On The Move

I know! I know!... I've been MIA again. Has it already been 10 days?!?

Gosh time goes by SO fast!

Well, I've been on another self-imposed tangent.

As if I didn't have anything else to do, I decided in October to close out the half-price and consignment furniture room in the back of my store so I could offer more space to the folks on my waiting list.

So I sent a note to all the current dealers to let them know that the room would be closed at the end of the year.

And since I have such GREAT dealers they cleared out the room right on time.

Then it was MY turn.

I started moving my booths into the back room AND rearranging other booths in the mall (7 in all) so the new dealers could move in.

I got everything moved around out in the mall by the first of February. But the back room was still A MESS!!

How will I EVER get this finished??!!??

Well with the help of Billy, oh and my Girlfriends, Of Course!!!

Nope, not Sandy this time. It was my girlfriend Nancy (Vintage Baby & Mattiecakes) who stayed one night until 10:30 to help me out. She's SUCH A GREAT FRIEND!! She'll give up her days off just to help others anytime they ask. She has such a giving spirit! I just love her!

ANYWAYS...It took 2 months but I FINALLY opened the back room up TODAY. And here are the results...WHEW!!!

And here is the gate the I bought from Nancy. I put it in the doorway to the room.

I just love the idea of hanging vintage cards on it to show them off.

I covered little clothespins with scrapbooking paper so they'd be a little cuter (can't leave well enough alone). And this is the final result...

So that's it! Now...On To My Next Adventure! Whatever THAT may be...

Hey! What's "The Big Idea"?

Since my friend, and business mentor Shawna (who comes up with the most AMAZING, ADORABLE, FUN, "EVERYTHING I ALWAYS WANTED" gift ideas) commented on my last blog about Donny Deutsch I thought I should mention that because of her, Donny's "Big Idea" show on CNBC is my new favorite show!

We kinda' watched it together (only 300 miles apart) a couple of nights ago and I am HOOKED!

If any of you have a business you want to grow, wish you had a business, or are looking for that next 'big idea' you should definitely watch. He features people like you and me who thought "There's gotta' be a better way" and they stepped out and made their dream a reality.

I'm SO gonna' use the advice he gave to one viewer who had a new 'turtleneck' idea. He said to send one to every girl celebrity she can think of and once 1 of them shows up in public with it on then you've gotten more publicity than any amount of advertising could give you.

So I'm thinking I should do that with my Apronality Aprons. I'd just LOVE to see Rachel Ray or Paula Dean in my prissy little apron!
They will just be ADORABLE! And the neat thing is that AGE DOESN'T MATTER! You look and feel cute no matter your age or size.

I think his show really is...as he says...Your Roadmap to the American Dream!

Oh and if THAT'S not reason enough to watch then HELLO!?! Matthew McConaughey's gonna be featured tonight!!

I'll be watching or taping, along with you I hope, every night at 9:00 pm CST (or Midnight if you're still up and miss the first one) on CNBC.
Where else can you get such GREAT business advice and inspiration for FREE??!!

Come back here and let me know what you think once you've watched.

Keep me updated on your success!

Just in Case You Forgot

I thought y'all would get a kick out of the banner I hung in the store. Now you all know that I've never been a selfish girl. So I just HAVE to share my news with ...'Hello!?!'...EVERYONE!! (grin)

[P.S. I'm even thinking of making a button to wear everywhere I go]

Okay.....I've kept you in suspense long enough....According to this (and the Dr. & his nurse--with a 95% confidence level):

It's a BOY!!!

And his name will be Cohen Eric Nelson!

And to celebrate, Tif & I went to An Affair of the Heart craft show this past weekend and picked up 'just a few things' (grin).

But among the treasures we found was this really neat way to show off Cohen's name.

Check it out...

Isn't that just THE COOLEST?? We paid $59 for this one--frame and all!

There is a website that makes these same kind of pictures (just a lot more expensive) but you can click here to see other pics.

It's so neat the way they take ordinary, everyday objects and make them into ART! I just LOVE IT!!

Didja' Miss Me?

Hey All! I'm sorry I've been off-line for the past few days. I missed ya!

"Where the heck have you been?!?", you asked.

Well...I had this idea that I wanted my blog to be a part of my web address...so to speak...so it would be an 'easier to remember' name.

As you know, you're having to enter http://www.aroundthemulberrybush.blogspot.com/ , to get here and I thought it would be easier to just enter blog.tmbgifts.com instead (see! isn't that so much better?). (UPDATE...It didn't work out for me after all--Sorry My friends)

So I tried to do some 'behind the scenes' programming (by the seat of my pants) and Blogger said that the changeover would take a couple of days.

So I waited (not knowing if my changes would even work). And waited (with fingers crossed). And waited.

But nothing happened! No blog! It's been days! I'm stumped! I've researched everything I can think of. What am I going to do now?

Well, I called the SWEETEST, SMARTEST, MOST GENEROUS young man named Craig (who happens to be the fiance of my daughter's high school friend Emily--the wedding's April 5th).

Craig's had to bail me out before when I ran into some problems setting up my website and each time I've called him he was happy to help. I couldn't BEGIN to describe how thankful I am that God brings such wonderful people into my life!

So I called Craig, emailed him my passwords, and before you know it...EVERYTHING'S FIXED!!! Just like that! Would I have loved to have been a fly on the wall watching him work!!

Times like this really make you stop and think of the people that God's brought you that have made you a better person and made your life better. Man are we blessed!!!

You know what I'm thinking? If right now you're thinking of that certain someone that God's brought into your life that's made you a better person. Let them know.

What would we do without friends?

Thanks for hanging in there with me and from now on you can find me here...at http://blog.tmbgifts.com/ (by the way...just in case you're wondering...the 'tmb' is for The Mulberry Bush). (UPDATE...Don't try it--It didn't work out for me after all--Sorry My friends)

See ya' next time! ~Cheryl

It's Official!!

And you're one of the first to know!

Big things are starting to happen and I can't contain myself any longer!

My line of aprons is on its way to The World!

It's a little scary to even think about

but the aprons are so, so cute that every Gal Pal needs one!

So, my big news is...(drum rolllllllll...)

I trademarked the name this week!

And here are just a few of the...

"Apronality" aprons!

Isn't the name just GREAT!?! (Thanks Tif!--my tuition dollars at work--grin)

Every apron makes you feel so cute & sassy!

And they come completely lined, and include an organza petticoat underneath the coordinating ruffle, AND...Best of All...a CELL PHONE POCKET!!

How clever is that?? It's SOOO handy!

('Cause we girls never go anywhere without our cell phones!)

I've been selling them at my store in Canton for about a year now but until I could trademark the name I didn't want to 'go public' with them.

So while I was at Dallas Market last week I spent some time looking at showrooms and talking to sales reps and other vendors about launching a new line.

Everyone at Market was so helpful but there's so much more to know!

Any other suggestions or words of wisdom would be much appreciated!!

I also visited some fabric warehouses with my sewing contractor so I could find some really great fabrics (because right now I'm not able to mass produce aprons of the same color due to limited fabric choices).

So the 'one-of-a-kind' aprons will be listed on my website The Mulberry Bush until I'm able to handle larger wholesale orders--which should be very soon.

It's my plan to exhibit at the next Super Market in Dallas in June, 2008.

Keep me in your prayers and I'll keep you posted!

This Little Piggy...

...went to Market!

Whewww!! What a whirlwind week!

I headed south to Texas on Monday to spend the week shopping at Antique Malls, Fabric Wholesalers, and Dallas Wholesale Market. So much to do and so little time!!!

I stopped in Waco to visit my parents' new home. Yeah, go figure...I LEAVE Waco and THEN they decide to move there. They've moved out to the country and it's JUST BEAUTIFUL there! Check out the view from their back yard!...

I didn't want to leave and stayed a day longer than I'd originally planned. But I HAD to get to Dallas for Market...time was running out!

So off I went. Determined to see every showroom. To scour every nook and cranny to find unique items for the store. HAH! WHAT WAS I THINKING??!!??

I've been to Market before, I know how GYNORMOUS the place is. But I'm such an optimist. I just KNEW I could do it. (HAH!! Again!) Take a look at the task I'd put in front of me...

This is the World Trade Center in Dallas. It houses 15 floors of showrooms. I don't know how many square feet it encompasses but I CAN tell you IT'S A LOT!!

My friend Linda and I 'hit the ground running' on my first day. I had a spring in my step and determination in my mind. We walked, browsed, walked, shopped, walked, and (did I mention...walked) to search as many showrooms as we could. Wait...It's time to leave already? Okay, well, there's always tomorrow.

And tomorrow came SO quickly! I was out of the house again at 5:45am because Dallas Traffic SUCKS!

I was alone today and I REALLY covered some ground!

I only sat down one time all day (I'd better have lost some weight with all this walking!) and, once again, the day slipped by way too fast.

Although I didn't get to every showroom I wanted to see, I did find some great products and I brought the girls back on my last day for their help in the final decisions.

I'm really excited with the items I found and can't wait to get them in to share with you on my website and in the store!

Stay Tuned!

We Shopped 'til we Dropped

Who doesn't love a bargain? Or the search for trash to treasure items?!? It's my ABSOLUTE most favorite thing to do.

Isn't 'the hunt' is about as much fun as the end result?

And hunt, hunt, hunt we did!

It was New Year's Day, and we were off, so Sandy, Amy, I went thrift store shopping FOR SEVEN HOURS!! Can you believe it? We had SUCH A GREAT TIME! We only quit because our guys were getting a little tired of being home with the kids--and without us, of course!

We shopped, and shopped, and shopped. Yep! Seven hours and 4 thrift stores later this is what we came home with...

(I'll let you in on a little secret...there were about half again as many bags still in the back of my car). ssshhh...don't tell Billy

"What in the World??", you say.

Well, we got clothes for the kids and ourselves, and everything else was either to be sold on ebay, sold at the antique mall, or fashioned into a new treasure or altered art.

It's all home and sorted now. I've been busy cleaning, pricing, and listing. Once that's all finished then I get to 'play'. Time for creating treasures.

I'll post projects as I complete them (in my 'spare'--what is that?--time).

Meanwhile...I leave Sunday for my next adventure!!! Dallas Wholesale Market! More to come...

It's Cookie Swap Time!

Here it is! Finally! The long-awaited
"Cookie Swap Blog! "

It's really quite a lengthy blog. And I apologize for that.

But it was just So, So, So wonderful!

I had to share every moment!

And I know it's a little late (most of you know by now that I lost my first hour-and-a-half's worth of work on this post and had to start over again).

So bear with me (Amy), 'cause, "I'M JUST ONE GIRL!" ~grin~ "AND I'M GONNA' BE A GRAMMA!" (sorry, I just HAD to say that again!)

Anyway, it's no secret that I'm indebted for life to Sandy, Billy, and Amy for many things.

But most recently for making my vision

of the 'best cookie swap ever!' a reality.

I'm truly blessed to have such a great family that I also enjoy as friends.

Okay, so like I mentioned before, I decided in November to have my girlfriends over for a Holiday Cookie Swap.

It was going to be SO MUCH FUN!

'Cause I have the best girlfriends EVER! And I wanted them to know it!

Now, because we all know that I can't do anything 'simply'--I don't think that word's even in my vocabulary!--I've decided that I should start things off with a really neat invitation.

And because I'm SO all about Altered Art these days I tried my hand at an Altered Art invite.

I stayed late at the store every night for a week to work on them

but the end result was SO worth the effort.

Now how fun is this?!? Like an interactive invitation! Take a look:

Okay, so the invitations have been sent, the food has been bought, and...Praise the Lord (again) for Billy, Sandy, and Amy...the house is almost cleaned and ready.

But wait! We've still got a day or so before the swap. So what if we were to create a really special little gift that the girls can take home with them.

You know...just a small, little thing (sure!) to show them how much I care.

Something fun and different.

I have to thank my girlfriend Donna in Texas (who sadly wasn't able to come) for suggesting a memory book. It was BRILLIANT! It's JUST the thing! Let's get started!

But it can't be just ANY memory book. Oh no....

my mind is too full of ideas...and I have to do them all!

Why don't we continue with our theme and make Altered Art Memory Books! Yeah!!

Oh, I was in Heaven!!

Sandy, Amy, Kaylie, and I cut, sewed, punched, stamped, and glued

to create the CUTEST little books ever!

You'll see!

And would you believe, we made them out--of all things--paper lunch bags!
Now when we originally started making them

they were all going to be the same.

But Amy got CRAZY on me (I think I've created a new crafter!!)

and just 'went to town' creating all kinds of adorable books!

She was SO GOOD!!

Well, the bar had been set then! We weren't about to be outdone!

We all put our 'best crafter hats' on

and made every one of the 10 books different.

I have to tell you "THEY ARE SO DANG CUTE!!!"

And the neatest thing about using the paper bags is that each bag forms the cutest little pockets! Great for storing photos...notes...or Hello?!?... Cookie Swap Recipes!

It took until 2am to get them finished. But wait 'til you see how they look!

You'll love 'em!

Okay, here they are...aren't they just FANTABULOUS!?!

Okay so it's Sunday and,as I said before, the invitations have been sent, the RSVP's received, the house cleaned, the food bought, and my little gifts all ready for giving.

It's almost time for the Cookie Swap!!!

But Wait!!! I haven't made MY cookies yet! Now how did THAT happen?

"Billy, could you make my cookies for me while I finish up the last-minute details?"

"You can?! Oh thank you SO much!"

"Wait, What?"

"You knew last week that I'd be asking you to make them for me?"

"Seriously?" Hmmmm.

That's amazing! I didn't even know it last week!

He knows me better than I know myself.

That's scary!

What a wonderful man I married! Because when the first batch of cookies didn't turn out quite right he went to the store for more ingredients to try again. I love this man!
Oh! It's Time!! My Girlfriends are Here!!!!

It's "Happy Cookie Swap Day"!!

And Here We Are!

(left to right) Marsha, Donna, Linda, Cheryl, Amy, Nancy, Linda, & Sandy

Oh! And before I forget...we also had two VERY special girlfriends...it wouldn't have been the same without them!

Once we sat down to eat, Sandy had each of the girls talk about "the funniest or most memorable moment spent with Cheryl".
Now THAT was funny! And kinda' wierd at the same time--like I wasn't even there!
But in the end it turned out to be the neatest thing!

Because most of the things remembered were things I'd totally forgotten about!

And it was so touching!

Oh, and by the way, of course lunch was DELICIOUS (Billy and Sandy)!!
While I was at work making copies of recipes for Amy

they were preparing a Waldorf Chicken Salad on Croissants, a delicious salad with a Raspberry Vinegarette Dressing, and little individual Trifles for dessert (thanks Mindy!).

As if we needed Trifle!!

Hello!! We had COOKIES!

Each girl brought 10 dozen cookies and 10 copies of their recipe (along with the reason why they chose that recipe) to swap with the other girls.

Since 2 girls weren't able to come (missed ya!) each one of us had a couple of dozen extra cookies to take back home (aren't our families happy now!).

Take a look at the goodies...Can these girls make some cookies or what?!? Mmmm...Mmmm...Mmmm!!! Aren't they GREAT!?!

I have to tell you. We had SO much fun! The time went by SO fast! We should do this more often!!

Why is it that there's never enough time for girlfriends?!?
Whether it's an outing for the day, a pajama party, a brunch, a bunco game

...whatever...

I HIGHLY recommend 'Girlfriend Time'.

There's nothing like it!

God Blessed us with good friends. Let's Enjoy Them!

Thanks Girls!!

More Details

Whew! The crown is all but finished. But I'm not sure if it's what I envisioned. What do you think?

I'm calling it "Crown Molding on a Budget" because we used anaglypta wallpaper border instead of layers of molding to make it look more substantial.

First we hung the border:

Then Billy added the corner pieces so we wouldn't have to make those detailed cuts to the wood. Then he added the top and bottom pieces of wood and painted everything white. This is the end result:

See, I'm thinking that there should be another piece of moulding just under the top piece. Maybe some dental moulding? I'm afraid the wallpaper is too tall proportionately to the top piece of moulding.

I'm really proud of the job Billy did. We learned a lot about what NOT to do so we'll get better with each project.

Any suggestions?

It's All in the Details

Well my friends, we spent the day working on crown moulding in our bedroom. It's not quite finished yet so I can't show you pictures. Sorry--they're coming soon!

But, at the risk of getting behind on my posting (Amy), I thought I'd let you know what's going on in our world.

We've stumbled across the neatest and cheapest (less than $100 for a 13x13 room) way to do 'crown' (I'm sure that's the technical terminology that seasoned carpenters use--and trust me, after all the 'crown' that we'll be installing, 'cause we plan to do the whole house, we will be seasoned!).

We were inspired by the home of one of my dealers at the Antique Mall. They invited us over for dinner and we were just in awe of the beauty of this home. I'm SO stoked to update mine now!

So...'crown' here we come! We've been putting this project off for a while but it's time now!

Billy will have to finish up while I'm at work tomorrow. Then we'll take pictures and you'll see just how easy and neat it looks! (At least I hope it looks as good as the image in my head! Yikes!)

What a Day!!

Well everyone...It's been a really GREAT day!!

Today is mine and Billy's 29th Anniversary. (Yep, we're some of the crazy people who got married right at Christmas time. What were we thinking?!?) Actually, December 24th was my Grandparent's anniversary and they were celebrating their 50th when we got married.--It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyway, the kids came in this afternoon and we were having such a great time visiting and playing with their new Wii.

We decided to eat dinner at our newest restaurant Montana Mike's so we met up with our friends Donna & Steve and Sandy & John and Amy & Jason and the kiddos. We had 15 for dinner!! What fun!

We had all ordered and were waiting for our food to arrive when the girls told us to open our gifts. We got a great Dirt Devil from Chell & Jess. Love it!! Then we opened Tif & Steven's gift.

It was packaged really beautifully in a Macy's box. I hated to rip it open.

Okay, it's open now but I am having the darnedest time telling what's inside.

I need my glasses--It looks like...what...M&M's?? Hmmm...okay.

Why are we getting M&M's for our anniversary? They say something but I can't tell what it is. Do they say "Happy Anniversary"? Will someone get my glasses??

Once we got it opened this is what we saw...

I'll just let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

I'm gonna' be a Grandma!!!

Eeeek!! It's the Holidays Already!?!

Can you say "OVERWHELMED"? The Holidays have snuck (is that a word?) sneaked up on me AGAIN!

But, before I get into all that, let's have a moment of praise and thanksgiving for my sister-in-law Sandy, her daughter Amy, and my Billy--(moment...moment...moment). You'll understand why shortly.

See...I haven't decorated--I mean FULLY decorated my house for Christmas in 5 years. So I'm due right? Yes, it's time.

But I'm realizing now...I should have planned better!! (any of you who know me are laughing heartily right now because you know I really AM a 'last minute kinda girl'--sigh).

Well, I decided that THIS year I'M DECORATING! All out decorating. And, because I'm a crazy girl, (what was I thinking???) I'm going to have my family here for Christmas AND have a cookie swap for my girlfriends.

But hey, I'm feeling no pressure. Because I started planning all this over a month ago so there should have been plenty of time right?

WHATEVER!!!

HOLY COW!! The time went by so danged fast!!

Before I knew it it was December 9th and I hadn't done a thing to decorate for my party on the 16th!

Time to call in the cavalry!!

"Hello, Sandy?"

"Are you busy for the next seven days?"

"Wanna' come out of your comfy little world of calmness and order into the land of chaos?"

"Wait--what?"

"You would?!?"

"Seriously?"

"Yessssss!!!"

We rushed right out into the Oklahoma Ice Storm of the Century to pick her up.

Imagine her dismay when she arrived to THIS... (I didn't get pictures of the worst of the mess--these are the 'nice' pics)

But what miracle workers we are!

After 40+ Rubbermaid tubs from storage and too many boxes to count from the attic--WE DID IT!!!

We worked at the store all day and came home to decorate in the evenings.

On Friday we drove to OKC to pick up my niece Amy so she could come help us finish up--(Couldn't have done it withoutcha' Ame!). We had a few 3 am mornings but it all came together just in time for the cookie swap on Sunday.

We didn't get to decorate outside but, hey! there's always next year (I'll have plenty more time 'cause I may just leave all this up so I don't have to go through this again--grin)

Anyway...betcha' you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see the finished result aren'tcha? (Drum Rollllllll......)

So...Ta Da!!--(Notice you can see the floors now) Enjoy!! Now, if you'll excuse me...I'm going to take a nap!

Notice the tiny little white tree next to the snowmen? That was our very first Christmas tree on December 23, 1978 (the date we got married 29 years ago). Christmas is never complete without it.