Hobnail and Spring Blooms

Something about vintage white hobnail glass just shouts SPRING to me and beckons for cheerful pastel blooms!  I was fortunate enough to inherit my great grandmother's milk glass collection and though it has graced the mantle in the family room and curio in the bedroom, I am currently enjoying it in the kitchen!  One of my lilac bushes just started blooming this week alongside our beautiful pink cherry blossom tree!  I hurried out in the rain yesterday and gathered up some branches and blooms to fill the white hobnail vases and now our kitchen smells heavenly!  And...even though dark clouds loom outside the window, inside things are looking bright and cheery!

I will be sharing this post today with A Rosy Note's Photo Feature Friday, so I'll talk a little bit about the photography details here for those who are interested!  I edit with Picnik by Picasa.  I used the cross process feature again for all of these photos.  I know I'm in a bit of a rut but I really like the soft vintage glow it adds.  I also used "boost" to enhance the color.  On the first photo here I played with the focus zoom feature just for fun!  I am still learning the ins and outs of my camera and am by no means a professional!

Along with A Rosy Note, I'll also be linking up to the Pink Saturday Party at How Sweet the Sound!  Please go check out these fun parties!

Word is that we'll be blessed with some glorious sunshine this weekend!  Hooray!  And...I'm heading out to do a little estate sailing in the morning with my dear husband!  For the first time in 10 years, he asked to come along!  Can you believe it?  I'm kind of excited!  However, if he holds me back at all, this may be his first and last Saturday out treasure hunting with me!  I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Pretty May Day Basket - Easy and Inexpensive!

One of the stops that mom and I made on our sunny Saturday out treasure hunting was at a local plant nursery.  I filled a little wagon with cheerful pink snap dragons and tiny lavender and white pansies.

Most of these pretty little blooms were added to a small flower bed in our front yard, but I put a few aside for a special project.

I picked up this lovely vintage basket at a garage sale that same day.  It set me back a whole quarter!  It didn't take me long to decide what I wanted to do with it.  My mom supplied me with moss from the wooded area on my parent's property.  I love the look of the real moss, but it was crawling with insects!  If you want to put together a May Day basket for indoors, I recommend faux moss which you should be able to find at the Dollar store or your local craft store.  My basket will stay on the front porch...so the spiders are welcome to stick around, I guess.

I gently pressed the moss around the inside of the basket, with the pretty green side facing out.  Next, I made a simple liner out of aluminum foil to hold the dirt that I would soon be adding.

I then added a small amount of potting soil and started arranging my little plants inside the basket.  I filled in the gaps between the plants with more potting soil and then topped it off with a few small pieces of moss.  Done!  A pretty May Day flower basket for my front porch!  Given that the moss and potting soil I used were free, and I already had the foil, my only expenses were the flowers and basket.  The whole project cost me a little less than $5. 

According to my mom (the master gardener), my flowers should do just fine in the part shade, part sun of my covered porch.  The moss will eventually dry out and turn brown (after about two weeks).  Spritzing it with water will help it stay green a little longer.  My mom has shared memories with me about May Day traditions from when she was a little girl.  She would put together little floral arrangements, set them on neighbors porches, ring their doorbells and then run away!  Doesn't that sound like fun?  I am thinking we should bring this tradition back!  Don't you?  She did the same thing with mud pies...I doubt that would go over as well with my neighbors!

Thank you so much for your sweet visit!  Happy May Day!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Sharing at these fun parties:

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Show and Tell at My Romantic Home

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Saturday Spotlight at Craft Envy

The Perfect Sunny Saturday Treasure Hunt!

Last Saturday morning couldn't have been more perfect for treasure hunting!  Mom and I headed out the door bright and early to hit up an estate sale and then make the trek out to Battle Ground for a visit to the Barn House Boys!  Do you know the Boys?  They are quite famous...in our neck of the woods and beyond!  Known for their inventive, creative displays, impeccable taste and style, and their ability to put on an amazing show/shin dig on their charming country farm!  If you made it to Battle Ground on Saturday, you know it couldn't have been a more beautiful day for a legendary BH Sale!  For those of you who didn't get to join the boys for some fun...don't worry, I took lots of photos just for you!  Grab a cup of coffee and a cupcake if you have one handy and relive a fun day with me!

Wow!  So many great vignettes...so much inspiration!  If you haven't been to a Barn House sale and you live in the Pacific Northwest, I encourage you to sign up for the Boys' mailing list so you don't miss their next event!  What a fun day!  Mom and I hit up a few more sales and a plant nursery on the way home.  I picked up some really great treasures that I am excited to share with you later this week.  But the greatest treasures of all were waiting for me at home that afternoon...

For the first time for as long as I can remember, we enjoyed an egg hunt outside in the sunshine!  Easter was a grey and rainy day, but the Saturday before was so beautiful!  Grandma and Grandpa had signed the boys up for a pre-Easter egg hunt at the golf course and it was so much fun!  The weather could not have been more perfect!  My little guys had a blast!  Of course our Easter Sunday was wonderful as well.  We started our morning at church then headed to my parent's house where mom made a delicious brunch and the boys hunted for eggs again in the covered breezeway.  We came home and all had naps!  Glorious!  And then, I went to work writing "clues" for our traditional Easter treasure hunt!  What a fun day! 

Monday brought more treasures!  The mailman delivered a package for me!  I had won a delightful giveaway from the lovely ladies at All That Jazz!  I could hardly wait to rip open the box and check out the treasures inside!  A sprig of dried lavender made everything smell heavenly!  What a nice touch!

\I love this chic bag!  I couldn't wait to use it!  In fact, I carried goodies to the shop in it last night!

Isn't this little enamel soda dish sweet?  And I just love the handmade lavender sachet tucked inside!  What a thoughtful gift!

Tara did a beautiful job decorating this charming old bottle!  I can hardly wait for my roses to bloom...I see a single Eden stem in this sweet little bottle, set upon my kitchen windowsill!

And...A gift card to Pottery Barn!  Oh my!  When can we go shopping?  I want to go now!  Thank you so very much Michelle and Tara for the generous gift!  I can't believe I won!  You gals obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this gorgeous giveaway and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!  You made my day and I am feeling so very blessed!

Please visit the lovely ladies of All That Jazz!  They have a beautiful blog and a delightful shop space at an antique mall called Painted Lady Vintage in Centralia Washington (about an hour north of where I live!)  I hope I get to meet these sweet gals in person one day!  I have a feeling our paths will cross sooner than later!

Thank you for joining me in my fun treasure hunting adventure!  I hope you had a glorious Easter weekend spent with the people you love!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

I will be joining in these fun parties today...

White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Transformations and Treasures at Pink Postcard
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Happiest of Easter Weekends to You, Dear Friends!

Hello sweet friends!  I am writing on this beautiful, sunny spring day to wish you the loveliest of Easter weekends!  And just for you, I set up a little photo shoot this afternoon!  I hope these photos leave you feeling warm and fuzzy and ready to celebrate one of my favorite holidays!  Incidentally, these little friends are on loan from my mom's lovely coop!  It is fun to have them here in our home for the Easter weekend and I see this becoming a family tradition for sure!  Enjoy!

I used the cross process application in Picnik's photo editing program to give these images a soft, vintage glow.

Amidst the baskets of chocolate bunnies, fuzzy chicks and egg hunts, let us not forget the real reason why we celebrate Easter! 

1 Peter 1:3
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... " 

 Thank you for your sweet visit today!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Joining in these fun parties:

Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound
Photo Feature Friday at A Rosy Note
Fabulous Fridays at McDougall Photography
You Capture at I Should be Folding Laundry

Birthday Outing to Monticello Antique Marketplace

Hello Blog Friends!  The busy hustle bustle of the birthday rush at our house is over (until May) and I finally have time to sit down and write a post!  I can't believe it's been more than a week since I last blogged!  As soon as my birthday was over, I kicked it into high gear planning a Star Wars themed surprise party for my now 5 year old sweet boy!  The party was a huge success.  Hubby took a very active role in planning and prepping...I couldn't have done it without him!  The boys went out for lunch and golfing with grandma and grandpa before the party, which gave us the time we needed to decorate.  Everyone invited was able to come (when does that ever happen?)  So, we had 15 kiddos!  The house was packed but everyone seemed to have a good time.  I picked up a lot of fabulous (easy and cheap) party ideas from some amazingly creative mom blogs.  The kids enjoyed drinking "yoda soda" and attacking buzz droids (balloons) with light sabers (pool noodles).  Fun fun fun.

Now that the house has been put back in order (de-jedi-ified), I can't wait to tell you about my lovely birthday outing with my favorite shopping buddy...my mom!  I carried my camera along with me in my big new pretty pink purse (from dear hubby!) so that I could share my special day with all of you!

 We started our day at Starbucks...where else?  And just look what was there waiting for me in the glass case...

Isn't this the cutest little donut you've ever seen?  It's called a birthday donut!  Really!  And it has pink icing!  I had to have one.  I'm sure the other Starbucks patrons thought I was ridiculous snapping away photos of my little treat!  Mom and I did a little shoe shopping before we headed to Monticello Antique Marketplace to check out the big spring show!  If you live in the Portland area and are growing weary of the grey, soggy days, go check out the spring show at Monticello!  It's so bright, cheery and full of spring inspiration that you'll forget all about the rain outside!

Loving this amazing display by Worthy Goods!

So much to see in the lovely space of Annie, Fannie and Abigail!

I'm sure you all know Kathleen of Faded Charm!  Her booth was looking so beautiful!  I would have recognized her space, even without the cool sign!  She has such a distinctive style!

I am always drawn to the pretty pinkness of Lisa's "A Think for Roses" lovely space!

The more I look at this photo, the more I think I should have bought that beautiful barkcloth pillow!  Isn't it sweet?

Love these hand made necklaces too! 

One last little glimpse of spring goodness before I sign off!  I'd sure love to return to Monticello soon as there is so much to see and never enough time to soak it all in!  Thank you for joining me on another fun shopping expedition!  Lots of lovely inspiration, don't you think?

I hope you are having a wonderful week and are all ready to celebrate Easter this Sunday!  I can't believe it's that time already!  I didn't even get all of my decorations out...but I am kind of enjoying a bit more of a simplistic look this year.  What am I saying, our house looks like Easter year-round!  Do we really need to add any more bunnies to the decor!  I do love them, don't you?

Thank you for your sweet visit!  I look forward to seeing all of your Easter goodies and reading about what my blog buddies are up to this week!  You all inspire me so much.  Thank you! 

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

I will be joining in on these fun link parties:
White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground
Treasures and Transformations at Pink Postcard
Inspiration Friday at The Pickett Fence
Show and Tell Friday at My Romatic Home