Grand Tour of my office....

I have shown my office, off and on, in a couple of different posts, but I haven't ever given you the GRAND tour! Okay... I don't know how grand it really is ... But I like it.



















My daughter sent me all ofthose post card from all over the world!
















I used this little bird cage to hold cards at our wedding.
























I decorated the shade on the Eiffel Tower lamp... Ribbon and buttons. The lamp is still available at Target. The desk top is an uncut door. I painted and decoupaged it after I saw an episode of Decorating Cents years ago.




This table was my grandmother's. It is from the 1800's and has the original finish. The little chair belonged to my husband's grandmother. When we got married he assumed that I would want to throw it away. Silly Hubby! He just doesn't know that a girl only needs an excuse to break out the spray paint! : )















This little bench I decorated to match my desk... I thought it turned out pretty good!



Here's another pic of the desk...













My Hubs made this shelf and another 3 level unit, that is in our family room, when he was sixteen.
That was when they had classes like Industrial Arts and Home Economics.... hehehe...His mom had kept it in the attic all these years and one day a couple of years ago asked him if he would want them back.
He came in with them and said "don't worry honey I'll put them in my office... you don't need to find a place for them... " Well as you can see I painted it black and put it in my office! : )



That dresser I shared with my brother when we were little... My dad refinished it and it is pretty unstablenow. But the wood work on it is very unusual. It was covered in veneer that was peeling. My dad striped it all off, sanded, stained and varnished it. Now I keep table linens in it. The mirror that sits on top is really, really heavy. It also came from one of my grandmothers....



This little tray is actually a picture frame with black paper in it. I put the gold fluer de lis on the magazine folders... I keep every issue of TeaTime Victoria and my favorite Christmas issues of various magazines. Isn't my silver tape dispenser and matching stapler cute?



More up close pics of those Goodwill plates! The little pictures between the sconces are souvenirs from Paris. They are sketches of all the big tourist attractions. I bought them from the artist as he was painting a little girl. He was set up next to the Seine River... I think someday I will go pack to Paris for sure!




I have to let you know that my inspiration for this room came from a lay out in Romantic Country Magazone Summer of 2007. I was just looking at it to give credit to the magazine and realized that the office in the photo shoot belongs to Fifi O'Neil. Who is now the editor of Romantic Country.









That's all... no more...I hope you like my little space. I love being in here and am always adding to it ... Oh and the wall color is Laura Ashely Taupe.

Lavender Mint Tea

When we were in Prescott several weeks ago, my hubby's aunt served the most wonderful tea. I had never had it before and she was very sweet to share the recipe!

Here's what you need:

One infuser full of dried lavender
One mint tea bag
Two Black tea bags (decaf or regular)




Place in a glass jar

Set in sun for approximately 4 hours. (see my cute little winged pig)

Serve over plenty of ice in your prettiest pitcher!

This is my favorite Iced Tea. I make it just about every other day. I hope you will try it!

Do You See What I No Sew?

This is a project that I am seriously embarrassed to even call a "project". I mean really! It took 30 minutes.. tops!

About a month ago I was in Goodwill and found this bed skirt. It is from the same Waverly decorator group that I used to decorate my office. I originally purchased the group at Target several years ago and it has long since been discontinued. When I found the bed skirt I was tickled because I don't plan on ever having a bed in the room. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. But it was only $3.99. I couldn't just leave it there. Surely I can use it somehow? Then it occurred to me that I had seen something, somewhere at some point. Can't remember where.And I am the first to admit. I am not very creative. However, I can copy anything.

So! This is what I decided to do.... Put a skirt on my wicker chair.

Before.... cute! right? OOOH! But it can be cuter!

Materials needed.... Glue Gun, Bed Skirt and Scissors.... Ya! That's it!

Turn the chair upside down...

Make sure you have plenty of help... Here my number 1 personal assistant is doing a great job of delegating...

Cut the ruffle away from the main part of the fabric...

Make sure the glue gun is plugged in... Here my number 2 personal assistant assures me that it is.

Glue the ruffle around the inside rim of the seat using the salvage that you left on the ruffle. I started at a back leg to hide where the fabric meets... yet another no sew shortcut. Let the glue cool...

Turn the chair back over! Foof the ruffle... And now it is not just cute... Its SUPER cute!

Thank you to the little people that made this possible... Midge.. Fletch... I couldn't have done it with out your help!

My Mom's Tulip Quilt

This is the quilt that my mom gave me a few days ago. Along with the quilt is a note that tells how the quilt was made by her Great Grandmother in 1936....along with her "black housekeeper" (as the story has been passed down).



There are a couple of things that strike me in that statement: One, being that my Great, Great Grandmother had a housekeeper. At this point in her life she must have been older, and it was probably the housekeeper who she spent a great deal of her time with. Two, that she worked on the quilt with her housekeeper. I can only imagine the two of them sitting in the front room of a farm house working on it. There are not many other details to the story except that my mom was the only great grandchild that received a quilt. And that it was somewhat extravagant considering my Great Great Grandmother had a reputation for being frugal!

The quilt is definitely for a girl only, and it is twin size. Both are characteristics that limited the the use of the quilt. Not very practical if you ask me. I think that my Great Great Grandmother probably loved my mom very much.



I also tend to think that even if she and the housekeeper weren't "friends" she at least held her in high regard. The hand stitching is impeccable on this quilt and they must have spent many hours working on it together. I wish I could say that my Great Great Grandmother was the exception to the things that happened in the 30's in southern Missouri, and that her attitude was different than that of her peers... Indeed it could have been.

All of the beautiful things that we save and collect are even more cherished when we realize that they are our threads to the past. The stories are what they are. History.

Shall We Have Tea?

But of Course! My daughter is getting ready to go back to school and the summer is quickly coming to a close. She has a great part time job waiting for her in Flagstaff and she needs to get moved back there and get started on the next phase of her life.
Sigh....

Anywho!
To celebrate we had lunch at GOOSEBERRIES! It is a great Tea Room here in Phoenix.



Their Chicken and Fruit Salad is what we always have. But they have some specialties that have to be mentioned. Homemade soups, bread pudding, and cinnamon rolls... all to-die-for. Heart Shaped Scones, that are wonderful. You can actually order them frozen and serve them at your own tea party. Their dinner rolls are incredible as well.



I would recommend making reservations, but you don't have to. Sometimes they get pretty busy!



I would allow time for some browsing... There are plenty of tea accouterments, including their own private tea blend. Gift items galore and just that little something that you can't pass up!

I say, "Always make time for tea! If you don't who will?"

Sweet Bea!

Did anyone else notice that Google honored Beatrix Potter's birthday today? How cool is that, I ask you!

Joy in July!!!!

One day a couple of weeks ago my sweet mom called and said that she was going to be going through more of her things and "downsizing". This always makes me a little sad. She said that she would be getting rid of some old Christmas decorations and did I think that I would want them? Are you serious? Are kidding me?! I KNEW I WANTED THEM! I got the box Monday and opened it last night. It really was like Christmas in July. Number one, I LOVE Christmas more than any other time of the year. And two, I love any happy attachment to my childhood.
I was so thrilled when I opened the box and found these items. Just look!

These glass ornaments always hung on the tree. I remember at one point, when I was a teenager, I told my mom that I would only hang them on the back of the tree, because "they look so old!" Go figure, now I think they are just the most precious things. I think they are probably from my mom and dad's first Christmas.....

My mom made this the year my daughter was born. She was born in June and this was finished by Christmas!

I gave this ornament to my mom for Christmas the year my daughter was born.... You can click on any of the pictures to see the detail.

These pretty little angels always sat on the dinning room table at my Ma's house. Oh! P.S. Ma = Grandma on my Dad's side.

This little guy was always hanging around some where. Sometimes in a wreath and sometimes on the tree. Just singing away....

This was one of the bonus items that I found. This little precious sat on my Ma's dressing table. it amazes me that my mom kept when she passed away.

But the best thing in the box was this quilt. My mom even put a note with a story about this quilt. I'll share that in another post.... AHHH....All this talk makes me want a cold glass of egg nog!

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."" -- Charles Dickens

My Favorite Thing.....Today

Cindy at My Romantic Home (click image above) had the best idea I've ever heard of in the whole entire blog-i-sphere! I have spent all day lurking on all of the different blogs that have participated. Now I think I will spend the evening going back and leaving comments.
So many lovely blogs, so little time!

I spent a lot of time trying to narrow my choice down and I think it has to be this vignette.
(You can click on any of my images to make them larger)

I'm picking this vignette because it has my blue and white dishes in it and my new cute lamp that I bought in Prescott AZ last weekend. I kind of have a weakness for cute little lamps and I love this one. Plus, it is a great souvenir of our weekend. The Blue Danube dishes I started collecting when my Grandmother willed a starter set to me. I have been collecting them since then. The company started making them in the mid 50's but the original company has been sold several times over. I think this is the only pattern they make. Anywho! I love them.
~~Liz~~