Downton Abbey Silver Holiday Decorating Tabletop

Simple decorating ideas are my kind

of decorating. I have these silver plated cups

that I call my Downton Abbey Cups..

They are just vintage silver cups

but I am sure they have lots of stories to tell.

(They will look more like Downton Abbey

on white linen!)

Place each cup in a circle like a wreath

and fill each with boxwood cuttings.

If you are a gardener that is the same

as saying each are filled with cheer.

If only boxwood rooted quickly

like say, mint!  

Old silver has such character!

The combination of brown, silver and gray

with some shimmer and some dull areas

has such appeal to me.

These almost blend into the tabletop.

Beautifully burnished is the best description for the cups.

Happiness is a table full of family and friends

good food helps too,

so I guess I should be looking for new dishes to make

the usual dishes are comforting but it's always good to

have a few surprises each year.

I stumbled upon a cookbook by 
Sam Choy

at a Goodwill store and it was $1.30 

Now I have the recipe for Payapa Dressing!

The list of secret ingredients is in my kitchen.

All photographs are my own from Instagram.

Connecting up with:
   Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm
Common Ground

Styling Collage Photography

It's not what you have

 it's how you arrange them.

It's not how expensive the items are

it's about texture and color.

That is pretty much the rules I use

when it comes to styling collage photography.

These are my two photographs from Instagram

I love how art is in everything around us.

Both of these photgraphs were taken with my iphone 4.

You have to love the iphone...easy to carry and usually

always with me wherever I'm at.

We were very, very fortunate that we didn't lose

our electricity during Hurricane Sandy.

There were a few flickers and I waited up a good

bit during the night waiting to light candles while

the wind roared outside.

I feel bad for all of the others who had extensive damage.

Schools were cancelled for two days and many

business offices were closed as well.

Connecting up with Common Ground Linky Party

Beautiful Breakfasts

This breakfast was like eating dessert. So early in the morning I felt guilty. Truth be told it is thick creamy-vanilla, greek yogurt with fresh strawberries and honey drizzled on top. Delicious. I made this the last two mornings and it is heavenly and only cost about 75 cents. It's very easy on the eyes if you are not a morning person. Gone are the days where we raced around the kitchen counter and grabbed a banana or just a cup of coffee and dashed out the door. I always seemed to spill the coffee somewhere on myself. Before I even got to work. Trying to consume food when the stress meter is bouncing off of the top of the meter every time we look at the clock is not good. Drinking coffee in stop and go traffic is not good. I am still in a rush in the 'moronings (my word for frantic mornings) but I just eat breakfast later after the rush, but still before lunch!

Shabby Roses Pink Dreams Digital Art

We've had a great weekend with family. Cooking and more cooking. Taking pictures. I did a little planting outside with some peony roots that I had and didn't want them to die before they got in the ground. The color of the peonies? PINK.

I've always wanted to play with my photographs and make them more artistic. Tonight I took an old photograph of my silver vases with white roses and merged it with a photograph of my vintage silver platter for texture. Instant charm. These were merged on photoshop and then I went to the channel mixer and made the colors more red and I couldn't believe how dreamy the photo looks now. Digital art. I think I am hooked! It's faded, pink and textured...plus it's of roses. It's a win win!

Sharing with The House in Roses

Valentine Tokens of Affection

Sweet Valentine candy hearts.

How lovely to arrange a heart on each spoon.

A little extra pretty at the table.

They have a vintage Victorian look.

Drop a candied heart into your tea cup!

Our sweet teacups from Anthropologie.

Connecting with:

French Country Cottage

Common Ground

The Charm of Home

The Romantic Home

The Picket Fence

Stuff and Nonsense

Valentine Treats Every Day

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My new motto:

"Make every day above average," by Candylei

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Today I did!

Linking up with:

French Garden House
Katherine's Corner

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!

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...

Vintage Sepia Photo Look App

Thank you Blogger for making it easy to catch the latest posts on the blogs I read. Tonight when I got online Minna from Blomsterverkstad introduced me to Old Photo Pro app on her iphone. (We learn so much from other bloggers!) I fell in love with her photo and immeditately went to the app store on my iphone and downloaded none other than Old Photo Pro for free and it took about one minute and I was taking old-timey pictures! Mina is a garden stylist that shares her art with all.

I have always admired Z, from the old grey mare, blog's sepia photographs for her white Wednesday posts. (I learned what pop-up blogger means from her blog recently). Now my orange pumpkins are instantly white in this photograph. It's neat how the photo looks like it was folded and came out of someone's wallet. Yet it's not seen paper yet.

My education continues...pretty soon I might be above average!

Tonight my feet feel like they belong to someone else. Nothing that a little rest won't take care of.

Beautiful blogs - photography

Here is 3 beautiful blogs I found today. Above is Seelenstuebchen Outstanding photography. All are in Europe, but we all understand the language of beautiful photographs.







Roses and flowers always impress me! Check out Gledeligbryllup




This blog Town & Country Home has the cutest shabby ideas.

We also have it easy because of google translate.

Have a great weekend!

Wood Kniting Needles and Organic Yarn

Green organic threads! I am in awe of how delicate nature can be. So perfectly coiled on it's own. I took these small vine threads that were attached to little pieces of branches and put it against my painting canvas so you can compare for size! It is a miniature version of what my knitting looks like after I've pulled out rows of stitches--. I just cannot say "I am a knitter," and stand very tall and straight when I say it. More appropriately I could say, "I am a thread winder and unwinder." For some super knitting check out ravelry. A fun group of knitters who can yes, knit! I will continue to "garden knit" for now.

White Picket Fences and Paper Dolls

I love these little miniature white wooden picket fences. So sweet and they say cottage charm. (Haven't you heard them?) I like to rearrange this little fence with different vignettes of paper dolls and animals. So much fun can be possible with a pen, paper and scissors. This would look so sweet in a nursery, but I actually have this in my dining room at present. I collected moss from out in the shady garden. We love to bring greens inside when it turns chilly. This is the tiniest clay pot they make I think, but so cute. My little giraffe says, "Hi. How are you? Let's party."




We have to include our westie dog most of the time with my paper dolls. A boy and his dog!





Sometimes our kitty gets to babysit them, but usually ends up bathing them.





These roses were white with pink edges. I dried them and I think they still look pretty.





Miniature fence, miniature clothespins. This looks like a fairy fence with their flower petal aprons out to dry.

There are so many more little decorating ideas for these little picket fences. I've seen them stitched onto collages and on canvas.

I hope you had a little fun here with me. Be sure to stop by Faded Charm to
see all of the other White Wednesday posts as there are many white cottage decorating ideas and gorgeous photographs. All photographs here I've taken myself, no small feat. Have a great week!

Lavender and Me

Lavender smells so fresh and clean. I picked some blossoms to put in cookies, but ended up putting them here and there. This spool of thread lives up to it's name of DUAL DUTY. It made a nice little drying vase of sorts. Mini wonders. I really should have put them in a bowl of sugar to sweeten our tea with.

Documenting my Garden and Weeds

Maybe you noticed the new banner picture. A little blossom of Russian sage with some dainty flowers that we call weeds here. I have been walking around noticing how beautiful some of these dainties are amongst the perennials. We gardeners think that plants look better in larger numbers with bold washes of color. It's true it does look great, but when you photograph flowers they look better dainty and by themselves. Soft, sweet and dreamy.

I've been a bit sick and the doctor said today I have pneumonia. Accck! No more bold cleaning supplies in our house. I read somewhere that it is so much safer outside than in a normal house because of fumes from carpets, floor varnish, etc. then we clean with such harsh chemicals with dangerous fumes. I want to look up green cleaning supply recipes! Bring on the lemons, limes and lavender with the hot soapy water. I think I could climb into a tub of that right now.

Chalkboard Art

I've been working on some black and white art. Here is a sneak peak of the first one.

Didn't you love chalkboards when you were younger and now they are hot items with messages, poems and drawings! Maybe we loved them because they were spontaneous. To pick up a piece of chalk and draw without deliberation was liberating. If you didn't like the drawing it came off just as easy. I remember looking forward to my turn at helping the teachers clean the boards and they had this one eraser pad that made it look brand new. You see it didn't take much to make me happy.

This print is up on etsy.

Show off your Cottage Monday

I am joining in on some fun and sharing some pictures of a taste of our cottage home started by a house in the roses. Each Monday you can post a picture of your garden, home or items that bring happiness and that cottage feeling.

We have some sweet siamese kittens that are purrr-fect. Look how she's looking up and enjoying our company! ...And we just bought a serger sewing machine on Saturday (my first one ever!) so I added my rose skirt fabric under my gardening hat which is under one of my siamese kittens. Layer up your display items with love and you usually end up with a nice little arrangement.

Won't you join in on the fun?