My most favorite Valentine card in the world~~~~~~~

Dreamy, right? It's a Nister card and fairly delicate. I added the maroon ribbon in order to hang it in my studio.
Wishing you all a positively lovely Valentine's Day!

A new button box creation and a fun swap~~~

It's a wallpapered button box! I love making these little boxes so much....just take a simple papier mache box in whatever shape you like and put some lovely vintage wallpaper on it...it's transformed!

This photo shows the one I just made and one I made a few years ago. I put a small hole in the lid to house my string which I seem to use every day. You can also put some ribbons or seam binding in it.

I spotted this shabby wallpapered box in a lovely etsy shop. I could never in a million years have enough of these boxes! They are the perfect storage in my studio.

This shop owner was a dream to work with and we actually ended up swapping items to each other and it was so much fun.

She's happy, and I'm happy.
Off to create some more boxes...hope you're staying busy!

Staying put.....and not by choice.

So we've had freezing rain today on top of all the snow. We decided to go a very short distance to have lunch at a favorite restaurant.....opened our garage door and our cherry trees lining our driveway have so much ice on their branches that they are literally a foot from the ground! Backing my car into them would surely damage both them and my car so we're staying in.

Brrrrrr.......

More brrrrrr.....I tried to capture the amount of ice that is covering our wrought iron fence.

Pretty icicles all the way down....

We're watching the olympics (well, some of us are). I'm getting antsy so have decided to get started on a project that I've been wanting to do for a long time now. I bought this wooden house at a thrift store a few years ago now and while it's perfectly charming as-is I know it can be so much more.

I have big plans for it......

This is a piece that will remain in my home when finished. It's quite large and I think it will be a cool statement piece.
I hope you're all staying warm, next week I'll be back to share my latest obsession. I think it's almost time for an intervention!

Oh my goodness, what is all this white stuff I'm standing in~~~~~

I know I put a spoon under my pillow last night, and I even turned my p.j.'s inside out....it worked, it worked!

And it's such a lovely, fluffy snow too!
Happy, happy!

Some sweet finds of the day....

Today was a no school day for dd so we took advantage of it, meeting my dh and some friends for lunch....then we went shopping. I found this sweet pink handled hand mixer and paired it with a bowl I already had. These are listed in my Etsy.

This is a great retro cookbook, complete with color photos that was from the 1940's.....another great kitchen find.

Can't forget this beautiful 100 drawer hardware store cabinet. Only wish it were mine!

But I must admit to this being my favorite find of the day! Such a pretty tin for your vintage laundry room display. All of these are listed in my shop already and I have more to come.
Stay tuned!

Totally and utterly smitten with these......

Does anyone know what these were/are meant to be used for? Are they just a collectible or do people take these to church with them? I should know, being Catholic, but I realized when my dh asked me, "What are they for?" that I really had no clue.

 I took a day just for me yesterday and went to visit my sister at the coast to do some much needed shopping. Can I just tell you that after all of the cold and fog we've had for the past couple of weeks it felt like springtime over there! It was 57 and sunny....bright sun and a wonderful breeze. I wanted to stay!
We hit a lot of the antique shops and a thrift and in one of them I found these and was so happy.

Is this not beautiful? It's in mint condition!

Love the combination of felt, ribbon, and the angel on this one.

Darling with the pink bow. And amazing that some of these are still on their original cards.

Happy, happy! I have plans to do special things with these!

I didn't want to do it~~~~~~~

but oh my heck!!!!!! This is why I couldn't open my dresser drawers.......for real!
I had no less than 17 pairs of jeans in there.....sigh.
Just call me a jeans 'hoarder', it's o.k., I deserve it!

I've lost 5 lbs. so far (thank you very much) and these jeans represent my weight losses over the years.
Every style is represented here.....let's check them off, shall we?

bootcut.....got em'
straight leg..........got em'
skinny...........got em'
cropped.........got em'jeggings.......got em'low waisted.......got em'
just below the waist......got em'
sits at the waist.......got em'


It's so liberating being able to open my dresser drawers...who knew how easy it could be? Do you have the same issues as me? Do you put it off and put it off and put it off until you just want to scream?
I did....obviously.

The good news? I will NEVER have to buy another pair of jeans in my life.
How many of you think I can stick to that plan, raise your hand.

Yeah, that's what I thought....:). I'm sure I'll find a reason, we always do. But I'll sure have fun fitting into my smaller jeans again....I've already started.
WooHoo!

Life goes on.....let's make the most of it~~~~

I've shown this antique ladies trunk before. It's one piece that I'll always keep because, well look at it!
I'm a complete sucker for 'watered roses', that dreamy effect that is so romantic. 

I've put some recently purchased linens in this beauty, lots of pretty tatting borders. The
black floral pillow top in the first photo is a beauty, it's of velvet and silk. I'm planning on making a sweet little pillow out of it because I love the flower basket on it and the fact that it's so very old.

I'd love to just jump into this and spend some time there~~~~~~

Instead my old linens will get that benefit. We had some devastating news over the weekend and I'm looking for comfort anywhere I can find it. Mostly I've been praying, the ultimate in comfort for me.
Please hug your loved ones today and tell them how much you love them, make sure they know that you're there for them no matter what. Let them know that there is no problem that is insurmountable and that with the help of those who love you we can all conquer mountains!
Love is meant to be shared.

MOTIVATION....we all need it sometimes~~~~~

For me, motivation comes in the form of eating more healthy food and exercising at least 5-6 days/week.
This is my year for that to happen!
Today we woke up to 25 degrees. Not that cold considering what many other parts of our country are feeling (- any degrees is too cold!) but cold here nevertheless.
I decided to work out for an hour and then started my pot of healthy minestrone soup for dinner.
I'll be cutting way back on sweets consumptions as well.
I know that once I start feeling healthier that these habits will be easier to keep, for now though I do look forward to them.
In the meantime, my dd started back to school today so my days are my own again until 3pm!
I have plenty to keep me busy, however.
Anyone else feel that organizing frenzy at this time of year?
Let me tell you, my kitchen is so organized that I think even Martha would be jealous.....o.k., I exaggerate, but it is tons better than it was. You know it's time to clean the clutter when you open your kitchen cabinets and stuff comes falling out at you.
Yep, much more organized over here.

How about you?

A beautiful french peasant doll~belle fille

She's a beauty with THE most incredible dress.
Doesn't the fabric remind you of the French General fabrics from Kaari Meng?

Of course she's very old, from the 20's or 30's.

I'd certainly love to know a bit about her, who her owner was, where she lived, etc.

But for now I'll just enjoy finding the perfect spot for her to grace in my home....check out the gorgeous trim on her dress. She reminds me so much of a doll that my late grandmother owned. She sat in her dining room on top of a hutch filled with china.
I always loved looking at that doll!

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!

And I do hope it's your best one yet!!!!

Heaven in a bottle..................

I've recently become much more interested (again) in fragrances. One of my favorite and recently read books mentions this fragrance 'L'Heure Bleue'. I've long been a fan of Guerlain perfumes, I've loved Shalimar for probably 25 years. Lately after reading several fragrance blogs that have reviews on them I made a bold (for me) move. I decided, based on what so very many happy women were saying about this fragrance, to give it a try without sampling it first. This is not like me at all. Have you ever purchased a fragrance without trying it first? I don't recommend it but in this case the universe was with me.....see, I not only have myself to worry about, but also my dh who is very sensitive to many scents. He loves my Boucheron, my Coco, my Bal a Versailles, but I worried about this one.

He took one whiff and said, "Wow, that's nice". Ummm, understatement! This is such a lovely scent....here is what is said about it.

L'Heure Bleue or 'the bluish hour' was created by Jacques Guerlain in 1912. The fragrance is velvety soft and romantic, it is a fragrance of bluish dusk and anticipation of night, before the first stars appear in the sky. The top notes are opening with spicy-sweet aniseed and fresh bergamot that gently lead to the heart of rose, carnation, tuberose, violet, and neroli. The soft and powdery floral notes are resting on a base of vanilla, Tonka bean, iris and benzoin. The perfume is mysterious, elegant and timeless. It was created by Raymond Guerlain. The bottle is shaped like the one of Mitsouko and the stopper is shaped like a hollow heart that alludes to romantic pre-war years.

Now I know that perfume is such a personal thing, what works for one may not work for another. But Guerlain fragrances are so complex and beautiful. If you find yourself at a nice perfume counter, do yourself a favor and try some. I love the fact that I can put it on in the morning and still smell it the next morning! Much more subdued of course, but I love that lingering scent.

I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, ours was crazy busy but in a good way. Now it's time to relax.

If you have a moment, I'd love to know what your favorite fragrances are......please do share.

I wish you all the merriest of Christmas's, and a blessed New Year

And thank you to all friends, new and old, for following along my life's journey. Here's to a beautiful New Year!!!!!!

Part of what our day looked like.............

O.K., these are actually from pinterest but you get the idea....

Total mayhem.....this is what comes from people being cooped up and unable to shop for an entire week.
Luckily we all still have time.
Procrastinators of the world.....REJOICE!

Seriously........? Still?

Old Man Winter certainly has his grip on us.

This madness started last Friday....the first "snow day"....
no school and my daughter hasn't had school since then.

Maybe tomorrow? Who knows....my sister finally drove over to Florence today and she called me when she got over the pass. She said it was the scariest drive she's ever done and thought that the knots in her back and shoulders would probably NEVER go away.
But she made it safely and will be unpacking her car and setting up her new temporary home, at least for the next 6 months or so.
We had a great visit while she was here shopping (nearby of course because we couldn't drive far because of the icy roads) but I had a great time helping her with the things she'll need for their new home. Surprisingly (o.k., not really!) I have almost enough 'stuff' for two homes so she is borrowing a lot of my extras to get she and her dh through until they decide where they'll put down their permanent roots.
I'm so happy that they have a place right now that they can fix up a bit and get ready for the holidays.
Stay warm out there!