Decorating the French Chairs

I'm reminding you again to visit my Pinterest since I have almost 8,200 photos there in one place for you to see. Most of them have not been put on here yet. I know you'll enjoying seeing them.
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My granddaughter showed me the most amazing video the other day and I just knew I was going to share it with all of you. It's about 8 minutes long but well worth watching. I found it just incredible that someone could do makeup like this. And the model is also gorgeous! Of course, it would take me about 2 years to even try to get this look. :-) But it's up to you if you want to watch it. Fascinating though and I always like to share things I find interesting with all of you.

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Love Bunny is a camper, a scouter, a retired Marine (as I've mentioned many times before), a definite leader of men and a natural-born leader even if he doesn't see himself that way. He is. He's made a decision to not be as active in the Scouts as he used to be because of his age. He supports the Scouts vigorously, however.

When we lived in California, he was a Scoutmaster and a truly magnificent one. If you want your boys to grow up to be men, he's your man. He treats them like men and not baby boys. So I thought I'd mention a few things about him pertaining to this.

Every year in California he would take them on a 50-miler hike. Now, he's really good at this. When he'd go off on those hikes in Yosemite, I'd go up the Pacific Coast Highway 1 to a B&B and spend time or fly back to visit my mother and sister. That was before I gave up flying!

Anyway, one year while on the 50-miler he invited a friend from work. The friend wasn't particularly a camper but he thought he could handle it thinking what fun it would be. (FUN?! A 50 mile hike?!!) Hubs had told him about washing dishes. Hubs is shall we say fervent about washing dishes in the wilds. You use boiling hot water for washing and boiling hot water to rinse and I mean RINSE well. He told his work friend how to do it properly. Well, he didn't rinse the soap off well enough and there was diarrhea among the men the next day. Needless to say, hubs was angry, very angry. You do NOT want your men to have to suffer this while on a 50-mile hike, trust me. He told the man he wasn't doing it properly and if he didn't do it properly he was going to get another duty less desirable. The man was not happy but he never got asked to go again with hubs on a camping trip.

Then there was the night hubs woke up to a bear in his face. The bear had put his teeth through a Tupperware container with coffee in it never thinking the bear would be able to smell it. Hubs jumped up and alerted—screamed—for all the boys and men to be alert. The mama bear wouldn't leave because her cubs were up in the trees. Someone hadn't put their packs up the proper way while camping on a hike. They learned a lot from that experience. They came to love hubs and gave him a great tribute when we left to move up here. A lot of men think they are leaders but truly aren't. Hubs is just the opposite. He doesn't see himself that way as it just comes natural to him. He truly is a great man.
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Since they were having a sale on these hydrangeas and peonies, I went back to Michaels and bought a few more. I like the fullness of all of them in the drawer on this coffee table. Plus these pink hydrangeas are the most beautiful shade of pink I've ever seen in this particular artificial flower.

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers also. These are shades of pink and a bit of yellow thrown in, yellow being my favorite combination with pink.

I am trying something on these chairs in the way of decoration but while it looks gorgeous, I don't think it's going to be functional if someone sits there. The extra heavy boas would not be comfortable for someone's back while sitting in them. So I'll figure out another way to put them on without wrapping them around the back.

I love the elegant look though. I'm such a froufrou girl!

The little rose I put on this one is one I made from ribbon.

I think it's a wee bit small so I'll either make a bigger one or switch it out with the hoards of others I have.

So this is what I finally did. The boa tied on with twist-ties through the cane and not the least bit invasive to someone sitting on these chairs. The seats are next in line for their ruffled covers.

I love these paper roses on there. I simply wove their teensy stems through the cane and tied them to it. Not even visible or pokey to anyone sitting in them.

The rest of the photos are ones from the internet, not mine. Isn't this lamp darling? Looks like dotted swiss fabric with crochet edging. Sweet!

It's hard for me to pass up tiny shoes since I have 2 great granddaughters who have tiny feet.

Just a quiet vignette with pink threads and pink bottle.

Isn't this a clever idea? Just having dried roses falling out of a pretty jar.

I'm always a sucker for pretty dishes with flowers on them.

A pretty little cottage with pink blossoms blooming in the yard.

And a thatched roof in a bigger cottage in the UK.

A pretty place to dream does NOT have to be huge with expensive furniture. Look how quaint this tiny area is. Adorable.

And talk about cute!!! Making some of these for a tea-drinking friend would be a terrific idea. They are genuinely cute!

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Tidbits:
Our state is #1!

"A" states are here.

There are no "B" states so let's go to "C" states and what they are #1 in:

California:
Roller coasters
Air pollution

Colorado:
Flu shots
Cocaine usage

Connecticut:
Dentists visits
Electricity consumption
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Linking up with SSS and NMH.

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My Friend Katie

I want to talk about my friend, Katie. Are you listening, Kates??? She made this for me when she heard I was going to be a great-grandmother. Can you believe it? Yes, she is one of the most giving chicks I know. She will always surprise me with something in the mail for no other reason than she is just giving. She became a grandmother for the first time 2 years ago this summer to a darling little munchkin. Katie also picks the Magic Cart at WM. The Magic Cart just seems to attract little girl dresses that just seem to magically appear on the cart! I think I'm beginning to understand the Magic Cart business. ;-)

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Crafting Patio Lights for Pink Saturday 5/9/09

I was crafting today after getting a MUCH needed massage. But first let me show you what I bought. Squeeeeeeeeeeal..........

I ordered these beautiful roses file folders from Polly and received them the other day. Aren't they gorgeous? I also received several yards of vintage pink ribbon and I intend to embellish some t-shirts with some of it. I'm so excited.

This is a close up and I thought I'd put it on here in case someone wanted some ephemera for a project. Just enlarge it and then snag it for anything you might like to use it for. Gorgeous rose!

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I saw a canning jar made into some patio lights on another blogger's post and cannot for the life of me remember who. Sheeesh, I can't believe it. If I see it when I'm surfing my favs I'll let you and her know.

Anyway, I did this first one and didn't have any tea lights to put in it—I actually do, but they're up in the garage attic and can't find them at the moment(!)—so I broke a red taper candle and lit the bottom part and tried to melt it down to drip into the jar—okay, okay, so I started a fire but can we NOT let Love Bunny know this?— and stupidly let it drip onto a paper towel (I said I was intelligent, not that I didn't do dumb things every once in a while!) The paper caught fire and in blowing it out I sent little pieces of flaming paper towels around the kitchen. I need to work on the smell before Love Bunny gets home.

Isn't it adorable? And it can be hung on a porch or patio and is protected from the wind. That's especially important out here in the Idaho desert! I plan on making several more out of some of the tall olive jars hubs gives to me after he finishes witht he olives. Try them yourself. Easy. Wire around the top of the jar. Wire over the top for hanging. A scrap of fabric or ribbon. Candle. Embellish with roses if you want. I did on this one. Just be careful and only use tea lights OR fatter, shorter candles.

I did this one also in green and net lace ruffles. Ummmmm, I didn't put a candle in this one yet. I think I'll wait until I can find the tea lights or some short fat candles.

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My New Pillows and Shams

Yes, I did order a pillow that I saw in a blog of a woman who was preparing some stuff for a garage sale. I just happened to spot the pillow and voilà it hadn't sold so I emailed her and it's now on its way to me!!! I'm soooo blessed truly. I'll show it when I receive it. In the mean time..................

I found these 2 little cuties at WM of all places. They are nice and plump and I fell in love with it when I spotted it and knew it was mine! This one is blue and a kind of aqua also but the one below it is green. I love all the colors and don't mind a bit mixing them up, chickees.

Pintucked little soft cutie with little flouncy ruffles.

Hah...... I spotted these little paper plates and couldn't resist their lovely shocking pink color. I don't need paper plates but, hey, they were pink, only cost $1.00 for 20 plates and you little cherubs were worth it so I bought them to show you!! ;-)

Then we went back to Michaels to exchange the only 2 items I got there yesterday - a frame for hubby's new train print he bought in Riverside, Ca. and a repair kit for that little roses clock I bought for $2.00 in Calif. also. Yep, he should have come with me the first time because I got both items wrong! Sooooo we had to go back and exchange them. Just happened to drag that Love Bunny into Target and bought these little shams. He says, "Do you need new shams?" I tell ya, the man is clueless!!! Nuuuuuuuu, I say, but I want a "change" in our bedroom. He knew I was talking shams and not HIM! They're really quite lovely - white quilted with a flange of roses and a strip of pink ribbon around the ruffle also.

It's in this closeup of the shams that you can see pink threads running through them. I love that!!

And this is the headboard I've had for about 20 years that will be white before summer is over!! :-) It's got appliques already on it with dentil molding also. Isn't it lovely?!!?! And even lovelier in white.

These are the old shams. Nothing wrong with them. They look a bit tea stained and I bought them several years ago at Spiegel and love them, but all you chicks know we need change now and then, right?!?!?! Well, I'm putting these and the quilt that goes with them on sale on my other blog for a great price if anyone is interested.

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Pretty Shabby Chic Tea Towels

I love pretty things as all of you who have visited my blog or have seen my home know. Not only do I buy for beauty but for function also. "Form follows function" is one of my favorite sayings. It first must function in that capacity for which it was bought. (An example is my wrist watch. I call it my Nancy Nurse watch. It's a very plain Timex with black numerals and hands but with a red second hand. I'll never buy any other watch. I just keep purchasing another one just like this one when it finally bites the dust. Have for years and will continue to do so. It's not especially pretty but it is "functional" and that's what a watch should be first and foremost........and they're inexpensive! But it's form is not displeasing to me at all.)

But let's talk about another common thing that just about everyone in the world has in their home and that's tea towels. Yep, the common ol' tea towel.

Tea towels have been know to wipe away boo boos on kids, dry their eyes, carry flowers and veggies into the house from the garden, ice cubes (don't ask!), carry a child's doll like it's a blanket, dry our hands - or hubbies, which is how they get so dirty in the first place if you've noticed, as I have, that they wash their hands, but dry their hands and arms!, trust me on this one.

BUT they don't have to be ugly or plain. Above are photos of some of my kitchen towels. Some have been bought at garage sales for 10¢! (I once bought a brand new canvas butcher's apron for 25¢ and absolutely love it for it generous size. It almost totally wraps around me to the back!) If I buy something to sell and there are 2 of them and I like them, then I buy 2 - one to sell and one to keep. ;-)

Some of the above towels are older and been washed many times but they are all pretty and not just "kitcheny" towels. I buy ones that have roses on them. Plus those towels in the bath dept. of a store don't have to be used in the bath; the hand towels can be used in the kitchen also. That's where I get some of my kitchen towels. I'm not into kitcheny types of towels with fruits and such on them (although, I'd buy some with cherries on them in a heart beat!), so much as roses or flowers. So in my home this is what the kitchen, as well as the bath, towels look like.

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