Two Beautiful Blogs

I have found two beautiful white decorating blogs that I want to share with you. Det Vita's blog is full of wonderful whites and lovely photography.

Also visit Tina's blog at Me and My Shed. Isn't this picture fabulous of her conservatory that she calls her "shed?" If only I had a shed this gorgeous. After visiting these blogs you won't be singing the blues...you'll be singing the dazzling whites!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Won't be long til school starts again unless we get lots of snow.

Brody Glass Co Bud Vases

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Today I upgraded some glass vases to a mercury glass look. Sparkle for the new year.

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I did this one first and then I did two more. Three is a charm after all! My gingerbread cookies there on the left.

These vases are readily available for pennies at thrift shops. I took them outside to spray silver paint on as we were having snow flurries. None of the snow stuck.

This Brody company made all different kinds of glass vases and some were colored and some were milk glass. The company started in 1958 and marketed their vases to the florist trade. The company has changed names a few times. I chose three the same height, but with different shapes. They really compliment each other.

With rose buds! I actually have one more step before they are finished. That is the antiquing which gives them true charm. Theses vases look great displayed on a mirror because you get double the shimmer.Total price for this is 3.00 (This gold mirror is in line for a makeover too.)

Connecting up with these friends:

Feathered Nest Friday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

White Chocolate Divine

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These delicious peppermint white chocolate "melts" were so rich and creamy. I wondered how could I photograph these to show how delicious they were? (I only had two.) The white roses were the best pick. Right in the center and as velvety as the rose petals. A rose pedestal!

White Chair Farm

I'm looking at some very pretty whites.

These hydrangeas are gorgeous and came

from Safeway. There are about six-to-eight-rooted,

blooming stalks in each pot!

Martha Stewart planted some "florist hydrangeas"

in her yard years back (she tells about it in one of

her first gardening books)

and they came back beautifully every year.

That was way up north so I think we can have the

same luck down here in Maryland.

The blossom heads are huge and I feel like I am

looking at lots of frilly, flouncy dresses

whose collars and hems are trimmed with pinking sheers.

Two cane chairs are going through the refinishing

process and I'm really liking them. Soon we might

have to change the farm's name to White Chair Farm.

I do love the White Flower Farm nursery so it has a

nice ring to it. Or White Hydrangea Farm? Hmm.

Connecting with White Wednesday.

Farmhouse Country Comforts

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Making some mulled apple cider. The colors are like sugared maple syrup. Stirring up delicious beverages and food is comforting. Sipping or eating afterwards is comforting, like firewood. They always say it warms you twice...when you chop it and when you burn it. I can say that about food. Do you get that warm, fuzzy feeling when you cook? I don't mean turning into an animal either. I mean a content feeling. Okay. There should be a third comforting...when I work it off by exercising. I just haven't got there yet...

Country Christmas

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I hope your Christmas Day was pleasant.
Ours has been. Our house has not been as fragrant since the last holidays. The ovens have been fired up and the fragrance and visiting wonderful.

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Wishing you the merriest Christmas.

Vintage Harp Chairs

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These chairs were only five dollars each! Should I paint them white or a french linen color?

DIY Silver Chalk Board Napkin Rings

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A little shimmer at the table.


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I made these chalkboards into napkin rings with a lovely message.



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We have lots of pinecones here and they got some silver too.


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Santa's citrus moustache and beard.




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A little fun at the table and everyone likes the citrus scent.

I masked off the chalkboard part with clear packing tape so that I could just take off the tape after and the chalkboard section would be "black". I liked the silver spray so much better that I ended up leaving it on and just using a permanent marker to script the words joyeux noel. The paint beads up wonderfully on the tape and it looks like mercury glass. To me these look like they came from a corner of the greenhouse to the table and yet they are all wood.

Connecting with these fun friends:


Show and Tell Friday

Flaunt it Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Potpourri Friday

Ivy and Elephants

My Home Page

A Country Farmhouse - yippee

Libraries are for learning and gathering information. I had to take my son to the library last night and after I gathered up a few things I plunked down in a chair next to the magazines. I picked up Country Living because I love white decorating and the cover pulled me in.

I was thrilled to find out it was the Burke's aka www.acountryfarmhouse.blogspot.com living room on the cover and the most delicious photographs of their home inside. (All of you probably know about their blog, but if you don't head on over.) Trina has the most beautiful country home and I should have "followed" it when I first found it. There isn't any clutter to be seen. Today I went right over and with friend connect linked up. (Hoping the decluttering thing rubs off on me.) Why are we so slow to link up sometimes? It's the best way to find someone again and to keep in touch. Of all the supermarket trips I have made I hadn't seen this new Country Living magazine.

I devoured each picture in the magazine and wondered (quietly) how people keep their kitchens so sparkling white and scrubbed?

DIY Snowflake Rose Branch Wreath

These are simple to make and elegant too.




Greenery inside rounds out the seasons. This snowflake I made from fir tree branch tips and then tied a burlap string to it so I could hang it anywhere.



These little twigs look like they came from Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. They are needleless fir tree branch tips. I lined them up like this to see what they looked like. Who would think these branches by themselves would look lacy when grouped together? I then restacked the centers and put a dab of hot glue on it. To match my room I spray painted them white. You could embellish these with buttons or glitter. There were some dried pink roses on my desk so I hot glued those onto one. Had to get a little pink in there.


These plate rack was a wedding gift and recently it got a wash of white. It is an antique with carved leaves. I really like it. Thank you for stopping by.

I am linking up with Romantic Home.

Knick of Time Tuesday.

Show off your Cottage Monday

Staffordshire England peppermint cocoa

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A cup of hot cocoa stirred with a peppermint candy cane is/was delicious tonight.


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It has a sweet country scene on the cup.



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Two children dancing....are they in the flowers? When the fiddle is playing no one notices in the merriment.

On the bottom of the cup it has the mark "Barratts Staffordshire England". I don't know if this was truly manufactured in England or not, but it is beautiful to look at.

Snow Loving Westie

We had a sifting of snow tonight! Enough to put a white sprinkles of confection sugar on everything. Our westie boy was loving it. Running around trying to catch the flakes. It was dark so pictures were like white scratches against a dark background. This getting dark at 5pm is hard to get used to. Then again I try to remember that in Alaska as well as other places it gets dark at 3pm so how lucky we are to have a few more hours of daylight.

Our little westie modeled for this new small watercolor. He's left a present for the squirrels.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Coca Cola Bottle Red Christmas Habitat

Serving up a little Christmas cheer...




with a pinch of the color red.




Actually I am serving up greenery and sugar snow.




My glass Coke bottle has a little fir tree of it's own hidden inside. Not so hidden, but safe. I am growing a little forest inside. Maybe it will grow right out of the bottle.




This bottle cap has just the right punch of color.

It was cold yesterday and then we had a wind storm. At midnight it was 62. This morning it was in the 30's again. (You notice these things when you have a dog.) Will we get snow for Christmas?

DIY Sugar Flowers-Ice Sculptures

A little party with flowers today. Sugar plums? No, but we had lots of sugar flowers. This is my way of gardening in the winter. The flowers are all edible even though no one wants to eat them because they are so pretty to look at especially in tart shells. These make sweet little french floral arrangements for your tablescapes. Farmhouse french. Maybe a little Victorian as well.




I heart flowers. Today I was in a bit of a hurry so I painted the egg white wash on with a paint brush. Then sprinkled powdered sugar on instead of crystalized sugar. Tossed them gently around in it and they were instantly beautiful and whitened. From brilliant to pastels and ready to accessorize our cake.




They were used for decorations with angel food cake and whipped cream. This looks like a cupcake, but it's a slice of angel food cake that I cut out twice with a circle cookie cutter and then stacked them. Whipped cream on top. Vanilla fluff.




More fresh flowers were layered in a vintage dessert goblet. (These are the ones I got from the thrift shop and they are coming in handy for lots of projects.) The first flower to be put in was put in face down in the bottom because it will be what we see first when removed. Each flower was arranged with the flowers pointing outward to the edge of the goblet. Water was poured in gently. They all rise a bit with the water so I added a plastic cup with a little water in it. The cup sat gently on top of the flowers so they all sank down as far as they could.













Put in freezer for a few hours and they are ready to remove. Run cold water on glass goblet turned upside down. Never use hot running water because it will break your frozen goblet. We ended up with these darling ice "flower pops." A sweet little flower ice sculpture that was fast and simple and elegant!

Now you might ask where did you get the flowers at this time of the year? At the grocery store with the herb packages. They have little edible flower packages in with rosemary, oregano and all of those things that smell so good. The rewards of gardening are many!

Connecting up with these friends:

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Feathered Nest Friday
Frugal Friday
Potpourri Friday
Fridays Unfolded
At the Picket Fence
Pink Saturday

Christmas Vintage Glass Ball Vases

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Where to put those little sprigs and twigs I keep bringing in the house? The fresh scent of evergreens... I took the tops (the metal hanger part) off of some vintage, silver glass balls. They immediately rolled over. So I added some grain. Just a 1/2 tablespoon to each and they stood upright at attention. Then in went my fragrant clippings. The sweetest Christmas decorations. I feel a bit like a kid again.









There is so much sparkle going here when I put them in a silver dish. The lip of the dish is tarnished but the inside is polished. I kind of prefer this two tone look.









I had thought about setting them in snow or large crystalized sugar, but I'm sticking to silver and the bright light this reflects. Instant mercury glass vases for 5 cents each.



I am connecting up with these friends:


Romantic Home
White Wednesday
Wow us Wednesday

Pink Roses - White Picket Fence

Two nights of 18 degrees and I'm dreaming of spring. Isn't this photograph a dream? A dream to have and keep. Not many would mix this acid green with soft pink but it looks great with the blues and white. This repetitive planting makes the garden formal even though the picket fence is country. This is my kind of garden. Another favorite is formal lines but with lots of floppy flowers and shrubs.

I can only give photo credit to pinterest and I would love to know where this garden is and to see the rest of the planting combinations.

Santa Westie Pink Christmas

Elvis can sing about a blue Christmas, but we like pink, pink, pink Christmas. I've finally figured out all of the dogs barking I hear now are really saying, "Ho. Ho. Ho...and away we go." That would explain the commotion. Dogs are competitive at racing. Especially my westie boy. (His cards will not be pink.)

I've had a little time to paint and will be offering them for sale. "Santa" is indoors and sleeping on the floor after a hard day of play.

Cat Christmas Gifts - Pets

Today I stumbled upon these cute Christmas gifts for your furry kids. Your cat, or my cat, or your friend's cat! (These are for crafter cats.) They have style. You wouldn't mind seeing these strewn about on the floor. And since they're filled with catnip they will toss them around and around and around. Then roll on them and be very tired, happy campers. Super idea to make a snowman out of an old sweater.




Now these were the cutest of all of them! Even in a bowl on the coffee table. Made out of felt and filled with catnip for only 4.99 at Target. Hope you're having a great weekend and keeping warm.

Candle Stick Vignette

A little corner of my kitchen. The super tall candle stick was black when I bought it. A mixture of grey with a hint of blue went over that. This is a rather neutral color now. Softer than black. It has elaborate carving on it. Large bamboo platter from Ikea.

Breakfast Delicious Art - Food

Sometimes I need a little pick me up in the early morning . Keep those eyes open. This morning I got out the pewter plates. Nothing makes you more thankful for nice china dishes than pewter. I love the old-fashionedness and the slate grey of pewter. Like I am waking up in Colonial Williamsburg. But they are heavy! Can you imagine hand washing a stack of these every meal? Pass the jam please and the cookie cutters.




I was given some Trader Joe's preserves (thank you Rebecca) and they are so tart and delicious. Like a day in May. Philadelphia Cream Cheese on my first toast and then added the star toast with raspberry jam. So delicious. Fully charged. Ready to leave my French Castle. ;-)


Linking up with these friends:

Potpourri Party

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Freckled Laundry

Romantic Home

Dandelion House