Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Vintage images for you!

 This has been a bit of a difficult week for me.  On Monday, it was a year since my grandpa passed away so there were a lot of emotions being felt.  My brother and his wife also had their first ultra sound and seeing the picture of that is very difficult for me.  But I took a major step and made an appointment with a fertility clinic to see if we can start the process of figuring out why we can't seem to have a baby.  You are all so kind and offer words of encouragement, support and understanding and I want to keep you in the loop as to what we find out.  The appointment isn't until March, but at least we have a date as to when we can get started on figuring it out.  
In remembrance of my dear Grandpa Kenny, I wanted to share with you some of the vintage cards that were kept in a metal box for so many years.  If you remember, I shared a post of all of my Grandpa's Childhood Treasures last year.  I was wishing and hoping and praying that one day, they would all be mine.  Guess what?!  This summer, my grandma told me I could have them since I showed so much interest in them!  I started crying because it meant so much to me to have these.  I need to get a shadow box specially built so that I can display them properly.  I will treasure them forever!  I scanned them so that you can enjoy them too.  Please feel free to use them anyway you would like.  I have some more that I will share later, but I would love to see anything you create with them so please share!  With all of the beautiful roses, they would be perfect to use for Valentine's Day.









I hope you enjoy these!

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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Winter Tablescape

Thoughts of putting up my Valentine's Day decorations floated through my head this weekend and that is exactly where they stayed!  I decided to leave my winter decorations up for at least another week.  I just love the silver and aqua and couldn't bear to take it down just yet.  
 One of these days when I have more money to buy every kind of dish and glass there is as well as more space to store it all, I will have amazing tablescapes.  Until then, I will do my best to create tablescapes with what little I have.  Of course I can't leave out the chairs!
 White tulle, silk aqua ribbon and glittery silver stars are the perfect little chair decoration.  You know what kind of plates I can afford a lot of?  Paper plates!  I love to buy matching plates and napkins for every holiday.  These particular ones are from JoAnn's, purchased after Christmas so they were even more affordable!  Don't you just love the color and the sweet deer?  They are sitting on a crystal plate from the Dollar Tree.
 These aqua Ball jars work so well for drinking out of and the color matches perfect.  The silver charges with rhinestone trim are from Michael's.  I got them a few years ago but they always seem to have them around this time of year.
 Inside my cloche centerpiece is another Ball jar with a strand of aqua beads falling out of it onto the silver plate.  The star ornaments were purchased for 90% off at Shopko and are so pretty.  I bought all 4 that were left!  The big peacock feather ornament is from Wal-Mart and matches everything so perfectly.
 The beads are from Shopko too.  I paid 80 cents for them.  I love after Christmas clearance sales!
 Since there are only 2 of us, I usually only set up the table for two.  We hardly ever eat at the table but when we do, I try to make it feel special!
 I got new silverware for Christmas and it is still so shiny and new. I love the way the silver looks on the napkin and next to the charger.
 Silver and aqua are two colors that make me swoon!


 I just love my pretty winter tablescape and think it definitely deserves to be on display for at least one more week!
Do you have a 3 day weekend?  We don't take Martin Luther King Jr Day as a holiday since we are a private college, but I am taking it as a personal day.  My BFF and I are celebrating our 10 year "Friendiversary" tomorrow.  We will start out with coffee followed by a pedicure and then lunch.  I am really looking forward to a day of pampering and spending time with someone I hardly see anymore!  Have a great week!
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Sunday, January 12, 2014

Vintage Lace Lampshade

 I got new lamps for the living room since the ones I had were in bad shape.  I decided this one would go in our bedroom but it needed a major makeover. 

 The lamp shade had been dropped a few times and the plastic was broken.  I ripped it off along with the fabric and got this.  Not quite what I was expecting but I made it work.
 I painted the base of the lamp with white acrylic paint.  I wanted it to look like a white wash rather than solid white.  I then sanded it a bit to bring out the detail. 
 Then I tied pieces of vintage lace all along the shade.  Very random pieces, all different lengths in shades of white and ivory.
 I love it!  The smallness of the shade is perfect for the night stand and the light is beautiful shining through all that lace. 
 This was a very easy and fun project and I love the way my lamp turned out!  It fits in perfectly in my bedroom and will provide just the right amount of light to read by. 
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Sunday, December 29, 2013

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

 Did everyone have a great Christmas?  I am not going to lie, this one was not my best.  I will share the reason why later.  Today we took down our Christmas decorations and of course the whole house looks so bare.  But I was all prepared to decorate for winter/January.  I don't have much but what I do have, I love!
 
I left my SNOW banner on the mantle and added blue beads to the silver beads.  The snowflake stocking holders will stay out for awhile to hold up the beads.  The icy blues, silver and whites look beautiful and perfect for this time of year!
 
 I am loving my mantle and am so glad we bought it.  It makes our house feel so much homier!
 I took some plastic snowflakes, glued them on to a wooden dowel, glued a tiny snowflake in the middle and put them in a blue mason jar that is full of "snow" (Epsom salt).  A white ribbon is tied around the lid of the jar and has another tiny little snowflake in the middle.  These blue Ball jars are perfect for my winter decor.
 I put another one in the corner in front of my old chippy door.  That space needs more decorations but  I don't want to buy anything.  Maybe I will come up with something soon to add to that space.
 I wanted to have something hanging in the window so I came up with these pretty snowflake crystals.  I just tied an aqua ribbon through a chandelier crystal and glued little snowflakes onto the ribbon.  It is quite hard to take pictures of these!
 I also added a strand of crystal beads.  Very pretty from the inside and the outside.  If we ever got sun coming in through this window, it would be even better.
 I pulled out the New Years hats that I made last year.  My white candle holder is the perfect place to display these. 
 Here is a view of the window with the blinds closed.  Of course it looks so much better in person!
 I won this burlap WINTER banner a few years ago and I still love to display it.  I hang it between the living room and dining room.
 It really is a Winter Wonderland outside.  Even though we haven't had snow for over a week, the snow that we do have is still on the ground and the frost and the fog is beautiful although it is freezing cold!  I took these pictures and they turned out so pretty.
 A Winter Wonderland indeed!
It is crazy to think that 2013 is almost over.  I can honestly say that I am looking forward to putting this year behind me.  I knew 2013 was going to be bad when my grandpa passed away in January.  From there, it just seemed to get worse.  So many of my friends lost grandparents it was crazy.  We found out that my 18 year old nephew got his 17 year old girlfriend pregnant.  Neither of them have graduated high school and I don't think they will.  The hardest part of that for me is the fact that I want to have a baby but it just doesn't seem to be happening for me, an adult with a job, a marriage, a house, a life, but kids can accidentally get pregnant and do all the time.  Then just 3 days before Christmas, my brother came to tell me that he is going to be having a baby as well.  He has been married for 6 months and they are already having a baby!  Not fair!  Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to be an aunt again but I want a baby of my own and I don't want to have to spend tons of money or go through hell and back to get there!  I pretty much spent the last week crying and feeling depressed.  On Christmas Eve, Cody's niece spilled the beans that she too is pregnant, accidentally.  It's just a little bit too much for me to take right now, especially all at once.  We decided that once we have a little money saved, we will do some testing and see if we can figure out why it isn't happening for us.  I swear, if one more person tells me they accidentally got pregnant this week, I am running away!  Sorry for the rambling, I just had to vent some of my frustration!  Thanks for listening!

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Linking up with:
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday
 Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 
 Home Coming: The DIY'ers
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Rooted in Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday
The Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas to you!

May your days be merry & bright, and may all your Christmases be white!
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Friday, December 20, 2013

Tinsel Tree Dressed in Vintage Jewlery

 I found this silver tinsel tree on Monday at Saver's and knew as soon as I saw it that it was coming home with me.  The price tag said $4.99 which is a great price, but I only had to pay $3 for it!  I knew exactly how I was going to decorate it when I got it home.  Today after work, I finally got around to doing it.
 
The first thing I did was gather all my strands of vintage pearls.  There are about 7 strands on this little tree.  The bottom is just a strand of opalescent beads. I love the different colors that the pearls add.
  
Next, I went through my massive collection of vintage jewelry and started adding pieces to the branches as ornaments.  I used only pieces that were silver, gold and white toned.  The clip-on earrings were easiest to attach.  I simply clipped them on and bent the limb a little to make sure they stayed on.
 
Every time I go through my jewelry, I find more amazing pieces.  I think every piece that I used on this tree has a match which is always nice.
 
The jewelry is the perfect size for this tree.  I was able to find a piece to go on each little limb.  
 
I just love the way these pictures turned out so there are a lot!
 
The silver tinsel and pearls are so dreamy looking, don't you think?!
 
I don't have a tree skirt for it so I just used a vintage table runner with a crocheted edge.  It is loosely wrapped around the base of the tree and looks nice and casual.
 
There aren't a lot of lights on the tree, but the lights that are on it are just right.
 
The perfect place for this sweet little tree just happens to be a sweet little spot in my home-my reading nook!  It needed a little Christmas and this tree did the trick.  It lights it up with just the right amount of light and cheer.
 
See what I mean, PERFECT!
 
I do believe that this tree will quickly become a favorite decoration at Christmas time. It is so sparkly and pretty even when the lights aren't on. I am already head over heels about it!

Today begins my 12 days off for Christmas.  Although I have nothing planned, I couldn't be more excited! 


Linking up with:
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sundays
Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
The Dedicated House: Make It Pretty Monday 
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday  
 A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time
Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style Party
Cozy Little House: Tweak It Tuesday
Rooted In Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday  
Common Ground: Be Inspired
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday 

 Have a wonderful weekend!
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