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

From Yard Sales to Flea Markets ... a fun day out in the sun ...

Today we hit the road early... wake up call at 5 a.m. in anticipation of a big once a year City wide yard sale we went to last year and did fairly well finding antique and vintage goods at so we were excited to head out and try our luck once again this year... Being veteran antiquers for well over 30 yrs now .. we always know it's a gamble that the same event will be equally good time after time .. sometimes it's a win win and other times it's a dud ... Sadly today was pretty much a dud ! .. we found a few small things .. but overall for the time, mileage and not to mention that ugly 3 letter word "GAS" ... it wasn't as fruitful a day as far as yard sales go ... However as the photo says "You can find me at the Flea Market" .. when all else fails find the local antique malls and flea markets

So we hit a few of our favorite haunts and although we didn't find anything extremely fabulous or cool .. we found some antique and vintage goods we loved .... some for the shops and well one or two things for ourselves .. Abbey collects old hardware store aprons and she got a super cool one today ... I Love old baskets and I found a neat tall square style one with a leather latch on the front which I love .. some antique linens, hardware, and a few other odds and ends made there way home with us .. The Best part of the day was driving by a house that had a badly broken Antique Chair and Rocker with the best back spindles and cool elements we can destruct and use .. with a big "FREE" sign on them .. well we whipped the van over to the curb and loaded those up ...I know I hear Ya so where's the pictures of all that great stuff .. I'm super bad at taking photos ..so please forgive me .. I'll try to get better with time .. So all in all it was a pretty good day .. and one spent with friends and family is always the best ... I hope you all have a great weekend ... I'm going to enjoy the sunshine and the warmth for the short time we'll see it once again ... as more rainy weather is headed our way early in the week .. Until Next Time Sweet Blessings Sara

I'm Back ... and what better way to begin again than with the Blessings of the Lord ...

Just over 2 years ago, I posted my last post here on Sweet Magnolias Farm Blog. Not intentionally by any means .. I honestly just ran dry on words. My well was empty. And in all honesty my well of words has been empty ever since. Changes in life, from moving long distance cross country, age related changes of body, mind and spirit, and simply working tirelessy to eek out a living are just a few of the things that took me in other directions .. but mainly my word bank was empty. It's been just over 2 years now as I said since my last post ... and there's been a stirring in my heart to return to my roots, where I spent time sharing my heart, my life, my work, and most of all inspiring others to live a life filled with, and overflowing with God's love ... He is starting to feel my mind and my heart with words again and I look forward to sharing what he lays on my heart with all of you once again. This morning I was in search of a link online ... and ended up on Dr, Chales Stanley's website In Touch Ministries .. and I ended up reading a few articles but really loved the excerpt I have included from one below. So take time and read it ... and let it all sink in ... God's always there Blessing us waiting for us to stop being busy, stop being involved in our work, family affairs, phones, social media, shopping,,, for us to simply say "Thank You" Lord for all you do for me. I want to leave you with this thought ... If you have a refrigerator filled with food, Or maybe it's empty right now ..not because you don't have the means to fill it .. maybe you need to grocery shop or maybe you prefer to eat out ... nonetheless ... "You are rich" ... yes I'll say it again "You are Rich" .. Abbey (Mom) says that often when she opens the fridge here at home to myself of my Dad .. "Do you see all that food in there ..."We're Rich"... And she means it with all her heart .. to her a fridge full of food represents a richness because she knows as I do from years ago what it's like to wonder where you're next bit of food will come from. Gods Blessings for us a Full fridge of food .. Thank You Lord for the food you have blessed us with .. thank you Lord we have full tummy's and thank you Lord for providing the Jobs, Work, and finances that provide that food ... Blessings .. their a chain reaction .. One Blessing leads to the next ... So what's your Chain Reaction Blessings ..? Thank God for them today ! Sweet Blessings to you all ... And Happy Spring ... I certainly am ready for Spring to arrive .. we actually had snow flurries here today .. and it's going to be 70 degress on Sunday ... It's confusing my body and the tree's ! Until Next Time May God's Blessings pour out upon you !

LOVE THIS .. IT'S SO TRUE BUT SOMETIMES IT'S JUST NICE TO READ IT AGAIN AND AGAIN .. This excerpt from a wonderful article : "Simply Jesus"by: Renee Oglesby from Dr. Charles Stanleys In Touch Ministries site Here: https://www.intouch.org/read/articles/simply-jesus You are probably familiar with Jeremiah 29:11, where God declares His intention to give His people prosperity, a future, and a hope. It’s a really popular verse for memorizing and sharing with others, not to mention printing out and framing for a ready reminder of how God provides for us so abundantly. But notice the verses that follow: “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will let Myself be found by you,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:12-14). Isn’t it interesting that what follows the famed promises about all that God gives are verses about seeking God and finding Him? The order here might seem reversed at first—surely blessings would come after seeking, and not before? But God knows that sometimes we let our many blessings distract us from the One who blesses. And He wants to assure us that when we remember Him and the simple beauty of communion with Him, we will find Him there, waiting.

~ An Extra Baby Jesus ~ Tis the Reason for the Season ~ Merry Christmas

~ An Extra Baby Jesus ~

Although this is not my story this is from a group I am part of,
May you enjoy this as much as I have...

I hope you have a little extra Jesus to share as well!

An Extra Baby Jesus...


About a week before Christmas a family bought a new nativity scene. When they unpacked it they found 2 figures of the baby Jesus. "Someone must have packed this wrong," the mother said, counting out the figures. "We have one Joseph, one Mary, three wise men, three shepherds, two lambs, a donkey, a cow, an angel and two babies. Oh, dear! I suppose some set down at the store is missing a baby Jesus because we have 2."
"You two run back down to the store and tell the manager that we have an extra Jesus. Tell him to put a sign on the remaining boxes saying that if a set is missing a baby Jesus, call 7126. Put on your warm coats, it's freezing cold out there."

The manager of the store copied down mother's message and the next time they were in the store they saw the cardboard sign that read, "If you're missing baby Jesus, call 7126." All week long they waited for someone to call. Surely, they thought, someone was missing that important figurine. Each time the phone rang mother would say, "I'll bet that's about Jesus," but it never was.
Father tried to explain there are thousands of these scattered over the country and the figurine could be missing from a set in Florida or Texas or California. Those packing mistakes happen all the time.

He suggested just put the extra Jesus back in the box and forget about it.
"Put baby Jesus back in the box! What a terrible thing to do," said the children. "Surely someone will call," mother said. "We'll just keep the two of them together in the manger until someone calls.
When no call had come by 5:00 on Christmas Eve, mother insisted that father "just run down to the store" to see if there were any sets left. "You can see them right through the window, over on the counter," she said. "If they are all gone, I'll know someone is bound to call tonight."
"Run down to the store?" father thundered. "It's 15 below zero out there!"
"Oh, Daddy, we'll go with you," Tommy and Mary began to put on their coats. Father gave a long sigh and headed for the front closet. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered. Tommy and Mary ran ahead as father reluctantly walked out in the cold. Mary got to the store first and pressed her nose up to the store window. "They're all gone, Daddy," she shouted. "Every set must be sold."
"Hooray," Tommy said. "The mystery will now be solved tonight!"


Father heard the news still a half block away and immediately turned on his heel and headed back home. When they got back into the house they noticed that mother was gone and so was the extra baby Jesus figurine. "Someone must have called and she went out to deliver the figurine," my father reasoned, pulling off his boots. "You kids get ready for bed while I wrap mother's present."
Then the phone rang. Father yelled "answer the phone and tell 'em we found a home for the baby Jesus." But it was mother calling with instructions for us to come to 205 Chestnut Street immediately, and bring three blankets, a box of cookies and some milk. "Now what has she gotten us into?" my father groaned as we bundled up again. "205 Chestnut. Why that's across town. Wrap that milk up good in the blankets or it will turn to ice before we get there. Why can't we all just get on with Christmas? It's probably 20 below out there now. And the wind is picking up. Of all the crazy things to do on a night like this."

When they got to the house at 205 Chestnut Street it was the darkest one on the block. Only one tiny light burned in the living room and, the moment we set foot on the porch steps, my mother opened the door and shouted, "They're here, Oh thank God you got here, Ray! You kids take those blankets into the living room and wrap up the little ones on the couch. I'll take the milk and cookies."
"Would you mind telling me what is going on, Ethel?" my father asked. "We have just walked through below zero weather with the wind in our faces all the way."
"Never mind all that now," my mother interrupted. "There isn't any heat in this house and this young mother is so upset she doesn't know what to do. Her husband walked out on her and those poor little children will have a very bleak Christmas, so don't you complain. I told her you could fix that oil furnace in a jiffy."

My mother strode off to the kitchen to warm the milk while my brother and I wrapped up the five little children who were huddled together on the couch. The children's mother explained to my father that her husband had run off, taking bedding, clothing, and almost every piece of furniture, but she had been doing all right until the furnace broke down.
"I been doin' washin' and ironin' for people and cleanin' the five and dime," she said. "I saw your number every day there, on those boxes on the counter. When the furnace went out, that number kept going' through my mind. 7162...7162. Said on the box that if a person was missin' Jesus, they should call you. That's how I knew you were good Christian people, willin' to help folks. I figured that maybe you would help me, too. So I stopped at the grocery store tonight and I called your misses. I'm not missin' Jesus, mister, because I sure love the Lord. But I am missin' heat. I have no money to fix that furnace."

"Okay, Okay," said father. "You've come to the right place. Now let's see. You've got a little oil burner over there in the dining room. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Probably just a clogged flue. I'll look it over, see what it needs."

Mother came into the living room carrying a plate of cookies and warm milk. As she set the cups down on the coffee table, I noticed the figure of baby Jesus lying in the center of the table. It was the only sign of Christmas in the house. The children stared wide-eyed with wonder at the plate of cookies my mother set before them.

Father finally got the oil burner working but said, "You need more oil. I'll make a few calls tonight and get some oil. Yes sir, you came to the right place", father grinned.

On the way home father did not complain about the cold weather and had barely set foot inside the door when he was on the phone. "Ed, hey, how are ya, Ed?"
"Yes, Merry Christmas to you, too. Say Ed, we have kind of an unusual situation here. I know you've got that pick-up truck. Do you still have some oil in that barrel on your truck? You do?"

By this time the rest of the family were pulling clothes out of their closets and toys off of their shelves. It was long after their bedtime when they were wrapping gifts. The pickup came. On it were chairs, three lamps, blankets and gifts. Even though it was 30 below, father let them ride along in the back of the truck. No one ever did call about the missing figure in the nativity set, but as I grow older

I realize that it wasn't a packing mistake at all.

Jesus saves, that's what He does.

Author unknown

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until Next Time
Sweet Farmhouse Blessings
Sara

Failures and Perserverance ~ Never Give Up

Absolutely .. my failures in life are too numerous to count or even remember .. and even when I just wanted to sit down and quit which I tried on some occasions for a short time.. then realized I had to get up and keep going and it's been worth it. I've learned so much in life by persevering... The Lord has brought me through so many failures and blessed me in ways I would never imagine.

 

 

 

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12: 1-3

 

 

Don't Stop - Don't Give up - Failures, Doubts are part of life. They are there to mold and shape us and help us to look inside ourselves and then look around and ask what can I do better, How can I change the direction of the path I'm on , and then continue on with a new vision a new hope and renewed faith in God that he is able and willing if we will surrender and follow his leading. 

 

 

Until Next Time

Sweet Farmhouse Blessings

Sara

All new Farm Girl Fancies Upcycled Flannel Shirts ...

All new Farm Girl Fancies upcycled Flannels are now available in my Etsy shop ... 

 

Each shirt is curated, designed and then sewn by me  .. No 2 are alike as they are all custom and made from castoffs, vintage, and antique materials, laces, trims etc. that I have collected throughout the years.

 

 

Here's a sneak peek at what's awaiting you...

You can visit my Etsy shop HERE

Until Next Time

Wishing you 

Sweet Farmhouse Blessings

Sara