5/30/11

Lilac Festival at my House!


Happy Memorial Day to all!
The time is short but oh so sweet and I look forward to when my lilacs are in bloom every year!
It reminds me of when I was a little girl and my Mom would fill our home with the scent of sweet  lilacs . The scent of lilacs takes me back to a simpler time.  I hope my own children will remember that our home smelled oh so good and was overflowing with beautiful lilacs.



For some reason, we have a bumper crop of lilacs this spring!  They came late but are oh so worth the wait!


I am out picking them by the armfuls!  We are supposed to be close to 90 degrees today and that means my lilacs will fade quickly!   We can go from winter to summer so quickly around here!


I've even taught little Addison how to sniff the lilacs!  She of course would prefer to eat them, but she is getting the sniffing thing down pretty quickly!


My Martha Stewart lilac china!  Purchased at K-Mart about 3 years ago..... just$16/for a 20 piece set!  If they had more I would have grabbed them!



My pitcher is overflowing with lilacs and lily of the valley!  OOH, it smells so good!  The lily of the valley has such a pretty fragrance.
My bunny cost a buck at a thrift shop and the luncheon cloth was about $2... also purchased at a thrift shop.


Napkins tied with polka-dot ribbon!


This shot is a little too light but my lighting just wasn't that good this morning.


A little darker here.  The goblets are from the dollar tree.


My living room is bursting with lilacs too!   On this table.....


And over here.....


They make me happy they make me smile and they're free!

A little bouquet for the coffee table.
And I still have more empty vases to fill!
Here's wishing you all a very happy week ahead!

Cindy
P.S. I am still unable to comment on some of your blogs.  If I haven't been around to comment that is probably why.

I am joining the following blog parties.
A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Tuesdays.
Outdoor Wednesday at a Southern Daydreamer
Thrifty Thursday @  Tales from Bloggeritaville
Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

5/25/11

Apple Blossom Time, Apple Blossom Table!


Oh finally!  Our apple and lilac tree's fully bloomed this past week.  My all time favorite time of year!
It's so short but oh so sweet! 



Aren't they just gorgeous?  I dreamed about these trees blooming all winter long. 



I was hoping to do a  new table-scape but alas I have a lot less time for that now-a-days as a full time baby-sitting Grandma.
So I hope you don't mind a repeat!  This was a table I did two years ago.  My table has since been painted white and so it was a little strange to see these pictures at first. 
I spent a good part of my free time yesterday trying to comment on your blogs.  Yikes!  How frustrating is that!  I could not for the life of me figure out what I was doing wrong. 
I am still having trouble commenting on some of them so I will be around when I can, hopefully soon!

 For this table I used my Blue Hill  by Noritake.   I've had it like forever.  I also used lace table-cloth fabric. You can purchase table-cloth fabric at most fabric stores and all the ends are finished except where they cut it.  I think it came to only about $12.00 for 2 yards.

I used a piece of blue pottery that I have owned for years as my centerpiece, along with freshly picked apple blossoms.


The napkins are from GW and were new. I tied some scrap silver fabric that work as napkin holder's and I also used my recently found 1847 Rogers Bros. flatware. If you remember I got the whole 51 piece set for $5.00 at a garage sale. It was a fabulous deal!




This china is still pretty to me after all these years. Barbie and Bill target birdies were put back to work.
( Do you all remember that post?






I borrowed the little blue fabric candle holder from my daughters room. The other little votive's are from Ikea.




The stand up on a chair view. Thanks for coming to my humble little blog I love visiting and checking out your creative ideas.

Cindy
P.S.  I guess if you change your comment setting to a pop-up window you can get around the blogger issue.
I tried it and it worked!
I am joining some fun blog parties!

Table-scape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch



5/23/11

A Cottage Garden Wedding, a Graduation, tis the season!

Good Morning Bloggy Friends,
Hubby and I were busy this weekend with a wedding and high school graduation.
And what a beautiful wedding it was!  
The trellis is the name of the wedding site and it truly was a perfect setting!
Designed and built by two sisters just 3 years ago. 



As you enter, this path leads you to the gardens. 

 


 



The bride and groom were so lucky!  It rained all day long and about 2 hours before the 6:00 ceremony the sun came out and shined gloriously.


There were beautiful urns overflowing with flowers.



Fountains everywhere.


And angels






A place to rest and take in the view. 

 
And this delightful cottage where the bride and her wedding party set up.  The bride's parents are good friends of ours.


The bride was simply stunning!  I absolutely loved her gorgeous dress, she looked like an angel herself!

The sister of the bride looked smashing in this gorgeous blue gown!

And the proud papa escorting his beautiful daughter down the aisle.



She has the perfect figure for this style of gown .


There is the groom off to the side.  A simply adorable couple!








A view of the cottage.








The cherubs were just so charming!
After the ceremony they held their reception at a beautiful country club.
Now I need to back track to Friday night when my nephew Justin graduated from high school. 
 




Justin is my sister Susie's oldest child.  Justin graduated with honors and is pictured here with his sister Kristen.
Yah Justin, were proud of you!



His proud mom my sister Susie pictured with her youngest child Chloe and little miss Addison.



Now aren't these two cousins cute together!


Chloe  turned 2 in April and Addison is 7 months.  As Addison gets older they will probably get into a bit of mischief together.
Addison is crawling now and oh is she ever raring to go! 
I keep telling my daughter, babyproof everything you can think of!
Well that's about it for us....how was your weekend?
We finally have some glorious spring weather and boy am I loving it!
And I love hearing from you all!

Cindy


5/15/11

Thrifty finds, kitchen vignettes, applestone outdoor......

Hi All,
At least I am looking at some sunshine this morning.  Although we started out warm this week it quickly changed to cool and cloudy.   But the sun is shining this morning and there is hope of spring again.
I created the little vignette using my Bordalla Pinerro pitcher, some faux daisies and a wooden chick and apples!  The pitcher was a $1 find at an auction I went to several years ago.  Not bad I would say!



Then I grabbed my GW picnic basket, my GW bunny, GW pitcher and my .50 cent milk bottle and fashioned a little vignette for my kitchen counter!  I like the look and I think it adds a bit of whimsy and spring to brighten things up!


This book is one of my faves....I won it last year on a blog give-away!


So many inspirational pics inside!



Blue and white always makes my heart flutter!  I never, ever tire of it!



With all the cool and cloudy weather things have been growing very slowly around here.  My phlox should be a lot bigger by now.

And my bleeding hearts look like honey I shrunk the plants!  We are supposed to be in the mid-seventies later this week with sun and that is where we should be this time of year!  I really want to see things get a blooming around here.   I am almost in pain when I look at the Southern bloggers photos of flowers and plants in bloom!  

On Thursday I made my annual trip to the Woodbury Lion's club garage sale days.  Woodbury is a suburb of the twin cities and about a 2 hour drive for me.  Last year I hunted for housewares but this year I mostly concentrated on baby clothes!  And here is some of my loot! I spent forty dollars and I got all of these cute outfits for Addison.  There is baby gap, Oshkosh B'Gosh, Children's Place etc.  The sandals had the tags still on them!  Besides all of these cute outfits....



I found her this little dress.  I love the gingham check, smocking and lace!
Needs a little ironing though.

Four set's of Pj's.


And these tiny double bladed figure skates!  They only had been worn once and will fit about a 3 year old.  My daughter Katie was a competitive figure skater and coach so Addison will have her own teacher when she gets big enough!

And speaking of Addison, I had to add some pics of her (wearing one of the little outfits I found) ....  I hope I don't drive you all crazy!
She is fighting a bad cold but in spite of that, she still waited patiently yesterday while her Grandma fixed her some oatmeal and applesauce!


And she even entertained us with a little patty-caking to boot! 
She is so much fun and hubby and I love our time with her!  We may be more tired but we certainly are more fulfilled!
Now my wish to all of you is to find fulfillment and happiness in the simple things in life!  It's seldom material things that bring us happiness but more likely the joy of  children or family or flowers blooming in the spring!
Well anyway, you get my drift!
Have a great week my friends!

Cindy

I am joining the following blog parties!
Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures.


Marty @ A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday.