HOME TOWN-LAUREL MISSISSIPPI VISIT

Yesterday my daughter-in-law and I had the pleasure of visiting Laurel, the small Mississippi town that is featured in the HGTV show, Home Town. It has only a population of 18,000 people but it is jam packed full of fun things. First of all, it has an amazing history...check this out! City in a Bubble. I was really amazed with the story of this small Mississippi town.

We live about 2 1/2 hours north and by the time we arrived, we were starving! First stop? Miss Pearl's Diner This is a new place, only open for a couple of months but boy is it good! Ben and Erin found a house for Miss Pearl and renovated it...it was a great redo! Back to the food....YUMMY! The fried chicken was awesome and the sides were even better!

A view of Miss Pearl's from our booth!

The diner had been a jewelry store that had set vacant for a long time and so was a welcome addition to the downtown area! Miss Pearl was not there while we were but we did get to meet her son(sorry I forgot to take a photo.) and he told us about his Mama and her new house. After eating, we drove by her house and it sure was pretty!

We then went to the Laurel Mercantile which is a store owned by Ben and Erin and relatives and friends. We did get meet Mallorie who is one of Erin's best friends and who is featured on the show when she helps Erin shop and decorate the renovated houses.

Mallorie

Everyone in the shop was so friendly and helpful. I bought some yummy lemon soap and a wonder Sweet Olive  candle! The best part was that my daughter-in-law bought me a print of a painting that Erin had done for my Mother's Day gift!!!! I fell in love with it the first time I saw it in the on-line store!!

Blue Vases Print

We then went outside and took pictures(which was a good thing since I kept forgetting to get my camera out!!

The side of the Laurel Mercantile

We then headed for the Historic District and all of the beautiful homes located there.(Be sure to read the link to the City in a Bubble so you will understand how all of this gorgeous architecture came to be!)

First off we visited the amazing Lauren Rogers Museum....it was unbelievable especially since it is located in such a small Mississippi town!

Lauren Rogers Museum

It was filled with wonderful painting but my favorite part was the collection of baskets! They were amazing!

First gallery

Some of the baskets...see the teeny, tiny baskets

After the museum, we just drove through the neighborhood and looked at all of the wonderful houses! We did see quite a few that Ben and Erin could do a remodel of!!

Rogers-Green House

Ben and Erin's cute little craftman's bungalow

Wisteria Bed and Breakfast 

It was getting close to the time for us to leave, so we headed back to the downtown area and dropped in to Lee's Coffee and Tea to get a snack. On the way, we saw a few more sites that I actually remembered to take pictures of!!!

Confederate Memorial

Laurel City Hall

We had a wonderful day and can not wait to return! Next time I will remember to keep my camera out and ready! If you ever have the chance to visit beautiful Laurel, Mississippi be sure to take the time and go! It is such a beautiful place!

Maddie's Harry Potter Party...come on in and join the party!!!!

This is a quicky post so I can put all of my granddaughter's Harry Potter photos together. She, her mother and I have been madly making everything for her party in the last two weeks. Nothing like waiting til the last minute is there?

Birthday Girl Herself

All of the Hogwart Wizards

The Hogwart House Scarves

The Sorting Hat...if you look closely you can see the face!

The brooms...really looked cute in person. Maddie and her mom made them

The bank with the money bags...each bag had coins in it so that the kids could buy from the various stores.

Pygmy Puffs on top shelf and the Monster Books on the bottom. Maddie made all of these and boy did the Monster books shed!

Quills and inkpot

Brick wall to enter Diagon Alley

Master Spell Book and the smaller copies for all the guests.

Edible Magic Wands made with chocolate covered pretzels.

Pumpkin Pasties...I make something similar at Christmas so I just changed the filling to pumpkin. I actually made the pastry instead of using pie crust like suggested.

Chocolate Frogs...Maddie and her mom made these. They are filled with a peanut butter center. YUM.

Happy Birthday Banner...note the colors are the colors of the Hogwarts Houses.

The girls all had a fun time and were really happy to be going home with their own wand box and wand, broom, invitation and list of needed things for school, and a Wizardry Diploma. All in all a most fun and memorable day!

GREAT NEWS X THREE!!!!!!

What a great week it has been! The house closed on Monday, I got an apartment on Thursday and on Saturday if all goes well, I will be the owner of a new Hyundai Accent! We were really lucky because the second person who saw the house, bought it! There were a few glitches along the way but all's well that ends well! I was getting a bit worried about finding a place to live since this is a college town and most of the apartments are geared to students but fortunately my daughter-in-law found a great place. 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a patio area that is enclosed, loads of closets and close to everything! It has a washer-dryer hook-up which for me was a must. The biggest plus is that with the second bedroom, I will finally have a dedicated sewing room. I can't wait to set it up...just think, if I am in the middle of something, I can close a door and hide the mess,....not that I am ever messy! We have everything ready to buy the car after a test drive. I have never owned a new car so this will be a lot of fun(and learning  all the gadgets that will be new to me! So wish me luck) ;

I'm not sure how much sewing I will be doing in the next couple of weeks since I will be moving in and setting up. I have a lot of shopping to do because I only brought the bare necessities from Florida and then have to find a cable company, etc. But I have a bit to show this week and will save a bit for later, you know, spread the joy!

First up is the finished quilt that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. I found some adorable dotted fabric for the backing and added a cute little whale applique to make the back happy! Not sure exactly where this quilt will end up but I hope it adds happiness to someone's life.

I added a navy binding

Polka Dots and a Whale..who could ask for more?

Close up of my little whale. Doesn't he look happy?

SCHOOL SPIRIT!! HAIL STATE!!!!!!

Since I have moved from Sarasota, FL(Hopefully everyone is safe from Matthew!) to Starkville, Mississippi I have become a Bulldogs fan(still a Gator at heart though!...just don't spread it around!). My son's house is right next to the MSU campus so many of the football fans come by his driveway to and from the game! My grandchildren have set up a lemonade stand and boy are folks happy to see them after their long, hot walk back to their cars!

Here is a photo from the first game!

This week we are going to add some handmade MSU gadgets to hopefully raise money for the local elementary schools. I figured that everyone needs key fobs and what is better than one that shows school spirit? I used the tutorial done by Jaime and Jacinda at Pretty Prudent.

Here are a few that I have made..glad they are easy to make!

 I also made Key Fob Lip Balm Holders from Emmaline Bags! These were easy and fun to make. I did have to plan ahead a bit to center the Bulldog but after doing it once, it was really easy. This sure helps keep the lip balm where one can get to it!

OK, the mushroom one has nothing to do with School Spirit but I really like it!

Last item on the agenda is A Cool It Can Cozy by So Sew Easy. Dont' you just love free tutorials? I sure do!

Easy to make once you figure out how to center it! A perfect fit for a can and it is insulated!!!

I still feel a little guilty not making any Gator items but when I get to my stored fabric, you can be sure I will and I will send them to my Gator friends.

Again, all of my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Florida...may you be safe!

The Foxes find a Home!

I'll start off the week with photos of the mother-to-be and her Sarasota gifts! Yes, there will be two showers, one in Florida and one in Georgia. I am saving her real "foxy" gifts for the Georgia one but have to show two photos from her shower on Sunday.

Since I am not busy making making foxes at the moment, I had to find something new to sew and I did! I found these cute lunch bags on Purl Soho. Of course, I couldn't leave them plain so out came my appliqued alphabets! I made one for my granddaughter and one for her friend. These were really fun to make...sure an upgrade from the old brown bags we used to take our lunches in!

Patriotic red, white and blue

Still polka dots, but orange this time

From the side

Remember an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Final project of the week and this is a WIP...I had to order the fabric for the backing but I think I found the perfect design! I saw this pattern on Love, Laugh and Quilt and had to copy her pattern. Her's is so pretty and soft and "pastel-y"...is that a word? Because of the charms and other fabric I had available(remember most of my material is in storage) mine turned out quite bold and bright.

I have a bit too much brown at the bottom but I can live with it!

Flower of the week are white roses that Maddie put in blue water...thus beautiful blue roses!

Glad you stopped by this week and come back again!

MORE FOXES ALONG WITH SOME MONSTERS AND SPIDERS!!!!

I am still making foxes...this time softies! I found this great pattern at Stitched by Crystal. He is just a simple toy to make but each one has a personality of his own. I added mouths to them and of course, the girl fox has eyelashes. I stayed with the color scheme of orange and gray.

How many of  you know why I named them Freddie and Flossie Fox?....Watch out, you will be showing your age!!!

I have also been working on little pouches to hold pencils, named The Gobbler by Wendi at Shiny, Happy World. They are so much fun to make and really easy and what kid doesn't love monsters? I have made two so far but am planning more to donate to the schools for prizes.

A girl monster...see her fancy eyes?

Looking a bit hungry!

Mouth full of pencils...someone has to do it!

The eyes are a bit off center but then most monsters are a bit off center!!!!!

 Now for the flower of the week. Almost everyday, Maddie brings me a flower to keep by my sewing machine! Here is one of my favorites, the Spider Lily. I really don't like spiders but the flower is really neat so I like spiders as long as they are flowers...not the arachnids!

Glad you stopped by and visited. Be sure to come back again soon!!!!