AMERICAN HARVEST

FUN TIMES IN ATLANTA

The last time we were in Atlanta we met up with our good friends, Art and Vicky.  We spent the day at the World of Coca-Cola.  If you like coca-cola memorabilia, this is the place to be.

 

"Brain Tonic" sign was just one of the fabulous old signs on exhibit.

 

 

 

One of the beautifully restored Coke machines.

 

There were lots of great old Santa and Coke advertisements.

 

Afterward, we headed over to the Varsity for some of their famous hot dogs.  What'll ya have?

 

A view from Art and Vicky's backyard.  They have a boat on the lake, it was too cold to go out for a ride!

 

So after a great day at the World of Coca-Cola and then The Varsity and a whole lot of talking between girlfriends......where did we go in Atlanta?  Can you guess from the above picture?

 

That's just CRAZY...we went to dinner at a Texas Bar-B-Que bar.  It was so fun. 

 

Here I am with Vicky and Nicole, our server, at the Texas Bar-B-Que!  You gotta love that cow hide tablecloth on the table behind us!

Atlanta sure was fun, now let's get our friends back to California so that I can visit them more than once a year!  See YA'LL later.

HOW DO YOU DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS?

Do you have any tips for holiday decorating?  Do you have a secret way of displaying Christmas items that you'd like to share?  We started decorating at home yesterday and would like to hear of your decorating ideas!

FUN TIMES AT AMERICAN HARVEST WITH DEBBEE THIBAULT

Debbee and Laura are putting finishing touches on the Debbee Display.

Monique did some last minute dusting.

 

Sharon arranged cookies and candy for our guests.

 

April moves so fast that it appears that the rest of the world is spinning out of control.

 

Bonnie and Roger (first in line again) found great Debbee pieces to add to their collection.

 

Karin loves this American Harvest Santa!

 

Adora has a great collection of Debbee's Snowmen.

 

Bob showing us the "Debbee's" he liked.

 

 

Jann and Joe drove a long way to be at AH with Debbee.

  Don and Kathy enjoyed their time with Debbee too!

SPECIAL CREATIONS BY DEBBEE THIBAULT

Debbee Thibault has created special pieces for our Magical Holiday Evening.  The event takes place Friday, November 20 from 6-9pm.  These items are one-of-a-kind creations by Debbee, specifically for American Harvest customers.  Can't attend?  Then call us at 925-485-1577 between 6-9 pm on Friday and we can help you.  Remember these pieces are not available until 6pm.

Santa with package, bear and doll   $205.00

Santa with Yoyo doll, doll, bag with elephant and house   $205.00

Ellee the Elephant dressed in white with red poka dots, tea kettle and ornament ball  $160.00

Small Green Santa with 4 ball ornaments  $132.00

Ornament Lady painted in silver over blue   $120.00

Santa on Mushroom with sack and 3 flying Santa Fairies   $220.00

Candlelight Santa with Elephant  $160.00

Snowman on log with snowball in the air  $112.00

Rabbit Snowman with Snowman ball and Snowman on a stick  $120.00

Santa Rides a Lamb  $91.00

Heart and Soul with 3 flying Santa Fairies   $345.00

Parade with boy in blue and stick horse, doll, elephant and bear   $299.00

There are several other one-of-a-kind creations that are not pictured.  We hope that you love these Debbee Thibault creations as much as we do!  Hope to see you at the Magical Holiday Evening or the next day as the DT signing continues(Saturday, Nov. 21).

DEBBEE THIBAULT SIGNING CHRISTMAS 2009

You are invited to

A MAGICAL HOLIDAY EVENING WITH DEBBEE THIBAULT

at

American Harvest

438 Main Street

Pleasanton, CA 94566

on Friday, November 20th from 6-9pm

Debbee will be featuring many one-of-a-kind creations made especially for American Harvest customers!

These designs will be very limited and no two exactly alike.  The fun will continue the next day, Saturday, Nov 21st as Debbee will be back at the store to sign her work and tell wonderful stories of inspiration.

 

 

 

 

 

If you haven't seen Debbee's new 2009 Christmas Collection this will be a great opportunity to view them in person.  Also, don't forget that American Harvest has a Debbee Thibault Loyalty Club for in store and online customers.  If you are unaware of the club, please call 925-485-1577 or email this link for details!

info@americanharvestinc.com

VOTE VOTE VOTE FOR OUR GINGERBREAD HOUSE

We have been entered into a contest that is sponsored by Michael's Craft Store.  That's right, our 8 foot by 6 foot hanging GingerBread House needs your vote.  April K. spent countless hours and days making this beauty.  No other store that we are aware of goes to the extreme in decorating like us!  So PLEASE click on the link below and vote for us.  To vote you will need to move your mouse cursor across the five snowmen, watch them turn red, then click your mouse.  To see that your vote was tabulated, click your refresh button.  I know that all of you will want to give us a 5 snowman vote!!!!!

http://www.michaelscontest.com/uploads/523

Thanks,

Sharon, Rodger and April

2009 CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE PICTURES

"Why do you go to all that trouble of decorating your store, just put the merchandise out on a shelf and they'll buy it?"  "How can you afford to be closed for a whole week to get ready for your Open House?"  We are asked these two questions over and over again by other store owners.  Our response is always the same, "We do not want to disappoint our loyal friends.  Anyone can host an open house, but ours is special, just like our customers."

With sincere appreciation to our loyal customers, who have become family and friends to us these past thirteen years, Rodger and I thank you for your love and support.

Sharon is handing out Christmas donuts to our customers who stood in line (some for hours) for our Christmas Open House.  Yes, that is a halo hovering above her head!

 This beautiful Nicol Sayre doll is framed in an array of vintage trims, fabrics and dresden.

  Vintage flowers, holly and trims adorn this composition doll head.

Vintage Christmas items peek out from antique cabinets throughout the store.

 

 

These foil Santas are reproductions made from chocolate molds.

 

This is a Dee Foust original Snowman beautifully costumed.

Alan's clever designs put a smile on everyone's face.

 

Susan created Holiday dolls that fit every themed section of our store.

 

This is one of Debbee Thibault's newest Christmas creations.

We hope that you can visit us at the store this holiday season.  If you live too far away, give us a call and we'll personally help you shop over the phone!  Don't forget to view our website as changes are coming soon. 

www.americanharvestinc.com

925-485-1577

DREAMS COME TRUE AT AMERICAN HARVEST'S CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE 2009

American Harvest is celebrating our 13th Annual Christmas Open House this weekend.  Hundreds of hours have gone into the planning and executing of this year's theme.  I am so happy to have wonderful and creative people in the American Harvest's Family of Artists.  I am inspired by their attention to detail and their thoughtful interpretation of their art.  With sincere appreciation, I dedicate this post to Nicol, Susan, Dee, Debbee, Jan, Debi, Ingrid, Sherri, and Rhonda, all of whom created fabulous items for our Christmas Open House.  Also, my wonderful friend, April, deserves unbridled praise for her creative design of our Ginger Bread House above our office.  So thank you to all of you for making American Harvest a shop where "Dreams Come True."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and hoping that all your dreams come true!

CHRISTMAS 2009 PREPARATIONS

    All of us at American Harvest have been working nonstop in our preparations for Christmas 2009.  I have been creating many vintage inspired holiday decorations, Rodger has been refinishing antiques, April is placing final details on our office themed decor, Jan is creating fabulous paper ornaments, and  Laura is doing some last minute pricing and keeping us fed with her scrumptious sconces (thank goodness for our working bees).  Our Christmas Open House is so close that I can almost hear reindeer prancing on the roof!

So here is a sneak peek at a few of the items that we will bring into the store soon.

Vintage Santas waiting patiently to be placed in their displays.

Vintage Junior Snow Patrol Skis, perfect gift for your cabin.

Vintage Christmas ornaments just waiting to be hung on the tree.

Fun books for all ages.

One of Sharon's creations made with vintage materials.

Here is an antique purse and vintage hat, a little German doll is peeking underneath.

He is getting ready too.....so be good for goodness sake!

The 13th Annual Christmas Open House at American Harvest

Saturday, November 7th   10-5pm

Sunday, November 8th      11-5pm

We will be closed from November 2-6 to prepare for the Open House.

IT'S A WORLD OF HOPE, IT'S A WORLD OF DREAMS.....

Hi everyone, this is Rodger posting today instead of Sharon.  She has no part in this one!!!!

All of you know that we love Disneyland.  While we were there this past Saturday, my worst nightmare came true.  I know that many of you LOVE the "It's a Small World" ride, but I am not a big fan of that ride.  You LOVE the sweet little dolls that sing incessantly as you slowly travel down the canal.

 

But it happened, horrors of horrors!!!  The ride broke down, yes with me in the boat next to those dolls that sing and sing and sing!!!!!  Their DARLING little faces glaring down at me as they continued to sing over and over and over...."It's a world of hope.....It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small, Small World."

 

This is where it all happened!  These "Chuckie" like dolls singing and glaring, singing and glaring at me.  We were stuck on the ride for 40 minutes, not moving at all.  The dolls continued to sing and glare at me.  Finally, an announcement, "we are working on the ride and it should be up and running shortly"....Shortly...what does that mean, get me out of here!  After the announcement was made, I incorrectly assumed that they would turn off the music and the dolls.  NO, the music volume increased.  After awhile, a cast member told us to "just sit tight" they were still working on getting the ride up and running.  I thought I would die!  The children in the boat behind us sat there loving every one of those long dreaded 40 minutes.

 

This son thought it was funny to see me in such torturous pain and agony!!

 

This daughter-in-law never complains and yet she was getting irritated.  

This son and daughter-in-law expressed my grief and complete disbelief that we would be saved from the singing.  Finally, the music was turned off and what did we hear?  The clicking, clicking and more clicking of dolls with their sweet little faces beaming at me, scaring the life right out of me!  And believe it or not, we continued to sit there helpless in this Twilight Zone.  My ears were literally bleeding...LITERALLY.  Finally, the ride started back up, we were saved.  I made a statement...."I will NEVER go on that ride again".....well I probably will, but not for a very long, long time.  Now to get that song out of my head, what can I do?