Mail love...

I got an early birthday gift in the mail yesterday, from my friend Toni!

This is the front of the birthday card...she took this picture when she was visiting in Georgia...isn't it so serene and peaceful?

Inside the beautiful package were these lovely candlesticks!! So pretty and spring-like!

Toni explained that she rescued them from a friend's Goodwill box~She saw them and thought of me...I love hand-me-overs!!! ;-)

I immediately put together an arrangement on the kitchen table...

(Playing with Picasa photo settings)

Thanks, Toni, for your thoughtful gift!!

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The same day I recieved a package from a Giveaway I'd won from Mlle Magpie...

A set of vintage French books!!

I love the aged paper and rough edges..Thanks, Zita!! ;-)

Table Top Tuesday..

Today's Table-top is Steve's grandma's sewing cabinet we have in the family room.

There was a time (pardon the pun) where it seemed everywhere I went (thrift stores and garage sales) I'd find all sorts of clocks. And dirt cheap, so I HAD to buy 'em!! ;-)  They were all the (decorating) rage for awhile...are they still?? I can't keep up. :-)

I like to tie in a quote or scripture in my displays when I can...this one suits it perfectly, don'tcha think?

This little bird's nest is my nod to spring. I haven't done much to show the change in season yet....just the front porch...hmmmm~that would qualify for Tabletop Tuesday wouldn't it?!

The darling tray behind the vignette was made by my sweet friend, Toni. She decoupaged vintage photos of girlfriends, along with pressed flowers and words relating to friends... It's a cherished gift of mine.

Be sure to visit Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for other Table Top displays!

Met Monday~Jenni's house Part 2

For this week's Metamorphosis Monday I'm showing Jenni's living room. (You can read about Jenni's house HERE)

You can see she was off to a great start..cool lamp in the corner, great pillows, fabulous couches and coffee table...

And I LOVED this 'gallery'! She'd picked up various frames at thrift stores and garage sales and then attached moss to a screen and framed them! She was off to a great start with the idea..I just helped finish them off..

I just added doo-dads she had. She made the fabric houses and crochet flowers. Other things were bought at garage sales...doll furniture, and I think a couple of things she got on sale at Urban Outfitters...

I dressed the tables and coffee table as well. Added a throw for color.

Here is her darling kitchen...

The only thing I suggested was to move her globes from here

..to here. I thought it made for a better focal point.

She bought tea towels at Anthropolgie and made a valance over her window.CUTE!

And she fashioned these cool flowers out of wire!

LOVE IT!!

She created these herd of horses traipsing across the wall on the stair way,too!

Jenni is so talented~ She transformed wire into flowers and  paper and buttons into horses!! :-)

Be sure to visit Between Naps on the Porch for other wonderful transformations!

Lazy Sunday Morning...

Our church holds services on Saturday nights as well as Sunday mornings..so we've taken to attending Saturday nights, which leaves Sunday mornings lazy and leisure for us. Sometimes we invite friends over and I make a big brunch. Other Sunday mornings, Steve takes over the kitchen. This was one of those mornings.

He is famous for his omletes. And he outdid himself this time!

Spinach,asparagus,mushrooms,canadian bacon,tomatoes and feta cheese. Omygosh! Was it delicious!

We sat down at the kitchen table and I looked out the window and asked Steve "Was it very cold outside?"

he said, "No, it's nice out". This time of year can either be really cold one morning and fairly warm the next.

So I suggested we take out feast outside.

We were entertained as we ate:

The sweetest California Goldfinches dined as well! ;-)

Spring has sprung here in Northern California, honey bees, bumble bees were humming around us,

along with several varieties of birds singing and chirping.

The fragrance of the wisteria is heavenly!

Just wanted to share an ordinary but glorious Sunday morning with you!

 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days

Psalm 90:14 (New International Version)

Valentine Design~Building Beautiful Blogs...

Remember when I had my blog makeover? I wrote about it here.

Well, now my friend, Karen, has started her own blog makeover business and I just wanted to spread the word! It's called Valentine Design. She is a sweetheart and will work with you in whatever changes you'd like. For instance, I loved my header, done by Tiffany, because she incorporated my business card in the design, and she was the one who helped me set up my blog in the first place! ;-) And I didn't want to change that. Karen worked around it beautifully and now I just LOVE how my blog looks!

Karen is so talented and creative...you will be so tickled to see what she can do with the look of your blog!

Have a great weekend! 

Tabletop Tuesday

For this week's Tabletop Tuesday I thought I'd show you the little vignette in the corner of my sitting room.

My sweet husband gave me that "Rest In the Lord" picture one Christmas a couple of Christmas's ago.

A friend from San Diego sent me the victorian couple lamp because she thought it'd go so well in our home. I embellished a lampshade I had with trim beading to go with the lamp. The cocoa pot was my mother's. A birthday present to her from her Aunt Laura when my mom turned 9. Heirlooms.... Sigh.

I love the glow the lamp casts when it's turned on..

Steve bought this corner china cabinet for me after we moved up here to house my collection of pretties! Another gift from Steve is the Tea Set on the third shelf. When I fell in love with tea parties he was quick to help me start my collection. He is such a sweet and thoughtful guy!

This is the top shelf..holding thrift store finds as well as thoughtful gifts from sweet friends!!

And the second shelf..the Hull pottery on the left was purchased for just a few dollars when I was on a trip to Michigan. I since found out it's worth quite a bit more! The white tea cup with flowers was a find at Michael's.  And the sugar and creamer were a Metamorphosis Monday project you can read about here

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This darling mirrored shelf is a flea market find...holding sweet treasures.

So that's a little corner of my home for Tabletop Tuesday!

Be sure to visit Marty at A Stroll Thru Life to see her beautiful living room as well as other's creative displays!

Met Monday..Jenni's House Part One

My good friend, Jenni, is a newlywed and recently moved into their brand new home! She's extremely creative and talented..(she painted the bunny picture). She called me one day asking for my help. She had created and collected some great stuff to decorate her new home, but when she moved in it was overwhelming with so many choices. Not to mention she works full time and is going after her Masters!

I can relate. I remember when we moved into our home I didn't know where to start first.

Gleefully, I drove right over!! ;-)

This is their formal dining room, with all the fun stuff I got to work with!

She and Brian (her husband) painted the walls in chalkboard paint. She plans to draw in 'paneling' in chalk on the walls. It will look fabulous!! But in the meantime, I think it looks pretty cool. We found the dining chairs at a thrift store. I showed her how to paint and recover the seats. I love the color combination she chose!

Okay, so the above are the 'before' pictures...

And below are the 'after' pictures:

I wanted to make her bunny picture a focal point for the room. The shelf below  is a bookshelf turned on it's side. The fabric draped over the side is a pillow sham she had..I loved the graphic touch. All the white pottery were wedding presents and Jenni created numerous terrariums in various sizes.

Another view of the room. Jenni covered the lampshade in the corner in moss. So cool!!

I just scrunched up some leftover burlap she had to make a tablerunner of sorts, show-cased her terrariums on a pedestal plate, and suggested she get red candles to go in the glass candle holders.

I just LOVE those chairs!! ;-)

Here is the view from the other side, looking into the entry. Jenni had these panels she'd made awhile ago.

My daughter, Courtney, had taught her to crochet and she made a bunch of darling flowers and had them bagged up, not knowing what to do with them. I suggested she pin them to the panels and this was the result!

A close up of the panels.

So that's part one of Met Monday. Next Monday I'll show you what I did in her living room. If you like Anthropology, you're gonna love this!!  I had a blast decorating her home, and now she's encouraged and motivated to keep going! I can't wait to see what she does! :-)

Be sure to check out other transformations at Susan's blog Between Naps on The Porch!

Have a great day!