Farewell to February

Hey, folks, this is just the briefest of pop-ins, hardly worthy of being called a post.We're about to end the shortest month tomorrow. It is noteworthy for Valentine's day, which is fun and the beginning of Lent, which isn't. My attitude about this season is so bad it seemed as if a little visual reminder might be in order. While culling some toys my grandchildren used to play with two were promoted to the religious chest in the hallway:

When the sheep and goats are separated where will I be? Yes, the music is depressing and dwelling on sin is never pleasant, but we just have to hang on till April and Easter!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Michele

The Perfect Present

Hello, Friends,

Last week middle daughter Mary was in town for work and came to see us. My birthday was last month, but she said her gift was too heavy to mail, so she brought it when she came to visit instead. This is what it is:

The color in this photo isn't right; it's actually a true red. It's a big metal hamper with handles and a hinged lid. I love it. It contained some goodies that are great as well. Plus, the timing was ideal. Switching from the most recent holiday it was immediately put to use:

Could there be a better container to stash Valentine's Day decor in? I think not!

Cat sold separately!

Who wouldn't be thankful to have such a thoughtful child? I certainly am!

Have a good one.

Michele

Wednesday

What I did today:

I switched out the door

 and vacuumed a  floor,

then straightened up this board,

plus gathered up some discards to lighten up the hoard.

Dusted up top

and made dinner too;

now I'm ready to sit down,

how about you?

Till next time,
Michele

Bird Cage Restage

Greetings, all,

I hope your Tuesday has gone well. Mine hasn't been terribly productive, but an attempt was made to re-do the bird cage in the library now the Valentine stuff is put away. Here's what I came up with:

It features white candlesticks and silver containers.

And here's the whole shebang:

Not spectacular but a bit of shine and interest, and who can't use that in February?

Take it easy,

Michele

More Monday

Hello, all,

How cold is it where you are? I feel forthe poor souls in the Northeast of the US and all the snow and misery they're still enduring. It's cold here, for us, while not technically frigid by normal standards. Still, today it was necessary to go out, to work at Manna, then leave a bag of packages at the post office. This is in advance to make an excuse for not being very (if at all) creative today by the time I was finally home. Yesterday it seemed long overdue to re-style the coffee table, given the Valentine decor was put away, so that is what was tackled. Not anything to write home about, but the best it was possible to come up with on this cold Monday.

I tried to use a wooden cigar box for the remote controls, but figured realistically that would last five minutes before Mr. B ditched it, so decided not to bother.

A big round tray, the crown sort of metal holder, a bronze orb--maybe it doesn't work at all, but the idea was to use the repeating circles as an antidote to everything else in the room which is universally square or rectangle.

A box with vintage pictures inside. The one on the right is me with my mother, age about eighteen months old. The two gold votive holders were a recent score from Goodwill, four of them new, with labels on the bottom from World Market. They were $6.00 each originally, .69 cents at GW. Magazines and a few books make up the rest of today's effort. 

That's all she wrote for today, folks. Maybe the Idea Fairy will visit me overnight and tomorrow much more creative. It would help if it would warm up enough and stay dry so it's possible to go outside and spray paint! All those of you who have a basement or garage, be grateful! It makes life more difficult without one. 

Stay warm!

Michele

Mostly Monday

Hey, folks, if it is cold and wet where you are I hope you can stay inside and warm. It started the day wet here, then moved on to cold. Partly because of the icky weather and also to wait for a repairman I haven't stirred outside today. More cleaning, sorting and organizing was done and a whole lot of vacuuming. Since a lot of the activity was in the living room, I took time to hang this little shelf bought Friday at Sand Dollar for .99 cents. 

Here's where it's hanging in context:

on the left of the washstand, below the cat shrine. There is a heart ornament on the peg and a little miniature suitcase embellished for our most recent holiday, too.

Gotta go, I hear the furnace guy. 

Have a good one,

Michele

Best of 2014 - cont'd.

Hey, folks, it's Friday.

I am continuing my best finds per month of 2014. In February, the prize went to:

This bright cheery tray. Not a big furniture score or anything major, but I love the little horses and the flamboyent colors. It is propped by the backsplash of the kitchen sink at this house, so there to enjoy multiple times every day.

Have a great weekend!

Michele

Friday Eve

Greetings, all,

That's how a friend of mine used to refer to Thursday each week. Have you noticed how February just keeps relentlessly moving on, heading inexorably towards Lent? It has not escaped my attention, so it seemed like a good plan to focus on Mardi Gras instead. In addition to the display under the open gold cloche, I have also got these on display:

The wreath is on the side door of the house.

This was in today's newspaper; it's an advertisement for Mardi Gras on Galveston.

It seemed a perfect fit for this frame with a blue mat that was .90 cents on the last expedition to Value Village.

And on the dining room table a tray with masks and beads under the big cloche.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Let the good times roll!

Michele

Once Upon a Sofa

Hello, all,

Well, that was weird. I wrote a post Monday and clicked on publish, but apparently it didn't. Oops! Never mind. I have been continuing to try to clean and organize both in here, the dining room, and in the living room all week. There was a ratty old piece of drop cloth on the couch and some decidedly ho-hum throws and pillows. Time for an upgrade! Even though it's still only February, it's getting warmer which makes thoughts of sunshine and bright colors dance in my head. Here is one result of that:

No, not Flossie. She's a permanent fixture when there is any change and thus reason to snoop.

This might be really a big table cloth, but it's very heavy, sturdy fabric, so should be all right as couch enhancer.

A few replacement cushions, since the others definitely didn't go. The two in front are from last summer and the one in back is a crocheted sham. That's the latest effort. Now (sob!) back to cleaning and organizing, iow, The Neverending Mess!

Take it easy!

Michele

Lights, flowers. . . Mo' BoHo

Hello, everyone,

I hope you had a nice weekend. Ours was lovely, especially since the weather cooperated and was beautiful. This inspired us to attend an event at Casa Ramirez, Amor Eterno - the Heart Show. It was great. Here's a link with more information:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Casa-Ramirez-FOLKART-Gallery/76060185584 There was champagne and chocolate cake which only improved the outing. While there I purchased some paper flowers since real ones are a no no at our place. After leaving the gallery, we stopped at a yard sale and found yet another piece to add to my ongoing BoHo display. 

The aqua tray was $1.00 at the yard sale and the crepe paper flowers .75 cents each. Friday I found the string lights, which use batteries. That's fortunate, since there is no plug on that wall or the adjacent one. I'd BOLO for a tray at thrift shops but hadn't found anything that would work and am way too stingy to pay $29.99 for the ones Target has right now. This display makes me smile, which encourages me to spread the BoHo love around the rest of the house, so stay tuned! 

Have a good week,

Michele

A Little Friday Project

Hello, everyone, and a happy soon-to-be weekend to you all!

I am still working on more BoHo decor. Here's something put together this afternoon in between errands and laundry. It began with this:

a square frame from Ikea, .90 cents at the Sand Dollar. What to fill it with? Shop your house floated through my head. What could be more BoHo or colorful than tie dye? 

This little bag had a gift in it many years ago, but it's small, so not really used much now.

Could you stretch it out flat and put it in the frame? Why not?

It's hanging from the red strings meant to go over your shoulder as a purse, threaded through the sawtooth hanger on the back of the frame. It's not going to stay on the cross wall, obviously, but that was the easiest place to take the photo from. I kind of like that it's giving the bag that was hanging on a peg rack out of sight in the closet a chance to shine. Believe me, as damp and dreary as the weather has been lately here, anything bright and cheerful is a winner. What do you do to jump start life in a less than thrilling part of the year?

Have a great weekend!

Michele

Have a heart

Hi, folks,

Here's a little more Valentine's Day decor at our house.

Using the gorgeous big red platter that was a gift from my friend Tricia. It's sitting on a heart patterned piece of cloth and holds two dishes of candy and a red glass votive.

This shadow box with a glass lid has some special cards saved over the years on display.

And lastly, my trusty wreath at the front door.

May your week be sweet as hearts and flowers!

Michele

Living in the Present

Hello, all,

I am blessed to have a  good friend with a birthday in late December, while my own is at the beginning of January. We try to get together early in the year to celebrate. Since personalized gifts are nice, here is what Laura's is:

She is a tea drinker, so there are two boxes of flavored teas and a holder for the bag. Another favorite of hers is shortbread, so:

here is some of that to go with the tea. It is in a box from Harrods department store in London, but the cookies were bought locally. 

Then I turned here. Multiple verses of scripture were copied, then printed out. You can buy Scripture Tea in stores, but it seemed better to pick the verses myself for a friend.

A little bone china holder to put a used bag in once it's steeped. 

Tea with Bible passages.

 And here is the bag, ready to take tomorrow when we meet for lunch.

If you are interested in a similar project, learn from my experience. Make sure the tea bags you buy have strings and tags on them already, because otherwise, it's way more of a hassle than you want to fool with, trust me. You could also do Novel Tea, with the first lines of famous books for someone who is a reader, or any number of other types of quotations. Quirky words for Scrabble would be fun, too. 

That's my project du jour. Now back to my regularly scheduled round of chores, cat wrangling and the like. 

Take it easy!

Michele

Let's go Bo Ho

Hello, everyone,

Lately there has been a lot of interest in Bohemian Chic decorating in the world of blogs. Since it's all about color, there was no chance I wouldn't jump on the bandwagon, so here's what's been accumulated so far.

A pewter frame embedded with stones showing off some yoyos. Both were already in my accessory/craft stash.

A wild, multi-colored paper mache dish from a recent trip to Sand Dollar, under $1.

A small tumbler that was a gift from my oldest daughter not long ago.

One tiny frame with a picture of a modern quilt inside.

A wild flowered tin, quite large from a trip with Mr. B to Goodwill on Saturday.

A turquoise frame, also from Sand Dollar recently.

Yellow ditto. The paper in the frame reminds me of the 60s.

The tablecloth is one I've had for years. Or maybe it's supposed to be a scarf. The pattern seems to fit right in with the motif, though.

The dish in use. The hearts pick up colors in the background.

A vignette of all the elements. These will probably be dispersed to various locations through the house, as the seasons change and inspiration appears. I like this trend and will have no trouble embracing it wholeheartedly. No doubt all the white/neutral lovers don't see the appeal, but really, how can you go wrong with bright and cheerful?

Have a good one!

Michele