Patriotic Nibbles

This week's tablescape is very informal and easy to do for light fare before the firework's display.  When we have holiday dinners, I always set up a buffet so my family can pick and choose what they like so for today I was actually inspired by some pretty paper goods I found at the market last week.  I stacked them randomly, stuck some silverware in a jar and the mood was very casual.  For the flowers, I found two clear round flower containers at a yard sale, one smaller than the other.  The small one holds the flowers and then I put small strawberries in between the two glass surfaces.  I even found strawberries at the 99 cent store along with my flags.

 I tried a new recipe for the potato salad that had bacon in it and I placed that in individual plastic cups.

 I saw this idea for the strawberries on someone's blog and fell in love with them.  I'm so sorry I can't find where I wrote it down so if you see this, please email me and I will include your name in the post.  Aren't they pretty?  The blue sugar and the white chocolate came from Michael's.  They both are by Wilton.

I grilled some small ears of corn on the cob with garlic butter, threw some marinated mozzarella in with some tiny tomatoes and basil to make a Caprese salad.   The little pigs in a blanket came from Trader Joe's as did the lemon cake we put some blueberries on.  The brownies came already done from Smart & Final.

 You can't get any easier than this and nobody left hungry.

 I'm sure you all have your own special way of celebrating and I look forward to seeing all the blog posts this week to get even more ideas.

 Hoping you all have a safe and wonderful 4th of July.

 God bless America!

 The land of the free because of the brave.

 And God bless all our service men and women.  We wish them all a safe return home.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings     Between Naps on the Porth
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Butler's Tray

Here is a quick project I found to do after shopping my own inventory.  I didn't even have to leave the house for this one.

This is a very large tray that was black when I bought it at the flea market.  I sprayed it with Rustoleum Canyon Black to freshen it up.  Now I had a blank slate to work with.  I used one of my grainsack stencils from Maison de Stencils.  This is the same stencil I used on the French Book Cart.  However, the entire stencil would not fit on the tray so I improvised by using two other inexpensive alphabet stencils I purchased at the craft store a while back.  For the corners I used an Anna Griffin embossing stencil.   Then I used painters tape to do my border lines.  Now let me tell you.  I have painted many a piece of furniture and then taken mailing tape to the piece and tried to achieve this same look.  You know how sticky mailing tape is.  The painters tape lifted not only my paint but the layer beneath it revealing a goldish color. 

 So I decided this was meant to be and I took more tape and lifted off more black paint.  Not it's a shabby black tray.  I'll seal it with a clear coat, but if it happens to chip more, it will fit right in with the look it already has.

 I did the lettering and stenciling with ivory acrylic paint and then went back over it with gleam gold.  That's also an acrylic paint you can find in the craft paints.  I had this little stand I found a long time ago and the two are a match made in heaven.  Now if you like a more refined look without the chippiness, check out the french book cart here.  It had a much more pristine look.  That was one of my favorite pieces and it sold immediately.

Hope you're getting your projects ready for the upcoming Hot Summer Fun link party.  It starts a week from today.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Between Naps on the Porch
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Curb Appeal

Unlike the last two weeks where I shared the gorgeous estate homes in Hancock Park, California, this week I am going to share these adorable smaller homes.  This is an area that I work in frequently and I drive the back residential streets to get to the offices that I work at.  I love this area.  Many of these homes are only two bedroom, three max, but they exude so much charm that sometimes I take my lunch and just park and admire the landscaping.  Many of the homes have little picket fences and awnings and flower beds and flower borders and so much more.

How nice it must be to arrive home to these beautiful gardens after a long day.  They are so colorful and well kept.

I love impatients.  They make beautiful borders.

Here we have yellow marigolds and lobelia, a few delphiniums and roses.  Love the perfection of this bordered yard.

I love that bird house, don't you?  This house has so many beautiful details to greet you.

This little garden bench in the front yard with its pillows was so inviting, and check out this jacaranda tree.  My photo doesn't do this adorable house justice.  It was truly lovely.  Thanks so much for taking another tour with me.

Don't forget the upcoming party!

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

French Boutique

I only took one picture of this and this is the finished product.  I'm sure you have all had one of those days where it was distraction after distraction.  I saw something in a magazine that I thought were these colors and I fell in love with it.  I do this frequently.  I love an all white color scheme and then I try to duplicate it and it gets all confused when I translate it into my world.  That's what happened with this sign.  The color is called sugar blossom and it's a Valspar paint, but I've had it for five years.  Don't know if they make it anymore.  It's like a shell pink.  I paired it with a taupy grey and it just lacks pizzaz.  Plus the writing doesn't show up very well at all.  With all the problems I had with my Jules Belin sign last week, I still loved the finished product, but this needs something more.  Maybe I'll try again with different. colors someday. 

 To top it off, my daughter came out to talk to me and noticed this beautiful butterfly floating in our pool.  What was I to do?  I fished it out with my stencil and as soon as he dried off sufficiently I put him in one of my plants.

 One of his gorgeous wings was torn and then I noticed his wing was actually ripped.  Oh no.  Did I mess with Mother Nature?  About five minutes later, he flapped his little wings and off he flew.  So off I went back to my project.  I lifted my painter's tape and a whole section of paint lifted because I left the tape on too long.  Oh well, it was never meant to be.  Some things are like that.

Just a reminder about the Hot Summer Fun link party hosted by Holly@Bella Nest, Bliss@Bliss Ranch, Lorraine@Miss Flibbertigibbet, Karen@Somewhat Quirky and myself.  The party will run every Friday through the month of July, and it will start July 6.  I think I told you before July 8.  My gosh, I would be late for my own party.  So anything summer related, and we would love for you to link up.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Vintage Tableclothes

Today I wanted to share with you some vintage tableclothes I have purchased recently.  I love vintage tableclothes, and although these are old, look at how vibrant the colors still are.  When I find these at the flea markets and yard sales, sometimes they are in unimagineable condition.  After soaking them in Biz, sometimes for a solid week, the grunge magically washes away and they are restored to their original beauty.  To see how I restore vintage textiles, click here.

This first cloth has the biggest cabbage roses I have found on one of these tableclothes.  This one had two tiny small holes, but other than that it is in amazing condition.  Once cleaned and ironed these cloths beautify any summer table.

 I used the next tablecloth in a patriotic tablescape I did a few weeks ago.  There were a couple stains that did not lift such as the one in the top middle.  It's still as pretty as ever.

 This next cloth is a sweet little table topper.  It's in perfect condition.

This one that follows is staying with me.  I love the pink and whites.  Isn't this one exceptionally pretty?

 I think I'll use this next one for the 4th of July and pair it with some red and white ticking.  I don't think this one is more than 10 years old, but it's a sweetheart.  If you love blue and white, this coloration is for you.

Is anyone else having trouble with their spell check?  I'm sure Biz isn't in the dictionary and it's not coming out as a mispelling.  I had the same problem yesterday as well.  I don't think it's working right now.  If you are having problems, please let me know.

Thanks for visiting.  It's always my pleasure.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Pretty Blue Basket

This project didn't come out the way I planned it too, but I am not unhappy with what I learned along the way.  I have a friend who paints everything in their yard Sail Blue by Rustoleum.  To really describe the color it's like a yacht club awning blue.  It's bright and chipper and nothing faded about it unless, of course, you bake it in the hot California sun for two years.  I visited my friend a couple of weeks ago and was getting a tour of the latest additions to the back yard since my last visit and I spotted a French wire plant rack that was stunning.  It was faded to the perfect blue, so soft it was almost bleached to a whitish blue in some parts of it.  I walked over to it and realized it was Sail Blue and I commented to my friend who said "Oh yeah, I'm going to put some fresh paint on it soon."

 At that point I decided to get a can of the paint and see if I could dull it down with some gesso.  I didn't factor in two things.  One, it is high gloss paint, and two, I was using it on this basket that is not a flat surface.  So I think I will color match it with one of those sample cans and see if I can do a tray to achieve the look I want.  I am definitely not done with this color.

 Here is the basket when I started and below you can see how vibrant this color is (and shiny).  My second lesson for the day was copying an image onto fabric.  My image is a perfume label from the Graphics Fairy. Click here for the image.

 I saw a tutorial on this at The Polka Dot Closet.  Carol has a great blog with many great how to posts.  I used a Target dish towel for this project and I think it was a little too thick, but it worked for today and I'll keep working on that too.  I simply cut the piece of fabric a little smaller than my sheet of copy paper and taped it all the way around.  Ran it through my copier and then cut out the image and decoupaged it onto my basket.  I decoupaged the back and front of my perfume label.  I'll definitely keep working on both these techniques.

One last thing before I leave you for today.  We all know summer has arrived and that means it's time for a party.  Four of my blogg'n friends and yours truely are hosting a Hot Fun in the Summertime party through the whole month of July.  So get your hot summer fun projects done and be ready to link up.  As with most summertime parties, anything goes.  That means you can link up projects you've done, summer vacation pics, how you celebrate the season, movies you would like to review, favorite recipes and you can fill in any other blanks you can cook up.  The party will run starting the week of July 5 and run every week in the month of July.  So that gives you five different weeks to link up. So don't be a party pooper.  We're expecting you to be there.

My four beautiful co-hostesses will be Bliss of Bliss Ranch, Lorraine aka Miss Flibbertigibbet, Karen at Somewhat Quirky, and last but not least the beautiful Holly from Bella Nest.  So please join us for some Hot Summer Fun!

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    Fishtail Cottage
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing

Pink and White Checks

I found this pink and checked table cloth at a local sale and I wanted to photograph it before taking it to the shop.  I love the refreshing colors of this.  They are so soft and feminine.  I paired the tablecloth with my pink and white china and my little ice cream bowls.  The little cloche in the middle of the table is hand painted and was part of the Dorothy Thorpe tableware back in the 60's.  Unfortunately I don't have the bottom piece so I use a pretty hand painted plate with it.

 I stopped at a wonderful little cupcake shop called A Sweet Design near our home so I could put something delicious on the table and they had macaroons.  I think they are so pretty.  I just added the salt water taffy because it was pink and white.

 There is no maker's mark on the rose china so I can't tell you who it is made by.  This is just an accumulation of pretty pieces I have collected for years.

 I can tell you the tiny soup bowl and saucer are by Haviland.  I only have four of these.  These are my favorites.  Aren't they beautiful?  They are paper thin and very fragile.

 A Sweet Design does make lovely cupcakes.  Thanks for visiting.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs        The Graphics Fairy     Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style         Ivy and Elephants        Faded Charm Cottage            
                                     Fine Craft Guild      
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Fishtail Cottage     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity   Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           It's Overflowing