and invite you to a SWANKY JUNK SWAP When: Saturday, November 13, from 11am-2pm Where: Wild Rose and Company Marketplace in Walkersville, MD Who:  There is a limit of 30 spaces, so only those who RSVP can attend. Cost: $15 for the cost of the space and lunch catered by The Corner Bakery.  You’ll also get to enjoy yummy treats from Snickety Snacks. What is a “Swanky Junk Swap”? This is an opportunity for you to bring a couple of vintage or antique pieces that are really cool, but not right for you or your home and then get to leave with two pieces you (hopefully) love.  Details will be provided to those attending the event. Why else should you attend? Giveaways from The Graphics Fairy, Wild Rose, Mustard Seed Interiors, Beans and Buttons,  Sally, Ry, and Lala, Molly Susan Strong, Snikety Snacks, Frog Tape and more! We’re also a cool bunch

First of all, the winner of the Eco Natural Soap is Ann (AKA Nutbird.)  Congrats, girl!  You’ll have to send me an e-mail directly, so we can get your soaps to you.  Thanks to all who entered! This past Saturday was our very first workshop at Wild Rose.  It was so much fun!  It truly was.  We had eight participants in the workshop and we wanted to make all of them feel special.  A station with a box of chipboard letters, supplies, glitter, and a name tag were all waiting for the ladies when they arrived. The ladies got to take the supplies and chipboard letters they made home with them.  We even had a small enough group that everyone won a giveaway! We chatted, laughed, glittered, glued and ate.  It was so fun to see what all of the women were making…spelling out the names of the children or

No, I’m not running for an elected office…   I entered my 1940’s bathroom in the True Value SOS Contest a few weeks ago.  Here’s my entry video, in case you missed it the first time.   (For those who can’t see videos, here’s the summary…pink plastic tile, builder grade 1940’s fixtures, a ballet bar and a window with a view of plywood.) Well, guess what?  I am a top ten finalist!!  I am so excited and I can totally visualize what this bathroom can look like with $2500.  Here’s what I have in mind…  (Again, a summary…new everything, 3/4 height bead board, mosaic tile floor, watery blues and bright whites.  Loveliness.) Sorry for the lousy editing.  My boys kept interrupting and we had limited time to shoot today.  Can you help me win this?  Blog, tweet, post about it on Face Book and send it to your friends.  You can vote once a

I was looking through my pictures last night and realized I never shared my shadow box project with you.  I worked on it during the “Lucketts Frenzy” in August, so I didn’t take before pictures and I totally forgot to even write about it.  I found this tired and sad looking shadow box at an antique store for practically nothing.  The frame was oak and dry.  The interior had a piece of black velvet sloppily stapled inside. It was a mess, but I could see the potential.  I started out by cleaning it up and removing the black velvet and staples.  I then stained the frame in my very favorite dark walnut stain and finished it off with wipe-on poly.  My husband cut a piece of bead board to fit the back of the interior and I painted it out in Creamy by Sherwin Williams.  I then added a glass knob to

I had a few people ask how I made my sheet music spheres, so I thought a tutorial was in order.  This is a super easy project and one that is perfect to get your older kids involved in.  Older kids = kids past the point of using safety scissors and eating paste.  Here’s what you need: Mod Podge, sheet music, foam balls (or I used old baseballs and softballs for some I made), a brush, scissors or a paper cutter.  Cut the sheet music into strips. ( This is a great project to use printed sheet music off the Internet if you don’t have the real deal sitting around.  You can always antique the finish once the Mod Podge dries.)  Any pretty paper can be used for this project, as long as it’s thin enough to work with.  Think wrapping paper, copies of old letters, stamps, maps, etc.  I just fancy

First of all, some business…  Thanks to all who participated in the Lisa Leonard Giveaway!  The winner of $40 to spend at Lisa Leonard’s shop is Melissa from Stamping with Melissa!  Congratulations!  Just send me an e-mail (marian@missmustardseed.com) and I’ll give you all of the details to claim your prize.  This is an exciting weekend for me.  It is my very first barn sale as a vendor with Chartreuse and Company in Buckeystown, Maryland, which is near Frederick.  I’ve only been to the barn twice.  The first time was one month ago, as a shopper.  The second time was last week and I was setting up my shared booth as a vendor.  It’s amazing how things can fall into place, isn’t it?  I have truly been so blessed in my business.  Some day, I need to sit down and write a post about the journey and all of the people who took a chance on

I asked and I received.  A lot!  I put out the call for help.  My sheet music stash was very low and I needed more.  I had come up empty on Craig’s List and I wasn’t finding a large lot of what I needed on e-Bay, so I asked my readers and was overwhelmed at the response.  I laughed and cried when I got this stack of packages from the post office yesterday.  No one who sent me music charged me for it.  They were so generous and encouraging in their notes!  I want to say a special thanks to the following ladies: Sue, who said, “Consider this my very small way of saying thanks for all the interesting stuff you post.” Michelle, who sent me a couple of books of popular marches. Carrie from Alabama, who sent a beautiful music book from 1886! Becky from Ohio, who sent a