Sideboard Decorating Idea

My sons (now 30) kindergarten art Pilgrim & Indian  always finds a place in

both my decorating and my heart.

Time for Fall Decorating!

Well it is time to Decorate for Fall, over the next few weeks

I thought I would show you 3 decorating ideas.

*Dinning Room Tablescape *Buffet or Library Tablescape

*Fireplace Mantelscape.

First up, the Dinning Room Tablescape.

To acheieve this look, you'll first need to add a table running 

(This one is a fine weave burlap I made myself )

 

To add interest use multiple levels, I added my favorite whiteware

and different size Heirloom Pumkins

Next I added; grapevine, bittersweet berries, fall leaves, acorns, 

waxed gourds, a small amount of raffia, and votive candles.

Thanks!

 ( Some of you wanted to see the chalkboard in the back ground...Here it is)

I LOVE to Doodle!

Thanks again!

(Some of you wanted to see the sconces'...Here you go!)

The Turkey " Give Thanks" tags can be found on Etsy

And don't forget the little ones

~ they appreciate a little something too~

Now all I need to do is set the table....

(My next post; *Buffet Tablescape )

Happy Decorating!

A MUCH NEEDED BATHROOM REDO ( ON A BUDGET )

My 1940's bathroom needed a little redo. I am not in the position to totally gut the thing (which it needs) but a little facelift wouldn't hurt.

After the hubs and I visited Hawaii I went on a palm tree kick and papered this room with, yeap you guessed it, palm tree wallpaper. I know, I know - themeish!

Luckily it did not have monkeys on it too, which my daughter Amanda hates with a passion or she would have never gone in there to ... you know. It had been up on the walls for 5 years now and as all my friends can tell you that's an eternity for me the decorating queen!

I jumped into ripping off the wallpaper before I could photographic it for prosperity - but I just didn’t need to remember that. But here is a scrape of it to get a complete visual.

I stripped everything off, then the backing. The hubs even sanded the ceiling smooth again for me.

I painted both the walls and the ceiling a pie-dough color. It was lighter than I wanted but turned out nice. The only problem is, when I’m reclining in the tub I keep thinking of pie recipes!

I found the old antique mirror at a thrift store for $15, painted it off white. I hung a floating shelf (found at Lowes), ceramic hooks instead of a towel rack then lovingly displayed yet more of my white ware. The shade is made out of good quality burlap tied up with a cream grosgrain ribbon.

The toilet paper in the basket! Oh, that is a fisherman minnow basket painted cream found at the same thrift store as the mirror for just $8.

All accomplished on a budget and will do for now.

A Taggie Blanket Tutorial

I have a great neice who loves her Taggie

but in my area they are hard to find and

I really didn't want to order online.

So I thought, how hard can it be to make one of these cuties.

Ladies (& Gents) they're a breeze!

Here's how...

Select two baby fannel - fat squares 12" x 12"

found at any fabric or quilt shop

or two fabrics of your choice, but remember - it's for a baby!

Something: soft, silky, and with texture.

You'll need a package of scrap ribbon

from Hobby Lobby or from your scrap pile. 

Cut your ribbons into 4.5" length sections

(these will be folded in half to make 2" tags).

Cut enough ribbons to go around all four sides of the blanket.

Pin ribbons to right side of fabric

(facing inward on top of the fabric)

Sew the pinned ribbons to all four sides of one square - removing pins as you go.

Add your backing fabric square leaving a small opening

 in order to turn your fabric to the right sides.

Close the opening and sew a 1/4" top stitch around

all four sides for a finished look.

Press and you are done!

In less than 30 minutes you have a Taggie!

~ Your baby will love this Taggie Blanket ~

It is a great beginners project and makes a great gift ~ Enjoy !

A Special Cookbook

I love cookbooks and received this one with pride.
Pride~In receiving a cookbook?   Yes, pride ~ let me explain.

If you have the new Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood cookbook, please turn to the back ,page 216 please.

Now you know why I am so proud. There in row 14 is my daughters name !

She assisted in the styling of  Trisha Yearwood,her mother, and sister during the shoot of this book. All 3 ladies signed the front cover too.

Once in hand I made several of her recipes and see that this is a really great cookbook for anyone who likes down-home country cooking. It is easy-to-use and the recipes are practical.

No, I'm not getting paid to say this!

The recipes are based on everyday meals, plus some foods for special occasions. There is no need for exotic ingredients, since nearly every recipe is made from the staples we all keep in our homes.

Trisha has that southern hospitality gene and is a big believer that cooking for someone else is an act of love.
I highly recommend this as a gift for the cooks in your life and is a nice addition to my cookbook collection.

 Oh, and you can highlight page 216 if you wish!  (wink)

Tea Anyone?

 

I get a warm fuzzy every time someone mentions Tea. I guess it's because I crave the stuff and have a love for collecting teapots. One beautiful way to show off your teapots is to have a tea party.

Don't panic, there are tea parties of all shapes and sizes and not all are the stuffed shirt variety.

It can be a Tea-for-Two with your daughter (or some day a daughter in-law).

With your besties (girlfriends), or the ladies group.

Hey you can even have a tea party all by yourself, I do it all the time!

Displaying my teapots are part of my daily joy, but don't let them just set there ~ use them.

They each have a story that lead them to you and setting on a shelf

is not the only way they want to go to that

'Great Tea Party in the Sky'

My teapot collection began with the small Hall Teapot in the center.  

Isn't it sweet, it was my Grandmother Cora's teapot.

It has a small nick on its spout, but it is lovely just the same.  

I'm not sure how old it is, I've had it for years now and who knows how long Cora had it in her possession. 

It stayed in a Hope Chest for years, then in a cabinet, and now out on display where it should have been a long time ago. But it is at its very best when I have it full of steeping hot

Tea nestled up to some biscotti just for me.

My Vintage Find

On this weekends thrift search I found a beauty, a vintage highchair. Now mind you, I do not have any grand children, but I would have kicked myself if I let this one get away.

What do you think?A real beauty isn't she.

An older gentleman was asking $35.00 for it and like all garage sale savvy people do, I asked, "Would you take any less for it?" He said, "It's a good sturdy chair, but I'll take $25 for it".

Yahoo~Sold!

 I've searched Google but can not find anything that will tell me what year it would be or style it is. I've been referring to it as a fiddleback, but am not sure.

Now you can only imagine the hubs face when he awoke and saw me out on the back porch with my cleaning tooth-brush and magic eraser and a HIGHCHAIR ! I saw the look in his eyes and I immediately said: "Isn't it beautiful, I bet it's worth $100". (I don't care if it isn't worth anything - I love it and hopefully it will see some grand babies someday- no pressure kids).

 I used a mild cleanser to remove the years of baby food (I'm hoping that was only baby food) from the spindles I used my magic eraser, which works wonders in removing the crud and not the patina.

I tightened up a screw or two and am leaving her just like she is, now setting in the dinning room for all to see.

My son's girlfriend Racheal, busted into laughter as I presented my new find. "No pressure huh" she said. Her son Aidan (who is a real cutie-pie), was the first to give it a try.

Yeap, she's sturdy!

My Creation Became A Reality

After nearly five years into my cozy 1940's cottage home, I still had not found a way to display my white dish collection? My poor kitchen cabinets were overflowing with Ironstone and Pfaltzgraff. 

The dining room is where I wanted to show them off, but it is not a big room and needs all the floor space it could possibly keep. A hutch would just not be a good solution. Hummm~What if it hung on the wall and didn't take up any of my floor space?  
Time to doodle! (That's what I do best!)

Me thinking: I like the Welsh design simplicity, add some tongue and grove for backing, the shelves need to be deeper than a plate rack to hold my collection, and paint it cream~ of course!

Now I jostled around with the idea of taking an old hutch top and converting it into what I wanted, but that would be outside my skill set indeed. I searched the thrift stores to see what a hutch top would cost, but no such luck. A few weeks later a co-worker, who we will call Jeff came into my office during lunch and saw the doodle-page laying in front of me and asked "What's this?" I laughed and said, "A creation waiting for a maker". Boy was that the right person to say that to, come to find out Jeff, is a wood worker. He looked at what I had on my sketch and said "let me give you a quote on what it would take to build this".

Well folks, it could not have turned out any better.
With a little tweak here and there this is the final product. 
 I love it - love it - love it.

 You are welcome to use my design, just give

credit where credit is due please.

Send me photos of  your hutch creations and I'll post them here.

Don't you just love Garage Sales!

Our Kentucky weather has only just recently started to cooperate to where the area can blossom into the 'Garage Sale' season. Yes this is a true season that falls in between Spring and Summer ;-)

My first venture was last Saturday morning ~ while the hub was still asleep~ a sweet little lady down the street had all her wears out for viewing and to sell her precious goods. I stopped by to take a look and boy did I hit the mother-load. She had some beautiful things ~ well, to garage sale goers they were beautiful. It was crowded and I surveyed the area quickly to spy if anything cream or white popped out at me. There at the far table was a worn bushel basket full of white dishes that read

~ Ironstone Dinner Ware, 12 piece setting, mix & match Iroquois pattern, $25.00 ~

 ...."Heaven, glorious heaven you are mine", I thought. Looking more closely the set included a serving platter and the salt & pepper, a little grungy but in good shape. I could see a crack or two in one or two of the plates, but really this wasn't going to stop me from grabbing these beauties. I purchased them lock-stock-and bushel basket and quickly loaded them into my vehicle.  

I continued to look around and the little lady followed me telling me different things about her glassware. Some were in lots of fives, some twos, and threes, but I could tell they were all old. She said, as she pointed to some darling juice glasses; " I remember drinking out of these at my grandmothers when I was a child and I'm 80 now". I complimented her on looking so good at her age and she blushed. How precious was her story and of course I bought those as well for $2. She continued with "Here are three matching water glasses, it would be a shame to leave them" (man she was on a roll wasn't she) - she's right, I'll take those too for $1.    I often set a table for two and will use them with joy.

I love the delicate intertwining lace pattern that boarders each glass.

If you knows what pattern this is please send me an email or post a comment below to let me know.

 Once at home I washed everything and surveyed my find.

This was a collection in itself, I thought.

Most were in great shape and noticed a variety of  markings on the back of each one.

There were: 6 place settings of the Iroquois China by Fridoline USA.,

2 place settings of the Joshua Crabtree Esq. Commemorative China by Iroquois-Denisco Collection,

4 place settings of the Dover Group-White Dover Ironstone USA.

~ The cups (on the right) had 2 different markings~

The Henry Ford Museum - Greenfield Village

The Museum Collection Simpson LTD - Edison Institute

What a wonderful day it was!