Tea Cup Exchange

Recently I had the great pleasure to participate in a Tea Cup Exchange sponsored by a lovely blogger, Stephanie from The Enchanting Rose blog.  She has hosted several of these and while this was my first time participating, I know it will not be the last.  Stephanie has such a lovely blog -- really, you NEED to go check it out!  Each participant is matched up with another and given some ideas of what kinds of things they enjoy, favorite colors, favorite teas/coffees, etc.  Deanna got my name and while she doesn't have a blog, we have enjoyed corresponding (I still owe her a thank you note!!) via email and I certainly enjoyed the gifts she sent in my package including the sweet little cup and saucer pictured above.

 I'm a huge fan of lavender tea so she sent along a package of loose leaf, Lavender Dreams white tea from Teavana -- oh it IS wonderful!

 In my "bio" I mentioned my love of all things retro and vintage.  Included in my package was this simply AMAZING little brocade purse that she said she picked up in Tennessee at the Apple Cake Tea Room. I've used it several times already -- it is simply beautiful!

 The inside is a lovely, buttery soft satin with this tag showing it was made in West Germany.

 Deanna even included little bags to create individual tea bags using the loose leaf tea.  Please head on over to Stephanie's blog -- you will find something new and fun there almost every day!  Unlike ME, she is so good at posting often haha! 

Changing Table to T.V. Stand

 Recently we purchased a t.v. but we needed something to put it on.  I was thinking about the pieces of old furniture, etc. I have and remembered I still had the kids' changing table so hubby hauled it out to my 'work area' in the basement and I began re-working it.

 

I had to make some minor repairs and since I wanted to only use one of the drawers, I had to remove the drawer guides for the other two.  I also drilled holes in the back for the cords.  A few coats of Pure White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and I was ready to move on to some of the other details.

After a coat of Annie Sloan clear wax, I lightly distressed the entire dresser.  

A few years ago my daughter was in India and she brought me a bag of hand-painted, porcelain drawer pulls.  I've had them in a decorative bowl but I knew they would be perfect for this piece.  I had already removed the old hardware and filled the extra hole with wood filler.  I decided to just line the drawer with scrap booking paper.

My goal was to spend little or nothing on this piece so for the shelves, I used old fence boards I had gotten on Freecycle.  I cut them and then sanded the edges lightly.  I wanted to keep this simple so they are just laying in there and can be removed if we want to move the stand. They are all different looking and slightly warped but I really like the look they created (and did I mention they were free??).

Now do you know what has given me the MOST trouble on this piece?? Finding containers/baskets that would fit on the second shelf! The opening with the boards is only 4" tall and 15" deep.  Seems like it would be simple -- but every basket I looked at was 4.5" tall!  Finally, I found these trays at Michael's on sale and I like that they were already lined with a color of paper that perfectly matches my living room!  So my total cost for this t.v. stand . . .  $24.00 and THAT was for the trays.  I still would have rather had baskets and I may keep a look out for some -- what do you think? Baskets or bins?

I'm super happy with how this turned out and even more so that it holds so many memories of changing little bottoms on top of it.  My how time does fly . . .  Do you have a favorite 'conversion' project?

Magnetic Verse Holders

Recently I was asked if I could come up with a craft for our church's women's retreat.  The theme was "Women Seeking Joy".  I have a ton of scrap wood/fence boards so I wanted to find something using that which would keep costs down.  I decided that cut into small pieces, the wood could become a magnetic verse holder.

 I printed out the theme verse ahead of time on scrap book paper.  The ladies applied the paper to the wood using Mod Podge and then distressed the edges using small pieces of sanding foam included in their kits.

 I chose twelve different Bible verses on "joy" and printed them on card stock.  The ladies were able to choose from an assortment of stamps and ink to decorate the verse cards.

 By adding the ribbon and paper flower as well as high-powered magnets on the back, all of the ladies were able to create something they could use and enjoy in their homes.  I enjoyed making these so much that I'm thinking of making more to sell in my Etsy shop.  You could use these to hold note paper, grocery lists, photos and of course, your memory verses.  Now to find the TIME to create more . . .

Fox Attack!

 I was attacked . . . by this ferociously cute fox scarf!  Isn't it just the wackiest, craziest, cutest thing!?  I first saw this at my friend Stephanie's blog (The Enchanting Rose) at her weekly Roses of Inspiration Party.  This scarf was one of her features.  You know how when you see something that just 'grabs' you -- you can't stop thinking about it?  So I headed straight over to the La Sportina and contacted this talented blogger, Roberta, asking if she sold these scarves.  And much to my delight -- she does!

Roberta lives in Italy (always amazes me how blogging makes the world accessible to everyone!) and after a few emails back and forth I ordered two of these as Christmas gifts for my twin daughters (who are traveling and working in Honduras right now with limited internet access so I HOPE they don't see this post haha!) as Christmas gifts!  Yay -- I'm ahead of the game for Christmas 2016!

The scarves so remind me of those mink wraps that our mother's used to wear!  These are made out of lovely, soft wool and are so cozy, I didn't want to take it off!

Roberta sent these quickly and with these cute little tags attached (I LOVE details!).

I think that it's extra cool when you have things from other countries with labels like these -- such a nice, added touch.

Thank you Roberta -- now hopefully I'll remember where I stash these come Christmas time!

Love Is All Around

It's no secret that I LOVE and ADORE Valentine's Day.  Not for the commercialized aspect -- I just love the decorations and how it brightens one of the dreariest months of the year here in the Midwest.  I try to add little touches just about everywhere inside.

 I have many favorites but this vintage tray is definitely at the top of my "love" list.  I have little drawers here and there that I fill all year long with interesting little pieces.  The photo holder used to be the front of a mailbox slot at an old post office.  I knew right away it would make a great photo display -- wish I had picked up more!

 There are several spaces that I love to "dress up" for the holidays and one is this ledge in my living room.  These glass cherubs were all purchased at different times through out the years and at different places but I love how they all fit together.

This old ladder is another piece that gets "dressed up" often.  This year I added a garland of lights with pieces of tulle tied on.  It was one of those "mindless" projects where you sit and watch a movie and just keep tying and tying and tying.  It is a 50 light set and I used 5 spools of 7" wide tulle.  I bought the heart lights last year on clearance and love how they brighten that little basket on the floor.

Vintage valentine decorations are getting harder to come by at a reasonable price but I still try to pick up at least one candy box and some postcards each year to add to my collection.  Sheet music is another inexpensive way to add holiday touches.

 I didn't make this art originally for Valentine's Day, it's just one of my favorite hymns.  But I thought it a perfect fit for the holiday so I just attached the wooden heart with sticky tack.  Sadly, in a week I'll have to take all of this down but then it will be time to start decorating for Easter!  Happy Valentine's Day to all of my friends!