Fresh-Cut Friday July

Hello my little patriotic peeps! 

Welcome to July's Fresh-Cut Friday! 

This month I really wanted something patriotic but still elegant. 

Not to country. 

As you may know... finding the blue and white in this house is no problem. 

I just needed to add the red roses and red napkins for that patriotic touch.

Since I hardly ever use use our soup tureen I thought I would start with that.

I wish I would have thought to pick up a small bundle of flags to stick in the middle. 

Wouldn't that have been cute?!

I first put a big bunch of lemon leaves in the bowl and used the stems as a frog

of sorts for the carnations and roses. It worked pretty well.

Just so you know the all the roses and carnations are currently on sale at Safeway. 

These are perfect for the 4th of July. They are called Freedom. 

Isn't that cool? I saw them and knew they would be just what I needed for my table.

The carnations are so amazingly fragrant. I had forgotten how wonderful they 

can smell. Kind of cinnamon-ee. They fill the whole room.

Unfortunately, the roses have very little fragrance.

The dishes are all pretty common and easy to find. 

Blue Danube. Even though they are no longer made. I have found them at TJ Maxx and Homegoods over the years, as well as antique stores. The little dessert plates are from Moda Home

Sorry, but I'm pretty sure that they have been discontinued. 

If anyone knows where you can get them let me know. 

I would like to buy a couple more of the dinner plates. 

The glasses are from Walmart (many years ago)

and the silverware is my mom's old set. No stamp.

So that is my little contribution to FCF. I need to pack a little picnic for hubby and

I. We're going to see fireworks tonight. 

On a side note: 

As you celebrate tonight, don't forget to remember WHAT we celebrate: 

 Liberty and the Freedom to Pursue our Dreams

I'll Be joining:

Lavender Garden Cottage
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
The Charm of Home
My Romantic Home

French Country Cottage

A Delightsome Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Glorious Saturday Morning

Helllooooo my gurly friends!

Just thought I would pop in this fine Saturday morning and say hi!

This is where I sit every morning (except Saturday) to put my make up on now.

I love it! I'm so glad I bought this little table. 

Side note:

See that picture in the frame? I LOVE this picture!! 

It is my cousin and I on Easter Sunday at our Grandparents house. 

She is probably 6 and I'm about 4. 

It just captures how she and I have always been. Me admiring her and wanting to be

just like her in every way.  :) 

Love her so much, even all these years later. She is more like my big sister than a cousin. 

Back to the point:

I did a pretty extravagant thing (blame the vanity)  and bought a Napoleon Lipstick. 

Its a plan nude called Lianna.

The girl at Ulta went on and on about how fabulous it was....

meh....I'm not super impressed. It's nice and all but the color is very close to my natural lip color 

and the lipstick drags over my lip. I like a smooth almost slick application. I would not

buy another one, but it does look pretty on my vanity.  And that is worth something. 

Right?

If your looking for a high end lipstick, I really like the YSL lipsticks.

They are expensive... but we're talking splurge fun here, not everyday.

Very moist and they stay on. I don't find that I have to reapply a lot during the day.

For everyday.... I still love my Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in 

caramel. I keep on at my desk at work, in my purse, in the bathroom, 

in the lipstick box..... on and on. I don't even know how many of these I have 

gone through over the years. It is my "go-to" main stay of lipsticks.

You can get it just about at any drugstore Target or Walmart for 6 or 7 dollars and Amazon has it for 

less than $5. And with Amazon Prime there is no shipping. 

Top THAT! 

Something else I did for fun was to order new personal business cards. 

Aren't they pretty?

I got them from VistaPrint. First I created my image in PicMonkey and 

just uploaded the whole thing to the VistaPrint "design your own" card. 

Very simple stuff!

They were about $36 and came in less than a week. 

I am very happy with the quality and the service.

One last thing.... 

Don't forget that this friday is Fresh-Cut Friday. 

I know that it is also 4th of July. But you can link any floral subject post 

you want. Including tablecapes and floral designs in decor. 

I'll have my post ready Thursday night and it will stay open all weekend.

Have a lovely weekend!

Book Review: Death by Darjeeling

by
Laura Childs

Back of the book:

Ordinarily, Charleston's Indigo Tea Shop is an oasis of calm.  But when tea shop owner, Theodosia Browning, caters the annual Lamplighter Tour of historic homes, one of the patrons turns up dead.  Never mind that it's Hughes Barron, a slightly scurrilous real estate developer.  Theodosia's reputation is suddenly on the line.  Aided by her friends and fellow tea shop entrepreneurs, Theo sets about to unravel the mystery of the deadly Darjeeling and encounters a number of likely suspects.  Tanner Joseph, the fiery environmentalist, held a grudge against the developer for his misuse of land.  Timothy Neville, the octogenarian major domo for the Heritage Society, opposed Hughes Barron's election to the board.  And Barron's unsavory partner might very well profit from a cleverly written buy-sell agreement!

This is what I think...

Clever, sweet, not too terribly predictable. I did drink more tea than usual and

it was a quick read. I enjoyed the book. If you like mysteries, this is a pretty good little read.
The book club was mixed. Several of the

ladies thought it was way to easy to foresee the outcome. 

Have you read any of the books in the Tea Shop Mystery series?

I'll be joining Art at Home for Literary Friday.

Yum! Pink Cupcakes

Hi Cupcake!

So, I got my latest Romantic Home Magazine and it had the cutest recipe for 

Enchanted Rose Cupcakes

I just had to try them. 

Here is my effort. I added my edits in purple parenthesis.

I hope you find it helpful.

1 box French vanilla cake mix, such as Duncan Hines

1 package (3.4 oz) French vanilla instant 

pudding and pie filling, dry such as Jell-o

1 cup Water

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 batch buttercream frosting (pale pink)

*Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line the cupcake trays with paper liners and set aside.

*In a large bowl, beat the cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil and eggs
on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until all the ingredients are incorporated.

*Using a cookie scoop (for mini cupcakes) (or an ice cream scoop for reg. cupcakes) 
place one small scoop of cake batter into each paper liner, filling about 3/4 full, dividing
evenly between the cupcake trays to create a perfectly even batch of cupcakes.

*Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*Let cool in the trays for 5 minutes.  Then take the cupcakes out of the trays and
allow them to cool completely before decorating.

*Meanwhile, make the butter cream frosting. (the recipe in the magazine is a very basic butter cream and confectioner sugar recipe) Add pink food coloring until it reaches the
desired shade.
 (I added 3 drops of red and thought the color was to pink. Add one drop at a time
so that you don't ruin the color) 

*Prepare the pastry bag using a Wilton 1M tip and fill. 

(I don't have a pastry bag nor a tip, so I frosted them the old school way)

*Starting from the center of the cupcake top begin to squeeze the decorating bag, using consistent pressure, and in a clockwise motion, swirl around to create a rose. 

Here is my review... 

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

I took them to work and they were gone by 10:00am!! 

Perfect with coffee, these little cakes are moist with out being heavy. 

They were actually better the second day. 

I'll be joining Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday

Oh,yay....Monday.....

Have a great week!

Paper Roses...

Did I mention that my daughter is having paper flowers at her wedding?

So I have a new hobby. 

Paper Roses!
These are made from coffee filters and then painted with water colors.
My next effort will be Peonies.... her fav.

I'll probably be joining:
 Imparting Grace, My Romantic Home,  French Country Cottage, Fabulously Creative Friday,   The Charm of Home,   Rooted In Thyme,  

Vanity...not vainity!

I know! I know! 

Vainity is not a word... 

But as I share pictures of my new/olden vanity table I feel like it must surly seem 

like such a self indulgent piece of furniture to some people. 

I can't help it! 

I love it!

I use it twice a day and do not regret buying it .... AT ALL! 

If that makes me vain, well... okay. I'm vain. 

It is the most feminine thing I own..... And I own a lot of gurly stuff.  

Ask my husband.  He'll quickly verify. 

Ok... no apologies... here she is!

The day I got her, I literally walked in the shop and saw her. 

The shop owner said that she is French... but I don't see any evidence whether she is or isn't.

And I don't care.

There was no hesitation! I mean it!

I bought her right then and there. Went and got my husband's truck

and brought her home.

She barely fits, and she crowds our bedroom but she still has a special spot all her own. 

Aged and perfectly chippy in an elegant way... see her dove tails?

I did add some pretty paper lining to the drawers. 

Since I can't put her against a blank wall, I put the mirror on an easel in the corner.

With the windows on either side of the corner, I get some pretty good lighting. 

She makes any occasion seem special.

So now I have to ask you...

Have you ever purchased something that you were a little afraid to purchase, 

and then were so glad that you did? 

I'll be joining Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday

 Hey everyone! 

I just wanted to pop in and say big "Thank Yous" to everyone that 

joined in for FFC this month. 

We had a lovely time. If you didn't get a chance to share the link tool is still up. 

The next Fresh-Cut Friday will be July 4th. 

Hope to see you there! 

Fresh-Cut Friday June Roses

Hello and welcome to June's edition of Fresh-Cut Friday. 

I'm so glad you popped in to say hi and see what is happening here at RoseVignettes. 

June's flower of the month is the Rose. In the language of flowers the Rose in general means some degree of love or desire.  A yellow rose can mean jealousy or even a decrease in love. 

Gasp!

The Rose of Lancaster, one of the oldest roses know to still exist can mean war. 

In fact here is a little history for you (an excerpt from the Old Farmers Almanac) : 

"The roses' links to antiquity are strong, which is why many gardeners love them. 

The oldest rose planted today was in existence some 2,000 years before the birth of Christ. Rosa gallica var officialis migrated from Persia (Iran) trough Turkey to France and finally into England in time to be renamed 'Red Rose of Lancaster', which figured prominently in the Wars of the Roses during the 15th  century. It's also known as 'Apothecary's Rose', because during the past thousand years it has been used by herbalists, including the fictitious Brother Cadfael (lead character in a series of books by Ellis Peters). 

The intensely fragrant 'Desiree Parmentier', a Gallica rose, was named after the Frenchwoman who became queen of Sweden. As a young woman, she financed Napoleon Bonaparte's second campaign  with her jewels after her father had refused his plea for money. When one of Napoleon's marshals was crowned king of Sweden, Bonaparte introduced Desiree to the king, who was in the market for a wife. 

Souvenir de la Maimaison', first grown in Joesphine Bonaparte's Chateau garden at Maimaison, near Paris was beloved by Catherine the Great, who filled the Imperial Garden at St. Petersburg with these pale pink Bourbons. "

So the the rose is not to be taken for granted. 

Just so you are aware ...

Roses are on sale at Safeway this week. 

As are Peonies! 

I bought a dozen white roses. 

I actually split them up and used them all over the house.

Here they are in my little pine hutch. 

It is pretty clear that roses are in season right now. 

Look at the size of those buds.

The size of teacups!

I'm going to be joining:
Lavender Garden Cottage

French Country Cottage

A Delightsome Life

All right now! I know you have flowers to share. 

An InLinkz Link-up