Toni's House

This is my friend, Toni's, house. She's as much into decorating as I am--we're always getting ideas from each other!! The above pic is her entry way--stamped grapevines grace the wall.

Her family room....

The mantle or fireplace cover came from an old house and it fit over her new fireplace perfectly!

Here is a view of a wall grouping in her living room--you'll see the rest tomorrow for Tablescape Thursday.

This secretary she bought at a garage sale and painted and antiqued it...she has such a knack for display--I love the look of the blue and white dishes in it!

Another cute vignette in her living room...

And this is another cabinet she painted to show off her goodies. She's also an avid thrift store shopper and also finds deals on Ebay.

Her cozy, cottagey guest room. So soothing!

A few more views of her guest room...

I just LOVE this display on the wall!!

The master bedroom..she has beautifully displayed her plate collection throughout out the room.

'nother view...

A corner in her bedroom...she has a wonderful collection of vintage perfume bottles, too.

Here is a close-up of the necklace hanger she made...a mosaic out of broken china and darling little knobs!!

The top of her dresser...and more of her perfume bottle collection...

I love how she displayed her vintage jewelry in a pretty plate on her dresser!

Stay tuned for more of Toni's house for Tablescape Thursday!!

Laura's Home

Next, I stayed at Dave and Laura's house for three days. This is her front entry...she's always changing it out and I always love what she comes up with!

A close up...most of her treasures are thrift store finds!

The living room....

And dining room.

Another view of her dining room...I love how she arranged her china cabinet.

Dave, (like Steve) is a wine collector...Laura did a wonderful arrangement on top of his wine 'fridge.

A peek inside her china cabinet--more thrift store finds in there, along with treasured heirlooms from her mom....

The upstairs guest bathroom..

And the guest room that I stayed in. Home away from home!!!

Back Home Again!

I had a wonderful time in San Diego~ Got to see all my best friends!! Sue picked me up at the airport and I spent the first night at her lovely home. Of course we hit the local thrift store before settling in to catch up on the happenings of each other's lives.
I also snapped a few photos of her lovely home...as well as my other friends' homes. So you'll be getting a little 'home tour' the houses of my friends over the next few days!!

Sue raises chickens--well, they're pets that happen to lay eggs. The white one's named "Spot" (cute,huh?!) the brown one is Rocket..who lays brown eggs...

...and the black one is named "Emma"--she lays brown eggs.

Me on Louie's (Sue's husband) Harley. Veroom-Veroom! What's with my hair? It's outta control!

Had to show you their front door....LOUIE MADE IT!! Isn't it gorgeous? He is an accomplished furniture-maker. Does it for their home. Made their bedroom furniture and coffee table too. Amazing.

Here is the living room--all sorts of family heirlooms on the bookshelf. So warm and homey!

The 'formal' dining room that shares the living room.

A little 'nook' in the dining room. Sue recently acquired the green cabinet from her 90+ year old grandmother, who rescued it from the trash years and years ago, and painted it green. Now the look is back in style again!

A close-up of the nook...more family heirlooms.

This is the guest bathroom....I couldn't get it all in one shot, so here's the right side..

..and the left.

One of the many fabulous ideas Sue had was to cover a not-so-attractive light fixture...she made a valance and hung it up with a tension rod. I LOVE that idea!

She did it in her son's bathroom, too, and here's a more detailed pic so you'll see what I mean..

I love the rag-painting she did on the wall, too!

This curtain she used rings to hang it-which is another great option if the tension rod isn't long enough (or too short).

See how it covers up the light fixture? Oops! You got a light-bulb out, Sue!! ;-)

Stay tuned for more home tours!!

Off to San Diego!!

So now I'm off to San Diego. I pre-wrote this post as I won't have any time between trips. I'm going down to celebrate my friend, Anita's 50th birthday. I am helping with the party. Toni (our mutual friend), Laura and I are doing a Garage Sale Themed birthday party for Anita--who is the queen of Garage sales!! On Saturday the gals are all meeting at Starbuck's at 7:00 a.m. to hit the garage sales. One of the games is to find a present there for Anita and she'll have to guess who's it's from. Then we'll meet back at Toni's around 10:30 for brunch. The tables will be mix and match (mostly mix) so it looks like a garage sale. I'm bringing down a few of my 40's vintage tablecloths.
A picture of Anita's present is at the end of this blog..so Anita--if you're reading, you better stop here!! ;-)
Anita's gift is at the end of this post...after I did it, I made myself a little house jewelry...I

made a little collage and glued it to the back of an old chandelier crystal--I got a box of 'em for a few bucks a while back at , yes, a garage sale. I added a little vintage rhinestone and bead and it hangs from black velvet ribbon. A fun little bling for my house!
Okay, so here's Anita's gift. My neighbor gave me a few glass ,um, I'm not sure what to call them..they came off a chandelier, tho. Anyway, I made a collage with the theme of garage sale and glued it to the back. It hangs by a black velvet ribbon. It was so much fun to make I can't wait to back to make more!!

I'll be staying with three different friends while I'm in San Diego, and will return late Tuesday.

Pics to follow in a day or two after I get back...

Have a wonderful week!

Off to Long Beach! (and Zac's Birthday)

Well, Steve and I are off to Long Beach--Steve on a business trip, me to read and relax. We are both looking forward to seeing Zac and Amy whilst we are there...I get to spend a day with Amy---maybe hitting the thrifts? ;-) I am so blessed to have daughter's-in-love who love Thrift Stores!!

We will also be celebrating our oldest son's birthday...he will be 28 (gasp!) on the 28th. This is a pic Zac took of us on his I-phone when he and Amy were visiting this past summer.

Zac's a great guy....there is no greater blessing (well, it's in the top 5) than to have the many prayers of this mother's heart answered. Those prayers started at the birth of her first born and has never stopped. I've heard it said that once you give birth you are never again alone in your thoughts. That has been so true for me. It has been so rewarding to see Zac grow to be the man of God that he is today. When he was 6 I began praying for his wife he would marry some day. When Zac brought Amy home to meet us 6 years ago, I felt like I already knew her--because I'd been praying for her all that time and because she was that close to everything I prayed for! Mostly I've prayed that Zac would love God with all his heart and would put Him first in his life. I know from experience that if you do that..everything else falls into place. And it has been true for Zac. Rough and difficult times come and go, but when you anchor your life in your faith, life steadies out again.

So we look forward to be able to celebrate with him.

Happy Birthday, Zac!!