Potted Ferns

I've been potting up a few ferns this weekend.  

  I saw this idea at a local flea market a few weeks ago and was tempted to buy a couple, until I realized I could make them myself.  I already had the faux ferns ~ all I needed was the peat pots. 

  I smudged some dark wax on the peat pots to make them appear older.  Then I filled each pot with a chunk of oasis and topped it with moss from the yard.  Lastly, I arranged a few fronds of each kind of fern in the pots and ended up with a lovely collection of potted ferns. 

 I originally made them to sell, but after arranging this table vignette, I have fallen in love with them and want to keep them.  Isn't that the way it always is? 

 Rust and green just seem to go together.    I found this little tray at Hobby Lobby and added a few touches of green paint and then a layer of dark wax and now it looks old too. 

 

 I think I'll sell a few and keep a few. 

 Linking with ~A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday 

A Finally Finished Bathroom

Finally ~ a finished bathroom.  I started this project right after Christmas and have been dragging it out ever since.  It wasn't even anything major ~ just cosmetic changes.Here are a couple before pictures.  As you can see I was trying out paint colors and it looked like this for months before I finally began. 

 It is a really small bathroom and the only one in my house.  Two in this bathroom is a crowd.

This is a picture of the paneling that was on the wall when I moved in here 23 years ago, but then it was powder blue.  It has an embossed look and I painted it white.  I always wanted to remove it, but there were areas where the seams didn't lay flat, and I was always afraid of what was hiding behind that paneling.

I covered the paneling with Martha Stewart's paintable bead board wallpaper that can be purchased online from Home Depot.  It is wonderful and by carefully aligning the stripes, I could camouflage the uneven paneling seams underneath.

I painted the top of the walls a very pale pink to match the shower curtain and replaced all the trim on the window.

I added a very small piece of decorative trim to the bottom of the crown molding to hide the clumps of paint accumulated from years of painting.  It gave me not only a cleaner edge, but a slightly larger crown molding.

Then came the fun of decorating with a few old accessories and a few new.

A new soap dispenser from Target for the sink . . .

and a basket to hold toilet paper.

I've already shown you this wreath that I made from sweaters for the wall.

And I've shown you the fabric of the shower curtain that was the inspiration for the makeover.  I bought a second shower curtain and sewed them together to make it fuller.  My tub is the original one from when the house was built in the 1940's and it is not a pretty sight.  By adding the additional shower curtain, it not only made it fuller, but covered the ends of the ugly tub surround without stretching the curtain flat like a sheet.

I also covered the inside of the bathroom door with the bead board wallpaper and rehung the towel rack.  I can't rave enough about this wallpaper and how wonderful it is to work with and the dimensional finished look it gives you.

Like I said at the beginning, it is a very small bathroom, but then there is only me in the house now, so it's all that I need.Sweet and simple is my new motto.

Linking with

Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

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The House in the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday

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Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

 

Redbud Beauty

It's been so long since I've done a post that I didn't even know the format had changed.  It just goes to show you, when you're not looking, something is always being updated.

Seems like I've been away forever ~ mostly a combination of being so busy and not having anything to say.  Thought today I'd just share a few pictures of some branches I cut from my redbud tree.

I was out trimming my jungle of a yard and thought I might as well make an arrangement instead of throwing them away.

I set them on the vanity in my bedroom where I 

could see them often and when I sit down to curl my 

hair in the morning.

I love the shadows the flowers cast on the wall from the glow of the overhead chandelier.

 In the midst of all the extra responsibilities that come

with spring and the outside care of a garden and home, 

it is nice to slow down and enjoy the simple 

beauty of spring blossoms.

Linking with

How Sweet the Sound  for Pink Saturday
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The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays

 

Beautifying the TV

I'm a firm believer in beautifying every space in your life to the best of your ability and affordability ~ and that includes your TV viewing area.  I've already shown you what I did with my living room TV area where my TV resides in an armoire neatly tucked away with a collection of movies and books. 

 But in my bedroom (where I love watching TV) it is more exposed.  So I set out to beautify the space around it and here is how it looks for spring. 

 I found the vase at Goodwill for $.99 and hustled it home to put in my pink and beige bedroom.   

  Then I arranged it with my pink mercury glass candle, a small glass dish of pink vintage buttons, and doily I found at a flea market this spring.

Don't they make good companions and look at all those textures.  The older I get, the more I love pink in all forms.~Lastly, I splurged on some new faux pink and white ranunculus and a delicate green filler.

I've never really seen real ranunculus, but I love these and they don't wilt and die ~ all the better I think.

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So ~ although the trend is to have a big-screen TV that is the center of attention, I prefer to blend mine in so it's not the first thing you notice when you walk in a room.  Plus ~ now every time I watch TV in my bedroom, I see my lovely rannuculas and vintage buttons, and that makes me realize that it's the simple things that makes life sweet.

Linking with 
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
 

Makes Me Smile

Do you ever buy things just because they make you smile?Even when you absolutely don't need them.I picked up these plastic summer dishes at the grocery store just because they make me smile. 

  Sometimes I end up taking things back because I feel guilty, but even though I knew I should ~ I didn't.I set them up on my dining room table and then really fell in love with them. 

  I found that they matched so many things I already owned and just had fun playing around with them ~ all the while ~ still fully intending to return them to the store.But ~ they matched my Goodwill pitcher and turquoiseBall jar. . .

and these sweet linens I bought to sell on Etsy. 

And one purchase usually leads to another and I ended up with these sweet little egg cups which matched these eggs I already had.  Can you see how I justify all of this unnecessary buying?

Day after day I walked by them sitting on my table, and every day they made me smile.  Before I knew it, they were in my sink and I was washing off the stickers and I knew then they were keepers.  

I guess, in the end, I don't have to understand or even justify why something makes me smile inside.  I just know that is a good thing, and that we can all use a little more smilingin our busy hectic lives.~Linking with The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays~A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesdays

Signs of Spring

The snowdrops have been blooming since January and the crocus weren't far behind.  But next comes another favorite sign of spring, which are the pussy willows.

Last fall I had the tree trimmers cut my pussy willow bush nearly down to the ground since it had grown higher than the house.  So that means, this spring I have very few branches to trim and bring inside.  But ~ there were just enough to fill this precious brown transferware vase that I can't remember now where and when I bought it.

As I change over my hutch for spring, I'm trying to fill it with my collection of bee items, and all things yellow and green.  But this corner of the hutch is still brown and white and fuzzy pussy willows.

Can spring be far behind?

Linking with 

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Teapot Love

I was looking online this evening trying to find information regarding a teapot I bought last summer at a yard sale.  I was hoping to list it on Etsy, but had no idea if it was vintage or had any value at all.

While browsing the internet, I got sidetracked looking at teapots on Etsy.  Would you believe they have 168 pages of vintage teapots, totaling 6,713 teapots?

Found more than a few that I loved and I don't even like tea.  It would be so easy to start a teapot collection, but hard to justify when you don't drink tea in any form.Well ~ here are a few of the sweet teapots I liked, and the links to check them out or even buy them.This one is my favorite ~ I think ~ and is from the shop Hopscotch Memories.  It reminds me of cool fall days.

This vintage Stangl teapot in a turquoise onion pattern was a very close second.  It's from the shop Cats in the Cradle from Alton, New Hampshire.

Here's another little turquoise sweetie from Scavengenius.  Actually, maybe this one would be my second choice.

Then I came across this vintage Arthur Wood and Sons chintz teapot made in England and available from Dads Teacups.  This little Etsy shop from California is full of beautiful teacups and teapots.

Next is a vintage basket weave teapot with a hand-painted floral design from Holiday Farm Studio from upstate New York.

And here's a close-up of the pretty detailed painting.

This teapot brings back lots of memories because my Mother had one, or maybe still does.  I'll have to check on that.  It's an authentic cottageware teapot from Price Kensington, made in England, and available at Fab Vintage Estates.

Here's another Price Kensington teapot with delicate blue flowers that remind me of forget-me-nots and it is priced at only $8.  It can be purchased at Shop on Sherman.

And what about this silver-plated teapot marked "New Amsterdam Silver Company" and dates back to the 1890's.  Can you believe this well used and loved teapot is only $20?It's for sale at Crow and Fig from St. Leonard, Maryland.

And what about these earrings from CM Vision Jewelry?  Too cute. 

 I do have one teapot I found at Scott's last month. 

 I think it needs a friend ~ don't you?I may just have to do some online shopping, but which one do I pick when I want them all?~Linking with~A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday~Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday~Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea