We never did quite make it around to our official spring cleaning this year. Too busy. But this week we've started taking it one room at a time, scrubbing and reorganizing as we go. Are we the only family that has dust elephants (not bunnies, mind you) underneath our furniture?
Don't forget, our free shipping offer ends at midnight on July 4th! Use code SUNNYDAYS at the checkout.
XX us
We like simple things. Like using an old teacup instead of the not-so-cute plastic thingy to scoop out our powdered laundry detergent. Just because we can. It makes laundry days more fun, don't you think?
love, the Long ladies
Good morning, all! We wanted to let you know that our new friend Mary Jo is giving away a marie-madeline apron over at her blog, Covenant Homemaking. The best thing about it is, you get to choose your favorite style and fabrics. Plus, reading Mary Jo's blog is a real treat!
Be back soon...
xo, the Long ladies
We are so very blessed to have two of our great-grandmothers still with us. Grandma Conwell (Mom's grandmother) is 93 years old. Her name is June Madeline-- we named our business after her! She's a beautiful lady with snow-white hair... and as the Lord would have it, we inherited our creativity and artistic ability from her (and her daughter-- our grandmother Nanny, of course).
And Nana, well, she's quite a lady too. She's a fiesty little thing at 94 years! She says that you're only as old as you feel... and she feels about 35. Lately, Nana's had to keep to her chair a little bit more, but that hasn't stopped her from getting a lot done. When she isn't reading or talking on the phone, we've started her on crochet. Nana crocheted when she was younger, so it all came back quickly. Then she got this great idea. Why couldn't she help us with our business? And why couldn't she make beautiful things for other people, while she sits at home?
So. Would you like to make Nana's day by purchasing some of her lovely dishcloths? They come in groupings of three cloths, in a wide assortment of colors-- Nana likes to make them bright. Or, you can choose a dishcloth and potholder set! All of the profits go to Nana (for more yarn, you see), and we'll ship them to you for free. Get 'em while they last!
(Just so you know, these dishcloths are the best. They're the only things we ever use. Nana says she uses them for everything from wiping baby faces to scrubbing floors. They're that good.)
100% cotton handmade dishcloths by Nana~ $8
1. Fiesta SOLD 2. Spring SOLD
3. Vintage SOLD 4. Sunset SOLD
5. Sea SOLD 6. Lilacs
7. Earth SOLD
100% cotton handmade dishcloth & potholder set by Nana~ $6
1. Lemonade SOLD 2. Christmas
3. Birthday (2 in stock!) 4. Candy
Buy them for yourself. Get some for a friend. Add them to your hopechest. They make great gifts! And, they make Nana happy.
Send us an email with your order!
xo~ the Long ladies
Nana and the girls, spring 2009~
Guess what? That's right... we said giveaway. Our friend Brianna has graciously offered to give away one of our custom aprons! All you need to do is mosey on over to her blog to sign up. You get to choose the style of apron and fabrics if you win. So get after it!
And to top it all off, Brianna is one of the sweetest people you could ever hope to meet. Take time to read her blog-- we love it!
xo~ the Long ladies
Dishes are one of those things with us Long ladies. We all collect them! Oh the days, spent scouring flea markets for the perfect dish. We each have a favorite pattern, a favorite color(s), and a favorite style. Here are our recent (gorgeous) findings... now tucked safely away, until we have the pleasure of using them in our own homes, Lord willing!
for Achaia~ a fabulous floral 70s-style pitcher--
for Apphia~ perfectly elegant turquoise (!) "bubble" cups and saucers--
fabrics: farmers market and pop garden
I'm sure that everyone who's reading this likes to eat regularly... we all have that same habit... but one thing I find hard to do is think about what exactly I should make for this big family of mine. Before I started menu planning, I would get out of bed and be hit with the realization that it was entirely up to me to see that we were all fed.... what a chore! I must ashamedly admit, that it wasn't a job that I really enjoyed. So, after I could no longer think of anything to eat, I started planning a menu for a month at a time. What freedom!!! In this already-too-full brain of mine, I have one less thing to think about! All I have to do is look at the menu and say, "Girls, we're making cheeseburgers and fries tonight". Not to say that we don't ever change the menu, and not to say that everyone likes all that we eat. But, everyone eats all that we serve without complaining. Here is a sample of our December menu.
If I change my mind and we eat something unplanned, I'll circle what we DIDN'T eat and write in what we ate instead. This way I'll know what we have on hand to eat at another time. I also try to keep a balanced menu to make sure that we're eating healthily.
One thing that we've been doing lately is making plenty of extra to freeze. For instance, I've found that making two meatloaves is not much more work than one, so we make two and freeze one for another night. Then all we need is some green beans and potatoes and bread and we are good to go. As life seems to move by more quickly and we seem to always be busy, I think planning ahead is a great way to help take the stress out of feeling-hungry-and-not-knowing-what-to-eat days.
posted by Kristie
Decorating for the Christmas season is always lots of fun. But coming up with ways to use all of those cast-off ornaments can be somewhat challenging. Here are some of our favorite ways to bring a "zapper" (as our dear great grandma would say!) to holiday decor.
1. Gather up those basic shiny ball ornaments into a neat display! This little shelf above the closet door was the perfect place for vintage milk glass dishes (we have such a weakness for dishes) overflowing with colorful ornaments. This is actually a permanent decoration, because after last Christmas we couldn't bear to part with it. Here we have used vintage ornaments thrifted from flea markets and garage sales (can you believe anyone would sell hot pink ornaments?) to coordinate with our decorating colors, but wouldn't a collection of mis-matched milk glass heaped with shiny red ornaments be a beautiful centerpiece for your dining room table this Christmas?
2. Find a miniature artificial Christmas tree to enliven a boring corner. This one was purchased at a reduced sale price a couple of years ago. Dressed up with some inexpensive organdy ribbon, a strand of beads, old shiny balls, and some new glitter ornaments, this little tree becomes a big statement. (And is also a favorite of Ethan, age 4, who considers this tree "his size"!)
3. Use some old ornaments strung onto organdy ribbon as a whimsical window valance. Along with some beads (another thrift), this is a really fun holiday decoration. You may even try a strand of leftover Christmas lights, too! (Please excuse those roller shades.... they're on the makeover list!) We like to hang our ornaments at varying heights for more impact.
Here they are... I thought the day would never come that I would actually finish these pillows and put them on the bed! You see, I finished the pillows a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't want to put them on the bed until I'd finished the dust ruffle topper(I have a white dust ruffle that hangs to the floor, but I found it just wasn't zippy enough for me so I sewed on some velcro and then made different detachable dust ruffles to hang down over the top of the white).
Well, I finished it at the end of last week and thought I'd save it all for sheet changing day (see my little quirk???). So, a week ago tomorrow, I was able to put it all together. I think the fabric is beautiful and makes a special bed. By the way, I bought all of my fabric from a dear Christian lady who owns a quilt shop down in Camp Wood, TX.
posted by Kristie
We are a mother and four daughters. Working together is our specialty. And we make things.
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