I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it!

I'm going, I'm going, I'm going!!!!!

Where you ask? To the Fall Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat in Waxahachie. I cannot wait! To hang out w/ people who "get me" & the things I love, to learn how to make a wire crown from this talented woman, to shop & dine here... this is almost as exciting as a new grandbaby.

Oh yeah! And they're serving cupcakes too...I'm telling ya, these people get me! ;o)

If you're in Texas & would like to go, rush over & sign up...there are only 20 seats available.

Thrifty Treasures Monday

Hello & welcome to another Thrifty Treasures, hosted by Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality. I had another great day/week thrifting a couple of weeks ago...look at all my finds! Topiarys, basket (now painted white & housing doggie toys) a terrarium, rose dishes, hankie quilt, small ironstone tureen, milk glass tumblers, apothecary jar, vintage flash cards, Texas-size muffin tin, napkins, etc.

Love the little glittered tea lights...I got a trio of them for 99 cents! As you can see, the Gibson rose salad dishes were 49 cents a piece & the dinner plates were 99 cents a plate. I need more dishes like I need another 10 lbs but Cielo, @ House in the Roses, sets such a pretty table w/ them that I couldn't resist.

My favorite find of the day were these vintage flash cards!

An apothecary jar, porcelain bride & groom (not vintage but still sweet) & mercury glass candlestick.

Love the detailing on the plastic frames (there's 2, one on top of another) but they'll get a new picture (or quote) inside...I'm not into fruit unless it's to eat.

Love the wire plate stand but again, not digging the fruit so will get rid of this old plate & keep the stand.

I LOVE this terrarium...it's even real glass & not the plexi stuff & it was only $5.

I don't normally buy dishes or glasses in 3's but I could not resist the hobnail finish on these milk glass tumblers. I'm sure that sooner or later, I will come across a 4th on a thrifting jaunt...if not, there's always eBay.

And check out this duvet! It's made out of vintage-looking hankies but I'm pretty sure that it is not vintage. I don't care...I still love it! I've been planning on making a quilt out of some of my vintage hankies...now there's no need, I can use them in another project.

You've already seen where I am using one of the glittered tealight birds in my Feathered Friends post...here's another.

If you love thrifting & yard saling, check out Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures party for lots of great finds!

Pink Saturday...Happy Birthday Caralyn!

For today's Pink Saturday post...I wanted to honor the brightest, sweetest, loveliest spot of pink in my life...my granddaughter, Miss Caralyn Camille (yep, I am very honored that she shares my name, as I shared it w/ my grandmother). She turns 4 today so it's a big day! We're having a family party & then she will spend the night next week & we'll shop for barbie clothes & do our annual birthday tea... I had such a hard time finding her the perfect tea cup this year!

When Caeden (who's 7) heard that we were having another tea party, he exclaimed "hey, I wanna come!". My daughter, Shilah just looked at me & said, "we didn't cut Honey's apron strings off that boy soon enough." LOL

Here is Caralyn shortly after she was born. Get a load of all that hair! She had an Elvis pompadour for several months then it started falling out & looked scraggly. Poor thing... every day was a bad hair day for her until she was about a year old.


By her first birthday it had all fallen out & was growing back in so it didn't look so bad...see! Funny how her hair was more sparse @ a year than it was @ a week, huh?


By her 2nd birthday, she had a gorgeous head of hair!

By her 3rd birthday, her hair had thickened up enough to get her a great bob cut. She looked so cute in it! You can't tell in this pic but it's really short in back.

This was taken a few months ago & look how wonderful her hair is now...straight & thick w/ lots of body. Shilah & I both have frizzyish, curly hair so we really envy this asset of her's! Course now she won't let us bob it as she wants it long "like her friends". Damn that peer pressure! ;o)

Guess what color her birthday dress is for this year? You're right, it's pink! It's gorgeous & I will share a pic of her in it for next week's Pink Saturday. Happy Pink Day everybody....visit Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound for more pink posts.

Cockadoodledoo!

Y'all will be very surprised to know that there is something out there I don't collect....roosters. Don't know why but I don't do roosters. I do however, have a couple. ;o) Luckily.... because Barb @ Bella Vista is having a rooster party today.

One recent weekend, I wanted to have brunch on the back patio but the pergola doesn't shade it much & it had already gotten hot as heck. So I set the little drop-leaf table on my front porch.

I love the black & white polka dots on these rooster salt & pepper shakers...aren't they cute?

I bought a huge set of these black & white toile rooster dishes on eBay several years ago (love the french country appeal of them!) but when they arrived, many were broken. I did manage to retain a set of 4 dinner & 4 salad plates though...just enough! The seller was very kind & tried to refund all my money but I didn't feel right about it since I still had a service for 4 so I paid half.
They were still a bargain!

For brunch, we had cheese souffles (they rose beautifully but of course fell before I could snap a pic) & blueberry scones w/ strawberries & orange juice. If you are intimidated by souffles, don't be! They're easy peasy....just be careful opening & shutting the oven door. And don't be disappointed when it deflates, they ALWAYS deflate, it's only a matter of time.

The black & white checked placemats & napkins were a thrift store find, so were the Noritake goblets & the iron napkin rings. The Bordallo cabbage plates & pitcher are from one of the TJ Maxx, Ross or Marshall stores & the twig placemats are from Garden Ridge. The rooster toile plates are by Z Gallerie & the rooster S&P shakers were a dollar store find. The souffle & scones are by Chef Cami. ;o)

Let there be White..part deux!

Kathleen @ Cuisine Kathleen is having another Let There be White table party today. She's changing things up a bit though & has asked us to add in one other color...just one. I had such a hard time deciding on what color to use! I thought I might use some hot pink roses out of my garden as the other color but I have had these plates in my stash forever & never used them....they wanted to come out & play! Blue is not a favored color of mine but I love the smokiness of this teal blue.

I started the table w/ a cream tablecloth then layered a white battenburg square over it.

I didn't have many accents, in this shade of blue, to choose from but I did find some sparkly garland so I added it w/ a sweet cherub statue & a couple of cream flowers & put the whole shebang under glass.

My candleholders are actually vintage chandelier shades set on top of silver candlesticks...I sometimes use them as votives too. I didn't bother to polish the silver as I love it's patina.

Tiny, individual S&P shakers....an eBay find years ago.

The teal blue goblets are by Indiana glass in the Whitehall pattern & are from the 60's....a thrift store find. I promised them to my daughter-in-law after I used them in a table...she'll be happy to hear that I finally did... come & get them Stacie!!!!

The china is Favolina, made in Poland & I believe is the Morning pattern although I'm not poistive....it's another thrift store find from a couple of years ago. The poor plates have set unused in a cabinet since then. But it looks as if the previous owner never used them at all so I guess that's not so weird.

I have no food pictures to share w/ today's table...in fact, for the very first time, I set the table for play, not to eat at. I had forgotten about Kathleen's party until yesterday & I had spent the day playing w/ my new paint spray gun (loving it!). I didn't have the time or energy to fix dinner so we had chinese take-out. ;o)


There will be lots more white & ________ tables @ Kathleen's party....let's go see!

Another anniversary behind us!

Tuesday was the 1st anniversary of the day my son, Clifton was released from the hospital. That was such a happy, happy day! Most of my readers know that he was badly burned, w/ full thickness burns (3rd & 4th degree) over 43% of his body on July 3rd of last year. He's 6'6" so that's a whole lotta burns! It was a long, arduous 6 week long stay in the hospital (for both of us....I "lived" in his room w/ him as soon as he was released from ICU) & even after his release, Clifton was unable to do anything for himself... not dress himself, feed himself, sit up, toilet himself or even scratch his own nose. He required the same care as he did when he was an infant. Plus he had no insurance so his wound care was left up to hubby & I & the responsibility was terrifying!!! He had some burns so deep that I could stick my finger in up to my knuckle...I'm no nurse & get queasy at the sight of blood...how was I to be expected to cope w/ injuries as severe as his?

But cope we did, hubby & I. Together we cared for Clifton, bathed him & changed his dressings daily (don't get me wrong, Stacie helped out as much as she could but she was 8 mos pregnant w/ their first child & still working full-time)... and we did a fine job of caring for our boy, he had no post-release complications! I have never been more thankful to have the husband that I do, than I was @ that time. I am so lucky to have a partner to help shoulder all life's burdens... whether they be picking up the grands @ day care, caring for our injured son or cooking up a family meal, Chris helps me w/ it all & I am very fortunate.

But if you had asked me then what life would be like one year later (& if I had been truly honest), my answer would have been pretty pessimistic. The Dr's certainly didn't give us much reason to be optimistic...they said that Clifton would still require my care, that he would be "disfigured & disabled" (their words still ring through my head). If you had told me then, that just one year later, Clifton would have full mobility in all his limbs, that he would have put in an engine in his truck by himself, that he would be Mr Mom to his baby Noah, that he would be playing semi-pro football again, that he would look this damn good, I'd have said "Talk about some wishful thinking!"


It took a bit more than wishful thinking! It took the powerful prayers of people all across the world, most who didn't even know Clifton. It took the determination & fortitude of an amazing man. It took the love & support of an entire family. And it took the inspiration provided by this little guy here.

I am truly, truly blessed & for that, I thank God.

White Wednesday...my first!

Hello! I'm playing in yet another new meme today, White Wednesday, hosted by Kathleen @ Faded Charm. I'm a little late w/ today's post (sorry!) but I've been a little intimidated (OK, more than a little!) about my first post for this meme as all the participants have great style w/ fantastic photos. I'm a little out of my league here! But I'm gonna brave it & post my humble offerings anyway.


I recently bought this cherub @ Big Lots for half-off & it has taken center stage on my coffee table.

Hopefully w/ the influence of the other White Wednesday players, my submissions will improve. I know my decorating style is becoming more defined & I'm getting better & better @ achieving a cohesive look. And for that I can thank the influence of you bloggers. Even more than magazines, y'all have inspired me & motivated me & I am honored to be in such good company!

Feathered Friends Party

Hi y'all....there's lots & lots of pics in today's post so grab a cup of something before you get started. Today I'm playing in the Feathered Friends blog party, hosted by Gina @ The Shabby Chic Cottage. I knew I had lots of birds & bird stuff in my decor but until I went to share it all, I had no idea how much. It's everywhere! And I have lots more that's not being used right now. At least a half dozen cages sit in storage.... it seems that I cannot resist an old bird cage. ???? It might be time to pare back a bit. ;o)

This birdcage is actually being used & for it's intended purpose. It houses Rose, my beautiful but unfriendly parakeet.



This antique cage, hubby & I bought at the cattle barns flea markets several years ago. It's my absolute favorite! I love it so much that I'll never even paint it white & that's a huge commitment for me.

Thsi little sweetie is under glass, inside the cage above.

Love this glittered tea light...I have a trio of them.

Tweet! Tweet! ;o)

Hubby's grandmother had a large collection of porcelain birds (many of them given to her by her grandchildren) & when she died she left them to me, since she knew I loved birds. This little hummer is one of my faves. She had a large collection so I only display my faves & keep the rest packed up for safekeeping.

This peacock is my favorite! My own grandmother had a pair of live peacocks on her farm so it reminds me of them both. It's made by Lefton...I collect lots of their stuff.

This oriole feeding it's young is really sweet though & it's even older than the Lefton peacock.

This tiny, handpainted dish (another thrift store find!) was gifted to "Jo" on Easter 1967. (it's signed on the back)

The glass cloche covering this bird is actually a large candle basin w/ a glass door-pull glued on top. $3!!!

LOVE this needlepoint yardlong!

This pair of needlepoint birds, hubby & I bought in Fredericksburg a couple of years ago.

One of my favorite finds was this coverlet someone painstaking embroidered w/ all the birds of the 50 states! I bought it about 10 yaers ago (at a thrift store) & only paid $8 for it.

The Texas state bird is the mockingbird.

I knew I had to have this ironstone, covered dish when I saw the birds on top.

I wonder how many of these Target birds we'll see @ today's party. LOL

Sweet, garage sale watercolor.

This tiny blue jay is another of Grandma's birds. It's only a couple of inches tall.

I have many birdhouses outside but most are ordinary & I won't bore you w/ them. This is my fave!

I even have some of the porcelain birds outside.

Nevermind my pitiful roses! They're not liking the 100 plus temps we have here in August but after it cools off next month, they'll flush w/ springlike blooms. This birdcage is awaitng a whitewashing.

That's it...I'm done! ;o) I've taken up enough of y'alls time.... now check out Gina's Feathered Friends party for even more birdies!