process of databasing the collection. I know, right?

Falling 2011

Fall decorating post, 2011. Loved by many, loathed by some, feared by all.

As you'll see, I have hardly any fall decorations. Last year I felt overwhelmed by their numbers. This year I'm all, "Where are all the fall decorations!? I hardly have enough to do the bathroom with!!" I'm scheduled to go to the Craft Antique Co-Op (Which is now called something ridiculous like, "The Shops On Ridge Road" or something. I refuse to acknowledge the new name. It's horrible for branding and most of the time doesn't even end up working. Plus it's trying to trick people into thinking that it's just another strip mall or something, which it isn't. They are trying to skirt around the issue of there being nothing but crafts and antiques and more often than not people dressed in garb. One year a very old woman who had to be on the far side of 90 if she was a day, was working one of the check out lines. It was Halloween time and all the employees were dressed up. This woman was wearing some god awful home made, white fuzzy cat? mask that would have shot fear into the heart of anyone who gazed upon it. My sister-in-law had nightmares for a month afterward. I didn't look it directly in the eye for fear of being turned to stone. That is not something that someone who just wants to go to a strip mall is going to stomach with any amount of goodwill. Good luck to you, sir.) soon and hope to pick up a trillion more. I still need to decorate the bedroom, bathroom and garage. Come on now.

The kitchen.


I'm pretty sure the white glittered ghost is new to you.

Most of this stuff you will have seen before. It might be in a slightly different spot. So, I'll make you look at it all again. Lucky you.


Look! The little purple house made it another year. I wasn't at all sure it would. I also wasn't sure about the candy corn, but I haven't forgotten that my cousin has dibs on it if I ever want to oust it. I feel like I can't afford to oust stuff this year. Not enough to cover the holes! (Yes, in case you are wondering those are beany baby bats up there. Don't you judge me.)


This is the first year that I put decorations in the cabinet. I like it a lot. Will continue this trend in the future, provided I have enough things to go around.

And the Martha shelf. Framed in those awesome plastic Avon lights coated in glitter.

On to...the Living Room.

The graveyard is growing. This vignette reminds me so much of the Haunted Mansion. Don't let me get started on that, though. You'll be here all day. I can blather on for an eternity about Disney World. I love it more than I love Avon. And you know how much I love Avon. Let's just say that our haunted graveyard has 999 ghosts and we're always looking for one more....(cue evil laugh here)


Remember these dudes from last year? They are keeping the husband's dvd collection company and spreading fall cheer while we sleep. (Because as you can clearly see, these are of the variety that come to life when we go to sleep.)


This is Boo Baby and Boo Baby's Baby Boo Baby. I don't think you've been introduced before. You might think I made up that ridiculous litany of names, but I didn't. The husband did. No, really, he did. I swear. The gorgeous box was given to me by a dear friend last year. Behind that you can see my wand. Maple with a phoenix feather core. Accio nerds!

2011 Fall Mantel.

New large black owl coated in black glitter from The Christmas Tree Shop. That shop is like crack. Don't go in there. You'll get hooked and no amount of hospitalization or rehab with help. They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no-no-no.

This glittery dude came from the same place last year. See what I mean? Can't. Stop.

This is a real robin's nest culled from above an outdoor light fixture at my place of work. (Don't worry, the birds had already moved out. I think it was because of the crazy amount of blue jays in that neighborhood. They really bring the nest property value down. Always throwing huge, loud parties and trying to peck cat's eyes out...) It's really a huge lump of mud with some sticks wrapped around it. I'm not sure how long it will last before it crumbles and makes a gigantic mess all over my living room. As you can see, I live on the edge.

I just remembered that I forgot to take a picture of the shadow box. That will have to wait until next time, I guess. Until then!

Fall-ing

Recently I mentioned that it was nearly time to decorate for fall. If you know me at all you know that my belief system centers around the fact that fall is the beginning of the holiday season. My birthday is in September and therefore I decorate for fall the first weekend of said month. Jealous? Thought so.

Let the festivities begin! I have so many delicious things to look forward to this month! The husband and I will begin helping to organize a Tweed Ride (bicycle ride through the city wherein everyone dresses in period tweed clothes) and begin hunting for the perfect outfits. My mother is taking us to Geva Theatre to see Amadeus, my friends run a marathon and I have about one million fun dinners! So, in the spirit of celebration, I submit to you: these photos.

This is the first year that I've decorated my bathroom for fall. Running out of room for treasures? Who, me?? My love of small plastic doo-dads runs deep.

Happy Dangler.

Toilet Tableaux.

I got the bat candle holder at the dollar store years and years ago. I used to collect bats and vampires. No smart remarks about what I didn't collect. The book has the best cover. I got it at the Dome Sale last year for $1. I think the skull came from JoAnn's quite a while back. They used to have the best seasonal decorations! Not so much now though. I guess I wasn't able to single handedly make it profitable for them. Weird.


This little lady is new. Public market 2010. There was an entire box of them and it took everything within me not to buy them all. I should have. Great. Now I'm upset.


Lights from Avon, a birthday gift from my aunt. Yarn black cat craft, found at The Ronald McDonald ABC sale, one of the first times I went. Sign and metal cat swinger from The Craft Antique Co-op. Pipe cleaner skelly's made by moi.


Sometimes decorating this cabinet gives me a pain in the rump. It's shallow and tall, you gotta stack. Do you see the ghostly Belles haunting back there?

I forgot about the dollar store for many years. Last year we found each other again and stuck up a glorious love affair. Black glitter skull, one dollar. I'm looking forward to our upcoming rendezvous!

Nick gave me the giant glittery pumpkin one year for my birthday. Two things I love getting as gifts: Food and decorations. Please note the 'heritage' salt and pepper shakers.


Beware of the tiny pumpkins! LuLu made them for me. Doesn't the middle one look like he's about to start talking any minute? No? Of course he does! What's wrong with you?

This house is new. I found it at the last RMD ABC sale. I'm not convinced it will stay the course.

I made this at craft night once. I still love it just as much.

I find that this shelf is pretty hard to decorate because it's high up and has walls. But it's stinking cute.

Another dollar store find: Styrofoam tombstone. Antique orange calling card with a creepy font.

A purse culled from my mom's collection. It's actually velvet with a rose pattern and came with that great bird pin on it. The postcard is from my cousin Deb.

Another antique calling card. Just perfect!

That gorgeous cut glass handled goblet is from my grandmother. It has sterling silver on the rim and is quite haunting. The picture is from last year's RMD ABC sale for one dollar. I made the felt acorns.



Now go enjoy the season. Have some cider or some chai or some chaider. Donuts. Pie. Lumpkins!