Pink giveaway winner & Need advice on a lamp

I'm a wee bit late posting the winner of my In the Pink giveaway. Yesterday we pulled out the Goblet of Fire...
And my trusty assistant helped me choose the winner She even wore pink for the occasion! And the winner is:
Commenter #7 shoeboxofphotographs, who happens to be none other than my dear college roommate and friend Shonda! Looks like little Miss B now has decorations for her pinky party. :) Thank you all for visiting and entering!

So the second part of my post title...
is this lamp. (Man, that's a lousy picture--it's hard to take a picture of a clear glass object!) I bought this lamp during a pre-Halloween thrift run for $1.99. It stayed in a bag under my desk for a few days until I realized in my Halloween party house-cleaning frenzy that I needed more light in a particular room, and remembered my "new" lamp. I plopped it on a table, swiped a shade from another lamp and turned it on--I confess I didn't even clean the dust off first!

In the weeks since Halloween my little two-dollar lamp has really grown on me! It reminds me of these from the Simply Shabby Chic line at Target:

This one is $29.99

And this one is $44.99

except for one thing: The previous owner got crazy with the spray paint and changed the metal fittings on the lamp to a baby blue color. I don't hate the color, it just doesn't work with my decor. I know how to wield a can of spray paint myself and thus the metal pieces are going to get a color change but I'm not sure what to choose, so I'm looking for your advice, esteemed readers!

Here are the guidelines: The walls in the room where the lamp will live are a deep red. There are accents of brown and my favorite aqua blue in the room. There isn't really any other metal in the room. There are two pieces of furniture with their original white chippy paint and two pieces of furniture in a warm oak. Because the job will only require a small amount of paint, I want to use a color I already have so here are the options:

• silver
• chrome (a bit more dull than the silver, which is a shiny metallic)
  
• black
• antique white (blogland's favorite Rustoleum Heirloom White, to be precise)
  
• aqua blue
  

What would you choose? I don't have a shade in mind just yet so I'm open to anything!

In the Pink--a giveaway

I don't think they call it nesting after you've given birth, but it feels like ever since Porter was born 8 weeks ago that I've been nesting like crazy! I've been so driven to clean out closets and organize and finish projects that have lain forgotten and half-completed for months. I think perhaps it has something to do with being so happy to NOT be pregnant anymore--just enjoying the ability to move around and bend and not feel so awkward and ponderous anymore. Even though I'm sleep deprived it feels like I've had such a surge of energy and I'm really enjoying it! My productivity level has gone way up and for a Type-A personality like me, that's a great thing.

In all of my cleaning and organizing I found several items that I had stashed away and I noticed that they have a similar PINK theme. I know there are plenty of you out there that love pink too so I put together a little package of fun pink goodness to give away!
There's a Martha Stewart pink tissue paper pom-pom kit, a cute little metallic pink bag with two bottles of OPI nail polish, a wee pink office set with a stapler and other office tools, a pack of fun pink playing cards and a pink felt chandelier.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post sometime between now and Friday at noon MST! I'll pull out the Goblet of Fire and have Maren help me choose a name and post the winner later that afternoon.

Vintage kitchen puzzle Giveaway!

I love to cook. I also love vintage, so it's no surprise to me that one of the things I love most to collect is vintage kitchenalia! I prefer the bright happy colors of 1940s and 50s kitchen fashions--tomato red, cornflower blue, aqua and yellow make my heart sing every time.

I was tickled then, when I found this puzzle at a yard sale one summer:I love to look at the photo and identify all the things I have in my kitchen: the red Krispy Kan, bowls of beaded fruit, stacks of printed tablecloths and dishtowels, green wooden-handled utensils, a red plaid metal picnic basket. There are also a few things in the photo I'd love to add to my collection, like the little chicky egg cups and the scotty dog light switch cover.

I've done the puzzle and it's complete. It has 750 pieces but it's not too difficult to put together. If you love vintage kitchenware like I do and would like to win this puzzle, just leave a comment on this post between now and Friday at noon. I'll draw a winner this sometime this weekend!

The Goblet speaks & yummy chocolate pie

Thank you all for commenting and entering to win the cute Mickey puzzle! I consulted the Goblet of Fire and it said...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

6 

Timestamp: 2008-12-02 21:20:09 UTC

Comment #6 was left by Mabel! Email me at fraulein_h at hotmail etc. etc. with your address and I'll get it in the mail post haste!

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A few more words about Thanksgiving...so many of you left me wonderful advice about how to cook a turkey, which I appreciate and will put to good use when I finally get around to cooking Birdzilla, which is still in my freezer. :) Once I got to Costco and saw the price of turkey breasts (as much as a whole turkey! Sheesh) I marched myself over to the meat case and bought some lovely filet mignon instead! Not traditional, but I didn't get any complaints from the menfolk who ate it so I think it was a fine substitution.

Everything else turned out pretty yummy with the exception of the rolls--but then yeast breads and I have never gotten along well, so I shouldn't have been surprised. That may have been the Lion House recipe but those weren't no Lion House rolls, let me tell you! Lion House hockey pucks was more like it. I know that I just need to practice more to get good at making yeast breads but really, who wants to "practice" making something that takes all day and leaves your kitchen a floury mess, without the promise of a yummy payoff for the work? Not me, and that's why my rolls were terrible!

My rolls might not have been great but at least the Chocolate Silk Pie was a winner! It was easy and SO yummy; very light but with a very rich chocolate flavor, and perfect for breakfast. ;) Here's the recipe in case you want to make it for dessert (or breakfast!):

Okay, nevermind. I've tried and tried to post this darn recipe but Blogger is having a temper tantrum so I'll try again later. Boo.

Mickey Mouse Christmas Puzzle giveaway!

Oh, this weekend has been just exactly what I've needed! I've spent the weekend hanging out with my little family. relaxing, cleaning up the house and getting around to all the things I've neglected during the past 2.5 weeks of stress and busyness. Last night it snowed so we woke up to all that white loveliness and a good excuse to stay in the house and get cozy! I've been getting the front room ready for the tree and dragging the Christmas boxes up the stairs a little at a time. Next step is to clear off my desk for a bit of Christmas crafting.
While going through some boxes I found this fun Mickey Mouse Christmas puzzle. I had originally bought it to sell on eBay but instead, I thought I'd offer it up to y'all as a giveaway! I've worked it already so I know it is complete. I was attracted to it because of the darling vintage Mickey Mouse memorabilia in the photo. It has 500 pieces but it wasn't difficult at all--just fun! I love sitting and doing puzzles with my family, and what better time than now when it is cold and blowy outside. If you'd like to win the puzzle, just leave a comment on this post--let's say between now (Saturday afternoon) and Monday at 5 pm MST. I'll pull out the Goblet of Fire on Monday night!

Hope you're all enjoying your long weekend!

October Giveaway winners & Embellishment kits!

Thanks you all for entering into the BIG October giveaway! Time to go drag the Goblet of Fire from its shelf in the basement...
Phew, it's dusty! Let's reach in and find the TWO winners for the giveaway!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

26 9 

Timestamp: 2008-10-03 23:53:37 UTC

Comment #26 is....Jenny in Maine! Jenny has a gorgeous blog of her own...wish I had design skills like that!

Comment #9 is....Heather from Party in Pink! I love what she did recently to dress up one of those plastic drawer things we all have.

Jenny and Heather, please email me at stampinfraulein AT yahoo etc. etc. with your mailing address so that I can get your goodies in the mail to you ASAP! To everyone else who entered, thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. It means so much, really--and now I have a whole bunch more new blogs to look at! I tell you, blog reading is like a full-time job. LOL

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And my other exciting news for today... I've put together three special Trick or Treat Halloween Embellishment kits, stuffed full of great vintage goodies to inspire your Halloween crafting! I'd like to offer my blog readers first dibs on them, and anything that hasn't sold by Monday October 6 will go into my new etsy shop, The Merry Magpie!

What's in these kits, you ask? Well....

3 vintage cream and black Bingo cards
1 chandelier image stamped on vintage ledger paper
3 packets of vintage trim (seam binding, rickrack etc. Each kit has one each orange, black, yellow)
1 skein matching embroidery floss
24" orange and black tissue festooning
all of the Halloween Dresdens & scrap shown
a bag of pure silver German glass glitter, fine grade
Scrabble letters that spell out BOO, EEK, GHOST depending on the kit
vintage black buttons, a mini orange clip, acrylic gems
a vintage shoe clip
2 black and white birthday candles

Here are the photos of each kit's contents. The Dresdens & scrap in each kit are the same, so there's only one close-up photo. The main difference in the kits is the color/type of vintage trim, the type of vintage shoe buckle, and the Scrabble letters.

The 'Boo' Kit

The 'Ghost' Kit

The 'Eek' Kit
The Dresdens and German scrap included in each kit

Cost for each kit is $14.50 and Priority Mail shipping is $4.80. If you're interested in purchasing a kit, please email me at themerrymagpie AT gmail DOT COM and we'll work out the PayPal details. I absolutely adore everything in the kit! The Dresdens can be tricky to find (especially in an assortment!), as can the festooning so I'm happy to be able to include some in these kits.

Have a wonderful weekend! My grand plans include listening to Conference, getting out my Halloween decorations and working in my craft room--all things I love to do. Hope you're able do do some things to make you happy as well!

Hooray for October GIVEAWAY

Sorry to be so late--I had some last minute technical difficulties on a project for my Sweet & Sinister Swap package (which was due out TODAY!) that took up quite a bit of time. But my package is now in the hands of the USPS and I promised a giveaway, so a giveaway we shall have!

Announcing...the Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls "Hooray for October" giveaway!

To celebrate the advent of October and the fact that Halloween is a mere 30 days away, I thought I'd spread some love in the form of Happy Mail. For this giveaway I will chose TWO winners! And what will the winners receive?

Each package will include one of these darling Making Memories chipboard kits. Each kit has three big chipboard shapes that can be decorated with the papers, ribbons, stickers and small chipboard embellishments that are also included. How fun!

Each package will also include a set of these spoooooky haunted house Jolee's dimensional stickers, a set of cute witchy diecuts from Stampin' Up!, and various and sundry other Halloweenish tricks and treats!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post anytime between now and Friday, October 3 at noon MST. Don't forget, there will be TWO winners this time! Happy October!