Last Minute Gifts

I always plan NOT to do it - but, inevitably, always do. You know - - that waiting until the last minute for certain gifts. It is usually for that person who has everything, and I don't have a clue what to get. OR I have to "even out the numbers" between my kids . AND, even though my children are all grown now, I HAVE to fill stockings for them when they come home for Christmas. My husband says I'm crazy, but I'm sure I am not the only sentimental sap that does it. It's just so exciting to have them home for the holidays!

SO, what is wonderful this year is that I have the "cottage". It is a treasure trove of unusual gifts and great stocking stuffers (for those who still stuff the grown "kids" stockings). We have soaps, lotions, purse mirrors, jewelry, ornaments galore, purse hooks, stationary, etc, etc.



My favorite new item this year is Karoma. It is "aromatherapy" for your car. Well, actually, for YOU while you're in your car. It is the perfect gift for that person I talked about (you know, the one who has everything). It is a pretty locket that hangs from the rear view mirror or clips on the vent. It comes in four designs, each with a unique scent. The scent card slips into the back of the holder. With a pack of card refills, Karoma makes a nice gift.


I'm also putting "Poo-Pourri" in the girls' stockings and "Royal Flush" in the boys. I know they'll get a kick out of it, but I also know it works!

I DO have to admit that I can't find a thing for my husband. Guess I'll have to head over to the man's store - Lowes.

Please note that the cottage will be open Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, December 23rd. We will be closed December 24th until January 2nd. I hope we will see many of you before then, but if not, have a Merry Christmas. May God Bless each of you the way you have blessed Mandy and I this year.

Vintage Ball Wreath

Girly Stuff inspired me to make a ball wreath after she posted what she did here. I have loved these forever and always thought...no way...I can't do that. Well, IT WAS EASY!!! Of course the greatest expense is and will always be the balls. I dug through all of our cottage supplies and took every vintage ball I could find. Here is the result!!! I LOVE IT!! Of course I would love a vintage pink ball wreath....I may be on the search on ebay for a "whole lotta balls". I think I NEED one of these!!!


I hung it in the cottage kitchen on top of a mirror...pictures do not do it justice. I could not get a good picture straight on because of the mirror and flash etc...You will just HAVE to come and see it in person!!! LOVE IT!!

PS...It snowed last Friday in Huffman!!!! It was BIG, BEAUTIFUL SNOWFLAKES. Two years in a row in Southeast Texas...It doesn't get any better than that!!!

Mandy

Christmas at the Cottage

We had our Antiques on the Lawn Show and Christmas Open House this past weekend. Marci and I worked like crazy little elves to get the cottage ready. I wanted to share a few pics but beware....it's precious!!! :-)

You know...pictures just cannot show you how absolutely GORGEOUS!! the cottage is...if you are "remotely" in our area you really MUST stop by and truly experience the whole house!!!

Now for a few shots of the lawn displays....

And then, of course, our wonderful vendors that joined us...

My MIL volunteered, yes volunteered!!! to put together some Christmas wreaths for us. I gave her our color palette and several items from the cottage and just look at what she came up with!!!







And....we could not have made it through the morning without our Kathye...she is one of our favorite customers/on the spot helper....she is willing to jump in and wrap pretties in tissue, bag gorgeous items or stand on a ladder to retrieve a treasure...Thank You Kathye!!!

OMGosh!!!

Marci and I started today with the transformation of the cottage for the Antiques on the Lawn and Christmas Open House...OH MY!!! We knew it was going to be a tad overwhelming but I did not realize how much we actually have in the cottage. In order to move one piece of furniture you had to move a million items...oh well...we will continue and it will be GORGEOUS by Saturday morning at 9am!!! Details about the show below....

The Old Oak Cottage and Friends

Antiques on the Lawn Show

and

Christmas Open House

November 14 and 15

Saturday 9am-6pm

Sunday 12pm-5pm

We hope to see you there! Fabulous snacks to be served from the kitchen!!!

It's A Sign....

literally....Here are some new signs that will be out at our Antiques on the Lawn Show and Christmas Open House.

We also have this FAB. U. LOUS. bedroom set that I am only going to show you a tiny sneak peek of....I have been teasing you a lot with our sneak peeks huh???

We are getting excited about transforming the cottage for Christmas!! The cottage will be closed November 10-13 while we move, scoot, arrange and ooohhh and aaahhh over our Christmas Treasures.

We also have some really great vendors that will be setting up on our lawn. We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend. The show will be November 14 and 15. Saturday hours are 9am-6pm and Sunday hours are 12pm-5pm. We hope to see your smiling, Christmas shopping face here!!!!

Mandy and Marci

Sneak Peek #2

Antiques on the Lawn and Christmas Open House in 2 weeks!!! A little sneak peek at some necklace pendants that will be available at the show...Christmas anyone???? ooohhhh..Halloween is over...Thanksgiving is on it's way and YES Christmas is right around the corner!!!

Sneak Peek

Our Antiques on the Lawn Show is coming up November 14 and 15. Marci picked up a little dresser at the auction and decided after she got it back to the cottage that she REALLY hated it. She said..."It was such a good price I just bought it, but we can donate it to charity". She was scheduled for her trip to Vermont so I said...give me some time and let's see how it turns out. Well...here is a little peek at the result...I think it is cutie patootie and it will be out at our show in November.

Smells of Autumn

Nothing smells better than warm sugar cookies ...pumpkin pie.....cinnamon....cloves....AAAHHH the smells of Autumn. I love nothing more than baking and having the fabulous scent "waft" through the house. But.....with the cottage, my other job at the dentist, two teenage boys and a hubby that needs attention every once in a while, who has time to bake???!!!! Luckily!!!! We have the wonderful scents of fall right here at the cottage!!! We received our order of fall scents from Tyler Candles!!!

Come by and sniff all you want!!!! Scents include Mulled Cider, Cinnabuns, Cuddle, Homecoming, Pumpkin Spice, Mulberry Moments and Sour Cream Coffee Cake....MMMM...makes one want to go home and bake....I may just have to make time!!!!

Reminder!!! Antiques on the Lawn Show is coming up and will be here before you know it. It will be November 14 and 15. We will be closed the week leading up to the show so that we will have time to transform the cottage into a Christmas Wonderland!!! We hope you will join us!!

We're Back! and Looking Forward

We returned from The Round Top Antique Week at LaBahia late Saturday night Oct 3rd. Unfortunately, Saturday brought torrential rains most of the day. We were fortunate to have some die hard shoppers until about 2 pm. Our guys were there to offer their blood, sweat and muscles for loading the booth onto the trailer. Marci and I were so very nervous about our last few pieces of furniture getting wet and ruining the finishes on them....never fear!!!

The guys backed up that big ole trailer right into the tent!!! Everything was loaded safely and pretty dry!!! We scrambled a little with running water underfoot but Marci and I jumped into high gear, well, high gear for us!!....and moved what we needed to dry land.

We had a great show and we are looking forward to the Spring show.

We are all moved back into the Cottage and are working towards our Antiques on the Lawn show November 14 and 15. We will transform the Cottage into our own little Christmas wonderland and have our Christmas Open House that weekend. We hope you will join us for a great weekend to kick off the holidays. Be looking for hints of what's to come!!

Have a great weekend...Hey, southeast Texas is getting a cold front today!!! Yeah!!!

LaBahia Fun!!!!

Well, we are in full swing at the Round Top Antiques Week at LaBahia. We finished packing Thursday morning, Sept. 24 and drove up to the site of our booth. As Troy, Mandy's husband, turned the last corner on our drive up we had a blow out on the trailer. Unfazed, we blew into the parking lot and quickly parked the trailer behind our booth....in the gushy mud, with most of the fire ants exterminated by our great friend John that has a booth 2 doors down. We were able to put some carpet down and hang the chandeliers in our booth....before the torrential rains began. Still, unfazed, we went to bed ready for the day ahead. Friday is "set up" day at LaBahia...apparently, no one told the shoppers!!!! Jim, Marci's husband, came back to the camper at 7:20 A.M.....yes A.M. and told Marci and me that a lady was standing at the back of our cargo trailer waiting for us to open the back so she could see what we have inside....EXCUSE ME???? 7:20 A.M. ? Do we have a life???? Ok, so I will say, we have had a FAB. U. LOUS. 3 days so far!!! The booth looks incredible and we are so proud of it...I wanted to share some photos....

We would LOVE for you to come see us this week. You can find us here. We also find a little time to shop ourselves. I found the most incredible little shabby buffet....if it doesn't sell we get to bring it home to the cottage...although...I hope it sells!!! :-)

Preparing for Round Top Antique Week

We have been busily preparing (scraping, painting, cleaning, and pricing, etc.) for the La Bahia Antique Show to be held September 26th - October 3rd. This show is held during what is referred to as "Round Top Antique Week".

For those of you unfamiliar with the event, it all started with the Round Top Antique show, and has grown to encompass more than 30 miles worth of shows along Hwy 237 from Burton to Round Top to Warrenton. LaBahia has always had a reputation for having quality, and sometimes unusual, antiques. Many collectors say that they find some of the best deals there, too. It is where the "Flow Blue Brothers" set up. You would not believe their amazing collection of Flow Blue. It also has, argueably, the best food. They serve both breakfast and lunch. Indoor restrooms and free parking also make it a popular stop.

We will be located directly east across the parking lot from the concession entry into the old LaBahia hall. We hope many of you will be able to come visit us! Please Note: THE COTTAGE WILL BE CLOSED September 24th through October 5th. We will open again on October 6th - - hopefully with some wonderful new finds!

I Love It!!!

Remember the "mauve" cabinet????

Well, it only took a couple of weeks, lots of sweat in this Texas heat, a few coats of paint, then some sanding to make it just the perfect shabby. We moved it into the cottage just before Saturday's Antiques on the Lawn show and dolled it up with some fab. u. lous. fall goodies.

It is just the perfect, petite piece for a small cottage or apartment. I would love to see this in a bathroom with towels rolled up and soaps, lotions etc all stacked in it. Wouldn't some soaps in apothecary jars look great?

Here are a few pics of the cottage on Saturday at our show:

We were a little limited with what to do with our outdoor pieces because there was a chance of rain during the afternoon... we were hesitant to put things out. Well, the sun kept shining so we were optimistic and put things out on the lawn, put a tarp on everything and went home. The most horrible storm blew through about 8 pm. Rain, wind, lightning and someone said hail but we never saw hail where we were. The cottage fared well. We had a little incident with a tarp and about 500 gallons of water....uuummm, yeah, just picture that. It all worked out in the wash, so to speak and we were on for Saturday.

This last picture is of our outdoor room. We transformed it into the "French Market". It was sooo cute with our market finds in there.

Our next adventure will be the Round Top/Warrenton Antiques Show. We leave at the end of September. We are looking forward to a great week. For now, come by the cottage and pick up some fall decor for your home, yes the weather is going to be cooler, right??? Hopefully!!!!

Coming August 29th

ANTIQUES ON THE LAWN!

Mark Your Calendars! Saturday, August 29th, we will, once again, be having our "Antiques on the Lawn" show. We will try to "beat the heat" by starting at 8:00 am and running until 2:00 pm. We have gotten great feedback about the show from our customers - they just love shopping out under the big oak trees. Shoppers like to be here when the "doors open" to get the chance at picking up the best finds! Check out the pictures below of one of our earlier events.

Our yard is so big that it is hard
to capture exactly how much
"stuff" we have out there.


This shot shows one of our
"Bed Benches" which have
always sold as fast as we can
make them!

Here, check out our unique

"trellis". It was made with
three old doors, which we
always try to keep on hand.
That and old windows, and
old shutters, and old knobs,
and old chandeliers. . . .
Speaking of chandeliers . . .
did you see the one hanging
from the tree in the first photo? It went FAST!

This "bench" is an antique

iron baby crib that we have

bedecked with floral pillows

and covered the mattress in

one of our favorite colors -

PINK!

We will be closed Friday, August 28th, in preparation for the big show. We have been "reinventing and recreating" some pretty unique items for you, as well as finishing up some old vintage and antique furniture projects.
Inside the cottage, we will be debuting a new "vintage french" line, and our fall decor - we think you will love it!

Look forward to seeing you on Saturday,
Mandy and Marci