Walking in a Winter Wonderland…

Winter’s Blanket.

Do you think it is possible to have a Winter Wonderland without snow?  I hope so.  Christmas this year is a Winter Wonderland with simple touches.

Let’s start with outdoor seating.  On a limited budget, working with what he had on hand, designer, Vince Maggio made the simple decision to move my summer wicker seating from the porch to the the front lawn.  The crisp white is the perfect foil for the abundant greens and reds we used for the decor.

Seating group, vintage side table painted shiny red for contrast, vintage water can with fresh holiday greens and a sparkly ribbon were the starting points.  We then took an odd urn, added a small table top tree from Lowe’s (at a meager $12.50) randomly adding fresh winter red pepper berries (artificial natural decor works just as well) and a vintage camp blanket along with a  french grain sack pillow completes the picture.

Take a seat. Any time. Enjoy friends, family and neighbors.  Cold weather or mild temperatures…gathering together will keep you warm.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Merry Christmas.

Cindy

Decorated or Unadorned…appreciate the simplicity.

Add fresh pepper berries and it’s not too fussy.

An invitation to relax and enjoy the day.

A blanket for warmth, surrounded by loads of vintage and the natural.

Thank our sponsors by giving them a visit.  They have made these Christmas ideas possible.

GOOD LOOK, Inc.

These are a few of my favorite things…

 

Indeed. A happy Christmas.

Antiques. Holiday Cheer. Christmas Decorations.  Old Houses. Sweater Weather. Home Made Cookies. Festive Christmas Punch.  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Put them all together and I had a really sweet weekend last week with my good friend, Vince from GOOD LOOK, Inc.

I live in a really good walkabout neighborhood with some really great neighbors.  Even the passing through strangers are nice.

I decided to have a little antique show at my house to bring attention to our little Christmas Cottage and it was great fun.  Once all the preparations were done (which really tuckered me out), Vince and I just sat ourselves on the wicker furniture and enjoyed the great company, beautiful weather and festive mood.

Vince is closing his antique store in order to move closer to McKinney, so he had his pieces beautifully arranged and it was FUN!

Here are some pics of his vintage and antique wares.  Tomorrow, I will start posting our Christmas projects for some inspiration.

As an FYI, Vince will be in his current location for another week, until the 15th.  Great deals to be had…but they are going quick.  See him on Facebook: GOOD LOOK, Inc.

Always,

Cindy

Open is just another way of saying “Welcome.”

Tuck in a little Christmas Wreath.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Zinc Bucket…this great piece went to a couple who have a Farmhouse in Melissa.

Vintage Abundance.

Fallready

 

Black urn and white pumpkin dressed with gauze for an ethereal look.

My last fall post for the year…I’ll be starting on Christmas posts next week.  Can’t wait!  I took down the Halloween decorations on my mantle and simplified with a fall theme to bring me into the Thanksgiving Holidays.

I tend to fill the visual space in a plentiful way; showing restraint is not always easy for me with regard to design.  But I started with more and played and edited the props until I got to the final, simplifed version.  It was kind of liberating to keep it as simple as it ended up.

I also included some other pictures of my outdoor decor, but I am “fallready” and ready to coast for a few weeks and then start Christmas decorating.

I hope you find some inspiration!

xoxo.

Cindy

Remember to click twice to bigify!

My Blog Featured by Cottages and Bungalos Magazine Talent Scout

 

Clever Vintage Kitchen Organization Solutions Featured at Whisperwood Cottage Blog, Talent Scouts for Cottages and Bungalos Magazine.

 

My lovely friends at Whisperwood Cottage, who are also talents scouts for Cottages and Bungalos Magazine,  featured my blog in their article about vintage kitchen storage.  Happy to be chosen and happy to be featured.  Thanks so much!

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To get to the article, click here.

Boo!

 

Vintage Mirror from GOOD LOOK, Inc. reminiscent of a tombstone.

 

Call me naive or hopeful, but I really long for the old kind of Halloween that was innocent and fun and full of simple, sweet frolic.  During the holidays, paper crafting was common in the Victorian era.  Taking my cues from them, I used lovely Victorian Halloween clip art that has a wonderful graphic quality and design that endures today, over 100 years later.

For my Halloween mantle, I challenged myself to use paper to make crafts and stay away from store bought, ready-made pieces.  I tend to be more creative when there are greater limitations place on me.  To that end, here are some of the projects from the mantle:

  • Paper lanterns
  • Paper flag banner
  • Accordion pleated Holiday medallions
  • Paper Flags
  • German Glass Glitter Star “scepter”
  • Black & White bean jack-o-lantern face in a vintage vase (vintage vase used previously in this post)
  • Antique pie crust mirror (from GOOD LOOK, Inc.)
  • End of season hydrangeas (with pretty raspberry and green variegated buds)  in a lab beaker
  • Hurricane candle holders with black and white bean stripes, reminiscent of vintage ticking strips topped with vintage french ribbon

I hope that you find something that inspires you!

Until next time,

xoxo

Cindy

Halloween Mantle.

Remember to click twice to bigify!

Not Everything is Brilliant

Random Stack of Starfish.

A simple centerpiece.  Not brilliant, but easy.  Sometimes that is all that I have time for.

Not quite ready to pull out the Halloween decorations, however, I am starting to change out my vase fillers which are filled with an abundance of pencil starfish from the summer season.  I kept a few aside and got the idea to use them as a centerpiece for my dining table for the next couple of weeks as we transition into fall.

The dining table, which is now in the window nook has become the best place for me to get comfortable and cozy and do some computer work.  A lovely scented candle, a hurricane globe for some height and German Glass Glitter starfish and easy, peasy…it’s done.

Until next time,

xoxo,

Cindy

 

Easy Centerpiece.

Quaint little glass glittered starfish.

 

Rustic and the Refined.

The Simple Summer Table

 

Simple.

 

Summer is a time when I prefer a simpler routine so I strive to find ways to create beauty and comfort with very little effort.

This is the first in a three part series on seasonal tables for summer, fall and winter.  And for those followers that have been asking, the dining room reveal will be my first blog article next week.

I used very simple ideas to create this easy, yet beautiful table setting. Here some of the ideas (sources to the right):

  • Simple white (neutral) table cloth
  • Contrasting neutral runner
  • Old architectural column riser as a centerpiece base (Good Look, Inc.)
  • Vintage jar as a vase with simple white field flowers  (Good Look, Inc.)
  • 107 year old pages from a music publication for place mats
  • Mixed vintage silverware
  • Mixed vintage silver napkin rings
  • Vintage Mini Cruets (Fringe)
  • Antique ironstone butter pats used for individual salt & pepper
  • Simple white votive candles
  • Vintage (newly made) milk bottle for decanting ice water (Glass Milk Bottles -new)
  • New cotton towels for napkins (IKEA, .79 cents)
  • Vintage aluminum salt shaker for a toothpick holder

I hope that you find some inspiration!

Always,

Cindy

Remember to click twice on each picture to bigify them!

 

 

Anatomy of a Redesign – Part 1

I would describe myself as a nester.  I would also tell you that like alot of people, change is challenging.  However, you would never know these things about me by looking at my house and the evolution of my style over time.  I am constantly changing things around.

I never know when or why the inspiration to change something will hit me.  I had just such a moment in my dining room when I realized one small change would change the entire dynamic of my dining-living room space.

Once I have the idea of what I want to do, the next step is the floor plan.  Here is the current floor plan, to scale:

Dining Room Current Floor Plan

You can see from this lay out, the space is very small (narrow) so the options are limited.  The new floor plan will open up the space visually as well as practically, by improving traffic flow and allowing more space for the living room furniture by kicking it (slightly) into the plane of the dining room.  Here is the proposed new floor plan:

Dining Room Proposed Floor Plan

Here is the “to do” list:

  1. Build window seat
  2. Swag lamp over to new dining area
  3. Move antique cabinet to where the bench is
  4. Find a new home for the bench
  5. Make window seat cushions
  6. Remove leaf from dining table
  7. Store two of the four dining room chairs

Cost wise, this is a very economical re do that will have major impact.  The materials for the window seat should be $200, give or take.  Beyond that, since I already have the fabric, I only need some foam for the bench cushions which I would estimate to be appr. $50.

The result will be featured in next week’s blog article.

As always, thank you for stopping by!

xoxo,

Cindy

This will be removed and the bench (not pictured) will be removed and replaced with the antique cabinet shown in the picture below.

This area will be the new window seat/dining area and this cabinet will remain in the dining room, but moved to another place.

This won’t change, but will now become part of the window seat area for the dining table.

 

Antique and Vintage Glass

 

Etched Stoppers.

 

It is always nice when you find antique and vintage items that not only have charm and character, but are also completely functional.  Vintage and antique glass is just such an item that finds itself right at home for today’s living, even though many pieces are decades old and made for another time, another sensibility and another way of life.

Thank you to my good friend, Vince at Good Look, Inc..  He has been a great source for some my most recent vintage glass finds! Please stop by his store or visit him on facebook.  He has such great taste and style and finds so many interesting things!

Here are several pieces of my personal collection.  Enjoy!

Always,

Cindy

From my grandmother.  Makes me smile to think about her.

Beautiful Silhouettes.

 

Collection of Vintage Glass Apothecary Jars in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Beautiful etched pattern to hold bathroom items like make up remover, cotton balls and scented body powder.

 

Vintage Bail Wire bottles, mason jars and a vintage apothecary jar to hold lavender linen water.

I love the small scale of this vintage lab beaker; makes it fun to use.

Vintage Glass to hold all the cooking essentials: salt, pepper, vinegars and oils.

Vintage Compote.

Antique Find: The Delicate Workhorse

 

I found this lovely gem several weeks ago in Downtown McKinney and it has quickly become treasured and useful.  Engenius in its’ own way with telescoping supports that allow you to straddle it over a sink so it can do the work it was intended for, yet it stays out of the way when you want to use the sink otherwise.  My new found favorite.

The Vintage Food Strainer.

Delicious Loveliness.

The Almost Delicate Work Horse.

Let me know what you think!

Love Always,

Cindy

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