My new antique cylinder roll Danish desk.......

My dh started it, honestly! He's been wanting an antique desk for a loooong time. While antiquing with my sister we found it (she must bring me luck!)

We both kind of gasped when we saw it and then did a double-take when we saw the price.....well, that just cannot be right, who would sell such a beautiful desk for that price? Lucky for us, someone did. I stood by it while I called my dh to come down and take a look at it. Look at all those little drawers....gaaahhhh! 

It has so much storage space, especially with all of the really deep drawers down below. Just what we needed in our family room. See that marquetry center panel above? It slides to reveal a cool hidden compartment with yet more little cubbies.
The only thing we'll change is the original green felt that has become faded because the older Danish couple that owned this piece never pulled out the desk portion to use it. We'll probably add leather instead of felt....easier to write on. My dd has already started using it to do her homework on and has "claimed" some of the cubby drawers as her own.

We even have a skeleton key that was supposed to be original to this desk but it doesn't really seem to fit the locks so we'll try to get one made.

Some of the key holes have mother of pearl surrounding them.

The owner of the antique mall told us that this desk belonged to a very old Danish couple who had it shipped over from Europe when they moved here. They no longer used it or needed it so they offered it for sale at the antique mall.
Lucky for us!

Wallpaper covered books~~~~~~~~~!

Who has some ugly books at home, raise your hand.....oooh, I see a lot of raised hands! Well, this little project is for you. Let me preface this by saying....this is NOT rocket science. Just an easy way to 'prettify' (yes, I just made up that word) your books.
For example, the books above and below....purchased from B&N.
One of my weirder quirks (and I have many, trust me) is that I can't stand dust jackets on books. They simply annoy me, plus they're ugly. 

So the first order of business is to take off and discard the ugly dust jackets....do this on books that are your faves and that you know you'll always want to keep. For me, that would be any book written by Charlotte Bronte and Rosamunde Pilcher. LOVE both of these authors to death.

Then go to your wallpaper stash and pick some pretty papers that you want to use. This is NOT about being perfect, in fact that's why I love this project so much....just piece them on there and glue them down with some mod podge. I have an entire drawer of wallpaper scraps left over from my many projects....it's literally overflowing at the moment.

Then just glue away....

Better, right?

And in no time at all you have a much prettier stack of books to display, books that you're not ashamed to see the light of day.
I like to stack these on my nightstand so I can just gaze at them when I'm finished reading....now, if you don't happen to hoard
have a stash of vintage wallpaper on hand like I do, not to worry.
Go here for the most scrumptious digital wallpapers you've ever seen!
www.etsy.com/shop/tatteredvintage
Beth will fix you right up with some beauties. Her shop is brimming with gorgeous wallpapers.
Have a great rest of your week, and happy book-covering!

'Shine Where You Are'~~~~~~~

I've been doing a bit of creating today.....puttering around and using up some of my supplies. I SO love making shadow boxes..the sky is the limit with the creativity and my mind loves to pick and choose the elements that I want to use.

This one is titled 'Shine Where You Are' based on the low brow doll head and a piece of vintage hymnal music that spoke to me.
I can't think of a better mantra lately to 'shine where you are' instead of wishing you were somewhere else, you know?
Of course that can apply symbolically to many different areas of our lives, but for me lately it's been trying not to compare my business with other people's businesses....please tell me that you also fall into that trap at times....:(.
Really and truly folks, it's never good to go there....don't get me wrong, I love to check out the competition and see what they're up to, but focusing on my own thing is where I know I'll see some real returns, not focusing on what other's are doing.

So I started brainstorming in the shower today and voila.....I came up with my shadow box.....and while I was happily creating I wasn't thinking about 'those other shops'.
So far it's been a happy day!
Now it's your turn, what have you made lately?

A home to call your own.............:)

My sister and her dh are moving into a place on the Oregon coast soon.....I'm so happy for them and so happy for us as well.
We'll all be so much closer to each other! They've been traveling for quite some time in their motor home and I think they've had enough.
Now the photo above is NOT their new home.....just one I found online that will be a bit similar.
It will be so much fun to visit them as they'll only be about 1 hour away from us.
I see many trips to the coast in my near future.
What a happy week this is!