Pretty in Pink

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter's birthday....HER chosen theme - Pretty in Pink. I KNOW a bunch of you girls out there would have this one in THE BAG! If it were Lime green, that'd be my ace in the hole BUT pink, that was tough for me. Here's what I came up with....

These beautiful pink roses(that I couldn't find any filers for at the store and my garden at the new house was just started this summer SO that left very little for me to cut. LUCKILY I had my lime green and plum coleus and think it was a FAB combo).

Couldn't resist doing a lil' pink candy bar (the irony is there were only a few kids there). See that lil pink cake? Wal-Mart! Who knew?!?! it was a petite lil strawberry pink cake with strawberry jelly filling. I thought it would be fine on a regular cake plate - no such luck....it looked so small. Uh-oh, what to do at the last minute? No worries, I flipped a vintage dessert glass upside down and hot glued a glass plate to it and VIOLA! A mini-cake stand (I SHOULD have taken pics of this BUT wanted to be sure they would come apart before I bragged (I mean blogged) about it! It did come off ONLY after soaking in water overnight. So moral of the story, don't be afraid to try something new!!

Penants have become a party staple! What started out like this (again a STRETCH for me as pink isn't something I have on hand...I bought the pink glitter ones special for the party BUT that by itself would've been boring....
And here they are on the mantle! I LOVE the way the mantle turned out....simple, pretty and elegant (just like my girl!). I made one of the ballon wreaths I've seen all over blogland (NOTE TO FUTURE balloon wreath makers: IF you are looking to do a color theme vs. mutli Wal-Mart sells bags of one color ranging the rainbow. I learned this the HARD way after purchasing 4 bags of multi and still needing another 3 bags of pinks) the silhouette I cranked out the night before the party (never mind that I have had the materials on hand for almost a year)

I know what I did was nothing over the top OR nearly as good as some of the parties posted on blogs BUT what I wanted to let you y'all know is that with a lil creativity you can pull off a GREAT party!

Bittersweet

Since moving my decor style and theme has changed...in the last house I did the reds, golds and browns for the formal living room, BUT no more! I am going for a 'rustic elegance' look in this house....whites, creams, burlap, leather, texture and a POP of color. Granny Smith Apple Green happens to be THAT color of the moment for me!

I had this vase in the garage and was unsure why I even bothered to move it....I was ready to pitch it in the trash when I said to myself 'WAIT! Aren't you always reading on blogs how these girls spray paint everything and anything that doesn't move?!?' YES!

(edited to add the vase pic was taken with camera phone)

So I busted out my trusty can o'paint and gave it a few sweeps of color.....

PERFECT play off the orange in the bittersweet (which was purchased this past weekend @ the Flea) and the leaves in my pottery. Here's a lil tip of the day : use it all! By that I mean, these leaves fell off the "bouquet" of leaves (and were in the bottom of the cello wrap) that I have on my mantle and my first reaction was to throw them away too! BUT the wheels started turning and I knew I could do a cute lil arrangement in the pottery (I was thinking a candle in a jar initially BUT LOVE the white pumpkin). HAPPY FALL Y'All!

Hot CROSS Buns

While out on a junk huntin' jaunt I found this FAB bookshelf! Had NO idea what I was going to do with it BUT knew I HAD to HAVE IT can we say steal?!?!). So it sat in the garage and I walked past it everyday, and then one day BAM! It came to me....a countertop (for now until we get an island) cookbook shelf!

And as I was cleaning her fabness I noticed this....

I think this is a church hymnal shelf....I stopped, even felt a lil guilty that I was going to use her to hold cookbooks....BUT then I realized I SAVED her! and cookbooks are after all the bibles of the kitchen, no?

SO, here she is on the counter....allowing my cookbooks to rein!
NOW, the question is, do I dress her in white and distress her? Leave me a comment and let me know what ya think!

Easy Fall Switch

With tomorrow being the First Day of Fall it's time to put these away.....

AND add these.....
Wonderful scented pinecones (these are a really fresh nice scent....too early for the typical cinnamon pinecones) and the orange berries came with it.....it was some fall mix I got years ago. Then I added the straw colored swirly-s and the FAB feathers(these were a STEAL @ Michael's....$1.49 for 2 feathers granted I had to buy them in July BUT so worth it! So ladies, that's the tip of the day....buy off season whenever you see it! You'll be so glad ya did!) and VIOLA! from summer (light and fresh) to fall (warm and cozy). I am linking up to Kathleen's WW here http://www.fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

The Pec Thing Flea Market

I was so happy to discover "The Pec Thing" this past spring. FAB flea market out in Pecatonica Illinois. This was my second time there and despite the weather....

I did really well. Moved several furniture pieces....all tables in fact...this lil beauty below was one of them (and truth be told my VERY fave....vintage styling in a modern grey-brown muddy paint color)


This Scary display was one of my FAVE so far! Classic black and white, used everyday elements and added a twist of scary!
The display piece in the middle with the witches hat sold within the first 45 minutes...each piece was a separate element that I put together for display and the gal loved it so much she bought the entire thing as it was!

FAB Weekend / Going Green

My guy and I got away for a night in Chicago this past weekend! It was Pretty Woman-esque....We stayed at The Omni Hotel on Michigan Avenue...
This was our Suite.....

We were tourists in the city for the day and it was GREAT!! We had some FAB meals (who knew Ralph Lauren had a restaurant?!?! I had no idea!)....speaking of Ralph Lauren, check out these fab windows at the Ralph Lauren store....

Silver, crystal, candles and layer upon layer of yumminess!
And the clothing window was equally wonderful! Layers everywhere! Burlap (look closer at the chair), wooden crates, dried florals, leather, soft blankets....

And speaking retail, we did some damage ourselves! I couldn't resist taking a pic of all our bags piled on the chair!

and just in case you were wondering what was in those bags, here's my treasures....


FAB bling-ed out Lucky boots!
Turquoise Ralph Lauren bracelet
and the piece de resitance.....momma's gotta a brand new Coach bag!! We had to go to 3 different stores to get this WONDERFUL color (a copper-y gunmetal) and the leather's as soft as butta! We had a really wonderful weekend and ended it by going on an architectural river cruise. I enjoyed EVERY moment with my baby! Thanks sweetie, I LOVE you!

I came home fulla inspiration after seeing all the fab window creations and displays. I saw this project last week here http://alisa-thesweetlife.blogspot.com/2010/09/tp-toilet-paper-pumpkin-tutorial.html and wanted to give it a go! So simple and Alisa has easy to follow directions on her blog - go check it out!!

We started with this (a roll-a TP and a sweater).....

Which then morphed into this odd shaped ball of sorts....

and by adding the best-est stick around (which you can easily find under a big 'ol tree at your kids school...to which my daughter says "boy mommy, you find garbage everywhere you go. weren't you embarrassed picking that up by school?" of course not I respond!!). Now maybe you can tell what we're making....what's your guess? Leave me a comment and let me know....

White Wednesday PUMPKIN Stand

If you stopped by last WW (hosted by Kathleen http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/) you may remember these.....

Well that was the 1st step in creating a FAB fall project. In addition to the white pumpkin I needed these (free standing iron post and burlap ribbon[thanks Tia])...

Now y'all need to know I am AWFUL at getting the "in the action how-to's"....I simply sliced a X into the bottom of the funkin (so it wouldn't break when it stuck it on the post) then I tied a big 'ol HAPPY burlap bow onto the post.....


and here she sits proudly in the front entryway! Come Halloween she will be dressed in her scaring best with a big 'ol black witch's hat! I've linked up here....

Back to SCHOOL (Fall) Mantle

Backpacks and lunchbags, folders and notebooks, pencils and homework, Cooler crisp morning and evenings....this segues into my favorite time of year!(fall, not shipping the kids off to school ALTHOUGH we are in a much better schedule now that school has started!). BUT, that means it's time to swap the seashells and sailboats, lighthouses and sand.....and take this....

To THIS.....

There are so many elements I LOVE about this display! The granny smith apple COLOR allows me to have the fall-ish look while still being FRESH and LIGHT and still have a back to school display with the apples. The juxtaposition of the woodsy browns and lighter green, the burlap and glass. Now where did I get my granny smith apple wreath you ask? At Target last year AFTER Christmas for a few dollars. BUT, it looked like this......

Here in blog paradise if it don't move, we're spray painting it, right girls?!?! SO, I figured why not try to spray paint the wreath? I didn't remove it from the grapevine (it was too time consuming and in the end mattered NOT) I just began spraying several light coats. I L O V E the way it came out!
Come time to decorate for fall in a couple of weeks, I will simply add my silver glitter maple leaves (maybe as a garland) a few white pumpkins, maybe some zebra pumpkins....I wanted something a lil different this fall and I think I found it!

Enter as Strangers, Leave as FRIENDS

You may or may not know that I have my own boutique...and in the course of my days at the store, people come and go....I make an effort to extend a greeting to all who enter(as I appreciate them taking a few moments to stop in), some exchange only a few words (and that's ok...not everyone is a chatty Kathy like me and I can respect that) and others we strike up full blown conversations, share life's tales....this post is about once such instance. I met Jodi a couple months ago and at that time she mentioned she might have a few things she was getting rid of and might I be interested....HELLO! This was a girl who GOT ME...knew I LOVED taking a tattered gem in the rough to a treasure....

So she allowed me into the home that was soon to be burned (as practice for the Fire Department) and told me to choose whatever my lil heart desired. In fact her nice hubby even pulled molding right off the doorways for me (thank you Rich). I really wish I would have gotten a picture with Jodi and Rich (maybe when we all go out for dinner)

BUT here is a pic of a partial part of our haul....(I am SO BAD at remembering to take pics in the moment....we had already hauled several pieces of furniture in and I said STOP! We need a pic). I must also say my guy is N O T a junker, doesn't get it and doesn't care to revive it...BUT he loves me enough to get the truck, come and help me haul my new to me treasures and unload them (thanks baby!)

It's like a Where's Waldo picture! Can you spot what's in the box?

Stay tuned for the full unveiling of this FAB lil beauty!

If you're in the Midwest get out and enjoy the WONDERFUL weather the weekend has to offer!!

Fall is in the air....

I spent the last couple days working on re-setting the boutique's front window...I am PLEASED with the way it came out (altho' it so SO DIFFICULT to get a good picture from the outside due to all the glare). Presenting.....

FALL 2010





I believe a window display should be pleasing from all angles...here is a shot of the "back" of the display that faces into the shop....





All items pictured here are for sale...if you're interested in anything, shoot me an email! HAPPY trails to you....