~ Happy New Year ~

Wishing everyone a blessed and healthy New Year!!!!!!!

~ Pancakes for Breakfast ~

I want to thank everyone for all of their prayers and well wishes. Dad sailed through his triple bypass surgery and was up the next day eating pancakes for breakfast. Of course, breakfast was followed by a little hit of Morphine but after all of this he deserves it!!! By tomorrow the chest tubes may be a thing of the past. He is expected to come home by Tuesday. My love to everyone out there who said a little prayer for me and my family.....Love to you all........

~ My Christmas Wish ~

I remember as a child hearing my parents say-especially when the money was in short supply-that even though we want gifts for Christmas, just be thankful for your good health. I am sure everyone has heard that before. Well, as one gets older (and wiser) that statement really starts to make sense. This year is that such year for me. My Christmas wish is that my father has a successful Triple Bypass surgery. We are awaiting the date, and know it will be before Christmas. He has for so long been literally the strength of our entire family. You could not ask for a better dad than mine. Giving and generous, always there no matter what, a great father and good husband, and an extremely hard worker who never asked for anything and did everything for his family. It is frightening and heartbreaking to watch, in such a short period of time, this pillar of strength deteriorate day by day. I am hopeful that this surgery will be the best thing that has happened and that it will give him back, even in the smallest amount, a better spirit, more hope, and better health and strength. I love you dad......

~ Cottage Panache ~

My friend Maureen has recently relocated to a new area. Just right across the street from her old address on Glenview Drive. I visited with her a few days ago and wanted to post some pics of her new shop. More Christmas finds and special gifts. She has done a fantastic job in such a short time. She still has dealer space available for any of you gals out there interested. Her shop number is: 817-595-4040. She does have a website and blog as well. http://cottagepanacheantiques.blogspot.com/ is where you can find her. Stop by and visit her if you get the chance......

~ Last Minute ~

Quickly approaching and just around the corner is Christmas. I took these pictures of Jennifer's boutique in the Lone Star Antique Mall. She has worked really hard to find just the right type of clothes and accessories for the holidays and for gifts. I was there yesterday and it has already completely changed again. If you need that last minute gift check out her boutique......

~ Pillows for sale in Dream in Cream shop ~

" These are for sale in my Blog shop......."

For everyone who has inquired about Felicia's pillows aka "Bountiful", I am now downsizing a few of mine and have them in my Dream in Cream shop for sale. The prices are what I paid for them (maybe even less). I have so many and no place to put them. Her prices have gone up, and she is making fewer and fewer. These would make fabulous Christmas gifts for the shabby lover.....

~ Holiday Decorating ~

" Booth Redo..."

" Lydias Christmas Pony...."

" Lydias sweet Christmas Train..."

Spent a quiet day at Lone Star Antiques yesterday simply rearranging and snooping. Christmas is approaching and everyone is getting into the spirit. Sales are till the end of December for those of you who live in the area. All the booths have markdowns up to 50% off. Let me help you get into the mood with some pics......

~ Christmas in the Air ~

Well, tomorrow we are finally in December. Another Christmas is on its way. I started to put up my tree and decided that this year I will have to lift it off the floor so our dear little Presley won't be tempted to eat the flocking. I am not quite sure if I like it lifted, but I don't need unwanted vet bills. The table is simply a cheapy one from Goodwill that I covered in lace tablecloths. I have not yet started to put many ornaments as I still haven't decided what I want to put on the tree. I did find all my lace trims and some cheesecloth (trying not to spend money this Christmas since I have so much stuff), so I am slowly digging through the garage. I have had a fun time searching for wooden candle sticks to paint. I added a few more to my dining table and my new cherub centerpiece. Since the old antique alter candles are so high-just find some cheap ones and paint them all the same color. Add some lace and old ornaments and it will look simple and lovely. I love the mercury glass ornaments, but those seem to be hard to find this year as well. Hmmmmmm.....My wheels need to start spinning so I can get that once in a month burst of ideas.....

~ Happy Thanksgiving ~

" Dining room in progress......"

" Centerpiece that needs to be finished painting, but when one is in a hurry-improvise....."

" Love these metal sculptures...Can't seem to get enough of them-if you can find them...."

I truly hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.....Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

~ Time With Dad ~

Days keep passing but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. My father has been quite ill for the last 2 weeks so we are doing a health overhaul. Today 2 doctor visits and Monday a full lab workup and MRI of his heart. It is not fun to grow old (unless you remain healthy of course). My parents 50th wedding anniversary is coming at the end of the month. I do not think my mom looks at my blog, so I am going to post a pic of the picture of them I had enlarged, and then painted a frame to semi-match it. I love this picture. It is of their first date. How romantic!!!!........

~ Hazy Whites and Greys ~

Another little journey through my old magazines. I love greys that tend to appear antique blue. Chippy tattered frames and furniture. It is funny how the popularity of all the chippy and multi-layered painted pieces are becoming 3 times more expensive that the new goodies. It is about time that these timeless pieces get noticed-unfortunately for those of us who love them, can now barely afford them....

~ Book Journey ~

" Beautiful Linens...."

" Masterpiece Living Room......"

" Ultimate Bedroom...."

I have found myself again in the middle of magazine and book editing. I love to keep the old Romantic Homes magazines and the Mary Engelbreit magazines, but they sure do take up alot of space. And if you are like me lacking space-the need to downsize starts kicking in. Which books can I live without? Which magazines do I rip the pages out of ? Oh, the dilemmas we have to face......Good thing we can blog about them so we can have a semi-permanent place to keep our treasured clippings posted for everyone to see and enjoy.....

~ Christmas Corners Funky Style ~

Christmas is slowly approaching and the stores are doing their transformations. Took a little trip to the Funky Monkey a few days ago and here is what is happening there-Everything !!! I have to say that every inch of that store space is magically utilized. Jewels and purses and clothes and leggings. Candles and creams and chippy old paintings.......You could spend hours there and not see everything. Amy and Lisa were there to greet my daughter and myself-always nice to see them...Christmas has made its way there with both old and new decorations. I loved her wall of vintage religious pictures (all for sale of course). Her front display is white and silver which we all love. If you have not been there before it is well worth the trip....

~ Double Duty ~

Sometimes we think of ideas that seem like good ideas, and then they seem a lot harder to achieve than we originally thought. They may be too complicated or take to much time to complete. I bought a lovely top piece from Felicia of Bountiful several months ago. Now, I first thought this will look fantastic on top of my kitchen cabinets once I got them painted. Well, long story short, it was too deep and at 14" deep it would have hung over by 2" and most likely busted the crown molding above the cabinets. So then it sat in my living room for weeks. My lovely dark wood carved top piece. Then I thought why not find a bottom piece to put it on and go from there. As I am in the process of trying to create a neat kitchen island out of a vintage piece of furniture, I came across an old magazine which showed an old vintage buffet as a kitchen island so I started my search. (by the way I have now forgotten about the top piece). Luckily a week ago I found one for $120.00 and could not pass it up. You know me-out comes the cream colored paint. Painted it and scraped it and decided not to stain it this time. I think it came out well and has been in my kitchen for about 4 days until today.....I had one of those Ah Ha moments and dragged out the top piece and started to paint away. Painting it the same color as the vintage buffet in my kitchen. Now I bet you know what I did next. I measured the top piece and the buffet and decided that with a 2" difference in their sizes that I would go ahead and see if they would fit together. They did and I am excited over the way in which it turned out. Now snuggled in my dining room-which is another project in the works.......

~ The White Season ~

Although it is not Christmas yet, it soon will be. Time to get inspired and start thinking about themes and decorating. I mixed up a few things at Lone Star a few days ago, but tomorrow Lynn and I are headed there with some old rusty white outdoor snowmen and presents to decorate with-I can't wait to see them.......I will post an after so you can enjoy them as well......

~ Heavenly ~

I believe that I have photographed this Madonna bust before, but when I threw an old wedding veil on her head I thought WoW! She is really fantastic and so photogenic....