Bird’s Nest Breakfast

Easter Morning at my sister Laura’s home in Virginia.

She was inspired by this lovely handmade nest….

The idea of pussy willows surrounding new baby chicks to keep them warm is so sweet!

Each place setting has a little bread plate with a pair of birds on it.

We have the garden gate adorned with a silver vase made from the hollow end of a knife.

Of course we can’t forget the Italian Easter bread!  A tradition in my sister’s home…along with the lasagna!

The Dinner Dishes adorned with birds and botanicals actually turn out to be paper plates!

Her napkin rings are vintage Bakelite.

We are hoping your Easter was love filled and joyous!

 

 

 

Parties we are joining!  Come and visit!

Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

Irish Lassie in the Laces!

    Mom is sort of homebound with the continual snow up there in Pennsylvania and she has been using the winter days for crafting and to redecorate her studio. I am showing a sweet tote bag she created using some interesting linens my sister received from her Cioci Maryann and this Irish lass was on one of them!

I forgot to take a before photo, but, the little lady was part of a pillow top with photos of the Irish flag. 

Before a stitch was sown, Mom treated the little lady with a custom paint job!  She was brightly colored until it went into the washing machine and so Mom retouched her to bring her back to life!  I must say she mixed her colors perfectly, they blended into the original identically!!

She then surrounded her with vintage lace and mother of pearl buttons.  You can see some of My Mom’s vintage laces in the basket.

The last time Mom was sorting through her lace and ribbon stash she came up with the idea to wrap them on vintage postcards!  The postcards were a collection belonging to her grandmother.

Close ups of Lace wonderliciousness!!

Here we have the finished tote bag!

Mom carried her off to Bible Study the very next day!

Tomorrow, Mom and I are going to a ‘Quilt Hop’  in upstate New York!  I will try to get a post up about our trip later in the week.

Gone fabric hunting!

Scarlet

We are joining the parties below.  I hope you will stop by and say hello!  The Hostesses work very hard getting these up each week!

Make it Pretty Monday at the Dedicated House

Your Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe with an E

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings the Heart of Your Home

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

 

 

Winter is still here!

Finally I am getting this post up!  I have had nothing but trouble with my computer today!  After running every antivirus scan I could think of, trying to research slow link connections, which was an exercise in futility, then not being able to download the pictures sent by mom, I gave up and did some housework…boo!...  Well at about 7:00 this evening I happened to comment on my miserable day at the computer and Captain Butler casually says “Oh, try again, I had to reboot the router”…what?   The router?!  Why didn’t I think of that earlier?!

Oh, well I did manage to unpack some new (to me) dishes and get them into the cupboard.  The new dishes have gardenias on them (we’ll see those in another post!).  I am trying to tempt spring to come into the house…or at least the state!!!

Speaking of Spring…since Winter has decided to stay put this year and gives no indication of leaving or even slowing down.  I remembered a tablescape Mom and Laur did for Mother’s Day last year at Mom’s church.  Even though it was springtime they thought a winter table would be pretty and unexpected! Mom’s church was having a Mother’s Day brunch and each of the 10 or so tables was decorated by a different lady.  I love any kind of tablescaping and seeing all the different one’s was a lot of fun!  Of course I think mom’s table was the best!…The three of us love rhinestone jewelry and have amassed quite a few brooches over the years.  The napkin rings are simply ribbon with a brooch pinned on to it.  The dishes are Italian Countryside by Mikasa and the chargers are silver and Mom added the turquoise glitter to go with the Tiffany blue ribbon.  Some styrofoam balls were rolled in glitter to bring snowballs to mind! Here they are piled up in the sleigh, ready for a snowball fight!  You can see a card in the sleigh,  it was sent to my great grandmother from her son on Mother’s Day at least 50 years ago. 

The pillar candles have been given the bling treatment too!  They simply warmed up the wax with a blow dryer and  pressed the little sticky backed jewels into the candle.  Silk hydrangeas and a silver candelabra set on a mirror, make for a sparkly centerpiece.

Hanging from the back of each chair was a lacy sachet.  Mom made each one with vintage laces and buttons she purchased at auctions over the years.  Besides decorating the back of each chair the sachets were given as favors to each guest at the table.

Here are Mom, Laur and Samantha.  Samantha is Mom’s oldest granddaughter!

 

Gone to search for crocuses peeping through the snow!!

   

 

Please take some time to hop on over to some of the parties we linked up with!  These ladies work very hard hosting and would love a visit from you!

• Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
• Wordless Wednesday at Mrs. Tee Love Life Laughter
• Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
• Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
• Whatsit Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
• A Bouquet of Talent at Life on Lakeshore Drive
• You're Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe With an E
• Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Welcome 2014!

Finally!  I am sitting at the computer writing a blog post.  It is certainly a long time coming.  I can’t believe I let the blog go for so long!  I have made a promise to myself to bring the blog back to life in 2014. 

Even though you didn’t see me (us) this past year, we have been watching and reading all about you!

Laura, Mom and I

Mom even had a chance to meet a local blogger!  Be sure to say hi to Debbie from

Debbie-dabble.BlogSpot.com!

Of course we spent hours looking at tablescapes and furniture redo’s, upcycled clothing and mod podged surfaces.  We poured over lots of recipes and household tips and along the way Pinterest became a way of life!

Interesting stuff happened in our lives too!  After a two year search Laura found the perfect home.

She and her husband moved in this fall, just after their son Christopher married his beautiful bride Jessica.

  We even found time to sneak in a cruise to Bermuda in the midst of all that! 

Mom and Dad celebrated 57 years of marriage. 

Nothing can slow these two down! 

Mom kept busy with fundraising for the Dietrich Theatre.

and decorating for different functions at church.

Not to mention attending her weekly Bible study with the best group of ladies you could ever hope to meet!

2013 has been a year of change for me in that I got rid of 80 pounds!  I actually feel like an average woman nowadays and can sit in airplane seats with ease.

There you have it…a mini update on our lives!  Going forward I will try to do better and keep those posts coming!

Gone to write more posts!

Scarlet

P.S.  I thought we would link up to some parties to say hi and spread the word that we are back! 

Please check them out and let them know you were there! 

Dwellings... Amaze me Monday!

The Dedicated House...Make it Pretty Monday

Glamorous Bride...All Things Thursday