A Thrifty Nifty Weekend

I hope everyone had a nice summer weekend. I managed to do a little thrift shopping and had a lovely time. I thought I'd share my finds with you...

Can you spot a theme? From the cream date night top I scored to the old ironstone creamer, it seems that I had a thing for white in all of its glorious shades.  Applause, applause, applause!  I just never tire of all of the shades of white.  The large vintage shell with just a beautiful touch of pink was an awesome find and I can't wait to get to creating with those pretty lace appliques.

These pretty little metal tags will be incorporating into something fun one day.

Love those beautiful scalloped edge oval dishes and the pretty creamy saucer.

That's about all for now.  Remember that the sale in my Etsy shops ends July 31st.  Now is a great time to pick  up something that you've been eyeing. 

Until next time,

Some Pretty Just Because and a Special Sale You Won't Want to Miss

I was taking some pictures of a beautiful antique lace scarf on my antique dress form and after I redressed my dress form after her photo shoot, I couldn't help but fall in love with my pretty gal all over again.  She is all dressed in her finest frippery...

She's been dressed in this same beautiful outfit for some time but I just can't seem to find anything that looks as lovely as this, so she just keeps her same duds on.  Oh well...

On a non-related note, baby needs new shoes so I am running a sale in both of my Etsy shops like nothing ever seen before.  Visit The French Laundry or Elegant Farmhouse between now and the end of the month and use the code SUMMERSUN to receive 30% off of your purchase of $50 or more.  Sorry, does not apply to items "On Reserve" or on layaway.

Until next time,

Nothing Beats a Dose of Pretty for Making Me Smile

Hi Bloggie Friends,

I woke up feeling tired and cranky this morning...not good when it is only Tuesday.  I decided that the best way to shake off the Grinchiness was to play with the camera and take some pretty pictures just because.  I love the awesome antique linens I got recently and roses, china, and white ironstone is a trifecta for beating the blues, at least for me and lots of my peeps out here in cyberspace (you know who you are).  I've had this amazing cup and saucer for ages.  The roses in this photo are from my garden and smell SOOO good.  I took them into my office in a little milk glass vase and it made the office smell so nice...

Butter pat love for sure...

The little enamel Roman numerals make my heart go pitter patter. 

I can't help but smile even editing the pictures.  Got the French cheese heart mold (couer a la creme is it's proper name) in Brimfield about 5 years ago and I LOVE it!  I clearly need to make time to play with the camera more often.  It's cheaper than therapy!  I'm sharing today's post with Blissful Whites Wednesday over at Timewashed.

Until next time,

Summer Roses-What's Not to Love?

I know this isn't the first time I've bragged on inexpensive grocery store roses, but these little beauties are worthy of a mention.  First of all, they lasted well over a week and looked great the whole time.  In fact, they went to full on full bloom after a couple of days and were even more beautiful than when they were brought home and the Alstroemeria stayed gorgeous for almost 10 days.  The way the petals curled down reminded me of the Victorian roses painted by Catherine Klein and Paul Delongpre (and contemporary artist Christie Repasy). 

The way the light was shining on the roses, it almost made them glow like the sunshine itself.

I put them on a sweet little vintage folding chair that I painted with Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Luckett's Green.  I love the way it turned out.  The pictures didn't even begin to do justice to the depth and dimension this paint has to it when it goes on.

You may see this one in my Elegant Farmhouse Etsy shop one of these days, but for now, "she's with me".  (SMILE)  I hope my U.S. friends had a nice holiday weekend.  I had a wonderful 4 day weekend, but tomorrow it's back to the salt mines, so that's all for now. 

Until next time,

July 4th Decor for the First Time in a Long Time

Happy July 4th Almost!  I have not managed to muster the energy to decorate for July 4th in several years.  I suspect it has to do with the fact that I used to do it up big because my parents and their long time friends would come up to our house every year for a cookout... after my mom and the lady of the family friend couple had passed away 13 years ago, I continued to have my dad and his buddy over, but then 7 years ago, my sweet daddy passed away and I guess I stopped decorating for the holiday at some point after that.  Didn't seem important I suppose.  But I always regret it when I don't because I love the whole patriotic theme.  SOOOOOO...this year, I finally pulled out the goods and had a little fun spreading some Independence Day love around my house.  I hope you enjoy taking a peek.    

The bunting is antique, purchased many years ago from eBay.  The eagle is also old, picked up at a flea market a few years back.

A little vignette of odds and ends that have been collected here and there.  I have a thing for postcards and when I went to the box of "stuff", I found quite the stash of patriotic postcards-I used about half of them for this vignette.

 This little basket as well as the cone were purchased some years ago from an Etsy seller called Moth to a Flame I think although I can't find a shop by that name, so if you recognize the artist, let me know so I can put a link in.  Her work is beautiful and she uses vintage materials at least in part to make her treasures.

This was an old cylinder from Columbia Phonograph Company.  I found it at a Goodwill shop in West Palm Beach last fall and thought it would be cute for the Fourth decorating.  Did you know that Columbia was an old name for the United States?  According to Wikipedia, "Columbia is a historical and poetic name used for the United States of America and is also the name of its female personification."  District of COLUMBIA...Columbia, the gem of the ocean...well, you get it.  I think it is charming although I can't tell you why.  Probably cause I'm just a sap...

 The postcard on the left no doubt has another iteration of Columbia. The one on the right is so stinkin' cute with her little turban and "safety first" on her diaper!

Classic patriotic beauty...

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my red, white, and blue theme. Happy Independence Day! I'll see you after the long weekend.

Sharing with Make It Pretty Monday

Until next time,