Romance and Valentines...

I pulled out my Valentine things to put around the house. I wanted to try to make it more romantic tho not just Valentiney. This is what you see coming up to my front door.

Many of you saw this last year. I just threw it together. But I loved the combo so much Ive decided to do it every year. Its just Halloween costume angel wings and a feather heart wreath. 

Some of the Valentines at my door. LOVE is the season :)

My spring centerpiece updated with a big heart for Valentines day.

View of the whole decorated area of the hutch for Valentines day.

Lower part on top of chinese wine cabinet, many of my blue and white pieces. In the center a heart shaped blue and white pie plate. Below it a pierced white milk glass dish with a small berry heart.

One of the shelves...Has an antique rose bowl almost 100yrs old., a green depression glass fruit bowl filled with roses and a fan.

Center shelf on the hutch Has a floral filled heart basket, a pretty fan and my Lefton Americana Rose sugar and creamer.

 The apothecary jar has been changed too. Still has the flameless candle but is filled with a heart garland that spills onto the counter and breaks into many tiny glass hearts.

This is on my living room table. There's  a pink glass rose container filled with rose potpourri. Next to it is a small red satin heart box from one of my first valentines Kurt gave me. The other things were there already so I just sprinkled some glass hearts around. 

 This is my dresser in my bedroom. I wanted to make a romantic topping for my bedroom. Its perfect for Valentines day but also for all year round.

The lamp has long beaded fringe which I just love to play with. And the tray on the bottom of it is very Art Nouveau looking. I filled the tray part with a sweet rose teapot filled with rose potpourri. Leaning against it is some of the rocks Ive found that are heart shaped.

That photo is my grandparents wedding photo. Both are gone now but they married in 1921. I always have that photo somewhere in my bedroom wherever I live. the brass piece lying on the doily is an old tussie mussie holder. I love those and bought it long ago in the hopes that my daughters wedding bouquet would be made and put in there. She eloped. :(  But it has beautiful relief grapes and vines and I was told its a rare piece.

Just some of my Easter decor...

This is the wreath on my front door this yr. I found it at Joannes last year on 70% clearance. It was a $30 wreath so it was a great deal. This was the only one not broken. The eggs are fragile and crack just like real eggs even tho they arent. I found a bag this yr. of Purple ribbon in Goodwill. that bow is made from the wired ribbon in the package. I love it!

I bought this birds nest in Ca. last yr. I had little chocolate eggs in it then. Ive used it all over the house for different things at different times of the yr. Now its filled with fake speckled eggs that I bought a bunch of this yr. Sits on the coffee table and I think its so cute.

I watched QVC a week or so ago and got in trouble. Not only did I buy those speckled eggs up there but these bunnies and the lil chicks behind them. Both are sequin and beaded and are too cute. I tucked the chickies in the basket I filled with candy for my grand daughter when she gets here and my bfs brothers kids since they will all be here for the holiday.

My DIL bought that basket of hyacinths. I love them even if they are silk. So I stuck it in our bathroom to brighten it up and hide my bfs razor hehehe. Added a few more speckled eggs and lil chicks too.

I love this basket and bought it last yr. just for me. I love girly frilly things and this pink basket just screamed girly to me. I filled it with my fake stuffed bunny and chick peeps and some speckled eggs.

I love nesting santas, bunnies, snowmen, you name it and have several for different holidays I pull out. This one is for the guest bathroom. No thats not something sticking out of his ear. .. I forgot to remove the mermaid night-light when I took the shot.

This is my table. That purple feather wreath was on my door last yr. and I just loved it. But its very windy here and I didn't want the feathers to get blown off the wreath so this yr I used it inside on my table. I put a hurricane lamp glass in the middle to showcase a fake chocolate bunny. Added a couple more bunnies and chicks and my fav yellow duckie. Last yr. he was on clearance at the local craft store and I just HAD TO have him. His face is so cute. The only thing is now, I wish I bought a couple since he was only a dollar.

And this is on my counter in the kitchen. I dont have much on it because when everyone gets here for dinner that will be set up as the buffet. But for now my fav. lemon candle is lit to make the house smell nice.

Random musings...and my holiday mantle

My mantle decorated for the holidays for now. Not much and it may change yet. Yes I made that doily, just finished it last week, a nice ecru color for fall.

My coffee table for now...that's the metallic pumpkin I spoke of in a past blog. I love its coppery color. Not sure it will stay there but that's it for now. 

Its starting out to be a strange day for sure. I got butt dialed by one of my kids friends. I know it has to be that cuz when I picked up I heard machines running and nobody would answer me. lol Happened twice so I called him back and left a msg about what was happening. I figure he will see it sooner or later. 

We are supposed to get a ton of rain this week. Right now the sun is out and its gorgeous. Its been much cooler lately tho. And yesterday it actually finally smelled like fall. Its early for us this yr but after the heat we had this summer,  I welcome it with open arms. The news said its gonna rain alot. They were predicting flooded areas already. I will just make something to warm the house and pretend I'm in Oregon already. 

Sigh....October, holidays are coming and I don't even know where Ill be for them. My favorite time of yr. and I cant do anything or plan for it. It sux. I have a bit of stuff around that says fall. I may take out a lil more because Ill go nuts if I don't. Ive been burning my pumpkin spice candles too. Makes the house smell nice and helps my rotten mood. 

Boy they sure are pushing holidays faster and faster these days. I barely have fall up and now I'm seeing Christmas stuff. This is really sad because while it helps if you don't have alot of money, to buy things a little at a time, early.......if you get near the holiday and need something, the stores are empty by then. Oh by the way.....not sure how true it really is but Ive been reading alot that there is pumpkin shortage this yr. Pumpkin for pies I mean. So if you see it buy it now. I went to the store the other day and decided to find some to put away in case I do get to bake yet before the move. It was on the very bottom shelf, which it never is..........and while they had pumpkin pie mix the pumpkin itself was almost gone. I had to dig for it. Its that time of yr and there's nothing much on the shelf? Yup, I'm thinking this is true. So stock up if you see it and use it.

Getting ready for fall....

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I really wanted to go thrifting but it was hot. I needed the change from my shopping to do the thrifting and if I went there after I shopped, stuff would melt in the car. So I didn't do it. On the way home tho, there is a place called the Decor Warehouse. Its an outlet for holiday decorating. I was there a week or so ago and bought this gorgeous metal pumpkin. (no pic right now, if I get a chance to, Ill post that later). This place sells a lot of what the craft stores do but much cheaper so I like to go there around the holidays.

Ive been feeling stuck in the hot cuz of this heat so since it was so close and I knew I wouldn't be in there long, I went yesterday. I really should avoid this place tho. Its ez to spend toooooo much. But I saw that stuffed turkey up there in the top picture. He was calling my name. I tried to ignore that but he just wouldn't let me leave the store without him! Hes got long dangly legs and his feathers are felt with wire in them. You can bend them to shape. I showed my bf today and he laughed.

This lil guy smiled at me and I knew he wanted to come home with me too....sigh. I really have to stop picking up strays lol. Hes only about 3in. high but soooooooo cute! So I bought him for Halloween.
And I bought this pretty pumpkin, small like the other one but with that saying on it, for Thanksgiving.
And then I saw these table runners draped over the chairs of a dining set. Some were green background and some were this beautiful rich brown. Its shiny, silky fabric embellished with stitching, appliques and sequins. The green seemed a bit gaudy tho. The brown looked so rich and I figured would go much better with whatever I have around.
Look at the details on this ....looks even better in person. The camera seems to make it much shinier than it is.

Some girly stuff in my house....

Over the door in my dining room, a gift from an ex friend. I say ex because my ex got custody of them all, most were business related. I do however love this piece, its a nice ceramic piece that says it all around this house.

Part of my collection of wall pockets. I love purple grapes. These wall pockets run along the wall over my phone area in my kitchen.

I found this country shelf down the street from my house. Someone was redecorating and put it all outside to sell. I got an oak dresser for my bf for $100 and this shelf. Its hand painted and she got it at a craft shop for $250. She sold it to me for 50 bucks! On top is my collection of purse banks. These were called pin money banks. Women would save pennies and such in them for a rainy day. Now the banks themselves are quite collectible. I saw them in a magazine once and just had to start searching for them. I have a half dozen now and the collection is probably finished......but you just never know hehehe.

I recently got another one. I found it at the local thrift store for only $4!! Now that was a lucky find.

This is the lamp on the dresser in my bedroom. I fell in love with this lamp and had to have it. . It goes nice with my girly rose bedroom. And when I go past I like to play with the beads.

I had to have this!

See that gorgeous mirror with the ruffle? I HAD TO have it. I spotted this on this blog http://moscottage.blogspot.com/ the other day. She said she saw it on another blog too and had to have it. I searched Google all over trying to find it ...called it a ruffled mirror, a ruffled frame, a mirror with a ruffle. Couldn't find it. Now the woman says these are rare so I knew it would be tough if not impossible. Ive never seen one like this before. So after fruitless searching I went to Ebay, the land of the obscure up for grabs lol.

I searched all over there too and then.........finally ......under oval mirrors.........found her! Someone bid on her already but I KNEW she would be mine. I put my highest bid on it and waited. That was a couple days ago. I forgot about it. Today I remembered and went in to see where things stood and actually caught the very last minute of the auction. What timing huh? I sat nervously waiting to be out sniped. (yes I use a service for that cuz the stupid Ebay newbies bid stuff up beyond what is reasonable).

But I won!! And I didn't even need the sniper this time. NOBODY ELSE BID! That never happens to me with stuff I want. Now I got a deal.........this mirror cost me $5.50 plus shipping. Its 17 x 14 1/2 in.

A few days later...............


The ruffled mirror I ordered came in yesterday. Ive been playing with the stuff on my mantel and this is what I came up with for now. Of course in a couple weeks it will all be packed away for the move.

That's an English teapot that I fell in love with. Packed away already is a matching teacup and saucer. That pretty rose bowl up there is an antique bowl I found online. I thought it looked nice up there with all this. The tiny demi tasse cup is one I found in a thrift store here...it has gorgeous roses on it.

The word LOVE I found in Target. I saw it on another blog and had to have it too. It was Valentine stuff they sold there but I love it so much that Im leaving it up all year.

Some Dollar Store fun today....

First, this is my table in my dining room right now. Took down the July 4th stuff and added my mermaids and some roses from my garden. Put a nice lacy white tablecloth on too so it looks bright and summery.

I saw these crafty things tho at the Dollar store and had to buy some. They are just plain wood that you paint and decorate yourself but wouldn't these be cute hanging around the house? Haven't decided how to do them and most likely wont until the move is over. But I figured if I didn't buy it now.....they would be gone.

Know what these are? Giant stickers but not just any old stickers. They are chalkboard stickers you can put your own messages on. They are quite lg. too about 1 1/2 ft. long. I thought either I could use them in my own shop to put msgs. on or prices or just use them around my house. I did buy the chalkboard wallies awhile back but these were much cheaper. Sometimes I really love the Dollar Store!