Gardening 101

In the play Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche talks about how she has had to rely on the kindness of strangers. Like Blanche our family has had to usually rely on the kindness of strangers or (friends and family) for fresh garden vegetables. I am proud to say that will not be the case this year.

Now I consider gardening to be a wonderful art form. It takes practice and trial and error just like any other art form (dancing, acting and singing...etc.) So the Reed family has attempted the art of a garden. Now mind you we are starting small.

I have to go back about 6 months. So Nat started saving all the perishable foodstuff for his compost pile out back. He said he was getting the soil ready. I'm not even sure he did it properly, but he continued to add to the pile over the last few months. He spread the stuff over the garden area and I must say it is full of worms. That's supposed to be good....right?? Every time the girls dug a hole to plant something, we saw lots of worms. Big ones to!

The dotters had different reactions to the worms. Bella screamed in delight, Bronwyn not so much.



We planted tomatoes and cucumbers (that is the dotter's favorite vegetable) and threw in a few watermelons. The girls check it everyday and I hear one of the watermelon plants is really growing.


I will give you updates on our gardening adventures (I know you are anxiously awaiting them....) and if any of you have planted a garden here's to a great harvest.



Have a creative day!

Back to the Dotters and the WINNERS!!

The next few posts will mostly be about the dotters. They are my inspiration behind this blog, and I've been neglecting some really important stuff. Stay tuned in the next few days to hear about.....GARDEN ADVENTURES...with Dad; another creative project.

This is Bronwyn on closing night with the sweet girl who played Molly. (Claire Westcott)

I blogged earlier about doing Annie together as a family. It was such a great experience and such a fun show. I really believed all the stars aligned to make this happen in our family. It truly was a once in a lifetime event. When the SCERA asked me to direct Annie I knew I wanted to use my girls. That was one reason I agreed to do it and give up so many nights. At least they would be there with me. I love collaborating with my awesome set designer husband. I knew he would give me the set I was looking for (and on a pretty limited budget). I also talked him into being in the show....just a little cameo that got great laughs. I was thrilled that I got to cast dotter #1 as one of the Annie's. She truly won that role. I thought some people would say she was cast just because I was the director, but after seeing her perform, I know people realized she truly won that part.

I love this picture so much. Do you think she likes Annie?

Here's the same little fan taking a pic with Bronwyn. A friend sent this picture to another friend who passed it on to us. She loved the show!

It was a joy to do theatre as a family.

Closing Night family picture.

My wonderful, talented and spunky orphans. Dotter #2 in the front (with the big mouth.)

I know we will do shows together in the future, but I'm not sure it will ever be quite like this.

Bronwyn with Delayne my amazing Miss Hannigan. Just finished fighting Stage 3 breast cancer. Truly an inspiration!

With Eric Harper....who played, who else....Daddy Warbucks.

                                                     
Now on to my winners......Thanks to all my blog friends who entered the giveaway and for those who are now following Fleaology.  Okay the winners are:

Marie Crown: Elisabeth

Birthday Crown/gumballs: Cameron

Princess hat/Recipe cards: Sarah B.

Vintage Milk Jar with gumballs: Artworks Studio

Lunchbox with vintage candy goodies: Lisa Elzey

Please contact me at 3dotters@gmail.com to leave me your address. I will get these sent off to you.

One final picture: This is mostly for Mike (my clever craftsman friend and fellow fleaologist.......) I love it and tell the Diva many thanks! The rest of you can enjoy my new cubbie cabinet too!

100th Blog Post Giveaway...showing my friends some LOVE

*****I know that blogger has had some major issues these last few days. My giveaway post was deleted so I am going to try and re-create it as much as possible. If you left comments in the previous post, please come back and re-post them.



To celebrate my 100th blog post I wanted to share some LOVE with my friends. I have so enjoyed being able to keep up with old friends and meeting new friends, all through the world of blogging. I started this blog mostly as a journal for myself and my girls (known as the 3 dotters) to have a record of our creative life together. I am not the best journal writer, so this blog has really helped.

I even published my first 80 posts into a book, so it is like a "real" journal!!

It has been fun reading sweet words of encouragement from friends and I thank you for that. I now have a little business that I blog about often, and a new business adventure called FLEA.O.LOGY.  I have had so much inspiration from other blogs (a lot of them are yours) and I just wanted to celebrate this little milestone with everyone. I know a lot of you love my crowns, jewelry etc and I wish I could give you all something.....but I will pick 5 lucky recipients. Don't you love getting FREE stuff?

The rules for the giveaway are as follows:

1. Leave me a comment, if you are new introduce yourself please :) and I will put your name in the drawing.

2. Become a follower of my blog and I will enter your name. (If  you follow already I will also enter your name.)

3.  Go to www.fleaology.blogspot.com to learn all about our new Flea and Craft Market we are doing this summer. Become a Fleaology follower and I will also enter your name. (Please tell me in your comment if you do.)

That is 3 chances to be entered!!!! I will run this a week (since we've had all the blogger problems) I will close it next Friday May 20 at noon.

Here are the prizes:

A crown fit for a queen. One of my creations with chicken wire and gorgeous vintage flowers. A tribute to Marie.

A sweet birthday crown with a vintage milk bottle full of gumballs.

A princess hat with 10 vintage recipes. (I know that is an odd combo.)

A large vintage milk bottle full of gumballs.

A vintage lunch box that includes fun nostalgic candy (candy lipsticks, Mary Janes, Mike and Ike's, lemondrops and a lollipop)

******Thanks to all my friends old and new for stopping by!!*******


Have a great day!

xoxoJennifer

Do you need some LOVE?

As I was walking to my office at BYU the other day I passed this note on one of the many bulletin boards. It gave me a great laugh and so I thought I would share.

As I passed that same board today, all the tags were gone.  :)

Hope you all found some love this past weekend, my 3 dotters showed me plenty on Mother's Day. Lots of sweet homemade cards and gifts and breakfast in bed!

Check back on my blog tonight or tomorrow. I am going to show my readers some LOVE. I have a fun giveaway planned for reaching my 100th blog post. I just need to take pictures of the prizes.

Have a great day!

Come to the Beehive Bazaar

Just got back from setting up my booth at the Beehive Bazaar.  Really happy with how it looks...very vintage, very girly, a little frenchy and lots of eye candy. Had a chance to peek at some other vendor's goods and talked with some old Beehive friends. Lot's of great stuff!! They open at 10am Thursday May 5. Come check out the awesome arts and crafts....... and remember buying HANDMADE is always better.

Taken with my iphone so not the best picture, but you get the idea.

I love vintage candy!

Junk Necklaces

The best craft show in UTAH!

On another note FLEAOLOGY is this Saturday! Hope to see you all there.

xoxoJen

Getting ready for the Shows, a birthday and I turned 100

I love these vintage wooden girl clowns I picked up. I put this little vignette in my kitchen to remind me to always be grateful for my beautiful girls.

So today is special for many, many reasons............

First off it is my number one dotter's birthday today! She is 11 and I can hardly believe it. I really do believe that time goes by faster when you have children. I am so proud of her. She is so smart, talented and just fun to be around most of the time :) Below is one of my favorite pictures of her. Happy Birthday Bronwyn, love you so much!


Secondly, I just realized this my 100th post! It has taken me a few years to get here, but I am so grateful for this blog. It has really allowed me to document things that I normally wouldn't do. I just published my posts at the end of the year in book format and it has been fun for the dotter's and I to read through and look at pictures. Our own little family journal.

I want to do a GIVEAWAY for my 100th post, so look for details on the 101st post. I need to come up with something really cool.


So on to what is occupying my nights lately. In previous posts I have mentioned two upcoming events that I am really looking forward to. The first is FLEAOLOGY which is this Saturday, April 30.  I have been gathering my collectibles and handmade items for the show. It is going to be awesome. We have 16 vendors who will be there and I'm sure there is something you can find. Let's hope for good weather, and if it is a little cold as we say in theatre "the show must go on". Trust me it will be worth it. Go to our FLEAOLOGY blog for spotlights on the vendors.

I am also getting ready for the Beehive Bazaar which is mostly handcrafted items. That will start on Thursday, May 4 and run through Saturday May 6. It is at the Women's Center in Provo and is one of the best shows for handmade items. Come and visit my booth!

I can't stop with the crowns! I love making them so much....and who doesn't need a crown?

Just sweet lemon drops and lollipops in a jelly jar. A perfect gift!

So I've laid out my items to price. Can I tell you how much I hate this part of the job? I love to create, but to do the "business" part of it, it just makes me want to watch TV. (and I really don't watch a lot of TV!) I've created some new tags which has been easier. I want them to be cute but not take a lot of time, so I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

I better sign off, I need to go get things priced and tagged.

My tags just staring at me, waiting to be put on all those items you see above.

Hope to see you at Fleaology or Beehive Bazaar.

My sweet orphans made these for me on opening night of Annie. I love them so much! Better than real flowers! (and I do love the real flowers)

Also if you live in Utah, come see Bronwyn in Annie at the SCERA. She is in the title role and performs on Saturday and Monday nights!

Flea.o.logy

So I have these two great friends, Cathie and Paula and we are junk pals. We love all things vintage and old. These are the friends that I go to estate sales with or thrift stores or just about any place with second-hand items. I am so lucky to have found such great friends who enjoy what I do. They have taught me a lot about the antique business. So my friend Paula has been doing this flea market for about 6 years at her historic home in Payson Utah every summer. Paula, Cathie and I got to talking one day and have decided to really try and turn the market into something special. So, Flea.o.logy was officially created. Here is our logo below.

The house is Paula's gorgeous Victorian home on main street Payson. We are having 3 sales this spring/summer. The first is coming up! Our plan is to have a show similar to Farm Chicks (if you are familiar with that). We are going to have lot's of great stuff! We have some fun vendors with unique items and AWESOME prices. We will also have craft items with a vintage flair. Our dates this year are:

APRIL 30, JULY 16, SEPTEMBER 2-3

Mark your calendars for this fun flea market! Also go to our blog where we are featuring vendors and just some cool information about things we love. If you become a follower of our blog
fleaology.blogspot.com and come to our sale we will give you 10% off 1 item! If you become a follower of my blog and come to the sale I will give you 15% off 1 item of mine! That is a chance to score a good deal at fleaology's already great prices! I hope to see you there! Also if you want leave me an email address, I will keep you updated on any sales we have.


I have this awesome neighbor who is a great picker and I bought a few items from him that you will see at Fleaology! Look at these darling vintage dishtowels.

Some of you know I'm a vendor at Beehive Bazaar. I take my love of vintage things and craft items into whimsical gifts. Here is my latest creations. I love old vintage plant pots and was wondering how they could be re-used. I am also a candy lover and I love nostalgic candy. An idea was born! Wouldn't these vintage containers make darling gifts? Below are some of the ones I've done already. I added a fun tag outlined in glass glitter! I will be bringing some to Fleaology! I will also be bringing some of my popular items, junk necklaces and crowns.

Don't you love the vintage pail? So cute for a birthday gift!

This is a cool vintage pretzel jar I picked up. It has about 7lbs of gumballs. Isn't it so fun and festive? It would look great in a kitchen.

What a sweet way to welcome a baby. Perfect for a vintage-loving mom to be.

I'm going to try and post more things on either my blog or the Fleaology blog so check back often. Visit my friend Cathie and Paula's blog and you will get a preview of their great style.

Hope to see you on April 30!