Christmas Decorating

I'm sure most people have their Christmas decorating all completed by now. Many even have their shopping all done. I'm just getting started with my shopping. it seems to sneak up on me so fast. I love all the buffalo plaid that we are seeing again. I found some treasures recently and thought I would share.found an awesome old dictionary so exquisitly embossed made back in 1936. i feel like I really rescued that piece. the owner was in a co op and didnt even have it for sale. She was using it as a riser for a display ( which is a great use). I had the store owner call her to see if she would sell it and she agreed... SCORE

The reason I say I rescued it, was she said she was using the pages for crafting! I would never. And I am a crafter. But I would take digital images of the pages and use them for printing out and crafting anything. I just could not harm the integrity of this fabulous old book.

I adore the gorgeous cover. It has maps in the back of it. I think it will look great with these vintage chalkware angels on the mantle.

Have you found anything fabulous lately?

Blessed and Thankful
I have always been a fan of old book decor.
I think half the fun is searching for books in the colors that you are decorating your home, and combining them together. 
My house is mostly in shades of aqua and sand. So whenever I find books in those colors, I grab them up. 

for this one with the photo I added a clothespin and some found capeze shells to turn a simple book into a photo frame. 

Lately I have been working on stuff that leans toward the Farmhouse look. Creating book stacks that can be used as simple decor with inspirational sayings on them.
Blessed and Thankful...

I used four books here to create 2 separate stacks which can be arranged in many ways.  In my Etsy

with a photo

In my Etsy shop

Versatile and fun 

come join the Linky parties 

Across the Blvd

Thursday                                            Favorite Things at Follow the Yellow Brick Home,

 Farmhouse Friday @ the Painted Hinge

A Vintage Tray gets repurposed.

I worked on this tray the other day. I like to take old books apart and re- use the pages. 

A little bit of aqua  chalk paint, some pages and some decoupage to give it a clear coat.

In My Etsy Store

Available in my Etsy shop



Joining the Linky party @ Between Naps on The Porch

Farmhouse Book Decor

Making some Farmhouse Book Decor.

If you can never find a bookend that you actually  like for your bookshelf, then take a look at this cute idea. It is 2 old books tied together with a little bit of twine and some chalk paint, and an airplant for added interest. 

 Farmhouse book stack

the airplane doesn't require any care, it draws moisture from the air. Occasionally I will wet my by just touching it with a few drops of water or a mist. The books hold up fine to. that because they are painted with a layer of chalk paint.

These are so cute to use on your mantle or bookshelf and fabulous as a centrepiece for a table at a Farmhouse Wedding

Join me at the linky party Farmhouse Friday at "the Painted Hinge" for  lots more Farmhouse decor ideas.

Dare to Share linky party

A trip to the Archetechtural Salvage in Sarasota Florida

Yippee, This would be heaven for me! Sarasota Architectural Salvage.. inside and out!

They have all kinds of architectural pieces and stuff that been recycled and reused in combinations that make my head spin!
this table looks like it is made from old train wheels

This cabinet is made from salvaged wood and a stain glass piece. Oh I wish I had a spot for it!

I adore it.

A nice assortment of drawers used as shelving... I love this look.

I got me another door! They had tons of them. this one will go in my booth in Cape May when I get back to New Jersey. I think it will be a great place to hang things on.

I went looking for shutters for my courtyard. I found 2 of these gorgeous and unique pieces.

Shabbying up the Living Room

The time had come to do a little something more inviting to one of my shore rental units. So today I got busy with it.

Sometimes when people rent it, they move furniture around to their liking and take paintings off the wall to replace with stuff they like for the summer season.

It has been looking a little thread bare lately so I decided to set out and gather all things soft, fluffy, shabby, white and lacy, and put myself to work! 

So first up are the before pics...

BEFORE

This area below is the first thing I am getting started on!

BEFORE

And little by little, I brought on the "Shabby" Vintage Cottage look.

AFTER

By moving furniture to a different arrangement, adding a vintage urn, some fluffy pillows, and a big white fluffy throw rug, I have created an inviting spot that draws you in.

The addition of a shaggy white rug, some vintage linens, pillows and a throw, complete the cozy comfy effect I was looking for.

The best part is, all of these items were around either my cottage beach house, or at the rental, in a closet or tucked into the shed. Even the lamps were hiding in a closet!

This transformation didn't cost one red cent!

I think it is fun to see what you can do to create a vision with just a little imagination!

I am more than pleased with how it looks now!

Vintage bottles for Vanity

 I love vintage bottles! Especially the Aqua or cobalt ones. I have discovered another use for them. 

Last year when I came home from St.John, I bought myself a little necklace as a souvenir and rather than throw it in my jewelry box where I would only see it occasionally, I decided to wrap that little necklace around a vintage bottle that I had on my kitchen shelf so I could look at it every day,

 and be reminded of my fabulous time I had while on vacation!!

What is awesome, is that the stones in this necklace are only found in the carribean waters. I forget exactly what the stone is called but it is such a pretty blue, like the water.
Now, after coming back from a trip to Maui, I have decided to adorn a few vintage bottles with little handmade necklaces I bought on that fabulous island as well!

It's just a nice reminder of the islands as well as a pretty decor item.

The Back Yard Down the Shore Before and After

The yard at the cottage down the shore used to be a maintenance  nightmare. The grass would always dry out from the hot sun, and it had sticky balls in it from the weeds we couldn't get rid of.

This is how it was, when we first purchased it. In the background you can see the seawall. This is before the township put up the concrete promenade over the rock seawall.

After a few years of this , we finally decided to rip all the grass out and completely EP Henry the yard.
I love it now. It's like one big patio.

This is how it is now.

This deck used to be an old worn out one, and we recently had it rebuilt  and I love that too.

If I can find some old pics of the deck before I'll post them later.

Even though that concrete promenade took some of my view from the yard and first floor, I've come to terms with it. I use that now to go for very enjoyable walks now down the coast!

We now use the entire yard, every inch. All the way back to the fence, where we have a firepit for the cool nights in May or September. That table in the pic is actually the firepit.  I love this because we can use it for a coffee table for drinks and stuff, when we don't have a fire burning.
And my daughters helped me build that little wall (under the fairy)in front of the fence, to create a little garden.



And then I decided that I wanted my porch to have more of an inviting, shabby chic, go ahead and fall asleep outside, feeling.  So I gathered up everything I had around the house to transform it from it's slightly tropical look to a place where you just were dying to sit and relax!!
First I started with the outside porch seating area

Which I added a ruffled white twin bedskirt to, and some fluffy pillow shams for the following effect:

and a duvet cover to the other side

Doesn't this look adorable?

And the best part is it held up with a group of 20 somethings down each weekend.

That was the true test. They started sitting out back more often because it was so inviting. 

And I thought 

" I'm going to have to readjust it every 5 minutes!!'

 But lo and behold.. I didn't have to ... and it stayed clean! I thought for sure it would be dirtied up inside a week, But NO. It looked this way from about early July till I dismantled everything in November when the weather around here gets kinda yukky. 

Now I can't wait for the nice weather to come back.

I'm playing at the linky party

Inspire me Tuesday

and 

Coastal Charm Party

Easy Summer Mantle

Just a few quick changes of decor items gives a whole new feel to the Mantle. Some pretty aqua glass candle holders from Home Goods, along with vintage bottles in ocean hues create a summery feel.

I've hidden the cable box under some vintage lace crochet.

I finally have a Mantle I can decorate! Welcome Fall

I have searched for a small Mantle for my little Cottage down the shore for about 2 years.
Most that I found were too big or too expensive.
This one is perfect. it is just the right size , a great price, and it even has a metal backing.
I adore it.

 I covered my TV with a lightweight, removable shuttered mirror which used to be in the bedroom.
So easy to move
And covered the boxes with lace which doesn't interfere with the remote, if possitioned correctly.

 A bit of burlap around a candle

 Little Mrs. Owl

A very simple  project to use up old burlap scraps is to cover a styrofoam ball with them to make your own decor balls.

Or wrap and glue some sisal rope around a candle or jar.

A simple natural burlap bag for some lavender or cinnamon this time of year, couldn't be easier to craft.

 And finally, at this time of year I like to bring in a little bit of the wheat colored sea grass that grows out back, for both sides of my new vintage mantle.
I always lament when the blooms are full ...the summer comes to a close, but the gorgeous Fall weather  will begin. And Fall is wonderful down the shore.

 Our leaves are just beginning to change a tiny bit here in Jersey, so the orange leaves will get added in a little later in the season when they do!
Today is like Indian summer... 82 degrees and lots of beachgoers, unusual, but very enjoyable!!

Thanks for stopping by.

There is a Fall Party going on:

http://www.finecraftguild.com/party-85
Feathered Nest Fridays