From Living Color to Beautiful WHITE!

I've forever loved the cottage look, and always

collected vintage items to decorate my

home with. 

however,

I lived it with

color,

lots and lots

of color

at least in my kitschy kitchen and dining room! They

were true to my boomer beginning and very

50's  with bright and beautiful color!

But that was then...

This was taken during the time when my chandy was

being put up and part of  the ceiling had to be replaced, plastic

was draped over most of the dining room...

I had a huge fruit motif going on with chalk ware in

my dining room as well as lining my kitchen (I'll share

the kitchen another time, it still 'In Living Color'

BRIGHT yellow with lots of

fabulous 50's chalk ware...

my little English cupboard has gone through

some major changes, losing the fruit I painted

on it's doors many years ago. I looove it's

new look in dreamy sweet WHITE!

...and

this is now...

Please tell me what YOU think!?!

I must confess, I've saved all my colorful Pyrex for

summer parties to be used with all my bright

50's tablecloths.

This

girl

still

likes

it

a

little

colorful

now

and

then!

I'm linking with Cindy's blog 'My Romantic Home' for

Show & Tell Friday

and

Jane's blog 'Finding Fabulous' for

Frugaliciou$ Friday

Please stop by their blogs and join in

the fun, they are a bunch of very

CrEaTiVe gals!

Thank you so much for stopping in, please leave

me a comment, it makes my day seeing that YOU'VE

stopped by and I'd looove it if you'd follow me!

Always, Debbie~

FREE WEEDS, YOU PICK!

                           

      Today we went shopping for our tomato and bedding plants,

   the store we like to go to was bustling with plant lovers

doing the same thing we were! My MacGiver got several

varieties of tomato plants, my fave being the little patio variety

that get eaten right off the plant as often, if not more often,

than in salads!

I chose my old standbys, inpatients for the window boxes

(too much shade for anything else), and yep they're planted and

 ready to brighten the front of our little cottage right up!

(excuse the neighbor's motor home)

~sweet pink & white this year~

~2009~

~this is what they'll look like in August, only this year they'll have some white too~

I still have so much weeding to do, but it'll just have to wait, until I

get around-to-it, as well as getting my bedding plants in the ground! 

My MacGiver's out mowing and I have laundry going and
need to get busy folding what's already done and get a salad
made for the elk steak that my hunter guy is going to grill.

I want to thank all of you for following me,
I have my 50th. follower, as of yesterday and I'm grateful
for each and everyone of YOU! It's a wonderful feeling to
know that I actually have someone reading this and I looove that
I'm getting to know some of you as my regular blogging friends!
I used this blog mainly to show pictures of what was going on in our
lives for family and friends, but I realized everyone was so busy
with their lives that nobody seemed to be visiting it, so in
the middleof January, I decided to change it to something
I really enjoy...

Cottage Living,
decorating, collecting, crafting and sharing with like folks
and finding inspiration in all of
your blogs!

 You're all fabulous and have inspired me
beyond belief!

This weekends coming to an end so quickly, I can't believe how

fast the time goes by...There's one more thing I want to share,

Jennifer at The Old Painted Cottage has combined with Michelle

at Petite Coterie for a fantastic Give-Away! I know

I'd looove to win this fabulous give-away, you may just want to

visit Jennifer's blog and check this out! Even though I hope to win it! :)

Thanks again everyone, you're the greatest!

Always, Debbie~

Living Small, Alas my Humble Cozy Cottage!

I know I've told you I live in a very small home, it's

been a challenge most of the time, for a couple of reason's.

One, we don't have a garage, who in their right minds can

live without a garage or huge barn for that matter??! Not

me, so it seems...

I loved having my small single garage as a

family room as my son grew up, it was nice to have him

and his friends out from under foot in our humble abode,

but...

I realize now, as time's gone on and my looove for

stuff has grown, it sure would be nice to have a garage

for storage and a work area for painting projects during

the winter etc. Our dining table has been totally covered

at various times throughout the years with many Christmas

projects being sanded, painted and not to mention

my MacGivers hunting projects, like repainting duck decoys

because they didn't look enough like the real thing, or 

cutting his venison...no kidding! 

Our humble cottage is small, but it is 'Home Sweet Home',

and really, there is 'No Place Like Home' is there?

I yearn for the clean, uncluttered look and freedom it offers, but

I'm not there yet, I'm working towards that clean white dream!

I work hard finding creative storage space,

OR...

in truth, are they really CrEaTiVe HiDiNg SpAcEs?!

So why am I sharing all of this with you my dear blogger friends?

Because I do want to share, really I do, but

I'm having a hard time because my

humble little cottage is not perfect,

not even near perfect, but after talking

to some of you, I understand I'm not the

only one, who worries about sharing their space because

they're still a work in progress...

So,

Even though it's not the way I want it to be,

it's my unique space and it's still under going it's

metamorphosis and in time, will be

my perfect little cottage.

to me anyway...

I've been putting off showing you my chandelier

because of my unsightly 80's shelves that line

my dining room, but I've decided after so many

of you told me to go ahead and reveal

the stinking truth outdated shelves, to 'just do it'!

~glimpse of chandelier bottom~

Looove it!

unsightly pantry door...

A white wood trimmed slider would be nice! :)

~new seat cushions are on my to-do list~

~little corner cupboard~

I'm linking to 'Faded Charm' for

'White Wednesday'

and

Cindy's blog 'My Romantic Home' for

Show & Tell Friday!

Please visit these CrEaTiVe folks blogs,

they have so many beautiful ideas to share with us!

I enjoy each and everyone of your comments and

I looove it if you'd Follow me!

Always, Debbie~

My First Try at Making Roses for Cupcakes!

I've wanted to try this for sometime now. I looove cupcakes who
doesn't, right? But I've been afraid avoiding making roses,
(even though I have lots of my sweet 
Grandma Stella's fool proof Wilton tips)...

so,

I finally got up the courage and tried some, I have a lot to learn
and need  much more practice for sure, but I took
them to work and the girls loooved them and my MacGiver

thought they were the BOMB, cutsie flowers and all!

I found the adorable cake plate while I was on Spring break,

at one of my fave thrift stores,

I looove the way the cupcakes look on it!

I'm sure I'll be practicing a lot more, I'm having

Bunco here next month and of course my theme

will be May Flowers!

I had so much fun I can hardly wait to

practice some more!

~so sweet~

~I was having so much fun~

~yep, those leaves need lots more practice~

~my MacGiver loooves when I say I need more practice~

~pink roses and white tulips~

~I looove my new cake plate and thrift store tablecloth~

I'm linking this to Faded Charm for White Wednesday

and

Cindy's blog 'My Romantic Home' for  Show & Tell Friday

go take a peek at all the beautiful goodness

everyone is sharing, what a CrEaTiVe group!

I enjoy reading each of your comments so much and

I'd Looove it if you'd follow me!

Always, Debbie~

A Fabulous Booth at Skagit Fairgrounds Sat. & Sun.!

We had a choice of going to Monroe Fairgrounds for an

antique and gun sale( my MacGiver loves those), or

going the opposite direction and going to an antique

sale north of us at the Skagit Fairgrounds...hmmm,

which way should we go?

We opted to head North,

leaving a bit late and ended up in terrible traffic

with everyone else heading to see the tulip fields in bloom!

(You'll remember I did that the week before last, while

I was on Spring break.)

Finally we got there and in all fairness, I should mention,

the weather was beautiful and perfect for a country drive.

Actually it was even warm,( if you weren't in the shade)!

My MacGiver

saw an ice-cream wagon and veared off towards it
...and I'm not eva going to head the other way when
ice-cream's being offered! No, NO, No...
Soooo,
needless to say we found their ice-cream AWESOME,
the couple makes it themselves.

You can find it around this area even at the Snowgoose Roadside

Vegetable & Flower Stand. It's such a fun place to visit, take the Conway

exit and follow the road, it's just before you get on Fir Island

heading towards LaConner...a wonderful stop on your country drive!

Anyhoo, back to the sale...

I found the sale to be mostly a fleamarket (which my MacGiver
liked even better), and then I found one really fabulous booth.
I asked her if she had a card and she didn't, I felt like I'd met
her before and asked her if she had a blog and guess what?
She does...
I asked her the name of it (and I missed the first part),
but did hear Lulu and I was positive that is how I knew her!
She was excited that I read it!
I told her the name of mine, (which she thought was cute,
especially when she found out that it's my last name)...
anyhoo,
I told her my first name and guess what, it's hers too...
how funny is that? She said we'd have to get together,

Sadly we didn't exchange email addy's or

phone #'s...I know, how bad was that? When I got
home I looked her up and OH NOOO....the blog I
believed to be hers isn't!!! :( 

Sooo...

If you know an antique dealer by the name of Debbie

that lives in Bellingham, that has a blog (with Lulu as

part of the blog name), please let me know or let her

know I'm trying to locate her....

PLEASE!!!

Here's a peek at her booth, it may help you recognize

her stuff/style or maybe you saw her at the Fairgrounds and

got her info, if so, please let me know!

loove this gate

wish I had a humongus work area to hang this

jewelry sign up in!

very cool shelf unit

fabulous old locker bins

loooved this tool chest and the fabulous number

thingy to it's left!

more great stuff!

I hadn't even noticed my MacGiver checking out

the  price until now...

I saved the best for last, check out this

beautiful window...

I looove it, we came home to see if we

had the right spot for it and in this little

house, unless I take down a cupboard, it

just won't fit and that's a crying shame...:(

Deb, I loooved your booth it was the best

for sure, I hope you see this post and

contact me, I want to take you up on

your offer to come see ALL YOUR STUFF!!!

xoxox Debbie~

'Le Poulet' Stepping Out in WHITE!

My chandelier is up and sooo beautiful, I couldn't be happier

with it...then you ask, why aren't I showing it then?

Well

I'm

not

happy

with

my

dining room

it's got some unfinished business...

I have a HUGE problem, a very unsightly problem...

Years ago, maybe 20 or so, I just had to have shelves

up in my dining room...I know what you're thinking,

of course, we ALL looove shelves to display our treasures!

But I didn't just settle for any ole self,

ohhh no,

 I wanted cute little country shelves surrounding my 'Oh so Little dining room'.

I thought it would be a piece of cake taking them down and

maybe I'd even like them up in my itsy little craft room, to help

out with my cramped enviroment...but my MacGiver explains

(being the painter in the family) that because the shelves have

been painted around at least twice and possibly three times,

they'd leave an unsightly ring around the tub...I mean room, sooo

you see my dilemma, he says the room would have to be sanded and

re-textured, so he tells me the shelves are now part of the room...

So

I've decided if that's so, then they of course have to be white and I'll

just load them up with something I looove!

Like I said, he's the painter (that's what he does for a living),

and he's up to his eyeballs in work(I'm not complaining), but,

he can't take the time right now to paint them and truthfully he

will do a much better job than I would, so I'm resigned

to either getting my nerve up to show you my

beautiful chandelier, that would also show my unsightly

80's country shelves...or wait until he can make them

a bit more tolerable for me!

So in the mean time, as you know by now, I looove going

to thrift stores and I usually go at least once a week

or twice if I feel the need, so I'm able to find some pretty

cool pieces once in awhile.  I've decided to share

a fun little couple that I found a few months ago, but

just painted this last week, I'm pretty happy with

how they fit in, maybe someday you'll even see

them on my dining room table!

'Le Poulet'

before

the rooster

after

The sweet couple...

I'm linking to Cindy's blog  'My Romantic Home'

for

Show & Tell Friday

and

Jane's blog 'Finding Fabulous'

for

Frugaliciou$ Friday

Thanks for stopping by, I enjoy reading all your comments

and would looove it, if you'd follow me!

Always, Debbie~

HAPPY EASTER!

My friend Marian and I went to the tulip fields this last week.

They're beautiful when they're in full bloom, however,

the tulips have been late this Spring because of the weather!

But luckily we had a beautiful day to go poke around

the tulip fields in the Skagit Valley AND we found

the

blooming

tulips!

There were still lots of tulips that hadn't opened

their beauty to the world yet,

but it didn't  really matter to us,

because... 

the fields that were blooming,

were

gorgeous!

Love these...

 

rows and rows of  glorious color~

oh the pinks~

truly gorgeous~

...and yes, we took some home to enjoy!

another field of beauty~

Oh how I'd love to live in this valley and

wake up to these beautiful

tulips!

so pretty~

powder room pretties~

~Pretty in Pink~

We also visited some fun shops in LaConner,

did some antiquing in Conway and thrifting in

Mt. Vernon, what a fun day we had!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Always, Debbie~

A Trip to My Local Thrift Store and What Do I Find?!

Remember a couple of weeks ago I said, I found something

at the thrift store I'd share with you later...well this is it!

I wasn't even looking for new dishes, well okay I was, but

I was shopping for plain white, (they don't even have to

match), but what should I spot??? But the most beautiful vintage

China dishes with the sweetest little flower boarders with white

centers and a large rim of the prettiest pale yellow I've ever

seen...but again, (reminding myself), even though

they were truly gorgeous, I was ONLY looking for

plain white dishes for everday. 

and then...

just around the corner,

I saw a beautiful platter, 

and a bowl,

another platter ...

YOU Guessed it,

they matched the dinner plates I'd just seen...

OMG!

telling myself, I don't really need these...

Really I don't,

truly

I

don't,

but

they're

to

die

for

gorgeous

~*~

I went back and loaded up the dinner plates and started

looking through the smaller plates and bowls and sure

enough, there was the whole set, everything but cups

and saucers...before I knew it I had a shopping cart

full of a beautiful  'Sampy' China set (stamped made in Japan).

~such a sweet pattern~

large bowls and small fruit bowls (or cups)

dessert plates and a gorgeous platter

small platter, sugar bowl and creamer

~Swoon~

...and the next day,

my friend Pattie found four

cups & saucers and the bread plates

whilst browsing through 'OUR FAVORITE'

thrift store! Needless to say, she sped

drove over to my school to let me

know I should go back to the thrift

store after work to check out the dishes

that they'd just put out, that went with my set!

And the best part of this thrifting story is...

 I took all the dishes up to the teller and had

them hold them while I drove home to

pick up the two boxes of items I had

ready for the thrift store (and had forgotten to

load up), I traded them for a 20% discount

that I was able to use on my NEW dishes!!! YAY!

I just love them, but now I'm thinking I need would love a new

china hutch with a glass door and maybe a light

to show off my new set of dishes!

 It doesn't hurt to DREAM!

I'm linking up with Cindy at

My Romantic Home for

Show & Tell Friday

and

over at Jane's Finding Fabulous

for Fugaliciou$ Friday

Please come and check these fantastic bloggers out

that are participating, they're so CrEaTiVe!!!

Thank YOU so much for visiting my blog and don't

forget to leave a message, I enjoy reading all your comments!

I'd looove it if you'd FOLLOW ME!

Always, Debbie~