I've Got Time to Play!

So I played with dishes in the backyard!

I saw on Instagram there was a #summerdesignchallenge for a garden party and I thought it would be fun to play along.  Of course, I missed the deadline, but oh well, I had fun and I took enough pics to share with you!

I started with this table runner I picked up at Home Goods earlier in the spring.  It's perfect for where I'm heading with my sunroom/dining room.  

We have my parents old chippy picnic table and I love the way it looks.  However, Worker Bee is fed up with it.  He is worried about ingesting paint chips.  I told him it's good for the digestion, but he disagrees.  I just might have to repaint it this summer.  

Then I used my thrifted vintage Wedgewood Hedge Rose plates.

I added my vintage, probably antique, silver-plate flatware and napkins I bought at World Market.

I used the sweet aqua glasses I got from Pottery Barn and wine glasses my mom picked up for me at the pharmacy she used to work at.  They are made by Tag.

Finally, I used these aqua bowls from World Market.

Who knew?  My wine bottle even goes with the beachy colors!

And I am such a rotten friend.  I texted pictures of my little imaginary garden party to my friends teaching summer school.  Don't worry, I promised to have them over for a nice garden luncheon.

Now, can I serve you a lovely gazpacho soup?  Or perhaps a cold berry soup?

Thanks for buzzing' along!

Linking up to Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Let's Just Pretend I've Been a Good Blogger, Shall We? PLUS Bonus Milagros!

Please go about your business and let's just all pretend that I've been posting projects and recipes and ideas here regularly, okay?  That way I can lift my head out of the deep pit of blogger shame I am in.

Agreed?  Good.

So.  I've been busy going to estate sales (and not listing on etsy or posting here) but I had to share something kind of fun I found recently.

First, my little cottage was built in 1951 (and I wish Chip and JoJo could work a bit of their magic on my kitchen/bathroom/living room/etc.) and my cute (but kinda' dated) kitchen has vintage pine wood paneling along some of the walls.  Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with an estate sale?  Well, we went to the cutest little cottage - and it made my house feel like a mansion - on the second day and almost every wonderful bit of vintage fun had been picked over and sold off.  But the intrepid Worker Bee and I ventured into the garage which was filled with a lot of junk (as garages tend to do) but for some reason I looked down and found some cut pieces of this same gorgeous pine paneling that we have in our house.  (btw, ours is painted white) 

I knew I had at last found the perfect piece of wood for a project I've had in the back of my head for many years.  Do you ever have something like that happen?  Just all of a sudden the pieces fall in place and it's like something you'd totally forgotten about suddenly is solved!

You see, a few years ago, like maybe ten, Worker Bee and I had gone to that gorgeous town of Carmel and I had found these three milagros in a charming little shop.  

I bought three of them because we are a little family of 3 (and maybe because I like odd numbers too, but the story sounds better the other way) and I knew I wanted to put them on a piece of wood, but I knew I wanted the wood to have some character to it.  

You can just imagine the glee I felt when I saw this piece and how it connected to what we already had in our house and how I finally had the piece of wood that had the right character for my sweet milagros.  I bought every piece they had (which was 4) and I paid $2 for all of them! 

So, this weekend, along with several other projects I have in mind, we will nail these onto the board and then I will hang it in our living room!

What do you think of that?  And, no, I didn't dust or clean anything off, I was just THAT excited.  

So glad you've buzzed in for a visit.  Hope to see you again soon. 

P.S.  Cute indigo washi tape from a flash steal from Decor Steals!  I LOVE them!  

Are You Doing Cyber Monday?

Well, I guess I'm going to give it a try!

You can get 25% off your total with a minimum $15 order.

Use the coupon code:

cybermon14

when you check out!

Thanks for buzzing by!

And enjoy your Cyber Monday!!!

Working My Etsy Fingers to the Bone

Okay.  You've caught me.  I'm not really working my fingers to the bone, but my etsy stash keeps growing and I have not been listing, so I had to have a photo shoot, a measuring & weighing session, and a TV marathon while I typed up descriptions and listed away!

Wanna' see some of my stash that will hopefully be leaving me soon???  (So I can buy more stuff for my stash, of course!  But shhhhh…..don't tell Worker Bee.  I don't think he's on to me yet!)

Have I mentioned that Worker Bee is a small collector?  Hmmm….what do I mean by that.  Well, when we were first married (and well before Baby Bee) he collected vices.  Now I don't mean the kind of vice you might find in a garage.  I mean vices - like drinking and gambling!  In the spirit of that collecting I bought this cordial decanter for him for a birthday.  He did not love it.  But he's a sentimental guy (and pretty sweet too) so he never wanted to get rid of it, but I finally convinced him I would not be hurt if it went bye-bye.  

So…up for sale….a French made, card suit decanter set is now for sale on etsy.

And then this fun piece!  I've had it for quite awhile, (and another similar one) but they just don't stand out and I never quite know what to do with them.  So these could be yours too!

I've got some gorgeous European glass ornaments and some Shiny Brites!

And sometimes I just find something so pretty I have to bring it home because I just know someone will  love it.  Right?  Some sweet granny crocheted all those roses and leaves and the doily and this pretty little gal was just calling out to me from the bin at the thrift store.  (I might be talking to stuff I see at thrift stores too much.  Do not be alarmed.)

 And this!  LOVED IT!  So wish I'd known about estate sales when Baby Bee was a baby and I was decorating her nursery.  I kept telling people I wanted to decorate it in a vintage style and no one got it. (This was waaaay back in 2001.)  This is what I meant!  (Sadly, this little cutie had some paint lift off when I took off the price tag from the estate sale, so she'll be going cheap.  Oh!  Don't let her hear that. I don't want to hurt her feelings.  And really, do not be alarmed.  It's really okay to chat your vintage items up.)

 You all know why I scooped these up.  How could I resist a pair of Hazel Atlas cereal bowls in white and turquoise?

 Ahh….something else from Worker Bee's "vice" collection.  Ask me if we've ever made any of the cocktails on this shaker.  Go ahead.  Ask me.  

 Found a great quilt top at another estate sale.  Wish I could do something with this myself, but I am just not a sewer (Worker Bee is concerned your going to think sewer like pipes & plumbing & toilets, but you all know I mean seamstress, right?  He worries too much.) at this point in my life.  Hope somebody else will fall in love!

 Cute, right?  Enough said about this vintage sewing basket.  

And finally, the piece I changed my mind about.  I was all set to sell this gorgeous aqua milk glass and I did some research (I believe it's a French piece - a Portieux Vallerysthal Compote - but if you know more, let me know) and I just can't say good-bye yet.  

Would you be able to say good-bye?  

What are you working your fingers to the bone on?  

I hate to say this, but I'm a bit of a procrastinator.  I've had all summer to clean up my guest room and I'm running out of time.  I wanted to clean out my closets too and I didn't do that.  The problem is I always think I can do it tomorrow and I'm running out of tomorrows.  There was just always a book calling me or maybe a movie.  Or (deep confession here) one of my summer shows.  I confess. 

Just two weeks before I have to report back for duty and about three weeks before my new third graders come!

Oh. And this should probably be more than a by the way, but Worker Bee and I just got cast in a production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.  

(yes, we are crazy)

Okay.  Enough rambling.  

Off with you.

Go drink a latte or tea or something.  

See you soon!

Buzzingly,

P.S.  If you've hung in there this long you might want to know……I'm having a coupon sale on my etsy shop through Labor Day…..15% off anything over $10 with the code goodbyesummer.

I Couldn't Resist...

....but now what am I going to do with it?

I've mentioned before how we have this WONDERFUL consignment store in town and I always find something there to treasure.  You can find upcycling, furniture, and vintage items.  I, of course, am completely drawn to the vintage items and that's usually what I can't resist.

I sell things there every once in a while and I just have the owner keep my profits there on my account so I can buy things when I'm sorely tempted!

And people?  I was sorely tempted!!!  

Wouldn't you be too?

So....voila.....I bought this....

It's chipped and split and not in good condition at all....

but it grabbed my buzzing little heart!

And then I spotted this great vase.

I cannot tell who the manufacturer is....

Could be HAGEN? HAGER?  Do you know what it might be?  I would love to know.  

(Worker Bee even tried to make a rubbing of it, but we still couldn't read it.  He might be the real sweet bee, not me!)

I even found the sweetest little vintage hankie that seemed to just marry both the vase and vintage child's dresser!  

Serendipity!  I love it!

And now I have a dilemma.  Where on earth am I going to put it?

What do you think?

Buzz, buzz, buzz,

A Christmas Table

Are you sick of Christmas?  

Or are you like me, and although I don't mind when Christmas is over, I still love to think about it and plan for it for next year?

Well, in the spirit of enjoying Christmas all year round, I'm bringing you the table setting we had for our Christmas this year.

For several years I've wanted to use a wreath as a charger for my vintage plates.  I even bought the wreaths several years ago but just never quite got it done.

I used my Royal Ironstone "Memory Lane" for the plates.  I picked up about 8-10 place settings on eBay several years ago.  I'm not too crazy about the cups and saucers though, so I used some mugs I picked up at Pottery Barn about 5 years ago.

And of course, I had to pull out my Susan Branch coffee pot, sugar, and creamer.  I bought this a few years ago at our local hardware/gift store.  

I kept seeing it before Christmas and I wanted it, but I just couldn't buy it at full price.  At this store everything is 50% off the day after Christmas so I scurried down there when they opened and scooped them up!  

I even had an email from someone who wanted to buy it from seeing it on my blog. I was tempted, but it's one of those pieces that as soon as I see it, it brings out that warm Christmas feeling.

For flatware I used mismatched pearl handle and a set I picked up at our local consignment store from National Silver.  (Truth be told, I only have 4 place settings of the pearl so I made do - I kind of like it.)

I also used my wedding crystal for juice - it's Gorham "Lady Anne."

Plus I had to pull out this pretty depression glass pitcher for juice.  Got this at an estate sale filled with beautiful things, but they were all a little pricey so I only picked up this for me.  (Sorry etsy shop!)

The napkins are ones I pull out every Christmas.  I got those at our beloved Gottschalks department store (that went bankrupt in 2009 - still miss that store every single Christmas).  

For the centerpiece, I used a variety of small Christmas trees and packages.  Also popped a tree topper into a milk glass vase.  (I'm pretty sure I stole this idea from Chris at Red Gate Farm.)

I also have to share my FAVORITE tree....

We have this popped up on a little side table behind our reading chair.  Love the color combination - white, red, green, and blue!!!

So Merry Christmas for 2014!!! 

(It's not too early, right?)