Monday, July 29, 2013

Vintage Sea Shell Invitations

You are most warmly invited
on a Summer Southern
Shopping Tour
~
From Louisville, Kentucky to:
Knoxville, Tennessee
Asheville, North Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Atlanta, Georgia
Nashville, Tennessee

I recently found this great Anna Griffin sea life sticker kit on HSN
 And decided to use it along with a few other paper goodies to make a invitation for 
my upcoming Summer Southern Shopping Tour!
 Here's all my materials spread out while I work.  
I used vintage sea shell prints to line the envelope from here:

 Miss B and I embark on our journey of researching popular home decor & entertaining shops
on Labor Day weekend.
 We are inviting you along via the blog, for our journey down south
In addition in future posts I will be asking for YOUR favorite store recommendations in these cities & comments will be entered into a drawing for a variety of Mary Lake Thompson towels, napkins & bags!

I'm Joining:
Inspire me Tuesday at http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at http://www.stonegableblog.com/

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Shellebration

Here is the inspiration for my most recent tablescape, which interestingly enough has
nothing to do with seashells!  This complete set of vintage glasses was purchased
by my sweet husband for me recently as a present from a local store. 
Their silver rims reminded me of the silver accents in the Mary Lake Thompson
napkins I have with seashells. 

I know I over did it with using all the glasses in one setting, but look
at the little glasses (cordials or aperitif?) filled with seashells :)
This is also that set of flatware I found at Walgreens for $1.99 for 12.


This is a nice long shot of our remodeled dining room and our new table.
We waited 20 years to buy a dining room set (yes really) but I
am so happy with the one we finally purchased. 
We got it Macy's Department store for 40% off plus a coupon during
Black Friday last November.
 I love the back detail of the chairs, which matches the detail on the front of the buffet

 A simple seashell filled jar was my centerpiece.
 I used starfish plates and white plates to carry the coral and white theme along.
 Mother of Pearl napkin rings matched the starfish plates and the silver in the glasses.
And my final touch was these crocodile salt and peppers Miss B bought for me
several years ago in Charleston, SC.
Speaking of Charleston, I will have a special announcement next week and a giveaway!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope your enjoyed the table.
I am joining:
Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish

The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday 

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

Courtney at The French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday


Monday, July 22, 2013

Summer Buffet

I'm creating a little summerness in my dining room.
Today I'd like to share with you the buffet.
 

First I added a large white shell with some raffia & filled it with orange carnival glass tea cups and saucers.  I took my sea horse cock tail napkins and a few large light shells and placed them around.  Now in our house Mr B would call that "done"~but . . . I sit in the living room to study so I stare at the buffet while I'm deep in thought (hmmm) and it just seemed not "done" enough.

So I moved those items over to the left and I added in some more height and color to the right.

I love these teacups they are so colorful!
 

 Here it is all finished~sorry for the bad lighting
It was cloudy and then sunny back and forth all weekend.
My new buffet is part of set we purchased in November at Macy's.
I will show you the dining room table soon.
 
Sharing at the following great blogs:
 
 
 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

MacKenzie Madness

This weekend I saw that MacKenzie Childs was featured at Horchow and I wanted to share a few of their delightful pictures.
Canisters, which would be cute in the kitchen, but in the bath or home office too!
Jars for all of your favorite goodies.
Cake plates, my favorite is the green up front. How about you?

Finally dinnerware in two colors.  Which don't reveal themselves to me as MC right away because of the lack of the black and white checked grounding, but are lovely.
Pictures from www.horchow.com
Finally the most exciting thing of my weekend, which otherwise consisted of schoolwork including a tax project and a paper about WiFi on airplanes, was this flatware find at Walgreens!
Trolling the aisles looking for practical matters such as dishwasher detergent and mascara,
I came upon the clearance aisle and spotted flatware for 50% off, which made them
$1.99 for a set of 12!  Yes it's the little things in life that make me a happy girl :)

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Mid-Summer Delight

I don't know about you but right about the 1/2 way point of summer, my container plants start to droop.

This maybe due to my non-committal watering habits or our soupy Ohio Valley weather, but I'm always wishing for more mid-July.
Here's a few creative containers I found recently:
What a great way to use an old piano!  Isn't this fabulous :)
I found this car filled with flowers outside a local transmission repair shop. 
But I think the bicycle is my favorite.  I'm hoping to do this on our back porch one day!

Photo Credits:
Piano livelifeincrescendo.wordpress.com -
Bicycle gettyimages
Joining the following great hosts(ess):
Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/p/seasonal-sundays.html
Susan for Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday at http://www.astrollthrulife.net/2013/07/173rd-inspire-me-tuesday.html


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Summer Fruit

This time of year summer fruit is bountiful.  I took advantage and set a table with the Fire King set along with a few of my other favorites.  
Including a marigold depression glass plate.

Vintage salt and pepper shakers.

Fitz and Floyd napkin rings.

And orange, yellow and green linens from Dollar Tree.
Green glasses from Arbys years ago and green majolica charges from One Kings Lane complete the setting.
Hope you are enjoying some juicy fruit this summer!
I'm back to studying corporation tax law and Cloud IT Systems.

I'm joining Susan over at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
and Let's Dish with Kathleen at http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Breakfast at Wimbledon



Hope you are getting ready for the holiday weekend at your house.  For me that means I'm usually flying solo as the rest of the family enjoys boating on the lake!
These days that means studying, a lot of studying, so for this holiday I've made myself a breakfast tray.
48 credits done in 18 months and still going . . . I'll keep you posted!