I have given 4 very old chairs a new life.............

I have had these chairs for around 30 years. They were given to my husband and I when we were first starting to make our home. There is also an octagon table in storage that goes with them.

I did not want to use the table, but I love the chairs. They were black with gold velvet seating and backing, which I removed, and then added paint..........

When we moved to our country home, we had a dining room set...........so these chairs have been put aside.

I decided to put some life back into them...............

I got very brave and painted each one in a vibrant color..........

what do you think??............

There is a reason I painted each a different color............

I also had cross stitched these 4 pieces a  little while back. They depict the different seasons with items on a clothesline. I have always loved this design set.

So I fixed each cross stitched piece to the back of each chair..........with coordinating fabric.... 

fall...........

winter............

spring...........

summer.........

And I am going to sell them in my vintage shop. 

Don't they look cute around the table?

I am hoping someone out there loves them and will want to take them home.

How about you?

Would you dare paint something bright and wild , when it really should be neutral for what it is made for?

Have you painted a room..........or even a chair this way??
I would love to hear!

Something old..........something new...........something added...........

(right click on photos for a better view)

I found this pretty little vintage dresser scarf in a pile of linens at a thrift store...............

waiting for me to embroider it. It has a beautiful hand crocheted edging around it. 

My flower garden is full of the wild purple Prairie Aster and yellow daisy........

So I embroidered the flowers in those colors and embroidered the little bird in blue.

So here is an old piece with new embroidery and it looks pretty...........

but you all know me...........

I have to add something................

like a little bee..............

and a cute little inch worm............

I did this on one end of the scarf and had intended to embroider the same thing on the other end..........

but I want it to be different, so on the other end I embroidered a small ladybug .........

and a spider web,..............

just the kinds of things one would find in a garden. 

I also signed embroidered my name underneath the web.

and now this end looks like this.............

just a few changes to the whole scarf..........maybe some won't care to have a piece like this......

but these are the kinds of linens I am always looking for in flea markets............

those little personal touches left behind by the artist of stitches.............

Now it has been added to my vintage shop. I wonder if anyone will notice these added designs?

How about you?

Do you ever see a quilt.........an embroidered item........or even a painting........

and think about something that could have been added?

Wishing all of you a very happy Mother's Day!

In all of the years that I have attempted to grow roses,

this is the first year that all bushes have bloomed abundantly.

last year I planted 4 different rose bushes in this larger metal container.

I covered the whole thing in plastic sheeting to wait the winter through and now the roses are blooming in brilliant colors. 

There is a climbing Joseph's coat

that blooms an array of beautiful colors of orange coral, pink, 

and rust.

There is also old fashioned looking blooms........

as well as this delicate and  petally tea rose

This looks like the roses in the story of Alice in Wonderland.....don't you think?

I also have miniature roses like this peach dwarf. There is also a miniature red rose, but it is shy and just now starting to bud. 

The container has worked out much better than planting the bushes in the ground.

How about you?

 Do you grow roses? If so, do you use containers or flower beds?

What is your favorite rose??

Stop by my county blog to see the latest furry and feathery visitors to the grounds!

just click onto this link 

Eggs In My Pocket

Fred and Ethel have come to the shop..........

I loved Fred and Ethel of the " I Love Lucy " show.......and 

they look like a "Fred and Ethel"........don't you think?

I found these two just as I was about to leave a vintage shop.

I just happened to turn around and saw them lying on a darkened shelf.

( click on photos for a better view)

Fred has some break issues. His plaque has two broken corners and his beak is a little chipped.

What draws me most to pieces like this is the paint work on them.

Ethel is in beautiful shape. No chips or damage.

They are both wall planter pockets........probably from the 40's........maybe?

I just wired Fred with some stout wire and hung him and Ethel on the wall of the kitchen area in my vintage shop.

They filled this empty space on the wall perfectly. And they make my kitchen area look like a vintage country kitchen.  

on another note

Do you often find that you have some kind of beautiful linen or item that has been stored away, but you really would like to use it.............but  cant think of what to do with it? 

I have ..............

such as  this beautiful vintage crocheted piece hat I have had  for years. I is hand crocheted..........perfectly......I love it for the pink and white colors.

and for the sweet crocheted flowers in the center............

also for the fact that my dear friend Bell made it many years ago.

The door to my vintage shop has no curtain........so I thought that this piece would be a lovely curtain.

However, it was about 4 inches too short.

I also have had these cute crocheted squares in my stash.........pink and white.........

so I stitched them together and added them to the bottom of the large crocheted piece..........

and I ran a small curtain rod through a few of the top loops of the crochet.........

and it turned out to be a beautiful crocheted curtain for the shop door! I think Bell would really have liked this......don't you think??

Now...........do you have any planters that you have hanging around??

Do you name objects that you love?

What do you do with crocheted items to make them usable?

I would love to hear!

Wishing you a very happy Easter!

 For a wonderful Easter dessert recipe

, vising my cooking blog by clicking onto this link

My Country Kitchen 

Three very old quilt tops have been waiting for my needle

to stitch them into quilts for the bedrooms. 

Through the years that I have had them, they have been moved from one room to the next, folded like this to decorate.........then I moved them out to my vintage shop. But looking at these every day as I stitch.........and recalling the lovely lady I once knew who made these.........all by hand...........I know I need to spend at least one day of the week quilting them.........don't you think?

Bell was a dear friend of mine, who also had a little antique shop. I would spend hours at her place, helping her to clean, organize and display her wonderful items. One day, I found these quilt tops in a box.

When I told her how beautiful I thought they were, she gave them to me, saying that she no longer had the desire t quilt them. 

Bell was frugal and was not the one to go to fabric stores to purchase fabric for quilting.

There are all pieces of clothing or linens that she had through the years of raising her family, back in the 40's.

And now, starting this week, I am going to take time to start quilting them. I will show you my progress as time goes by.

Also, the spring weather has awakened my gardening side and I have been planting and decorating with flowers. I love this netting fabric,  and it makes a great hold for soil in decorative baskets. 

(click onto photo for a better view)

Also, I found the perfect vintage picture for my shop. The main theme in my vintage shop on linens and dishware is roses. And I want an nostalgic and old look to the shop. 

This is an old window, with 

real roses........dried and  arranged and then framed in it

. It was once someone's treasured bouquet of pink roses. 

It even has the baby's breath and leaves. 

I wondered who it once belonged to, and the lady I bought it from (who was around 85) told me that it had belonged to her sister who had recently passed and that it had been framed like this for many years. She was not sure of the significance of the bouquet. 

Now it is hanging in my shop

and is the first thing to be seen as I step into the door. It will be a "staying piece, not for sale"

It looks as if it belonged here all along.

Now I wonder.............

Do you have any special bouquets or flowers that you have kept over the years?

How do you preserve yours?

Do you kept pressed between pages of a book..........or do you have them in a seal jar..........

or perhaps you have displayed like this?

I would love to hear!