~ R.I.P. MJ ~

I am very saddened by the loss of Michael Jackson. He brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people all around the world, myself included. I never believed for one second that any of the allegations that were made against him were anything other than extortion schemes, something he did not deserve in any way. He was a kind and gentle soul, a musical genius. He has always been and will always be, one of my most favorite people ever, and I will miss him very much. May he finally have peace.

~ Erma Bombeck ~

Remember Erma Bombeck?....she was one of the funniest writers ever!....I have been feeling down lately so I've been re-reading some affirmations that I have saved, trying to lift my spirits, and wanted to share this one:

If I had my life to live over
by Erma Bombeck

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love yous".. more "I'm sorrys"... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back.

~ In memory of Erma Bombeck ~

~ Picture Trail, New Mirror, and Craigslist ~

Well here is it Wednesday again, time flies whether you're having fun or not! LOL....one thing I have to report is that I updated my Picture Trail with pictures I've recently taken around my home of the displays I change out every season, the link is off to the right in the sidebar. I do have something new to show you that is pretty exciting for me because I have wanted it for quite some time now....it's a mirror for over my foyer table....a guy on ebay makes and sells them and I've had his link saved all this time. I had a Thomas Kinkade print there which I just sold on Craigslist, a nice young couple came and bought it for her Mom. Speaking of Craigslist, it is awful how many scammers are out there, I recently posted a few things for sale on it and you wouldn't believe how many emails I got from scammers! I had to put a message in my posts to tell scammers not to bother because I was onto their tricks! If you ever want to sell something on there, whatever you do, don't give anyone your address or phone number, offer to meet them in a public place and if it's something you can't bring with you in your car, let them follow you back to your place at that point because there are alot of people who don't even live in the U.S. who are looking for a U.S. address and/or phone number to sell or use in an unlawful way. Oh and did you know that there are counterfeit money orders and cashiers checks now?....that is a huge scam!....only accept cash! One of the biggest scams is out of area people will email you and tell you they want to purchase your item and that they will mail or wire you a bank draft aka a cashiers check or certified check and that as soon as you deposit it into your bank or cash it, they will have someone come and pick up the item from you....the thing is....the bank draft is counterfeit and not even your bank will know it!!....weeks later, after your item is gone, the bank doesn't get the funds and they will treat it like a bad check with all the fees attached as well!....can you imagine how horrible that would be especially for a high dollar item? Bottom line is only deal with local people who you can meet in person and pay you with cash and first meet them in a public place!....and even then you have to be very careful! Ok now I can show you my mirror.

I need to decide on what I want to hang on the pegs, there's a small shelf too which I just put a tealight on for now. And here's a look at it with the foyer table.

I've gone from liking white furniture to black furniture, oh well! LOL....I'm looking forward to watching "So You Think You Can Dance" this evening....I hope you all have a lovely day!

~ Chippy White Sideboard ~

I absolutely love lavender. Summertime is when I decorate with my lavender decor, I sort of have it spread around in various places, this is the display I currently have on the sideboard in the family room. I used to have real lavender plants in the bed out front but they got so huge it was unbelievable! We had to take them out because they attracted giant black bees which I am terrified of. The scent of the plants though was heavenly. When we moved into our newly built house back in the summer of 2002, I was into the cottage/shabby chic style of decorating. Not long after that though I discovered primitives and fell madly in love! I still have several remnants of my cottage style and I still do like some aspects of it, chippy white furniture being one of them. I still have a few pieces which leads me to the main reason of this post. I have this wonderful sideboard in one corner of my family room and it is now the only white thing left in there so I'd like to find it a new home and replace it with a primitive piece.
Great, now you can see all the stuff I have stored underneath it! LOL. It is very hard to part with as it has been one of my very favorite pieces for several years now. I purchased it at a local antique shoppe, it was in need of some kind of a makeover so I added some details to it, painted it white, and heavily distressed it. I believe it to be from the 1930's and it is in very good vintage condition with two roomy drawers that work quite well. I am going to offer it up for sale so if you know of anyone who might enjoy this lovely piece, just leave me a comment with your email address. I am not willing to ship it so it will have to go to someone who is willing to pick it up. I am in the Richmond, Virginia area.
Have a great Wednesday....I am looking forward to watching "So You Think You Can Dance" this evening!

~ The Box, Part 2 ~

As promised, here are pictures of the box in the display I am copying from Kathy. You can see the very display I admire so much here. I wanted the items in the box to be as close to the same as possible so I emailed her once again to ask how did she get the edges of the coverlet piece frayed so nicely and she told me that Linda gave her that piece of coverlet, so off I went to try and find out how Linda accomplished this look. She was so kind to share with me how she ripped the hem off of a Lover's Knot coverlet napkin, which I had one of myself, so I was able to get the look I was after. The two of them are true decorating inspirations! Thank you both!

So now I have the piece of coverlet, I had just the perfect sprig of greenery and an Early Lighting Pillar candle which I sell in my shoppe! I already had Yellowware bowls and pomegranates, all I needed was to find was some artificial cherries, which I did! So I proceeded to think of where and how I would replicate this display in my own home. I decided that the best place for it would be on a table I have under my wall cabinet that you may remember from previous posts. I have tweaked it a bit for summertime as well!

I've changed what I have on the shelves just a bit as well as change what I have hanging on the pegs. On one of the pegs I have a small Longaberger basket and on another I have one of Pam's Onion baskets, it's the middle sized of the 3 that I have, they're quite lovely and really fun baskets to decorate with! She sells her handmades here!

I thought that my Jamestown Willow Jacquard table runner would look good with it so that is what I have the display on, I sell them in my shoppe and of course I had to keep one for myself, after all it's willow trees! I also have a nifty little lamp behind the box there that has a willow tree on it. It looks like a candle but it's actually an electric light. So I placed a few more items I had to balance out the display and there ya have it!

~ The Box ~

I had a birthday a couple of days ago, those just keep happening for some reason, LOL....and what I wanted for my birthday was for my husband to make me this box just like the one Kathy's husband made for her. Her home is so very lovely and her displays are FABULOUS! You can see the box and how wonderfully she has it displayed in this album. Her husband made it from a picture she showed him and she was kind enough to share the dimensions with me when I asked her about it, she also emailed me pictures of it, THANK YOU SO MUCH KATHY!! This box is unique because of all the rounded edges. It's really cool, it looks hand carved! It dips down a bit in the front which is different too.

My husband was able to find some awesome antique nails at a hardware store in downtown Richmond, they're really rustic and have a crudely faceted head, don't they look awesome?

I love Kathy's display so much that I'm going to be a copy cat and set it up similar to her's!....I will share photos of how I have it displayed in my next post!

You can click on a couple of the pictures to make them bigger if you want to get a closer look....have a great Wednesday!