So where have I been?

I can't believe I have been away from blogging for over two months. Just popping in to say I'm back and I'll be posting again on a regular basis! So much to share and talk to you about so instead of making one long post, I'll divide them up into several, how does that sound?

The table and mirror you see in the picture are recent purchases, not bought together, the table at a garage sale and the mirror was bought at an estate sale, I think they look perfect together. Here's some close ups.

I just love the detailing on this table. The top folds down so it can be used as a small kitchen table but I like it next to my couch in the formal living room.

Thanks to all of you who asked about how the boot camp went that I was enrolled in. It was an awesome workout for the two weeks that I went. I had to stop (per doctor's request) because of a supposedly medical reason/condition and it turns out after going to three doctors, I'm perfectly fine, nothing was wrong with me in the first place! So because of that, I never got the chance to finish the boot camp.

Love the swags on the mirror.

So I was thinking, for my next post would you like to see ugly pictures and read a horror story about what kind of destruction renters can do to a cottage built in 1935, yep, that's what we have been dealing with for a month now.

I told my husband, I am embarrassed to have our names on the mortgage papers because the cottage looks bad, really bad, like white trash ghetto bad!

Anyway, enough of my drama, so glad to be back blogging .

Make it a great day, Janice

Vintage Lampshade Frame re-do

I blogged about these vintage lampshade frames before, I bought them in Riverside California and this picture was taken in the store I bought them from.

Since then, they have sat in my garage until today. I've had an idea about what I wanted to do with them, so today, I got busy. This is what they look like now,

tada.....

Are they too cute of what? So easy to do. I bought a yard of muslin, took the muslin to my sister Mary's house, shes a quilter so she has the rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler. Mary cut 2" stripes and 1" stripes from the muslin (this was a couple of weeks ago).

I used the 2" stripes for the bigger frames and the 1" stripes for the smaller ones. I then draped the muslin pieces on the frames and tied a bow on the bottom to secure into place. I really like how the muslin add deptness to each frame. Total time to do all of this, about 5 minutes for three frames.

I did all of this on my kitchen table and while doing so I had another idea for these frames.

Wanna see?

I put some serving dishes on the top of the vintage lampshade frames adding a bit of whimsy to the table, total cuteness here:))

another look



Our Pottery Barn kitchen table is 90" round so I have a lot of room left over in the center of the table after the place settings have been set.

Some other ideas for these is to just stack your plates on top of them and place them on your kitchen counter so your pretty plates are always in view. Use these frames to add varying heights to your table for more added interest and they are the perfect pieces to use to place food on when serving a buffet style meal.

I was going to take these to the shop and sell them but I'm keeping a few of them for myself!

Have a fabulous weekend, Janice

Boot Camp

Tonight is the first night of Boot Camp that I signed up for from our parks and rec center. I've been busy the last couple of weeks preparing for this six week, two nights a week grueling work out program. I deserve all the pain and torture that will be thrusted upon me, yesirree, I'm ready to embrace it. I so much deserve the aching feelings that come from a one hour continuous non stop intensive workout program. It's time to turn the flab into fab.

We'll start out with a mile run, a couple hundred sit ups, a couple hundred push ups and what ever else the book camp instructor man decides to be our punishment for the rest of the evening.

So, this is what I'm wearing.

I better wear the jacket, it's cold and rainy today. The class starts at 6:00pm but I'll leave early, I still need to register for the class (I can only hope the class is already full to capacity when I attempt to register, hahah).

So, my only question is, Mr. Boot Camp Instructor, I'm ready for you, are you ready for me?

(wish me luck, I'll need it):))

Pretty Vintage Glasses

These gorgeous vintage drinking glasses were a Christmas gift to me from my mom. Love them!! A cute story goes along with this.

The last time were were in California together, we went to a peddlers sale. A lady at the sale was selling these. I loved them from the moment I saw them but I wasn't shopping for "me" I was shopping for things for our shop. As the day went on with all the buying we did, I kept thinking about those glasses, maybe she still had them? I walked back to her booth and yep, they were gone, I felt a pit in my stomach, I really wanted those glasses and imagined how cute they would look sitting on my kitchen counter. Plus the carrier for the glasses is all rusty and crusty with chippy paint and you all know how much I love that combination!

I mean look at the design of the carrier, it's round with metal tulips. Usually you see these vintage carriers with a square handle or at least that's all I ever seem to see.

It was much to my surprise on Christmas Eve when we were all at my mom's house to celebrate Christmas when I opened this present. I was so shocked to see these and sooo very happy!! You see I learned something about my mom, she can be very sneaky and that's a good thing, don't ya think?

My mom knew how much I wanted them so she went back to the booth (without me knowing) and told that seller she was buying them and to wrap them up and she would come back for them. My mom put them at the bottom of one her bags she was carrying and carried them to the car and I had no idea she had them.

We all had a good laugh as we shared the story about these drinking glasses with the rest of the family. And yes, they look perfect sitting on my kitchen counter!

Thanks mom.:))

Not Just Antiques Mart

My mom and I share a booth at an antique store called Not Just Antiques Mart. It's not really a booth but a room in a great location in the 12,000 foot mall. This place is packed, lots of little nooks and cranies, big rooms to small rooms, downstairs and upstairs, and if you don't leave a bread trail as you walk around the store, you may never find your way out, haha!!!, but you could enjoy a cup of tea in the tearoom until someone finds you:)) Renee, the owner has just started her own blog called

estatesalefun, maybe you could stop by her blog and give her a big welcome to the blogger world. Besides being the owner of one of the most successful antique stores in town, Renee also does professional estate sales, sells on ebay, does consignments at the store and recently has been posting on Facebook, Twittter, and Blogspot, when does she have the time to sleep?

So today after work, I stopped by Not Just Antiques to take some pictures of our booth to share with you. I worked in the booth for 4 1/2 yesterday, bringing new stuff in and rearranging.

Everything you see in the above picture, I brought in on Sunday.

Remington, vintage typewritter.

Love the sweet looking goose!

I just love the detail and design of this sweet little table!

If you have been following my blog, you know how much I love rusty, crusty, chippy paint items!

This is a view of our room from the hallway, yes, we have a window which we just love! There are lots more items in our booth that were not photograghed so you will have to stop in if your ever in Las Vegas to see the rest.))

Make it a great week, Janice

~*A Horse Feedsack*~

This morning my husband dropped off our youngest son at baseball practice and as he drove out of the neighborhood, he saw a garage sale going on a few streets away from us. Being the good husband that he his (all of my training has certainly paid off), he called me and told me about it and said I should go. Intrigued, I got dressed and went to the sale. The first thing that caught my eye was a vintage, horse feed sack, and no, I don't have horses just in case you were wondering, haha. I liked the the leather and heavy canvas combination, was in mint condition and for $3.00, I had to have it.

I came home and knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

I had some left over autumn flower stems

and decided to create a front door decoration, kinda like a wreath but without the wreath, make sense?

This is what I put together

This cutie pie hangs on the outside of our front door, so easy to do and I am pleased with the results

I had to tuck a little scarecrow in between the flowers

This is the first time we have decorated the front door for autumn, I guess I just needed the perfect inspiration to do just that, a vintage horse feedsack!

Make it a great weekend, Janice

Fall is in the house

Certainly love this time of year! The scernery around here is the same as it's been throughtout the summer, no jewel tone colors in the landscape just yet. So if you want some fall colors, you'll have to create it in the house with a few trips from Michaels Craft Store and a 40% off coupon.


This is what I did today.

I created a few autumn vignettes, this one sits on top of the formal living room table. I already had all the items except for the real gourds and orange pumpkin.

Ironstone pitcher holds the flower arrangement from last year and I tied a vintage lace hankie on the handle.
I like how all the colors and textures work really well together.

Love these colors!
This is what I did on the foyer table
Do not look at the ugly cords hanging below the table! :))
I used my 40% off coupon and bought this pretty urn that the flower arrangement is in.

The flowers were on sale so in the shopping cart they went.

My sister and I are still doing our yoga class on Tuesday evening. When I made the commitment to take the yoga class, I was doubtful if I would like it cause I'm a faster pace kind of girl when it comes to exercising, but I am enjoying it!

My husband and I are still doing our walk/run almost every night. I was thinking about enrolling in a boot camp that our Parks and Rec center puts on. My brother in law is currently enrolled in one and he said its brutual, the instructor shows no mercy!!, oh, sounds like my kind of class!! I'll keep you posted!

25 days til Thanksgiving, I better start working on the menu!

Make it a great week, Janice