I shared about my love of stone fruit in a post a few months ago.  It’s marble that’s been carved and hand painted to look like real fruit and it’s pretty convincing.  It’s also usually very expensive.  One rare piece on E-bay can sell for $60 or more.  I was over-the-moon one day when I found stone fruit at Goodwill for $.68 a piece.  I snapped them right up and I was happy with my little collection.  What I really longed for, though, was my grandmother’s stone fruit collection. She had it sitting on her dining room table for as long as I can remember.  I never noticed it as a kid, but after I got married and learned more about decorating and antiques, I fell in love with her stone fruit.  When my grandfather passed away last fall, I really wanted to get the stone fruit.  It wasn’t about

I stopped by my local thrift store yesterday and found a beauty of a birdcage.  I have been looking for one for a while and I saw this one tucked up on a shelf.  Lately this thrift store has gotten a little pricey with certain items and this was $12.00, which is not dirt cheap, but I thought it was worth it.  It had a few nicks and dings and was filthy, but it was otherwise in great condition. I gave it a good scrub and rubbed some Dark Walnut stain on the dings.  So, now it looked good…what do I do with it?  Candles seemed like an easy and obvious choice. I set off my smoke alarm as I took this picture, but I love how it looks.  Great ambience…candles and a smoke alarm.  Very calming. Well, the snow is falling right now and it looks like we’re going to

I bought this Country Home book several years ago and it made me want a white, slipcovered French settee.  On a side note, does anyone else miss Country Home?  Family Circle was not the same at all and a ridiculous substitution for my subscription.  Anyway…I loved everything about this sofa and I just had to find one. Fast forward about seven years and I found my French Settee.  It was at a yard sale for $50.00. That’s a great price, but it had been used as a dog bed and was totally gross. I vacuumed up all of the dog hair, scrubbed it with upholstery cleaner, aired it out and sprayed it with lots of Febreeze. I then slipcovered it with a tied on cover to keep the wood details exposed.      The quilt is to protect it from my cats, who like to nestle in the down cushion.  A quilt is easier

I had a rough morning.  My 1 1/2 year old has been sick and either he’s crying or wants to be held.  This extra attention to the sick child has made my 3 year old demanding and fussy.  After being cooped up in the house for most of the week with this dynamic, I finally lost it.  My wonderful husband could hear that I was rapidly becoming the mommy monster and I needed a break.  He came home early and gave me 3 1/2 glorious hours to do whatever I wanted.  I decided to take a very long, very hot shower first.  Then, I headed out to hit a few thrift stores and pay a visit to Hobby Lobby.  Our Hobby Lobby is pretty new, so we don’t have much of a clearance section, yet.  Today, however, there was an entire aisle of clearance items.  I found this metal cloche

I treated myself by hitting Hobby Lobby and Goodwill last week and came home with a bunch of goodies.  I found this small ornate mirror for $2.97 at Goodwill.  It’s plastic, but I love the shape and the antiqued mirror. I can’t wait to paint it up…it’s going to be amazing. I bought 4 vintage hangers for $.97.  I also found this damask curtain panel and brown and aqua curtain topper, both brand new from Target. I’m not going to use them as curtains, but the fabric and trim are perfect for my bedroom. I hit the 90% off Christmas aisle at Hobby Lobby and bought 3 large bunches of silk poisnettias for $9.00(originally $75) and these mirrored snowflake ornaments for $.20 each.  Every mirror on every snowflake is broken, so I’m not sure if that’s how they are supposed to be or they are all broken.  Either way, I think

To end 2009 properly, I thought I would share some of my favorites with you, so this is the first in a 4 part series.  This series will include my favorite finds, small projects, and furniture makeovers.  I’ll also throw in some of the big “firsts” for my business this year.  I’m starting off with my favorite finds of 2009.  And they are… The wooden piece from a sewing factory – free, ironstone pitcher – $2.50, antique basket – $1.00 Antique yellow ware bowl – $7.00 at a thrift store Ironstone wash set – $5.00, Craig’s List dresser $30.00 Pair of French Provincial chairs – $20.00 at auction Pair of antique apothocary jars – $15.00 Cermamic birds – $2.97/each at Goodwill Caned chair – $10.00 at an antique store Vintage wagon – $5.00 at a thrift store Ironstone plates – $2.00 for the lot (I think…) German glass glitter – expensive,

Thank you for the amazing response on my $30 Craig’s List Dresser makeover. I think I had 40 comments by lunch time the day it was posted. One of my dear blog friends, BJ of Sweet Nothings sent me this side-by-side comparison with a Williams Sonoma dresser. It’s amazing how similar the lines are and the details on the sides and legs are almost identical. You would think this piece was my inspiration, but I just saw it for the first time yesterday! I guess I did something right.I also wanted to show you how my hubby’s dresser looks, now. We had to move his dresser to where my old Queen Anne dresser was and it looked pretty bare without a mirror. I found this large oak door in my grandparent’s attic (it’s from an old church), so I thought I would try it. I got some funny looks from