Everyday Beauty

Well, Hello There!

Gosh, I've been gone a while, haven't I? Thanks for all of the sweet birthday wishes in my last post.

I hope all of you mothers had a beautiful Mother's Day. I picked these Lily of the Valley from my garden to wish you a happy day, and then never got around to blogging on Sunday. So, here are some belated wishes. If only you could smell these...

 

These vintage "Mother" charms are store stock I've had since last October. Never listed them....kinda missed the boat for Mother's Day, didn't I? And the wrinkled pink silk ribbon is from Heather's shop. She hand dyes them and sells out as soon as they're listed. Because they're THAT beautiful!

 

So, anyway, I got so much accomplished in these past few weeks. It feels good. And lots of family fun was thrown in the mix as well. We spent a Day Out with Thomas:

And someone was so excited he could hardly stand it!
We also visited family in New Jersey {where I neglected to take any photos, 'cause I was too busy gabbing and eating...and eating...and eating.}

We went on some bike rides together. Sam is loving his seat. The whole time we were riding he was yelling, "Go! Go!" It was so funny.

 

And I found a little time to make myself a new necklace from old bits.

George hung up my birthday presents in the foyer and hallway. It was nice to get rid of the  octagonal brass ones that came with the house. I can't believe I lived with them for 5 years!

And tomorrow I leave for Jenn's event! Very excited to spend time with all of these girls and craft and shop and chat. It's going to be a true retreat for me. I made some goody bags for everyone and I'll post tomorrow or Friday and show you.

It's nice to be back. I missed you guys!

Sunday Kitchen

I was in the kitchen this morning photographing some new products, and I just got a little carried away. I knelt down on the floor next to kitchen table and took a picture of my morning cofffee and journal. And the hyacinths I cut from the garden. A simple centerpiece that perfumes the whole house.

A pile of our napkins.

A stack of teacups on a shelf. Along with an egg I kept for myself. {since I didn't keep any last year, my basket was looking pretty sad!}

Looks a bit fuller this year.

These are the ruffles on some prize ribbons I have to put away with inventory. Still sitting on the kitchen table. I WILL put these away today. The goal is to clear off the counters today. It's a tall order!

Aprons hanging on the wall.

Let us not forget the beautiful refrigerator art. W is the letter of the week, didn't you know?

I made some more bookmarks and I think I'll sell a bunch. They, too, are on the kitchen table. It's a wonder we can eat there.

I'll package them in One Hundred Wishes cotton pouches.

I'll spare you the other kitchen photos... {dirty dishes, bananas smashed in Sam's high chair, etc.} You're welcome!

I hope your week is off to a lovely start!

Broken, Tarnished, Rusted, Frayed, Corroded, Dingy and Lovely

 

I know you guys share my love of old things, right? There's a just a certain something about them that draws us in. These are some bits and pieces of less-than-perfect details around my house. Corrosion produces the best shade of aqua!

 

A favorite old Venetian box from a flea market trip a few years ago. The chipped paint makes it all the better.

 

Frayed, pleated flowers on a hat.

Pretty chipped pearls.

A dingy old cube of pins. I like that some are missing.

I have no problem loving old rusted bits or jewelry with stones missing. I don't generally incorporate them in to the pieces I sell, but once in a while I do. I like the look.

Love this antique pendant with the Opal heart stone, even though it's lost most of it's other stones.

 

This is a new {but made to look old} sconce I have on the wall in the hallway. Pretty rusty flowers!

 

A good dingy shade of pink velvet, with a ripped veil.

 

We can never have enough old laces and trims. The more dingy the better. If it's too white for me, into my leftover cup of coffee or tea it goes! George always asks, "should I dump the rest of this coffee or do you want to dye something?"  ha ha...

 

Old doll shoes to be used in an upcoming project with some friends. I love the frayed edges!

 

A 1940's wedding cake topper with discolored flowers.

Well, I can hear that Sam's just woken up from his morning nap, so I'll sign off now. Time to go be Mama! :)

Greening my Cleaning

I try to do all the "basics" like recycle, grocery shop with reusable totes, use only cloth napkins and generally try to avoid being wasteful or using disposable things. I consider it the least I can do to spare our landfills from filling up any more than they already are. But I would like to do more. For my family. For myself. For the environment. For future generations. Is it just me or has the amount of "disposable" products gotten to be ridiculous? 

So, little by little I've been trying to think of changes I can make in my daily life. Nothing major, but every little thing can help.

Inspired by my mom and sister-in-law, I crocheted a few of these cotton dishcloths. They work great and can be thrown right in the washing machine and used over and over again. Buh-bye disposable dish sponges that harbor bacteria and other yuck.

For this project, I used Lily brand Sugar 'n Cream yarn. Because it's 100% cotton, the cloths absorb and wash up well. The color shown here is Taupe Twists.

This book, A Guide to Green Housekeeping is a wonderful resource if you're interested. Did you know you can clean most of your house with nothing more than baking soda and vinegar? It's true! No nasty, toxic chemicals or irritating dyes and chemical fragrances needed. This book has become my housekeeping bible, and I refer to it time and again.

         

It was written by Christina Strutt, the owner of Cabbages & Roses. On a side note, she's also the author of this book, Decorating Vintage Style. One of my favorites on vintage-style casual decorating and living. No fussiness here, just down-to-Earth decorating with vintage fabrics, furniture and accessories. I like it lots.

 

I'm very interested to hear from anyone who has other book recommendations or tips for "greener" cleaning. It's good to share tips, sources and ideas so we can all learn things from each other. Let me know!

This is Why I Don't Dust

Because something usually gets knocked over and broken in the process! Does it mean I just have too much junque sitting around?

Somedays I long for a very minimalist, sparse, zen look...and then I come to my senses, remembering that that is just not me. At all.

I think the fingers on the hand are trying to send me a message. Isn't that the universal symbol for Rock On? And it also looks almost like I love you in sign language.

Well, I know this: it could have been much worse if other fingers had broken off instead! Yikes.

January View

It's definitely January. The sun is playing a good game of hide and seek {mostly hiding}. I have so many pretty things to share with you, if only I could photograph them. I've been doing lots of creating and embroidery and sewing some other interesting things. There are books I want to tell you about and divine recipes to share. Shop changes are in the works .....changes I am eager to set in motion.

But, for now, I'll wait for the sun and enjoy January as it was meant to be, a time of rest and relaxation. A time to think about the year ahead and how to make the most of those 365 days.

Be back when the sun is back!

Trimmed with Memories

 

I'm thinking the tree will be staying up through all of January. This is because: a) we're out of town for Christmas, and I want to enjoy it a little longer. b) There's just nothing like sitting on the couch relaxing with the tree lights twinkling, and c) The thought of taking it down right after Christmas is so not appealing to me at the moment! Amazingly, Sam doesn't really go near it all that much. Only one ornament casualty so far this year.

Unpacking the ornaments and remembering each one is a ritual I always look forward to. They all have special memories and many were handmade or given to us by friends. These are some of my favorites.

This vintage-inspired bird ornament was a gift from Holly. She even hand-stitched the strawberry. Isn't this the sweetest thing?

 

I bought this cute one from Analise at Silver Bella.

Sam's 1st Christmas baby bootie ornament.

 

Mario's 1st Christmas candy cane.

A favorite mercury glass pine cone.

 

Some pink ones I like.

 

A sweet little cone made by my friend Pam.

 

 These pretty flocked bells were a gift from Dana.

 

You know what they say, "Once a Marine, always a Marine". {this is George's contribution to the tree!}

 

A sea shell from a vacation to Hilton Head Island.

A vintage ornament from Pam. Love this!

  

Just Married.

 

Vintage Lambie.

 

Just an old one I like a lot.

 

I glittered a load of pine cones again this year and tucked them into the tree here and there. Then I placed some on the mantle's garland as well. I just love the way they look, almost frosted. And it's always nice to have natural elements incorporated among the glass and other decorations.

There are more ornaments hanging other places too. We have another pine garland wrapped around the railing that leads upstairs, and this is where we hang our annual family ornaments. Here is last year's:

And the one we got this year:

The boys have colored lights strung around the playroom and a small tree with some of their "toy" ornaments like this train I got for Mario this year.

 

So nice to see all of these ornaments come out of their safe wrapping each year and to play Christmas music while we trim the tree.

We're at my parents' house now, for the week, and as I type this I'm sitting by their tree while my dad snores on the couch, my mom reads a magazine and George alternates between snoozing and watching TV. All around their cozy tree full of lights and memories. Christmas trees are magical, aren't they?

A Pretty Little Christmas

My friend Heather is hosting a blog party called "A Pretty Little Christmas", and I thought it would be fun to join in! Participants are supposed to blog about how they are having a pretty little Christmas, by showing photos of whatever they wish to show: their homes, wrapped gifts, Christmas trees, etc. These are just some random snapshots of my holiday decorations.

I don't have space for an entire Christmas village, but I do have a couple of pieces, this wintry church being my very favorite.

 

A customer and friend, Gabrielle, made this pretty sequin-adorned tree for me! I just got it in the mail over the weekend. {love getting good mail!} It looks perfect with the rest of the forest on the buffet.

My feather tree is full of feathered friends. I used all birdies, pine cones and acorn ornaments on this one.

 

You can see them a little better here:

 

A simple little wreath on a mirror. Sometimes a small touch is all you need.

I got this wonderful ruffled stocking at Garnet Hill. I'm still working on making stockings for the 4 of us, but it doesn't look like they're going to be finished this year. So, this will be my stocking, and my 3 boys will get our old classic cream plush stand-bys. {I'm sure they won't mind as long as they're full!}

I have lots more pictures {of the tree, other decorations, and some wrapped gifts} and will post them later this week. Now, I'm going to hop around the Internet and visit some festive, inspiring blogs. Heather has posted a list of all of the participating bloggers, so we can easily see who else joined the Pretty Little Christmas party!

My Christmas Colors

 

I had made a decision to decorate with only silver, gold and cream this Christmas....

And then I opened these boxes and changed my mind. I love the colors and all the chipped patina, and I simply cannot keep these beauties hidden in boxes!

 

I'm going to leave these 12 mini pink ones in the old Shiny Brite box and display it somewhere, just as it is. I think the box itself is an interesting little decoration.

 

Some other fun ornaments in pastel shades.

 

This vintage little lambie was found at the bottom of a box of junk at a flea market.

 

I don't know who I'm kidding thinking I'll only use silver, gold and cream. I'm bored now just thinking about it!

Repurposed Ruffles

 

Q: Do you know what this is?
A: A shower curtain turned tablecloth!

I had been thinking and thinking and thinking about what to use as a tablecloth for my Silver Bella vendor table. I have nothing in my tablecloth stash that includes a floor-length table skirt, so I knew I'd have to make something {somehow} to achieve the look I was going for.

It was serendipity when I stopped in to see Abby at The Blissful and remembered she carries these gorgeous white ruffled shower curtains {pictured below right}.

 

{photo from www.TheBlissful.com}

It was a light bulb moment. "This is it! I can make this into a table skirt!" After measuring, I knew I would need two of them. I made my purchase, chatted with Abby and was on my way. Once I got home, I filled the bathtub with very hot water and added 100 tea bags. {I bought the cheapest ones I could find... tagless, generic tea.} After the fabric had reached the desired shade of time-worm cream, I drained the tub, wrung out the enormous ruffles and threw them in the dryer.

Then, I began measuring and pinning and pinning and pinning. I should have take more pictures of the process, but I was on a roll and didn't want to stop! But, seriously, I think I used 200 pins.

 

I had to go buy a pack of heavy duty sewing machine needles and some extra-strong thread. This fabric is heavy, and working with it was not unlike wresting an alligator. Once I stitched all of the panels together to form the skirt, I sewed the skirt portion to the tabletop cloth {a cream tablecloth I already had}.

Several days, many pricked fingers and a few curse words later {forgive me}.....TA DA!

 

The best part is that my kitchen table is a 6 foot farm table, and the vendor tables for Silver Bella are also 6 feet long. So, I'll be able to use it at home too!  Here is it in our kitchen, just before I packed it up in a big box and shipped it off to Omaha. Whew. That's enough sewing for me for a while. But I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!