Winter Doldrums.............

Yikes...... I can't believe it's been a whole week since I did my last post. Except for the crazy and busy week I had at work last week, I've been feeling extremely lazy and have had very little motivation to do much of anything, including blogging I guess.

It's seem the winter doldrums have hit me once again like they seem to do every year, so even trying to think up some ideas to blog about has been pretty hard.

I did make a trip to Michael's on Friday just to see if they had any "springy" things in the store that might help cheer me up a bit and maybe get me motivated to try and do a little bit of crafting of some kind and I did find a few cute things in my favorite pastel shades that will hopefully do the job.

Things like these pretty aqua colored, flower shaped ribbon embellishments with little rhinestones in the centers.....

I also picked up a few of these small white storage tins which are maybe 3 inches in height and have a clear lid that will work perfectly for storing my new embellishments, buttons, pins and all sorts of pretty doo dad's..


I jazzed them up just a bit by adding some pretty floral stickers to the outside of the tins. A very inexpensive and cute way to store smaller embellishments.

And of course, there's nothing that works better at cheering me up than a lovely bouquet of creamy pale pink roses, even if they aren't real. I'll be enjoying these for a very long time...

I wanted to do a little antique shopping this weekend, but it's been extremely cold here in Minnesota the past few days with temperatures struggling to make it into the single digits despite the abundant sunshine we've had, so except for a few short trips to run some errands, I've stayed indoors where it's nice and warm. Hopefully next weekend will be warmer so I can get out and do a little shopping.

Hope you've all been enjoying your weekend, even if you're being lazy like I have been. We all deserve a bit of down time after the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

See you soon!!

Shades of Winter.....

Hello my lovely friends...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and loved ones and that the weather wasn't too bad where you are.

Christmas was very nice for my family this year, although very subdued and unusual on account of the nasty snow storm we had here in Minnesota that went right through Christmas and made driving around town very traitorous on the ice and snow covered roads both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A good time was still had by all, especially my two nieces and nephews who were so excited about opening gifts. It was pure joy to experience the holiday and excitement through there eyes and to remember what Christmas was like for me when I was their age.

The snow is pretty much done here for now, but the skies are still cloudy (after a few short breaks of sunshine this morning) and between the whitish/grey colored skies and snow covered ground, it is very gloomy outside.

Better to be inside enjoying the same colors in a different form, like the shades of cream and white in my basket of pretty linens displayed on a shelf in my family room. So much prettier than snow don't you think?

I'm feeling very lazy this weekend after having had several relaxing days at home not doing much, but tomorrow is back to work for the start of a very busy week, so I'm not sure if I'll have much time to post again this upcoming week, but I'll try my best.

Enjoy the rest of you weekend and I'll be back soon!!

Merry Christmas................

Just popping in for a short visit to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends and that if you are doing any traveling over the next few days that you will remain safe and that your travels will go smoothly.

We are bracing for a mighty big snow storm over the next few days here in Minnesota with predictions of anywhere between 1-2 feet of snow by noon on Friday with the Minneapolis area on target for around a foot or so. It might be pretty as it's falling from the sky when you can stay indoors and watch it from the window, but is will definitely make the roads dangerous for driving and may have to postpone some of my plans for getting together with the family until Saturday. It's a wait and see thing right now. Only good thing I can say right now is that the company I work for decided to close the office on Thursday due to the weather, so I won't have to drive into the office to work. I can just work from home all snug and safe and watch the snow fall from the sky.

Merry Christmas!!!

Because You Asked..........

Happy Monday Girls.......

It's gonna be a fun and crazy week ahead. Can you believe that Christmas is just days way? I can't but I'm just about ready. Christmas shopping is done and most of the gifts are wrapped and ready to make their way across town to my Mom's house where me, Mom, my sisters, my bother, my brother-in-law and my nieces and nephew will be celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The only downside is that I am one of those unlucky people that has to work ALL day Christmas Eve day so it's going to be a busy and long day. I have a feeling though that no one will be working to hard that day. It will be more about having fun and getting ready to celebrate the holiday.

Because several of you asked over the course of my "Tea Things Tuesday" event, I thought I would share a few pictures of how I display most of my tea things. This is not all of them as sadly some have to be hidden away in cupboards due to lack of space in my little itty bitty china hutch, but at least you'll have an idea...

Enjoy your week everyone and spread the love and joy of the Holiday season while you're at it!!

A Wee Bit of Christmas...........

After visiting so many blogs over the past few weeks and seeing everyone's gorgeous Christmas decorations, I had to cave in just a little bit and bring out just a few of my Christmas pretties to add a little holiday sparkle to my house.

I didn't feel liking digging out the Christmas tree, the lights and all of my other Christmas decorations, but I figured pulling out a few of my favorite Christmas ornaments to create a little tabletop display would suit me just fine this year.

I'll call this my "Christmas in a bowl". And as you can guess, most of my favorite Christmas ornaments are PINK!!.

With a yummy shade of shabby chic green thrown in for some contrast..........

And of course, we can't forget the glitter and lace trims......

A simple and creative way to add some holiday sparkle and shine to my house. I'll be displaying this bowl of Christmas pinks and green on my coffee table.

Tea Things Tuesday..............

Well Girls, this is it.. The final week for "Tea Things Tuesday".

I've finally come to the end of my collection of teacups and teapots and after today, I have no more to share with you. I have had so much fun over the past several months sharing my collection of tea things with you, starting way back when with my teacups and then more recently with my teapots and the matching pieces I have for each set.

I saved my very favorite tea set for last. I love each and every one of my teapots, but this gorgeous "Lady Carlyle" set from Royal Albert has to be my all time favorite. From the scrumptious pink, to the lovely floral pattern, this one can't be beat. For this set, I have a service set for two.

Starting with the teapot..............

And the two matching teacups............

Two desert size plates (one standing and one sitting underneath the teacups in the photo above) ..............

And a small little dish of which I'm unsure of it's purpose, but I just had to have it because it matched the set....

And my complete collection of this lovely "Lady Carlyle" pattern...

I would like to extend a big and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who have joined me over the past few months in sharing your own collection of beautiful tea things right along with me. It has been such a pleasure for me to meet some bloggers I may not have met otherwise and of course, to see all of your beautiful tea things. The blogging community has some of the best and nicest people that I've ever had the honor of meeting and I consider each and every one of you to be my friend.

I am definitely going to miss hosting this weekly event, but even though it's come to an end, I'll still be here posting regularly about this and that, so make sure you come back to visit me in the future.

Until then, take a stroll over to the blogs of these lovely ladies and see what they are sharing with us for the last week of "Tea Things Tuesday"..

Fun Display Pieces......

Happy Saturday Girls...........

Just popping in for a quick post today to share a few pics of one of my newest little treasures I discovered just a little over a week ago while shopping in the antique mall.

I found this cute little rack being used as a display pieces which at the time was holding some embroidered tea towels in the shop. It looks to be a side rail from a doll crib and was painted a perfectly shabby shade of green and has just the right amount of distress to it.

Add some pretty hankies and a crocheted doily and voila!! A perfect little display piece that fits in perfectly with my vintage, shabby chic decor..........

It will be a fun way to display some of my pretty linens and hardly cost me anything. I think this was only around $5.00 or so.

A real bargain after all the money I've been spending on my Christmas shopping. Almost done with that thank goodness. Just a few more things to get and then I'll find myself buried knee deep in wrapping paper, ribbons and bows.

Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you again on Tuesday for the final week of my "Tea Things Tuesday" event.

More Cute Stuff.....

Hello Girls...

I hope you all have been having a wonderful week. My week has been super busy again as I'm back at work after my restful and relaxing vacation last week. This is the busiest time of the year for the company I work for and I won't be able to slow down now until after the end of the month. I am already looking forward to that time.

I thought I would share with you a few more of the pretty treasures I found on my antiquing jaunts last week. These items were all purchased using my "fun money" that went from being a storage box full of loose change that I had accumulated over a period of several months to dollar bills after a trip to the bank to use the change counting machine. It sort of seemed like free money in a way if you know what I mean. We all tend to think very little of that small bit of change in our wallets, but after awhile, it really does add up and it lets us buy some really nice things.

Most of you may not remember, but earlier this summer on one of my trips to an antique shop, I purchased this beautiful silverware storage box that was painted a cream color and had the top covered in china mosiac with a lid of some type attached to the top. So pretty and it was also very inexpensive.

Well on my trip to the same shop last week, I disovered that the same dealer had added some more china mosiac pieces that I couldn't pass up. The first was this small square box, about 5 inches in size. This one only cost $7.00...

A larger and rectangular shaped box was only $12.00...

For the quality of the boxes and of the mosaic work, I definately think the lady who made these lovely pieces is definately loosing out as she could be charging much more for them, but who am I to complain as I was able to add both of these to my shopping basket for very little money.

In the same shop, I also found some more pretty crocheted doilies to add to my ever growing collection. Both of them are PINK of course. I love the ruffled edges on the round one. I'd love to learn how to make these someday.


That's all for today my friends. I have a few more things to share, but those will wait for another day.

Tea Things Tuesday......

Hello my sweet tea loving friends...

I'm glad you are here today for some more tea time fun. This wonderful "Tea Things Tuesday" event is quickly coming to an end and next week will sadly be the last week. Yes, I am just about to the end of my teapot collection if you can believe it. I wish I could continue this forever, but I can't.

While we are still able to enjoy this event, I am sharing the third installment of my "sick obsession". Over the past two weeks, I shared with you my yellow and blue rose tea sets and this week, you get to see the pink version.

First up is the teapot.....

Followed by the matching teacup.....

And finally, the complete set...

Looking very closely at each piece sitting next to each other, I just realized that the pink background on the teapot appears to be somewhat faded as compared to the background on the teacup and desert plate. I wondering why that is. I'm surprised I never noticed that before. I wonder if the color on the teapot faded as it is sometimes exposed to sunlight while sitting in my china cabinet??? Hmmmmmm.

Oh well, either way it is still beautiful and I love it just the same.

Has anyone ever had this problem before with the colors on china fading like that when it's exposed to sunlight?

Make sure you come back week as I've saved the best for last. You won't want to miss it. Until then, take a little MckLinky stroll and visit the blogs of these other ladies who have some more tea things to share with us today.