A Green Giveaway!

Mary at Vintage Cottage, is having a really cool giveaway. To celebrate March and St. Patrick’s Day, she has some specially selected goodies; such as this:

and this:

 

Do you have the Luck  o’ the Irish?

Come on, you can stop sewing for a second.

Click on the Leprechaun at the top of the page and try your luck!

Blue Monday~Creative Daughter

 

  Click on the picture of the bird to visit Smiling Sally and her guests for Blue Monday. It is a great way to start your week, I promise!

My youngest child, Lily, and my middle child, Monica, noticed, last week, that they were wearing old sweats, t shirts, miss-matched socks , crazy hair and freshly- scrubbed- no- make up faces, as they settled into bed. I confess that I am in the same condition by bedtime. The constricting day-time clothes are peeled off as soon as I am sure that I’m home for the evening and that no visitors are expected. If, I happen to have a work-at-home day, I may be found in that condition at any moment. Even more so, as I will have paint on my hands and in my hair. The entire front of my shirt will probably be drenched with dishwater, too. At the very least!

I’m not sure who said it first, but, “We look like Ragamuffins”; certainly the expression is from old stories we read together, is what the sisters agreed upon.

The next day, this is what I found in Lily’s room. One busy girl creating art, freehand. No stencils, no tracing; just acting on the urge.

No trendy quotes such as :” Keep Calm and Carry On”, or “Always Kiss Me Goodnight”, or even “Princess”.

And this is my contribution for Blue Monday. Lily’s room is a soothing spa blue, with ocean-inspired decor.

And, now it has it’s newest accent piece!

How often do you just “go for it”?  Do you ever or do you need to plan it out, take measurements, obsess about the color and placement…?  I wonder if Lily will always be this free-spirit that will just make it happen?

I wish you all a Happy Blue Monday and a happy Blue week!

Pink Saturday

I look forward to Pink Saturday all during the week. There is just something about this day and the pink-lovers that participate, that warms my soul. And my soul can use warming on these cold, snowy days. I have found that the pink party-goers are the sweetest of the blogging bunch. How could one love pink and not be full of sweetness?!

Zip right over to Beverly’s site; How Sweet the Sound, to attend the Pink party. There are a ton of friends on the party list that would love for you to drop by and say “hello”.

Does this mid century dishware look familiar? I recall seeing this and similar types at my friend’s homes while growing up.

My friend, Debbie, sets a beautiful pink table with pink flower placemats and pink rose china.

This pink crystal or glass, footed bowl is lovely as a centerpiece.

The pink and gold striped glasses are, well, um, happy, is the word that comes to mind.

Debbie is , also, good at creating mosaic pieces. You can see part of the mosaic picture frame she created on the left. Mosaic is an art that is on my “bucket list” of things I want to do. It is in my heart and my head, to create mosaics and I dream of being to the point of actually being able to try it. I have the feeling that I’ll just have to answer the urge, plunge in  and just do it. If I keep waiting until I am caught up with everything else, it may never happen!

A row of pink topiary trees create a garden on top of the hutch. Finally I have these embroidered linens with pink flowers and crocheted trim in pinks from light to dark. I love these vintage linens made with such care. It seems that it is a skill of the past. Young ladies always learned this art. I don’t know anyone of this generation who does this; sad really. I never learned and so I haven’t been able to pass it on to my children.

Do you embroider? Do you have embroidered linens that someone in your family made?

Thanks for stopping by! I love the company :)

Pink Saturday Cat’s Meow

To enter a Pink Saturday Party, click here. Beverly, I hope you are doing well and will have the chance to enjoy the party. We’ve been praying for you!

 

Happy Pink Saturday! Welcome friends and thank you for coming by because:

Emmett was my Valentine’s Day present from hubby, exactly 1 year ago. He is a rescued kitty and is purrrr love! He is slightly pink, just for today :)Lovely pink wedding! J’aime les chats. I am a cat person. I love pictures of kitties and the vintage prints of kitties are so precious. For Pink Saturday, I tried to find pics with at least a little pink. The kitties are playing so nicely together. London Bridges is one of their favorite games. There is a smidge of pink on their noses!

Happy Valentine’s Day Dear Friends and Family!

San Francisco Spontaneously

My mom has been a jewelry wholesaler for about 40 years. She provides great jewelry to stores all over the nation. Last weekend she set up her booth at the San Francisco International Gift Show. This is the place that store owners and buyers come in hoards to get the latest wares to resell in their shops. On the spur of the moment, I managed to get a great deal on an airline ticket from Denver to San Francisco. Let me tell you how much I love Southwest Airlines. They always have the best deals, even without advance purchase, and your bags fly free. There is nothing more aggravating than to buy what you think is a great price on an airplane ticket and then find out that each person in your party has to pay another 15, 20 or 25 dollars per bag, each way.

Anyhow, I had 4 days in San Francisco to visit and work with my sister and her daughter, Claire,who is a freshman at the University of SF. Food choices are abundant and expensive, so it was Claire who showed us the best deals on dining. Here is a little mexican restaurant, Popolote’s, within walking distance from USF. We ordered fantastic vegetarian burritos that came with a side garnish and home made chips and salsa for about $6. They were very, VERY tasty and, as it turns out, a “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” with be featured on the Food Network on Feb. 17th. I will be very surprised if  Popolote’s doesw not win!   The University of San Francisco is a Jesuit College. I snapped this amazing exterior of what, I believe, is a Catholic church on campus, out the car window at a stop light. My niece and I on a walking tour.

  

This is the view from our hotel window at the Sir Francis Drake.

We shared dinner at the Cheesecake Factory on the 9th floor of Macy’s. There is dining  patio, along the edge of the building, with breathtaking views.

One giant chocolate, coconut cheesecake was enough for 4 of us to share.

I will show some great finds from the gift show; architectural pieces and jewelry, in particular, in my next post.

Thrifty Thursday~Toile, Candlelight & Crystals

For the first time, I am partying with Leigh and the others at Bloggaritaville. This is the place to hurry over to and find out the great thrifty deals that have been found.

The sheer toile window panels made me gasp with delight when I saw them hanging amongst the "uglies" at Goodwill. I figured they'd be stained, snagged and/or smelly. I figured wrong. I have become a believer. Thrift stores are a great place to find wonderful things at unbelievable prices.

They are perfect, as is. They are made by Waverly; are my favorite red and white combination and the toile design is a romantic,, vintage-Valentin-y theme. They were only 2.49 each!

The heavy iron candle holder was another Goodwill find. I actually had to decide if I wanted to spend 4.99 on it. If it lasted until Saturday, I could get it for half price. I've played the price-game in the past and have lost, so I broke down and paid full price.

It used to be that common natural brown color with hard melted wax stuck all over it. I scraped it off the best I could. Blasted it with Heirloom White spray paint, and used some dangly crystals that fell off another chandelier that I've had forever. The round red candles were from JoAnn's 75% off Christmas sale; 1.29 each.

So, between shopping at Goodwill, JoAnn's and shopping my house, I created a seasonal, updated look for $15 and some change.

Painting Gone Horribly Awry~White Wednesday

What happened?

Uh oh! Please don’t walk through it!

Can’t waste half a gallon of my favorite Behr paint with primer. Did you know they have the whitest white?

I think I’d just like to go inside. Looks like I will get this shelf with hooks painted one way or the other.

This is my unlikely and unplanned White Wednesday Post. Check out the party at Faded Charm Cottage by clicking on the link.