One More Little Thermos

Last Thursday while wrapping up our Midland Trail journey, Becky and I stopped at Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke, VA.  Some of you might recognize the place because you watch the TV show "Salvage Dawgs" on the DIY network.  It's one of my favorite shows, so I was tickled that we were able to work it into our schedule before heading back home to North Carolina.

I saw so many items that have been featured on the TV episodes and it was a fun stop.  They also have an area called the Marketplace, where vendors have booths with more cool items for sale.  Way, way back in the far corner of the building I spied a small brown Thermos and knew immediately that it was one I did not have.  So I scooped it up to add to my collection.

Over on Postcards From The Road, I'll be featuring Black Dog Salvage (probably on Thursday) and will be showing you lots of photos from our visit there.  I'd love for you to scoot over there and check it out.

I hope your week is off to a grand start and remember . . . 

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"

A Special Find On The Midland Trail

Sister Becky and I spent this past Monday through Wednesday traveling the Midland Trail in West Virginia.  In many of the small towns we visited, we ran across antique malls and neat shops full of collectibles (and some junk too . . . LOL).  We went into as many of them as time allowed, never looking for anything in particular.

One such place was in the small town of South Charleston, just west of the Capitol.  We had climbed to the top of Adena Indian Mound where we had a grand view down D Street, full of places to eat and shop.

After lunch at the Happy Days Cafe, we headed to the South Charleston Antique Mall.  We saw lots and lots of really neat stuff, but when I spied a raffiaware beverage pitcher, I knew it was the perfect match for the ice bucket I recently found!

If you find yourself traveling Highway 60 just west of Charleston, take time for a little detour to D Street and you might find some treasures too!

I hope you are having an excellent weekend.  Thanks for dropping by to check on The Coffee Cup and always remember . . . 

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"

Java Joints

I love to visit coffee shops when I travel and I'm sure that comes as no surprise to you.  My niece Jessie and I have this fantasy of owning a coffee shop together, serving a cup of joe and spining groovy tunes and you probably didn't know that.  I also love to make scrapbooks, especially of my times on the road.

Combine those two loves and it made perfect sense to create a book for The Coffee Cup called Java Joints.  I printed out several photos of the coffee shops I've stopped at during my road trips, found an interesting-shaped ledger book at an office supply, and the fun began.  I still need to make some labels to go on each page to identify the names and locations . . . it's a work in progress.

Early Monday morning, Becky will be picking me up and we'll head north to West Virginia for the Midland Trail.  We've talked about doing this road trip for a year or so now and we're finally hitting the road in search of adventure.

In the little town of Ansted, WV there is a place offering gourmet coffee and pastries and guess what it's called?!  The Coffee Cup!! Stay tuned one evening next week for a full report . . . tee hee.

Have a great weekend everyone, enjoy your own special cup 'o joe, and always remember . . . 

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"

A Petit Collection

I have started a small collection for The Coffee Cup . . . brown Thermoses.  They are small, easily displayed, and go well with my java-themed Scotty.  Luckily, the ones I've found so far have been pretty cheap.  I have no idea how many brown-colored ones are out there, but so far, I've found five.  

I think the reason they are kinda cheap is that at some point in time, they got separated from their lunch boxes and that dropped their value considerably.  Good news for me, I'd say!  The weekend is approaching and I hope there's a camping trip in your future.  At the very least, I hope there's a good cup of coffee in your plans. Have a great weekend and always remember . . . 

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"

Ready For The Next Picnic

I have a love/hate relationship with Walmart.  I hate that 99% of the merchandise comes from China, but I love the fact that I can find bargains there.  See what I mean?  I'm sure some of you share my quandary.

Several weeks ago we were in Wally World for a few items when I spied a display of tablecloths on sale for $4.00.  Big, long, vinyl tablecloths with cloth backs just perfect for campground picnic tables!

In looking through the pile, guess what I found?  Yep, a coffee-themed one.  A good glamper has only one choice in a situation like that . . . throw it in the cart and head to the check-out!

I spread it out on the patio table last evening to get a good look at it and it's going to rock The Cup . . . 

Even though it looks like it's round, it's actually very long and will be a perfect fit!  So now I'm ready for the next Java Journey so I can actually use it!  Have a great week all you campers and glampers and always remember . . . 

"Camping, Coffee & Super Cool Tablecloths . . . 

Life Is Good!"

Rainy Day Sewing

Greetings everyone from a very rainy, stormy, sunny, humid, soggy, steamy day after the Fourth!  Those of you here in the Carolinas understand exactly what I'm talking about and how we have been experiencing all of these weather conditions hour after hour, day after day since last weekend.

I was just about to walk out the door to head to C.O.R.E. Fitness this morning when the bottom fell out yet again!  So I turned right around and headed into the studio to finish a pillow project I've been working on for The Cup.

If you enjoy making pillows but need some inspiration from time to time, let me recommend a good book to you . . . 

While thumbing through the book in the fabric store, I saw several pillows that would be fun to make using my Coffee Cup fabric scraps.  The directions were easy to follow and here's the one I chose to work on first . . . 

  

Using leftover fabric from my curtains and cozies, plus some other patterns I had on hand, here's what the pillow top looked like after stitching the pieces together according to directions . . . 

So while it was pouring down rain outside, I took a seat at the sewing machine and finished this project.  The finished size is 18 x 18 and I think it looks pretty sweet sitting among all the other pillows on the bed!

I already have another pillow picked out to start work on and since our weather pattern doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon, it looks like a second java-themed project will commence shortly.

Have a good weekend everyone, stay high and dry if you are here in the South and remember . . . 

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"

Happy Fourth of July

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Since The Coffee Cup doesn't look very patriotic, I've snitched a photo from Facebook to share with you that fits today's celebrations perfectly.

This is a painting by Paige Bridges entitled "Vintage Patriot" and features a Holiday Rambler.  Paige will be featuring this sweet old red, white, and blue gal in her new 2014 Vintage Travels Calendar!

Happy 4th of July to all my camper and glamper buddies and always remember . . .

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"

Sweet Java Bunting

A couple weeks ago sister Becky brought me a sale flyer from Hancock Fabrics out of her newspaper.  Always on the lookout for coffee fabric at a bargain price, we struck out to see what they had in stock.  On the sale table was a big bolt of oilcloth that looked exactly like burlap coffee bean bags!  I calculated that I could get by with just a yard since it was so wide.  Using my 40% discount coupon, it totaled less than five bucks!

Since I found a cappuccino-themed picnic tablecloth at Walmart in early June on sale for $4, I knew this purchase would be used to make bunting for The Cup.  Some call it bunting and others call it a pennant . . . I call it easy to make and super cute!

I found a free fabric bunting pattern online from chickabug (a cute blog I thought you might like a link to), downloaded and printed it out to use as my template for the pennants.  I decided to go with the largest size at 7.75 inches.

With rotary cutter, mat, template, straight edge, and oilcloth ready, I set about cutting out 40 different pennants.  I know that I wasted some fabric, but I wanted to make sure that I captured the best aspects of the oilcloth pattern.

In no time flat, I had a stack of 40 ready for the next step in the process.  I went back to Hancock Fabrics on Saturday to find just the right ribbon to act as my binding strip.  In hindsight, I should have gotten something wider, but I went for price and color first.  Each $1.29 roll had 9 feet and I knew that would be a good length to attach to my awning.

At that point I needed help from the resident math expert, so I called on Wendy for my calculations as to where to place nine pennants along the 9 foot run and still have room on the ends to tie it off.

My next step was to fold the ribbon in half, iron it flat, and start sewing!  Wendy's measurements were spot on and in less than an hour, I had three finished pennants.  Since I don't have the awning put out, I simply strung one strand from the front window of The Cup to show you how they turned out.

With three strands of bunting looking like real burlap coffee bean bags, I cannot wait to glamp out The Cup by hanging them all the way around my awning next time I'm out camping!  

Thanks for coming 'round today and remember . . . 

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"