Petticoats and Parasols here I come!

The talented Jenn Hayslip http://sweeteyecandycreations.typepad.com/ is hosting this year an awesome event in the eternal beautiful pearl of the south Savannah, this event promises to be the bomb. Jo Packham of Where Women Create will grace us with her presence , she will be the guest keynote speaker at Petticoats & Parasols. at the event among other celebrities in the blog world. I hope to meet in person one of my favorite lady bloggers Andrea Singarella http://www.velvetstrawberries.typepad.com/ who has attended in the past to events organized by Jenn.

I'm more than excited to be a vendor at the event I will take my own creations along with antiques, gourmet treats from Mexico and much more surprises that I'm preparing fo that special event. I will keep you gals in the loop.

DYI *QUICKGlass Etching*

Recently I found new ways to embellish my old container and give them a fresh fancy look without breaking the bank, this is one way to use my punchers  and my cricut for making stencils. I used a roll of self adhesive covering ( you can buy them for about $5 for 9 feet, instead of using the brandname rolls that are much more expensive), armour etch, a little brush and a recycled glass container.

First I cut my stencil( cricut or by hand), peel it and applied it on a previously clean container, second step is to apply carefully with the brush a dab of etch cream, paying attention to the edges, the cream works in seconds so it's important to keep the area clean only apply it on the parts you want to etch. Let the cream work for about 5 minutes. Wash the piece and there! it is, super easy...
Coming soon more DIY projects ( 20 minutes cloche etching) and more news on Petticoats and Parasols

And the Winner is...

One Cheap B****! congrats Plese contact me . thanks everyone for participating on my first GIVE AWAY

Gourmet Gift Under $7

I have always like to make myself gifts for my friends when the time comes, I feel that bought gifts are a bit less impersonnal than the homespun ones. I personally love gourmet gifts, I can't explain exactly to my husband the difference between an oil from the super market or an oil imported from some mediterranean country, well I guess the real deal gets seal by the presentationt. With that in mind, I decided to reuse what I already got and turn it into a great  affordable  gift

 I went to the store and got a regular virgin olive oil, poured into a recycled( pink lemonade) glass , the bottle already comes with a cork attached, I cut some aromatic herbs from my herb garden, washed them and put them in the oil ( rosted garlic or even fancy pantsy truffles can be added), for the decorative part , I  reuse and old tag and found an string ball to secure it to the bottle. This is my easy way to "make" a home spun gurmet oil.
Oil- $8.75 for the big bottle, I only used half $4.37
Herbs- $0 for me, but if you buy it it's around $2
recycled tag, card, or whatever $0
A pice of yarn, hemp, string $0
recycled old glass bottle $0 = 6.37

This is quite decorative as much as it's useful, you can tell  that I need to be resourceful to decorate a vinyl countertop, ohh I love military housing, gives me tha chance to use my brain to find ways to decorate. Everytime we move it's a challenge to reuse one old glass bootle.

Valentines Give Away!!

This give away actually started last week, includes a bird, a nest,. reindeer moss, and a surprise, well I finished making the surprise gift last night.

 I made two different earrings so the winner can pick one of her choice, please contact me by Sunday 14 saying wich set you want me to send you.

The earrings are made in . 925 Sterling Silver and Swarovski crystals, for the green set I added real fresh water perls. The gifts will ship on Monday after Valentines, so you have ultil Saturday 13 so all you have to do to enter your name in the hat is to leave a comment, if you become a follower that gives you a second chance and if you bring a friend well you get a chance for every friend you bring over. I just started this blog about 3 weeks ago,I'm enjoying so much blogging and creating so  I have  plans to open an online store in the Spring ( still deciding on the web designer) with high quality items like these earrings ($18 bucks shipping included!) vintage items, (kitsch items and american toys) french linens, european porcelain ( I became and adict when I live in Germany), fluffy hand made pillows, oilcloth and oilcloth accesories and all the good stuff, my plan also consists on having everything under $50. Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to bring your friends!!

Spring Vignettes

Today I felt like working more than I usually prefer to do, so I gather my latest finds and put them together in different vignettes. The weather was gorgeous outside, it felt like mother nature wanted to give us a preview of what this Spring will be like.  I found myself inspired and "pulled" by all shades of green, I can't resist the combination of lime green and pink.

I found some Mc Coy pots not long ago and I became a collector, so far I have only three( can you spot the in the right corner) but eventually I hope to find more, The colors can't be more subtle and romatic.

Another pratical use for the Mc Coy containers.

My seven year old daugther loves dogs, so I made her this shelve with a salvaged cabinet, it feels so rustic. We display our favorite linen finger napkins on it as well.

This is for you, artichokes instead of roses. Thanks for stopping by

I need Mom is having a 100 post give away

 enter before feb, 8, 2010, http://ineedmom.blogspot.com/2010/02/100-posts-giveaway.html?showComment=1265139668128_AIe9_BHLDnTYNzfs1cJoH0mlm_sH1dbbAWnzmbhkvxoUZw5bKM7ORYXnL__Jww-hToyOH2XEIYzpBhQO2pv0BLgHlknz3RxupopaKq8jqEXl_XAaK9mgoEyl0zpC3nXSJ4stF20cS5NoOZt-PDxU45h6GDkNQm9Ourpw2bBFdmMOGmNd4F6-a3WvAPOOehJsUiaMIX-FCP5L14CFuh-WJdbnBbJrEIJkLLj8J8ff_g2NdwRXAFR1Wqo#c2075523245622758948 she is giving the most adorable wire cake stand so good luck!

Thank You- Give away

I'm thrilled to have 4 followers!! I love to read all the comments, and to show my appreciation  I decided to have a Give Away , I will ship it on Valentine's Day(only for participants of continental USA and Canada), the package will consist on:
1. A bird on her nest
2. A package of reindeer moss
3. A package of small bird eggs of your choice ( beige or pink,)
4. A surprise gift!
Rules. Please leave a comment for a chance to enter, if you become a follower you have another chance, if you bring your friends, well every friend is another chance to win. Please let me know when you become a follower so I can enter accurately your name.

Spring Fever - Oh feathers!

Birds, and birds everywhere, I can't wait for the spring to come and the cold weather to be a thing of the past, so I had to put my contribution to feel a little bit more "springy"

This project consists on gathering wathever you already have in hand and use it to create a botanical arragement  with a touch of romantic whimsy. In this case I used an old container, you can use terracota, metal, or plastic, I also needed a poted plant, some reindeer moss or anykind of moss to cover the pot, a topiary or trellis( you can made this one yourself with a branch.)

 The whimsical part is given by bringing any bird, furry animal, butterfly, even shells look really pretty around this "live" arrangements.

I always advocate for having  arrangements rather than simple cut flowers for the only reason that they last all  season and you can reuse them as many times as you want.
I let birds to nest wherever they want in my house, even on my mirrors coners.

Valentine's Cards from the past.

I found these really old valentine's card. most are from the 20's.

I made them as big as I could.

Who has noticed that particular color on the cards?Is it me or they look like red tomato, some shade between red and orange, anyways I described it as red tomato, roma tomato perhaps..

Sometimes when I speak to my mom on the phone, I describe colors like "  Ma' I found a sweater, yes it's cute, what color? well is green, pear green, like baby pears, no tint of mustard " I can send her a pic to her mail but she hates to use her computer, so I guess my 5 senses works towards describing colors.

Finder's Keepers- Ephemera display

One of the biggest problems of being a "collector" of ephemera (and pretty much of everything) is the space issue, since I live in military housing is always a problem to find any space in my house to display my little collections. So I came with this solution, I had enough papers around for scrapbooking even when  I never get to scrap anything because I  feel that I can’t compromise my objects to stay permanent in one project, I always  need to use them several times in it’s life time, Needles to say I never throw anything away, first because I love the things I have , second because I feel guilty to contaminate the planet so I try to reuse pretty much everything that find its way to my home

I guess I will be changing colors or adding more pictures, only time will tell

You need a flat surface, like this recycled table , paper scraps, whatever you love and already have, you can also use fabric, dried leaves, ephemera anything you want to display

I'm a sucker for old post cards, I pick this one because my baby storm, I mean son, is Taurus.

My First Show and Tell.

I always wanted to participate on the Friday show and tell but I did not have either the time or the right picture. This table is right at the entrance of my home, the dress form was a copper color so I painted white and sanded the edges, I added some flowers and yes there is a nest on the middle , what do you think of the final result. I love tulips for the winter season, as it gets warmer I will add some color.

I wanted to show my itty bitty pink car that sits on a cake stand in the middle of my table, it's sooo rusty but I love the contrast that brings to it. Fo me it's like a game I spy, I spy..  I always hide little pretty things around my house.

Happy Valentine's to me!

I want to think that we are really lucky to be a military family, well I had to put it this way, my husband gets to travel a lot and I get to stay and keep the ship afloat. However once in a while I get presents from all over. Whenever is possible he brings me a little something. I got two prsents this time, he sent this picture when he was  still decididng wich one I wanted so I just had to push a bit and ask for both. BINGO! Hey sometimes this works, I love this set because it's the perfect pale peachy  color.

Vintage Treasure

I'm always on the hunt for more Vintage Santas. Most of the time I find them in poor condition so I was very lucky to find my rosie cheeks Santa all dressed in white, in pristine condition.

I also was lucky to find the Golden Santa. Isn't he cute?

It's Clean Up Time

I want to share all my little treasures that I displayed for the holidays, now it's time to pack them all up and wait for the next Xmas to put them back up again.