Blame It on Susan Branch

How many of you love Susan Branch?

And how many of you visit her blog?

Yes!  I see those hands out up there.  No blurting - ooops, the teacher in me came out.  

I adore Susan and have for years - ever since I stumbled upon her Heart of the Home cookbook.

Well visiting her blog makes me feel like I'm visiting with Susan.  She is so charming and her home is so welcoming.  

And there was one thing that kept catching my eye.  

I had to do a little research to find out more information about it and I discovered this thing had a name.  A pattern name.......do you see where I'm going with this?

It's Susan's dishes!  I'm obsessed with them.

The pattern is called Rose Chintz by Johnson Brothers.  

Wanna' see what I've scooped up for myself so far?

A few dinner plates, 

4 cups, 3 saucers,

  and a plethora of bread plates!

Looks so pretty on my mom's dining room table (that's now mine).

Pretty on white linens.....

lovely on blue linens......

and gorgeous on red!

So - can I blame this obsession on Susan Branch?  

You know, I think she'd understand.

Thanks for buzzing in!

And thank you Susan Branch for being such a wonderful inspiration!

Linking up to Show and Tell Friday!

And thanks for inviting me Jann!
I've also linked up to Have a Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

A Little Candlelight

I love candles at Christmas time.  

There's just something about them that make my heart all melty and gooey.  They make you feel the love in a home.  

I was just reading Susan Branch's blog (Goodness, I love that girl!) and she loves candles at Christmas too, so I know I'm in good company.

One of my favorite spots is the windowsill above our kitchen sink.

I found these gingerbread candle jars several years ago in the Martha Stewart line at KMart.  When the candles burned down, I couldn't bear to part with these so I know put other candles in there.  (Yes, these are a bit too tall, but I just love the stripes glowing through the white polka dots.

Everything feels cozy and warm in our kitchen-----

Until I turn around--------

And it's a Christmas Dishapalooza!

We brought in all the holiday dishes from the garage.  They're just hanging out until it's their turn in the "spa."  

Just a few more minutes and it will be time for another load...er...I mean treatment.

Hope your holiday preparations are going well.  

Buzzingly,

  

Please don't forget to buzz by here to leave a comment and enter my giveaway!

The Bees Were Buzzin'

This weekend, I got together with the my delightful friends, The More Creative Bee and The Singing Bee!  As always, we had so much fun together.  We went to a little town called Exeter that was filled with charming shops and good food and......coffee......although the other bees had tea.  We ended up celebrating our birthdays too!

Did I remember to bring my camera?  No, of course not! 

But I can share with you a little treat The More Creative Bee got me for my birthday and a couple of dishes I just couldn't resist (trust me, the price was waaaaay right).  

(The Singing Bee gave me some FABULOUS Halloween decorations, but I put them away before taking a picture - can't believe I did that - I kept telling myself, don't forget to take pics for the blog.....oh well, you'll just have to wait for next year.)

Buzzzzzzz......isn't it the cutest?  

This cute little bee came straight home and right into a pot of boxwood I have on the front steps.  

Love it!

Thank you More Creative Bee!

And then, at this charming store filled with great vintage items and upcycled furniture and accessories I found two dishes I couldn't leave behind....

A cute little jadeite bowl.....I'm thinking perfect for my morning oatmeal

AND

this sweet blue plate with cherries on the back.  

I don't think they are really vintage, but no matter, I love their colors and design!

And....if you noticed.....

I'm all set up to make a latte for you.  Decaf or fully loaded?  White chocolate or regular chocolate?  

What would you prefer today?

My pleasure to make you a yummy latte.

Thanks for buzzin' in!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

More preparing for my little tea party on Saturday.  

Trying to decide which dishes, flatware, etc. to use.  Thought you might like to chime in with your opinion.

First up are teapots:

Which one do you like?  Actually I'll probably use two of them.  I only have one tea cozy though.  Hmmmm....I don't think that will be too much of a problem though.  

Now, on to the glasses for water or lemonade.....

I have to confess, I think the depression glass is my favorite, but it doesn't have much capacity.  (Can you guess who just taught their third graders metric and customary units of measurement? Yep, that would be me!)  Which one would you enjoy?  

Okay, now for flatware....

Some are a little more casual than others.  I love those red and white ones, but I'll probably go with the silver.  I might even use my new incredible bargain silver plate.  The ones I mentioned here.  (I took a picture of them, but it was too blurry to show you and I was just too lazy to go and reshoot them.)

Let's look at plates next.......

I have always loved layering this depression glass on my wedding china.

See any combinations you think might be the bee's knees?

And I can't forget the all important teacup.....

Well....what do you think?  What do you think would look good together?  

I didn't even talk about linens or a centerpiece.  

Now remember, we're also having a book exchange....

Should we have a more literary looking table?

Or should we celebrate spring?

The weather is supposed to be rainy (again) on Saturday, so maybe not too springy.

Oh I am so excited for Saturday!  

I sure wish you could come!  

Wouldn't that be a delight?

Thank you so much for stopping in to visit.  

I'm always so delighted to see your bright and shining face!

Are You Green with Envy?

I know you are going to be so jealous of my "new" china cabinet.   But please, try to control yourselves as I show you this fabulous transformation!  Good thing you don't know exactly where I live 'cause I know some of you would try to come over here and sneak it out in your purse.

Okay, enough bragging about my fabulous china cabinet.  (Notice I've used fabulous twice - well thrice - now.  That's 'cause it looks so fabulous!)  You want to see it, right?

Well, first you have to look at the before....

(Oh...you need to know that I took the before pictures very early in the morning and the lighting was not fantastic.)

This was an unfinished china cabinet my husband gave me several years ago for Christmas.  He stained and finished it himself so it's taken a long time to convince him to help me move it so I could paint it.  It was nice, but kind of boring.  (Ooooh! Hope you didn't read that Worker Bee!)

First I had to find the right green.  After searching for awhile, I found this gorgeous green from the Laura Ashley colors at Lowes.  It's called Moss 4.  We got a satin finish with the built in primer.  It seemed to work okay, but the white I bought for the inside did not provide good coverage.  I had to pull out my favorite primer/paint from Home Depot.  That paint has worked great for me every time I've used it.

After the paint had cured - for two weeks 'cause I got too busy to finish the project - I sanded some edges and corners for a distressed look.  Then I took some walnut stain (Zar brand) and rubbed it on and then rubbed it off.  It went very fast and was very easy to do.  This technique came from the delightful Miss Mustard Seed's technique on her inspiring blog.

Well, if I do say so myself, (and honeys, I DO say so myself) it looks.....................

FABULOUS!

*******************

Now I need your advice or suggestions.  When we were doing the fabulous birthday garage clean up I found these drawer fronts.  They belonged to a file cabinet that was destroyed in a very unfortunate accident that I'll have to write about another time.  (Suffice to say that I had a vertical bruise on my tailbone....I'll let you draw your own conclusions.)

So, I think they might be interesting hanging on the wall.  Worker Bee was kind enough to hold them up so I could take a couple of pictures so I could come to you for advice.  

Now Worker Bee thinks they look like they might belong in a morgue or a funeral parlor.  

Do you see that?  Did he ruin them for you?   

Let me know what you think and then you'll have to see what I do.  I'm open to other suggestions for them too.

Well, I'm so wicked proud (stinkin' and wicked are my go to adjectives of the season) of my china cabinet so I'm linking up to:

Cindy's at the fantastic Cottage Instincts

Cielo's whimsical House in the Roses

Susan's  over at the lovely Between Naps on the Porch

Joining Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday too since she helped inspire all of this greensation!

(Yes, I do make up words - frequently. Drives Worker Bee crazy!)

Hope you enjoyed my FABULOUS transformation.  Now, which dishes should we use for dinner tonight?  You will be joining us, right?  I'd love for you to come.

You know I can't leave you without one more pic....

Be sure to stop by here and leave a comment if you want to enter my first year blogthday giveaway!
Everybody is welcome!