HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It's almost here... 2010. What do you have planned for the New Year? Any resolutions? I'm just planning to try and live healthy and cultivate gratitude for all my blessings. And of course spoil those grandbabies...

Hope you have a safe New Year's Eve and I'll see you next year!!

Happy New Year!!!

Shelley

WHITE WEDNESDAY~~ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?

My new bedding from JUDY HILL arrived on Christmas Eve. It's so romantic and charming and goes beautifully with my pine bed. I especially love the burlap pillow with the cheesecloth rosettes, which I shot close~up for my new header pic. The linen box pillows are Carolyn Westbrook Home.



Happy White Wednesday!!

It Pays To Be Persistent

So, here's the happy ending to this morning's let down. I emailed the person listing the dresser and asked if someone had gotten it the day before, and they emailed me back and said "we put it out at 7:15, and it's still there".

We just unloaded it. It needs some TLC but will be cute as a button when painted.

Stay tuned...

Free On Curb

That's what the ad on Craigslist said... This antique Eastlake dresser will be on the curb at 7am Monday morning. Original mirror. Needs work, great restored. Free.

In a neighborhood less than ten minutes from my home... So Mr. Sweet Pea and I head there this am at 6:30 in case they put it out earlier. When we pull in there is already competition circling the neighborhood. Okay that doesn't scare us. The house number was not given~~only the street name. But this street happened to be a big circle through the entire neighborhood. At first, our competition followed behind us. I thought, wow are we going to have to tussle for this? So we turned around and headed the other direction.

So here we are, at 6:40am circling for the elusive free dresser. Giving the stare down to the other guy as he passes us for the 30th time. And then, the unexpected... A third truck gets into the action. Yikes I thought, this could get ugly. Luckily this guy doesn't have the staying power and leaves after one lap.

Okay it's finally 7am... No dresser. Still circling. 7:05. Still circling. No dresser. 7:10. Still circling. Going a little faster now. No dresser. And then we get a break! The competition has had enough and leaves! Wimp.

7:15. We circle two more times. No dresser. Okay we give. We leave never laying eyes on the free antique Eastlake dresser that needs work. Did someone contact the owner the day before and pick it up? Did they oversleep? Were they playing a prank and watching to see how many lunatics would circle and for long? We'll never know...

Free on curb... Hmmmmm...

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

And so another Christmas has come and gone... Soon the decorations will come down and my eye will start to look for fresh updates to make around the house... Do you do this? Are you ever satisfied with your home?

Anyway, I've been dying to show you the latest addition to my mirror obsession, but I had to find a home for it and then Mr. Sweet Pea had to hang it for me. I stalked this bad boy for months at a local antique market, but the dealer was a bit of a pill over the price of it~~even dealer to dealer, and I had myself talked out of it actually. I mean, aren't we dealers in this to sell stuff? Alas, I caved in and made one last attempt and he finally gave me a deal I could live with. He said it is 1800's from an old Mississippi barber shop. This baby is heavy cast iron and projects out about 3 feet when extended fully. That was the tricky part about hanging it. But I mounted it above the sink in the hall bath with the accordian part flat on the wall and it looks fab. Do you agree?

Moody Moments At Christmas

Don't you love the twinkle of Christmas at night? The reflection of the Christmas tree in your favorite crusty mirror? It's downright romantic, would you agree?

This is my last post until after the dust settles of baking, cooking, unwrapping presents and marveling in the wonderment of two toddlers trying to come to terms with all that Santa brought them...

Giving thanks to GOD for HIS gift to all of us... Praying for our world to pause and realize what is truly important...Giving thanks for all my blessings.

Giving thanks for all of you...

Merry Christmas...

Fab Giveaway

I just discovered this fab blog SASSAFRAS STUFF through my friend Susie's blog and wanted to share this giveaway with you. Click HERE to get on board. Good luck!

Hugs,

Shelley

WHITE WEDNESDAY~~TEA FOR ONE

After a long day of searching for the perfect gifts to put under the tree, there's nothing better than sitting down with some tea in your favorite cup from Anthropologie. Pair it with an old brown and white transferware plate, an old silver spoon and a vintage tea towel as a napkin... How can you go wrong?

Enjoy your WHITE WEDNESDAY! Head over to Kathleen's blog to see the other participants...

The Memory Tree

Holiday decorating in the land of SWEET PEA means simple in tones of white, cream, silver and brown. But there is one tree that is very different... Colorful... Special... Full of memories... I call it the MEMORY TREE.

You see, it is the tree that holds all the hand-made ornaments from the childhood of my two sons, one now 30 and the other soon to be 29. I have kept every single one they ever made and I treasure them beyond words. Thus, they get their own special little tree.

The MEMORY TREE...

WHITE WEDNESDAY~YOU'VE GOT MAIL

I am loving these Christmas cards by Anna Griffin that I found at where else... Target! Gotta love Target. I am off to get a second box of the WISH design as they will be saved for next year. The Snowflake design will go to friends and family this season along with a beautiful set of pale blue ones that say Fa La La. Happy White Wednesday! Be sure to check out all the participants at KATHLEEN'S blog, Faded Charm.

Tree Styling

Like many of you, I like to decorate my holiday trees with their own unique personality. This year I wanted something different for my big tree in the living room, so in addition to the silver and white ornaments and white berry garland I used some of the fabulous tags I have collected from various talented artists. I love how it turned out and hope you do as well. Here is a tour of trees in my home...


The "tag" tree. A 7' slim pre~lit tree in an old concrete urn. The tags are all from etsy sellers.





The dining room tree is a table~top tree in an old crusty white bucket. This tree gets a mix of new and old silver ornaments and creamy cotton icicles.



This is a new addition to my home this year and I call it the "bling" tree. It has seam binding with old buttons, an old watch and a collection of old pins. It sits in a crusty old light fixture.




I love this old bottle brush tree.


I have a pair of these silver trees on the mantle in black iron urns.


This tree is in the kitchen on top of the refrigerator. It looks good just bare I think.


I adore this "Charlie Brown" tree.


I couldn't resist a night shot of this twig tree on the porch, shot through the lace curtain.

WHITE WEDNESDAY~~WHITE CHRISTMAS

I love a white Christmas. Living in Florida requires some improvisation to accomplish that. My decorating style for the holidays is all about whites, silver and neutrals in very simple trees and ornaments. Enjoy this week's WHITE WEDNESDAY...

Giving Thanks

Tomorrow as we travel over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house (not really), and as I prove once again that my eyes ARE bigger than my stomach I am going to take a moment and give thanks for all that I am blessed with. My family, my health, my home, good friends and food in my belly are all things that I take for granted many times. This holiday season especially, there are so many struggling with just the basics. I give thanks to GOD for blessing me and mine.

Here's hoping you all have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving. I am taking a break from WHITE WEDNESDAY this week but I'll be back next Wednesday with a Christmas installment. See you then...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shelley

WHITE WEDNESDAY

Once again, it's WHITE WEDNESDAY... Kathleen at FADED CHARM is the brainchild behind this once~a~week~white~fest and I love being a part of it. There's just one thing you see... I am tapped out. There I said it. I am scrounging for new WHITES around the land of Sweet Pea. I don't have the Christmas spirit yet so can't help you there. I have new and fabulous plans for the garden cottage but that is a ways off as I have three shows on the horizon~~in fact the first starts Friday (see sidebar). This is a good thing as it is forcing me to stretch my imagination a bit, but I admit I am struggling. I had two snotty~nosed toddlers sneezing in my face all day to boot so I am trying to kill the germs with merlot as I type.

Anyway, this week I am cheating. I am going to another source for the WHITE fix we all crave... None other than ELIZABETH HOUSE... As a shop owner, I used to pour over her early posts and I am positive she is one of the inspirations for my starting a blog of my own. I hope she doesn't mind that I am showing some random photos of hers~~I give all credit to her and her enormous talent behind the lens. It was a highlight of the Spring 2009 blogger party to meet her in person. If you are reading this Elizabeth~~love love your style...




A photo from the loo in her apartment...


Could you die over this photo from her shop?


Taken by Elizabeth while at a flea market.


Do you remember the craze she started with these paper walls in her shop?

Happy WHITE WEDNESDAY!!