Pocketful of Blue

One of my favorite days from our trip to Europe last summer was the day we went to Versailles. The royal castle and gardens are truly magnificent and beyond anything you could imagine, but they were not the thing I enjoyed the most. The part I enjoyed the most was a little ways beyond the main castle. It was down a quiet and peaceful meandering path. It's the place known as Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. The hamlet was a small farm built as a rustic retreat for Marie Antoinette. It is made up of several buildings and cottages which surround a small lake. This is where she could escape her responsibilities and the strict confines of the palace. It was a place where she could act out her fantasies. Every cottage is surrounded by beautiful flowers and perfectly manicured gardens. Picket fences and little gates just added to the charm and quaint feeling of the farm. The weather was perfect that day with warm te...

Hi Everyone, We've been working our fingers to the bone doing yard work.   This past weekend was so gorgeous, we spent the entire two days outside  and I have been doing some work myself the last couple days as well.  I wanted to show you something I picked up over the weekend at Home Depot. They had onion plants for sale and they were in these cute crates. I asked an employee what they do with the crates when they're empty and he said they throw them away.  So of course I asked if I could take one and he said I could - he only looked at me a little bit strangely. : )  The red lettering is what really caught my eye. I started thinking of things I could do with it. It's not terribly sturdy so you couldn't use it for anything heavy but I think it's cute enough just on its own.  It has a little wire latch if you want it to stay closed as well.  You could use it indoors or out.  It looks ki...

I have blogged about my love of pretty tea towels before and today I have a REALLY  pretty one to show you. The other day, I stopped in Sur La Table just to browse a bit and I love to  look at their pretty linens. Their prices on most things are pretty high in my opinion but when I saw this linen kitchen towel with it's soft floral design, I had to have it.  It's a great size too at 28 x 18. I decided to use it on my table under my favorite white basket. I think it adds just a touch of french loveliness if I do say so myself. The sun streaming in that day just added to the look and brightened up my day. Here is a link if you would like to see it on the website. Rose-Print Linen Kitchen Towel  $15 It also comes in navy and charcoal. ** no compensation for me ~ just sharing something pretty ** Thanks a bunch for visiting!                      - joini...

I got a little spring decorating done this week. The table centerpiece is a tiered basket found at Hobby Lobby for $15.00. I thought that was a great price.  I have seen similar tiered stands for a lot more. As you can see, I filled the top basket with my favorite blue and green eggs and the bottom basket is holding some faux hydrangea. My favorite little table simply has some delicate flowers placed on an old brick. I just loved this tin when I saw it at Homegoods a while back. I have been saving it for spring so now it's making its debut. My kitchen shelves and the area behind the sink had to have some pretty spring color as well. The tins that I showed you in my last post added the perfect touch. I hope you all have a wonderful spring weekend and a visit from the Easter Bunny. Thanks a bunch for visiting!                      joining THOUGHTS FROM AL...

Hi Everyone, I wanted to show you a quick and easy project that I just completed to repurpose some old Christmas tins that are no longer my style. My inspiration was some very pretty scrapbooking papers that I had found at Hobby Lobby.  There are so many beautiful, interesting and fun papers to choose from that the possibilities are endless. All I did was cut the papers to size to fit around the two larger cans and attached them with a small amount of white glue. I painted the lids with chalk paint as well as the smaller can. Here you can see how they turned out. As I was editing these photos, child no.2 so lovingly pointed out that the smaller can looked out of place. I actually kind of agree with her but that's part of the beauty of this project. I could repaper or paint over what I have done at any time. I think they look good enough for now to use for spring and Easter decorating. There are just so many possibilities of how you...

I recently saw this gorgeous kitchen in a magazine. I just love the rustic brick and the wood beams.  And those light fixtures!  I would never have chosen them myself but they look amazing, don't they? You get a closer view of the lighting in the picture below. Actually, this is the picture that originally caught my attention because the soft blue of the island jumped right out at me ~ no surprise there! And I really like how it looks with the warm tones of the granite which is another thing I would not have chosen but I'm loving the combination. There is definitely no shortage of storage space either. Right off of the kitchen is a wonderful butler's pantry with more cabinetry  and a pantry with sliding barn doors.  The doors were salvaged from an old barn. Here is the living room and you can see how it flows beautifully with the kitchen. The whole family can be together and it would be great for company too. Th...