Beautiful Baby's Breath

I spotted bundles of lovely baby's breath at the grocery store last weekend.  They were quite inexpensive and there was something magical and Christmas-like about them, so I treated myself.  I am enjoying the little bundles in my old chippy white pottery pieces.  Amongst the white village, I think they look like bushy little snow covered trees!

I recently came across a couple of beautiful photos on Pinterest of baby's breath being used in creative and unexpected ways.  I love these hanging poms...

source

This wreath is simple yet so elegant and whimsical...

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Baby's breath is so often used as filler in flower arrangements, but it makes such a lovely statement on it's own, and not just for weddings!  I think it's going to be my new favorite Christmastime flower!  You may even see it in my Christmas tree next year!

Thank you for your sweet visit!  I hope your week is off to a great start!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Join me at these fun blog parties!

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp

Share the Love Wednesday at Very Merry Vintage Style

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Sew Crafty Tuesday at Ruby Jean

Fall Flowers and Foliage

I love flowers.  Sadly I don't have much blooming in my garden this Fall.  Every other year I've had a plethora of hydrangeas to pick but they just didn't bloom this year.  According to my mom, the master gardener, landscape designer...my old fashioned hydrangeas were cut back too far last winter.  Because they bloom on old growth, and the old growth was removed, they produced new foliage but no new flowers.  I am still learning about these things!  So, the dahlias and hydrangeas I used for this arrangement came from my mother-in-law's garden.  She is so sweet to share her flowers and farm fresh produce with us!

Flowers are almost always at the center of my decor in every season.  My little kitchen window sill vases which are filled with little cherry blossoms in the spring and roses in the summer, have been replaced with a collection of old white pottery filled with dried roses. 

My mom brought me this beautiful bouquet of pink and white cone-shaped hydrangeas this morning!  Aren't they amazing?  Just the most perfect shade of pink!  I am anxious to see how they dry!  I'll keep you posted!

In keeping with the flower theme today, I've made some "Fall flower" almond sugar cookies (recipe here).  This is a family recipe and one of my very favorite cookies!  I don't have the greatest frosting skills, but I have fun.

We may not have flowers in the yard this time of year, but we have some beautiful foliage.  This tree has dropped it's lovely yellow and orange leaves all over the lawn.  My husband has been anxious to mow them up, but I've asked him to hold off a day or two...as I am still enjoying them!

Our sweet pup, Basil begrudgingly posed for a photo in the leaves.  I think I'll take the kiddos out for a little leaf photo shoot this afternoon.  It looks like it's going to be a dry, but chilly Fall day...perfect for jumping in the leaves!
 

Thank you for your sweet visit today!  I hope you've had a lovely week!  Enjoy this crisp Fall day and have a wonderful weekend!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Joining these lovely ladies for their fun blog parties...

Debra - Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Cindy - Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Sherry - Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Courtney - Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Honey - Potpourri Party at 2805

Vanessa and Heather - Inspiration Friday At the Pickett Fence

Beverly - Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

Old Bottle Crate Curio

At least once a week I make my way to Camas Antiques to restock and fluff my little space.  Usually I am bringing in treasures found at an estate sale the previous weekend, but sometimes there just aren't any sales to attend.  Then there are those weekends when my busy schedule doesn't allow me to make it to a sale, but towards the end of the month it seems that I am usually just plain out of spending money!

Still, I've made it my goal to work on my display at least once a week and not arrive at the shop empty handed.  And sometimes that means getting creative with what I have at home. 

This was one of those weeks...running out of money, no great sales to attend and really no time for them anyways.  I pulled this old bottle crate from my "junk pile" in the garage, cleaned it up a bit and went to work filling it with little treasures to create a "curio effect."  A very old family photo, a couple sets of monogrammed napkin rings, jars and salt shakers filled with dried roses, and a few printed cards with vintage jewelry tucked into each cubby with a bit of lace trim makes for a fun little vignette to add to my display.

Thank you so much for your sweet visit!  I look forward to skipping around blog land to see what lovely inspiration all of you incredibly talented, creative ladies have to share this week!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Joining these fun blog parties... Special thanks and hugs to the wonderful hostesses! 

Debra - Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Cindy - Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Sherry - Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Courtney - Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Honey - Potpourri Party at 2805

 

Romantic Old Silver and Creamy Glamis Castle Roses for Fall

This is the first year I've attempted drying my Glamis Castle Roses.  I am loving the buttery cream color.

This charming old tea set was one of my favorite finds as I shopped a few rummage and estate sales last week.  I just added it to my new tea display at the shop yesterday, along with this sweet silver basket...

It has a beautiful rose motif inside the bowl.

 You'll never guess where I found this lovely basket.  It was amongst the dirty tools and such in the garage at an estate sale last weekend!  It was so dirty that my hand was black from carrying it around with me!  Do you know what this basket is called?  Some might call it a "Bride's Basket" but from what I've read, Bride's Baskets have stationary handles.  This basket's handle is hinged...which means it was a "Cake Basket" used to hold petit fours.  I've cleaned and polished it and it has been added to my display at the store!

  This beautiful silver hand mirror was another lucky estate sale find.  Apparently I was on a silver hunt last week...unintentionally!

The combination of the old silver and the creamy roses and lace is so romantic, don't you think?  And this cool Fall air has me longing to sit around a prettily set table and enjoy a hot cup of tea with a good friend!  How about you?  In the mood for tea time...I'll be painting up more "Tea Party Today" signs this afternoon!  I sold out of them quite some time ago and just haven't found the time to make more...until today (hopefully!)

I hope you are having a lovely week!  Thank you so much for your sweet visit!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

Joining these fun blog parties...

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Potpourri Party at 2805

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

A Bit of Summer Preserved...

All summer long, I've been drying some of my favorite roses in anticipation of this time of year...when the flowers stop blooming and the leaves in the trees start to change color.  I love to incorporate dried roses in my Fall decor.

It's so hard to admit that summer is coming to an end and Fall is upon us.  My oldest son starts kindergarten next week...a sure sign of the changing times and seasons.  Sigh...

I love the look of these dried roses in pretty little apothecary jars.  It's as if a bit of summer has been bottled and preserved to look back on when the leaves have changed and the days get shorter.

I added this pretty old dresser tray, petite tureen and vintage wedding cake topper to my space at the shop on Monday night along with several jars of dried rose buds.  On Tuesday morning, my sweet friend called from the store to tell me she was taking the tray and cake topper home with her! 

I am so glad that this darling couple are going to a loving home where they will be treasured and enjoyed!

This coming Saturday is the Vintage Street Faire in downtown Camas!  If you live in the area, be sure to come enjoy a lovely shopping experience, complete with live music!  Unfortunately I won't be there this year as I have a wedding at Lac de' Fleur Gardens!  However, I will be having a sale in my space, along with most of the other dealers at Camas Antiques!

I have exciting news to share!  On September 6th, dear Debra of Common Ground is going to spotlight my living room for her Design Challenge Feature!  I hope you will all stop by her blog that day to share your ideas on how I could make my challenge space more inviting, useful and stylish!  I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts and ideas!  Thank you Debra for your thoughtfulness and generosity, and for choosing my room to feature!  Yay!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!  Keep cool, but do enjoy these last few days of summer!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

P.S.  I have had a few questions about my flower drying techniques.  I actually wrote a tutorial on drying roses last fall.  It was one of my first posts!  Here is the link, if you are interested... Dried Flower Tutorial.

I will be joining in these fun parties:

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Inspiration Friday At The Pickett Fence
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

Beach Trip Inspired Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

A weekend camping trip to Newport, OR has left me in a bit of a beachy mood!  I decided to freshen up the corner kitchen cabinet with white, silver and a splash of aqua for a bright, summery and coastal feel! 

The Glamis Castle roses are in bloom and spread throughout the cabinet add romance to the vignette, not to mention amazing fragrance!

I found a few of these sweet little silver frames while out thrifting this week.  I'll work 2 of them into a display for the shop and keep one for home for my favorite photos from last weekend's beach trip.

I have a couple of confessions to make.  First of all...I actually shimmied this cabinet out of it's corner and up next to the window in order to maximize the best lighting for photos!  I don't know how some of you talented photographers get such wonderful photos of rooms in your homes!  Do you have professional lighting equipment?  The only place I am successful getting photos is right up next to the window.

I also wanted to share that this grouping is put together primarily with badly chipped, cracked and broken china!  These were pieces that I either bought without checking over carefully enough (happens all too often) or that were too pretty to pass up in spite of their imperfections!

The teacups all have chips or cracks but came in sets with several that were in perfect condition.  I sold the perfect ones, and kept the others.  For some reason I have a hard time throwing out chipped or cracked china.  In this case, I'm glad I held onto these pieces...I am enjoying my pretty cabinet display put together with discarded treasures!

I paid $1 for this gorgeous old Limoges gold and white pitcher.  It has been broken and poorly repaired.  Thankfully, the repair shows only on one side and it was fixed well enough that it holds water and makes a beautiful vase!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our beach trip!  It was mostly a little chilly and windy but we enjoyed one warm sunny afternoon in the sand and a lot of time wrapped up in blankets next to the campfire roasting giant marshmallows!

Thank you for your sweet visit today!  I'm sorry I'm a bit behind in posting this week!  I'm sure I don't have to tell you moms out there how much work it is taking little ones camping!  Four days later and I am still doing laundry, putting camping gear away and cleaning sand out of shoes and bags!  I am sure the memories made are worth all of the efforts!  That's what I keep telling myself!  I'm off to fold more laundry!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Best Wishes and Blessings,

Amanda

I'll be joining in on these fun parties:

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Transformations and Treasures at Pink Postcard

Treasure Chest Friday at White Ironstone Cottage

Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence

Home Sweet Home Friday at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home