HAPPY EASTER 2013

While creating the Valentine's Day display, I interchanged the Chinese blue plates with a shimmery pink heart tray that was used as the base for a candle and a vintage flowered platter found at an estate sale.

                                                                      

 

 

The pastel colors seemed to mesh with my plans for my Easter wreath.  I took the shabby pastel green window from my bedroom and added a wispy wreath.  Wrapping a garland of lavender crystals and another of pastel berries set the stage for the look I was going for. 

 (Sorry about the quality of the below picture.)

 

 

 

 To finish the window, I went to my Easter tub and took out my handmade glittered bunny made by my friend Tara. The look blends with the raspberry slip covered club chair.

 

 

A happy and blessed EASTER to you all.

                                                               

EASTER MANTLE 2013

My previous posting shared refinishing the French blue stool.  Now I am ready to work on the Spring mantle.

The three following items will set the stage for the Easter mantle.

1.

  2.                                           

 3.                                                         

                                                         
Because our winter here has been so dreary, I knew that spring flowers would perk up the mantle.  Filling up the Easter box was the first step.

                                                  
Some yellow and purple pansies were planted into two shabby chic cereal bowls on the other side of the mantle.

                                                                  
                        Pulling out one of my worn pastel colored quilts adds some color.

                                                                            
                               Cute buttercup yellow bunny candles say 'Spring'.

                                                                 

Going into the woods, I cut a few branches with early leafy growth and placed them in a clear vase.  I would have liked to have cut forsythia branches from the backyard, but they were not long enough.  Maybe next year.

 

 

    My collection of decoupaged eggs adds a whimsical surprise to the vintage egg crate.

                                                               
                                    Placed on top of the foot stool gives the egg crate height.

 

 

                                                                           
                                   And the completed mantle.......................................

                                                  

 

                                             With a bit of sunshine, SPRING comes again.

    Unfortunately, the live tulip display lasts about 5 days.  To make it until Easter, I created a permanent one to last indefinitely.  Coral tulips, forsythia, a violet flowered branch and some pussy willow bring all the spring feeling into the decoupaged box.

                                                                           

                                                                              
               This mantle will last until May minus the small yellow bunny candles.

                                                    

It was a challenge, but great fun to incorporate 3 unlike items into the space.   Hunt around
 your house for a vintage piece and make it your focal piece for your own Spring display.

AN UPCYCLED STOOL, A VINTAGE EGG CRATE AND A DECOUPAGE BOX

I pulled three items out to create an Easter mantle. Now, you might wonder what connection there is between them. Read on and find out.

 The first item was a foot stool that I purchased at an estate sale last year for $5.00.

                                                      
I thought that the stool had some great potential.  The first step was sanding the top piece.  Didn't that turn out great?

                                                               
Because I wanted to stain the top and paint the bottom, I covered the top and taped it off with a piece of cardboard.

                                                                       
I had in my paint supply a quart of French blue paint that I had used years ago on a chair.  Because I wanted to distress the blue paint after I was finished, I didn't even prime the base of the stool.

                                                                 
                                        After 2 coats of the paint, it looked like this.

                                                               
                        Now it was time to stain the top with leftover golden oak stain.

                                                             
    Distressing the bottom of the stool was the next step before using a clear wax on the entire piece.

                                                                               

The transformation is complete.

 

 

The second item that I wanted to incorporate into this display was a vintage egg crate that my brother found in Mom's attic.  I don't know if it came from my Grandfather's grocery store, but that seems a logical explanation.

 

 

There are four levels to the crate, each layer holding 3 dozen eggs.The crate holds 12 dozen or 144 eggs.

All of the original cardboard dividers are present in this box.

 

 

What a piece of history!

 

The third item that I was going to use is a darling decoupaged Easter box given to me by my sister Karen on a recent visit.

 

 

 

The box has beautiful turquoise paint on two sides.

 

 

Now that you see the three items that I will use for the Easter mantle, I am going to get busy to complete the vignette. 

 

Stay tuned for the reveal on the next posting!

 

A TISKET A TASKET

           Since the spring bug is catching, I wanted to share a gorgeous outdoor wreath.


One August morning as I was going out front to retrieve the newspaper, a flash of yellow caught my eye.  The neighbor across the street had an incredible wreath hanging on her front door.  Days later, I walked over and knocked on the door to compliment her on the decoration.  I asked her if she would mind if I took a picture of it.  I told her about the blog, and she was delighted to share the wreath.

                                   The bright yellow sashes stand out against the black door. 

 

Isn't it absolutely stunning?

 

Here is a closeup picture of the basket secured by the drape of the bow.

 

 

 

                                 I just thought that this wreath was too pretty not to share.



REVIVING A POSTER FOR THE CHERRY BLOSSSOM FESTVAL

This year the Cherry Blossom Festival begins March 20th and goes through April 14th.

While living in Washington, DC, one of our favorite tourist trips into the city was attending the annual Cherry Blossom Festival around  the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial.  Here is one of my most favorite pictures of the girls taken during that visit to festival.

                                                                      

Every year there is a contest to design the annual official Cherry Blossom poster.  Here is a sample of the 2010 annual poster.  The emphasis always revolves around the beautiful cherry blossoms.
          

                                                    
Because of the beautiful shades of pink usually found in these posters, I wanted to buy one to remember our memorable trip.  Once home, the poster laid around in the cardboard tube until settling in Alabama.  Another memento was a conch shell that Mr. Thrifty found on a scuba expedition in Cuba.  The pink in both the shell and poster seemed to compliment each other, so after a few days, the choice was made to marry them into a bathroom decor for my younger daughter.

I couldn't possibly purchase one of those flimsy poster frames with the Plexiglas.  I wanted something much more substantial, so off to Hobby Lobby.  I found a fabulous very ornate white colored frame for the base of this project.  The mat that came with it had the most fabulous white polka dots on it.  The frame was 50% off, so it came to $25.00.

                                                              
A normal poster sized frame is usually 24x36 inches.  The actual mat area in the above frame is about 12x12 inches.  That meant that the poster had to be cut about 12x24 inches.  I wanted to take the colored areas out of the poster and eliminate the wordage.  Others might think to keep the date especially for a memory poster.  The challenge was to keep as much of the cherry blossoms into the area available.  Trying to use a scrap booking technique, I began laying pieces onto of each other to get a more dimensional effect.  This created an explosion of the blossoms. Unfortunately, the light in late afternoon skewed the pink and gave the picture a coral cast in the new two pictures.

             Foam dots were placed under the top sections to give the picture the layered effect.

                                                                  

                                                    
                    I love the almost impressionist white dots mimicking  the polka dots in the mat.

                                                                          

                                                             
  The picture hangs in my youngest girl's bathroom.   Mr. Thrifty found the shell on an expedition while doing a tour in Cuba. The coral pink in the conch shell looks great along side of it.  A coral hand towel completes the look.

                                                                

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY 2013

                                 Time for another virtual card to celebrate St. Patrick's Day

For each petal on the shamrock

this brings a wish your way.

Good health, good luck, and happiness

for today and every day.

(Author unknown)


HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

 

 

 

 



ST. PATRICK'S DAY FLOWER DISPLAY

Deals, deals today on reduced flowers at my Weds. trip to Kroger.  $4.99 for one dozen white roses and $.99 for lime green mini cushion flowers.  $6.00 for a beautiful St. Pat's Day display.

                                               Aren't they great for St. Patrick's Day?

                                                                           
I think that $4.99 for the roses was an awesome price.  I did have to take off the most outer petals, but they look perfect to me.  Grabbing one of my estate sale silver plated coffee pots served as an impressive vase.

                                                         
                             Here is a close up of one of Tara and Maureen's fabulous charms
                                              adding some bling to the arrangement.

                                                                          

I pulled out my St. Patrick's Day Collage/homemade greeting card from last year.

I still love the scene in the Beleek frame.  A rosary that I found at the estate sale hangs over the frame and a vintage Irish handkerchief is close by.



                                                                
Finishing the vignette is a stack of three very old, but gorgeous suitcases.  They end up being a great side table for the chaise.  The small one was too small to put on top of the stack, so I just butted it up against the front.  The colors go well with each other. 

                                                              

A cozy setting to read a book on these colder winter nights.