Love reading all your stories! Great thread. My sis & I were 15 months apart and we usually got the same thing every year. One year we "graduated" to 20 inch J.C. Higgins bicycles from Sears cira 1958 or 59. They were identical but we realized after a couple of days that the reason we could tell them apart is because my Dad, excuse me Santa had put the handle bars on Sis's bike upside down lol. Believe it or not, she wouldn't let him change them to the correct position. She liked being backwards LOL. Mother always put a lot of thought into our stockings, the best fruit and candies. Daddy always read from the same Night Before Christmas book when he tucked us in on Christmas Eve. It had this red velvet stuff on Santa's suit on the cover. My birthday is a week before Christmas and I believe that book had been a birthday gift. When you have a birthday that time of year, you get used to birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas wrap LOL. We always were involved with the Mary & Joseph manger scenes at the church, and with the Christmas program as my Dad was the church pianist. I was always Mary, apparently because I was chubby lol. My cousins were the other actors in the play each year. Nice to look back on that period, because I don't see any of them very often now. Mostly when a relative dies, or maybe a reunion once a year. And I remember the year we got Thumbelina dolls (they moved slowly when you cranked them up), my Barbie (it had 3 wigs!), and the year I got a Polaroid Swinger camera and GoGo boots, white of course, LOL. Still have that camera, and it always made terrible pics (black & white only), but my parents went to a lot of trouble to find that one, they were sold out because it was the trend that year. The way they found my camera was because my Dad worked part time that year at the Camera and Craft store, and he was the photographer for the Santa photos. I remember waiting on him at the mall while he worked. He had a full time job, and used that camera store job to buy equipment for his home darkroom. That was a fun experience too, developing film. Now it's mostly digital, but I enjoyed doing that at home when I was a kid. Ended up in printing profession myself and got more than plenty of darkroom work later in life. I enjoyed my kids each Christmas, now I'm making new memories with the 2 small grandsons. They're such a joy! Holidays hugs to you all ~tenderlee

Laveta, don't ever, ever underestimate your talent,girl!!!! We are all here to enjoy each others creations, give each other encouragement and just have fun with good friends! I love your teacup with the crystals, that is very unique, way to go!!!And I'm like lamb, windows make my knees buckle, too!!! I really like the Fall colors you used on it. On your pricing question, I think someone has already said it, I've always heard to mark it up 3 times your cost plus time invested. So, good luck, trial and error sometimes has to be the deciding factor in some cases, unfortunately. Is that your shop in the background pictures, if it is... you are ONE LUCKY GAL!!! I love that whitewash look on the walls! Oh, and your corn gave me the neatest idea for a window valance for my kitchen window! So there, see how your creations have inspired me! Good luck with your sale, let us know how ya do!! blessings-sherri

I got a wonderful package from Luna Moon today. She sent me garden gloves, something I can always use. Peat pots for starting seeds, which she also sent several packages of. I love getting seeds & several of those were on my wanted list so I'm really excited about those. A pretty angel on a stake pot or garden marker. She is so pretty I'm using her on a pot indoors, where I will see her more often. Some wonderful smelling soothing bath salts. I can't wait to use those. A yummy chocolate bunny & jelly belly beans. A beautiful BIG tea cup & saucer with the prettiest purple iris on it. Not sure exactly what it is but I'm going to use it for a candle holder since I have one bedroon decorated in purple. I think it can be used as a small planter or bird feeder also. Thank you so much for your nice gifts. You got my week off to a great start.

I love china teacups and you've received many good ideas for repurposing them. On Martha Stewart's site she shows using them in a drawer for small items of jewelry. Not a great space saving idea but it looked very pretty! I've made and sold many 'tea-lights' from glass punch cups or glass cups and saucers. The punch cups don't come with saucers however they are often available at yard sales or I used any clear shallow bowls instead as in the pic below. This is the best pic I have. For use in the garden these require copper fittings to be super-glued to the bottom of the saucer and a copper pipe attached to it (crush the bottom of the pipe so it inserts easily into the soil). They look great when placed in the garden with tea-lights glowing. I used them around my patio. Many people seem to use these as birdfeeders but I've never done that as all it would take is some rain to make it a moldy mess.