In honor of Mother's Day and White Wednesday  I am linking this post up to fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com. 

Since we started blogging with Tablescape Thursday at betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com
Mom, Laur and I can't remember what our lives were like before!!!  We are somewhat obsessed!!!  Our conversations are now centered on the blogs we have visited and all the neat ideas we find!!  Our creative juices are flowing like never before! 

Blogging is a great way to relax and escape from children's growing pains and graduations, staging and selling a home and trying to keep retired husbands busy!

Since I found White Wednesday I have wanted to paint the entire house and recover all the furniture in white and natural shades!!

Anyway, I remembered the summer I visited Laurie in New Jersey from my home in Kentucky.  I was in a bad place having some troubles with depression and an unhappy marriage.  My sweet sister had been secretly planning a little retreat for me for months before I got there.  She and Mom scoured yard sales and auctions looking for white and vintage linens to create a spot for me to relax in.
 
Laur had a little shed on her property that housed her children's four-wheelers.  After emptying and hiding the evidence she and Mom began to transform that little place! 

When I arrived they surprised me with what is now affectionately known as Shabby Chic Shed!!! I camped out there every night and scrapbooked and read every day.  It is amazing what you can do with a limited budget and two creative minds!  I wouldn't have traded that cozy little place for a 5 star hotel! 

Of course I took pictures and scrapped it.  I thought I would share some of them with you today...

.

    Can you believe she   whitewashed the clothespins?

Our New Adventure!

We did it!  Mom, Laur and I are posting our first 'Tablescape Thursday' entry!  We are surprising each other and have been very clever at keeping our designs secret.
I am having some trouble putting everything up the right way.  But, I am learning quickly!  So bear with me!


My table is set for two little gardeners...
As lunch commences the conversation turns to the trials and tribulations of gardening. 
"The little critters are just terrible this year, wouldn't you say?"
"I think that wily hedgehog has been poking around here looking for salad!"
"Well, I hope he doesn't think he is going to have any of mine!"  
"We'll just see about that" thought the little hedgehog with a smile...
Here is he peeking out from behind the centerpiece...

Closeups of the place settings.... 

I wanted the napkins to look like leaves around the plates.  Sort of a Mary Englebreit rose shape.  


Awww...how cute is this little guy?

The name tags are stamped on handmade paper and tied to the little

garden tools with gingham ribbon. 

    

Even the candle
was treated to a
hand made
paper tag!




 
 
 
 
 
 The sunflowers are set into a little quilted bag on a terra cotta tile.

Artsy detail photos!.........

Our little gardeners, their bellies full of fruits and veggies...sleepily wandered off to the garden patch to nod off in the sunshine.  One last look at the site of their charming repast...

                                               Ta Da!!  


tablecloth, napkins and quilted bag, made by me with fabric from my 'stash'
terra cotta tile from Home Depot...2.00
white and green plates from Goodwill....50 each
green depression glass desert plates from Mom years ago, I think the pattern is Georgian Lovebirds.
garden tools from Target dollar spot
jute, candle, handmade paper, gingham ribbon, sunflowers, seed packet, doilies and hedgehogs were all laying around here!!
hedgehog image is a rubber stamp from stampin up!

               Next we have my mom, Eileen's 

take on dining 'After the Hunt'   

When the hunters come in from spending the day trudging over hill and dale they are looking forward to a relaxing evening trading tales with their friends.  Sometimes the deer on the plate is the only one they have seen all day!!

The bucolic scene dishes are layered with brown transferware

                             and a chocolate glazed dinner plate.

The antlers and moss centered on the burlap tablerunner lend a textured, organic feel to the gleaming crystal and china dishes.

Votives add warmth to the simple setting.

 The old world look of the deer comes to life with a little orb!!

Ahhhhhh....The story of the one that got away......


Lots more to follow...including Laur's "Under the Tuscan Sun" and 'dish details'!  I need a nap!  This blogging is more like mind boggling!! 


I am back at the computer to post Laurie's tablescape.  I had it all done earlier today and somehow it went into the big harddrive in the sky.  So, after some large tylenol, I am back at the keyboard!


Let's take a stroll "Under the Tuscan Sun" shall we?

I love the elegance of the candlabra juxtaposed with the rustic wooden placemats and the rooster.

The green leaf dishes echo the leaves on the dinner plates.

The dining table and chairs are a 'Tiny Treasure' redressed in antique white and providing a lacy frame for our elegant setting.

A subtle floral arrangement adds to the intimate feeling.

Mangia!! 

Mangia!!

Buonanotte...

Thank you to Susan at Betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com for hosting this fun event!
Please comment...we are brand new at this and would love to hear what you think!

                

Hedgehogs in the Garden

A peek at our first tablescape!!!

Look who is peeking back at you!!!

Prom Memories

Viv was invited to the prom this year.
I had always wanted to sew formals for her and was worried she wouldn't let me, however, she insisted! Hooray! Off to a great Mother/Daughter bonding experience! First stop; a bridal shop in Louisville. Let's not even bother looking in Bowling Green, there is nothing here, I was informed. Okay.
We arrive at the shop, which is immediately a hit with Viv, as it is lined with mirrors and Viv has never met a mirror she didn't like! We strolled through the racks, she found 1 or 2 gowns to try and I found about 6. I had to talk her into the extra dresses. Why? You ask? I apparently have the only 15 year old on the face of the earth that does not like to shop!!!!! Yes, you read that correctly, does not like to shop!
Where did this kid come from? Not only that, but we drove almost 2 hours to get to this shop, I am not leaving here without a fashion show, thank you.
It was difficult for my daughter to make her way into the fitting room...