White Flower Hedgerows

White flowers are cheery even on cloudy, drizzle days like today. Hedgerows here have a wide collection of shrubs and trees. So I just picked three, white field notes. Then I divided those up to put in small white milk vases...but first they had to go on the burlap for their portrait. The dogwood is obvious and now for the other two I will tell you shortly. The one looks like a viburnam. It is a tree about 15 feet tall and some varities grow to 30 feet. I need to be on a first name basis with these pretty things. The leaves are as gorgeous as the flowers. Here is a list of recommended viburnums here.

It's time to shear sheep. There will be lots of white wool around to wash and tie.

I'm connecting up with these fun friends:

White Wednesday, Ivy and Elephants, Savvy Southern Style

Spring Whites All Year Long

I am fine and still in love with chippy and vintage whites! Spring, family and farming keep a person lively and busy. I will try to get on more often. Big word here is "try." Everything is bursting in the yard and more trimming is needed.

Aren't these whites lovely? The birdbath has rust and charm and room for water or use it as a shallow planter. The love seat is so pretty without arms. Vintage typewriters have such charm...especially when they work. And this sweet petticoat is unique in the way it's made. I would love to wear this under a slightly shorter skirt with cowboy boots! A girl would feel and look feminine whatever the setting. These beauties are from Luckett's Store which is always filled to the brim with tantalizing things.

I am connecting up with White Wednesday. Hop on over and take a look at lots of lovely whites on Faded Charm Cottage blog. You won't be disappointed. Also linking up with Wow Us Wednesday and What's It Wednesday

Decorating Tip for Indoor Potted Plants

Indoor plants and flowers keep me happy until

Spring arrives with baskets of bouncy flowers.

These gorgeous blooms are keeping me company

right now.

The white amaryllis bulb I got for 3.00 after the New Year.

It now has two stalks of flowers blooming.

That makes eight flowers!

I thought it looked good next to the orchid.

My dilemna to solve was the visible pot

after dropping the potted plants into

the vintage white soup tureens.

I tried a white sheer thin fabric like

a scarf, but it ended up looking like a sock

that fell to the plants ankles.

I looked around me for something else.

Problem solving without spending money

is always pleasant, and needful.

A few old books I picked up at a used

book store for art projects caught my eye

across the room.

Three pages for each pot were torn out

of the book and used as liners.

I think they look clean lined and crisp!

(The ribbon hides the title of the book.)

The hardbound book cost me a dollar

and still more projects are left with it.

It almost reminds me of getting nuts or

treats in a paper bag from a street food

vendor or country fair.

Don't be surprised if all of my plants will be

wrapped in old book pages now!

The flower petals on both plants shimmer like satin.

I've keep the white color theme and there is

such a ethereal beauty and calm in this room.

Connecting up with:

Inspiration Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Farmgirl Friday

Gardenia and Primrose and...

Pin It



A stroll through the local garden nursery turned into aroma therapy. This sweet scented white gardenia relaxes every muscle in your body. I always feel invigorated after a walk down the aisles. Light of heart and mind, but a longer list of plants and seeds on my wish list.

Pin It



Light and airy would describe the white primroses. A large grouping of these would be terrific and eye catching! They are so beautiful and feminine that we really don't miss a scent. They have many other attributes. Today I got busy and got my hands dirty. All of the extra lavender plants that have been grouped by the veranda/porch were finally given a place in the garden. We've had a few days at 63 and it is fabulous! Things are getting accomplished outside. Yay!

Connecting up to French Country Cottage.

Ring Bearer Bird Nest Pillow With White Flowers

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

I love soft things like moss, soft grass and little feathers. There is a little collection of bird nests in my house that I have picked up off of the ground after summer thunder storms. One such nest fell on the floor today and the outer portion of the nest cracked off. To toss it... or not I asked as I held it in my hands? No. It was so soft and light. A mother bird had really worked hard on this house.

I sprayed the little softie-nest white. Set it up on a white urn (98 cents from thrift shop) and then I wondered what I could do with it. A little "real" moss sat in the center (it made me wonder what it would feel like to sleep on a moss bed) all plump and pretty ready for a bird family.

The idea came to make it a ring bearer pillow...all soft and sweet! I took some of the white carnations--love that clove scent--and made a little carnation lei around the top, not stitched together but tucked under the moss bed. It was pretty enough to set on the urn as well, but it is perfect for a ring bearier to carry down the aisle at a wedding.

That is my actual wedding band that I squeezed and twisted-squeezed and twisted some more-all the while remembering when it used to be loose! This is my husband's grandmother's wedding band. My original Hawaiian wedding ring did fall off and I never did find it. Often they put a ring on the pillow that if the ring bearer loses in the excitement of getting ready and doing cartwheels or jumping like a frog and if the ring gets lost it is not a problem...the Best Man has the "real one." Did any of you have an all white bridal bouquet? I did. I guess that should have been a sign that I would love white decorating down the road!

It's exciting to recycle nature's gifts, even if they are fragile.

Connecting up with these friends:

White Wednesday
The Picket Fence
Wow Us Wednesdays
House in the Roses
The Vintage Farmhouse
Beyond The Picket Fence

Shabby Chic Rose Styling

My formula for styling.

Keep arranging until it sizzles.


Make it have a lived-in look.


The top is my finished vignette.


I started with some (still) gorgeous

dried white roses.

These were on long stems

from South America.


I couldn't believe how they


dried white/cream and not brown.

I love arranging them in a

heart shape but I also

didn't want them

handled too much by little fists,

so I put them in a vintage pitcher

probably from the 50's

thrift shop purchase 1.00

I like the see through look here.

Then I walked by my rusty

silver platter that I hadn't

put away yet and inspiration hit.

Romantic crystal, candles,

roses and diamonds.

Okay. The "diamonds"

are really glass on a keychain that

I slipped down on the candle.

It cost 2.00

Here is where I stopped.

Doesn't the cream,

silver and white

look charming?

Plus the shimmer even

without the candles lit

gives it a shabby chic style.

Connecting with these friends:

White Wednesday

The House in Roses

Wow Us Wednesdays

Ivy and Elephants

Paper Dolls Winter Whites

Winter Whites

brighten the room

even if they are small

I made this wee paper doll girl today holding hyacinths.

What better "doll stand" than a bird nest!

She is also keeping the new/old white deer company

I got these for 48 cents and think they are sweet for winter.

The silver plate tray might be made into a chalkboard

since it has rust spots but then again that adds a rustic

quality. Maybe I should just fill the tray with candles?

Linking with White Wednesday.

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

Christmas Vintage Glass Ball Vases

Pin It







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

Thanksgiving Bittersweet Berries

I was fortunate to get these beautiful branches loaded with berries from a perennial vine called bittersweet the day before thanksgiving. They really add color.




Did everyone have a good time with family and friends? We did...and still are...still eating and having a good time. I'm going to bed earlier tonight.






The weather was great today. It really cools down at night though. We are ready and have marshmallows. Big decisions...in the hot chocolate or toast by the fire.

White Thanksgiving Dining Room

It happened. I painted my dining room walls white except for one wall. No doubt tomorrow I will wish I had painted it but tonight I still like the two tone effect. It's so bright in there it makes me feel ten years younger. It is going to be a white thanksgiving inside at least. I hung my little aceo size canvas of a pilgrim girl, my version, in a gray dress with a gray cat from the handle. It's simple just add a thumbtack into the back wood and tie string around it and attach other end to the handle.






The patina on the galvanized pails is sparkly. I've noticed that the more white a room is, the less you want on the counters. Just a few objects are perfect. This bucket is filled with thyme. The room smells wonderful.




The tall bucket is filled with a rosemary standard topiary. The back wall looks darker here than it is. It is a light khaki color. This was the original color of the dining room.




I will turn into a minimalist if I keep painting things white. Wouldn't than shock my husband? A ten years younger minimalist. Although I could keep bringing in plants, but I won't. The buffet cabinet will be full in a few days. The herbs will have to be in the turkey stuffing.

Shabby White Furniture and Linens

To walk into these bedrooms in the Beekeepers Cottage is like being awake in a good dream. You can linger in the light as cloud rooms.






The linens, cottons, and burlap are touchable and ready for you to purchase. Tempting and beautiful and they would fit right into my dream cottage. How I loved everything there.





The backs of these steps have the prettiest rose paper or linoleum on them. Unfortunately the stairwell was not for sale. Wouldn't you feel like a princess going up and down the staircase? It would remind you to smell the roses.





This pillowcase with the triple rows of lace were gorgeous.





All of the furniture has been refinished to white or gray. Oh la la! My husband is afraid that our bedroom might be this full one day.



This decorative pillow is so cute. It looks like rows of opened bias tape stitched into flower shapes. One side of the tape had a metallic sheen to it which would really sparkle in candlelight.





The folks at the Beekeepers cottage are full of creativity! This is a different stairwell in the old farmhouse with a mosaic all along the wall. Do you see the silver spoon and beads? The broken ceramic dolls and lids? Whimsical! I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time I was there. When you first enter the rooms are sparkling with jewelry but I edged by the crowd for the furniture and linens.