Shabby Chic Home Decor

Do ya'll remember the beautiful birdcage that Bubba bought me for Valentine's Day this year?  It was green:



He painted it white for me and now it looks like this:



It still needs 1 more mini rose garland.  I bought this one at Hobby Lobby so I just have to wait until I go there again and then I'll pick up another one.  I added a string of white lights (thank you for the idea Pat Winter) and I found 2 bunches of beautiful roses, with the tags still on them, at a garage sale for 25 cents each!  I just cut the stems off, put a few on the bottom of the inside of the birdcage and then added a couple here and there on the outside.  I found the bird at Michael's.  It was on sale for $2.50!  Talk about decorating on a budget!  Decorating this birdcage cost less than $10.00!

I have it sitting on the top of my antique school desk on an antique doily.  I'll get a photo of the school desk soon. 

I never have been one for things to all match.  I much prefer a collection of mis-matched do-dads that hold meaning for me.  I love old things.  Always have.  My sister always says, "oh you and that moldy/oldy stuff!"  She teases me about it but I truly do love my flea market and garage sale treasures.  Some of my very most special things are do-dads that I didn't pay much for at all.  I think I'll start going through my house and photographing some of my treasures to share here with you.

In other news, I have decided to invite a "Guest Blogger" to blog here twice a month.  I've met so many gifted and interesting bloggers over the years and lately as well.  I think it will be fun to introduce my readers to them.  There's just so much talent out there!  So many pretty things to see and so many new ideas!  I hope you'll enjoy this new addition to my blog.

I'm finishing up on Part 2 of my Art Quilting 101 Tutorial.  I've been so busy with my Etsy shop, I got a little behind on things but it's almost ready and will have it posted here for you soon.  Part 3 will be on how to finish an Art Quilt.

Finally for today, I'll leave you with our newest pretties:









More photos can be found here.

Oh, I almost forgot!  I changed my Avatar again!  I know I just it the other day but it needed to be more pink!  So here is my new one:



If you would like to add my Blog Button to your blog, you can find it in my sidebar.

Teacup Tragedy

About 4 weeks ago, I was awaken at about 9:00 pm to the sound of a loud crash and glass breaking.  I flew out of bed, having no idea what happened and ran into the living room where the sound came from.  Bubba (Scott - I call him Bubba), was sitting on the sofa, looking up at the wall, almost in a daze.  He was looking at the wall where my quilt shelf hangs.  This is what it used to look like:



The shelf had fallen from the wall, bringing my teacups, my anniversary clock and my peacocks from Galena, Illinois (our special little get-away place) to nothing but shards.

I asked Bubba what happened and he said it was like slow motion.  It had been there for years.

Somehow, probably by the grace of God, it spared my prize treasure, my green vintage Fenton lamp that I bought at a garage sale years ago for only $3.00.  And it spared my 2 little white kitties with the roses on them.  I just found those at a flea market back in October.  And my sweet little music box with the doves which my mom had on top of our wedding cake.  Thank goodness that survived!

But my teacups...one had belonged to my grandmother.  I remember it sitting in her curio cabinet when I was little.  My sister and I loved to look at the treasures in grandma's curio cabinet.  Sometimes grandma would sit on the floor with us and one by one, take things out and let us hold them.  She would tell us where they came from and the stories that went with them.  Well, that one is just plain gone.

Then there was the one that I bought with the little flowers on it.  I just thought it was pretty.  Nothing special really, but pretty. 

I did have one survive but not without a reminder of what happened.  There's a chip in the saucer now but it's not visible sitting on the shelf.  It's one my mom bought me at an antique shop. 


I like it because it's unusual.

And then there's this one:



This is not the original. This is a replacement.  My sister bought me this for my birthday years ago, maybe the first or second year that Scott and I were married.  My long time readers know that I don't care much for Christmas but I always thought this was so pretty.  It's the Royal Dalton December cup & saucer. 

I don't know why, but I felt the worst over losing this one.  I think because I've had it longest or because my sister gave it to me.

Well, my sister was here for coffee the day after it happened and she felt really bad about it.  Two days later, I get a package in the mail.  She hunted one down online and replaced it for me.

Anyway, this is what it looks like now:



I have three new teacups now.  My photo of this one didn't come out but here's the saucer:



Isn't it pretty?  Kathi found this one for me.  She knows I love anything "cottage"!

And Bubba bought this one for me:



I love the unusual shape of it!

And then I picked this one up:



This one has an unusual shape as well.

Apparently, what we think happened, is that first, Scott didn't have strong enough anchors in the wall to hold it up.  We had an earthquake a few months back and we think it was strong enough to loosen things up.  Time took care of the rest.

So now I have some new teacups.  I'm still looking for another anniversary clock.  My parents bought us the one we had for our 1st anniversary.  Hard to believe that Scott & I will be married 23 years in September!

So, that's my teacup tragedy.  It's all but bolted to the outside of the house so it isn't going anywhere now!

I'll leave you with some photos of Kathi's Fuzzy, Funky, Fun, Crocheted Flip-flops: