Lady Statue Lamp

I absolutely love this lamp that I found a few months ago at an antique store. The color goes perfectly in my living room and looks so "french" to me and I love french style decor right now. From the gorgeous finial on top of the lamp to the wonderful tassels on the lampshade...I just adore it!

I found this cute vintage alarm clock at a garage sale this year for $1.00. I didn't see it my first time around , but luckily I spied it on my second round. It fits right in with my lamp and french style living room. Enjoy!

Gorgeous Victorian Cabinet Photo

I absolutely love antique images and this one is no exception. I am drawn to this beautiful lady's face and her exquisite dress. Just look at the detail on this garment! It is amazing. I have several antique photos in my collection and I always pick them up when I find special ones. This one was $1.00 ! Can't beat that price. Please feel free to use this picture in your artwork if you so desire. Thank you!

Bird and Dress Form Tags

Today I thought I would share some simple bird and dress form tags that I made . I have added them to my Etsy store so be sure and check them out . I love the brown tone colors especially for this time of year. Enjoy!

A Very Special Birthday Party

My youngest granddaughter turns 1 year old on October 4th and this is the invitation that we received via email last week. Is it too cute or what!! Of course I printed it out and put it on my refrigerator. Her daddy (my son Jason) is a graphic designer and it shines through in this adorable invitation. He told me that Keira has been putting her hands on her head like this lately and he just had to use it for the invitation. I love it! So you know where I will be next Saturday...smooching up my little sweetie as she turns one year old. She is one lucky little girl to have such loving parents and extended family. (as a side note: please pray for Jason as he has been battling kidney stones for several weeks now and may have to have one removed this Thursday)

Angels Among Us

I love this angel piece in my home and looking at her reminded me of the kindness of strangers and reaffirmed to me that there are angels among us.

I have heard stories of people pulling up to a fast food restaurant window to pay for their food and the person at the window saying, "Put your money away because the person in the vehicle ahead of you paid for your food". Of course I thought it was a neat idea, but then didn’t think much more about it until it happened to us a few months ago. We were shocked that a complete stranger would do this for us.

I want to challenge each and every one of you to try this. You won’t believe the blessings you will get from it and you can be sure that the person who is the recipient will be talking about it for a long time. In this world of ours where kindness seems very slim at times and with our unstable economy just think how you can bless someone by doing this! I will end with this quote:

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle".

Have a wonderful day! Sandi

Fleur-de-lis

I have just listed some new fleur-de-lis tags in my Etsy store. I really enjoy making these tags and I hope you will take a moment to check them out. Have a wonderful day!

Changing Seasons

I just love fall and I thought I would share some of my fall pictures today. I think the bittersweet goes so well with this copper watering can... This window box is on my potting shed and I love decorating it for the changing seasons. Enjoy!

Gorgeous Old Fabric

I went antiquing Saturday and we stopped at a place that was full of odds and ends and I purchased two bags stuffed full of amazing antique lace etc. and this bolt of fabric came with them. Does anyone out there know what kind of fabric this is? I assume it is very old because I have never seen fabric wrapped on cardboard that also has tissue paper and batting on it. It is very soft fabric and I love it. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I was playing around with my vintage patterns one day and came up with this original design and I really like how they turned out. I have sold several of them on my Etsy site so be sure and check them out if you like vintage sewing items. Have a wonderful day filled with unexpected blessings! Sandi

Hard Lesson Learned

I learned a hard lesson today. I went antiquing yesterday and among the items I purchased was this gorgeous vintage camisole. I washed it very carefully in the sink today after washing up a bunch of other antique laces etc., but I noticed too late that it was shrinking. I usually have pretty good luck washing up vintage linens etc, but not this time. And the thing is , it really wasn't dirty, it just had that "old" smell and I wanted to freshen it up a bit. I was very disappointed . This is what this gorgeous vintage camisole looked like before:

...and this what it looks like now :

Me and My Shadow

I thought I would share a picture of my adorable 1 and 1/2 year old granddaughter today. I had fun embellishing the picture. Enjoy!

Feathered Friends

I have been going to an antique store periodically that is going out of business and they have everything that you can imagine from china to books. It is a very old store and most things are somewhat dusty, but there are some treasures to be found.

I usually make my way to the basement where literally there are thousands of books, magazines and all kinds of paper ephemera. You name it I am sure they have it. The last time I was there I went through postcards and antique ephemera and brought home several items, this adorable bird piece being one of them. It is small and just a treasure and I also love the scripture verse on it.

All the old postcards and old music sheets are 25 cents each and old valentines are 15 cents! I always come home with several paper items that are just gorgeous. Please feel free to copy this adorable little bird picture if you so desire.

Shabby Vintage

I thought I would add a few more decor pictures. I absolutely love this picture! I got it at Home Goods a couple years ago for 4.99! However, I haven't quite got the wall decor along with it figured out and everytime I look at it , it drives me crazy! :) In the corner by this wall I have an old creamy white shutter with a clock on it in the same colors as the picture and a loveseat is underneath with a white cover and a quilted throw with the colors in the picture as well so if anyone has any ideas please feel free to share them with me.

I just couldn't pass up these adorable shoes especially with the vintage millinery included.

This is one of my favorite photographs of another corner in my living room. I purchased the candle sconce at the Goodwill for $3.00!! I hope everyone has a wonderful day today!

Study in White

I thought I would share some pictures of "white" around my home...You can never have too many candles...

I purchased two of these vintage blinds for a total of $6.00 at an antique store and I love them...

An old picture frame that I painted white and added a pink rose picture...

LOVE this old arched window! I love to decorate with old shabby windows as they add so much character...

Baskets on the top of my refrigerator...

Vintage style mirror hanging above my bed... I made the vintage millinery garland and it was so easy. Have a wonderful day!

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Have you ever seen or do you own any of the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks? ( I believe they are distributed nationwide) They are recipe books that also include tips, memories and craft ideas.

They contacted me earlier this year and told me they were going to print a recipe that I had submitted in their latest cookbook . This book is now out on store shelves and it is called, "Christmas Cookie Jar' . The recipe I submitted is for: "Graham Kringles". I was thrilled to get this news because if they publish a recipe that you send in , they send you a free book!

I just saw this book today at Hobby Lobby ... How fun! Anyone can submit recipes to them and they may pick YOUR recipe. (this is my second time... I also have a recipe in their Taste of Autumn Cookbook that was printed in 2004)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Don't you just love old mirrors? I do! This mirror wall is in my living room and I really like how it turned out. ( although it is always a possible work in progress if I find another mirror that I just can't pass up) Most are antique frames and one is a newer mirror that I found at the Goodwill for $3.oo. (It is the large ornate one on the very left side of the second picture) I even added a few pieces of other wall decor and I think they fit nicely . The very long mirror with the wreath hanging on it is heavy... I mean REALLY heavy! I about had to drive a spike in the wall to hold the weight and it hangs by a large chain that was on the back of it when I found it. For $5.00 I couldn't pass it up! (The sepia toned picture is of my precious granddaughter Allysha)

A Sure Sign of Fall

I talked my sweet husband into going bittersweet hunting Sunday afternoon and I have started decorating with what we found. We have had a hard time finding it for the past few years so I was tickled to find a little. I am going to try and plant my own so I don't have to go up and down the dirt roads of Michigan hunting for it! Enjoy!

Home Goods Find

I thought I would share my latest Home Goods find . I have an old corsage under the glass cloche, but you could use it for so many different things. I just love it! And the price was right at only 7.99!

Simple Treasures

I get so thrilled over my simple yet beautiful finds. I found this hat and the vintage sachets at my local antique store yesterday and I fell in love with them. This hat will fit in with all the other vintage hats that I have accumulated over the years. I have purchased several hats with the intent of taking them apart for the vintage millinery on them, but I just couldn’t do it so they are now on display in my home. The sachets are just so adorable also and I just couldn’t pass them up...and they were on SALE so that is even better!

Here I Am!

Hello ! I finally took the plunge and am trying my hand at composing a blog. We will see how this goes as I am very new at this so bear with me. Fall is one of my favorite seasons and I am really getting the "bug" to decorate this year. This is the basket that I arranged for the front porch and I love the colors. Enjoy!