Flate Rate & A Tease!

I got mail!

The good mail too,

mail in the form of a big honkin' flat rate box from Canada.

Don't you just love flat rate boxes? They're a bloggers best friend, you can fit a lot of goodies into one of those babies. I love sending them, but I really love getting them!.

Debby from The Gathering Nest & I share
a love for old tattered things.
 We have kind of a mutual oohing & ahhing society.
Well, last week I got one of those over stuffed flat rate's filled with bits & pieces from Debby's stash.

Wrapped up in some great scrim were scads of images from

Paper Whimsy, all cut up & ready to use. 

Sew cute!!! I will use this to hold some of my favorite fabric scraps.
I love all kinds of textiles.

And oh the lace.......whether it's a tattered table cloth, runner, old tea towel or just a piece saved from an old dress. I just LOVE the stuff. I know you do too,
that's why it's getting harder to find these days.

Check out this old woman's magazine.
 It's in perfect condition so I won't be cutting it up.
 I'll  just use it for inspiration.

I told you it was stuffed. Fabric, hankies, runners, books,

 a little rust.

Debby, you did good girl!

I love every single thing & can't wait to start creating with it all.

This little tease is for my friend Linda, who asks me all the time about my bedroom make-over.

The make-over I started & blogged about a year ago.

Well life & other things just kept getting in the way.

The rest of our house is pretty good, but when you live in a small house with 3 little kids your bedroom ends up looking like something from Hoarders.

So I've been working (for the last year) on the bedroom, master bath & the patio outside our room.

3 spaces in all.

I bought very little, mostly paint & supplies.  Being a hoarder collector I knew I could make it work just using what I have.

(before)

Wait till you see how this turned out, & where it ended up!

(during)

Because I am very indecisive the walls looked like this for 2 months!

(before)

Even our cool 80's bathroom got a face lift.

So here's a sneak peek.

Remember this is a room rooms in progress!

Just beginning to fluff.

French doors in our bedroom lead onto a deck in our backyard.

I used the back corner to create a magical little sitting room.

So stay tuned for my reveal coming soon to a computer near you!

In the meantime, happy Monday!

Happy Turkey Day!

(thanks Shorpy)

Whether your dinner today is fresh off the farm, frozen from the grocery store, or catered from a restaurant, my wish is that you are enjoying it in the company of loved ones.

On this day of reflection & thanks, you are all in my heart & prayers.

Sunday, Beautiful Sunday

Well, I've got another class under my belt.

What a great time we had Sunday.

It was a small group, just friends who've taken my classes before.

They had a special request & I couldn't say no!

 So 1st things first....kits.

 With the holidays around the corner I wanted to make something the girls could use in their holiday decor. 
 I embellished some matchboxes with my favorite Christmas image.

My friend Michelle makes the coolest ones! I was inspired by hers.

We spent the day creating beautiful altered bottles.

Tonda, Linda, Charlene, Charlotte, Lori & Jan did a wonderful job.

In fact, they really didn't need my help.

 All done up in 'low color' as Beth calls it.

 I really look forward to these little classes. 

We just gab & laugh.

Share stories of our latest vintage conquests... you know. 

The day just flies by.

And at the end, there were 6 totally amazing altered bottles.

Art bottle roll call

 Lori, Tonda, Linda, Charlene, Jan, & Charlotte.

Pretty impressive, huh?

 Maureen does a great job of hosting these workshops

& on Sunday Cottage Panache was fluffed to perfection in holiday goodness!

I wish these pictures were better.

 Her tree was just gorgeous.

Loaded with the unique ornaments, both new, old & handmade.

See anything you like??

I've had my eye on this Santos for a couple of weeks.

Love this!

Some great bedroom inspiration, something I really need right now.

Cottage Panache is open Monday~Thursday & Saturday.

 7277 Glenview Dr., Richland Hills, Tx. 76180

I want to share some give-away news before I go.

My precious friend Dawn is celebrating 1500 posts!

Can you even imagine?

I told her it should be us gifting her for blessing us day after day, year after year, with so much beauty, friendship & inspiration.

Go check out this post & enter to win!

The amazingly talented & fun Lesley Venable is having a give-away to kick start her new online store.

She's got some very cool vintage items as well as some one of a kind Christmas decor.  Handmade by Lesley of course.

Would you like fries with that?

I said on my last post I may be taking the night shift at McDonald's to pay for this hoard.

Take a gander & you'll see why!!!

We shopped EVERYWHERE!

From Winnie & Tulula's, The Tin Rabbit, & every yard sale between Nacogdoches & Fort Worth.

You know there were no husbands on this trip! 

When we got home Dawn set everything out on the dining room table so we could wallow in the beauty of it all.

Then she started creating little vignettes & taking pictures. 

 I'm so glad I'm not the only goob in the world that does this stuff.

This little sequined tuxedo must have been for a dance recital or something.

 I could not resist it, for the tarnished trim & fabric alone.

Price tag....$10

 And these sweet communion medals, only $3 each!

My Cupie Cone made by dear Ann.

She now hangs over my bed!

My first Christmas decoration of the season.

The stone angel....Ann. The crown she is wearing was a gift from Karla. 

Still obsessed with Interior Alchemy, Dawn & I both searched high & low for treasures to fill our cabinet of curiosities.

The turtle shell came from Debbie too, we picked up antlers, hornets nest anything nature inspired!

(sorry Jodie or anyone else who is 'nature phobic')

I found the most amazing book from a thrift store,  it's loaded with engraved illustrations, poems & songs.

Really a great find for $9.

The rusty scissors from a yard sale, $1.

I picked up this Victorian jacket at a little shop along the road.

Surprisingly it wasn't all that black lace that attracted me,

it was the perfectly, imperfect hand stitching on the inside!

To me that is art.  I think it would be beautiful displayed in some way, perhaps a tattered collage.

I uncovered this cool, Victorian lampshade in Debbies booth at W&T's.

I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, but I just love the stained & tattered muslin shade & the wonderful trim.

I think I've mentioned my box obsession before.  I just can't pass them up, this beauty came from sweet Deb!

Dawn unearthed this enormous roll of paper in a shed behind a country estate sale. 

It'll live on a ledge in my studio.

It reminds me of Theresa Cano.

Dawn & I had such fun in that short amount of time.

Leaving her family, traveling all this way to see me...well it was a real gift.

But she didn't come empty handed.  Ann & I each received a beautifully altered box filled with lovely bits & pieces.

My box was embellished with a copy of the same tin type she gave me for my birthday.

Two old friends, how perfect!

We each got a sleeve off of lacy vintage wedding gown.

 Some of her lavender scented egg soaps, & this teeny tiny tin type.

Oh I love tiny things too!

But the best gift of all came on Sunday morning.

When I woke up it was as if Santa had come down the chimney  & fluffed my mantle!

Yeah,

she 'feathered my nest'!

Thank you girls for one of the greatest weekends ever!