I Hope this last day of January finds you in a warm state... being the actual state you live in or the state of being warm and cozy out of the cold wintery weather inside your home sweet home.

 

We've had Snow, Ice, Sleet, and Freezing Rain .. the last few days here in the MO Ozarks ... So we're spending a few days inside at home. The weekend is looking up as we warm back to the 40's and 50's which will be nice so we can all get out a bit and enjoy a little sunshine and warmer temps.

 

In between the wintery weather we've had on and off the last several weeks .. we were able to revamp our Potting Shed Shop space which is located in "The Vintage Peddler". in Springfield, MO...

 

 I've talked to so many gals on instagram the last week that are so ready for Spring to arrive .. I think it's just about 50 days away so that isn't too unbearable. And before we know it Summer will be here and then we'll all be so hot we'll want it to cool off .. LOL !

 

While I'm waiting for spring to arrive ...  I like to bring the spring indoors  .. it's so easy to do by just adding a sweet vignette to your farm table, dining table, entryway etc ... ..create a cute centerpiece .. with a wood dough bowl or enamelware bowl... fill it with green  or even spanish Moss ... add in a few  vintage garden tools or even newer ones are good too .. a few dried or silk flowers tucked in .. some old seed packets and old flower frogs... just whatever garden style things you have around to create your own sweet spring vignette .... it makes a great start to adding a little spring feeling to your home sweet home...

And if you don't have any seed packets .. In my Printables section .. I've added several vintage seed packet images that you can save to your computer and print out .. cut them .. use as they are or .. you can glue them to some card board to give them a little more body.. punch holes in the tops and add a jute tie or ribbon .. create a spring seed packet garland .. the ideas are endless .. it's never to early to get started on some of your spring inspiration ..

 

 I hope you get a little garden/spring inspiration to carry you through until .. the sun warms the earth, the grass peaks out from it's soil bedding, the flowers begin to reach for the sky and the trees awaken in their bright spring green leaf spectacular to bring us yet another beautiful awakening of God's lovely creation ...

 

 Here's a few sneak peeks into the Potting shed for a little inspiration ...Enjoy💗

and

 

I hope you enjoyed a little stroll through the Potting Shed

Until Next time...

Sweet Blessings..

Sara

Let Your Light Shine ....

Sometimes life is just down right dissappointing ... When we look around at the world we live in and see all the hurt, hate, ugliness, lies, deception, evil, anger, destruction, pain, harm, that goes on constantly around us ... it can be very hard to see hope in it all. This is exactly why the Lord told us not to put our hope in worldy things or goings on. Why he said to keep our eyes on him. To keep our minds in tune with his. To keep our lives focused on the narrow road. To Live our lives daily honoring him ... Because in the end this is not our home.. So if you're feeling overwhelmed and Saddened by this old world we live in .. yes those feelings are 100% real and true Because this world is overwhelming and it's mighty sad to see how all the things I mentioned are abounding ... but God said we... just little old me and little old you are the light ... remember that song "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine" ?... Let your Light Shine .. it just takes a small lit candle to light an entire room ...Instead of focusing on all that ugliness out there ... focus on letting your light Shine !!! He told us, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3 and .... “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.Matthew 7:13-14 So get out Your Lights and Lets Make them Shine !!! Until Next Time Sweet Blessings Sara

The Sister Circle ... Do You have a Sister Circle ... ?

It's been a lot of years since I've taken the pleasure of sitting down and just reading a book. It's something I used to on a daily basis. I'd ready myself for bed .. and then crawl in my covers with a new/old book and delve into another world. Sometimes I couldn't put the book down and I would read into the wee hours of the morning of course making it hard to crawl out of bed for work the next day .. some of those stories just get their hooks in you and don't turn loose ...

Well as I said it's been a lot of years since I enjoyed reading in the evening .. life changes and there were a number of reasons I quit one being as I got older I had a much harder time focusing for long periods of time.

Recently Abbey Mom mentioned to me "do you remember that book series you read years ago about some ladies" .. well that was pretty vague and I have read a lot of books over the years. I tried to think of what book series that would be and just kept drawing a blank. She kept at it for several days into a week and another until she said it's something about a circle ... then another few days she was on her laptop searching for inspirational books with the word circle in the title. Finally she said one day was it "Sister Circle" ? .. It sounded familiar ...

She looked up that name and sure enough there was the book series "The Sister Circle" by; Nancy Moser and Vognette Bright. Yep sure enough that was the books I had read and shared with her umpteen years ago .. lets not count ! Interestingly I had only shared with her about the books all those years ago but had never read them with her. But somehow they popped back in her mind and well I have to call that a "God Thing."

I would love to say that I still had the books but not long after I read them way back when I loaned them to a family member and from there well who knows where they ended up.

Abbey researched purchasing them again so we could read them ... and in so doing found a wonderful site called Internet Archive Search where you can borrow books for an hour at a time as long as no one else has it checked out and can renew that hour as long as no one is waiting to check out the book behind you .. I guess you would say it's a virtual library ...

We were both thrilled ... and I started reading aloud the first book in the evenings for about an hour and a half .. Not having read aloud for that long in years my throat got a little sore the first few nights but it soon went away and we are now half way through book 3 of 4 in the series.

Honestly after all the years that had passed since I read the series I couldn't remember a lot about the storyline other than a lady had an old antique house that she turned into a boardinghouse ... And these women along with her created The Sister Circle. That Circle like the circles in the water created by a pebble thrown into a pond reached further out to more women and more lives with back stories, histories, heart ache, anger, frustration, that turns to hope, joy, love and a future none of them could have ever forseen.

There's Evelyn who's just lost her husband and wonders what she's going to do with a big empty house full of rooms and her life... Enter Mae the 50 something Hippie, Tessa The 60 something History buff that's serious and staunch, And Audra Mom to 5 yr old Summer a young twenty something trying to make a life for her and her daughter after making bad choices as a young woman ... The Four women argue, irritate, frustrate, share their secrets, Bond and Love one another and begin the Sister Circle .... only to move out move on and leave Evelyn with empty rooms needing to be filled once again ... It's moving, Touching, right to the heart with lots of wonderful life lessons to be learned and wonderful Joys to celebrate.

The series is just an absolute joy, it makes you think about others, Understand others, and most of all above all things LOVE others with a servants heart.

We'll be starting on book four in the next few days and honestly I'm already dreading that there's an end .. I hate that there's an end .. when you fall in love with the cahracters and the lesssons to be learned and the new lives they are living .. you just don't want there to be an end .. Kind of like a good movie series that you hate to end.

If you're a reader, or like me it's been a long time since you've read, or maybe you want to try your hand at reading .. this is such a great series ... give it a try .. you can check it out at the virtual library HERE ... or you can purchase it online in a variety of places ....

Book #1 is The Sister Circle Book #2 is Round The Corner Book #3 is An Undivided Heart Book #4 is A Place to Belong

If you're looking to have your heart softened, your outlook on the ppl that surround you changed and for God to fill your heart with his overflowing Love will this series certainly fills those desires ....

Until Next Time Sweet Blessings Sara

Sweet Magnolias Farm Spring Open House Part II ... at The Vintage Peddler

Hey Y'all ... well I'm back as promised with more pictures from our Spring Open House this last weekend ... In my last post I shared our Sweet Magnolias Farm Potting Shed Shop with you .. Today I'm sharing our Farm & Cottage Shop Space ... We had a great Spring Open House ... and I guess we packed the shops so full it honestly didn't look like a lot was gone when I went in to the shop to make sure everything was picked up and to fluff after the weekend .. But to my surprise there was a lot of tags in the books so lots more sold than I realized ... Sometimes when I pack the shops so full like I did for this open house it's actually really a nice thing because it keeps everything looking so nice for the week after Open House for shoppers that didn't get to come to the open house. Enjoy the pictures ... OH ...the last photo is of the shop space and the balcony/portico that's built over one section of it .. we change the scene on it seasonally ... so for spring we went with a cute clothesline dressed with vintage aprons ... our Dress Form "Honey" (aptly named after Honey from the Canadian TV series "Wind at my back" for her cute dresses) ... She's dressed in her cute 1930's floral print dress and floral flour sack apron ... and our sweet picket fence has a wonderful antique quilt and straw hat decking it out ... The Portico is one of my favorite features of this shop space .. no we didn't build it .. the owner did when she opened the mall .. but we get the pleasure of having it as part of our space and being able to changed out the scene for each season...

Have a great Week ... Until Next Time Happy Spring and Sweet Blessings Sara

So Spring Open House Happened at The Vintage Peddler this weekend ....

So we spent the week prepping our shop spaces inside The Vintage Peddler for Spring Open House this weekend ... First up is our Potting Shed Shop Space .. and here's a few shots of the outside and inside. I hope you all enjoy ... And if you ever happen to be in the Springfield MO area or you happen to live nearby come on by and visit us ... 1432 E Trafficway Springfield MO ... Well Enjoy and I'll be back in a few days with photos from our Farm Cottage Shop Space ...

Until Next Time .. Happy Spring and Sweet Blessings Sara