LittleMissMaggie

Friday, April 13, 2012

Little Black Credenza

I love this little black credenza. It is actually a piece my fellow dealer put together from parts of other pieces of furniture. The left side is not drawers but rather a cabinet. Jim is very clever and crafty.

This has just the right amount of shabby finish. It's a great piece.

I'm partying at...

Mondays         The House in the Roses      Debbie Doos         The Graphics Fairy
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Tutus and Tea Parties       Coastal Charm
                                      Boogie Board Cottage
Wednesdays   Savvy Southern Style           Primp         Faded Charm Cottage
                                     Fine Craft Guild     It's So Very Cheri Bloghop     Ivy and Elephants
Thursdays        Embracing Change     The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here
                                     Tablescape Thursday
Fridays           French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                  At the Picket Fence     Potpourri Friday   Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Decorating Insanity
Saturdays      Funky Junk Interiors

Thursday, April 12, 2012

French Typography "Construction"

I'm not sure how I missed sharing this document before, but here it is. This is the vintage typography I used for yesterday's post on the beautiful book covers. I think this might be one of my favorites of my French invoices. Hope you can use this for something amazing.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Beautiful Book Covers

I found the inspiration to do this project at Confessions of a Plate Addict's blog. She has a beautiful blog and I have just become a loyal follower of hers. To see her tutorial click here.

For the first stack of books I used one of my vintage French typography sheets. I copied it three times and then placed it strategically on the book bindings so it would read across. I just realized that I did not share this image with you so it will be the focus of tomorrow's post. I love this French paper. For the actual cover of the books I used brown mailing paper which I purchased at Walmart. Basically the cost of this project is finding three books that match in size. I purchased mine at a thrift store for $1 each. Don't limit yourself to three books either. You could do a whole row depending on how wide your image is.

This look is totally romantic which is definitely my style.

Here is an image I got from the Graphics Fairy. It is a new image of hers. I absolutely love it. To use this image click here.

Isn't this a fabulous decorating idea? It makes a great presentation. I hope you will give it a try.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Washboard Tray

I was rummaging through my ~~junk~~ treasures this week, and I came across this old washboard. It does have a crack, which doesn't affect its sturdiness, but I really liked the faded printing and the textured glass. So I decided to reinvent it and came up with this cute tray. Now, while I'm not going to serve tea and scones on this little gem (or I just might), I think in the garden or in a rustic country kitchen it is adorable.

I had the small wooden knobs already. I drilled all the way through the screw hole and attached it from the wrong side which I'll show you in a sec. Then I did have to go purchase these simple handles which were very inexpensive. Believe it or not, I didn't have two that would work in my extensive collection of odds and ends.

Notice one handle is on the side and one is on the top of the tray. That was the easiest way to attach them and it adds a little interest.

The graphics are still great although faded.

Now see how I screwed the knobs from the wrong end? I do this a lot when I want a footed tray. And please don't forget to put a little piece of felt on those screws. You wouldn't want to scratch any lovely surface. Notice I didn't counter-sink the screws. Not to worry. It wont show anyway and the felt sticks better to the exposed head.

Thanks so much for paying me a visit. I always love it when you drop by.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Sweet Cherry Towels

I love anything with cherries on it for the summertime. I love the vibrant red against a white background. Something about it has a happy feeling of a moment in time that has long since passed.

First of all, I have not learned Photoshop (yet!) so what you see here is literally cut and pasted with my two little hands and a pair of scissors. Yep, it was done the old fashioned way. I printed out the French typography image of my choice from the Graphics Fairy and sized it in Wordpad to fit my towels, which, by the way, I purchased at Target. They come in a package of four and the package was $4. Then I used another Graphics Fairy image of the cherries and made a smaller image to superimpose over my typography. I cut those out very carefully, positioned the cherries image over the script and made a reverse color copy of the two images together on my color printer. Then I printed that onto my Avery light weight iron on transfer paper and ironed it on. The result is magnifique! Two pretty towels ready for a summer luncheon.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter Party and "Slutty Brownies"

Last week my daughter had a friend visit from out of town and she likes to bake for him when he visits so she made him some "slutty brownies." Duncan Hines' definition is that they are a little bit dirty and sinfully delicious. I would have to agree. They are amazing. It's one layer of chocolate chip cookies topped with a layer of Oreos and then topped with a layer of brownies. Bake 'em all together and be prepared for pure heaven. For the recipe click here.

They are very attractive as well due to the layering. They also look pretty with my Easter chicks. Found these adorable critters at Home Goods last year. They sure do add a lot of color, don't they?

Hope you are all having a wonderful Easter with family and friends.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Easter Peeps and Chocolate Bunnies

I spent my day gardening and cleaning today. It's always nice to have that organized feeling after a hard day of work. Not that I am organized, mind you, but I feel like I accomplished a lot.

Last year I found this adorable little advertising box at American Home Antiques in Ventura, California. It's a quaint and charming little shop in a seaside town. I always find something I just have to have. If you follow my blog, you know by now I have a fondness for these little Peeps so it was only fitting I scooped up this precious little cigar-style box. I don't think it's old. Probably a reproduction, but it is adorable.

I stuffed it with some of my little critters from the 99 cent store.

Don't they look happy? Below are two of my faux chocolate bunnies that I have had for years. They look like the real thing. I tucked some herbs in an old enameled roasting pan. I love the green and the soft yellow color. Perfect for plants. I think I am going to have my husband drill some holes so I can make this permanent and allow drainage. The pan really isn't useful anymore as a roaster.