Monday, November 17, 2025

Thankful for our Kitchen Late Fall Decor and 20/20!

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Yes, I don't do Christmas yet! I hang on to Fall as long as I can, 

my FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!

Not that I don't  think a bit about the coming holidays, but Thanksgiving is our favorite formal meal of the year, here. 

Our Family takes turns having Christmas, but we often do a casual New Years Day Smorgaasbord with everyone's favorite at our house. 

Meanwhile it's still FALL!


The kitchen island decor sort of fell together, much like my early Fall, but the pumpkins are in now from outside. I've already cooked three others for recipes.

The vintage covered bowl is Blue Ridge pottery. I pick their dishes up to sell, but this one hasn't left the kitchen since I found it. I really appreciate the fluid Hand-painting on Blue Ridge. I call it SUICIDE painting because if you fudge it up, the greens are impossible to scrub off the fired once clay, and the reds have to have more than one coat or be very thickly applied. 



The plants from the porch are settling in the South kitchen window. I brought  them in just in time, you can see the snow through the window. Snow didn't last very long but we have had UP-Down temps this last week, and several hard freezes. 
It's been a strange year! First frost date should have been October 15 or around there, but here it is the week of the 10th of November...like a month overdue!


The hutch is pretty much the same, except for the bottom shelf. I do love the dashes of blue with the oranges and neutrals. I haven't changed anything to drastically here.
The towel is a 1968 Calendar from my mom's kitchen. 


The Coffee Pot was from my pottery days, I made many a piece with this matte cream glaze dipped in the Albany Brown clay glaze. Albany clay came from the Albany, New York area. The mines pooped out during the 1980's and the materials impossible to get. I heard from my supplier early and I bought 50# of it...and when I sold all my equipment in 2005 and supplies the new owner was quite happy to have a few pounds that I had left. 

The small bulldog is iron and very detailed and old, the Dutch looking people were my grandmother's and sat on her window ledge in the kitchen.


I've added some dried flowers, next week I will put up my Turkey platter. 


After years of not using the TV  I had here, I put the stein set in for the moment. 
This set is very heavy and HULL, I will be selling it when I get photos done.
My Etsy shop has been super slow, much like most people. 
Think Vintage on ETSY....no tariffs!!!!
If you care to visit my Shop BarberryLane I'm running a sale starting November 24th...so check it out! link is in the side right of this post! 


I love the colors this stray gourd turned...this may have come from the plant that cross pollinated with my Gourzucchumpkin  from a few posts back. 



The covered buffet in the kitchen holds all my plants and a few odds and ends. 
An antique Thunder pot with deer on it, upper right is great for the Fall and winter season. With Christmas coming these plants will have to find a home elsewhere???


I'm super pleased my Rex Begonia has recovered...and is very happy here...which is where I will leave it.


My dried bouquet in a very old vintage pitcher that I will harvest seeds from this week, before I deep clean the kitchen for Thanksgiving. 

Jars of dried herbs, Mini corn that we grew and our garden produce reminding me of what we have to be thankful for.

This last month we have had nothing but Dr's appt. Hubby's Eye surgery had two false starts that had included  days of prep and cancelled operations. Now We are THANKFUL the first one was very successful and he has 20/20 now in that eye. Considering he has had to wear glasses his whole life,

This is AMAZING 20/20!

Tomorrow, we do the second eye, and with another two weeks of him not being able to do anything, yes, right through Thanksgiving. The kids came last Saturday and the front yard got raked for the third time, and some Christmas lights were put up way out front. But, we are definitely short of our normal decorating schedule for outside Christmas! UGH.

Hubby and I normally tag team on all the chores indoor and outdoor including: cooking, cleaning, shopping and yardwork.
 But, I'm bushed from doing everything and all the driving into another state 4 times! But, especially the yard work. So with the late Fall we are so far behind and it's definitely cramping my decorating and I haven't done any art for two weeks.

BUT,  I'm Thankful our kids helped, oh and we made something like 12 apple pies for the freezer last Saturday, too! I cheated and bought crusts and dough on sale...first time ever. Crossing my fingers they taste good.

 I'm Thankful for ALL my Readers,  too!

Thank you for any and all comments. I will try and answer each and every one.


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Thanks so much for visiting,
OldNewGreenRedo is an ad-free blog,  I do not endorse or receive any $$ for any products I may use. I enjoy showing how I used them, but I do not receive any $$ from anywhere I shop.

A link to my BarberryLane Etsy shop is on the right hand side if you choose to visit for antiques, craft supplies, vintage, dolls and mini's.
  





Monday, November 10, 2025

Chicagoland Lake Snow and Buried Leaves.

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I think this is the third year in a row with leaves still on the trees and then a snow. It certainly is late enough to snow here in Chicagoland. But, temps in the 60's-80s in October and no frosts and now we have a SNOW EVENT here in Chicagoland. 

We are fortunate, we are maybe 1 or 2 miles further from Lake Michigan than the Lake SNOW buried point, so we escaped with lots of wind and about 3-4". 

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Some snow numbers hit over 12" depending on the wind and how close you were to the lake in Lake County, Illinois. 


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We had wonderful bright sunshine this morning that melted quite a bit already. You can see the leaves now which had been totally cleared off before the snow...and WHOOSH  it's a big soggy playpen right now on the porch.

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Mother Nature has been stalling all Fall, with those warm temps and some bushes are just turning now...the Gingko just changed, but I'm sure it won't last a day. 

My Fall Arrangement on the bench is going to have to get 'SPRUCED" up a bit
 as we slide into winter from summer/fall.

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My 'cleaned' up flowerbed, where I left quite a bit for sheltering bugs, bees, and unfortunately Bunnies. Yikes we had Bunnies, despite gallons of coyote urine. 

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But the porch is almost ready for a sip of Cocoa or a 
Hot Toddy.  I just need to find my outdoor 
tablecloths. We pull all the furniture under the eave so we can keep the porch open to blow snow.
Facing South, it usually melts off pretty much. 

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We are going to try and put up some 
Christmas lights this weekend outside. 

We need help this year because Hubby is having eye surgeries....and won't be much help. I just noticed now all the leaves are gone on our Maple and a Christmas ornament is in the tree, well we are that far on decorating for Christmas now. LOL

 I remember the ground was too squishy for climbing a ladder that high to take it down. Grins...even this 77year old has better sense than to try that.

So we have officially started for Christmas...lol. 

Thank you for any and all comments. I will try and answer each and every one.


OldNewGreenRedo is an ad-free blog,  I do not endorse or receive any $$ for any products I may use. I enjoy showing how I used them, but I do not receive any $$ from anywhere I shop.
The link to my BarberryLane Etsy shop is on the right hand side if you choose to visit. 
  




 



Giving Thanks for November

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To all those out there, preparing, cleaning, shopping, scurrying for the the holiday, my spirit is with you!

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I'm pulling photos from years past to share our

GIVING THANKS!


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I just shared these adorable turkeys in my last post.



Add caption
I have lots to share in back posts, just search Thanksgiving and they will pop up. 

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The important part now, isn't shiny windows, or sparkling glassware, or polished silver ( I Have to do this)--It is the Gathering together with 
Those wonderful Family and Friends
you LOVE and sharing all that LOVE around a table.

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Of course there is all that good Food!
And much of our garden will make it to the table. 

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Family heirlooms are still packed away, hopefully I will find these, still sorting and trying to find things.



But I love the warmth and joy of these images give of Thanksgiving from Graphics Fairy...she shares the best images.

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We also will share the bounty of our country's farms, and homemade pies! Don't forget to share with your local food pantry.

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I give thanks for passed down recipes...And THANKS to all the people who share their love and knowledge on their blogs.
I so enjoy all of these friends.

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We will get up our Tom Turkey up in the yard, but no pumpkins are out anymore....last night we just had deep frost and snow. 

Other favorites of Holiday decor are lurking in downstairs bins....but I think I will stick with all that nature provides for decor this year.

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But most of all We give Thanks for the LOVE 
Family and Friends who will gather and share!

And I hope you plan a 
 WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

Thank you for any and all comments. I will try and answer each and every one.




A Fun Kid's Craft for Thanksgiving!

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A Fun Kid's Craft for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a couple of weeks away...OH MY!
Our Grand was here one Sunday and we try to do a craft.



 I found a large bag of OLD Vintage plastic ball ornaments at a thrift store, 3 dozen or so for $4.00. Well, over half were lime green (for my D-in-law), with a few gold and 8 orange. 




Knowing I was never going to have an orange Christmas tree, I dug in my craft stashes, and decided to REDO them into Turkeys for the table with the Grandgirl.


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I had everything on hand, I shop end of season sales 
(70-90% off) for kid's craft supplies, 
and keep a huge tub in the kitchen corner buffet. 
I had a bag of brown feathers, chenille stems, google eyes and lots of foam sheets, 
foam glue and brown paper drip coffee filters. Rather than throw them out when that coffee pot passed on---I saved them for crafts-a GREEN thing to do.



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I precut the black, (I didn't have brown) foam sheets into proportional squash shaped heads. The Grand wasn't ready for scissors yet, she had just turned 4. 



Here are the supplies ready for crafting. I corral supplies into plastic tubs, to keep the table organized and easy to go fishing in. The Grand picked out the eyes, she made sure she matched them---sometimes eyes don't match though, which can be fun.

I cut each chenille stem in half with a wire cutter and twisted the two pieces
 together leaving the ends open and sticking out for turkey feet.



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Here the Grand traces her hand on two-layers of foam sheet. 
You need two hand shapes for each turkey. 

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She does a pretty good job, we used washable markers.


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We use wax paper or parchment paper for work surfaces.
 Nothing sticks to it, and makes for easy clean-up.

While Gramma cut the hands out, Grampa and the Grand glued feathers on the opened coffee filters. 
This worked great, the foam glue is thick and tacky, and the feathers stuck super. 
We each did two or three. The Grand was very patient in placing her feathers without help.

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They look very fluffy. The shape of the filter is perfect for a tail. We let these dry for over an hour.


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I made one google-eyed turkey face with the precut beaks and wattles. The Grand knew the red thing was the wattle from story hour at the Library. 
She patiently did all the beaks, eyes, and Wattles...

"That's a funny word Gramma," she giggled.

I squeezed the glue, because it was thick and sticky. She doesn't like getting sticky, lol.


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I love that they are all different, I didn't use patterns and we free handed the shapes

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I tried to use the foam glue, but as a crafter I'M IMPATIENT, so I got out the hot glue gun. 
First I put the feather layer paper on, and then the two foam hands behind, thumbs pointing out.  The Grand helped by pushing on the pieces. She pushed on all the faces after okaying their placement.



Yes, those are cookies she is working on too, we multi-task around here. I always have a plan B when working with kids. You just never know when they will want to do something else.

Gramma hot-glued the turkey feet on by herself. 
I used an extra hot glue-stick as a finger to pushdown on the 'feet' and save my own fingers.
No burns that way.

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Results, some NEW roly-poly turkeys for the Dining Table or a Tree,  that can sit up straight on top of a REUSE canning jar rim. 
The foam glue will dry completely clear, eventually.  (my Impatience-again).
These in any scale would be great for a Fall tree.



A Happy Face and Gobble-Gobble Turkeys!


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Gobble-Gobble! Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Supplies for a Roly-Poly Turkey

Safe disposable surface for gluing, I used parchment paper or wax paper.

ball ornament(s)-orange, gold or brown would work, these were soft-ball size, but you could use any, you will just have to scale down the papers and foam pieces.

Yellow, green, orange, red was glitter and what I had, also  black/brown plastic foam sheets. Quantity depends on how many you are doing

Google eyes (I buy assorted packs on sale.)

Paper coffee filters from a drip coffee pot, or cut a fan circle shape from a paper bag in scale with your ball. You could also use Cardstock scrapbook paper-something with a little body to glue feathers on.

2 chenille stems for each turkey

Foam Glue

rubber bands to hold pieces in place if you use foam glue, or hot glue used by an adult.

Feathers, we used a bag of assorted brown feathers or leaves will work also.

Washable marker, 
scissors
canning jar lid ring for a base.

Tips: 
Have the small pieces cut out ahead of time. 
Make a sample to show what stages of a finished project might look like for kids to get excited.

Put leftover supplies in zip-plastic bags, for easy finding, in your craft tote.


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

I will be sharing at these fine Parties





Sandi